The fleet is now ready to take part in brand new type of battle. Changes in game mechanics, interface and damage model improvements! Destroyers - get ready for testing!

A new stage for Naval battle testing in War Thunder. Destroyers and new game features

War Thunder fleet development has moved to “full ahead” and we would like to give you the opportunity to try out some new changes we have already indicated earlier.

We are introducing a new vessel type - destroyers, that can be tested on the new “Ice Fields”  testing location. At this stage players will have 2 destroyers available - the Soviet 7-U type and the British “Tribal” class destroyer, torpedo-boats and aircraft will also be available in the mission

The new test map will be really big - several dozens of square kilometers which will allow vessels of different types to participate in battle. The destroyers will spawn at the edge of the map, while the fast and mobile torpedo-boats will have the spawn points closer to the centre. 

The task in this mission is pretty simple - destroy enemy cargo ships that are stationed at the rear and protect your own. Destroyers have powerful artillery weapons that can shoot across almost all of the map, however shooting from long distance may lead to wasting a lot of ammunition so we would recommend getting closer to the target for more accurate fire. 
 
Torpedo boats begin the battle much closer to enemy positions but they should watch out for the heavy fire of any enemy destroyers and use cover before reaching a good position for a torpedo attack. Players will not have to spend “Spawn Points” for using vessels, while choosing bombers/torpedo bombers will require a lot of SP and only experienced players will be able to fly an aircraft more than once per mission. However almost all players will have an opportunity to try aircraft against destroyers at least once. 

New mechanics and features

		Let’s start with the new icon for vessel damage status. A craft’s layout is fixed in a vertical configuration, it has become larger and easier to read. Also engine telegraph values are now displayed on the layout along with the current speed of the vessel. This panel shows the status of modules, the number of active crew members and the current secondary and AA gun status.  From now on a player will control only the main guns by default, secondary and AA guns are controlled by the AI and can fire at will, the player may choose which type of targets these gun will fire at or turn off automatic fire completely. By default air targets are chosen for automatic fire.
				Clockwise - surface targets, all targets, air targets, no fire.

The “toggle targets” command key should be chosen in ship control -> weaponry section. (click to check standard keys)

Damage model

As we have already hinted at, we have created larger modules in the damage model system, also crew members are allocated to compartments and battle stations - damaging these sections will automatically knock out several of these crew members and the more damage that is inflicted, the more crew members will be lost.

Survivability

From now on, players will control fire and flooding prevention as well as the module repair itself - they should activate the respective button on the action panel. Please consider that enabling several actions at the same time will make the selected progress slower and decrease the reload rate of all guns. New icons for: extinguish fire, repair, repair breaches

Commander - you should choose what is a priority at the time to successfully complete the task.​

A crew fights a  fire, repairs breaches and repairs modules all at the same time​

This is  how the flooding system works -  a breach area size is defined by the line it crosses on the water’s surface, the more the vessel sinks - the more water will flood the craft unless the breach is repaired.  ​

Torpedo sight

We have added torpedo lead indication and changed the torpedo launch mechanics. You may launch several torpedoes (spacebar by default) as previously but if a player chooses the torpedo sight, he will control only one torpedo launcher at a time (you may switch to other torpedo tubes by pressing the same key). A player will see the required angle and dead zones indication for traversing torpedo tubes. 
You can bind the torpedo select key in the weaponry section of the controls.

The white sector displays the current position of the torpedo tube and will not permit torpedo launch due to the  limited aiming sector.  ​

A torpedo launch is now possible!​

Target has been hit!​

Effectively using HE and AP rounds

AP rounds usually punch through the target, but can hit enemy vessels below the waterline and thus can destroy either the powerplants making an enemy craft immobile or ammunition storage - which will cause further damage with stored ammo detonation. 

HE rounds damage compartments, may cause local fires, create breaches above surface that also can be subsequently flooded. 

The War Thunder Team