Limitless 10 Skill Points Commanders Please

[Sir_Sinksalot]

Hi guys,

 

I may have mentioned this before but I'll bring it up again. For some reason there are usually only a couple of commanders from for sale in the Armory. Now in most cases this is fine because those would have a special attribute attached compared to normal Commanders without any special skills but what I would really love and I hope this is a shared opinion, is a limitless supply of standard 10 skill point Commanders.

 

1. WG are in this game for the money, this is a pretty good way of making money without breaking the game or fairness.

2. At the end of the day it's just 10 skill point Commanders, not really pay to win since 10 skill points is really the bare essential.

3. Some ships like DD's REALLY need a 10 skill point Commander for Concealment Expert essential to actually playing and daring to stay alive for very long. 

4. F2P players can hardly complain since they are not paying are they? And at the same time the Pay to play player is hardly getting some massive advantage, only really cutting out the needless and off-putting grind which money should be able to reduce.

5. With a limitless supply of 10 skill point Commanders not only will WG probably make a lot of money while not having to break the game with money generating gimmicks, but this will make taking on new tiers, new ships and new lines way more attractive for players than it currently is so there's a lot of potential positives attached to it including playerbase growth and enticing players that are not really interested in moving there current Commanders to new ships to now be able to do so and have a 10 skill point Commander option to replace the old one or even put straight into the new ship.

 

I'm relatively new to the game so I'm not sure the reasoning as to why there are only a few 10 point Commanders available to game but it just seems like a big flaw and an obvious loss of income on WG's part. Now you might say there are some directives that end with a 10 skill point Commander possibly well if there is then just replace the reward with a ship or special skilled Commander, problem solved. Otherwise, for the above reason, I see no viably sound reason not to sell a limitless supply of standard 10 skill point Commanders. 

 

Players are happy, WG makes money, nothing is broken. All good.

[Andrewbassg]

3 hours ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

Hi guys,

 

I may have mentioned this before but I'll bring it up again. For some reason there are usually only a couple of commanders from for sale in the Armory. Now in most cases this is fine because those would have a special attribute attached compared to normal Commanders without any special skills but what I would really love and I hope this is a shared opinion, is a limitless supply of standard 10 skill point Commanders.

 

1. WG are in this game for the money, this is a pretty good way of making money without breaking the game or fairness.

2. At the end of the day it's just 10 skill point Commanders, not really pay to win since 10 skill points is really the bare essential.

3. Some ships like DD's REALLY need a 10 skill point Commander for Concealment Expert essential to actually playing and daring to stay alive for very long. 

4. F2P players can hardly complain since they are not paying are they? And at the same time the Pay to play player is hardly getting some massive advantage, only really cutting out the needless and off-putting grind which money should be able to reduce.

5. With a limitless supply of 10 skill point Commanders not only will WG probably make a lot of money while not having to break the game with money generating gimmicks, but this will make taking on new tiers, new ships and new lines way more attractive for players than it currently is so there's a lot of potential positives attached to it including playerbase growth and enticing players that are not really interested in moving there current Commanders to new ships to now be able to do so and have a 10 skill point Commander option to replace the old one or even put straight into the new ship.

 

I'm relatively new to the game so I'm not sure the reasoning as to why there are only a few 10 point Commanders available to game but it just seems like a big flaw and an obvious loss of income on WG's part. Now you might say there are some directives that end with a 10 skill point Commander possibly well if there is then just replace the reward with a ship or special skilled Commander, problem solved. Otherwise, for the above reason, I see no viably sound reason not to sell a limitless supply of standard 10 skill point Commanders. 

 

Players are happy, WG makes money, nothing is broken. All good.

Yeah ,it seems rather odd and not really making any sense.  

[DanSilverwing]

It's a good idea really. Technically it's something they already have with the return of the Dasha captains, that are unlimited (you can change the voice mod if needed). And it's worth noting that special captains are often a selling point of collaborations as WG need to make sales to justify the licensing costs, so they wouldn't want to cannibalise that overmuch.

 

Last year we had Rogue Wave themed special captains in the Armory available for 4m credits specialised for the T10 DD, again unlimited. Maybe these will come around again eventually.

[Johnny_Moneto]

No, thank you.

Kindly earn your skill points. Players already get enough stuff thrown at them. No need for anything additional really. 

