Hirohito

My spotting record of 212k was in a Småland game. Had 0 caps, no DD damage, no kills and only a slight amount of BB damage before the game was won (ended up on the flank where the enemy BBs were just kiting away from us all game). Ended up third last, in the range of about 700-900 XP.

Thanks for the reply, I had the same feeling that she would struggle in CBs unfortunately. Think I'll just hold on to my steel from now then, as the only DD seems kinda "meh", and I dislike Stalingrad alltogether.

Is there really a "worse build" for Småland though? I feel that the boat generally has a lot of options depending on what you want to do with her, with none of them really being "wrong" (unless you want to spec her as a pure AA boat, that is wrong).

I am considering to get that one as my first steel ship actually. How do you feel that it performs in randoms? Does it look like a contender for competitive (CB) play as well, or is the current meta ("don't take CLs") still a thing that will prevent it from shining?

In ranked I follow a pretty standard recipe for Småland, nearly regardless of enemy lineup (70% WR overall, thus it seems to pay off). The mindset is all about zoning out the enemy DDs early on to gain map space to work from, a vision advantage from that map space I've taken (which also opens up good torp angles), and room to cap it once the map space is established. In practical terms, I go to the cap early, preferably an open one if I get to choose, as that gives me the room to use my strengths more (namely the speed booster). On contested caps (not the "free" one near our spawn) I watch RPF religiously. If I sense that a DD is heading right into it, I pre-torp the area and use my radar range to cover the cap, and have my concealment not cover the cap. Then I wait for it to flip before turning on the radar - a typical stealth radar trap. My attempt is to chunk down the enemy DD hard, get a favourable HP trade, force him off the cap (zoning him out "involuntarily") and then get out fast only to later return to try to cap it myself. This works well on less experienced DDs, since they fail to recognize the danger they are about to walk into. Setting up a stealth radar trap usually gets you a consistent early lead on the enemy DD, making you that more likely to win the game from there on. If the enemy is smart, he'll be mindful of the danger a sudden Småland radar presents on his flank, and attempt to torp you or lure you into superior gunfire instead, without risking his ship through an early cap ("voluntarily" letting himself get zoned out). Either way, you zone him out from the area pretty good. Either way, I always look at the lineup before the game, especially for the amount of radar cruisers and what kind of DDs, as well as checking the minimap if some were spotted elsewhere to get an idea of what I'm facing on my particular side. If Soviet cruisers are nearby, I engage (if I even do so) the DD if I can quickly angle away while doing (taking a kiting position out), or plan on using an island to break line of sight. Moskva for instance can chunk you really good, even with the speed booster on. For USN radar, I usually don't care too much, the speed boost allows me to juke a lot of those slow shots as long as they sit 10+ kms out as long as I kite out and change course (sometimes even speed). Either way, the red DD support has to be really close or overwhelming for me to not consider engaging the DD. If it is, I'm happy to just radar him (staying dark) to make him sweat and get off the cap. The overall mindset though is about zoning out the enemy DD completely, and picking up the cap(s) once you get the map space he yields to you (voluntarily or involuntarily). Småland is a fantastic ship for grabbing map space and denying it to the enemy team.

I suspect that capping bases acts like a multiplier of score, but has terrible base scores by itself. Seen games with close to zero damage but multiple caps (solo and assisted), which scored terribly low. In your Henri game you had 1 solo cap, so with the 230k damage on top of that it might be that you got a percentage modifier from that which boosted the rewards from your overall high damage? Either way, spotting/potential damage scores f*** all regardless of whether it works as a base number or a modifier, that's for sure.

Also keep in mind that Småland gets weird reload behaviour due to its low reload speed. Some might have seen the topic that was created on this about a month ago. My testing shows that BFT (assuming main battery mod 3 for -12% reload) does not improve your reload with 5%, but rather between 9-22%. So the skill is atm a very viable option to spec into to get you another leg up.

