Ocean Map Rework
Starting with Update 15.9, the Ocean map is getting a weather makeover. As a map with no islands, Ocean plays differently from most others, especially for ships that rely on terrain and concealment early on. Rather than adding islands, we're introducing weather effects: storms, snow, and cyclones that roll across the map and create temporary pockets of heavy rain or snowfall. Each battle features just one of these weather types, not all three at once. With Update 15.9, only Cyclone weather is available; the other weather types will be added in future updates.
These weather zones reduce visibility and make ships harder to spot and hit while inside them, which gives you safer windows to close the distance in the opening minutes. As the match progresses, the weather clears up and the battle plays out on open water as usual.
Here's a closer look at each weather type:
Cyclone: A map-wide cyclone active very early in the battle. Reduces visibility and detection range out to 15 km (the usual cyclone reduction is 8–12 km). It lets ships close in more before the action begins, and if needed, gives them somewhere to retreat to on an otherwise wide-open map. The cyclone dissipates after 7–9 minutes, after which time the map plays normally.
Thunderstorms: Two separate storm zones drift across the map in a circling pattern for about 12 minutes. Inside them, dispersion increases, firing-detection range is reduced, concealment improves, and the spotting timer is significantly reduced, letting ships that reach a zone play more aggressively while they're in it. Since the storm is localized and constantly moving, only ships caught inside benefit, which encourages players to actively maneuver toward the zones.
Snowstorm: A large snowstorm forms at the center of the map when the battle begins, then spreads to cover the entire map over the next 3 minutes. It stays present on the whole map for some time and then it gradually contracts back down to just the middle of the map. It carries the same visibility and detection effects as the thunderstorms, just with a distinct snowy look. Since the storm blankets the whole map for most of its duration, it acts as a universal buff rather than a zone players need to chase—only in its closing phase, once it has shrunk back to the center, does it become a small area worth repositioning toward.
Finally, we've brought volumetric clouds to the Ocean map—the skies above your battles have never looked better. Clouds now have genuine shape, volume, and they shift to follow more realistic patterns. This change will also affect Ocean Port.
Development Blog
Please note that all information in the development blog is preliminary. Announced adjustments and features may change multiple times during testing. The final information will be published on our game's website.