0.9.2 - Changes to the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells Skill

[TheWarJaC]

Hi Commanders, 

 

In the update 0.9.2, we implemented some changes to the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells Skill. Let us know your feedback in the comments!

 

CHANGES TO THE INERTIA FUSE FOR HE SHELLS SKILL

Reasons behind the changes and their impact on your gameplay:

• To simplify interactions between same-tier cruisers. For example, HE shells fired by cruisers with 152–155 mm guns should be capable of penetrating the plating of same-type ships without the effects applied by any extra conditions. These changes are aimed at shifting the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill out of most players' first-choice set of skills.
•  
• To improve the durability of cruisers in battle: changes to the thickness of cruiser plating will make these ships more resistant to battleship salvos if positioned wisely.
• To enhance the distinction between cruisers carrying guns with a caliber of, or exceeding, 190 mm, and cruisers with 149–189 mm guns, by changing their armor protection: the former will feature thicker armor for their central "box," while the latter will have thicker armor only for the central part of their decks.
• To keep the armor protection of battleships as it is: without the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill applied, cruisers with 152–155 mm guns will still be unable to penetrate the plating of same-tier battleships.
• We wanted to balance the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill in such a way that the combination of its positive and negative characteristics would influence players' choices, making the skill-less of an ultimate "go-to" option when training Commanders.

 

We'll keep a close eye on how these changes affect game balance and the battle performance of certain ships. If required, additional balance corrections will be applied to the skill and some ships to preserve their battle performance.

 

Changes to the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill

• The bonus applied to the armor-penetration capabilities of HE shells has been changed from 30% to 25%.
• The skill will now reduce the chances of causing fire by half, instead of subtracting 1% or 3% from them, depending on the caliber. It is only the standard chances of a fire being caused by HE shells that are reduced by half. Other bonuses to the chances of causing fire will function as before, such as the bonuses provided by the Victor Lima signal or Demolition Expert skill.
• Example: the standard chances of a fire being caused by HE shells for cruiser Helena are 12%. With the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill mastered, the chances of causing fire are reduced to 6%. With the Demolition Expert skill, the chances increase to 8%.
• This skill previously provided a significant advantage with a minimal penalty, which made it too impactful. The updated version of the skill brings it more in line with the efficiency of other skills.

 

The rules for calculating armor-penetration have been changed for all HE and SAP shells: a new rule—"a shell penetrates armor if the armor-thickness value is less than or equal to the shell-penetration value"—will now be applied instead of the old rule—"a shell penetrates armor if the armor-thickness value is strictly less than the shell-penetration value." For example, 152 mm shells fired from a Tier VII cruiser will be able to penetrate armor plating with a thickness of up to 25 mm, as opposed to the 24 mm it used to be.

For Tier VIII–X cruisers carrying 152–155 mm guns, the armor-penetration capabilities of their HE shells have been changed. Previously, they were calculated in accordance with the 1/6-caliber rule. Now, they will be calculated following the 1/5-caliber rule. When firing HE shells, these ships will be able to penetrate each other's armor plating, as well as the plating of Tier VIII–X cruisers that is up to 30 mm thick, without use of the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill.

 

Changes to cruiser and battleship armor protection

The changes to cruisers' plating will make these ships more resistant to fire from battleships when positioned wisely: AP shells will ricochet off the plating if they impact at a sharp angle (watch our How it Works video for more info how AP interacts with armor). Tier X cruisers already benefit from adopting proper positioning. At the same time, the central parts of the hulls and decks of cruisers carrying guns with a caliber of 190 mm or more now have thicker armor, while cruisers with guns of a smaller caliber have thicker armor only for the central parts of their decks. These changes emphasize the distinction between light and heavy cruisers.

 

Due to changes to the rules for calculating the armor penetration of HE and SAP shells, the armor plating of Tier VI–VII battleships has been changed to 26 mm in order to keep interactions between ship types consistent.

