CLICK HERE FOR THE TABLE OF EQUIPMENT
Equipment Rework: What's Coming in Updates 9.2 and 9.3
With Update 9.2, we're beginning one of the biggest progression system updates we've worked on in a long time—a complete overhaul of equipment.
This system has been rebuilt from the ground up to give players more meaningful choices, more build variety, and a stronger sense of progression across different ship types and playstyles.
Because of the scale of this feature, the rollout will happen in two stages across Updates 9.2 and 9.3.
We want to clearly explain what arrives in each update, what changes immediately, and what's still being worked on.
What's Changing?
Until now, equipment has mainly consisted of Standard Equipment and ship-specific Legendary Equipment designed for individual warships.
This overhaul divides equipment into three categories:
- Standard Equipment
- Improved Equipment
- Legendary Equipment
The system itself has also been redesigned, with adjustments and improvements made across many existing effects and bonuses.
Some equipment pieces have been reworked, others rebalanced, and the overall system has been structured to allow more flexibility when customizing your ship builds.
Standard Equipment: Available in Update 9.2
The first phase of the overhaul arrives with Update 9.2 in June.
At launch, players will gain access to the new Standard Equipment system and updated structure.
While familiar in concept, this isn't simply the old system carried over without changes. Many equipment effects, stats, and options have been adjusted as part of the overhaul.
This first phase is extremely important for us because it will allow us to see how the new system performs once it reaches the full player base.
We'll be closely monitoring:
- What equipment players gravitate toward.
- How different ship types perform.
- Whether certain setups become too dominant.
- Overall player feedback and progression behavior.
This means the system will continue evolving after release. Balance adjustments and iterations may happen over time as we gather gameplay data and feedback from the community.
Our goal is not just to launch the system but to refine it into something healthier and more enjoyable for the long term.
Don't Panic!
One of the first things you'll notice in the new equipment system is that there are positive and negative attributes.
This may initially feel strange. Until now, equipment in WoWS Blitz has mostly been simple: equip it, gain stats, move on. But as we started designing a much deeper system, we quickly realized that this approach creates a major problem—players simply gravitate toward the same objectively "best" setup for ships.
That's not the future we wanted for the equipment system.
The goal of this rework is to create meaningful choices and allow different builds to exist. Instead of every Captain automatically selecting the same upgrades, we want players to think about how they want their ship builds to operate. Want stronger concealment at the cost of something else? Better survivability? Improved accuracy? Faster reload? More aggressive maneuverability?
Tradeoffs are what make builds interesting.
It's also important to remember that what you see in Update 9.2 is only the first part of the full system. The list of equipment available at launch is not the final lineup. Update 9.3 will introduce many more equipment options across slots 1–6, dramatically expanding the number of possible combinations and specialized builds.
For example, some players may notice that the concealment modification provides less concealment than before. That's intentional. Starting in 9.3, additional concealment-focused equipment will become available, allowing players to combine multiple pieces together and tailor their build much more precisely than the old system ever allowed.
In other words: the system in 9.2 is the foundation. The complete vision comes together in 9.3.
We know change can feel intimidating, especially for a system players have used for years—but this rework is designed to create more variety, more experimentation, and ultimately more ways to play the ships you love.
Improved and Legendary Equipment: Coming in Update 9.3
The second phase of the overhaul arrives with Update 9.3 in August.
This update will introduce:
- Improved Equipment
- New universal Legendary Equipment system
- New equipment currency—Bonds
These features will not be available immediately in Update 9.2.
The reason is simple: this is a major system with a large amount of ongoing balancing and development work behind it, and we want to make sure it launches in the best possible state.
New Type of Legendary Equipment
An important clarification: The new Legendary Equipment system does not replace the existing ship-specific Legendary Equipment currently in the game.
The unique Legendary Equipment already tied to individual ships will remain available.
The new system instead introduces "universal" Legendary Equipment that can be used across multiple ships instead of just one.
Both systems will coexist.
This allows us to continue preserving unique ship identities while also expanding build customization options across the wider roster.
Bonds: A New Equipment Currency
Update 9.3 will also introduce Bonds—a new currency tied to the equipment system.
Bonds are for obtaining Improved Equipment, and they will be obtainable by playing the game.
We'll share more details about Bonds closer to the launch of Update 9.3.
Why We're Releasing in Stages
This overhaul touches a massive number of ships, builds, and gameplay interactions across the game.
Launching everything simultaneously would make it much harder for us to properly evaluate the health of the system and react if adjustments are needed.
By releasing the Standard Equipment portion first in 9.2, we can gather real gameplay feedback, monitor performance and balance, and make improvements before the full system arrives in 9.3.
This staged rollout gives us more flexibility to improve the experience based on how players actually interact with the system once it goes live.
More Information Soon
As we get closer to Update 9.3, we’ll share more details about:
- Equipment types
- Balance philosophy
- Bonds
- Improved Equipment
- Universal Legendary Equipment
- Acquisition methods
- Future adjustments
We're excited to finally bring this overhaul to players, and we look forward to seeing the new builds and strategies you create once the system goes live.
CLICK HERE FOR THE TABLE OF EQUIPMENT