Verblonde

Hmmm, on sober reflection, I may feel inspired: Or, perhaps better yet: I'm a bad person...

I'm curious: how do you know they were 21 pointers? Is there a mod or something? Playing low tier ships with high point captains is something you'll inevitably meet occasionally, at least once you're out of protected newcomers' MM. I'm not convinced they would have been much less lethal with more prosaic captains though, assuming they're experienced players: whilst captains matter (CE especially, on anything that uses stealth), stuff like being able to aim, situational awareness, and correct ammo selection probably matter more. Personally, I don't think it would do much harm to ban anything over, say, 10 points in tiers 1-4; I also don't think it would make that much difference either - quite recently, I started using my NA account and have mainly low point captains on it, and I'm almost the same standard at lower tiers as I am with a better captain on the EU server...

Life's far too short to get your knickers in a twist over steel ships turning into coal (and yes, it impacts two of mine - Flint, and Black, eventually); we had exclusivity on the steel ships for months, or even years, so I don't begrudge more people getting their hands on them now...

Unless a mission comes along, mine are generally parked (with zeroed captains) until better players than I work out what optimal builds look like, and until WG give an indication of what - if anything - is going to get changed. In the meantime, if I need them, I'll play premiums, using a single captain for each nation, and ideally a captain that won't matter if he has to be mothballed if WG change something crucial that makes his skill selection redundant.

I'm starting to think we may have a problem with DDs that is not entirely un-adjacent to that with cruisers and supercruisers i.e. we seem to have two main general types of DD: sneaky and non-sneaky (for want of better expressions), with things like Khaba and the French in the latter category, soon to be joined by the new Germans. The 'sneaky' type I would define in terms of being able to do the traditional DD jobs, whereas the 'non-sneaky' ones are anything where that sort of thing will likely get you killed, and you spend your time at longer range, with the left mouse button glued down. Clearly, there isn't a clear line that cuts off where one category starts and the other begins; quite apart from anything else, how much you build for stealth could change quite a lot of ships' categories. Anyway, the point is that which category you have on your side, and on your opponents' side, will have a dramatic impact on how the game plays out if only because of the significant differences in vision control. So, do we need two sub-classes (as it were) of DDs; one for the sneaky ones, and one for the non-sneaky ones, in a similar manner to how some have proposed giving supercruisers their own MM class? I would say probably not (keeping it simple may well be a virtue here), but the idea does illustrate why many (including me, at this stage, although I hope I'm wrong) are not really stoked about these new DDs as they stand - why pick one, when there are several alternatives that can 'DD' far better (and when 'DDing' is usually so crucial to your team's success)?

Many thanks! (BTW it's also working for NA too, at time of writing.)

I'll stay in Bronze this time; I don't view the increase in rewards worth the extra aggravation of the higher leagues (I was in Silver for much of the last cycle, to provide context). That said, my first foray this morning wasn't hugely encouraging: we lost as our BBs were camping/hiding harder than the opposition were...!

Absolutely. I tend to view BBs mainly through the prism of Ops (and missions in Coop); if I want to play a 'proper' game mode, I usually grab a DD instead...!

T6-7 ought to be fun in Ops; that's the only real reason I'm interested in them.

Depends a bit on how much time I spend playing (dialling things back a bit while I wait to see what happens with captains), but I should get at least the T6, and maybe the T7. Based on a brief session on my NA account, the ships start getting less dull at T6, and all of them look very pretty (I think you get the bow stripes from T6), so they aren't entirely a waste of time (especially if you can get them for free).

<nods sagely> I like the cut of your jib, sir! (Assuming it applies to all three sisters.)

Deadeye, because it should be killed with fire, and then buried at a crossroads at midnight, with a stake through its heart! ('Not keen' might be a slightly more genteel way of phrasing it.)

