Greetings, fellow Captains!

Today is the second episode of our video tutorial on how to play World of Warships.

Last time we showed you how to control the ship and execute maneuvers.

Now it's time to learn a few tricks about firepower.

Every ship carries an arsenal of guns,

ranging from heavy cannons to anti-aircraft guns.

Tier VI battleship Fuso, for instance, carries 106 guns.

How do you manage such assets?

Usually, ships carry three types of armament:

primary armament for fighting against heavy armored ships

such as battleships and cruisers;

secondary armament,

which works well against swift and unarmored targets such as destroyers;

and anti-aircraft guns,

which are quite good for shooting enemy aircraft.

Most of the time you will be using your primary armament.

Use the Shift key or the scroll wheel to switch to Binocular View.

First, check out the indicators.

Their number is equal to the number of primary armament guns or turrets.

Use the reticle to aim at the target.

The green indicator means the gun is ready to fire.

The bright orange indicator means the gun is turning to the target.

The dim orange indicator means the gun cannot be aimed at the target.

The red indicator means the gun is disabled.

A similar color scheme is used for the ship status panel.

The line under the reticle is the reload indicator.

Use the mouse to fire.

Click the left button to fire the guns one at a time,

starting with the first gun that was loaded and pointed to the target.

Click one more time to fire the next gun.

Click and hold the left button for sequential fire,

with all available guns firing one after another.

When you click the middle button or the scroll wheel,

the gun is fired and the camera follows the shell.

Double click to fire a full broadside-all available guns firing simultaneously.

The game features automatic target lock,

which makes aiming easier.

The enemy will be marked with a white circle

and the camera (but not the reticle!) will start following the ship.

Learn how to maximize your ship's firepower.

Before firing guns, position your ship correctly relative to the target.

As an example,

Tier III cruiser St. Louis carries a primary armament of 14 guns.

When the enemy is directly ahead of St. Louis,

only one gun can aim at the target.

Just a slight change of course allows four guns to aim at the target.

Change course even more

and fire a full broadside of eight guns at the enemy ship.

Don't forget to look at the ship status panel from time to time.

It will show you which turrets are ready to fire

and help you adjust your course to make the rest of the guns available.

To use the ship's firepower to the maximum,

turn perpendicular to the enemy ship.

You should consider, however,

that this maneuver will also make you an easier target.

As soon as you have decided on the line of fire and sight angle,

you can lock them with CTRL+X.

This will allow you to look around to perform a maneuver

or check for lurking enemies,

without the guns swiveling to follow your view.

Press X to reset the lock.

Your guns will stay locked in one orientation,

but you will still have to adjust the reticle to aim accurately.

Now you are ready to fire.

This feature is particularly helpful for rotating turrets

that can fire from both starboard and port.

Try not to get carried away

while firing in Binocular View and lose track of your surroundings.

Another enemy could sneak up on you at any moment.

From time to time,

click and hold the right mouse button to keep your guns in place

while you look around and assess the situation.

This will help you avoid colliding with allies and islands

and evade approaching enemy torpedoes in time.

Naval artillery combat may be conducted at long distance.

The main guns of battleship Yamato

have a range of 14.3 miles (26.5 km) in the game.

A shell takes 20 seconds to cross this distance.

The target may easily leave the impact zone during this time.

To have any chance of hitting,

you have to lead the target and fire at the point

where the ship will be when your shells arrive.

Calculating the lead is not an easy task.

Try firing a single ranging shot and watching where it falls.

Adjust your aim and then unleash a full broadside.

The game features two types of ammunition:

armor-piercing (AP) shells and high-explosive (HE) shells.

If your target is a well-armored cruiser or a battleship,

fire AP shells at its hull.

They have a good chance of penetrating the armor belt;

if they do, they will explode inside the ship,

inflicting serious damage.

However, AP shells will pass right through the hull of an unarmored destroyer

or the superstructure of any ship, causing virtually no damage at all.

That's where HE shells come in handy.

They are capable of causing extensive damage to any lightly armored ship.

Also, if the enemy armor is too thick for your AP shells,

HE hits may set the target on fire,

thus efficiently decreasing its survivability.

The modules affecting a ship's combat capability are divided into two groups:

external- those located outside the hull-and internal.

External modules include primary armament turrets,

secondary armament guns, anti-aircraft guns (or AA guns), and torpedo tubes.

If you damage or destroy the enemy's weapons,

the enemy won't be able to fight back.

Internal modules include the engine and steering machines.

Destroy those, and the enemy ship will lose maneuverability

and become an easy target.

Finally, the quickest way to sink a ship

is to detonate her ammunition magazine.

The secondary armament works automatically.

It targets the nearest enemy ship heading towards you

and having the least hit points.

Or you can set a priority target manually by pressing Ctrl

and clicking the left mouse button on an enemy.

The icon denoting secondary armament priority will appear

above the targeted ship.

If the specified ship leaves

the effective range of your secondary armament,

the batteries will automatically switch to the nearest adversary.

Making the most of your secondary armament is important.

Guns with caliber of 6 inches (150 mm) and larger use AP shells,

whereas smaller guns fire HE shells.

Thus, knowing the performance capabilities of your ship

allows you to seek out optimal targets

and fight your counterparts most efficiently.

AA guns also function automatically,

concentrating fire on striking air groups,

such as torpedo bombers and bombers.

Aircraft that enter effective range first become priority targets.

You may also specify another target for AA guns

by pressing Ctrl and clicking the left mouse button on aircraft

that you consider the most dangerous at the moment.

It is no coincidence

that aircraft and ships carrying torpedoes are priority targets for AA

and secondary armament guns.

Check our next episode to learn why.

World of Warships Action Stations