How to Save Naval:
Hello Everyone
One thing is currently unfortunately clear:
Naval is Dead.Its player numbers are at its absolute lowest, and bots now rule the waves. It came from a feedback loop of bad decisions and lack of attention leading to its abandonment by players. despite this, we can still save it. It’ll be a lot of change and rework, but if done, could become a great game mode to actually RIVAL ground and air rather than just sitting in the shadows.
I don’t think everyone will agree with my opinions on how this can be done, but I just hope you’ll hear me out, and understand at least my logic to as to why I’m saying all this, and I’ll be open to hear everyone’s thoughts in the comments.
The Root Problem: The Tech Tree...
Now, I feel like the Tech Tree’s of WarThunder has been the largest flaw of Naval game mode and the root cause of the majority of its problems. Its been a long-time of slow decay that has led to this point, and also is the biggest hindrance to the gamemode.
Warthunder Naval uses a tech tree system that relies on what I call “Type-Scaling”, as in all lines of the tech trees, we start out in destroyers at low tiers, Cruisers in the mid-ranks, and top-tier is all Battleships. While this has worked so far, the tree design at its foundation is flawed, for what I see as 6 main reasons:
It prevents modern vehicles being implemented
It prevents nations without Battleships from being implemented
It make Battleships too difficult to reach
It forces players into playing Battleships at top tier
It Restricts the availiable gameplay
It goes against how Naval warfare actually occurs
Now in comparision to its competitors or even the Ground/Air Tree progression systems, I personally believe that Warthunder Naval is severly lacking, and this can be seen especially with the Tech Tree of its largest rival:
“The Game That Shall Not Be Named”
WoW uses a Tech Tree Progression system alongside Warthunder Ground and Air that I feel resembles a much better progression system, that being of “Power-Scaling”, whereas each branch is defined by a type of ship, having a dedicated line for destroyers, Cruisers, and Battleships, and as you progress, you simply get better classes of that type of ship down the tree.
I believe this design is MUCH better, since Warthunder already uses this system in its other gamemodes, and due to the 6 reasons I’ve listed above, and let me explain.
1. It Prevents Modern Vehicles From Being Added:
Warthunder’s Current design of the tech tree is so that Top-Tier leads players to a selection of battleships. While this was fine in the past, it has now lead Naval into a dead end. Warthunder Naval toptier is forever locked into the era of the end of WW2, as thats when the last great battleships existed, and where it will forever be stuck at if nothing changes. The Ground and Air gamemodes are currently racing to the modern day, while we were left 80 years behind.
Modern Warships cannot be added into Warthunder currently, as with the current design of the tech trees, either they would have to be created in a separate tab, which is ultimately pointless, or they would be added ALONGSIDE top tier battleships, which is not an option. Currently, Modern-Day Naval Enthusiasts have no representation in Warthunder, locking away a whole potential player base.
Proposed Solution:
If Warthunder adopted a tech tree design similar to WoW, where Tree lines are dedicated to a type of Warship, rather than an evolution of ship-types, it can allow the implementation of Cold-War and eventually Modern Ships to be added to the Game, in the same process and progression seen in the other game modes, allowing for a revival of gameplay and players, and unlocking a new playerbase that would play naval.
2. It Prevents Nations w/o Battleships From Being Added:
Similar to point #1, by having a toptier of Battleships, rather than a variety of types, it restricts the nations that are able to have a competitive naval tab, since they either never had battleships or a WW2 Navy (China, Sweden, Israel), again denying a player base from playing the game, and further restricing the game unnecessarily.
Proposed Solution:
If the Tree was reworked, nations that may not have had battleships, but other vessels could be implemented into the game and still play competitively in all ranks, whether or not they had a battleship.
3. It makes battleships too difficult to reach:
The biggest attraction to Naval is the ability to play with massive battleships with huge guns… once you get to the end of the tree. We all know all too well how DIFFICULT it is to reach top-tier, sometimes taking MONTHS of grinding to reach what even just FEELS like top-tier. While this is universal across the game, Naval is unique in that its tech tree locks away its biggest attractor behind a wall that most people would never reach, and as a result, people leave.