 

Table of changes to the penetration mechanics

Caliber of main and secondary battery guns	Armor penetration prior to the change	Penetration capacity after the change (armor thickness that the shells can penetrate without the Inertia Fuse for HE Shells skill)
180 mm	29 mm	30 mm (can penetrate the plating of same-tier cruisers)
152 and 155 mm (Tier VIII–X cruisers)	24 mm (unable to penetrate the fore and aft ends of same-tier cruisers) and 25 mm	30 and 31 mm (can penetrate plating of same-tier cruisers)
150 and 152 mm (Tier I–VII ships)	24 mm	25 mm (can penetrate the plating of same-tier cruisers)
150 mm (German ships, except destroyers)	37 mm	38 mm (can penetrate the plating of same-tier battleships)
128 mm (German ships, except destroyers)	31 mm	32 mm (can penetrate the plating of same-tier battleships)
113 mm	18 mm (unable to penetrate the plating of same-tier destroyers)	19 mm (can penetrate the plating of same-tier destroyers)
100 mm (Japanese Tier VIII–X ships)*	24 mm (unable to penetrate the fore and aft ends of same-tier cruisers)	30 mm (can penetrate the plating of same-tier cruisers)

* This change to the penetration of shells of this caliber has been made without compliance with the new rule for calculating the penetration of HE and SAP shells. The reason behind increasing this value is that the 100 mm shells of Japanese ships always acted in a similar manner to the 152 mm shells of Tier VIII–X cruisers in terms of their armor-penetration capabilities.

Apart from that, the armor penetration of the 105 mm HE secondary battery shells fired by Yorck, Prinz Eitel Friedrich, Scharnhorst, Scharnhorst B, Gneisenau, Admiral Graf Spee, and HSF Admiral Graf Spee was increased from 18 to 26 mm. Earlier, we had already increased the armor penetration of the 105 mm secondary battery shells fired by König, Bayern, Bismarck, Tirpitz, Graf Zeppelin, Graf Zeppelin B, Prinz Eugen, Admiral Hipper, Roon, and Hindenburg to 26 mm.

Please note: the table indicates the minimum plating thickness for each ship tier!  

 

Table of changes to armor protection

	Armor thickness prior to the change	Protection prior to the change  (AP shell caliber, chance of a ricochet)	Armor thickness after the change	Protection after the change (AP shell caliber, chance of a ricochet)
Tier IV–V
Cruisers (except for British light cruisers)	Central part: 13 mm	Up to 186 mm, off the central part	Central part: 16 mm	Up to 229 mm, off the central part
Tier VI–VII
Cruisers carrying guns of a caliber exceeding 190 mm	Central part: 16 mm	Up to 229 mm, off the central part	Central part: 25 mm	Up to 357 mm, off the central part
Cruisers carrying 149–190 mm guns (except for British light cruisers)	Deck: 16 mm	Up to 229 mm, off the central deck	Deck: 25 mm	Up to 357 mm, off the central deck
Cruisers London, Devonshire and Surrey	Broadside: 19 mm	Up to 272 mm, off the plating	Broadside: 25 mm	Up to 357 mm, off the plating
Tier VIII–IX
Cruisers carrying guns of a caliber exceeding 190 mm, and Mogami	Central part: 25 mm	Up to 357 mm, off the central part	Central part: 27 mm	Up to 386 mm, off the central part
Cruisers carrying 149–190 mm guns (except for British light cruisers)	Deck: 25 mm	Up to 357 mm, off the central deck	Deck: 27 mm	Up to 386 mm, off the central deck
Cruisers Cheshire, Albemarle, and Drake	Broadside: 25 mm	Up to 357 mm, off the plating	Broadside: 27 mm	Up to 386 mm, off the plating
Tier X
Cruiser Smolensk	Central part: 30 mm	Up to 429 mm, off the central part	Central part: 16 mm	Up to 229 mm, off the central part
Cruiser Colbert	Central part: 30 mm	Up to 429 mm, off the central part	Broadside: 21 mm	Up to 300 mm, off the plating
			Deck: 16 mm	Up to 229 mm, off the central deck
Cruisers Salem and Des Moines	Broadside: 27 mm	Up to 386 mm, off the plating	Broadside: 30 mm	Up to 429 mm, off the plating

 

Furthermore, the thickness of the armor plating that covers the fore and aft ends, as well as the superstructures of certain cruisers has been brought to the generally established values applied to ships of their respective tiers and types.

Changes to the thickness of the fore- and aft-end plating:

• Thickness of the fore- and aft-end plating on cruisers Kuma, Phoenix, Omaha, Marblehead, Svietlana, Murmansk, Karlsruhe, Königsberg, Danae, and Alberto di Giussano increased from 10 to 13 mm. 
• Thickness of the fore- and aft-end plating on cruiser Budyonny increased from 13 to 16 mm.
• Thickness of the fore- and aft-end plating on cruisers Admiral Graf Spee and HSF Admiral Graf Spee reduced from 19 to 16 mm.
• Thickness of the plating of the fore and aft ends, as well as the sides of cruiser Mikhail Kutuzov reduced from 26 to 25 mm.

