I've been playing for months now and finally reached level 9 after many, many battles. I suppose that level 9 is the "highest" level attainable as the game shows no way to proceed further. I guess that by the time that you've completed level 9 you should have the skills needed to be successful in WOW ... and now it is time to drop some cash (and I do mean CASH) into buying doubloons if I want to proceed past tier 3/4 ships.
If I am misunderstanding the game and the business model please correct me ...
Thank you!
dud, I'll give you the short answer: No. Unless you don't play much for one reason or another, getting past tier 4 in ships is not hard.
You probably play several ship classes? I only play cruisers. Since late closed beta.
I'm an average player with a T8 cruiser. I have the USN New Orleans, which I don't play anymore because the "NO" is simply a drag on the team in most T8 matches in the hands of an average captain. (If anyone else is reading this, just compare it to the Mogami...torps, HE spam, what exactly will T8 - T10 BBs fear from a cruiser? Hint: not the "NO".)
Back on topic. I've never spent a dime on the game. Fully upgraded, certain ships in the cruiser lines "print" silver and XP.
I can speak from direct experience that the T4 Phoenix and the T5 Omaha "print". In the right hands the Cleveland does the same. You can stop right there. The T7 Pensacola is garbage (my average opinion). I already mentioned the T8 New Orleans.
On the German side I have experience with T1 through T6. The early German cruisers are fun but not very effective, while T4 "Karlsruhe" is complete crap. At T5 the Konigsburg is fun and somewhat effective, but difficult to play for reasons I won't go into. At T6 the Nurnburg is the same exact thing. Fully upgraded of course.
IJN cruisers have (currently) a rough spot at T3, Tenryu, but every other tier is fine or better since they fixed the "Furry-Taco". Well there is a bit of disgruntlement at T9 but I can't speak to that.
Short answer: Don't spend money unless you want to.