Meanings of Slang & Basic Pointers

[Shepbur]

 

The following is a guide which i first posted up on the Alpha forums back in August 2014 to help newcomers to the test. It gives a basic overview of some of the tactics which are often used in World of Warships battles, as well as some basic terms and agreements which they may wish to know to help them on their way with becoming a great captain of the seas! This guide has also been tied up along with a few others written by fellow alpha testers (Schultz, JeeWeeJ, Hanszeehock and Kr4zy) to allow newcomers to the test to find their feet quickly and allow them to get testing and playing competitively as quickly as possible!

 

 

The Basics

Hit boxes and where to aim

There are 8 different types of hit boxes currently present in the game which can become critically damaged. These hit boxes are:

The Magazine, The Engine Room, The Rudder mechanism, The Main Turrets, The Secondary turrets, AA Guns, Torpedo Tubes, The Citadel and Aircraft Storage Areas.

Below you can find descriptions for each of the hit boxes, what they do, and what damaging them results in.

The Magazine

The Magazine is the storage area for all the ammunition used by the ships main calibre guns. Most ships have more than 1 magazine on-board. They are normally located directly beneath the Main Calibre Turrets in the hull of the ship. Destroying a ships magazine will often cause critical damage, destroying the ship instantly. Dealing a minimum of 30-40k damage.

The Engine Room

The Engine Room is where the engines of the ships are located. Each ship has a different number of engine rooms, in different locations, however are normally located in the hull directly below the ships chimneys. Be aware, as some Japanese ships have off-set chimneys, so the engine rooms may be further forward than you expect! Destroying the engine room will cause critical damage, while it may not cause large amounts of health to be lost, the ship will lose power and be un-able to control it's speed, slowing down to an eventual stop.

The Rudder mechanism

The Rudder is located at the stern of all ships, often between the rear turret of the ship and the stern. Destroying the rudder will cause critical damage, while it may not cause large amounts of health to be lost, the ship will be unable to control it's steering,with the rudder being locked in the last position it was turned to.

The Main Turrets

The Main turrets are the turrets on your ship with the largest calibre and longest range. These are the turrets which players can control on their ships manually, and are located in different areas on every ship, however are noticeable by the large and long barrels of the cannons in each of the turrets. Destroying these turrets can cause large amounts of damage, as well as disabling the turret for a short period of time, or until the player uses a repair kit.

Torpedo Tubes

All Destroyers, and some Cruisers have torpedo tubes. They are generally on-top of the deck of the ship and clearly visible as large tubes which can rotate, controlled by the player. Destroying the Torpedo tubes renders them un-usable for a period of time, or until a repair crew is used (depending on the damage dealt).

The Secondary Turrets

Most Cruisers, Battleships and Aircraft Carriers have secondary armaments. They are AI controlled, however priority targets can be assigned. They generally have a very short range of <3km. And are generally used as a last defence against ships in close combat. The turrets and guns are located all around ships in various places. While destroying them nets essentially no critical damage, it will destroy the armament hit, causing it to stop working until a repair crew is used.

AA guns

AA guns are on ships above the early tiers, located around the deck of the ship, they are controlled by AI with priority targets being assigned by the player by choice. They generally have a range of <2km and fire only at enemy aircraft flying above the ship. Destroying the AA guns causes the AA defence of the ship to lower, however does no noticeable extra damage to the enemy ship when destroyed.

Citadel

The citadel of ships is located in the hull of the ship, and spans the length of the ship between the main calibre turrets It is very well armoured and often requires AP shells to damage. When hitting and damaging the citadel of an enemy ship, critical hits can occur. These hits can cause massive amounts of damage of 15k or more. While these hits can be extremely effective, they are rather rare and cannot be relied upon.

Aircraft Storage

Aircraft storage areas are present on all ships which carry aircraft on-board. This includes some cruisers and battleships, as well as all aircraft carriers. These storage areas can normally be seen by catapult launch ramps on ships, often near the stern of the ship, or in an aircraft carrier, in the centre section of the ship. Damaging and destroying these modules will result in the ship losing a number of it's aircraft. These aircraft lost are un-recoverable and cannot be used by the player, or repaired.

 

 

International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea

These rules were brought about first in 1840, and have been edited and updated many times since. They are still used world-wide by both navies and commercial shipping lanes. The more players who are aware and follow these rules, the fewer collisions will occur, with special attention to be taken for allied teams, while it is advisable to maintain the rules with enemy ships, it is less necessary.

 

1. Portgives way toStarboard - If you are heading in similar directions, but you are port of the other ship, you must give way and avoid it.

2. An overtaking vessel must give way to the vessel being overtaken - "Overtaking" means approaching a vessel at more than 22.5º abaft.

3. When two vessels are meeting head-on, both must alter course to starboard to pass on the port side of each other

4. When two vessels are crossing, the vessel which has the other vessel on the starboard side must give way and avoid crossing ahead of her - "If to starboard red appear, 'tis your duty to keep clear".

5. A vessel proceeding down a narrow channel must keep to starboard

5. The give-way vessel must take early and substantial action to keep well clear

6. The stand-on vessel shall maintain course and speed - but may take action if it becomes clear that the give-way vessel is not taking the appropriate action to avoid collision.

Exceptions

1. All vessels must give way to those with a restricted ability to manoeuvre - This includes vessels launching and recovering aircraft, as well as vessels whos draft restricts them to a specific defined course due to shallow waters.

2. All vessels must give way to those which are "not under command" - This includes all vessels which are unable to manoeuvre to these rules and is therefore unable to keep out of the way of another vessel.