Changes to thickness of superstructure plating

• Thickness of the superstructure plating reduced from 13 to 10 mm for the following ships: Shchors, Admiral Makarov, Lazo, Dallas, Helena, Boise, Nürnberg, La Galissonnière, De Grasse, Duca D'Aosta, Duca Degli Abruzzi, Huanghe, and Nueve de Julio. 
• Thickness of the superstructure plating reduced from 16 to 13 mm for Chapayev, Dmitri Donskoi, Mikhail Kutuzov, Irian, Worcester, Seattle, and Montpelier.

Other changes:

• Thickness of the citadel plating on cruiser Mikhail Kutuzov reduced from 27 to 25 mm.
• Thickness of the citadel plating on cruiser Salem increased from 27 to 30 mm.
• Thickness of the torpedo-protection plating on cruisers Mogami and Dmitri Donskoi increased from 25 to 27 mm.
• Thickness of the torpedo-protection plating on cruiser Yorck increased from 16 to 25 mm.
• Thickness of the plating that covers the bow armor belt of cruiser Lazo increased from 16 to 20 mm.
• Thickness of the deck plating on cruisers London, Devonshire, and Surrey increased from 19 to 27 mm.

Listed below are ships with certain plating elements that were not subject to changes:

• Cruisers Exeter, Leander, Perth, Edinburgh, Furutaka, Alaska, Moskva, and Stalingrad (no changes made to the thickness of deck and side armor plating).
• Cruisers Svietlana, and Krasny Krym (no changes made to the thickness of deck, side, and aft-deck armor plating).
• Cruisers Kirov, Molotov, Huanghe, Duca D'Aosta, Zara, Duca Degli Abruzzi, Gorizia, and Raimondo Montecuccoli (no changes made to the thickness of side armor plating).
• Cruisers Danae, Duguay-Trouin, Alberto Di Giussano, Brindisi, Atago, Myōkō, Surrey, and Aoba (no changes made to the thickness of deck armor plating).
• Cruisers Belfast, and Fiji (no changes made to the thickness of side, deck, and citadel armor plating).
• Cruiser Emerald (no changes made to the thickness of deck and citadel armor plating).
• Cruiser Colbert (no changes made to the thickness of citadel and deck armor plating (the 50 mm section)).
• Cruisers Yūbari, Kuma, and Iwaki Alpha (no changes made to the thickness of citadel armor plating).
• Cruisers Murmansk, Phoenix, Omaha, Marblehead, and Shchors (no changes made to the thickness of the insert plates of the fore- and aft-end armor plating).
• Cruiser Yahagi (no changes to the thickness of side armor plating (citadel and fore-end plating)).
• Cruiser Puerto Rico (no changes to the thickness of torpedo protection or deck armor plating).
• Cruisers Admiral Makarov, Nürnberg, Kronshtadt, and Venezia (no changes to the thickness of torpedo-protection armor plating).
• Cruiser Pensacola (no changes to the thickness of aft-end and aft-belt armor plating (the 19 mm section)).
• Cruiser Seattle (no changes to the thickness of deck armor plating (the 51 mm section)).
• Cruiser Ibuki (no changes to the thickness of deck armor plating (the 32 mm section)).
• Cruisers Flint and Atlanta (no changes to the thickness of armor plating of the fore and aft ends, central part, and superstructures). 

 

You can check the full article containing the detailed chart of the changes here: https://worldofwarships.eu/en/news/game-updates/update-092-european-destroyers/

[Nauseica]

You should add the full changes of IFHE rework from Sehales post so people can have the full changes in one article than search all forum for it

 

[MrFingers]

3.5 days to figure it all out for ourselves, even with a table provided by WG, is just TOO SHORT!

[anonym_j17GKWzHKZAZ]

Exactly the point, WG pre-prepared this....... Feel free to impart 110% confidence in them....... 

[Grandma]

Your changes to the IFHE has ruined Massachusetts 127 mm secondary guns. Now they only penetrate 26 mm hull armor with the skill active. But all heavy cruisers at Tier VIII and higher have 27 mm hull armor or more. Since the Massachusetts is mostly matched with Tier VIII or higher, the secondary guns have been extremly weakened for heavy cruiser Fighting! 

[MrFingers]

RIP Atlanta/Flint 

RIP T7 152mm cruisers  

RIP Graf Spee 

RIP secondary-build Massachusetts. 

RIP 15" gun battleships that can see T8+ cruisers.

 

A job well done! /s

[Hugh_Ruka]

12 hours ago, MrFingers said:

RIP Atlanta/Flint 

RIP T7 152mm cruisers  

RIP Graf Spee 

RIP secondary-build Massachusetts. 

