May Digest #1

World of Warships

The kerfuffle over the latest Azur Lane event is the fact that some of the new AL ships cannot be bought outright. Instead, they're located within a second crate that's within the first crate otherwise known as Golden crates. And the chances are slimmer this time round. 

Golden crates is an introduction by WG a few years back and is fast becoming the norm with their promotional events. Aside from the exorbitant prices for one ship that understandable given it's Azur Lane crossing over into a World of Warship game (licensing and that jazz), this loot box within a loot box thing is ruffling quite a few feathers. 

The Azur Lane event is also running a series of missions in conjunction with the 8th Wave release. It's, I believe, a strategy designed to keep players connected the AL event, a constant reminder there are bigger prizes just a click away. AL crates, credits, and AL tokens and other "goodies" are among the various rewards. These missions are available to everyone so you will participate even if you don't want to. It's run on the same format as the Dockyard Event with weekly missions. 

The easiest reaction toward this latest AL wave event will be seen by the presence of these ships within game. Noticed only one however since the release. But only seen it in Co-Op. And it's still early days of the event. 

There are several new Common Missions available which you basically cannot opt out of unless the conditions of the mission event specify otherwise. Just finished the Waves of Gold one for instance. Had to chuckle to myself at the pitiful rewards being offered on some of the mission tasks. Example: one Green economic bonus earned for one mission task requirement. The amount of effort for something so minor as one economic bonus is becoming both risible and pathetic. And yet it's now the norm in this game.

Ran (in other word, ground) four ships today (Friday) - P.E.Friedrich, Narai, Viribus Unitis, and K. Schonberg. These are the last of the 17 point captains on my current list for upskilling. Not enough Commander XP to elevate these four to 18 point status at the moment. 

I have already made known my preference for the Viribus Unitis over the P. E. Friedrich. The latter, while as slow as the Austrian, is awful with dispersion unless angled in when firing. And the former has more guns which helps her cause. And she's a tank. Nonetheless both were able to combine to complete their specific mission task in the Dockyard event which I believed would take longer. 

Both Narai and K. Schonberg played consistently within their defined roles, neither great nor bad. 

I might have continued (out of sheer stubborness) in order to complete the Dockyard event missions with just three left. But I had had enough for the day and did not feel like bothering so I quit for the day satisfied I had done enough. And there's always tomorrow. 

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Today is Saturday. Looked further into the Azur Lane Comic Wave 8 event, in particular the series of missions linked to the event. Similar in setup to Dockyard Event insofar as there are a series of mission tasks that constitute a weekly mission "chapter". There are seven in this series so six more weeks of this tripe. Within each "chapter" are eight individual specific mission tasks. Completing a mission task earns a reward. Breakdown for these rewards is as follows:

• Mission 1: completing four mission tasks rewards you with an individual collection token, the purpose of which is undisclosed right now. I thought it was similar to the other collection tokens in the Profile section. But, no. Completing the other four mission tasks reward you with 10,000 credits each. The final reward is 3 Premium days. NOTE: You only to complete five of the eight mission tasks to earn the final reward.
• Mission 2: Same setup but rewards have changed. This time completing half of the eight mission tasks rewards you with 10,000 credits each time while the other half earns you 1 Azure Lane Comic crate. The final reward is 5,000 coal.
• Missions 3 to 6 are identical in terms of rewards with half earning you 10,000 credits while the other half rewards you with one Azure Lane Comics crate each. Final reward is now 1 ALC crate.
• Mission 7 seems to be the main prize because while the mission structure is the same as the others, all the rewards including the final one earns you 1 ALC crate each. So, eight missions equates to nine crates. 

Of course, there is no guarantee whatsoever one of these crates will drop a NEW ship. And then there's the "joy" of finding a golden crate. Lol. As stated previously, the odds have now diminished. 

Speaking of NEW ships, during today's grind, I sighted five but in different games. I counted them: two AL Hindenburgs, two AL Richelieus, and an AL Massachusetts. So players are indeed participating and buying into the event. Expecting that number to gradually increase over the weekend. 

As I logged out, I checked the numbers playing. Out of over 15,000 globally, roughly half were on the Asian server. 

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Sunday. Azur Lane ship sightings today: AL P. Heinrich, AL Tashkent, AL Harbin, AL Montpelier, AL Cheshire. 

Quiet day grinding two of my 17 point captains on K. Schonberg and Narai.

What is noticeable is that against a ship like Minotaur the Narai is way outclassed for mass and weight of firepower as I quickly found out when uptiered into a Tier X game and ran into this British heavy cruiser. The slug-out was one-sided and short and sweet.

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May Day (Public holiday here in Queensland) Monday. Finally completed the last mission task for the fourth week of the Dockyard event. Played just the Narai and was able to finish two mission tasks as a result.

Azure Lane ship sightings: AL Yukikaze (4 times), AL Littorio & AL Hornet & Al Bismarck (each twice), AL Azuma, AL Montpelier, AL Sov Rossiya, AL Massachussets (once each). 

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Tuesday grind was short and sweet. Unlocked level 2 of the Event Pass because I am about to reach the halfway reward - Monaghan. Already have this ship so am keen to see what the compensation (in credits) will be. Expect it to be a lot less than what the compensation was two years ago for a Tier VI ship (over 8 million credits). If it is as I suspect, it will be typical of WG.

Didn't bother to record AL sightings today. But I will likely see a few AL Gorizia which is being released tomorrow at a discounted price. Also typical of WG. Already have the original.

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SurrounDead

Bought the modified Utility truck in tonight's session. Looted a number of local Zombie Bosses and weapon caches and supplies to reach the $20,000 Walshie was asking. Also sold off six stocks of ammo (where 1000 rounds equals $1000). Looks modified for sure, hobbled together to provide more protection(?). Certainly won't win beauty prizes. Wish it is possible to repaint the vehicle.

Planning to revisit the underground train network systems over the next few sessions, but in no rush. Simple purpose will be as a clearance and mapping mission. Will also revisit the redacted airfield to complete a full survey-loot of the location. 

Long-term plan will be (1) locate the secret facilities, (2) scout out the Observatory, (3) Take down the Coyote Milita, a tough mission but worthwhile.

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Went to the redacted airfield today to test out the horde machine recently acquired from the Ice Cream vendor. Worked perfectly as wave after wave appeared. After the fourth wave, I turned it off and then went scavenging for loot. Didn't do a thorough search of all the building mostly because a heavy fog descended, one so thick I could barely see beyond a metre or two. Will return in the future to finish the looting; and I will try from the other end for better access so I can bring in the RV.

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Returned to the redacted airfield. Found a side entry which was really a hole in the north fence that emanated from a path. Couple of unexploded bombs in craters at the western end of the airfield. Yet to loot the barracks and other buildings beside and behind the control tower complex which has already been visited twice. So one more visit should do it.

If I haven't already pointed this out, whenever you encounter a big bandit squad (five or six) that usually means they're attacking a supply vehicle. Well, once you eliminate the bandits, the supply vehicle can be looted as long as you don't log out. Some good loot too for resale with the traders. Once you quit the session however, so does the vehicle. 

Scored a Level 3 keyard. Will start checking the numerous laptop for new quests. And keep an eye out for the all-access keycard. 

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