BTW - the indicator in battle that you are detected used to be a commander skill. So you are getting your first point already for free (or was it 2 points?).

[IanH755]

52 minutes ago, Johnny_Moneto said:

BTW - the indicator in battle that you are detected used to be a commander skill. So you are getting your first point already for free (or was it 2 points?).

 

Situational Awareness skill was One point - removed way back July 2016

[thisismalacoda]

I might be terribly mistaken, but can't you purchase unlimited Dasha captains already?

[159Hunter]

So you want p2w for your low tier grind? Just buy doubloons, convert xp to free xp or earn captain xp. Spend on new captain: profit

[Ocsimano18]

You can buy as many Dasha's as you want, I think. The other commanders are limited.

[BrusilovX]

Most players who have been in the game a while would have sufficient elite commander points to bring a new captain up to tier 10.  If they don't it doesn't take that long by playing their other 19 point captains to get those points.

 

I don't think that 10 point commanders should be acquired at will.

 

We've all been there starting out with 0 or 3 point commanders at some stage.

[wilkatis_LV]

You do know you can boost your captains up their levels with FreeXP / CaptainXP?

 

Personally I haven’t played with below-10p captain since I got my first levelled out 19-pointer unless I deliberately chose to do so.

 

And sure, getting to 19p takes a while. But... it’s not particularly difficult either. Starting from t4 or t5 keep the same captain as you progress up through the line, while playing through the t9 ship you’ll likely reach those 19p on the cap

[Sir_Sinksalot]

9 hours ago, thisismalacoda said:

I might be terribly mistaken, but can't you purchase unlimited Dasha captains already?

Yes you can. I'm just looking for some generic Commanders and not Dasha(no offense) 

 

1 hour ago, BrusilovX said:

Most players who have been in the game a while would have sufficient elite commander points to bring a new captain up to tier 10.  If they don't it doesn't take that long by playing their other 19 point captains to get those points.

 

I don't think that 10 point commanders should be acquired at will.

 

We've all been there starting out with 0 or 3 point commanders at some stage.

 

And? They used to send children up chimneys to clean them at some stage too and used horses to pull stage coaches before cars lol. Times change, things evolve and we move on. 

 

What you would feel hard done by and butthurt because someone can buy a 10 skill point commander while poor little old you had to "do it the hard way"? It doesn't take very long to get a 10 skill point commander but it's JUST long enough to make it somewhat tedious and enough to not bother taking on lines where you really need a 10 skill point commander like lets say the European DD line which is a weak enough offering as it is without making it even less palatable with the prospect of playing them for an insufferable amount of battles getting your butt kicked before finally unlocking that 10th skill point.

 

WG want to make money obviously, and this is a really non-game breaking way to do it along with the addition of new perma-camo's and ship customization and like I said, a 10 skill point standard Commander out of the box isn't going to break the game or hand anyone an unfair advantage, it's basically just trimming away a lot of the off-putting trashy grind battles for some essential skills that ships need as a basic entry. Skills points take a lot longer to grind after 10, 11 and 12 etc so it's just trimming down on the needless suffering battles in exchange for some cash, as is already the case with Dasha, so what you're crying and being butthurt about ALREADY exists in the game as an offering right now today. I just want some generic Commanders instead of Dasha. 

[BrusilovX]

48 minutes ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

And? They used to send children up chimneys to clean them at some stage too and used horses to pull stage coaches before cars lol. Times change, things evolve and we move on. 

 

What you would feel hard done by and butthurt because someone can buy a 10 skill point commander while poor little old you had to "do it the hard way"? It doesn't take very long to get a 10 skill point commander but it's JUST long enough to make it somewhat tedious and enough to not bother taking on lines where you really need a 10 skill point commander like lets say the European DD line which is a weak enough offering as it is without making it even less palatable with the prospect of playing them for an insufferable amount of battles getting your butt kicked before finally unlocking that 10th skill point.

 

WG want to make money obviously, and this is a really non-game breaking way to do it along with the addition of new perma-camo's and ship customization and like I said, a 10 skill point standard Commander out of the box isn't going to break the game or hand anyone an unfair advantage, it's basically just trimming away a lot of the off-putting trashy grind battles for some essential skills that ships need as a basic entry. Skills points take a lot longer to grind after 10, 11 and 12 etc so it's just trimming down on the needless suffering battles in exchange for some cash, as is already the case with Dasha, so what you're crying and being butthurt about ALREADY exists in the game as an offering right now today. I just want some generic Commanders instead of Dasha. 

