I'm a bit surprised, since I expected more post on this matter. But the current implementation of submarines in the game is atrocious.
The submarines themselves are problematic with their gimmicks and invulnerability around the 6 meter depth. The fact that they can easily pot up and shotgun any boat that comes close is just ridiculous. Worse: there is simply no counter play to this, since anything that deals with submarines has to get in close to deal any kind of decent damage. Aside from this, nothing is forcing submarines up in that regard either: they can just play safe, all the time, and not even deal less much damage overall as a result. They define the engagement. The fact they can deal citadel damage even if those torpedoes physically hit only the nose of a ship renders any kind of counter manoeuvring insufficient, not to say frustrating. A submarines can spot so much with so little effort or danger, and relay this to his team, it makes counter-play even more difficult to achieve.
There is such much to say about the submarines, in terms of all their individual aspects (torpedo reload, firing cone of torpedoes, overall speed, submerged speed, diving speed, etc.), and how its all out of balance; it boggles the mind and it's not even my main complain about them. The self-recharging battery does take the cake in that regard, breaking any kind of logic even from an arcade point of view as it removes the one weakness they might have.
My main gripe however concerns the changes this new class brings to the other type of ships, and how boring the gameplay becomes as a result, as any kind of aggressive posturing gets even more penalised than it already is. Concealment and smoke become entirely meaningless, creating even more survivability issues for destroyers and cruisers alike. Battleships, which are already notoriously afraid to push, are even less incentivised to do so. Afraid to be set on fire, they now will be afraid to be farmed by constant torpedoes as well, between aircraft carriers, destroyers, submarines, destroyers, and even some battleships at times. And cruisers can't push, because the battleships won't. Battles become stale; teams either don't dare cap or get punished for even thinking about it. That only so few ships are even equipped to spot and damage submarines to begin with is a joke in and of itself. How often do you end up above a submarine in such a powerless vessel, too close for him to do anything, just staring at each other! It's like a reserve Benny Hill joke. Where is the interaction between different ship classes in this case? There is none! (and the logic of realism in this instance is moot anyway: the sonar/hydro, the acoustic torpedoes and how they work, etc. none of those is realistic. How about entertaining mechanics first then?)
The game simply loses its fun and becomes a chore: stay back and camp or die. For what little it is worth, I'm strongly against their implementation in this format in any way shape or form. This is not just a question of balancing or changing the submarines class itself; every other class needs to be rework if they are to ever be implemented successfully in the game, which isn't the case right now.
Talking with other players in discord about this, the issue is further exemplified by the fact that trying to fix one problem only worsens another problematic aspect, but that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be made. Changes need to happen about the submarines weakness, bringing back oxygen maybe. Torpedoes need to be changed as well, maybe adding different torpedo types. What about mines maybe, for other ships? Anti-submarines bomber planes instead of spotter planes for some ships as counter-play? Should the hydro-acoustic be reworked as well, as it now spots a stopped and submerged submarines in hiding, which is more like a sonar in essence. How those depths charges launched from the front of the ships? The battery might be kept, but drain lessens? Maybe adding a snorkel consumable to allow for it to recharge? Surface diving speed also might need a rethink. The constant spotting from submarines need to be reworked, to make destroyer at least still playable in general. The options are there. It just depends on the end goal, though I'm praying that it isn't to make the game as passive, and with less interactivity between ships.
