Ministry of Balance: Italian Concerto

Hello and welcome to the June edition of Ministry of Balance! This update, we're making some changes and updates to the Italian battleship line, gearing them even more toward close-range combat. Those aren’t the only changes we’re making though—a few destroyers and cruisers are getting some love as well!

Italian Battleships

The Italian battleship line has never been very popular, though there are plenty of Captains who swear by these beautiful ships! They have an odd mix of parameters that don’t combine particularly well, so we intend to adjust them and turn these ships into competitive, close-range combatants.

Our objectives are to make these ships more oriented towards their SAP secondary battery and make the main battery more effective in brawls, but approximately retain the overall damage output.

Generally speaking, the Italian battleships have received the following changes:

• Secondary battery firing range has been increased.
• Visibility while firing in smoke has been reduced.
• HP for most Italian battleships has been reduced.
• Damage output from main and secondary batteries has been reduced.
• Main battery AP ricochet angles have been greatly improved for Tier V and higher Italian battleships.

Dante Alighieri

• Secondary Battery firing range increased from 3.5 to 4.0 km
• Main Battery AP shell damage reduced from 8,100 to 7,900
• Main Battery reload time increased from 32 to 33 s
• Stock hull HP reduced from 32,400 to 30,000
  • Bow HP reduced from 1,530 to 1,400
  • Casemate HP reduced from 6,390 to 5,900
  • Stern HP reduced from 1,080 to 1,000
  • Hull HP reduced from 24,300 to 22,500
  • Magazine HP reduced from 16,200 to 15,000
  • Steering Gear HP reduced from 9,720 to 9,000
  • Superstructure HP reduced from 720 to 700
• Upgraded hull HP reduced from 36,000 to 33,000
  • Bow HP reduced from 1,700 to 1,500
  • Casemate HP reduced from 7,100 to 6,500
  • Stern HP reduced from 1,200 to 1,100
  • Hull HP reduced from 27,000 to 24,800
  • Magazine HP reduced from 18,000 to 16,500
  • Steering Gear HP reduced from 10,800 to 9,900
• Visibility when firing in smoke reduced from 9.17 to 6.88 km

Conte di Cavour

• Secondary Battery firing range increased from 3.5 to 4.25 km
• Main Battery AP shell damage reduced from 8,100 to 7,900
• Main Battery HE shell damage reduced from 4,200 to 3,800
• Main Battery reload time increased from 27 to 28.5 s
• Stock hull HP reduced from 37,000 to 33,500
  • Bow HP reduced from 1,800 to 1,600
  • Casemate HP reduced from 7,800 to 7,100
  • Stern HP reduced from 1,100 to 1,000
  • Hull HP reduced from 27,800 to 25,100
  • Magazine HP reduced from 18,500 to 16,800
  • Steering Gear HP reduced from 11,100 to 10,100
• Upgraded hull HP reduced from 38,700 to 36,300
  • Bow HP reduced from 1,900 to 1,700
  • Casemate HP reduced from 8,200 to 7,700
  • Stern HP reduced from 1,100 to 1,000
  • Hull HP reduced from 29,000 to 27,200
  • Magazine HP reduced from 19,400 to 18,200
  • Steering Gear HP reduced from 11,600 to 10,900
  • Superstructure HP reduced from 500 to 400
• Visibility when firing in smoke reduced from 9.96 to 7.47 km

Andrea Doria

• Secondary Battery firing range increased from 4 to 4.5 km
  • Secondary Battery 90 mm gun reload time increased from 3 to 3.5 s
  • Secondary Battery 135 mm gun reload time increased from 4 to 5 s
• Main Battery AP shell damage reduced from 9,700 to 9,500
  • Main Battery AP shell ricochet angles increased from 45/60 to 55/70 degrees
• Main Battery HE shell damage reduced from 5,000 to 4,700
• Stock Hull HP reduced from 41,300 to 39,100
  • Bow HP reduced from 2,600 to 2,500
  • Casemate HP reduced from 7,800 to 7,400
  • Hull HP reduced from 31,000 to 29,300
  • Magazine HP reduced from 20,700 to 19,600
  • Steering Gear HP reduced from 12,400 to 11,700
  • Superstructure HP reduced from 1,000 to 900
• Upgraded Hull HP reduced from 45,000 to 42,200
  • Bow HP reduced from 2,800 to 2,700
  • Casemate HP reduced from 8,500 to 8,000
  • Stern HP reduced from 1,100 to 1,000
  • Hull HP reduced from 33,800 to 31,700
  • Magazine HP reduced from 22,500 to 21,100
  • Steering Gear HP reduced from 13,500 to 12,700
  • Superstructure HP reduced from 1,100 to 1,000
• Visibility when firing in smoke reduced from 11.22 to 8.41 km

