World of Warships Vol. 2

[Surefoot]

The camping thing is an oddity... but nowhere near as odd as the static carrier that doesn't seem to notice they're on an exposed flank, no matter how many times you try to get their attention.

Funny you mention that, at one point i had the first USN CV the one that has the slowest max speed (since it's just a reconverted CA), it just moves so slowly, i had instances where the team started to rush away from the starting line, leaving me alone there, with my engine at full speed trying to get off there, and then quickly get ganked by an enemy DD. Guess what i got insulted lol, even though i politely asked in the chat for them to wait around me (or at least one CA so it could repel those fast roaming DD's) but noooo they knew too well. They lost by the way and blamed the loss on me since i had the CV. Alright by tier 4-5 you can be excused to be ignorant that different ships have different top speeds (and that CV in particular is horribly slow) but they were explicitely told in chat...
Also all the times i asked nicely for the team to move somewhere or group attack one capture point (not capturing points on capture maps, your team loses, who knew ?? not many people as it seems), i mostly get insults in return and people still go their own way, or just move back and camp until they can farm some damage.

 

[Nimitz68]

Have had a lot of fun in WoW this summer. Downloaded it while on vacation to my gamer-buddy's house and we played the heck out of it and have continued since. Very entertaining. We recently downloaded the Tank equivalent (forget the name). My buddy loves it and I'll be playing that soon too.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

I see there are some seasoned players, so I post some questions here first, before going to Reddit.

1. I watched some videos and made some research on how to play the IJN cruisers (Furutaka, Kuma), but I'm still struggling about what to do at the beginning of the match - when there are no CVs, as at least I can provide AA support with the fighter.I cannot do scouting as the detection range is so high (I am detected first even if I'm sailing behind DDs), and while damage can be controlled with angling, at some point I have to turn around, then the prospect of sudden death is very real. On some maps I can sail along coastlines to get into position, but that's it.

So, in such scenarios, is it acceptable to simply hang back around BBs as an opportunist, then start playing 'zoom and boom' support role in the chaos?

2. IJN BBs can shoot very far, but when I hit, I never manage to hit hard with APs, mere 1000 or so - is it because by that time their speed and angle is compromised, or because my aiming is still lacking? Is it preferable to shoot HEs 15+ km far away?

Generally speaking, as much as I like IJN ships, most of them appear to be more rewarding for skilled players. I'd be probably more efficient with a brawler BB line that have larger dispersion, but I'm too deep into the IJN ships, so I'm biting the bullet and stick with them.
To be honest, as I am trying hard to get better (very satisfying to play a successful match), the past couple of evenings WOWs even sidelined Elite.

 

[Surefoot]

I see there are some seasoned players, so I post some questions here first, before going to Reddit.

I didnt go through the IJN line up too much myself but i can give a partial answer:

1. Stay around the BBs who should lead the charge for you and tank with their superior armor. As a cruiser your role is AA support and dps support. Your fire rate should compensate the lower shell caliber.. Let the IJN DD's do their thing you definitely have not the same kind of stealth. As for movement, this is the main aspect of the game, finding a proper path so you can have a good fire solution and at the same time not expose your broadside.. Usually if you have to turn around try and have an island between you and enemies. Ideally do this in synchro with your team so you all get out of cover at the same time, preventing cherry picking of targets and compounding focus fire (good luck doing that with randoms..). Generally speaking, exposing your broadside = death. Do not do that, always angle properly, especially in paper armor CA's (although IJN have decent armored ships).

2. Speed, angle are very important, so yeah try and get a feeling on what distance gives you consistent citadel hits on broadsides (*). Also your shells have to land approximately at the floating line so they can hit the citadel. To further this, every ship has a different armor configuration, there is a lot of documentation online (diagrams, 3D views) so you get a feeling at where to shoot at, especially against organized teams who will always angle their ships (again, proper pathing and coordination with your team would ensure someone runs a flank while the others tank and hold enemies in position..). If you ever see a broadside, that *should* mean an automatic citadel for you provided you are in a CA with AP shells (at the minimum). HE shells are a good solution when angles are bad, distances are bad, armor is too much (happens at tier 8+ on some BBs if you have a CA), in that case set em on fire, let them use up their fire extinguisher then set them on fire *again* then move to next target while you rake up insane damage. Fire damage are percentage based not absolute so vs a BB that's adding up quickly. If you have a BB just ignore HE entirely unless you play a very specific strategy with your team and everyone knows what they are doing, but otherwise, never use HE with a BB (or switch ammo for that matter).

