The latest Modern Warships event has a winter sports theme. The “Winter Games” will run from 2024-01-15 to 2024-01-26. During the event, you can play the time-limited Domination game mode and earn valuable rewards, some free and some paid. You can find all the new content added to the game on MW Stats. For detailed numbers and statistics, click the card of the item you are interested.
Domination game mode
The Domination game mode returns from the past Seas of Pray event. This mode is focused on capturing control points to deplete enemy tickets. When the tickets run out, the enemy will lose. This game mode will provide strategic gameplay on four different maps: Mystery Bay, Two Samurai, Monstrous Malström, and Lost City. One new thing the devs added to the map is the airship. By shooting it down, you can progress in the Airship Leaderboard.
Event Pass
The main attraction of the event is the Event Pass. You can progress in the pass by collecting the event currency called Flame Torches. By progressing in the event pass you receive various rewards, including avatars, flags, weapons, and a plane. You will also unlock more discounted bundle offerings for the Pan Spatial REDRUM ship.
The easiest way to obtain Flame Torches is to play the new Domination game mode. You should get around 500 to 1000 flame torches depending on your performance in the battle for the first 10 games in a day. After that, the reward will be lower.
You can also obtain some Flame Torches for free every day and you can also get them by watching an ad. It’s also possible to purchase Flame Torches using gold. Please note that all these options have a cooldown associated with them.
Finally, it’s possible to obtain Flame Torches by completing special event missions or pulling in the Sky Ring Toss gacha.
The main reward of the Event Pass is the Yak-141 Freestyle strike fighter. It is the successor of the tier II Yak-38 attacker but is placed in tier III. The Yak-141 has some unique properties, the first is the VTOL capability, which means it can hover in mid-air. This has some advantages since the plane can stay at the edge of enemy AA range and fire its weapons without having to perform a dangerous overflight of the enemy fleet.
The other thing that makes this strike fighter unique is that all its weapons are either laser-guided or unguided. This means the weapons are unaffected by flares which makes it easier to score hits on enemy ships.
You can obtain this aircraft for free by completing the event pass. Like other event pass rewards, it’s very unlikely that the strike fighter will be added to the Market in the future so this event is your chance to grab this rare and valuable reward!
Another valuable free Event Pass reward is the FQF-6000 grenade launcher. This weapon is a pretty good anti-sub weapon and it’s normally only available in the Battle Pass or Artcoin Market.
There are also some cosmetic items in the Event Pass, such as The Flame flag.
Also, you will be able to obtain the avatar Nora Daalmans through the Event Pass.
The final cosmetic reward is the Winter Champion player title.
Bundles
Ocean Warden Bundle
The paid reward of this event is the Pan Spatial REDRUM hydrofoil destroyer. This high-speed craft will lift up from the water as it speeds up. Gameplay-wise, it’s very similar to Pan Spatial Argonas ekranoplan. With its high speed, it can evade enemy fire and strike from unexpected positions.
Just like Argonas, most of its weapons are locked. The only weapons you can customize are the missiles, of which there are three in total. However, the locked weapons are well-rounded. The grenade launchers provide some protection against torpedoes and submarines and the anti-air missiles have an extended range for improved protection against attacks from the sky.
Finally, the REDRUM has a special Cyclone helicopter which features a very unique design. However, its stats and damage output are nothing to write home about.
If you want to purchase the REDRUM, the bundle containing this ship costs normally around 100 USD. However, you can unlock progressively larger discounts by progressing in the Event Pass. If you complete the Event Pass, the price will be just about 40 USD.
Victorious Bundle
The other bundle in this event is focused on customization options. This bundle contains the MW Winter Games camouflage. This blue-tinted camo features animated ice effects and a floating Modern Warships logo above your ship. Since this a camouflage and not a skin, you can use this camo on any ship after purchasing it.
The other cosmetic in this bundle is the Gold Medal flag.
In addition to these two items you also get 24 Marksman Tokens which can be used to pull in the Target Practice gacha.
Gachas
There are two gachas in the event, the Target Practice gacha and the Ski Ring Toss gacha.
Target Practice gacha
This gacha contains the most valuable rewards, such as the HMS UXV Combatant ship, the Iskander missile battery, and the A-220M (57mm) cannon. You can pull in the gacha using Marksman Tokens, which can be obtained through progressing in the Event Pass. They can be also obtained by purchasing the event bundles. It’s also possible to straight-up buy these tokens in the shop.
The HMS UXV Combatant is the gacha reward ship in this event. This futuristic ship combines FS Ocean Avenger and FS Blue Shark: this destroyer features two drone runways and a helicopter that can remotely guide the ship’s missile to their target.
