Eagles Take-off: German Battleships in Early Access

A brand-new branch is arriving with a splash! Alternate German battleships are here! Starting from September 1, the line brings to the table enhanced secondaries and torpedoes on board the higher tier ships, and it’s further spiced up by the Sonar consumable from Tier V and up, not to mention a unique variant of Damage Control Party with a faster cooldown but limited number of charges. Note that Tier VII Zieten will be the first ship of Tier VII to become available through the Early Access framework. The arrival of Tier VIII Prinz Rupprecht in the next update will signal the branch becoming researchable.

The battleships each come with a personal mission, and they can be acquired from German Battleship regular and Big crates, with the guarantee system active for the latter. The guaranteed drop thresholds are 20 containers for Tier IV Derfflinger and Tier V Mackensen, 30 for Tier VI Prinz Heinrich, and 40 for Tier VII Zieten. Besides other in-game goods, such as Commander Progression Items, this crate includes Tier V Premium battleship P.E. Friedrich in the possible contents. You can find the exact droprates at https://wowslegends.com/containers/.

Now, let's take a look at the eagles themselves. 

Tier IV Derfflinger

Named after Brandenburg-Prussia field marshal of 17th century Georg von Derfflinger, this ship was an active participant in World War I—including the Battle of Jutland—after entering service in 1914. She is armed with eight 12-inch (305 mm) guns in superfiring turrets.

Tier V Mackensen 

Bearing the name of Generalfeldmarschall August von Mackensen, this ship design represented a step up from Derfflinger, and she was part of the last battlecruiser class for the German Navy, although none of the ships were actually completed. The most notable improvements included more powerful engines and bigger guns—the in-game version of Mackensen is a platform for 4x2 13.8-inch (350 mm) main battery guns.

Tier VI Prinz Heinrich

With her name borrowed from Henry of Prussia (Queen Victoria’s grandson and Grand Admiral of the German naval forces), this ship is based on the Ersatz Yorck-class designs. Another development in a line of heavy ships, this design was initially an addition to Mackensen but was then substantially reworked. The final design never materialized due to shifting priorities in shipbuilding following the battles of WWI, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful when she's around—Prinz Heinrich has 15-inch (380 mm) main battery guns!

Tier VII Zieten 

By this point you're probably not surprised that Zieten is named after yet another commander, Prussian General Hans Joachim von Zieten, who lived in 18th century. She carries even bigger guns—six 16-inch (406 mm) main battery guns on top of the 7.5 km range of her secondaries.

Fly high with the eagles, and turn the tide!