I've not posted anything that would suggest that I am butthurt over what you've proposed.

 

I'm sure that in some countries even now they send children up chimneys or just get them to operate machines to produce the clothes you wear.  However, I'm not sure what that has to do with the topic but then from your responses I doubt that you are rational.

 

Please go away and play another game that is PTW.

[Sir_Sinksalot]

37 minutes ago, BrusilovX said:

I've not posted anything that would suggest that I am butthurt over what you've proposed.

 

I'm sure that in some countries even now they send children up chimneys or just get them to operate machines to produce the clothes you wear.  However, I'm not sure what that has to do with the topic but then from your responses I doubt that you are rational.

 

Please go away and play another game that is PTW.

 

Nah you totally reek of butthurt tbh and your latest "please go away and play another game" post just cements that opinion. In other words, you've had to grind your commanders from 0 or 3 skills and feel hard done by and salty if the option to purchase a 10 skill Commander(which currently already exists via Dasha) was an unlimited feature in the game since poor little old you had to do it "the hard way" lol. There's always going to be players like you that get set in their ways and are up in arms about any proposed change even if it's clearly not pay to win or something that would be a positive feature for both all players and WG's income instead of WG introducing other game breaking ways of making money such as an OP premium ship or nerfing this or that.

 

I made reference to old world examples as to dramatize how things move on and don't necessarily have to stay as they are, and often for the better, as I think you would agree those examples are of how changes can be positive, same as I feel adding limitless 10 point commanders would be a positive move forward from an old and stagnant early game set of ways, which can apply to any game feature that feels old, dated or negatively stagnant. 

 

Oh and the please go away and play another game? No, I ain't going nowhere, even if I dare to disagree with your opinion and set ways, it doesn't make any difference to me. I'll make a suggestion I feel could be a good move and if you disagree with it that's your opinion but spare me the grumpy old butthurt comments thanks lol. 

[NothingButTheRain]

I don't want to sound rude, but isn't this what elite commander XP is for?

Btw, I loved the 4m 10pt rogue commanders, bought 2 of each iirc! 

So personally I don't have anything against this suggestion. Atm there are however some ways to attain some commanders like as reward for operations, so new players do have at least a couple opportunities (and Dasha voiceover is really good imo, but I can imagine someone not wanting to pay 1500 doubloons for each one every single time) for instance with operations. Also 2 supercommanders from the permanent campaigns and 1 or 2 more from collections (though the Italian one is gonna cost ya ).

 

Sure, for me it's trivial, but for a new player it can help out a lot! And indirectly it will also help the game as newbs at least won't have crummy no-skilled commanders in tier 7 anymore 

[Sir_Sinksalot]

8 minutes ago, NothingButTheRain said:

I don't want to sound rude, but isn't this what elite commander XP is for?

Btw, I loved the 4m 10pt rogue commanders, bought 2 of each iirc! 

So personally I don't have anything against this suggestion. Atm there are however some ways to attain some commanders like as reward for operations, so new players do have at least a couple opportunities (and Dasha voiceover is really good imo, but I can imagine someone not wanting to pay 1500 doubloons for each one every single time) for instance with operations. Also 2 supercommanders from the permanent campaigns and 1 or 2 more from collections (though the Italian one is gonna cost ya ).

 

Sure, for me it's trivial, but for a new player it can help out a lot! And indirectly it will also help the game as newbs at least won't have crummy no-skilled commanders in tier 7 anymore 

 

Ya absolutely and don't get me wrong it's just an option worth considering that would please WG so far as income and probably most players since the option to just purchase a 10 pointer is very convenient and for that's the point, the convenience of it and also how it doesn't break the game and has many other associated positives. 

 

Of course there are other ways of boosting a captains skills but those are a bit grindy too and for me more worth keeping to finish out a higher skill point that seems just way too far away but again each to their own so far as what they want to spend free xp and commander xp on etc.

