Verblonde

Besides (already mentioned) angling, if you've spent any time playing derp tanks (things like KV-2), you'll have a bit of a head-start on being used to shells with much more pronounced arcs. This video might be worth a look: https://www.google.ca/search?source=hp&ei=NG56XaWkI8LJ-gTB8riABQ&q=ichase+how+to+aim&oq=ichase+how+to+aim&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i22i30.1034.5566..5876...2.0..0.174.2485.0j19......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i131j0j0i10j0i5i10i30j0i13j33i160j0i13i30j33i22i29i30.nDkUIzskYgQ&ved=0ahUKEwiljueg1svkAhXCpJ4KHUE5DlAQ4dUDCAc&uact=5#kpvalbx=_Om56XfefOoe9-gTg7rLIBg20 The rest of the iChase Captain's Academy series are very worthwhile when starting too, although anything older than around nine months (+/-) concerning CVs and/or AA is out of date, since the CV class was radically overhauled a while back. Coming from WOT myself (20Kish battles, most on NA), I found the transition to WOWS took a while to get used to - WOT is a lot faster and generally immediate; you have to think several steps ahead in WOWS, especially in the slower classes (BBs especially), even to the extent that turret rotation speed is a significant thing on the bigger ships, so that with a BB you have to keep track of where your enemy are/will be, where your hull needs to be pointing (turning the hull effectively turns the turrets), and all this with a thirty-second reload! This stuff starts to get instinctive after a while though, and you can reduce the impact by playing 'faster' classes such as DDs/CLs.

Unless there is a good reason to do otherwise, I generally only play mine in PvE (that's mostly true of BBs too though). I do have, I believe, everything (silver and premium) up to and including T8 though. No T10s yet. That said, they provide a bit of variety in terms of gameplay that makes a nice change from the usual torps/guns stuff; the gameplay itself is reasonably fast and fluid, and (minor thing) everything looks rather pretty - even on the lower definition version of the game. I like having three different ways to attack the opposition, with each requiring a different approach to use effectively. To the contrary, it's enormously frustrating that WG remain unable to come up with an approximate balance between CVs and surface ships, and that things change drastically very frequently - this discourages me from playing more, as I don't want to waste time getting the hang of something that may change out of all recognition in a week or several.

I'm a bad person, but I'm not *that* bad a person...!

That's partly why (for me anyway) I keep playing this game: the absolute basics are fairly easy to master, assuming you can be bothered to read/watch a few tutorials etc., but the subtleties take much, much longer...

The problem I have is that most of my (notional) best earners are BBs (various Kobayashi, MO etc.) which I pretty much universally suck in; in that context, boosting earnings with ships I do more usefully in, and enjoy playing, becomes attractive.

For me, the decision is based on whether I can ever get enough steel to matter in a sensible time-frame - I'm too rubbish to earn much from Ranked and Clans. My feeling is to avoid using steel for coal wherever possible (we *might* get another thing like last winter's snowflake thing, although I'll be surprised, which would alter my calculus), but if it enables something that is *needed* quickly, then maybe go for it. For example, I really want Smol, but I don't need Smol; my plan is to hold off until I have enough coal, but if news breaks that it's being removed from the shop, I'll use steel rather than miss out...

This. I've picked up two of them (Graf and Shinonome): the bonuses are significantly better than the standard cammo, so making grinding resources a *lot* more efficient in Ops (Graf) and Sprint (Shinonome), especially with a 19 point captain.

It's personal taste really; I quite like Gneis for Ops at least - you just need to get quite close to make the most of her (ditto Bis and Tirp etc.). Having a 16 point captain on her doesn't hurt either... I don't mind the 'what if' build - until I read up on it, I didn't realise that one of Gneis' turrets survives in Norway as coastal defences: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrått_Fort

Finally made it, with T-61 and Shinonome (I'm a bad person) - there have been rather a lot of folk about who even make me look good...! Being semi-sensible, a lot of the trouble looks to be derived from people struggling to adapt to the smaller team/map format e.g. I've seen a lot of BBs acting as they would in randoms i.e. standing off too much; also, people seem to struggle with how quickly battle is joined on the smaller maps and are still fannying around when they should be ready to fire.

