Verblonde

I think mine has been played once since the original event where I got it, and that was a single blast in Coop to knock the snowflake off. Not an absolute waste of a slot though, as it stops me getting it again from crates!

IMO, anything in the following categories, assuming full price in real money: Classes/types that you don't enjoy playing (unless - maybe - you get one for missions). Anything below T5 (missions again). That's about it really; I find there is fun to be had with almost any premium ship (given the right game mode); what does vary a lot is which are actively good value - I think most premiums are significantly over-priced (cue: "you could buy a AAA game for that!" type remarks), so actually 'good value' is rather harder. Sales change the calculus as well - even something dreadful like Krispy Kreme is worth having for (very) cheap, even if it's only as a blocker, to prevent you getting it again from crates etc.

I haven't really played low tiers (defined as anything without +2 MM, so T4 and below) much for a while now, mainly due to missions not being doable at those tiers. Vampire is almost certainly my favourite at that sort of level though - kind of vaguely like a low tier Haida/Cossack; great fun!

I doubt that Trading Standards would mind that - the whole 'multi-buy discount' thing is a pretty standard mechanic, and (from the retailer's perspective) it's handy as it doesn't require a period of establishment, as far as I recall...

Again, just now.

Once so far today, and at least one prior (but I can't remember when reliably).

More than I should have (i.e. not zero), but crates are less of a gamble for me, as I had far too many premiums already, so any ships got (after a couple of low tier clunkers I hadn't got already) were inevitably good. If you don't already have most of the premiums, the crates are a far less attractive option than just buying the ships you actually want.

I have them all, so won't participate; just wanted to register a big thumbs up and thank you for doing this though!

Welcome! I would still play other classes (at lower tiers to start with); a lot of skills/gameplay aspects carry across between classes, plus you get a better handle on what the various things can/can't do, and what they're trying to do to you. From a pragmatic standpoint, you can make a case that cruisers are often some of the harder ships to play, so making your initial learning curve perforce steeper.

<chuckle>

I went with Smol, personally (and don't feel bad about it, because I'm far too rubbish to be a menace in her), mainly because she does something unique(ish) - she has the ridiculous fire-starting/main gun hits abilities, both of which speed up some missions enormously. Boring, but there you go.

Nabbed Flint (at last!) this morning; I think I have everything available for doubloons, so that coupon will lie fallow for the time being...

<pedant> Theoretically, something like a fully pimped Terrible should be able to chase down Black torps, and maybe Sims/Italians; I'm not sad enough to try and do it for real though, although it might be fun to try.</pedant>

For me, it's a couple of things: She's about the only thing I can afford, being appalling at the key steel-gathering modes, and I have Black already. Extra daily win bonus for Atlanta captain. Longer range torps and smoke - I view her as being a bit like an enormously fat Sims, with better dakka and a citadel (which view will almost certainly result in my being horribly sunk). She's pretty. I'm a bimbo!

If my maths is correct, the new coupon will allow me to get Flint; I think the previous one was used on Smol a month or two ago... Edit: according to my in-game indicator a new coupon will be available 'on 25/12/19'...?! Presumably, that means the actual switch over will be some time today (or that the copy writer doesn't know the difference between 'on' and 'after').

This is very true, although with advancing years, I fear it'll become more necessary...!

It can and does happen to almost all of us at some time or another; so long as you're reasonably careful, it won't happen often. Don't beat yourself up excessively... Ah! I rather like her; Monaghan isn't a bad ship to be learning how to use the US torps with - they have similar characteristics to the T7-8 ones, but you can practice with them against less alarming opposition (and you get the TRB, which helps as well). It could be worse: Sims and Black both have sub-50 kt torps; those require even more forward planning to use sensibly...

I've ranted before about the default behaviour of signals/cammo to be to spend doubloons when you run out - it's pi$$ poor by WG. Also, if you de-signal a ship (for Coop, say) and then add economic flags back in later (for a different mode, say), the 'spend doubloons' tick box comes back on again. It's a major pain in the donkey... Irritatingly, there is no way around just checking that the 'spend doubloons' tick boxes are only ticked when you want them to be.

Happy Christmas (and other celebrations going on around now), everyone!

You can make a case that your most powerful weapon is actually your spotting (even if - in my view - you aren't adequately rewarded for it), but even so, playing in Randoms may help a bit - people are usually at least vaguely cautious in PvP - to a fault, as you'll know for your other classes. With practice, it all gets a lot easier. BTW which premium DD did you actually get? We might be able to provide more specific pointers, to avoid 'wasting' it. FWIW though, I often don't play torp-centric DDs in Coop, as I find the other classes are often more suitable in general.

Dashed poor form!

Don't care about the PR - it's not worth the money/loss of family time (delete as applicable), so I'm just playing as much/little as I feel like, and collecting some rewards. Having completed the second set of directives, the game thinks I'll finish in the mid twenties, I think; that said, I think I should complete the third directive, so I may make it to around thirty. I would be severely annoyed if I'd spent doubloons on the thing, but because of the uproar on here, I knew it would be unwise, so now I'm just enjoying playing, and getting some nice freebies (it probably helps that I have Alaska - twice - already though)...

As said already: your torps, always your responsibility. That said, it's not too hard to avoid it happening; some pointers: US DDs - it was one of those, right? - have mediocre, but not entirely catastrophic concealment (make sure you're running concealment mod, if available, and the captain must have CE). You shouldn't be lurking behind your allies most of the time, you should be forward - scouting and capping when possible. It's harder to torp friendlies if they're behind you. Your smoke produces enormous, and persistent, clouds - try and mainly use them to screen important allies, rather than sitting in them yourself (DD 101 calls for firing torps into smoke clouds, on general principles); it's a bit of a waste to use US smoke just to break contact, except in extremis. If you're moving around more actively - and get practiced in it - it's easier to launch from angles that reduce the risk of hitting a friendly. The longer ranged your torps, the better your map awareness needs to be; keep an eye on your mini-map and watch allies in your torp range (you're given a useful range circle) almost as closely as the enemy. Take your time when firing torps - generally - your reload is long, and it's better to get solid hits, and preferably on the enemy, than to waste a spread because you fired in haste. Don't get too torp-focused, especially with US DDs; your guns are pretty decent, especially against other DDs - if there is a risk of sinking a friendly with torps, perhaps switch to guns, if the loss of your stealth won't get you sunk. What I would suggest, if you're mainly a player of other classes, is to watch a few tutorials (plus adapt your existing skills to the specific needs of DDs), and play in divisions with your mates who are DD meisters and watch what they do.

I'm not a follower of Jingles, so the mistakes etc. are just (mild) amusements for me. I used a mixture of Ops and elite xp to get him to ten points, and currently have him set-up for RN BBs, mainly because I don't play them much outside PvP, so the 'humerous errors' aren't such a negative, plus the time to check what he actually means with messages isn't so critical.