Update 15.8 is live on the EU server, and World of Warships' 11th anniversary is now actually underway in the game. Logging in today reveals more than the usual anniversary decorations: Festive Rewards, the Dockyard, new Operations, Ranked, and the next Clan Battles season are closely interconnected.
The most important practical point is simple: play a first battle, then take a relaxed look through the Armory and Port. Especially with a larger ship collection, there is plenty to pick up in 15.8 without having to play every ship individually.
The free anniversary gift can now be claimed
After the first battle in Update 15.8, a free anniversary bundle unlocks in the Armory. It contains:
- 11 days of Warships Premium Account
- the Happy Blastday destruction effect
- the Blast & Bash permanent camouflage
- 3 Battle of Santiago de Cuba containers
- 3 Red Steel Titan Premium containers
This is explicitly a free anniversary gift, rather than a Doubloon offer with a friendly-sounding headline.
Anyone short on time today should at least fit in that one battle and then claim the bundle. For eleven years of World of Warships, Port can afford to be a little more generous for once.
Festive Rewards: Snowflakes without the mindless ship-by-ship grind
Festive Rewards, which many still simply call Snowflakes, are active again with Update 15.8.
Tier V–X ships provide Festive Tokens, while superships award Steel. The extra mechanic for larger Ports is particularly welcome again: earning Base XP can trigger further Festive Rewards on other ships.
How many extra ships can be handled at once depends on the size of the player's Port. That makes the anniversary much less of a mandatory clicking and Co-op exercise for accounts with plenty of ships.
One interesting target for Festive Tokens is Japanese Kurama ⚓, which enters Early Access with 15.8 and costs 11,000 Festive Tokens.
The pragmatic approach is therefore not to work blindly through every ship in turn. Instead, play ships that reliably earn good Base XP and trigger additional Festive Rewards in Port at the same time.
Marlborough B: do the sums before grinding the Dockyard
The new Dockyard has also started. Its main reward is British Tier IX Marlborough B ⚓.
The Dockyard has 28 construction phases. Of these, 23 can be completed through combat missions. Five phases must be purchased with Doubloons.
The confirmed prices:
- individual phase: 1,400 Doubloons
- starter pack for 5 phases: 4,500 Doubloons
- starter pack for 10 phases: 8,500 Doubloons
Anyone who really wants Marlborough B should therefore decide early. Buying five compulsory phases individually would cost 7,000 Doubloons, while the five-phase starter pack costs 4,500 Doubloons.
That is not a reason to buy the ship at all costs. It is simply a fairly good reason not to spend weeks grinding missions, only to discover afterward that the compulsory phases are much more expensive individually.
Three new Operations for lower tiers
15.8 also introduces three new PvE Operations for lower-tier ships:
- Trial by Fire from Tier II
- Swarm of Steel from Tier III
- Beehive from Tier IV
The Operations scale up to Tier VI, finally giving the lower tiers a little more purpose than surviving the first few hours of an account and then gathering dust in Port.
For veterans, the interesting point is that the scenarios are not designed entirely around beginners. Depending on account progress, more challenging variants can appear.
Anyone with a few low-tier ships that have done nothing but collect Port dust for years now at least has a reasonably sensible excuse to take them out again.
Ranked Season 31 starts without CVs or submarines
Ranked Season 31 also begins with Update 15.8.
This time, the leagues are divided as follows:
- Bronze: 7 versus 7 at Tiers VI and VII
- Silver: Tier VIII
- Gold: Tiers IX and X
Aircraft carriers and submarines are excluded from all leagues. In addition, only the highest-XP player on the losing team keeps their star.
At least on paper, that makes for fairly straightforward surface-ship Ranked. No CV-specific mechanics or submarine hunting, with a little more weight on your own result if the team sinks anyway.
Clan Battles Season 35: 5 versus 5 at Tier VIII
For Clans, the upcoming Season 35, Komodo Dragon, is probably the bigger adjustment. It starts on September 16 and will be much more compact than the traditional 7v7 format.
The format is:
- 5 versus 5
- Tier VIII only
- a maximum of one battleship per team
Specific ship restrictions also apply. Lenin ⚓ is banned outright. No more than one ship from the combined group of Le Terrible ⚓ and Le Fantasque ⚓ may be used.
In addition, a team may contain no more than two ships from the group comprising Cherbourg ⚓, Tallinn ⚓, Vladivostok ⚓, and Borodino ⚓.
In the 5v5 format, every individual position is likely to carry considerably more weight. An early loss is simply much harder to hide with only four ships remaining than with a larger lineup.
It is therefore worth Clan teams testing Tier VIII lineups now. The rules are known, and there is enough time before the start to find out which setup looks brilliant on paper and catches fire after three minutes in a real battle.
Do not confuse Tägliches Ritual with Täglicher Bedarf
15.8 also starts a new phase of Tägliches Ritual—the daily ritual offer. Its daily random bundles are free, so they really are among the things you can claim without spending Doubloons.
Täglicher Bedarf, the daily needs offer, should be considered separately. This is a Doubloon offer, rather than a free login bonus.
The distinction sounds trivial, but it is useful with so many anniversary sections running in parallel. Free means free. A pretty button with a countdown still does not turn Doubloons into an anniversary gift.
Conclusion
Update 15.8 is now live, and there is enough to do over the next few days without inventing busywork.
Everyone should claim the free anniversary gift. Large Ports benefit from the simplified Snowflake system, the new low-tier Operations give old ships a purpose again, and Ranked gets off to a pleasantly straightforward start without CVs or submarines.
With Marlborough B ⚓, meanwhile, the usual advice applies: count the Doubloons first, then develop romantic feelings for the Dockyard.