Serov
Beta- Stay a full map cell behind the brawl line, far enough back that a rotated DD or radar cruiser cannot t…
- Avoid: Trading a full squadron for one high-value kill
Serov Community Stats
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Serov Community Stats
Playstyle
Overview
Serov is the Tier V Soviet torpedo-strike carrier with long-reach air torpedoes at 6 km. The kit pays out by killing fragile high-value targets in a single committed drop; the bomber squadrons are a sidearm. Standout traits: best heavy bombs in T5 CVs (6,100) and best top speed in T5 CVs (35.5 kt).
Positioning
Stay a full map cell behind the brawl line, far enough back that a rotated DD or radar cruiser cannot threaten the hull. Launch from positions where the recall path stays inside your team's AA umbrella, not over open water where intercepting fighters can finish off limping squadrons. Longer trip back, fewer waves per match.
Potato Avoidance
Trading a full squadron for one high-value kill
Match impact comes from cycling waves across multiple targets, not committing a dive into layered AA for one battleship. When a target's AA is heavy, route around and find a softer pick rather than burning planes through the wall.
Signature Traits
6100.0 damage per bomb, best of T5 CVs. Each successful drop bites harder.
6.0 km air-torpedo range, best of T5 CVs. Drop further out, planes leak less.
35.5 kt, best of T5 CVs. Lets you rotate flanks or escape disengagements.
9.23 hp per ton, best of T5 CVs. Engine punch outclasses the hull's mass, so the ship retains speed through sustained turns better than peers.
3833.0 damage per air-dropped torpedo, bottom quartile of T5 CVs. Need multiple drops to threaten BBs.
12.0 planes per squadron at peak, bottom quartile of T5 CVs. Fewer attack passes before reserves run dry.
How to get Serov
Serov is available in the Strike Carriers branch of the U.S.S.R. Tech Tree for 6,400,000 credits after researching it in the branch. Known module upgrades cost up to 1,610,000 credits.
Show U.S.S.R. tech-tree branch diagram
Serov sits in the Strike Carriers branch. The highlighted path shows the local branch context inside the full U.S.S.R. tree.
Builds Beta
Build for aircraft survivability, restoration, speed, and skip-bomb consistency. Current guidance should account for increased restoration times, reduced aircraft HP, reduced bomb damage/fire chance, and changed detectability.
Have a build you swear by? Open it in the Build Tool and hit Save build to share it here.
Cohort position
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Where Serov sits among Tier V CVs (6 ships). Notable standouts are shown first; the rest of the cohort-ranked stats are in the expand below. Acquisition variants (Black Friday, Founders Edition) are counted once with their base ship, not as separate peers.
See 17 mid-pack stats
Not standouts for Serov -- here's where she sits on every other ranked stat in the cohort. Stats tagged NORM are tied across more than half the cohort, so the value is the cohort default rather than a standout.
Stats & specs
Customize in the Build Tool →Shell ballistics chartMore tools in the WoWS Legends Data LabAll values are ship base stats with modifications and upgrade changes denoted inline.
ƒ
Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (28×3.5×1) + (70×3.5×0.95) + (18×3.5×1) = 394. Covers AA-only mounts plus dual-purpose secondaries (Bismarck 105mm, USN 5"/38 cruiser secondaries) and dual-purpose main batteries (Sumner-class 5"/38, Akizuki-line 100mm). Formula validated against in-game captures on California, Sumner, Manfred von Richthofen, Dante Alighieri (exact) and within +/-17% on the remaining verified ships.ƒ
Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.ƒ
Includes 18 continuous AA damage from dual-purpose secondaries firing as AA in this range band.ƒ
Outer Medium 18 + Inner Medium 28 = 46ƒ
Outer Medium 18 + Inner Medium 28 + Near 70 = 116ƒ
Max dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.ƒ
4.5 km × 57 + 30 = 286.5 m.
Automatic Damage Control Party∞ charges · 90 s reload · 60 s active
Automatic Fighter4 charges · 150 s reload · 55 s active · 5.56 km patrol radius · 4 squadron size
See all derived stats
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Numbers the spec table cannot show directly: alpha-strike math, DPM, dispersion, AP penetration. Click the formula chip on any row to reveal how it is calculated.
AA defense
Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (28×3.5×1) + (70×3.5×0.95) + (18×3.5×1) = 394. Covers AA-only mounts plus dual-purpose secondaries (Bismarck 105mm, USN 5"/38 cruiser secondaries) and dual-purpose main batteries (Sumner-class 5"/38, Akizuki-line 100mm). Formula validated against in-game captures on California, Sumner, Manfred von Richthofen, Dante Alighieri (exact) and within +/-17% on the remaining verified ships.Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.SUM over AA auras of (aura DPS x aura range km). A plane crossing the AA bubble is exposed to each aura for a time proportional to that aura's range, so long-reach DPS is worth more than the same DPS in a short bubble. Units: DPS*km; used to rank overall AA threat across the cohort.Secondary battery dispersion
Max dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.4.5 km × 57 + 30 = 286.5 m.Secondary battery firepower
Sum across all secondary families of (per-side barrels × 60 / reload_s × alpha), where per-side barrels = mounts × barrels-per-mount / 2 (the guns that bear on one broadside target). Per-family: 8×2 85 mm (8/side) × 60/4 × 1200 = 144,000. Assumes every shell hits (real hit rate is lower; the Brawl matchup tool on the Compare page folds in dispersion + target armor).Maximum HE damage per shell across secondary HE families. Best on this ship: 1200 from the 85 mm family.Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 4% from the 85 mm family.Maximum HE armor penetration across secondary HE families (caliber × 1/6 for most nations; 1/4 for German/UK BBs). Shells whose pen falls under a plate's armor thickness shatter for 0 hull damage though fire chance still applies. Best on this ship: 14 mm from the 85 mm family.Armor
Hull HP 38,600 → 39,500 with hull upgrade, distributed across 5 hull zones, each with its own plate thicknesses, saturation cap, and pen thresholds. HP caps are the exact in-game values, not estimated.