Francesco Caracciolo

• Secondary Battery firing range increased from 4.5 to 5 km
  • Secondary Battery 90 mm gun reload time increased from 3 to 3.5 s
  • Secondary Battery 152 mm gun reload time increased from 4 to 5 s
• Main Battery AP shell damage reduced from 12,000 to 11,000
  • Main Battery AP shell ricochet angles increased from 45/60 to 55/70 degrees
• Main Battery HE shell damage reduced from 5,800 to 5,400
• Stock Hull HP reduced from 52,600 to 48,600
  • Bow HP reduced from 2,800 to 2,600
  • Casemate HP reduced from 9,200 to 8,500
  • Stern HP reduced from 1,500 to 1,300
  • Hull HP reduced from 39,500 to 36,500
  • Magazine HP reduced from 26,300 to 24,300
  • Steering Gear HP reduced from 15,800 to 14,600
  • Superstructure HP reduced from 2,300 to 2,200
• Upgraded Hull HP reduced from 54,500 to 50,500
  • Bow HP reduced from 2,900 to 2,700
  • Casemate HP reduced from 9,500 to 8,800
  • Stern HP reduced from 1,500 to 1,400
  • Hull HP reduced from 40,900 to 37,900
  • Magazine HP reduced from 27,300 to 25,300
  • Steering Gear HP reduced from 16,400 to 15,200
  • Superstructure HP reduced from 2,400 to 2,300
• Visibility when firing in smoke reduced from 13.1 to 9.82 km

Vittorio Veneto

• Secondary Battery firing range increased from 5 to 5.75 km
  • Secondary Battery 90 mm gun reload time increased from 3 to 3.5 s
  • Secondary Battery 152 mm gun reload time increased from 4 to 5 s
• Main Battery AP shell damage reduced from 12,000 to 11,000
  • Main Battery AP shell ricochet angles increased from 45/60 to 55/70 degrees
• Main Battery HE shell damage reduced from 5,800 to 5,400
• Visibility when firing in smoke reduced from 13.95 to 10.46 km

Lepanto

• Secondary battery firing range increased from 6 to 6.25 km
• Main Battery AP shell damage reduced from 12,000 to 11,000
  • Main Battery AP shell ricochet angles increased from 45/60 to 55/70 degrees
• Main Battery HE shell damage reduced from 5,800 to 5,400
• Visibility when firing in smoke reduced from 14.2 to 10.65 km

Marco Polo

To distinguish Marco Polo more from the other Italian battleships, she’s getting an improved firing range.

• Main Battery firing range increased from 16.7 to 17.1 km

Italian Commanders

That's not the end of the Italian adjustments! We've made a bunch of changes to the Italian Commanders’ unique skills to fit the updates that have been made and new ships that have been added to the Italian Tech Tree over the past year.

Inigo Campioni

• Spartan Base Trait improved from a maximum of 4 to 5% reduction of incoming damage from shells, torpedoes, and bombs to your ship

Paolo di Revel

Paolo di Revel is an exceptional Commander for battleships as a whole, so his base trait has been reduced some. His Artisan's Touch unique skill didn’t provide a sufficient advantage, so it has been reworked to provide only improvements, with the increase to AP shell fuse time removed entirely.

• Time Is of the Essence base trait reduced from a maximum of 6 to 5.5% reduction in Battleship Main Battery reload time
• Artisan's Touch skill reworked:
  • Battleship AP shell penetration multiplier reduced from 2/5/8/10 to 2/3/4/5%
  • Addition: Battleship shells deal more damage on citadel hits by 4/6/8/10%
  • Removed: Battleship AP shell fuse time increased by 10%

Francesco Mimbelli

Francesco Mimbelli is a popular choice for Commander inspirations, but his unique skill requires a revisit—as a result, it has been completely replaced with a new skill. 

• Time to Make a Move base trait reduced from a maximum of 6 to 5.5% reduction in Cruiser Main Battery reload time
• “I'm Not Insane!” skill has been replaced with Behind the Curtain and a new skill icon
  • Behind the Curtain effects:
    • Reduces ship detectability when firing in smoke by 4/6/8/10%
    • Reduces incoming damage from shells, torpedoes, and bombs to your cruiser while inside a smoke screen by 4/6/8/10%
    • Increases smoke screen dispersion time by 2/3/4/5%
• Smoke on the Water has been added as a 4th row skill

Luigi Sansonetti

The Subtle Manipulations unique skill was originally designed to mimic SAP shells. We’re updating this skill to augment SAP and make these shells even better.