FWIW I think Yoshino is more fun, although Moskva is perhaps more useful for competitive modes, due to the radar. That said, I don't play either very much; they mostly get used for missions in Coop, although I almost always pick Yoshino first. Although my playing T10 cruisers in PvP rarely goes well, I would always pick something like Nevsky over both of these two...

FWIW my guess is that's it's largely due to the smoke: the short duration makes it difficult to perform the T7 Belfast's party piece for the average player. I don't really blame WG for making her a bit hard work for most players; it was bad enough having to remove the original from sale - imagine the hullabaloo if the second version had been too OP as well...!

FWIW I'm still playing quite a bit, and generally enjoying myself, *but* the quality of play usually seen has been getting worse, and this is a sub-par player saying that, so if you're a good player it'll probably drive you nuts (at least at times). As mentioned earlier, it's worth logging in today though, if only to reset all your captains (or as many as you have time to do; the 'reset all' button expired a few days ago now); after the patch goes live, captain resets cost again. If you are contemplating returning, it's perhaps worth waiting a bit to see what WG do to 'fix' the captain rework (there are one or two things that blatantly need tweaks, most notably the Deadeye skill), or at least using as few captains as possible - the tweaks will, of course, almost certainly not come with another free respec. On the up-side (apropos captains), you can now run all your premium ships from a given nation with a single captain (assuming you are happy with a 'good enough' build some of the time), so enabling more play options with just one captain.

I've been pratting about with T4-T6 on NA (Coop only, so far), and the SAP rounds are quite nasty at those tiers (especially against squishier targets, unsurprisingly); conversely, the gun range seems to be on the short side, so you do need to get closer. Speaking as a DD main, my (very) initial impression is that they're much like other T4-5 BBs i.e. slow, can't shoot straight, and aren't very interesting. The T6 looks to be a bit more interesting, and I look forward to giving her a lash in Ops. It does feel a bit like they're 'anti-Deadeye' BBs (at least at the lower tiers) in that you don't have the range to skulk around at great distances, although I'm sure it won't stop people trying! All that said, I should emphasise again that this is based on a tiny data-set, and - perhaps more importantly - when it comes to BBs, I struggle to find my bottom with both hands and a map, so huge bucket of salt needed... (They are very pretty though - WG's artistic types have done an excellent job again.)

It'll be used as a sales lever at some point, although with things as they are at the moment, I prefer Neustrashimy myself (zombie heal, decent stealth, and good enough at everything else)...

I voted 'yes for premium users', because I get that WG need to make money, and that might be a useful sales tool for them (with a clearly demonstrable value, as the f2p crowd would still have to pay). If I might suggest a refinement though, rather than simply giving premium folk unlimited respecs, perhaps (kind-of) steal an idea from WOT (and annoy the f2p folk less too): In WOT, demounting equipment costs gold; however, with the recent rework (!) of equipment, you now get a finite number of free demount coupons (good for one piece of equipment). For WOWS, WG could use a similar mechanic, where each coupon allows a single complete reset of any captain. WG could then use those coupons as a selling tool: depending on how much premium time you buy, you get more or fewer coupons at the same time. Furthermore, they could stick them in the shop, for further vodka voucher generation (discounts for larger bundles etc.). It would also be sensible (again, as per WOT) to have them earnable for f2p folk via missions etc. If the cost for each coupon is - say - the cost of currently respeccing maybe a 15 point captain, then we (the players) probably end up no worse off, WG get a new (modest) income stream, and a potentially useful sales tool to boot. Yes, I would prefer all respecs to be free for everyone all the time, but that's an unrealistic hope for a commercial product; I'm just thinking of ways that the current approach could be improved, but in a way that might be appealing from a commercial standpoint too...