Hope that helped a bit.

(*) Forgot to mention that some CA's like the Pensacola have so little armor you can citadel them from the front or at any angle. Just get used to their citadel location and fire away and rake up those tasty damage scores.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Yeah, sure you did!

I tried to do long range salvos with HEs, and the damage is consistently higher - especially as I was able to light multiple fires (As you suggest). Unfortunately I'm struggling to hit citadels with APs even at low range. It does happen occasionally, but not as often as I'd like.
As for aiming at water line, I found that slightly above gives me better results, as because of the dispersion some of the shells will surely hit around water line, and less goes to waste. But again, I am still a noob.

BTW, I appear to be much more efficient with BBs than with smaller ships, at last I was able to actually do meaningful damage, once north of 60k with the Fuso. It is difficult to be consistent though, and it can be downright frustrating, when my long range salvos plunge right next to the target, sometimes a few shells behind and in front, and after multiple attempts.
The Furutaka is somehow a magnet for the opponents, probably because it is dangerous yet easy to sink...?

Anyway, the complexity of the mechanics is surprisingly high, which isnice, but the learning curve is certainly there.

 

[Chris Simon]

Yeah, sure you did!

I tried to do long range salvos with HEs, and the damage is consistently higher - especially as I was able to light multiple fires (As you suggest). Unfortunately I'm struggling to hit citadels with APs even at low range. It does happen occasionally, but not as often as I'd like.
As for aiming at water line, I found that slightly above gives me better results, as because of the dispersion some of the shells will surely hit around water line, and less goes to waste. But again, I am still a noob.

BTW, I appear to be much more efficient with BBs than with smaller ships, at last I was able to actually do meaningful damage, once north of 60k with the Fuso. It is difficult to be consistent though, and it can be downright frustrating, when my long range salvos plunge right next to the target, sometimes a few shells behind and in front, and after multiple attempts.
The Furutaka is somehow a magnet for the opponents, probably because it is dangerous yet easy to sink...?

Anyway, the complexity of the mechanics is surprisingly high, which isnice, but the learning curve is certainly there.

Regarding to citadels - it's a very complex matter and I also struggle with it, but this is what I know:

Every ship has a different citadel and the citadels have different shapes. Some have flat tops, some have "cut edges" and every ship has a citadel of a different height over the waterline.
Therefore every ship needs a little different tactic if you want to citadel it.
With the ships with low citadel, you need to aim below the waterline from close reange where your shells have a flat trajectory. Sometimes it's easier to simply aim for the guns or the superstructure to do reliable damage rather than risking the shatters.
From longer range, you can't aim for the waterline, because if you do, the shells come from above and will simply ricochet or slide off the citadel armour. If you have high AP, you can aim for the superstructure and as the shells go down, they can penetrate the citadel from above.
With the ships that have the turtleback armour (the citadel isn't rectangular, but has slanted edges) it's really hard to penetrate the citadel, unless you shoot it below the waterline directly broadside or from afar by plunging fire. If you hit it at any other angle, it will bounce.

For example. US battleships are relatively easy to citadel broadside on from any distance when you aim for the waterline, because the citadel profile is rectangular and relatively high. German battleships, on the other hand, I am only able to citadel from a mid-range. Too close and you won't hit the citadel because it's very low. Too far and the plunging shells won't penetrate the thick and angled top of the citadel.

Cruisers are easier if you have big enough shells (If you play a BB), otherwise in Cruiser vs. Cruiser encounter, the above also applies. There are also special cases that make things more complicated. For example American and British cruisers have AP shells that bounce less (they can penetrate from steeper angles) than German or Japanese AP shells.

etc. etc.