RIP 15" gun battleships that can see T8+ cruisers.

 

A job well done! /s

And the funny thing is, IFHE is as mandatory for 6" cruisers as it was before ...

[Afghanicus]

So WG worked for many months on this change that nobody ever asked for and then expects that players figure out if the IFHE skill is worth or not among hundreds of ships they have within 3 days?

 

For realz?

 

LOL

[Ze_Reckless]

18 hours ago, MrFingers said:

RIP Atlanta/Flint 

 

Atlanta works well without IFHE when top tier, as bottom tier you rely on fires. Without IFHE you can spec fully for fires and dpm or whatever build you like. Good aim is important as you want to hit specific parts of a target. Also, don't forget to press the '2' key from time to time, it works wonders against cruisers and BBs in the right situation.

 

I never liked the no-brain spam HE all day play style, IFHE was OP as a skill. Now it is an actual trade-off and it depends on your play style if you want IFHE or not. I choose to run without it for now, it frees up 4 points which is huge on most ships, especially Aki - Kita - Haru.

 

My only gripe: Smolensk is fine and Colbert is f... in a tough spot. At least they fixed Smol's armour so that's something.

[Whistler1984]

Bug for DM Donskoi, its base HE pen is 30mm, with IFHE it only increases to 33mm which is only a 10% increase. Should it not be 37mm? 

[indy2014]

Had an idea to buy Massachusets and Georgia. Thanks WB for not making this mistake. Change 30% to 25% is really useful for Premium Shop. Lol.

[MrFingers]

[Hugh_Ruka]

8 hours ago, Ze_Reckless said:

 

Atlanta works well without IFHE when top tier, as bottom tier you rely on fires. Without IFHE you can spec fully for fires and dpm or whatever build you like. Good aim is important as you want to hit specific parts of a target. Also, don't forget to press the '2' key from time to time, it works wonders against cruisers and BBs in the right situation.

 

I never liked the no-brain spam HE all day play style, IFHE was OP as a skill. Now it is an actual trade-off and it depends on your play style if you want IFHE or not. I choose to run without it for now, it frees up 4 points which is huge on most ships, especially Aki - Kita - Haru.

 

My only gripe: Smolensk is fine and Colbert is f... in a tough spot. At least they fixed Smol's armour so that's something.

Unfortunately that's a problem. A higher tier BB with Fire prevention is difficult to set on fire and higher tier cruisers don't have a problem doing damage to an Atlanta. So you are even more reliable on islands and smokes than before. You cannot count on doing enough damage to save you if engaged directly ...

[CountDF]

Maybe now is also a nice moment to fix matchmaking to support your IFHE-changes so you only have matches with your own tier.

[_BigRed__]

Colbert has been badly nerfed !!!

 

All that research bureau work for a ship that gets nerfed ;;; suxs !!!

 

 

[Cammo1962]

On 3/26/2020 at 4:49 PM, CountDF said:

Maybe now is also a nice moment to fix matchmaking to support your IFHE-changes so you only have matches with your own tier.

WG is never going to let that happened trust me

[_BigRed__]

.1 sec reload buff plus better heal will not fix the lack of fire (4%) or shatters that now occur !! Damage has been divided by more than 2.

Advice to other players... don't bother doing Research bureau and burning tons of credits and signals !!! Just play a Smolensk............... I just find that this is not a honourable ship when hiding in smoke !!!

[Cammo1962]

3 minutes ago, _BigRed__ said:

.1 sec reload buff plus better heal will not fix the lack of fire (4%) or shatters that now occur !! Damage has been divided by more than 2.

Advice to other players... don't bother doing Research bureau and burning tons of credits and signals !!! Just play a Smolensk............... I just find that this is not a honourable ship when hiding in smoke !!!

I have never liked the idea about the RB and i dont like that WG is running from there word of not putting anything else in it and from 2021 you are forced to grind lines to get your legendary upgrades and no way in h... i will do that.

[Miscommunication_dept]

On 3/29/2020 at 8:58 AM, _BigRed__ said:

.1 sec reload buff plus better heal will not fix the lack of fire (4%) or shatters that now occur !! Damage has been divided by more than 2.

Advice to other players... don't bother doing Research bureau and burning tons of credits and signals !!! Just play a Smolensk............... I just find that this is not a honourable ship when hiding in smoke !!!

 

Why are you using IFHE?

I would go without, even before the rework. You're targeting superstructure or DDs anyway.