MoveZig

I wouldn't play a t8+ DD anymore, period. WG stick radar or hydro on every ship these days. Well, maybe that's okay for Khaba-types.

Germans are the best at short-close range because they later get either torps or hydro, + good secondaries. Besides, the main-gun accuracy is atrocious and getting citadelled is an alien concept to them. Japanese are not recommended for close range because they lack most of the above, but Mutsu has torps, so does Kii (both premiums) while Nagato is, I hear, viable for a secondary build. French get good secondaries from at least t6, and Lyon is very scary up-close. US tend to have garbage secondaries and bad side armor. I wouldn't go brawling with them, you're supposed to bowtank.

So I read Cleve will be able to match its detection range to its radar range? Great, another high-tier radar terror to make torpedoboats even less viable.

If you want armor and speed, go for t8-9 French BBs. They can do up to 36 knots, faster than various cruisers. Of course, they turn much worse than cruisers but accelerate faster than any other BB when Engine Boost is turned on. Drawbacks? Well, Richie's firepower seems a bit anemic. Alsace corrects that with 50% more guns at the expense of stealth and some turning ability. The armor is not horrendous, in fact they both lend themselves to bowtanking, which is very good indeed against the AP of most BBs (but not vs. Yamato, Musashi, possibly Republique). They're more vulnerable to HE spam from cruisers, which is where that sharp aim will be needed. The AA is good if you invest in MFCAA, which makes you more self-sufficient in a match with CVs. Now personally, I don't recommend sniping in a BB as a playstyle focus - you want to get as close as you can afford to tank damage and deliver more reliable hits. But if you want better ranged capability, Japan and France are the ones to look at. Nelson is one where a passive, cautious playstyle is basically enforced until there are no more BBs around that can exploit the massive citadel.

You didn't say what playstyle you want with DDs. The general gist of it is: - US: fast & furious brawling up to at least t7, after that you can stealth torp as well. Middling stealth ( bad at t7). Floatiest main-gun shells in the game barring maybe some 100mm low tiers. No good at DD combat past 6-7km, but you get that sweet island cheesing potential. From t6, option for Def AA instead of Engine Boost. - Ger: Dedicated torpboats up to t6, then anti-DD brawlers with decent torps for bigger prey. Get hydro at t6. - Japan: Stealthy torpboats, mainly. TRB is an option, it's a quick reload for your torps but at the expense of smoke. Which makes you very vulnerable to CVs. - PA: Mostly hybrids with anti-BB focus. Only ones to get radar from t8. It's cruddy compared to the cruiser versions, but you can ruin a capper's day with it because you can use it from well outside your detection range. Just hope there's no competent CV on the other team, because you're giving up smoke, something that goes well with the mortar guns. - USSR: Just turn your brain off and hold down LMB at the nearest target while randomly mashing WASD. The alternate line is more interesting, they're a bit more torp-friendly with better stealth (except Udaloi) and get Def AA as an option instead of Engine Boost.

I though Jerries were brawlers from t8+. Dat AP, hydro, torps and low cit are perfect for smoking out DDs and overpen-trolling BBs in close combat.

Actually, I'm pretty sure it's tied to killing the first 3 waves within the time limit. Even if you prevent a breakthrough, the Lex and Izumo will not spawn unless you kill all the bots in time. Instead you get the enemy Hiryu, and at that point you can forget about 5 stars.

This was still not 5 stars, and people were all trying. The third wave requires near-perfection, it's clearly too much even for a competent PUG most of the time.

For me it's the strafing. If I'm gonna play a top-down RTS, I shouldn't need twitch skills. It should be about decision-making, calculated risks and husbanding of resources. If the lines played like t4/5 with some more tricks later on like manual switching of HE/AP bombs, I'd be playing them.

I think the teams have gone downhill since yesterday. AFKers, suiciders, people who go on the wrong side of islands... This right here only got me 1 star.

Here's a great source of information. If I was new and trying to decide on a ship line, I would try out different kinds of ships, see what I enjoy doing (e.g. stealth torping, tanking damage, shooting over islands, brawling) and then look at the appropriate stats for each ship to find a good fit. https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/World_of_Warships

I honestly haven't had a problem with Newport. In around 20 times, I only ever once got less than 3 stars. I suspect the 200% brought the tryhards out of Ranked for some farming. It's hard to actually fail this mission , you even have a heal spot and bot reinforcements if things go bad. Now, Ultimate Frontier, that one's way too hard for randoms.

I feel this does best if it gets to flank. What usually ends up happening though is I rush in, get focused by half the enemy team, then either get forced into bowtanking or turn around and nope out of there with half my health gone. This is probably an issue with my playstyle. Maybe I should hang back a bit like with Nelson but unlike that slug, it's possible to exploit opportunities and maneuver with Richie. Looking forward to Alsace, the extra turret and great AA should make it more versatile and self-sufficient.

Hate 'em, especially on small low-tier maps. Good luck doing your job as a torpboat with an endless swarm buzzing above you and no AA to speak of.

A bit overblown. I've been farming it on every t6 ship I have wih the +200% and have not lost a match yet. 3 stars minimum each game. Though actually killing everything in time is very spotty, so 3-4 stars is most common. Having lots of Cleves and Leanders helps.