It's really kind of a science behind this. Good players on Youtube make it look so easy but what they're really doing is that they subconsciously know where to hit every which ship in particular.

So if you're not good at this (I know I am not), there's always the possibility to play light cruisers and spam HE. Death by thousand cuts. But I really love American heavy cruisers. They are hard to play but when they hit, it bloody hell counts. (you can't heal back the AP damage)

 

[Surefoot]

I insist that you take a look at 3D diagrams of ships, they are available in game, where you can show every layer of the ship armor and remove whatever layer you want so you can see inside. You can clearly see the citadel shape, armor profiles, etc.
That's really important because shell trajectory is fully simulated once it hits, and you do have ways of dealing a lot of damage with long range plunging shells if they manage to pierce the top deck armor. There's a sweet spot angle for AP shells to penetrate properly, i believe you can find diagrams online on the official forums if i remember.
Sometimes it's also profitable to shoot engines, or the ammo stack. Know your ships, and enemies better than yourself

In smaller ships to deal good damage you need to play a very aggressive game, that can only be enabled by bigger ships engaging their armor, or by using the terrain if present (dont get stuck, have an escape route, anticipate torpedoes..). Key is keep shooting, as much as possible, if you are in a CA or a gunship DD, and keep kiting so shells that go for a swim arent damaging you. Never ever engage a BB 1v1 unless you are in a russian gunship and kite like hell (that's the most fun gameplay i ever had in this game by the way), or an IJN DD that can torp without being seen. Doing so in a CA is immediate death penalty.

There are very few exception to that last rule, i'll give one example. Going for a pincer around a BB with a friend shooting at it from the front line, that BB has its turrets facing your friend, you go around terrain on his other flank so when you pop out his turrets are facing the wrong way. THERE you can shoot your suicide torpedoes (that are present on a quite a few CAs, special mention to the very high velocity russian torps..) and pray that they connect. Dont forget to turn around, kite and get back to cover because the secondaries will make mincemeat of your CA. Do not ever do this against a german BB for that reason (secondaries are horribly overpowered on those).

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Yeah, I see there is a lot to gain by knowing the ships.
But is it really realistic to aim for specific part of the ships when dispersion means my shells spread? Or with experience this is somehow 'in your hands'? It certainly feels that experienced players can aim really fast - this is one of the reasons I'm struggling with smaller ships, the multitasking of constantly aiming, shooting and changing directions.

Instead of struggling with DDs and CAs (even though at lower tier, sometimes I'm having fun with Tenryu and Kuma) I will probably try to get better with BBs, and just opened the German line as well, as I was led to believe it is more of a brwaler line vs. the Japanese, offering different playstyle.

 

[Jacques d'Orleans]

I don't play World of Warships but I do love to watch videos about it from Jingles. Maybe I'll give it a try someday.

 

[Chris Simon]

Yeah, I see there is a lot to gain by knowing the ships.
But is it really realistic to aim for specific part of the ships when dispersion means my shells spread? Or with experience this is somehow 'in your hands'? It certainly feels that experienced players can aim really fast - this is one of the reasons I'm struggling with smaller ships, the multitasking of constantly aiming, shooting and changing directions.

Instead of struggling with DDs and CAs (even though at lower tier, sometimes I'm having fun with Tenryu and Kuma) I will probably try to get better with BBs, and just opened the German line as well, as I was led to believe it is more of a brwaler line vs. the Japanese, offering different playstyle.

Yeah. I'm at tier 6 with German BBs and I like them. Can't wait for the Bismark. They are even less accurate than "normal" BBs, but up close they are quite nice.

As for multitasking, I learned to steer the ship looking at the minimap. It's better than canceling the aiming and looking around like a chicken.

 

[Stupid_hippy]

I have to admit I play Wows a fair bit. I have over a dozen tier 10's. lol

I do enjoy the random matches but as has been said, who is on your team is so important. There's a lot of idiots out there, especially at the weekends.