 

Crossing the "T"

Probably one of the best known naval tactics, and for good reason. It's continued to allow ships to maximise their firepower against the enemy, while minimising damage to their own ships. By turning broadside to the enemy vessel you're able to use all gun batteries on your own ship to fire upon the enemy. While the enemy vessel is heading directly towards (or away) from you, they are unable to fire a number of batteries due to the ships superstructure obscuring the firing line. This tactic can be used in both 1-on-1 engagements, as well as in groups.

Performing this manoeuvre also allows raking fire on the enemy ship, firing your guns through the fore&aft of the ship where there is minimal armour, however allowing the shells to pass through the most modules for much greater damage.

 

 

Avoiding Torpedoes

There are a few do's and don't's for this... so we'll start off with the obvious ones...

Firstly, if you see a torpedo coming your way, make sure the side of your hull isn't facing towards it. This will minimise the area the torpedo could hit you, and so reduce the chance that any damage is caused! Secondly, you'll want to keep your speed up, don't slam to a full-stop as this won't making avoiding the torpedoes any easier, and will just make you an easy target for enemy shells. Keep your speed up, and instead turn in-line with the torpedoes direction to avoid it.

There are two ways of doing this, either turn into the direction of the torpedo. This means the torpedo will be slightly harder to avoid due to the closing speed increasing, however it will keep you on-target and save too many further manoeuvres. This is rather aggressive but can often pay off well. The second way of avoiding the torpedoes is to turn away from them while remaining in-line. This will reduce the closing speed and make the torpedoes much easier to avoid, however it will greatly delay any attacks on enemy ships in the area as it will take longer for the torpedoes to pass, as well as requiring a longer manoeuvre to return to your original firing position. This is the more defensive strategy and should be used most often when trying to escape the enemy.

 

 

Description of Ship Classes Ingame

Aircraft Carriers (CV)

Carriers are an important tool of any team. Their ability to launch various types of aircraft allows them to not only scout for enemy ships, but also deal a deathblow to any unwary vessels who are leaving the cover of the rest of their team. Carriers are the only ships able to launch Fighter Aircraft, Dive-Bombers, and Torpedo bombers in the game. The latter two are the only aircraft ingame which are able to attack enemy ships. Despite their ability to deal massive amounts of damage to the enemy team, Carriers are also easy prey if left in the open without support. They are extremely large ships, and difficult to manoeuvre. This allows enemy ships within range to quickly sink them. With their thin armour even High-Explosive ammunition is able to deal significant damage quickly to these ships from great distances.

Battleships (BB)

Battleships are the heaviest class of ship in World of Warships. Their major traits are their thick armour and powerful guns. A Battleship is a force to be reckoned with, and will often require at least two smaller craft to be able to bring it down safely. Meanwhile, the Battleships guns will be able to easily destroy the lightly armoured opponents with its large alpha damage of its salvo. The weak points of the Battleships however are a serious flaw. With their thick armour and powerful guns, they are very slow and sluggish in the water, and are easy prey for enemy Carriers and Destroyers. Their guns also take much longer to reload than any other class of ship, with a similar tiered cruiser often being able to give off 2-3 salvoes for each of the battleships, and a destroyer reaching maybe even 8-9 salvoes per battleship salvo. As a result, a Battleship will often require the support and defence of other ship classes to allow it to work to its best ability.

Cruisers (CA/CL)

Cruisers are a jack-of-all-trades in World of Warships. Not only can they move quickly with reasonable armour, they have fast-reloading main calibre (MC) guns and a strong array of AA-guns and secondary armaments. Some Cruisers are even capable of carrying torpedoes which they can launch at enemy ships, as well as spotting aircraft to increase their view range. Cruisers as a result are an extremely versatile class of ship, and can normally cope well in almost any situation. Despite this however, they often require support of other Cruisers or even Battleships to be able to hold off enemy forces without being over-run.

Destroyers (DD)

Destroyers are the smallest class of ship in World of Warships. They are also the fastest, and most lightly armed ships. This makes them difficult to hit at any distance apart from point-blank range, and difficult to detect. However due to their paper-thin armour (even thinner than the decks of aircraft carriers!) they can often be destroyed by a single salvo of any other another class of ship. This makes the class difficult to master, however extremely rewarding when things go to plan! The destroyers main weapons are it's stealth, as well as it's torpedoes. With 1 salvo hitting on-target often being enough to destroy any other ship in the game. However they are difficult to aim, and simple to avoid if spotted. For the times when a Destroyer is in trouble, or wishes to cover an escape for it's team it is able to release a smoke-screen. Something which is unique to the Destroyer class in World of Warships, and can often be extremely useful in a number of situations.

 

 

Want to know more? Well there's a group of great guides written by other experienced alpha testers coming soon! Keep an eye out for the time being and i will link to them once they're up in the public section!

 

[Barracada]

i Hate torpedos

[MadFelineHoarder]

I think I'll return to this one more than once, to remember where the hitboxes are located. Thanks!

 

[Shepbur]

updated the original image with more terms which have been popping up on the forums as of recent

 

[Lucifah]

Extremely useful read! (while I'm downloading the client...)

 

[sunday]

I've read that in American forums they use also specific codes for the aircraft squadrons:

 

VF: Fighter

VB: Bombers

VT: Torpedo bombers.

[spitfireace3]

Thank you for this now I know what those insane damage citadel hits actually are

 

[Orree]

Thank you for this now I know what those insane damage citadel hits actually are

 

Same here.  I was familiar with all the terminology, except for that one. 

 

 

Thanks to the Op for the info.