World of Warships: The 11th season of Ranked Battles
6 min readClan Battles just ended but here comes the next Ranked Battles season. This season is very different from the previous seasons as it will be fought in the freshly improved Arms Race mode.
Duration of the season
The Season will start on January 31 and ends on February 26 for a total duration of 27 days.
As you can see, it’s shorter than previous seasons so a bit less time to take care of the high ranks calmly.
The Basic format and rules
This season will be fought at Tier IX and unlike the classic 7v7 format, here, battles will be fought in 6v6.
There will be a total of 18 ranks with the ranks 18, 17, 16, 15, 12 and of course, 1 being irrevocable.
As for the maps, we will fight in this new season on the following maps:
- Islands of ice
- Trident
- Warrior’s Path
- Sleeping Giant
- Mountain Range
I would have appreciated something else than Islands of ice but overall, the maps are good.
Except that, the rules are as followed:
- New players of Ranked Battles will start the Season from Rank 18. Those who participated in the Tenth Season of Ranked Battles will get bonus stars, one for each Rank they previously attained.
- By winning battles, players earn the stars needed to climb the ranking ladder. At the majority of Ranks, a defeat means a lost star.
- Ranks 18-15, 12, and 1 are irrevocable, and you cannot lose a star for defeat at Ranks 18-17. Be the first on your team in terms of XP earned and keep your hard-earned star even for a lost game.
- A bonus star is granted for reaching a new Rank between Ranks 18-11.
- Unique stars are counted to get a Ranked Battles emblem.
- The flags given for reaching Leagues will be removed from players’ accounts when the Season ends.
- All participants who have reached Rank 15 will receive a commemorative flag for participating in the Season, which will remain in your collection after its end.
The commemorative flag for this season is the flag of the Island of Malta:
The Arms Race format
Basic explanations
For those who aren’t familiar with it, this game mode changes a lot from the classic domination type of battles we had in Ranked Battles in the past. It is much closer from a standard battle with the main objective being mostly to eliminate all enemies.
To help you in your holy mission, RNGesus itself will grant you gifts to make you and your teammates stronger. These gifts will be aerial drops released by cargo planes. These planes can, of course, not be destroyed.
The area of the drop will be displayed on the mini-map by a white circle that will also indicate what kind of buffs/power-up it will give you. A timer will also show how long you will have to wait to be able to receive the power-up.
Once the timer reaches 0, the white area will turn green and you will then be able to recover the power-up by entering the green zone. There are a few more details regarding the power-ups areas and they are as followed:
- If several ships are within an area at the moment of its activation, the team with the most ships within it gets the buff.
- If the ship numbers are equal, the area will not be activated until the balance has shifted.
- All allied ships have one level of the buff applied, while the player who activates the area gets two levels!
The buffs/power-ups
There are 5 types of buffs with each having 6 levels. Each level gained for a buff will increase its effect. Everything is summed up in the following infographic:
Each time a team activates a buff, it gains 20 points while the enemy team loses 20.
The Key Area
8 minutes after the start of the battle, a Key area will appear in the middle of the map. 150 seconds after it appears, both teams will have to try to hold it. The area grants 10 points per second for holding it. By capturing it, you can quickly get a point advantage and win if the remaining opponents don’t act quickly enough.
Bonus Stars from the Previous Season.
As per usual, for each rank you reached last season, you will gain a bonus star for this season for a maximum of 22 stars if you reached rank 1. Sadly I was way too busy for that…
| Rank in the Tenth Season of Ranked Battles | Bonus Stars | Starting Rank in the New Season |
|---|---|---|
| 22 | 1 | 17 |
| 21 | 2 | 17 |
| 20 | 3 | 16 |
| 19 | 4 | 16 |
| 18 | 5 | 15 |
| 17 | 6 | 15 |
| 16 | 7 | 14 |
| 15 | 8 | 14 |
| 14 | 9 | 13 |
| 13 | 10 | 13 |
| 12 | 11 | 12 |
| 11 | 12 | 12 |
| 10 | 13 | 11 |
| 9 | 14 | 11 |
| 8 | 15 | 10 |
| 7 | 16 | 10 |
| 6 | 17 | 10 |
| 5 | 18 | 10 |
| 4 | 19 | 9 |
| 3 | 20 | 9 |
| 2 | 21 | 9 |
| 1 | 22 | 9 |
The Rewards
What would be a Ranked Battles season without rewards? Also, FINALLY, the doubloons are back among the rewards on top of the steel. That for sure will motivate me to rank up.
