Holiday Arena

December 21, 2022

Arena returns for holidays, prepare to fight! As many as three seasons will be available during this update—let's check out the exact framework of this installment of the mode!

This time around, Arms Race bonuses are active but with a small, albeit significant exception: HP Regeneration is not in the pool of available upgrades. Otherwise, the system remains the same: three waves of buffs spawn on the map at certain times throughout each battle, always at similar distances to each team’s spawn points. The buff effects benefit the whole team and can be stacked, so don’t treat them carelessly!

The list of the bonuses looks like this now:

Main battery gun reload speed—+10% single stack; +33% at six
Consumable cooldown speed—+10% single stack; +40% at six
Rudder-shift speed—+20% single stack; +60% at six

One more important thing to mention—in case the battle timer runs its course, the side with the most enemy ships sunk is declared the winner. This rule can create situations where a team can win even having lost all of its ships!

As usual, TheSailingRobin will provide you with two best ship options in his opinion for each of the seasons, one Premium and one Tech Tree.

Season 14

December 22–27, 2022 (7:00 UTC/2:00 CDT start and finish)

Ship tier: VII
Ship types: no carriers
Team size: 3
Arms Race mechanic active
Divisions of up to 3 players are allowed
Number of best battle results counted daily: 10
Maps: Crash Zone, Haven, Hot Spot, Land of Fire, Neighbors

TheSailingRobin pick:

Italian Tier VII Premium battleship Roma, for her resilient armor; accurate 15-inch (381 mm) guns; and access to both Exhaust Smoke Generator and Spotter—great tools for both teamplay and personal glory.
French Tier VII destroyer Le Fantasque, for her great speed to get to the buffs first and powerful artillery to dispatch of other enemy destroyers or support your allies in bringing down other targets.

Prize distribution

Participation

1x Secret Santa '23 crate
200 Paint
100 Winter Shards

Top 90%

1 day of Premium Account
150 Steel
250 Winter Shards

Top 50%

2x Secret Santa '23 crates
250 Steel
400 Winter Shards

Top 25%

2 days of Premium Account
300 Steel
550 Winter Shards

Top 10%

1x Super Santa '23 crate
400 Steel
700 Winter Shards

Top 1%

1x Insignia
500 Steel
850 Winter Shards

Season 15

December 29, 2022 – January 3, 2023 (7:00 UTC/2:00 CDT start and finish)

Ship tier: VI
Ship types: no carriers
Team size: 3
Arms Race mechanic active
Divisions of up to 3 players are allowed
Number of best battle results counted daily: 10
Maps: Crash Zone, Haven, Hot Spot, Land of Fire, Neighbors

TheSailingRobin pick:

Italian Tier VI Premium cruiser Abruzzi, for her access to the Semi Armor-Piercing ammunition—equally devastating against destroyers or lightly armored cruisers—and her great speed, concealment, and armor.
German Tier VI battleship Prinz Heinrich, as the ship is riddled with secondary guns with improved range and accuracy. She has the Sonar consumable, a powerful set of 15-inch (380 mm) guns, and torpedoes to top it all off.

Prize distribution

Participation

1x Secret Santa '23 crate
200 Paint
100 Winter Shards

Top 90%

1x Secret Santa '23 crate
150 Steel
250 Winter Shards

Top 50%

10,000 Global XP
250 Steel
400 Winter Shards

Top 25%

1x Super Santa '23 crate
300 Steel
550 Winter Shards

Top 10%

5x Promotion Orders
400 Steel
700 Winter Shards

Top 1%

1x Commendation
500 Steel
850 Winter Shards

Season 16

January 5–10, 2023 (7:00 UTC/2:00 CDT start and finish)

Ship tier: V
Ship types: no carriers
Team size: 3
Arms Race mechanic active
Divisions of up to 3 players are allowed
Number of best battle results counted daily: 10
Maps: Crash Zone, Haven, Hot Spot, Land of Fire, Neighbors

TheSailingRobin pick:

German Tier V Premium destroyer T-61, simply because it's difficult to beat this jack of all trades with her Sonar, fast reloading torpedoes, and powerful artillery.
British Tier V cruiser Leander, for her ability to heal, hide, and punish destroyers and other targets with her powerful, short-fuse armor-piercing shells, or torpedoes if you feel daring (no pun intended) enough!