 

For me, I just think it would be really nice and for those that just haven't the time to be putting in hours grinding commander skills to be able to come in after a day at work or minding the kids etc, sit down and spend a little cash jumping some of that lower end grindy stuff. Not as a pay to win option obviously since at the end of the day it isn't and its just a 10 pointer which in all fairness can be ground out relatively fast if a person has the time to spend grinding for a day or two with signals and what not. No, just a way to start a new line or keep an "keeper" ship you are fond of afloat and ready for action after you move a really good Commander up the tiers etc. To be able to sit down, spend a little cash and pop a half-decent Commander into an old ship or new ship you feel like playing or grinding etc. It's already there anyway at the moment as mentioned, via Dasha, but just more a permanent option with some generic Naval captains instead.  

[Verblonde]

2 hours ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

I'm just looking for some generic Commanders and not Dasha

I haven't looked, but can't you just switch Dasha off (you just see/hear a standard captain)...?

 

[Sir_Sinksalot]

Just now, Verblonde said:

I haven't looked, but can't you just switch Dasha off (you just see/hear a standard captain)...?

 

 

Lol! It's an option no doubt about it. Still, since purchasing a 10 pointer is currently an option at the moment, I'd rather just have some non-Dasha commanders. This is actually starting to read that I'm hating on Dasha lol, no, I just prefer the boring old generic stereotypical national Commanders, honestly. 

[Verblonde]

4 minutes ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

I just prefer the boring old generic stereotypical national Commanders, honestly.

You're not the only one, although I do have the Russian Dasha somewhere (the others seem rather incongruous to me with the language mis-match, and I have a much less pressing need for lots of 10 pointers these days).

 

What I was getting at is more if you *need* ten pointers right now, and you've bagged all the standard ones, she might be an option if you do set the relevant tick boxes to "don't show me Dasha, dammit!" (or whatever the actual settings are).

 

FWIW what I used to do - when I was in a similar situation - was focus on making really sure I got every 10 pointer that came along, even if I wasn't going to need him/her/it for months; mind you, I also have a slightly relaxed approach to 'funnies' so I have several anime captains running around, plus  space dolphins and Mad Max wannabes...

 

What I would suggest though is making a concerted effort to get your first 19 pointer; although it's a pain in the patookus and takes ages, it will make your life a lot easier (and the whole 'snowballing' thing is true too)...

[Procrastes]

I'd welcome the option to buy unlimited generic 10-point commanders for doubloons! 

 

We already have a bunch of 10-point captains available for doubloons, but they are limited in number and they do not appear evenly across all nationalities and tech trees. I believe the reason to be that these captains are actual historical commanders from their respective national navies, and this is cool, too - but I see no real reason to impose this limitation for getting hold of a new 10-point commander.

 

While the case could be made that selling 10-pointers for doubloons would slide the game further along the Pay2win-scale, I think it would benefit the quality of the gameplay for all involved. Having less than 10 points on your commander makes a lot of ships - destroyers most notably - far less of an asset to the rest of the team.

 

On a side note: The deciding factor for Wargaming will probably be whether they will make more money from this option, or from the occasional sale of a premium ship with a points-buffed commander thrown in to sweeten the deal. (Not that I blame them.)

 

On a related note: There was a suggestion on the forum a while ago, about giving all special and legendary commanders 19 skill points from the beginning. I am less sure of whether this would be good for the game in general or not,** but I do feel that it would save me a lot of frustration about having to either fork out another million free or elite xp:s* every time I acquire such a commander, or play one or more of my favourite ships with a mere 10-pointer but with a few fireworks/special effects bonuses. I am not saying that this is enough of a reason to dole out 19-pointers across the board, though - especially retroactively.

 

* Although I suppose this is what free and elite xp are there for. So no real cause for complaint. 

** I am sure that selling 19-pointers straight up for doubloons would totally wreck the game as we know it, though. That must never happen.

[DanSilverwing]

When i was a new player I did find the 10-point commander rewards from T6 Operations extremely useful. It really does help to close the commander skill gap early on, and it's always worth pointing out to new players

 

I did mention the Dasha and Rogue Wave commanders earlier; you could simply do away with the Armory option altogether and make this an option when recruiting new commanders. E.g.

 

0-point free

1-point 1,500 credits

3-point 25 Doubloons

10-point 1,500 Doubloons

 

Because Dasha already exists I don't think there can be any principled objections against this

 

Not sure how these new daily missions will be in the long-term: previously you could earn 20,000 elite commander experience per month, now it might be 1,000 CXP per diem? Not including the free XP. Also you can get elite commander XP from using the 19-point captains in certain events, including the Submarine test mode. All that helps to make the first 183,000 commander XP for a 10-point captain. That's more than 10% of the needed total to get your first 19-pointer! (and gee, wasn't that a memorable milestone).

