LongJohn_

By the way how WG select who is testing and what? Can to just list up for testing etc? Today I had latest GZ testbed in my team and honestly he was very poor player. Enemy teams AS Lex won that one 10-0 and sunk couple ships doing it. GZ was finally sunk by friendly Fiji.

Yep but how about overall - if they implement same AP rules to high tier non-premiums. Including Essex and Midway DBs. Is that a good or bad thing? Was the AP option or mandatory? It gives theoretical alpha but also loses damage over time effects. How about those Big E bombs, I've understood that HE bombs are 500 pounders and AP bombs 1000 pounders?

If it really is that unconsistent why do you demand AP bombs and at the same time beg for a second torp squad to be more versatile? If your only DB bombload is AP and everyone knows its good only against certain targets what do you think enemy CV does with his fighters? Protect the light cruisers? I dont think so. With "certain BBs only" AP bombs you lose that flexibility. You can strike what ever you want but its useless against most of the targets.

Yep. You never ever blob your planes with strike Lex. Make two clearly separated strikeforces and strike different sides of the map. Works in most cases. In casual T10 game you can cluster 3 DBs together and from friendly AA cover bomb the s*it out of some BB.

Just watched. Few remarks: - Its good to see Flamu mess up time to time. Really. - Loadout seems at least strange. DBs are retard. No skill required, no mather approach angle, just point and click - boom, massive damage - 10 fighters in one squad - it should lose 1:1 fight with 2x5 fighter setup with identical planes. I've seen this multiple times with 7 plane spiced up Dog Fighting Expert Ranger fighters against 2x3 plane Saipan setup. Should be pretty even but in many cases Saipan didnt lose a single plane. - TBs seem to be paper?

Yep but is that actually a good plan after all? Difference between T8 and T10 TBs is huge - mainly in speed. Sure you can crossdrop on DDs but if there is even modest cruiser around those planes are scredded before drop. AP bombs are intresting. Havent tried them since they are only usable in couple premium ships... But in 2-2-2 static loadout there will be 2x7 1000 pound AP DBs in the air. Thats 2 more than Air Superiority skilled Enterprice has. But what if the loadout wouldn't change. What 3x7=21 1000 pound AP bombers do to a BB? When you know what 2x6 in Big E does...

You could use stock 2-1-2 loadout for AS. But naturally this is one strike squad short from damage apartment. I notice the crossdrop issue but I've still managed to demolish some DDs with single squad but naturally they have to be a bit dumb to fall for it. USN torps are also in much tighter spread which is harded to dodge compared to IJN spreads. Same with bigger targets. Nice drop little from behind and you can score all 6 hits - even to smaller targets than Kurfurst. Only issue I see with the T8 TBs is the speed. You can spice them up in health but speed is terrible compared to even T9 planes.

I do look back my Ranger games against Saipans. It wasnt funny but in some cases it was doable. Even with 1-1-1 stock loadout I used. 2-2-2 Hiryu should have a fighting chance against Saipan. But still I dont know, is that path already seen or does it need a revisit... Of cource all modules are researched so its only captain training and off you go. Shokaku... Bonestock with very limited free xp at the moment. Stock loadout is 1-2-2 so I basically grind on with Ryijo at T8. Even planes are close to same. Fighter difference was pretty big, ~200 health and 8 or so knots speed. But the real difference is in TBs and DBs. Health difference there is one thing but speed difference from stock to top is ~20 knots. Aka huge. One consideration is also 2CV games. T7 you still have them, allthough always top tier, T8 you dont. Its been a while after T7. How does T7 and T8 MM differ? I remember playing Lex in T10 games and Shoka with paper planes at T10 should be hilarious. But what T7 CVs meet? T8 naturally but how often T9s?

Damn you little agitators. I thought to invest into Colorado or save credits for Kagero but now started to think about revisiting Hiryu or try Shokaku seriously. I have it researched but played only one game. Stock grind is horrible since stock TBs are basically Zuihos planes. Some issues. I have a 12 point captain if I remember correctly and of my memory doesnt fail me I redistributed captain points so I'd have a clear table to start. But since I dont invest real life currency to the game I cant re-spec captain again before similar offer like this Halloween event. So.. Which one would you recommend? Revisit to Hiryu or start fresh from Shokaku? Which one, why and with which captain skills? I guess skills are pretty similar but the Hiryu captain needs the dogfighting expert against Saipans and this is one point wasted at T8.