The ship’s main weapons like the missiles, cannon, and grenade launchers are locked but you can change the drones and the AA to your liking. The AA is reinforced with the new locked CAMM missile system. Besides the fact that this is a destroyer that can launch drones, the most unique thing about this ship is the locked Storm Shadow missile system. While Storm Shadow is the British name for the SCALP Naval system, Storm Shadow works in a completely different way. It launches a volley of five missiles at a great range and if all of them hit, the one burst can deal a whopping 110 500 points of damage. However, a smart enemy will use flares which can render the entire attack ineffective.
The ship comes with the unique Camcopter S-100 helicopter which doesn’t have any weapons of its own. However, this helicopter can launch the Storm Shadow missile battery at an enemy target even if the ship itself doesn’t have a visual line of sight on the enemy target. Due to the high ballistic trajectory of the missile, with the aid of the helicopter the ship can target enemies behind islands and the enemy doesn’t have any way to retaliate, other than shooting down the helicopter. This same game mechanic is available on the Remora-9, which is carried by the FS Blue Shark.
The UXV Combatant is the rarest prize in the gacha but with the pity system, it is a guaranteed reward after 1300 pulls. In general, gacha ships won’t be added to the Artcoin Market so if you really want this ship, this event is your only chance.
Another unique item in this gacha is the Russian Iskander ballistic missile system. The missile fires in a ballistic arch and starts at a slow speed but quickly accelerates to its high top speed. The weapon can inflict a lot of damage in one shot but this is compensated with slow reload speed. Since gacha items usually don’t arrive to the Market, this weapon will be very rare. A very rare drop chance in the gacha and a lack of pity system will mean that only the most dedicated players will be able to obtain this missile.
The last notable reward in this gacha is the Russian A-220M (57mm) cannon. This is an automatic cannon that can target both surface and air targets and features automatic aim. However, its automatic nature and fast reload mean using it can be quite hard in the middle of a battle due to the need for constant weapon switching. Like the Iskander, it will be difficult to obtain this item due to its likely exclusivity, low drop chance and the lack of a pity system.
Ski Ring Toss gacha
You can pull in the Ski Ring Toss gacha using Golden Rings, an event currency that can be obtained in-game. You get these rings as a reward for playing matches in the Domination game mode. It’s also possible to get Golden Rings by completing special missions during the event. This event currency cannot be bought using real money, you can only obtain it by playing the game.
The rewards in the second gacha are not as exclusive as these are items you can already obtain in the in-game shop, such as the FL-71 and RAPIDFire. However, this gacha is still worth pulling as you can easily obtain the required event tokens. It’s also an easy way to get more Flame Torches to advance the Event Pass.
Leaderboard
Just like the previous events, the Winter Games also features various leaderboards.
Target Practice leaderboard
People who spend the most Marksman Tokens can climb this leaderboard. People who place in top 30 of this leaderboard can receive the Sharpshooter player title, along with various avatars. This includes the legendary Marek Jezek avatar.
There’s also the Jonathan Curry epic avatar.
Finally, there’s the rare Diogo Cordeiro avatar.
Since you can buy Marksman Tokens using real money, if you want to place in this leaderboard, you should expect to spend some actual money.
Sky Ring Toss leaderboard
You can progress in this leaderboard using Golden Rings to pull the Ski Ring Toss gacha. The top finishers will obtain the Adept Skier player title and the Isko Aquino avatar.
The other notable reward is the Best of the Best golden camouflage.
Since the Golden Rings event tokens can be obtained only in-game, in theory, you will be able to get these rewards for free. However, since only the top 30 players will get the rewards, expect the spend a lot of time playing the game if you want to finish in the top 30!
Airship Leaderboard
This leaderboard is tied to the new airship mechanic in the Domination game mode. The one who shoots down the most airships will climb to the top of this leaderboard. The unique reward in this leaderboard is the Medalist player title.
Wrap up
In general, this event offers some cool cosmetic rewards for free for players who complete the event pass, along with a quite an unique free strike fighter.
People who want to spend some real money can buy the latest Pan Spatial ship which has a distinctive design and can provide interesting gameplay opportunities. The other bundle provides a skin with a one-of-a-kind visual design and a winter games-themed flag.
UXV Combatant combines different gameplay styles and gimmicks into one ship and due to the pity system, you are guaranteed to get it if you are willing to spend the money.
However, the new missile and cannon are extraordinarily difficult to obtain because of the lack of a pity system. I wish the developer would offer some other way to obtain these items because of the gameplay opportunities they provide.
Finally, the leaderboards offer cosmetic rewards for players who are ready to put a lot of effort into the game, be that money or time. In my opinion, it’s not a problem that these items will be rare as they are cosmetic items that do not affect the gameplay in any way.
That’s it for now. Hopefully, this article helped you to better understand how the new Modern Warships event is structured!
