6 Months of 2015 - Looking Back

Staring August in the face let's look back and review what's happened over the last few month to refresh our memories of some significant changes that have taken place,

So let's have a look:

Increased XP and credit earning - Ranking system

Feb/March 2015 -
The first big changes in-game were the inclusion of increased credits and experience. Firstly credits seemed to be very scarce to come by in the earlier tiers (where you earn less). The devs did an overhaul that included adding a ranking system based on factors such as how much damage you dealt, how long the match lasted and what ship tier you are in.

The F-S rank was included to make players aware of how well they performed whilst giving a sense of their earnings related to that performance.

Major Ship Adjustments

April/May 2015 -
This involved all ships receiving game-changing nerfs/ buffs depending on its current performance.

Changes from damage, speed, defence level, turning rate, dive time, plane speed, you name it it was all there and almost every ship got changed. Let's put it this way, things felt different.

Major Ship Update

May/June 2015 -

This included a large patch where all the 'blank' spaces in the ship tree were filled in. For example tier 10 and tier 6 battleships were added, among others for all classes. Around 50 ships were added in total.

This facilitated an easier and more enjoyable experience to players going up the ship tree. It also gave plenty of players their first tier 11 ship for free. (almost)

New game Modes

June/July 2015 -

Two new game modes were added: Flagship and Occupation. Along with the standard Annihilation mode this gave players a total of three modes to try.

Although still requiring adjustments to improve them both modes tend to finish quickly with little rewards because earnings are still based off damage dealt, not the actual success of the game type.

Website & Forum Updates

July 2015 - 

Changes to improve the fluidity of the website and forum were added. Things like removing captcha (a pain), longer Auto-Log off time (another pain), word wrap (get the gist?) and latest posts-by have now been implemented.

Making for a more relaxed experience when it comes to commenting about things navyfield related.

Future Updates

Latter 2015- 

The biggest focus of attention for everyone now is on the end-game content: harbour assaults. The development team are surely feeling the breath of the community down their neck.

The good news is that development has now begun. The bad news is that it will likely take some months to get to a point where testing will take place, before it gets onto a live launch.

Many aspects need to be addressed like; the world map, the shipyard blimp interface, battle rooms to set up the matches, then the actual game mode itself ( a derivative of annihilation ), along with fleet banks, challenge times and not to forget the benefits of owning a harbour; access to unique ships and production levels for defence. And ultimate bragging rights.

We want the whole package, but we also want it to be done well in the first instance.

Captain's Log: Episode 7

Captain's Log:

The H39 is a interesting ship as you can get the upgrades pretty fast due to earning the most xp and credits. Now that the 'final' tier ship is mine I can branch out into the heavy cruiser line. Already having a the Roon, I've managed to access the First Bismarck and the Scharnhorst very quickly too.

Heavy cruisers' compact size is a big bonus. Not just from the point of view of avoiding shells, but, more crucially, from a psychological perspective. Most players ignore a ship that is smaller in appearance and will focus on a bigger one (like a battleship) instead.

This psychological indoctrination is easy to recognise, and therefore easy to combat. You can practically see how a player thinks. Then you can predict what he is going to do. This means you have the advantage.

Speed, agility and dps are the key things that make a heavy cruiser a serious threat. Alone a heavy cruiser will be ok in a 1 vs 1 fight. But working collectively and letting friendly (battle)ships draw fire is the key to driving a heavy cruiser effectively. Chipping away your victims dp. You have to allow time for that dps to kick in

If you can not overcome your target(s) in that time, then you need to rethink your strategy.

Tier six heavy cruisers lack a scout. Therefore being with team mates and around islands is an essential tactic to improve your vision and effectiveness in battle.

You need to keep on the move. Never wander in a straight line. You are small and nippy but can still get thumped by shells if you take it easy.

I always make my ship difficult to hit by zig-zaging. Evading shells in a heavy cruisers is much easier due to erratic driving and the ship being smaller in size.

I've noticed that it is much easier to target smaller support ships with a CA's guns, as the accuracy of the shells is much better plus the range is closer so it take less travel time for the shell to hit the target.

Heavy cruisers are fun after being in a battleship. You can run and gun. It's a joy in comparison to being a shell magnet for hundreds of games.

It seems like this new class has breathed new life into the game for me.

Weekly Update 16th July - Summer Cooldown Event

After Wednesday's patch which included a few minor changes, the devs are now running a Summer Chilldown Event.

This event encompasses three separate events rolled in one and includes, 50% extra experience, sink ships to earn credit items, and daily missions to earn gold. Read more

This is great as we haven't had an event for a couple months. It provides that litte extra incentive to sink the ships you want to for extra credits, and complete the missions to earn free gold.

And quite a necessary one as many are waiting for the Harbour Assaults to be developed and added into the game.

Captain's Log - Episode 6

Conducting a freemium grind to tier eleven takes its time. Having racked up over 1500 matches so far it seems a bit far to go for the end result. But then again I'm not playing the game several hours per day like I could in times past.

Still it's a fun challenge and playing match after match against similar opponents while a little boring is actually good because I can learn what ships they have and how they prefer to fight. I am still able to mix things up myself by switching between my two primary battleships, the Bismarck (9) and Bayern (8).