Well you can play her with AFT and no CE in an open water gunboat role, but you really gotta practice your juking then when you engage cruisers/BBs near max range. Fortunately, Småland is fantastic for juking in open waters with the engine boost active, and speed boost mod helps a lot for that, get it. :-)

Småland took me a lot of practice to get down, but once she clicked she became a favourite of mine. It was rough though, during the first 50-80 or so battles I was stuck at below 50% and my stats in her still suffer from that early bit. Generally I seek out open positions with her if I can, as she has rather poor gun angles and turning circle, with an excellent engine boost consumable. Contrast this to a Daring that thrives in closed spaces and can disengage at will with smoke. Småland can still work in closed spaces, but then you're usually better off using islands to break contact when needed, and staying away from maneuvering in those spaces as she isn't really built for that (exceptions exist ofc, and getting better in her helps a lot). As mentioned above, save the engine boost for when you engage the enemy DD, you'll need it to throw off returning gunfire from half the enemy team. Early on I like to use it for a "hit and run" tactic, where I open up on the enemy DD, pop the boost and kite out while trying to land as many shells as I can. The trap here is when you see that you get a favourable trade on the enemy DD, and try to finish him off by chasing him, that's when you'll most likely overextend and end up dead. Later on when there are less ships, your room to chase down and finish a DD increases, but as with all things in the game, it depends on the unique circumstances. I'll happily finish off a DD that has close to no support early, but in the majority of cases an early hit and run-tactic is the most solid. You can cap quite well once the local DD population has been thinned out and you know there are no radar nearby (or a single radar is on cooldown). Radar is to be saved (usually) for a DD smoking up, especially if you run CE (as you usually detect most DDs "naturally" through a hard spot). If you skip out on CE and run AFT (some people do in order to play her more like a russian/french cruiser pressuring DD), you can use the radar as a DD counter-spotting tool (7,1km detection or so is enough to counterspot with the 7,5 km radar). Småland isn't that easy to play to begin with though, so expect to have to put in some hours to make her work beforehand. :D

Didnt work.

Hi. I am currently looking for a clan doing CBs. I am a DD main, but capable in BBs as well. :-) Putting my stats up just in case: https://wows-numbers.com/player/500825056,Hirohito/?type=solo ~2700 games played 56,71% solo WR 1392 PR 50k avg. damage (DD main after all!) And one I'm quite happy about - consistent 70% ranked WR with 169 games played (my most recent stats, prolly why they are a bit higher than the rest). For my T10s, I sport the following: Daring, Halland, Småland, Thunderer, Henvri IV, Hakuryu, Smolensk. For the current T9s, I sport the following: Jutland, Saint Louis, FDG, Fletcher, Alaska, Östergötland (can/will buy Neustrashimy/Friesland as I've got the coal and FXP around). I can communicate quite well in chat, and always happy to do in case RPF information is needed etc. :-) Please contact me if this sounds interesting, though mind that I would prefer a clan at my own level (which I guess should be high storm/typhoon or so I?). I also appreciate a friendly clan if possible. :-)

Thanks again for all the feedback to my topic. As for my actual choice, I've decided to have a go with THESO. This topic can therefore be closed. :-)

It has better dpm, but otherwise both boats are very similar. The Jutland is in some aspects even better tier for tier imo (apart from the dpm), because it has that 5,7km detection which makes it veeeery sneaky for a DD killer.

Long story short, I've got enough steel bagged for my first steel boat now (with the coupon). I am a DD main, but atm neither of the steel ships really seem that interesting. I guess Somers would be the closest candidate, being a DD and all, but I'm quite on the fence about her. While she does have good torps and that USN smoke for competitive plays, I feel on the surface that she's a bit lacking. The concealment isn't that great, the guns are poor, and in sum she just seems like a slightly weaker (LM?) Gearing (which I am about to tech to). In short, she seems especially weak when it comes to zoning out other DDs, which is a role I quite value in a DD. Is there anyone who has her that could share some insights on whether she's worth it? (Randoms, ranked, CBs) Or should I hold out for other ships, like Stalingrad (I dislike heavier ships) or Plymouth (which actually seems interesting)?