 

[Taliesn]

4 hours ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

Yes you can. I'm just looking for some generic Commanders and not Dasha(no offense) 

 

 

And? They used to send children up chimneys to clean them at some stage too and used horses to pull stage coaches before cars lol. Times change, things evolve and we move on. 

 

What you would feel hard done by and butthurt because someone can buy a 10 skill point commander while poor little old you had to "do it the hard way"? It doesn't take very long to get a 10 skill point commander but it's JUST long enough to make it somewhat tedious and enough to not bother taking on lines where you really need a 10 skill point commander like lets say the European DD line which is a weak enough offering as it is without making it even less palatable with the prospect of playing them for an insufferable amount of battles getting your butt kicked before finally unlocking that 10th skill point.

 

WG want to make money obviously, and this is a really non-game breaking way to do it along with the addition of new perma-camo's and ship customization and like I said, a 10 skill point standard Commander out of the box isn't going to break the game or hand anyone an unfair advantage, it's basically just trimming away a lot of the off-putting trashy grind battles for some essential skills that ships need as a basic entry. Skills points take a lot longer to grind after 10, 11 and 12 etc so it's just trimming down on the needless suffering battles in exchange for some cash, as is already the case with Dasha, so what you're crying and being butthurt about ALREADY exists in the game as an offering right now today. I just want some generic Commanders instead of Dasha. 

 

Because you'll have those very same players who've bought a handfull of 10-point commanders rush through the tiers with several ships at the same time and then unashamedly and with a total lack of self-awareness whine that tier X is unplayable and it's way too easy to potato your way up there because reasons. That others have had to grind through some captains is not the reason why you should also do it. 

[Sir_Sinksalot]

1 hour ago, Taliesn said:

 

Because you'll have those very same players who've bought a handfull of 10-point commanders rush through the tiers with several ships at the same time and then unashamedly and with a total lack of self-awareness whine that tier X is unplayable and it's way too easy to potato your way up there because reasons. That others have had to grind through some captains is not the reason why you should also do it. 

I don't think it would translate that way though. Now, maybe longer established players from an earlier and possibly more credit generous game offering era might feel it's easy but personally speaking I just couldn't do it. I have played the game a lot, especially over this Covid-19 lock down, played tiers that generate the most credits and even then I STILL can't fast-grind several lines and bag lots of higher tiers, let alone a really new player trying to fast-grind to higher tiers, the current game economics simply doesn't allow it.

 

The reality is that Co-op pretty much breaks even at lower tiers, actually loses credits at higher tiers. Ops credit income has been nerfed to the ground and with random battles well, it's a toss of a coin how the result is going to go especially if you're a new player that's going to be ineffective and clueless, thus more likely going to lose of course, heavily dependent on better teammates to carry you, a burden. So when you add to that the massive price tag of higher tier ships, the ever increasing price tag of their equipment, more equipment slots to fill, upgrades and also their heavy running costs which generally becomes losing credits, especially if you suck... ya I just don't see this supposed noob flood materializing from 10 point commanders tbh and that's from personal experience.

 

At a stretch, after playing hundreds and hundreds of eco-friendly Ops and tiers with credit boosters and premium time, I, who at this point am probably clear of a total noob status, can now maybe, get one or two higher tier ships and by higher tier I mean just tier8 and possibly one tier 9 lol. I currently have ONE tier8 and that's my highest tier and I barely ever play it because it's economically just unattractive and offers me nothing in terms of enjoyment I can't find with a tier 6 or 7 so no, having a perma 10 pointer options would most definitely not result in higher tiers flooded with noobs. At least, not anymore than it currently is and I guess the only difference is that those same noobs would actually be less of a burden on their team via having a somewhat minimally competent commander in their ships. 

[Sir_Sinksalot]

2 hours ago, Procrastes said:

I'd welcome the option to buy unlimited generic 10-point commanders for doubloons! 

 

We already have a bunch of 10-point captains available for doubloons, but they are limited in number and they do not appear evenly across all nationalities and tech trees. I believe the reason to be that these captains are actual historical commanders from their respective national navies, and this is cool, too - but I see no real reason to impose this limitation for getting hold of a new 10-point commander.