So for the rewards, they are as followed:
| Rank | League | Reward |
|---|---|---|
| 17 | 2 | 15 signals of each of Sierra Mike, November Echo Setteseven, Victor Lima, India X-Ray, Juliet Whiskey Unaone, Mike Yankee Soxisix, 250 Steel |
| 16 | 2 | 15 signals of each of India Delta, India Yankee, Juliet Yankee Bissotwo, Juliet Charlie, November Foxtrot, Hotel Yankee, 250 Steel |
| 15 | 2 | Flag of the Second League (Bonus: –5% to the cost of a ship’s post-battle service) and a commemorative flag for participating in the Season |
| 14 | 2 | 15 signals of each of Sierra Mike, November Echo Setteseven, Victor Lima, India X-Ray, Juliet Whiskey Unaone, Mike Yankee Soxisix, 250 Steel |
| 13 | 2 | 15 signals of each of Zulu, India Bravo Terrathree, Papa Papa, Equal Speed Charlie London, Zulu Hotel, 250 Steel |
| 12 | 2 | 10 signals of each of Sierra Mike, November Echo Setteseven, Victor Lima, India X-Ray, Juliet Whiskey Unaone, India Delta, India Yankee, Juliet Yankee Bissotwo, Juliet Charlie, November Foxtrot, 250 Steel |
| 11 | 2 | 350 Steel, 250 doubloons |
| 10 | 1 | Flag of the First League (Bonus: ?10% to the cost of a ship’s post-battle service) |
| 9 | 1 | 10x “This is your day, Commander!” camouflage patterns, 300 Steel |
| 8 | 1 | 10x “Hunter” camouflage patterns, 300 Steel |
| 7 | 1 | 10x “Victory Salute” camouflage patterns, 300 Steel |
| 6 | 1 | 5x Dragon signals, 500 Steel |
| 5 | Premier | Flag of the Premier League (Bonus: –20% to the cost of a ship’s post-battle service) |
| 4 | Premier | 5x Red Dragon signals, 500 Steel |
| 3 | Premier | 5x Ouroboros signals, 500 Steel |
| 2 | Premier | 5x Wyvern signals, 500 Steel |
| 1 | Premier | 50x “Type 3 – Ranked” camouflage patterns, 2,500 doubloons, 5x Hydra signals, 1,000 Steel, 1 Copper |
Ship recommendation
I will not write books for that part, simply my 2 cents on which ships I would really advise to use for this season.
Destroyers
- Kitakaze: If you combine the already amazing firepower to the buffs you will get during the matches, you end up with an absolutely brutal ship that will certainly make your enemies rage.
- Black: Not much to talk about. Combination of smoke and radar, a deadly pair.
- Chung Mu: With her radar and good stealth I would say that she will definitely be a good pick.
Cruisers
- Dmitri Donskoi: Very effective long-range radar, overall a good ship with reliable firepower (IFHE is mandatory to get the most out of it).
- Roon: Strong guns with the HE getting the improved HE penetration, german hydroacoustic. She will be especially useful if there are a lot of Musashi, Missouri or anything that the classic 203 mm and 152 mm HE shells cannot penetrate.
- Buffalo: That one should also be overall a good pick with the radar and the strong AP.
- Kronshtadt: The ship has the Russian radar, a lot of HP but I’m relatively split regarding the unreliable guns.
Battleships
- Missouri: A battleship with a radar. What do you need more?
- Musashi: Yamato at Tier IX. Sure, the sigma is lower but when the guns hit, they hit terribly hard. Also, you don’t have to fear for carriers with your weak anti-air since none of them can be found at Tier IX.
- Izumo: Well yes. With all the buffs she received, Izumo is now definitely strong. Now, if there are a lot of Kitakaze, you might want to avoid the ship as she still has large portions of 32 mm plating.
- Jean Bart: This one will depend on the popularity of the Kitakaze but with the speed to reach the buffs, the guns and the reload booster, I would definitely say that she will be a strong pick.
This wraps up this article regarding the upcoming Ranked Battles. Good luck commanders!
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