Nope. You have 6+7+7+7=27 planes in the air and ready to go, Haku has 3x4+3x5=27 planes in the air and ready to go. Its even. Of course multiple torp squads give flexibility, no doubt there. But that is not going to change. With upcoming 2-2-2 loadout you can send off 2x6+2x7=26 strikeplanes. Its still not as flexible as 6 individual squads. Even the AP bombs wont change that. IJN is and will remain more flexible option. But what USN has and will have is crazy alpha potential. 2x6 TBs and 2x7 1000 pound AP DB squads. What can you oneshot? Everything?

Little addition to things above... I'd say its all about landing and launching. Both carriers have serviced the first squad that landed after the last one has landed. Landing and launching takes it own time. I bet difference isnt that big. And of the flexibility. No, Midway wont have Haku flexibility even sftet upcoming 2-2-2 loadout. Its still two squads short. I know the issue. I know how nice its to use for example Ryijo 1-2-2 loadouts squads and kill near dead enemies with single squad per ship. You cant do this with USN. In this respect playstyle is pretty different and I like that it is. It would be boring to have two nations with practically same ships. USN strenght in my mind is alpha and damage over time. Its not so flexible but it hurts. For example today bombed three enemy BBs to oblivion with same method. Essex strike loadout. TB+DB attack, pretty massive damage, flooding and fire, they repair, then strike 1-2 other DB squads for more damage and fires. Its not devide and conquer - its hit as it hurts. KG V was first, first blood, it had no chance. Bismarck the second and Iowa last. Easy vic.

Sure since they service at the same time. Thats why I asked. Put strike Midways 1+3 6-7 plane strike squads hovering over carrier and the same situation to Haku 3+3 squads with 4-5 planes each. Click return to all, let them land one by one, service as they have landed and send them back air as they are serviced, also one by one. Which one is faster? This as pure servicetime test. In actual battle squads arrive from strike different times and traffic at the deck is evened up - with both carriers. Depending on how player schedules his strikes, are squads destroyed etc.

Ok. Why the alter account? Its only stats. T8 Lex has its issues I admit. I fought it through with strike which has been useful later on. Single fighter in Essex strike has its service times and then I play it like strike Lex. IJN have their points but also bigger challenges. I run into trouble micromanaging squads at Hiryu and stopped that line there. At least for now. USN with fewer squads is easier to manage and you get more out from their potential. I believe IJN have higher potential but I guess I am too potato to get it out of them.

I know the flexibility difference but imho that comes an issue mid and late game when AA is weakened and you can attack targets using just a squad or two. At start I've piled up my squad even with module upgraded USN squads. Sending them one by one is just feeding planes. 2+2 attack formation has worked for me quite well (1-1-3 strike Essex).

Just out of curiosity: Is this your alter account or are your wows games really that 199? Impressive stats by all means but you do have 1st hand experience with T10 CVs?

Is the servicing time actually that long? How does it take for strike Midway 1-1-3 loadout to get all squads landed, serviced and back in the air? How about same situation with Haku? I just started thinking this. Of cource single squad takes longer time but there is also only 4 attackplane squads vs 6 of Haku.

Very close to breaking up Midway. So the 21M credit question: Is it worth it? What to expect after Essex? I've done decent results with Essex and quite like it. Should I just stay with it?

There was. Sometime around this Halloween. I believe it was some mission. Yamamoto missions etc. There was really capable CV captains running AS loadouts. It was some plane kill mission etc. Normally AS loadouts are noobs that just click and click. However with 3 squads that alone is annoying and they can control a big area with those.

Not with two but three 7 plane fighter setup. The Essex AS loadout. 3-0-2. That can control the sky pretty effectively if player knows what to do. Run into them time to time. I havent even research that one, waste of xp. At tier 7 Hiryu or with different playstyle Ranger. 1-1-1 loadout works, its much easier to manage compared to Hiryu and has good replacements. But overall its a double edge sword. You get more replacements and even at 2CV game you are always top tier. But you also meet up to T9s with their AA and T7 also has plenty of premiums around. Some of them are walletwarrior noobs but some are also unicums crashing credits and thats harsh learning experience.

