World of Warships is due to introduce their newest ship class, submarines, in a couple of weeks on May 27, a day already pretty darn busy on my personal calendar. (New EverQuest servers, SpaceX launches astronauts to the ISS, etc.)
Those captaining subs will find themselves with a very different view of the battlefield when submerged. Able to move in all three dimensions, captains will be looking at the sonar reflections of the terrain beneath the waves. Every sonar ping, though, will reveal their position and heading on the main map.
Every destroyer, and certain cruisers, carries a full load of depth charges — the only weapon that can hit a submarine when it is submerged. This gives destroyers a second job, after their traditional job of scouting out enemy fleets and being instantly destroyed at the start of the match.
Reaction to the current state of submarines from the public tests have been decidedly mixed. Some object to the fact that submarines are essentially invulnerable killers with an asymmetric advantage against surface ships, once the destroyers are taken care of.
Others point out that the submarine’s acoustically guided torpedoes make it nearly impossible for a target to avoid shots from below if the submarine captain is careful with their pinging.
Initially, submarines will be available only on a special Tier VI battle, where I believe the players will be split between “those in subs” and “those who are waiting to be killed by a sub”.
Only time will tell.