 

While the case could be made that selling 10-pointers for doubloons would slide the game further along the Pay2win-scale, I think it would benefit the quality of the gameplay for all involved. Having less than 10 points on your commander makes a lot of ships - destroyers most notably - far less of an asset to the rest of the team.

 

On a side note: The deciding factor for Wargaming will probably be whether they will make more money from this option, or from the occasional sale of a premium ship with a points-buffed commander thrown in to sweeten the deal. (Not that I blame them.)

 

On a related note: There was a suggestion on the forum a while ago, about giving all special and legendary commanders 19 skill points from the beginning. I am less sure of whether this would be good for the game in general or not,** but I do feel that it would save me a lot of frustration about having to either fork out another million free or elite xp:s* every time I acquire such a commander, or play one or more of my favourite ships with a mere 10-pointer but with a few fireworks/special effects bonuses. I am not saying that this is enough of a reason to dole out 19-pointers across the board, though - especially retroactively.

 

* Although I suppose this is what free and elite xp are there for. So no real cause for complaint. 

** I am sure that selling 19-pointers straight up for doubloons would totally wreck the game as we know it, though. That must never happen.

 

Well I have to wonder how players with 19 pointers which took a hell of a lot of time to grind out feel when they see those really fancy Commanders in the Armory. I mean, at a glance, here you have two Commanders priced at a staggering expensive 175,000 coal... for a 10 pointer?? Sure, they have special skills and talents that are attractive and that players would want, not all that special mind you, which is good for balance, but at the same time attractive to players serious about the game. This is fine BUT, if you have a 19 pointer already, it must be really annoying actually. Would a player with a 19 pointer be willing to go back to a 10 pointer just for a few little perks then have to either grind for ages to get back to a 19 pointer or spend a shed load of commander xp, free xp etc AND fork out 175k coal for the privilege?? 

 

For me I'd have to say that those 175k coal Commanders really should be offering more skill points, possibly the full 19 as you mentioned or I'd have to question why a player who already has a 19 pointer would bother taking all those hits unless of course they are at the point of the game where they simply have stacks and stacks of almost "unusable" coal and commander xp etc to which I would then understand given they already have everything and nothing else to spend it on. Otherwise, that's a serious back step for very little gain. Even glancing at their special talents here on screen... they're very situational triggers and would appear to require either low % scenario accumulations of X, Y and Z or figures that would really only manifest and come into effect after a large portion of the battle has already been played out, more likely being triggered mid-way or towards the end of battles so ya, not sure I'd be dishing out 175k for that and stepping back to a 10 pointer from a 19 pointer at the same time.  

[159Hunter]

You get those commanders for the unique bonus they provide. Making your ship stronger

[Verblonde]

20 minutes ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

Would a player with a 19 pointer be willing to go back to a 10 pointer just for a few little perks then have to either grind for ages to get back to a 19 pointer or spend a shed load of commander xp, free xp etc AND fork out 175k coal for the privilege??

The coal price is ridiculous, of course, but the rest isn't actually that bad if you have at least one 19 pointer (preferably several).

 

For instance, the Ovenchicken on my Gearing replaced a 19 pointer, but almost never got played with 'only' 10 points:

• First, as I recall, I blew enough elite/free xp to get him to 13 points (which added BFT to the DD standard build).
• After that, I mainly played him in premiums and/or game modes where not being a 19 pointer didn't matter (the original 19 pointer being wheeled out when I need the best available captain).
• It didn't take an unreasonable amount of time/resource to get him to 19 points, through a mixture of playing and using elite xp.

Bear in mind that for a US DD, all Ovenchicken gets you over the original is a better SE (EM is a waste of points for the US DDs)...

 

44 minutes ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

The reality is that Co-op pretty much breaks even at lower tiers, actually loses credits at higher tiers.

Depends a bit on the ship (and if you run premium account): I've been mucking about in Coop today (knocking off some of the new shipyard directives) in all tiers from 4 to 10, and haven't lost silver yet. But, I do run premium account, and play very aggressively with a view to maximising damage. It's got a lot easier though with the shift to free premium consumables, but that's also true of other modes too.

 

If you want reliable silver (and xp) returns, you'll do a lot better in PvP...