Panocek

No citadels AFAIK, but HE deals AoE, so don't need direct hit to damage them. Which probably will means BB with HE will be the best ASW across the map against recharging sub that got spotted.

Fastest is russian one, S-1? at 26kts surfaced, 16kts submerged, 5kts recharging. Faster than US, even with Engine Boost. Russian one have fastest shifting on dive and ascend, enabling some vertical torpedobeats against enemy subs, but turns like a russian barge. Heal is of little value, as DD/CL usually oneshots you once they get into "depth charges away" phase.

Good luck "islandhugging spamming fires in 1v1 without spotter. And then you can casually ignore fires with tank build You can reduce torpedo effectiveness with usage of whole two keys, you know, on your keyboard. If you add another two, "fat immobile BB" becomes frustratingly hard to land torps on. And then you have glorious german overengineering with Hydro in case you need to finish off that youtube clip before taking evasive action. Did I mention battleships have the best torpedo belts for damage reduction? "Insane firepower"... Only one DD line, with IFHE can actually hope of inflicting gun based damage and only on 32mm plating. You can counter DDs firing AP at your broadside by, you guessed it, playing battleships of lidl and glorious variety, in case you consider angling to be too mainstream against incoming AP projectiles -usual tank build -torpedo belts -heals -on average the best AA on their tier ToTaLlY uNpLaYaBlE 26kts for Russian sub, that also happen to have aerial torpedoes for damage. 16kts submerged 5kts submerged and recharging batteries to be actually able to use homing torp feature

Even stock New Mexico can outrun submerged sub, even more so as sub needs to crawl at 4kts to recharge batteries underwater. Also god forbid BB having actual threat besides other BB in this game. Oh the horror

Sounds like most class interactions though. BB vs DD, cruiser vs DD, cruiser vs BB, DD vs CV just to name a few. Going sub hunting is quite fun, with German/UK destroyers with hydro being prime ships there as you can spot enemy sub. What was found out, WG gave out varying depth charge pattern drops - for example Ikarus drop all 8 one by one (one left, one right from mortars and then 6 going off the ramp), Vasteras drop two by the mortars, then after 15s or so drops all 6, which makes for potentially lethal DoT from flooding/fires. Playing sub itself... feels like thoroughly gimped destroyer. Torps are barely turning and anything with operational rudder can evade them easily, no means of disengaging and being entirely at mercy of teammates to get horny DD off your back, while your average DD carry heavier torp payload, have guns to pew pew and have speed to disengage.

Third collab hinted in Azur Lane dev stream. Based on picture above... We have Azuma and Neptune captains already, Saint Louis (upper left) and Kitakaze (upper right) might be coming. Whether as separate captains, or with their own copy/paste (premium) ships, remains to be seen. WG adding clones of Lenin and Sov. Soyuz in dev blog would be one hint of what ships to expect. While there is no Lenin class BB in Azur Lane, not so long ago was Russian themed event with Sov. Rossija as playable character, so that would be one possibility.

Captured Atlanta with russian quad 130mm everywhere? US I think have enough destroyers to form second line, though they would be very similar to existing ones unless artificial gimmick would be implemented. BB line could have second "secondary" branch (Nevada, Pennsylvannia, California, SoDak class, Georgia, Ohio) but alas quite a few arrived as premiums or will soon arrive

You see in tech tree, that mini branch of Russian destroyers? It was supposed to end with first guided missile destroyer, Kotlin class. Back in 2017 But WG deemed guided missiles to be broken more than anticipated and works were shelved, moving into CV REEEwork

Given one can assemble almost complete Polish DD line, I have wild guess they will become second, "artillery" oriented branch of "European" tech tree, with ORP Warszawa (modified Kotlin class RU DD) being potentially even guided missile destroyer, concept WG already tried to explore. And probably will return once they run out of subs and carriers.

Smaland gets right-ish reload with BFT tho, 1.5s. And then goes above historical 42 rounds/min with BFT and reload mod. Halland could see some buffs in main gun department, thats for sure That would involve coming up with another DD, and given its Ikea branch, they probably did not had appropriate ship type/design to fit between "historical" configs and line from tier 6 onwards.

In case you haven't noticed, WG developed outstanding expertise in dumpster fire management, so adding new and possibly broken new ship class to the game is just another tuesday for them. inb4 ping mechanic "temporarily removed" with first hotfix once subs to live

Smolensk can't inflict direct HE damage except on superstructure and on destroyers...

Regular EU DDs are unique enough. And then Smaland gives you "gunboat spin" from torpedoboat oriented destroyers of silver line. One reason to go for Smaland would be getting yourself Halland class DD that will be (mostly) immune to WG tampering - you never know when WG might decide silver Halland is "overperforming" and nerf AA, guns or torps or her consumables. Therefore any nerfs to Halland indirectly make Smaland stronger in comparison.