People will report you at the drop of a hat for the stupidest reasons, but getting compliments is like getting blood out of a stone.

I had a round recently, my team was already 3 ships down on the opposition, I charged down 2 destroyers in a cap with my Bismark, blew them both away (one with secondaries) , I capped, then went on to kill 3 more cruisers and a BB which won us the round.

180k damage, 6 kills, 2 caps,won the round and not one compliment. lol

I do like the fact that every ship has it's own quirks and hence a unique play style. Personal favorite is probably that Bismark. She's such a brawler. With my setup of 11.3k secondaries and the focusing skill for them,plus a very low detection range of 12.3k I can be on an enemy ship with a hail of fire before they hardly know i'm even there.

 

[Surefoot]

Personal favorite is probably that Bismark. She's such a brawler.

That's an understatement.. getting anywhere close to that ship is a complete suicide unless you have torps on their way to hit..

With my setup of 11.3k secondaries and the focusing skill for them,plus a very low detection range of 12.3k I can be on an enemy ship with a hail of fire before they hardly know i'm even there.

Yeah that is a common build i have encountered secondaries on that thing are ridiculous. You cannot even flank it since the secondaries on the other side will nail you just the same...

 

[Chris Simon]

It could also be worth pointing out that properly specced captain is really important and is another thing that differentiates good and casual players.

1 point captain at the helm is like an E-rated Anaconda. People will praise the ship but you won't be able to see why.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Well, just got sunk by a rain of torps, but I caused 70k damage with my Fuso, that's a record for me.
I switched to APs, and some of the long range salvos did a lot of damage, got up to 30k while the opponents were still 15-20km away. I also citadel'd a Mutsu in a previous session, felt great.

I've also made a fair bit of damage playing on lower tier BBs, 30-40k.

And there it went my gaming evening, I was going to planning to play Elite after a 'short' WoWs session!

Edit: I only have the Nassau from the Germans, but was able to cap alone with it. it is sturdy ship! Currently 20k xp away from the Nagato, so that's the next target.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

Wow, I sank five ships with the Fuso, out of that three in the last couple of minutes effectively tipping the balance of the battle. I love that ship!

Now that's some sense of pride and accomplishment!

 

[Surefoot]

Well done on staying aggressive. Keep it like this. Do not end up like so many higher tier players who fear chipping the paint on their oh so expensive BB and hug the map border..

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

The fleet was a mix of V and VI tier ships, and as I learned the Fuso is (at last) adequately armored, I could play it more aggressively than the Kongo or other lower tier IJN BBs.

It was an ABC cap match, and towards the end three of us remained with me -in good health- spearheading the push towards the middle as the other part of the team collapsed. Two enemy CAs and two BBs were in front of me at cap B. I was able to take out a low-on-health CA, then the next good salvo took out the other CA with a citadel hit. As for the two BBs - I realized I am finished (too exposed) so I started hitting the half-on-health Lyon with all I1ve got. When I saw that I have probably one shot left, I was waiting a couple of seconds (as we were close to each other), the Lyon was about to show her side - then I offloaded all six batteries and apparently that included at least one citadel hit since both of us went to the bottom.
The rest of the team easily took out the remaining BB, so with that I quit at the top of the session for some peaceful Elite CG animal meat hauling.

 

[Goose4291]

I've been mostly struggling with the RN Event the last few weeks.

It's a lot of grind over the course of four days to yield decentish reward levels.

 

[Chris Simon]

I've been mostly struggling with the RN Event the last few weeks.

It's a lot of grind over the course of four days to yield decentish reward levels.

The worst thing is that on top of that it's a grind which depends on other people. I usually do one operation to see that's it about and then move on.
I wouldn't be able to get the rewards so why would I stress myself over it.

 

[[VR] optimal_909]

My best result so far.

Spoiler

Spoiler

I only have destroyed one, as at least twice the target was finished by someone else. I caused something like 45k damage on a Kongo, yet the last 130hp was taken by a DD.