Cold Water Tactics: Three Ways to Avoid Early Detection

Cold Waters players, here are three ways to avoid early detection by your enemies: 

Spawn at the maximum distance 

Before you start the mission, you're asked if you want to get closer with the "close to" setting. Leave it on the maximum of 25 km / 25 kyards. Start far, go in slow. Let them come to you. That's how subs fight.

spawn at maximum allowable distance of 25 km (or 25 kyards)

(Campaign only) Move slower on the campaign map too 

Logically, the slower you are, the less likely you will be detected. What most players don't realize though is they can move at three different speeds on the campaign map, which affects the speed they start the encounter with:

LEFT-CLICK-HOLD: full speed on the campaign map, start the encounter at 20 kts 

RIGHT-CLICK-HOLD: half speed on the campaign map, start the encounter at 10 kt

NOTHING: immobile on the campaign map, start the encounter 5 kt or even 0 kt

However, with that said, being far away from the enemy *may* allow you a little room to slow down before you are detected. So this is best practiced with the first tip. 

 

(DotMod only) DotMod, under Settings / Mod Settings, allows you to add EXTRA spawn distance to surface and subsurface contacts

DotMod is a major mod for Cold Waters that added surface ships and surface combat to the game, but it also added a lot of submarines, new equipment, and more to the game, including the option to add additional spawn distance to start the encounter. 

For NATO boats with towed arrays, I recommend you add 15 kyards to surface, and 5 kyards to subsurface. Beware, this MAY make underwater interception difficult, as in "you can't find the darn enemy", not as as "you let him close enough to shoot you". If this happens a lot, cut it down to 3 kyards subsurface. If you think you spawn too close to enemy subs, increase it to 7 kyards. Soviet boats can get a bit closer. 

Hopefully these tips will help you play Cold Waters better! Stay tuned for more Cold Waters Tactics!