Combat Mechanism

== Armor and Shell ==
This game use fatigue system for armor. Unlike World of Tank which armor is never getting fatigued, as long as the thickness is enough to bounce a shot from a smaller caliber gun and no damage be made. 
In this game, armor can be fatigued and the shot can be bounced. For instance, when the armor is set to 20", when shot by a 16" gun it will be randomized whether the shot would be bounced, or penetrating the armor. Damage made by the shot is decreased by the armor, the thicker the armor the lower the damage made. But, as the damage is going the armor would be getting fatigued. Bounced shot will only inflict little damage. The probability to bounce is random, but the smaller the ratio between the gun caliber and the armor, the higher probability the shot to be bounced. The bounced shot still decrease the armor fitness.
Armor fitness can be decreased quickly by using AP shell, this armor will corroded armor quickly. But, by the time the armor is fatigued the damage made by AP shell will decrease. Because AP shell has high penetrability but low base damage compared to HE shell. So when the armor is thin, the damage made by AP shell is ineffective. Reversely HE shell has high base damage, but low penetrability. So if the target has thick armor, damage made by HE shell would decrease significantly and the armor fitness will only decreased by a few.
When the armor is fatigued, marked by the black part in upper left HUD. Fatigued armor will no longer bounce a shot and decrease shot damage which make the HE shell damage more fatal.
The armor part is fatigued independently, in example when the stern deck is hit the armor in stern deck would be fatigued, but the other part like in the bow would still intact and able to deflect shot. Generally speaking, deck armor is used mostly to defend against a long-range near-vertical shot, while belt is used to defend again torpedo and close-range near-horizontal shot.
== Gun spread and Gun Range ==
Other than damage points, your ship's guns also has two additional stats that you have to take into account; namely, Gun Spread (Accuracy) and Gun Range.
Gun Spread determines how likely your shell to land outside of your crosshair (the red x). Unfortunately, the spread of each guns are not listed on the in-game stats. Generally speaking however, your gun spread can be "guessed" by looking at how much range your gun has, compared to other ships of its tier. The longer your your range is, the bigger the spread. The amount of barrels per turret can also be used to determine how large a gun's spread is. Usually, triple-barreled guns are less accurate than dual-barreled ones, although there are some exception to this rule. (16.5" guns on H-class battleships, Quad 14" on KGV, etc) Note that torpedoes has no spread.
Gun Range determines how long your shells/torpedo will travel before they land (or in case of torpedoes, harmlessly dissappear). Your gun range are listed in your ship stats. Note that some guns that has higher maximum elevation than 45 degrees WILL have their maximum range listed incorrectly. This is due to the stats always displaying your gun range on its maximum elevation. (example: Stalingrad Class has listed gun range of 345, but this is its range on 50 degrees elevation. its actual maximum range can be reached on 45 degrees elevation, which is 351.7)
== Maneuverability ==
Each ship in-game possess unique maneuverability characteristics. Top speed indicates how fast your ship can go at full steam, Acceleration affects how long will your ship take to reach that top speed, Deceleration affects how long your ship reduces its speed, and Rudder Response affects how quickly your ship can steer and countersteer. Note that Top Speed is the only one of these statistics that is actually listed in-game.
In general, Destroyers has the edge in maneuverability, while low-tier battleships and submarines has the lowest. Top speed values are listed at your speed stats. It is possible to increase your top speed by reducing your ship's weight, either by giving it less ammunition, less armor, or lighter gun. The lower your overall displacement is, the higher your top speed. Note that the speed to weight ratio on every ship is different. (for example, one needs to reduce 5000 tonnes on H class battleship to increase speed by 1 knot , while Iowa class merely needs 1000 tonnes weight reduction to gain 1 extra knot)
Acceleration, unlike top speed, are not listed at all in the in-game stats. This means one have to actually use the ship to know how fast it accelerates. Note that increasing a ship's top speed DO NOT increase its acceleration. Turning on a full rudder also do not affect your acceleration in any way. Deceleration is also not listed. 
Rudder speed determines how fast your ship responds to your steering input. It is also not affected by your top speed. However, steaming at lower speed while doing a full rudder turn will sharply decrease your turning radius. (example: a lion class steaming at 13 knots can easily turn inside of the capping circle, one that moves at 31 knots will simply sail off the edge) 
Although many players will simply overlook the maneuverability of a ship in favor of more Armor thickness and/or heavier guns, more advanced player tend to prefer highly maneuverable, long-ranged ships, as the combination of the two enables one to outrange enemy ships without ever receiving hit, and effectively dodging torpedoes.
== Flag Capture ==
In Versus and Battleship Mode, there is a Flag point on one end of the map that is equal distance to both teams. If a ship completely enters the circle surrounding the flag, they start to fill the bar on the top of the screen. Blue represents your team capping and red the enemy. If the bar completely fills, then the team capping automatically wins the match, regardless of number of ships. However, should a ship from the capping team receieve any damage regardless of being in the circle, or the ship capping leaves the cirlce, then the bar starts going down. 
Note that submarines cannot cap.
== Destroyer Smoke Screen ==
Destroyers recieve a special ability to produce a smoke screen. It loads after a short period after the start of the match. When the smoke screen is ready, an icon appears on the bottom right hand side of the screen. If you click on it, then your destroyer produces smoke. Any ship in the smoke or behind it will not be able to be locked on by enemy ships, and enemy battleships won't be able to see the aim point though cruisers and destroyers can. The aiming crosshair (e.g. the red x) will also be disabled for the enemy, making it significantly harder for them to aim. It only lasts for a short period of time however and requires a long reload, and it can block vision of ships, so careful use of it is reccommended.
== Heavy Cruiser Target Pointing ==
Heavy Cruisers get the ability to lock onto enemy ships even when they are behind islands and landmasses. This is something battleships, battlecruisers and destroyers can't do themselves, as when an enemy ship gets behind landmass the lock is lost and they cannot lock onto them until they get a clear view. This means that cruisers can fire from behind landmasses much more effectively than battleships, which can provide a great help when dueling against ships much bigger than cruisers.
== Submarine Underwater Time ==
Submarines have the special ability to dive underwater, but only for a certain period of time. Next to the health bar of the submarine is a purple bar that tells you how long you can stay underwater for. Whenever you are on the surface of the water, the bar will slowly fill up until it maxs out. Whenever you go underwater, the bar slowly reduces as time goes on until it runs out. Once it runs out, you will be forced to surface. When the bar runs out, a red number appears to count how many additional seconds you spend underwater. Once you surface, this number drops down to 0. Only when the number reaches 0 will the bar begin to refill again, so be careful about your time underwater.
Category:Game Tutorial