May 8, 2026
View on Steam↗Dev Diary - OPEN BETA UPDATE IV
3/5 Moderate
BETAMassive naval AI overhaul and performance optimizations alongside a comprehensive rebalance of ship stats and carrier effectiveness.
Key Changes
- 1Naval AI overhaul including improved repair management and taskforce prioritization
- 2Strikeforces now ignore active combats while en route to their primary targets
- 3Massive performance boost: Air fuel calculations are 90% faster and memory leaks fixed
- 4Carrier airplane effectiveness increased by ~20% against air and ships
- 5Comprehensive rebalance of hull costs, fuel, and supply for all ship classes
- 6Heavy MG fighter armament nerfed with increased IC costs and reliability penalties
- 7Submarines are harder to detect passively but easier to spot when firing torpedoes
- 8Coastal Defense Ships and Panzerschiffs received significant build cost reductions
- 9International Market QoL: Default max buy and auto-set minimum civilian factories
- 10New 'Hit Profile' stat added to Ship Designer and Ship Cards
All Changes
⚓Naval Systems(8)
- changeStrikeforce: Strikeforces now ignore active combats while en route to their intended strike target to prevent being 'stunlocked' by submarines.
- changeNaval AI: Removed the 2-layered strikeforce system to improve AI response times to threats.
- changeNaval AI: AI now manages repairs more dynamically, choosing between local dockyards or retreating to larger ones further away.
- newNaval AI: AI can now swap damaged capital ships in a taskforce with healthy ones from the reserve fleet.
- fixNaval AI: Consolidated homebase logic to improve region coverage and prevent strange base selections.
- changeNaval AI: AI will now scour reserve fleets for upgrades to current taskforces during peacetime.
- nerfNaval Combat: Minimum Naval Hit Chance reduced from 2% to 0.5%.
- buffNaval XP: Increased Naval XP gain for Patrol, Raiding, Escort, and Mining missions to 0.2; Strike Force to 0.05.
🚢Ship Balance(16)
- buffCarrier: Carrier airplane effectiveness increased by approximately 20% against air and ships.
- buffCapital Ships: Supply consumption reduced for Carriers (1.2 to 0.8), Battleships (0.8 to 0.56), Battlecruisers (0.48 to 0.32), and Heavy Cruisers (0.4 to 0.24).
- buffNaval Modules: Removed resource costs from most naval modules including guns, deck armor, and hangar decks.
- buffSubmarine: Submarine hide timeout reduced from 20 to 8; revealed timeout reduced from 16 to 12.
- buffSubmarine: Passive reveal chance for Submarines in combat reduced (multiplier 0.1 to 0.075).
- nerfSubmarine: Submarine torpedo firing detection chance increased (multiplier 1 to 1.1).
- buffSubmarine: Penalty from Positioning to Submarine Visibility reduced from +200% to +100%.
- buffSubmarine: Shallow Waters visibility penalty for Submarines reduced from +100% to +33%.
- changeCarrier: All Carriers: Surface Detection reduced (26 to 20), Sub Detection reduced (5 to 1), and Fuel Consumption reduced (87 to 70).
- nerfCarrier: Hull costs increased for Basic, Improved, Advanced, Modern, and Ice Carriers.
- buffShips: Manpower requirements reduced for all Carrier tiers, Escort Carriers, and most Cruiser/Heavy ship tiers.
- buffEscort Carrier: Escort Carrier: Build cost reduced (1500 to 1250 IC) and Fuel Consumption reduced (87 to 50).
- buffCoastal Defense Ship: Coastal Defense Ship: Build cost reduced (3500 to 1500 IC), Hull cost reduced, and Range increased.
- buffPanzerschiff: Panzerschiff: Build cost reduced (3500 to 2800 IC) and Surface Visibility reduced (22 to 18).
- buffDestroyer: Naval Range increased for Early, Basic, Improved, and Advanced Destroyers.
- buffHeavy Ships: Fuel consumption reduced for Pre-Dreadnought, Heavy Ships, and Modern/Super Heavy Battleships.
🎮Gameplay(3)
- nerfHeavy MG: Heavy MG fighter armament IC cost increased (2x +20%, 4x +30%) and 4x mounts now have a -2.5% reliability penalty.
- changeInternational Market: Buying equipment on the international market now defaults to maximum quantity and auto-sets minimum civilian factory count.
- changeNaval Doctrine: Coastal Mine-laying doctrine no longer grants mine sweeping bonuses to Submarines; Destroyer bonus increased to +25%.
🚀Performance & Stability(7)
- fixPerformance: Air fuel requirement calculations are now 90% faster.
- fixPerformance: Fixed a memory leak causing late-game performance degradation for the AI.
- fixPerformance: 2D icon rendering is ~15% faster via a new DX11 ringbuffer implementation.
- fixPerformance: Fixed a sound effect leak that caused slowdowns during long play sessions.
- fixPerformance: Air wing accident calculations now use a pre-roll to skip thousands of late-game checks.
- fixPerformance: Added a sound pool to keep recently played effects in memory, reducing disk access.
- fixPerformance: Optimized calculations for Naval HQ, Supply systems, and Trade.
🤖AI Behavior(5)
- changeGermany: Germany will now prioritize building submarines over surface ships to match historical doctrine.
- changeAI: AI will no longer accept massive lend-leases that would consume all available convoys.
- changeNaval AI: AI can now choose to disengage from disadvantageous naval battles.
- buffUSA: USA AI will now research radar technology earlier.
- changeAI: AI is now more aggressive with advantageous naval invasions.
🖥️UI/UX(4)
- newUI: Added 'Hit Profile' stat display to the Ship Designer and Ship Cards.
- newUI: Added a 'Repair-now' button that stops current missions to focus the fleet on repairs.
- newUI: Added ability to filter divisions by type in the division overview window.
- changeUI: Updated tooltip to reflect that sea zone dominance requires 60% control (was 66%).
🐛Bug Fixes(3)
- fixStability: Fixed a rare crash occurring during order invalidation.
- fixNaval Combat: Fixed an issue where taskforces could incorrectly be in two combats simultaneously.
- fixNaval Combat: Corrected screening bonus efficiency application.
Summary
Naval AI & Mechanics
This beta update introduces a significant rework of how the naval AI manages its fleets. Key improvements include a consolidated homebase logic, more aggressive repair management (including swapping damaged capitals with reserves), and a streamlined strikeforce system that reacts faster to threats. Crucially, strikeforces now ignore 'distraction' combats while en route to their primary targets.
Ship & Air Balance
Nearly every ship class has seen stat adjustments. Carriers and heavy ships generally see reduced supply and fuel consumption but increased hull costs. Submarines are now harder to detect passively but more vulnerable when firing torpedoes. Carrier-based aircraft have received a ~20% effectiveness buff, while Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs) on fighters have been nerfed with higher IC costs and reliability penalties.
Performance & Stability
Late-game performance has been a major focus. Air fuel calculations are now 90% faster, and several memory leaks related to AI and sound effects have been patched. A new DX11 ringbuffer implementation speeds up 2D icon rendering by 15%.