They will be returning... as second branch of carriers, presumably of "support" type if old announcement from WG is still relevant. Set up training room and practice flak evasion against armed, not moving bots, gradually increasing amount of ships firing at your planes. Then coop games to practice dropping on moving targets. Once you get a feel for both, you could try randoms. Rockets are afterthought on Kaga, but they still can do harm to cruisers and DDs. Dive bombers are reasonably accurate so you can use them against all targets, lack alpha compared to US HE bombs or IJN AP ones though. TB are mostly anti BB, given long arming distance and somewhat wide gaps between torps, which may or may not make torpedo evasion possible.

Destroyers are definitely great, though they start shaping as gunboats from tier 7 onwards. They aren't idiotproof, so don't expect ship to carry you "just because its good in good hands". Tier 9 and 10 are currently on nerf streak and no one knows where it will stop, so be warned. Heavy cruisers are average at best, while from tier 8 onwards they have considerably exposed citadel, so things might go not as planned very fast. Tier 9 and 10 have high HE penetration, which might come in handy when dealing with battleships.

Looking at my experience in european destroyers, I'd take smoke over "potent AA" any day simply because not being seen + option to use main guns beats being spotted and fired upon during farming planes. AA also can quickly disappear if BB grade HE shells are sent your way.

And then Friesland only thing in common with Smaland and Haland have is "nation" as well gun turrets. Low alpha torps on regular Ikea destroyers aren't exactly a deterrent for excessively horny cruiser or BB who wants to visit you.

Obviously don't expect to win 1v4 engagement, this is where her concealment and torps come into play. But DD brawls at short range are definitely her forte, while you can use smoke as gtfo button to break off line of sight. With no CV in game, you can use smokes at your leisure to fire your guns, just make sure someone else will do the spotting. Her slow shell velocity makes her prime island camper as well, so you can save on smokes that way as well. Don't underestimate DD caliber AP shells. Don't expect citadels, but you don't need much penetration to deal damage to "nothing" part in "all-or-nothing" armored ships when you have view at someone broadside.

I've already had three games where entire AA stripped off with ship hp being in still good shape and/or easily recoverable with heals.

DD in general can be very unforgiving class to play. I'd say Cossack have incredible staying power with her almost broken tier concealment (5.5km with Concealment Expert, second only to Kagero class destroyers of IJN) and 5-to-7 smokes, depending if you use premium one (and you should) and have Superintendent skill, assuming you just don't yolo yourself into nearest enemy.

While Halland can inflict considerable casualties on CV with not-potato play, she just loves losing AA to any HE shells sent her way, reducing her damage output to oblivion. Thus, Brit/Aliexpress destroyers with multiple quick reloading smokes are better pick for CV present games simply by virtue of not being seen. Bonus points for having actually usable gun armament and torps that actually can do more than print torp hit ribbons.

The higher tier, the more money ship will bring to you, with exception of tier 10, as those are more of a "reward" ships. It all depends how much you want to spend. Cossack is awesome cap contester and fits like a glove in terms of captain skills with silver UK DDs. She is a ship to carry teams to victory despite their best efforts to throw the game, but, she does lack "nuke" option you'd expect from DD, as she have only four torps on board. Granted, quickly reloading, but not fast enough to stop rushing cruiser or BB. If you're unsure, get silver UK DD, Lightning as she is close in terms of gameplay and overall stats. US Kidd is also solid pick for the same reasons as Cossack, but instead concealment and extremely useful british smoke she have decent-ish AA and heals to recover hp. T-61 is pretty good ship from what I've seen, but German DDs are mediocre across the board, so keep that in mind. Gorizia I wouldn't call "good" due to limitations of SAP ammo. De Grasse is somewhat standard light cruiser and works well enough with typical cruiser captain you'd put onto French cruisers. For French destroyers at mid tiers, you can get yourself Aigle for coal in the Armory, same with Błyskawica as European DD captain trainer. Keep in mind, Błyskawica is gun oriented and doesn't quite fit torpedo oriented Ikea European destroyers so some corners would have to be cut somewhere In 0.9.5 patch, which should arrive in about a month, Russian cruisers line will be changed and Kirov (tier 5) as well Moskva (tier 10) will become premium and reward ships respectively, so if you think you can do it, you can rush for those ships. This is, unfortunately, very good advice as WG have increasingly questionable ideas as of late, either regarding game development or monetization practices during events. WG claims to "not nerf" premium ships... but already used "global change" excuse to alter premium ships or changed game mechanics that just happen to be crucial for ship in question. Duke of York citadel raise, Atlanta and CV/AA REEEwork, Błyskawica (and almost all destroyers tbh) and removal of stealth firing, IFHE skill rework and light cruisers, premium and silver.

Usual BB tank build, as Azuma/Yoshino/any other large cruiser have full fire duration, as in PT-AR-SI-CE-FP-BoS-EM, not necessarily in that order.

T10 specials have halved repair cost by default, with T10 premium paint they come with repair goes down to 45k. Guessing he meant 90k saving with prem paint on silver Moskva, while gold Moskva will have 45k saving from the same paint.

Why its no longer the case? WG so far never had issue of adding perma camo to replacement ships, as it was the case during RU DD and US cruiser splits.