As a beginner, I often struggled to find resources that genuinely make a difference, help you understand the game better, and improve faster. So I’ve put together ten tools and references that I find among the most useful for getting started with World of Warships without spending hours searching through Google.
1. Create your account correctly and collect the free bonuses
This is probably something you should check before you even start playing.
There are several different systems: invite codes, referrals, and bonus codes. Some rewards need to be activated very early, so it’s worth checking all of this before you’ve already started progressing through the game.
The guide covers:
- server selection;
- invite codes;
- new-player bonuses;
- the recruitment/referral system;
- bonus codes worth trying;
- the order in which you should do all of this.
2. WoWS Glossary: finally understand the jargon
If you're new and someone starts talking about overmatch, broadside, kiting, crossfire, DPM, hydro, radar, DCP, concealment, or sigma, the game doesn't always do a great job of explaining this language to you.
The glossary brings together the main terms, abbreviations, and mechanics with simple explanations.
3. Ship and Commander builds
Probably one of the most useful community resources available.
The document was originally created by Yurra and is now maintained by the Gameplay Helpers team. It contains recommended Commander skills and upgrades for a huge number of ships.
The builds are mainly designed as general recommendations for Random Battles. In Ranked, Clan Battles, or depending on your own playstyle, some choices can obviously change.
4. Ship Tool: compare ships in detail
If you want to understand why two ships that look similar can behave completely differently, Ship Tool is extremely useful.
You can compare things such as:
- guns and range;
- dispersion;
- concealment;
- mobility;
- torpedoes;
- consumables;
- detailed ship characteristics.
It’s much more useful than deciding a ship is terrible simply because it just sent you back to Port.
5. WoWS ShipBuilder: create and test your builds
A very useful complement to the build document above. Choose a ship and you can apply:
- Commander skills;
- upgrades;
- consumables;
- different configurations.
The ship’s statistics change according to the build you select, so you can clearly see what you gain and what you give up.
6. Official Wiki: Game Basics
If you want to learn the fundamentals without relying on a video uploaded eight years ago, the official Wiki is still a very useful resource.
It covers controls, progression, ship classes, and many of the game’s core mechanics.
7. Understand the WoWS economy
WoWS has a rather impressive number of currencies and resources:
- Credits;
- Doubloons;
- Coal;
- Steel;
- Free XP;
- Commander XP;
- Research Points;
- economic bonuses.
The Wiki explains how they work in detail.
World of Warships Wiki: Economy ↗
Do some research before spending your Steel and Coal. Don't waste your best economic bonuses on low-value battles or low-tier games against bots. And don't sell your Tier V and higher ships: some events specifically reward accounts that own a large number of ships.
8. Mods: ModStation / ModHub or Aslain
Mods can genuinely improve the readability of the game, but you probably don't need to install 73 of them before your fifth battle.
Official / simple option: ModStation and ModHub.
Best option in my opinion: Aslain.
For a beginner, I would mainly look at:
- improved minimap;
- enemy ship speed and forward/reverse movement indicators;
- shell flight time and dynamic crosshair;
- improved team panels;
- consumable information;
- target-angle indicator.
9. WoWS Numbers: track your statistics
WoWS Numbers lets you check your overall statistics as well as your stats for individual ships.
You can track things like your win rate, damage, experience, and ship-specific statistics to identify areas where you can improve.
10. Save and watch your replays
World of Warships automatically records your last 30 battles as .wowsreplay files. You can find them in the Replays folder inside your game installation.
You can upload them to share them with other players, and you can also watch community replays to learn and get inspiration.
A small toolkit, not a directory
This obviously isn't a list of every resource available. The goal is to keep a short selection of genuinely useful tools you can return to while you progress.
If you know of another genuinely useful resource, send it through the Contact page. The best suggestions can be added to this list.
