Update B18 announcement

Captains!

Christmas is coming, and the Archipelago certainly won't miss it! Update B18, scheduled for release on December 15th, will prepare us for the celebration! As always, we invite you to take an early look at it.

Please note that this changelog is preliminary and is subject to change.

◈◈Christmas in World of Sea Battle◈◈

The festive event begins on December, 23rd and is scheduled to end on January, 5th:

◈ Use special ammunition, snowballs, to sink "Sea Elves". These are special NPS (non-player ships) immune to regular cannon fire. You will find festive gifts and valuable resources in their holds
◈Earn the event currency, seahorses, and exchange it for valuables with overseas traders
◈Receive rewards for completing daily event quests
◈Craft special consumables in the workshop that are only available during the event
◈Collect gift boxes at sea
◈Have snowball fights with other players!

Snowball mechanics: These are a thematic ammunition type that is only available during the event. It only deals damage when used against "Sea Elves" - when used on other targets, it simply covers the opponent's screen with snow! Be careful: snowballs melt in the hold in the southern regions!

You can earn seahorses in the following ways:

◈Completing event quests
◈Fishing
◈Collecting treasures from treasure maps
◈Collecting loot from unique NPS
◈Exchanging resources at Altars

Once the event begins, every player will receive a commemorative flag and decoration for their Personal Island upon logging in.

We've also taken your feedback into account and adjusted the event schedule. After the main celebration period ends, it will still be possible to exchange seahorses at overseas traders for five more days - until January 10th, that is.

Please note that event quests are available to players of captain rank 7 and above. Additionally, all seahorses will be removed from the game once their usage period ends on January 10th.

◈◈New Ships◈◈

We recently showcased four new ships on our social media — it's about time for them to appear on the Archipelago!

◈Southampton
Transport, rate V.

A frigate that served the British Navy for over 55 years. It participated in both military operations and delicate diplomatic missions — even transporting members of the royal family. Southampton became the basis for a whole class of 32-gun frigates, which played a key role in the Royal Navy in the late 18th century.

◈Iberia
Fast-moving, rate III.

One of the pioneers of the Espaniol shipbuilding school, it was first built at the San Martinas shipyard. It is widely used for patrols, protecting trade routes from pirates, and raiding deep into enemy territory.

◈Three Hierarchs
Heavy, rate IV.

A battleship built in the mid-18th century and distinguished by excellent maneuverability and stability. Three Hierarchs was one of the key ships of the Russian fleet's first major expedition from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, and a symbol of the victory at Chesma.

◈Montanes
Battle, rank II.

The ship was built with funds from residents of Cantabria, a mountainous region of Spain, hence the name, which translates as "mountaineer." It became a model ship for subsequent 74-gun ships of the line in the Spanish Navy of the late 18th century. It participated in practically all the key naval battles of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

With Update B18, these four ships will receive early access status and be added to the Imperial Chest reward pool.

The current early access ships — Friedrich Wilhelm, Le Saint Louis, and Azov — will lose this status and become available for construction at the Shipyard using resources.

◈◈General Changes◈◈

◈A New Year's Chest added to the Store
◈Arena store changes:
- Added new items and Season Two designs
- Decreased prices of lanterns, consumables, and valuables. XP lot price is increased
- Every Captain's Seal lot now contains twice as many days for the same price
◈ Increased rewards for Arena battles
◈ Once certain ammo type is fully depleted, it's now automatically switched to another one present in the hold
◈ "Legend and Tools" section of the map now displays how much resources is present in a port's trading house
◈ Updated the Gray Island port model
◈ The "Trade" faction quest limit increased from 8 million to 15 million
Installing the best sails on low-ranking ships no longer requires voodoo skulls
◈ Installing most upgrades no longer requires battle marks
◈ Made changes to the cost of upgrading mines and manufactories.
◈ Upgrading to level 3 now costs gold, and upgrading to level 4 now costs more resources
◈ Fog zones are now slightly smaller, but will appear more frequently
◈ The game now fully supports IME input

◈◈Ship adjustments◈◈

Vasa
Maneuverability decreased from 68 to 64

Red Arrow
Speed decreased from 9,1 to 8,6

Deadfish
Speed decreased from 6,8 to 6,6
Armor decreased from 8,2 to 8

Axel Thorsen
Speed increased from 9,5 to 9,8

◈◈UI◈◈

◈Updated the equipment presets window
◈Updated the cargo hold window when at sea
◈Updated the Arena reward icons
◈Updated the Arena scoreboard animation
◈Improved the immersive UI mode (F4 key): the UI will now appear when camera is close to the ship

◈◈Fixes◈◈

◈Fixed the algorithm used for selecting starting points for Tavern quests. This should prevent situations where such points are generated in inaccessible locations
◈Fixed a client crash when exiting the game using the "Close" button in the Steam window
◈Fixed a client crash when exiting a port
◈Fixed an issue that prevented characters from some languages ​​from being displayed and used in the game
◈Fixed an issue preventing access to owned ship designs when selecting certain localizations
◈Fixed the Legendary Flags' bonus to earning battle marks when in open world
◈Fixed an issue where experience was not counted towards unlocking an upgrade slot when purchasing a bundle containing it