WoW solves this problem by allowing Battleships to be researched at its lower ranks, albiet you only unlock the earliest classes of battleships, and then through its “Power-Scaling” progression allows players to then unlock better classes later. This allows for the retention of players and allows players that wanted to only play battleships reach their goal without having to suffer in the grinder for months.
Proposed Solution:
If the Tree was reworked, by having a dedicated Battleship line, players would be able to unlock Inter-War battleships maybe by around Rank 3, allowing for players to choose playing battleships, or to focus on playing another line of a ship type, allowing for more varied gameplay.
4. It forces players into playing Battleships at top tier:
On the flipside of the coin, players that want to focus on playing Cruisers or Destroyers are forced to either slog through the grind anyway to reach top-tier, or forever staying in the low-ranks, being obsolete in the top tier of gameplay.
WoW again solves this by having dedicated lines of ship types that all scale with eachother into top-tier, thus top-tier is occupied by all types of ships of various classes, rather than just battleships, thus offering multiple pathers
Proposed Solution:
If the Tree was reworked, players would be able to choose their own paths for progression, whether they want to focus on Destroyers, Cruisers, or Battleships. Allowing for more variation and player choice the entire way up the Tree.
5. It Restricts the availiable gameplay:
By having a Top tier of battleships, endgame matches have largely devolved into simply a Slugfest of Battleship broadsides, lacking any real strategy or gameplay, and while fun, gets rather monotonous after the 1000th match.
WoW has perfected the gameplay and balance of how ship types interact with eachother in matches, taking advantage of the special features and differences of ship types in order for each of them to play an important role in matches, with Destroyer’s speed, Cruiser’s utility, and Battleship’s guns.
Proposed Solution:
If the Tree was reworked, players would be able to use a variety of ships in matches, allowing for a redeveloped way matches are played, making them much more dynamic and engaging.
6. It goes against how Naval warfare actually occurs:
Naval Warfare no matter what era it occured was always done with a variety of ship types, and no ship ever went alone. Warthunders top tier implies and emphasizes the “Battleship Duel” which is unrealistic as Battleship Engagements were EXCEDINGLY RARE, and in reality varieties of ships would be fighting together, or completeing an objective.
WoW has emphasized the importance of having a variety of warships in a fleet, highlighting the key attributes of ship types, and have created a system that all ship types remain relevant throughout the entire game, rather than having a ship type be relegated to a certain rank in the tree.
Proposed Solution:
If the Tree was reworked, players would be able to use a variety of ships in matches, allowing for a redeveloped way matches are played, making them much more dynamic and engaging (Again).
In Conclusion…
Naval has so much untapped potential, but it’s held back by a flawed tech tree that forces a repetitive and outdated gameplay model. By modernizing the tree, War Thunder can revitalize Naval, introduce new strategies, and finally bring the mode in line with the rest of the game. Gaijin has done it before with other game modes… why not Naval?
Gaijin's Awful Handling of Naval:
In addition to the Tech Tree, Gaijin has handled the Naval game mode disastrously, as their actions (And at times Inaction) has lead us to this point.
I believe Naval’s additional problems are as follows:
The Addition of Bots To Naval
The “Noobification” of Naval
The Lack of new gamemodes to Naval
The Ingnoring of Player’s Critisism
1. Bots being added to Naval:
The original point of Gaijin adding bots to Naval was to supplement the low-player counts of the gamemode, however their addition has been the #1 biggest problem with naval. The AI acts boderline moronic, as they serve more as cannon-fodder to a team, not being able to operate with any form of tactics or sense of achieveing the objective.
As a result, a negative feedback loop has formed where Real-Players leave Naval, and Bot-Players are added to replace them, only worsening the quality of gameplay, and thus leading to more players leaving the game.
Proposed Solution:
I can currently think of 2 solutions to save naval currently, however I am open to hearing other’s thoughts and opinions to do so:
Improve Bot AI: Bots should act more like actual players—follow basic tactics, respond intelligently to threats, etc.