| Section | Plates | HP cap | Threats | Tactic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | 30 mm | 700 (2% of HP) | Overmatch not possible at T VIAngle bounces 410mm30 mm: HE pens from 203mm+ | Bow-tank fits behind this exterior plate. Saturation is FAST here; the cap is often only a few thousand HP. |
| Hull (midship) | 16 mm primary (range 16–30 mm) | 29,600 (75% of HP) | Overmatched by 283mm+ (Moltke, Graf Spee)Angle bounces 203mm16 mm: HE pens from 127mm+ | Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest. |
| Stern | 30 mm primary (range 19–30 mm) | 800 (2% of HP) | Overmatch not possible at T VIAngle bounces 410mm30 mm: HE pens from 203mm+ | Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation. |
| Citadel | 120 mm primary (range 19–120 mm) | ≈ 165,500 (effectively no cap) | Citadel pen ×0.10 damageOver-pen: ×0.10 damage | Effectively no cap; citadel pool sits at ~165k HP on every ship. Damage is gated by pen/over-pen multipliers instead (×0.10 direct pen, ×0.10 over-pen). |
| Superstructure | 10 mm primary (range 10–50 mm) | 400 (1% of HP) | Any HE ≥16 mm pens at full damage | Any HE ≥16 mm pens at full damage. HE-spam target, and the section saturates fast (often only a few thousand HP). |
| Secondary mount (85 mm mount) | separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP | 800 per-mount HP | Destroyed at 0 HP | Per-mount HP for the heaviest secondary on this ship. A mount destroyed at 0 HP is out for the rest of the battle; DCP does not repair destroyed mounts. Smaller (lighter-caliber) secondaries typically share the same HP value. |
| AA mount (37 mm mount) | separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP | 200 per-mount HP | Destroyed at 0 HP | Per-mount HP for the heaviest AA on this ship. An AA mount destroyed at 0 HP stops shooting down planes for the rest of the battle; DCP does not repair destroyed mounts. HE shells specifically target AA mounts since the small-caliber HP pool falls fast. |
| Rudder (module) | separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP | 11,900 module HP | Incapacitated at 0 HP | When module HP reaches 0 the rudder locks at its current angle until DCP repairs it. Repair via Damage Control Party. |
Saturation cap = HP a section can absorb before further damage to it is reduced (the "bow-tank" effect). Citadel pool is ~165k on every ship (effectively no cap); damage is gated by pen/over-pen multipliers instead. Superstructure saturates fast but HE always pens regardless of the plate thickness. Rudder (and other module HPs) are a separate pool from ship HP: damaging a module doesn't drain ship HP. Incapacitated modules like the rudder and engine are restored by DCP, but secondary and AA mounts destroyed at 0 HP stay out for the rest of the battle.
Balance History
Balance updates affecting Serov. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.
Ministry of Balance: Aerial Adjustments
- Torpedo.
- Stock torpedo bomber restoration time increased from 105 to 150 s.
- Upgraded torpedo bomber restoration time increased from 105 to 150 s.
- Stock skip bomber restoration time increased from 105 to 150 s.
- Upgraded skip bomber restoration time increased from 105 to 150 s.
Ministry of Balance: Carriers 2.0 – First Wave
- Maximum HP per aircraft reduced from 1,500 to 1,400 (squadron HP reduced from 9,000 to 8,400).
- Maximum flight range set to 24 kilometers.
- Bomb damage reduced from 6,100 to 5,500.
- Bomb fire-setting chances reduced from 25 to 22%.
- Aircraft restoration time increased from 60 to 105 seconds.
- Aircraft restored increased from 1 to 3.
- Upgraded Skip Bombers:
- Maximum HP per aircraft reduced from 1,600 to 1,500 (squadron HP reduced from 9,600 to 9,000).
- Maximum flight range set to 25 kilometers.
- Aircraft restoration time increased from 70 to 105 seconds.
- +4 more official change lines in the source post.
Ministry of Balance Reports: Carrier Changes
- Stock & upgraded skip bomb fire-setting chances decreased from 35% to 25%.
- Stock & upgraded skip bomb raw HE penetration decreased from 32 to 25 mm.
Halloween Update: New Friends, Old Foes
- Surface detectability range changed from 14.1 to 12.9 km; air detectability range changed from 11.3 to 9 km.
Skins & permanent camouflages
Every custom exterior Serov can equip, from in-game data.
DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior
Primary official WG sources
Filtered to official World of Warships: Legends pages where this ship is a focus, reward, line member, or high-context variant mention.