• Subtle Manipulations reworked:
  • Addition: Increase cruiser main battery SAP shell damage by 2/4/6/8%
  • Addition: Increase incoming fire dispersion by 1/2/3/4%
  • Removed: Reduce cruiser main battery shell grouping
  • Removed: Reduce cruiser main battery AP fuse time

Giuseppe Fulgossi

• Squid's Ink unique skill improved:
  • Increase in smoke screen deployment time improved from 20/30/40/50 to 15/30/45/60%
  • Reduction in smoke screen dispersion time improved from 50 to 10/23/36/50%

Luigi Rizzo

• Swordfish unique skill improved:
  • Addition: Increase destroyer SAP shell damage by 2/3/4/5%
  • Increase in torpedo damage improved from 0.75/1.5/2.25/3 to 2/3/4/5%
  • Increase in engine boost duration improved from 2/4/6/8 to 4/6/8/10%

Global Skill Change

The battleship skill "On Second Thought..." has received an improvement to make it more desirable next to Firefighter in the third row. It also has a new skill icon!

On Second Thought...

• Addition: Reduce main battery reload time by 2/3/4/5%

Main Ship Balance Changes

It's not only Italian changes coming this update—we're also bringing some love to various new and old ships in the game.

Northern Dragon

Distinguishing Northern Dragon while improving her is a difficult task, so we're improving her torpedo reload and her concealment to give her a stealthy edge over her gunboat competitors

• Torpedo reload time reduced from 122 to 105 s
• Detectability range by sea reduced from 7.1 to 6.6 km
• Detectability range by air reduced from 3.6 to 3.3 km
• Detectability when firing in smoke reduced from 2.22 to 2.15 km

St. Louis

St. Louis is a low-tier monster of a ship, combining battleship-like durability with impressive cruiser firepower. We're toning down her survivability to reduce her impact in battle.

• Stock Hull HP reduced from 27,300 to 25,000
  • Bow HP reduced from 2,400 to 2,200
  • Casemate HP reduced from 3,400 to 3,100
  • Stern HP reduced from 1,600 to 1,400
  • Hull HP reduced from 20,500 to 18,800
  • Magazine HP reduced from 13,700 to 12,500
  • Steering Gear HP reduced from 8,200 to 7,500
• Upgraded Hull HP reduced from 29,500 to 27,000
  • Bow HP reduced from 2,600 to 2,300
  • Casemate HP reduced from 3,700 to 3,400
  • Stern HP reduced from 1,700 to 1,600
  • Hull HP reduced from 22,100 to 20,300
  • Magazine HP reduced from 14,800 to 13,500
  • Steering Gear HP reduced from 8,900 to 8,100
  • Superstructure HP reduced from 900 to 800

Pensacola

• Upgraded Main Battery reload speed reduced from 15 to 13 s
• Stock Hull rudder-shift time reduced from 9.12 to 8.2 s
• Upgraded Hull rudder-shift time reduced from 7.0 to 6.3 s

New Orleans

• Stock Main Battery reload speed reduced from 14 to 13.5 s
• Upgraded Main Battery reload speed reduced from 13 to 12 s
• Hull plating improved from 16mm/19mm to 25mm on Bow, Stern, Casemate, and Deck

Danae

• Stock Hull HP increased from 18,400 to 20,300
  • Bow HP increased from 2,100 to 2,300
  • Stern HP increased from 1,400 to 1,500
  • Hull HP increased from 13,800 to 15,200
  • Magazine HP increased from 9,200 to 10,200
  • Steering Gear HP increased from 5,500 to 6,100
  • Superstructure HP increased from 2,000 to 2,300
• Upgraded Hull HP increased from 20,900 to 23,000
  • Bow HP increased from 2,400 to 2,600
  • Stern HP increased from 1,600 to 1,700
  • Hull HP increased from 15,700 to 17,300
  • Magazine HP increased from 10,500 to 11,500
  • Steering Gear HP increased from 6,300 to 6,900
  • Superstructure HP increased from 2,300 to 2,600

Emerald

• Stock Hull rudder-shift time reduced from 10.9 to 9.8 s
• Upgraded Hull rudder-shift time reduced from 7.8 to 7.0 s