Thats normal. With strike Essex and one fighter squad you can only do little. Of cource there is fierce complaining about the "selfish" loadout but I dont care. I can use the fighters to cover my strikes and cover some of the main friedly navy. Not all of them. I think you need the full AS loadout to really do that. So that the enemy cant even get local superiority and strike trough if you spread your fighters over the map and try to cover it all. Of cource there are different maps. Is it Neighbours or something. Tiny map at T9, heck it was tiny even at T8. Lexington with 18,1km stock detection range, harsh... And naturally its much easier to control to sky if own team is clustered. In such cases AA is also stronger and I get worse game myself. But in many of those cases clustered enemy team also means their entire team isnt doing great and we can win as a team.

Yep. People do mistakes even at T9. You can send whole pile of ships somewhere, concentrate just a while to do something else - whiting something in chat for the team, fighterbattle, DD spotting etc and before you know it enemy fighters have catched up your strikeforce and 80% of them are gone. Premium noobs aka wallet warriors can be funny. I had one battle in my previous Lexington. Strike loadout, enemy had Shokaku if I remember correctly. Absolutely no idea how to use fighters. I could do my strikes right around his fighters without any problems and like you know strike Lex unchecked is a menace... But if I remember correctly we still managed to lose it when their DD sneaked into our base and capped. S*it happens. As for the thread itself. I'd suggest to Andreas: buy yourself T6 CV that suits your style. Either Ruyjo or Independence - depending on how you want to manage your planes. And then just game on. All manual drops, learn strafing carefully and so on. T6 is the first tier that allows these and these skills are vital at upper tiers. Just wont do well without.

But then again teams themselves are very different. You expect some rational teamplay at higher tiers - more experienced players. But you still stumble into total disasters time to time but I think its rarer than its at lower tiers and this can be frustrating. Even if you know you can carry but in a CV you need time to do that and if your team just crumbles around you in minutes there isn't much you can do. Cure for this is pretty much take it easy - its only a game thinking.

This is actually intresting thing and I've thought about it few times. Basically T4-6 are grind based tiers. Naturally T4 (and 5) have total noobs in them but there is also very few AA and also strafing / manual dropping is considered "seal clubbing" aka banned. At T6 AA starts to rise and for some players full AA spec Cleveland might be a nasty surprice. After all you dont have that much replacement if you lose whole strikeforce. T7-8 are a mish-mash. T5-7 you can have 2CV clusterf*ck battles, T7 and T8 have many premium carriers in play and that shifts things. Without spying stats you dont know how good enemy CV is before you notice it yourself. And with premium CVs player can be anything. There can be a sealclubbing unicum making credits or in other side walletwarrior in his first CV game ever. And that makes it difficult to predict and it also shifts whole teams balance a lot. Getting Unicum CV against newbie with capable CV (like Kaga or Saipan) it really shifts the game over. You notice this with any other shipclass when such thing happens... At T9 you only meet people that have grinded CVs all the way there. At least no virgins there. Still I have to wonder the variety of players at T9. I've seen players with ++900 games in their CV, PR under 500, avg damage and such abysmal and they have no idea how to actually play CVs. Point and click, mass planes into huge easily strafed cluster... Sometimes it works, most cases it doesnt. This is something I personally call headbanging instead of enjoyable gameplay. I find the CVs clearly hardest, most demanding and intense class to play. There is so much things to consider. Actually this is why I stopped at T7 with IJN CVs - at least for now. There was just too much things at once and I felt I cant get the potential out of the ship. I know IJN CVs have way higher potential with their servicetimes and so on but its a huge challenge to get that potential out of them. You very easily forget to lauch planes, forget fighters hovering and enemy AA or fighters strife them of the sky and so on... Its not easy even with USN. Essex still has 5 squads to manage at T9, only one less than Hiryu has at T7.

Thats very close to mine. I got 241 478 in one game. T10 with cyclone. It would have been easily broken yesterday with little more cautious plane management. But maybe its fair like this. That cyclone T10 game I got kraken and topped the scoreboard, yesterday was just harvesting damage in Gneisenaus.

I checked your stats. 51 games in Essex with avg damage of 26k? I could suggest to stay at lower tiers, learn more and then proceed back.