Inter-Server Gameplay: To alleviate low player counts, allow servers from different regions to participate in the same matches. This could help boost match populations while keeping quality intact.
2. The “Noobification” of Naval:
The original intent I believe was that naval could be more “approachable” to new players as compared to air or ground, however, the feature that they have implemented lately I believe have been counterintuitive to the actual method of bringing players to naval, and also to the gaming methodology of warthunder itself.
1. The New Aiming Mechanics:
The aiming system was revamped to make Naval “more approachable” to newcomers. However in reality, the system is clunky, unintuitive, and frustrating for experienced players. It removes the need for skill like lead calculations, accounting for distance, and adjusting aim for real-world naval ballistics, and 90% of the player base hates the new aiming system, as people feel like it’s a step backward and not an improvement.
2. The Unsinkability Mechanic:
This mechanic was likely another attempt to make Naval more accessible to newer players, by making ships more forgiving when taking damage.However It’s basically a segmented HP bar that makes ships nearly indestructible unless enough damage is dealt to the hull sections. This undermines the complexity of the damage model system in War Thunder and removes its realism. Making it feel more likeWorld of Warships, taking away what makes the game unique.
Proposed Solution:
Remove or Make Optional: Either completely remove the system or, at the very least, allow players to opt-out and revert to the older aiming mechanics.
Create a Hybrid System: Alter the Naval hull and modules systems so that they operate more in-tandem with eachother, whereas a ship’s survival can just be determined by the hull.
3. The Lack of new gamemodes to Naval:
Gaijin has lacked in the gamemode department in all catagories, however I believe it has hurt Naval the most. 95% of Naval matches are some sort of Capture-the-Objective that has made gaemplay AGONIZINGLY monotonous.
Proposed Solution:
I can currently think of several new gamemodes that could help to breathe life back into the naval game.
“Escort": A fleet of different ship types must escort a cargo convoy to its destination. Destroyers & cruisers would protect the convoy from submarines, torpedo boats, and aircraft, and Battleships would provide long-range cover and fire support.
“Fire Mission”: Large warships like battleships and heavy cruisers must bombard a coastline to support an invasion. Destroyers and smaller ships would protect them from enemy torpedo boats, aircraft, and submarines.
“Left Behind”: Battleships, being slow and vulnerable, are left behind during a retreat and must hold off a raiding force of destroyers & cruisers until reinforcements arrive. Forces players to work together, as battleships alone cannot win against fast, maneuverable ships.
4. Gaijin Ignoring our Criticism:
Gaijin has largely ignored our criticisms of the game mode and has just done more and more to harm the game mode, adding new ships and nations (Don’t get it twisted, I LOVE FRENCH naval) to naval while ignoring the actual problems that haunt naval, adding more and more paper or copypaste ships to supplement it.
Proposed Solution:
I guess… just listen? The community has spoken on numerous occasions, it’s time Gaijin addresses these issues and stops ignoring the players who want a deeper, more engaging naval experience.
In conlcusion, Warthunder Naval in War Thunder has been plagued by a series of fundamental design flaws, starting with the rigid tech tree structure that locks the game into a repetitive, battleship-dominated meta. This prevents the inclusion of modern warships, limits gameplay variety, and forces an unrealistic and monotonous experience. Instead of addressing this core issue, Gaijin has introduced a series of poorly executed “solutions,” such as bot-filled matches, oversimplified mechanics, and a damage model that undermines the depth War Thunder is known for. These changes have only driven more players away, creating a vicious cycle of low player counts and further reliance on bots.
A proper tech tree rework, alongside smarter AI, a return to skill-based mechanics, and real community engagement, could revitalize Naval, making it the dynamic, immersive mode it was meant to be. Instead of doubling down on failed changes, Gaijin should listen to the players, rethink its approach, and implement solutions that enhance—not simplify—naval combat. War Thunder’s Naval mode has incredible potential, but it won’t be realized unless these fundamental issues are addressed.
I hope this didn’t come off as me ranting, but…
…Does This Make Sense?
- Yes
- No