For the current one (Narai), it's probably Scharnhorsts (either vanilla, or S&M, depending on my mood); both built semi-manly. For the T6s (although I mostly avoid Newport), I like CVs, especially Ark Royal and EL; Ops are about the only time I can play CVs and not ruin people's fun (outside of Coop). Honourable mentions: Boise/NdJ, Ashitaka (with Kobayashi), Mysore, AGS (with National cammo), PEF, Mutsu, Dunk/Strasbourg (depending on Op tier). I tend to use Ops to make the most of the classes that I don't play in PvP as much (basically, anything that isn't a DD), and tend to favour healing potions.

I started off hating the US DDs when I first started playing the game, and I was utterly bemused as to why everyone thought Clemson was so ferocious; the problem was essentially that I didn't know how to play gun-orientated DDs at that time, so I did less poorly with the IJN torp line. I've since grown to like the US DDs quite a lot, to the extent that the higher tier ones are on my 'go to' list for competitive modes. FWIW I might suggest thinking along the following lines: You're 'good enough' at everything, but generally not excellent at anything; be mindful of this, as it'll inform how you play. You have good dakka, but the arcs can be a nuisance; you also have dangerous torps, but you don't get a stealth window until T7 - this is all indicative of an ambush predator (especially given your average concealment). Islands and smoke are your friends, if used judiciously. Be patient; the longer you survive, the more use you'll probably be. You may be out-spotted by the IJN, but you still win the vision battle if they get sunk before you do. You have excellent smoke; I find though that hiding in it and spamming HE is rarely of much use, as so many people know how to deal with angry smoke clouds, and have the tools to do so (hydro/radar). Better to use your smoke to conceal allies, set decoys (enough people still try and smoke spam that the enemy will attack smoke even if you aren't in it), and to escape aircraft. Speaking of aircraft, I usually take DefAA over engine boost (unless in a CV-free mode); combine that with sector reinforcement, and knowing how to Just DodgeTM and you can make yourself a less attractive target for CVs, such that they go elsewhere. US DDs have decent (for a DD) AA, and you may as well make use of it; do remember though that most damage from CVs is due to spotting, and try to ensure there is hard cover between you and the enemy surface fleet if you expect a visit from planes. As with almost all DDs, you really need a 10 point captain from T5; if you are using the line for regrinding, then you want a good captain for every ship you'll actively play (for my regrind line, that means T5 and up). If you need to regrind multiple lines, do the same one over and over; you'll get better with the ships in question, making it go faster/less painfully, and you'll have better captains available for each ship (and save resources that you might otherwise use taking one captain up the tiers as you go). Don't get *too* hung up on damage; whilst you need to do damage to get rewards, pick your spots and only open fire when the reward outweighs the risk (until T7, you will be spotted when you fire any of your main weapons) - before firing, check to see who/what has LoS to you and might sink/cripple you with return fire. Also, try and have an escape plan; you need to be able to break contact when you've finished your attack (or if things go sideways).

I voted 'no' to both, although there are elements of both I do actually like...

One wonders if perhaps some sort of particularly fine micrometer might be in order...?

Whilst - obviously - BBs smell and their mothers dress them funny, Normandie is (IMO) worth holding onto, if only for Ops - you spend a lot of time at close range in that mode, so the slightly flaky accuracy matters less. She's also faster than a lot of T6 BBs, which helps you fill in gaps when you have team-mates who are less aware of how particular Ops work. There's also a rather nice 'ocean liner' permaflage for her too, which makes her look rather good as well...

I can't argue with this in the least. It would have been a nice gesture to have had a second 'magic button' available near the end though, so as to enable us to make sure that we haven't missed any captains before the free respec ends. First World Problems, I guess...

Probably much the same as everyone else: Reset all captains where I have builds, checking thoroughly for 'multiple class' ones. Have a look to see if any ship builds are in need of changing, but not expecting to find many. Play using as few captains as possible, and try not to use any special ones without a pressing reason (although contradicting this aim, my only two 21 pointers are both specials, so I'll probably risk them to get the ecxp). That said, I've recently discovered Valheim, so I imagine my time on WOWS will drop a bit - there are far worse times after all!