T-22

• Stock Hull HP increased from 9,400 to 11,500 
  • Bow HP increased from 1,400 to 1,700
  • Stern HP increased from 600 to 800
  • Hull HP increased from 7,100 to 8,600
  • Magazine HP increased from 4,700 to 5,800
  • Steering Gear HP increased from 2,800 to 3,500
  • Superstructure HP increased from 800 to 1,000
• Upgraded Hull HP increased 11,300 to 13,000
  • Bow HP increased from 1,700 to 1,900
  • Stern HP increased from 800 to 900
  • Hull HP increased from 8,500 to 9,800
  • Magazine HP increased from 5,700 to 6,500
  • Steering Gear HP increased from 3,400 to 3,900
  • Superstructure HP increased from 1,000 to 1,100

Gaede

• Stock Hull HP reduced from 15,700 to 15,000 
  • Bow HP reduced from 2,100 to 2,000
  • Hull HP reduced from 11,800 to 11,300
  • Magazine HP reduced from 7,900 to 7,500
  • Steering Gear HP reduced from 4,700 to 4,500
• Upgraded Hull HP reduced 16,500 to 15,700 
  • Bow HP reduced from 2,200 to 2,100
  • Stern HP reduced from 1,400 to 1,300
  • Hull HP reduced from 12,400 to 11,800
  • Magazine HP reduced from 8,300 to 7,900
  • Steering Gear HP reduced from 5,000 to 4,700
  • Superstructure HP reduced from 1,400 to 1,300

Z-23

• Upgraded Main Battery reload time reduced from 6.7 to 6.4 s
• Upgraded Torpedo reload time reduced from 90 to 81 s

Z-46

• Stock Hull rudder-shift time reduced from 6.3 to 6.2 s
• Upgraded Hull rudder-shift time reduced from 4.5 to 4.4 s
• Upgraded Torpedo reload time reduced from 90 to 81 s

Pan-Asian Cruisers

These ships were a pleasant surprise for many captains who enjoy them, but their performance leaves some room for improvement. We're making some nice adjustments to these ships so they can continue to be enjoyed on the high seas.

Chumphon

• Main Battery reload time reduced from 6.5 to 6 s
• Stock Torpedo reload time reduced from 95 to 90 s
• Upgraded Torpedo reload time reduced from 86 to 80 s

Harbin

• Main Battery reload time reduced from 5.5 to 4.9 s
• Stock Hull HP increased from 23,800 to 26,400
  • Bow HP increased from 1,800 to 2,000
  • Casemate HP increased from 2,900 to 3,200
  • Stern HP increased from 1,600 to 1,800
  • Hull HP increased from 17,900 to 19,800
  • Magazine HP increased from 11,900 to 13,200
  • Steering Gear HP increased from 7,100 to 7,900
• Upgraded Hull HP increased from 26,500 to 29,500 
  • Bow HP increased from 2,000 to 2,200
  • Casemate HP increased from 3,200 to 3,600
  • Stern HP increased from 1,800 to 2,000
  • Hull HP increased from 19,900 to 22,100
  • Magazine HP increased from 13,300 to 14,800
  • Steering Gear HP increased from 8,000 to 8,900
  • Superstructure HP increased from 900 to 1,100
• Torpedo speed increased from 62 to 64 kts
• Stock Torpedo reload time reduced from 128 to 115 s
• Upgraded Torpedo reload time reduced from 115 to 100 s

Sejong

• Main Battery reload time reduced from 5.5 to 5.2 s
• Stock Hull HP increased from 28,800 to 29,600
  • Bow HP increased from 800 to 900
  • Casemate HP increased from 3,400 to 3,500
  • Hull HP increased from 21,600 to 22,200
  • Magazine HP increased from 14,400 to 14,800
  • Steering Gear HP increased from 8,600 to 8,900
• Upgraded Hull HP increased from 29,800 to 32,000 
  • Casemate HP increased from 3,500 to 3,700
  • Superstructure HP increased from 2,900 to 3,200
  • Stern HP increased from 1,700 to 1,800
  • Hull HP increased from 22,400 to 24,000
  • Magazine HP increased from 14,900 to 16,000
  • Steering Gear HP increased from 8,900 to 9,600

Model Updates

King George V and Duke of York

• After much investigation, we were able to move the citadel locations on these ships back to their original locations while keeping the updated turret model. Their armor should now perform as it used to.
• King George V's Repair Party has been reverted to the original consumable.

Minor Changes

• Some ships have received updates to their armor models, but you shouldn’t notice any difference in gameplay:
  • Worcester
  • Queen Elizabeth
  • AL Queen Elizabeth
  • Warspite
• The armor models of Devonshire and Surrey have each received a small armor addition to their turret rings.
• The armor model for Giulio Cesare now displays torpedo protection fully in the Armor Viewer.
  • The small upper ledge of the fore and aft citadel athwartships bulkhead has been increased in thickness from 6 to 70 mm