I get that part, but since she looks to be quite "meh", I was contemplating just saving the steel for when an actually interesting DD got released. Dunno if it's worth blowing that much steel on a boat that basically plays like a mix between Gearing and Shima, boats which I already can pick up for free.

The T4 CVs are nerfed for sure, but still ridiculously strong in capable hands, and that goes for the Hermes as well. While capable "targets" can make torp drops a little more difficult, the AA is overall pretty much non-existent and most non-DD targets too sluggish to reliably pull out of torp drops. And since most targets are still rather inexperienced, torping DDs is a perfectly viable option in a majority of cases. Took the Hosho out for a spin a month or so ago, and still got me some very high numbers in it. I believe my last game was a 70k or so game, whereas it would likely have been 90k+ before the nerf. T4 CVs are definitely still way too OP in capable hands as they currently stand, and will continue to be so with no real AA present. Btw., I believe my T4 CV "record" (somewhere above 100k) was actually done in a Hermes.

Silver hands down for me. Been maintaining a steady 70% WR so I hardly have to put in any effort for decent rewards. Could try gold but the rewards dont seem to be worth it compared to how many games I'd have to put in.

I have the same experience with her, she really doesn't carry well in randoms. Even if you don't run an anti-concealment build, her concealment is still atrocious so most of the time you will be in the backline slinging HE, which isn't really effective at the end of the day. She just rusts in my port right now for that reason.

I prefer ranked as well. The slower pace and less early threats (there being 7 enemy ships, and not 12) allows for a lot more tactical and strategic play, which is a part I enjoy a lot.

They get rewarded in just that one game though, mostly they'll be hovering around 50% WR with that kind of gameplay when others are not around to do the heavy lifting. It sucks, but if you care more about your WR than your PR/avg. damage then its a perfectly good route to take. I don't like BB play in general, but when I BB I generally prefer to sit up close to set up a strongpoint. Very rewarding when you see the enemy ships just stop dead in their tracks as noone wants to go first and eat an AP broadside.

You can still play up close though. Had a couple of games where I pushed close in Thunderer/Massa, and strong pointed a position to block their superior numbers from pushing. Low damage games, but I scored rather well (you get to reliably shoot DDs) and the win rate goes up. Who cares if the dead eye potatoes get more damage, they'll overall lose a lot of games that way (even if its annoying when they end up on Panzerknacker videos on youtube with their "pro" 300k games).

You are both wrong. The "best" radar is the Soviet radar found on Nevsky, Moskva, Stalin etc., which has a 12 km radius and 30s duration (36 with radar mod), possibly more with the new consumables skills (should be around 39s or so if that applies). They used to be 20s base, but got buffed to 30s in exchange for a 6s render delay for other ships that were not the ones using the radar. Petro has the weakest 12 km radar, which only lasts 15 secs (18s with radar mod).

Snipers or brawlers, it doesn't really matter to me. Slow ships with slow reloads that rely on oneshotting cruisers get a big nope from me. I prefer being useful in a DD over farming citadels for the "look at my big numbers, I must be good", which is generally how most BBs operate.

The problem with this line is that they don't seem to counter anything and thus have no particular role that needs filling. Cruisers can angle and neuter this boat. DDs can generally outspot this boat, and those that don't seem to have a superior gun advantage with monstrous HE, better ballistics and superior speed to dodge returning fire. They can also angle like cruiser to neuter the AP dpm. BBs are not gonna struggle with these, as the torps are too short-ranged/anemic, while AP vs BBs runs out of steam pretty quick once the vulnerable parts are saturated. CVs face no smoke, no real AA and poor detection circles, making these a prime target to drop from the get go. French DDs seem like the DD line that closest fill the role of these boats, but since they can rely on HE and ridiculous speed they actually pose a real threat on the battlefield.

Gonna stay away. Generally dislike BB play and I don't want to burn out from another grinding session for a ship class I detest to play anyway.