Verblonde

If you're playing PvE exclusively, then do whatever you like; the standard 'don't rush the tiers' advice only really matters for PvP. Most people will probably assume you want to play randoms (and other PvP) unless you say otherwise, and there pretty much are wrong ways (or at least ill-judged ways) to go about that...

It's worth having several viable options available too - there is a cool-down period after each run, and it costs silver to skip it, which is a bit of a waste of resources. A quick glance at your profile suggests getting the Russian T6 BB first, which is a pretty decent pick (and also leads to the T7, which is excellent for Narai when it comes around); hopefully, you used a referral code when you started your account, in which case you should get Warspite too after your first T6 game, and she's pretty good for the T6 Ops as well. For a new player, the US and IJN BB lines are good for learning the basics of the general play style of the class, and they're decent for Ops too (personally, I prefer the IJN ones); the French BBs are some of my favourite silver ships for Ops as well, so are worth getting too. FWIW Ops are the main mode that I like playing CVs in (not keen in PvP, and Coop is a bit dull); I would suggest the IJN and KM options, and perhaps the US. If you are playing silver ships, the IJN T6 has perhaps the best overall tool-set for efficiently killing the targets you find in Ops (although not much use against DDs, the KM AP rockets are glorious against the straight-lining cruisers that are a staple of Ops). For a new player, I would suggest avoiding DDs and cruisers - as a general rule - as they aren't very resilient, and it's too easy to leave your team a man down early in the battle.

I think I remember that WG waited until the last minute for last year's as well, compared to most other 'sellers of stuff'...

The chaps above have answered your question, but if you ever need a useful starter for ten build for any ship in the game, the wiki is worth a look - on each ship's page, amongst other things, there are suggestions for optimal (and sometimes alternative) builds for that ship. As an illustration, this is for Lyon: https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Lyon

Didn't I read on one of the rumour sites (so, clearly, highly reliable source...!) that elements of WG were being investigated apropos the Cyprus passport thing? Presumably, lawyers are expensive... Edit: deleted link to source as link embedded in the article in question caused my PC defences to freak out.

Of course, but for *maximum* manliness, the cognoscenti mount at least one secondary module, instead of something non-idiotic (which is what I have on Amagi, but not Kii)...

Just completed the collection with the crates from the penultimate mission collection; then went and accidentally played a Random battle in her - slightly surprisingly, it wasn't a complete disaster. I do still now need to get the wire brushes and Dettol though, to scrub off the BB Cooties...

Maybe a new captain; I think I'll leave the modules sensible though...!

I have to admit, I'm very poor on the detail of IJN BBs from the perspective of manliness; I run Kobayashi on my Kii, so I tend to be sensible with her most of the time (apart from some torp brawling in Coop which, of course, is Right and Proper). Edit - you're right about the secondaries on Kii; I just checked.

This is distinctly intriguing, in a I-really-hope-there-aren't-impressionable-young-minds-reading sort of way...

This is very true; however, I have a manly build on mine as she lives wholly in Coop, and it is hilarious (bonus points for the pink teddy bear captain that goes bonkers when you get set on fire etc.)... (I have things like Kii and Musashi etc. if I want to be sensible)

The following is all obviously IMO, and from the perspective of a DD main: For all ship classes, I would recommend playing Japan and the US for all of them as your initial picks. The reason for this is that those nations are the original ones in the game and they arguably provide the best 'no gimmicks' learning experience. After that, start branching out further; it is sensible to play as diverse a range of ships as practical and - most importantly - not rush up the tiers. For DDs, after the US and two IJN lines, the KM DDs aren't bad hybrids (and you get the smoke/hydro thing, which is great against smoke campers etc.); the RN DDs are very good too, although require a bit more experience to do well with (mainly because you tend to need to make use of their guns to do consistent damage, and that blows your stealth). For cruisers, perhaps have a look at the Russians: useless torps (due to short range), but they get the characteristic Russian rail-guns, and long-range radar from T8. For BBs, I would pick the brains of a proper BB meister, but I do enjoy the manliness of the KM line; that said, the Russian (imaginary) line's reputation suggests that would be a sensible pick. With CVs, the consensus seems to be that you're pretty well covered by the IJN/US lines; the RN CVs seem to be generally felt to be the weakest, whilst the KM line does bring something different with the AP rockets. Be mindful though that CVs can be stupidly influential in a game (there is a reason the class is despised by many), and being a poor CV player can put your team at a drastic disadvantage; short version - you *really* want to take your time and get decent at least before playing higher tiers PvP in a CV. With your initial silver picks, the point is to learn the game; what will win battles is a solid understanding of how everything works, and how to make use of it all. There are basically no silver ships in the game that are an 'I win' button, so I wouldn't worry excessively about the meta at this stage. Moving on to premium ships, which T8+ one would I recommend you buy? After 19 battles (at time of writing) none of them! Permit me to expand a bit: WG would love for you to buy lots of expensive premiums, but resist the urge to start with. As a rough pointer, and assuming PvP (do whatever you like in PvE), it is wise to avoid getting any premium that is much higher tier than whatever silver tier you're comfortable with (+/-). There are several reasons for this, including that you need a good enough captain for the tier, not to mention that your skills and experience won't be ready yet either; of course, you'll have a powerful higher tier ship, but then so will everyone else (and they'll probably better understand how to play it, and have a better captain too). Of course, as a new player, you probably haven't settled on a favourite class and/or play style yet; it would be a shame to buy something that in a few months you decide you don't really like playing all that much. Right, having got all that out of the way, I assume - as is traditional - you'll ignore this advice entirely (many of us did); if you do, you can always play the thing in Coop/Ops, and the following pointers may help. Get something that - if possible - you know you'll enjoy playing a lot. Besides getting value for money out of your spend, a key plus of premiums is captain training and multiple games are required to make maximum use of this. Speaking of captain training, get something that works well with your silver line captains; avoid premiums that need a weird build (at least to start with). On a related note, avoid things that don't have an equivalent silver line initially too (so no Commonwealth, and no PA cruisers, for example); until you have a means to generate *at least* 10 point captains, your shiny premium will be gimped with a sub-standard captain in her. I can't be more specific than that, as you don't have a favoured class/nation yet. If you have a discount voucher for the shop (and you're comfortable that you like the game; don't spend if not - there will be other special offers), a good idea is to buy doubloons (as many as you need), and then spend those on premium time (which should always be your first purchase as it works on all ships/battles), and - possibly - premium ships, using the Armory [sic] where you should have another discount voucher for use on ships for doubloons.