The Bismarck is pretty accurate, but can get swamped easily if not paying attention, so I tend to keep it lightly armoured and favour speed over a heavily armoured setup. I find it better operating at the back of your team formation, able to advance and retreat with more freedom. 

The Bayern on the other hand can be played somewhat more aggressively. Loading up 3 or 4 stacks of belt armour you can approach targets at medium/close range and hurl shells on them. With the high dps afforded it by the generous bank of secondary guns, this can be a lot of fun. But beware of torpedoes and high angle shots from supporting ships. If you are being ranged, it's best to retreat.

Alternating between the two ships offers a bit of freedom from one-ship-only stress, coupled with a high level officer crew 90+ makes both ships that much more potent and interesting to play. If I'm not enjoying it in the one ship, however, I can simply switch to the other when needed.

I will be interested to try and unlock the heavy cruiser line for KM at some point, as the tier nine and eleven for most nations ca's seem very agile and dangerous, even able to take on battleships given the right situation. 

Once I obtain the H39 and it's upgrades I have the option to work on another km ship line expanding the officers I have to run them correctly. Initially I could switch to heavy cruisers, the class is similar to BB's in their officer requirements.

Then I always have the option of getting stuck into an entirely new nation. As I already have a USN Bogue, and IJN torp setup for light cruisers and submarines.

Carrier gameplay is very much about managing your squadrons of planes. It feels more like a real time strategy in the sky. Which is somewhat appealing having played many such games in the past.

There is still plenty of life in the game for me.

AP/HE Shells

How do I know if my target is armoured or not?

Test it out. Testing is the primary method of discovering if a ship has armour or not.*

Fire a salvo at your target and follow it up by the other type of shells on your next salvo. 

You need to pay attention to the numbers that pop up over the enemy ship when you score a hit. If they are big white (deck), big green (belt) or big yellow (crit) hit then the shell is doing it's work.

If the digits coming up are small and grey coloured then the shell type you are using is less effective. Either because you fire HE against armour, or AP shells against no armour. Both resulting in a poor hit.

Once you determine if the target is armoured or not, switch to the corresponding shells to inflict maximum damage.

Usually a couple of broadside salvos will eat up any ship armour. If you are taking damage as well get those AP salvoes on target and switch back to HE after the armour is away.

* By knowing what speed your target ship goes when upgraded, see whether it is travelling faster or slower than the known value. It's still a guess if he actually has armour or not. But it's a safe bet that he has armour on board and that's what's slowing him down a few knots.

How much AP shells should I select?

In general it's always a good idea to be packing some AP shells. Usually you will want somewhere between 10% - 20% AP to give you enough throughout the whole battle.

In situations where there are lots of high tier battleships, heavy cruisers and even destroyers, you might lean more toward 20% AP.

You will have to gauge as well as you can if players equip armour. In general most of them do. (unless they travel very fast, in which case they probably are using a speed set up)

Recent Information

Lets get straight to it.

Quest Missions

Firstly the devs are currently working on Quest Missions which will give regular players daily challenges to overcome to earn some free gold.

To be released soon...

Harbour Assaults

The development team have announced (navyfield2.com) that their next main project is going to be Harbour Assaults. Which, let's face it, is a huge task.

It's a necessary step in development to provide navyfield 2 community that top level challenge and strategy that it deserves. Especially for the fleets who are active and want more of a challenge.

So the dev team are knuckling down on harbour assaults constructing it from the ground up to make it work smoothly with the current system. They also announced that testing will take place to work out bugs and issues as they go along, which is always good to know as it gets us involved too.

We'll have to wait and see how the blimps on our shipyards will work with the fleet/ harbour assault information. As they were added months ago (February?) and were directly for this purpose.

Fleet wars should also be heading our way, and whether that is separate to harbour assaults is yet to be determined.

Tier Increase - XII

And don't forget the devs haven't yet revealed when the new Tier 12 ships will be added. But  this will probably be further down the line this year as the leak was only in June.

Lots to look forward to on the horizon!

Captain's Log - Episode 5

Having several hundred matches under my belt I have a firm grasp of the game now.

Certain maps need to be played in certain ways. Ships need to be played correctly. Teams who work together (and work to their ship strengths) really stand out and just dominate a match. Fulfilling your ship roles are crucial.

Currently I drive a tier 8 BB (Bayern). In terms of size, it's more compact than previous tiers and, therefore, it's easier to evade shells from other BB's when at range.

I've learned to appreciate that you need to stick with your team and focus fire more so than before, as BB's don't perform as well on their own.To win battles you must reduce the enemy's offensive capability one ship at a time while keeping your ships in tact.

As most battles progress, picking the right target and picking the right time to strike is vital, asking myself:

• Is this target really worth attacking? Do I have an opportunity to break apart the enemy formation? Will I attract too much aggro and get sunk? Am I correctly positioned?
• Am I able to attack without being attacked? (am I scouted?) Can I retreat? Do I have back-up or not?

The play style of NF2 strongly encourages captains to stay with their team mates. The majority of battles can be won with superior numbers. BB's have lots of DP, but that can vanish if you get torpedoed, or shelled by the combined fire of multiple CA's/ BB's

BB's are vulnerable because of their slower speeds (when heavily armoured), slower turn rate and long reload times. However, get several of them together firing at one target and they will quickly devour it. 

The game is still fun and yet frustrating at the same time, as is the case in most random match made scenarios.