I have mine bound to Z. Who wants to reach out to P under WASD controls? You have to get one hand off WASD or the mouse, it sucks. So does having a consumable bound to Y, so I replaced the ''hard port/starboard'' hotkeys with consumables.

I can consistently top the board in Aegis but I agree, at least Newport, Raptor and KW benefit more from another cruiser.

As cool as it is, it's imo the worst ship I have (well, I hear Varyag sucks harder, but whatever) and certainly not beginner-friendly. The guns let it down. You don't have the accuracy or volume of fire to hit DDs, so gunboats are like rock to your scissors, they just win every time unless they make no effort to dodge. Against BBs and cruisers, the shells are good only if they broadside - a bit of angling and they're mostly safe, and it's not like you can saturate them with shells like a New Mexico. Also, the HP pool is misleading - you have BB DCP consumable and fire duration. So it's a shame, but the ship is just way too situational. In a brawl with a broadsiding cruiser, it's devastating, but against anyone that angles or dodges, it's really quite bad.

Mahan is unfortunate, it has a problem with being detected at a range where its guns suffer a lot in DD combat. It shares the worst DD detection range at t7 with LM, and both ships happen to have floaty shells, especially Mahan. At least you're not yet at a tier where there will always be radar, but if you get uptiered, it's gonna hurt.

gooby pls

It's called Anshan.

I take PT first, PM on BBs is best on brawlers that can expect a lot of AP to be thrown at them at closer ranges and from different angles. Even then, it's mostly just the turrets that are in danger and that can be helped with Main Arm Mod 1 (which, again, is more likely not to be used by brawlers who want Aux Arm Mod 1). PT can let you know when someone is aiming at you from stealth, and generally tell you at a glance how much aggro you have. Definitely worth the 1 point. As for which tier to play to learn, I think it doesn't work that way since every tier has a different selection of ships you can encounter. Decide on a ship that looks interesting, grind your way to it and then git gud with it. I will say the meta changes quite a bit at t8, since some lines change drastically from dreadnoughts to modern BBs.

Well I splurged on Mahan camo, despite knowing the ship is a bit, eh, suboptimal. It has some interesting things going for it and I like the quirkier playstyles.

For using AP efficiently, you need to be aware of armor models as well as what you guns are capable of penetrating (which is good, better than HE) and overpenetrating (which is bad, far worse than HE). It's not simply a matter of getting close to use AP - depending on the target, AP can be better at long range where if it penetrates something, it's less likely to have the momentum to overpen. This is especially the case against large DDs and soft cruisers like t5+ Germans. It really depends on your guns, the ship's armor and the trajectory of the shell. You can't break out graphs and charts every time you aim but you get the hang of it the more practice you get with the same guns. Against BBs, the simple thing to be aware of is which ones have a nice chunky upper plate, usually just 25mms. Just look at New Mexico, that's a great example of a nice, big, crunchy upper plate that many mid-caliber guns can abuse. Then look at Bayern, if you shoot the same general location your shells will bounce all day. If you're close enough to aim precisely, use AP on its bow; otherwise, spam HE since the center of mass of the ship is just too tough to make AP spam effective. But most BBs do have the upper plate to varying degrees. Overall though, if you stick with US cruisers, you're going to have slow 150mm shells until pretty late, so HE-spam is advised against most targets at most ranges.

I think Mahan is a bad ship at its core. Having the worst detection range at t7 is a really bad situation. You get uptiered with Kageros which can spot you from literally over a mile away, you get downtiered with 'kazes and Mutsukis that can do the same, even in the same tier Shiras and GMs have a huge advantage. It's made even worse by the fact the shell arcs make DD combat hard even at your detection range with CE. And speaking of the guns, you get no upgrade over Farragut whatsoever. So Mahan is a big loser at the basics. I would not call it versatile in that sense, if it suffers at the most basic task of capping vs. most other DDs. But then there's the utility and quirks of the ship that make it interesting. The torps are quite nice, 12 tubes with a good reload and decent range is great for t7, even if you have to wiggle to use them all and the damage is mediocre. Def AA gives you something no torpboat at t7 has (besides AA-specced Aka, I guess), the ability to get aircraft off you. The smoke is arguably the best you could ask for, with the mod + SSE you can lay down some majestic screens. And of course, the ability to abuse gravity and cover with your mortar-guns is a lot of fun if you manage your positioning. I like the US DDs, they have a lot of character despite being one of the earliest lines. And Mahan is one of the most lopsided, awkward ones in the line. Shira - Well, it's a preview of the Kagero, but in the wrong line. Stealth, TRB, mehguns, hates CVs. Or use smoke and defeat most of the purpose of the ship. Mass - Brawler. One of the most gun-oriented ships in the line. Best cap contester around. Like Mahan, poor effective range + bad stealth are a nasty combo, but not quite as bad here. Great AP DPM, if you can get good pens. Hates CVs. Akatsuki - most versatile IJN DD. Decent torps, decent guns, some AA potential, not-terrible stealth. This is the real jack-of-all-trades of t7 DDs.