I don't know if it's relevant, but when driving my DDs, I worry more about Nevsky as its radar has a more useful run-time (Petro's is too short to be too much of a problem, beyond fixing your position for a few seconds - unless the team is very alert, I can usually escape)...

Daily Bounce on Fen Yang (PA Akizuki): https://thedailybounce.net/world-of-warships/supertest-pan-asian-tier-viii-premium-destroyer-fen-yang/

Yes, if only because the rewards are better, and the opposition more varied (by dint of being humans, once you're out of the mostly-bot protected MM). However, start at lower tiers, rather than in whatever your highest tier ship from Coop is...

I wouldn't say "hells, no!" *but* if you're going to essay a return, definitely do it on a f2p basis - at least initially. As mentioned earlier, the Christmas patch might be a reasonable time, as there should be a high density of freebies to aim for... (Edit: if you do restart, get a code from someone for the freebies.)

This is one reason why it's exceptionally foolish to rush up the tiers too fast; radar has indeed increased over the last few years, but it - IMO - hasn't got any harder to deal with, in that the techniques that worked two years ago still work now. A sensible DD player encounters radar for the first time at T5, via the premiums that have it (Sharkbait, Atlanta, and Belfast); these are sufficiently rare that you only get them in occasional battles, and rarely more than two radars at once. If you aren't rushing, this gives ample opportunity to get the hang of operating a DD in a relatively benign radar environment. At T6, you meet the first long-ranged radar (Chapy, most notably), but - again - the radar appears in comparatively small numbers; if you're playing an uptiered T6, the majority of ships won't have it. You're also introduced (rarely) to the idea that your fellow DDs can equip radar too. T7 and up are when you start to encounter higher densities of radar (probably combined with higher incidences of players that know how to use it effectively); however, if you didn't go too fast up the tiers, you should have already developed the basic anti-radar skill-set by now, so rather than a shock it should just be a question of refining what you can already do. So, a new DD captain - unless he is a blithering idiot who skipped tiers 5-7 - shouldn't get any kind of rude awakening at T8, but rather should face nothing much more than an increase in intensity.

Off the top of my head, yes, so I freely admit the data-set is hardly massive. The release of ARP Yamato may also presage more T10s for direct sale too, I guess...

All things being equal, get Smaland (even though 2 million is a ludicrous price): assuming things stay as they are, there are alternative routes to Alaska (Black Friday version, Xmas boxes etc.), but - so far - all the removed T10s have remained unavailable after their removal.

I'm afraid you are incorrect: if you buy an ARP Yamato, the number of ships you own increases by one, and that one has a different economy to the regular silver one. It's vaguely similar to the two Atagos I have in port, plus the ARP version: they're three different ships.. So, people aren't throwing away money for a cammo, but for a new ship. Good luck to 'em - they help keep the lights on the same as anyone else who spends money on the game. FWIW I think I'm into double figures of ARP Yamatos encountered; in one game only were there comments from the off (one of the first two I saw), and they would qualify as gentle ribbing IMO; no comment at all in the rest as I recall, although I think all (but one?) of these ships was competently driven.

You may well be right - my memory only goes back a couple of years; I certainly do remember the first sprint though. There must have been T7 competitive back in the day as Sims' base xp boost was especially helpful for that, I gather (although that era was before my time)...

I can remember at least one T7, and a couple of T9s, although - if memory serves - the majority of the Ranked seasons that haven't been T10 have been sprints.

Most certainly; it all depends on personal circumstances. If one was, say, an overworked and very well paid city person, ARP Yamato would almost certainly be a more constructive use of a hundred quid than snorting things off the chest of a young lady...

Absolutely, but it is a much quicker route for the time poor, and the end product is superior if you go with the ARP option.