Mobile games are all about progression. There are only a few cases where the replay value and longevity come from the gameplay itself (we’re looking at you, battle royales). For this reason, you’re always going to find some sort of progression system in the form of unlockable characters, unlockable skills, upgradeable weapons, and other similar mechanics. World of Warships is no exception as you’ll find tons of content locked behind progression.

A Glance at the Upgrade System in World of Warships

For many players, these progression systems are awesome. They give you a sense of strength as you unlock further upgrades. Each upgrade is usually better than than previous iterations, which gives you an advantage over the newer users. Furthermore, by unlocking different weapons (projectile types, in this case), your standard gameplay will vary greatly, making you feel almost as if you’re playing a new game.

HE rounds, AP shells, and torpedoes are the three main ammo types in World of Warships, as we mentioned in our naval basics guide. While the first two ammo types are functionally similar, the third type is radically different, sporting a different shooting mechanic and a much stronger payoff if used correctly. However, torpedoes aren’t readily available from the start, which means that you’ll have to progress and upgrade your ships before unlocking them.

Projectiles types aren’t the only thing you can obtain in this naval game. True to its name, there is an absurd number of ships that you can unlock in World of Warships. Furthermore, every vessel comes with its own independent upgrade system, which you’ll need to invest resources in before taking to the high seas. In the following paragraphs, we’re going to talk about the different progression systems in World of Warships, including unlocking new ships and weapons systems, and their respective upgrades.

A Glance at the Upgrade System in World of Warships

Ship Tiers and Weapon Types

Right from the beginning, you’ll have access to one ship from every nation. All of these ships come equipped with only one weapon and ammo type, severely limiting your versatility in battle. For instance, if you have only AP rounds equipped, you’ll need to measure each shot very carefully so you don’t over-penetrate the enemy ship, reducing the damage of the projectile, or negate it entirely if the bullet ricochets off the hull. Meanwhile, if you only have HE shells, your shots will be significantly weaker in lieu of possibly causing burning with every shot.

Regardless of the occasion, at the very least, you’ll want access to both ammo types on one ship. While the torpedoes are nice and very powerful in the right hands, they’re not strictly necessary to achieve victory. However, with access to both weapon types, you can snipe distant targets and set them ablaze with HE shells, and burst them down from mid-distance with AP rounds. Check out our BlueStacks usage guide for World of Warships if you wish to learn how to use our app player to improve your experience with this naval game.

A Glance at the Upgrade System in World of Warships

Luckily, from Tier II onward, most ships come equipped with both ammo types. In this sense, if you want to increase your odds of success, you’ll need to upgrade ASAP.

To unlock Tier II ships—or any other ship, really—you must first obtain enough experience. Every ship requires a different amount of XP to unlock, which increases as your climb the tiers. Once you have enough, you can unlock the ship, which you can then purchase with silver. Keep in mind that, when it comes to experience there are two types of units:

  • Free XP: Can be used for unlocking any ship in the tech tree.
  • Ship XP: Specific to each ship, and is used for unlocking only the next step in the current tech tree.

A Glance at the Upgrade System in World of Warships

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For instance, if you have the Tier II French vessel “Jurien de la Graviere,” you can only use this ship’s XP to unlock the next French cruiser, “Friant.” Furthermore, while you can obtain only a bit of Free XP from winning battles, you can receive much more Ship XP in the same manner. In this sense, try to play with the ships you enjoy the most, and the upgrades will slowly come to you.

Ship Upgrades

World of Warships is similar to a navy simulator in the way its weapons and systems function. However, it still has that video gamey aspect in the form of ship stats and parameters. By investing the right resources, you can upgrade several parts of your ship’s loadout which, in turn will increase its attributes.

A Glance at the Upgrade System in World of Warships

By visiting your armory, you can take a look at your ships’ systems and see which ones you can upgrade. In order to work on these systems, you will need the corresponding materials. For example, if you’re looking to upgrade your main guns, you’ll need a number of main gun blueprints. Furthermore, depending on the ship’s tier, you’ll need a specific level of blueprint:

  • Blueprint I: Ship tiers I and II.
  • Blueprint II: Ship tiers III and IV.
  • Blueprint: III: Ship tiers V and VI.
  • Blueprint IV: Ship tiers VII and VIII.
  • Blueprint V: Ship tiers IX and X.

A Glance at the Upgrade System in World of Warships

Ship Equipment

In what could be the feature that brings World of Warships closer to any other shooter game, you can outfit your vessels with several types of equipment and gear. In this naval combat title, every equipped piece will modify some aspect of the ship and specialize it towards excelling at specific tasks.

Unlike combat boosters, which are consumed after a single use, these pieces of equipment offer permanent bonuses as long as you keep them equipped, and can either make or break a vessel. For instance, if you equip a fast ship with an Aiming System Modification, it’ll increase the speed of the projectiles fired by the main batteries which, in turn, will make it easier to shoot while moving at full speed. Alternatively, by installing a Torpedo Tube Modification, the speed of your torpedoes will increase significantly, offsetting the downsides of using this type of weaponry.

A Glance at the Upgrade System in World of Warships

A Glance at the Upgrade System in World of Warships

There are many ways to optimize your ship for the task at hand in World of Warships. For every upgrade you purchase and install, your probabilities of success will increase in turn. Keep in mind that even the strongest ships are weak without their upgrades. In this sense, you’d do well to visit your armory often and purchase any improvements that you can afford.

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