Sadly, the individual packages are for just the cammo, sans ship. People have been remarking that they are rather on the expensive side.... This is what I see in the shop: You'll note that the 5,000 doubloons is for when you have the cammo (not the ship) already.

I would rate it a solid 'yes' if you like Ops, but it can struggle against real people... (Mine lives almost entirely in Narai, using a 19 point semi-manly captain)

I used to, on the basis that I was also shot at a lot, so reducing the chances of something bad happening seemed like a good idea. After a while, I found that I tended to do less embarrassingly when I knew how many people had main guns pointed at me; I do think that PM is a valid initial pick though, and it's usually one of the things I go for in subsequent passes through the skills.

Ish - the problem with (most) IJN torps is that they can usually be spotted from the moon, making them easier to evade. Doesn't mean they're no good, but you have to be a bit more cagey with your shots a lot of the time (or just fire a wall of skill that's got so many torps in it that some are bound to hit something). The German torps are pretty worthwhile (and a lot of the KM DDs have smoke and hydro, which can be quite powerful) - the line is a pretty decent hybrid one. The PA DDs with their DW torps are good (and most of the higher tier ones can make planes regret their life choices), although you can't hit DDs (plus, the T10 has been horribly nerfed, so many people stop at T9). The US line gets a stealth torp window at T7 (when upgraded), and has access to DefAA which can be helpful if there are planes about. RN torps are useful too, and get the ability to single fire, which can be powerful with practice (albeit a bit short-ranged at times). There are also a few 'oddballs' here and there e.g. Groz is mainly a gunboat, but the 10 km torps come in really useful at times. If you want a discrete recommendation, I'd go German and US (although the latter's torps are frustrating until you get to T7). I wouldn't take offense - the thought did cross my mind briefly! These sorts of questions more usually show up in the newcomers section, whilst people who put them in gameplay are often pulling one's plonker (as it is written).

If you get *really* desperate* ping me, but please be aware that I suck more than almost anyone has sucked before... * defined as levels of desperation associated with having had one's joy department liberally doused in strawberry jam and inserted in an army ant nest.

Aye, but if they're right and the model changes as a result, they'll still shut up. It's the profit bit that matters (goodness knows how WG calculate that though); I was once involved with a very similar test and the lower price produced both greater sales and reduced profit, so from a pure bottom line perspective, the higher price was the better business decision in that case. Equally, the higher price broadcast the message 'we are expensive' as most people had a handle on what the product should cost, based on the market; so from a reputational standpoint, the higher price was damaging - people were less likely to buy other stuff because they assumed all products were similarly expensive.

My guess is that WG have the same internal argument that most 'sellers of stuff' have i.e. whether or not higher sales from lower prices generate more/less/same profits as fewer sales at higher prices. This is just a test to prove the point one way or the other (and to shut up the pro low price people in the WG office). There may also be an element of PR here - quite a lot of us always answer 'which premium should I buy' questions on here with a variation on the theme of 'something you'll play a lot because premiums are over-priced'; if too many people believe that things in the shop are too expensive, then WG have a problem.

Depends on ship, specific consumable, and game mode; one key functional difference between premium and non-premium consumables is cooldown, whilst the other is charges - premiums get an extra charge - how much those matters varies. Personally, I run premium DCP on just about everything, regardless of mode; Coop usually sees non-premium almost everything else, unless I'm not caring about silver income for some reason. Any 'useless' consumables for the mode I'm playing will be basic e.g. any mode with no CVs doesn't require premium fighter consumable. Modes with decent rewards (PvP and some Ops) will usually call for a higher proportion of premium consumables, and any competitive mode will usually want 100% premium loadout (except when CVs are missing). The skills that one's captain has can also impact choice - if you have superintendent, it might increase the possibility of managing with at least some basic consumables. Generally though, if you're running premium account and can do reliable damage (which is the key driver of silver earning), life is easier the more premium consumables you run...

For DDs, your first ten points probably want to look like this: You probably don't want to get into the +2 MM bracket without at least a ten point captain. I'll leave the cruiser meisters to comment on optimum builds for them - I suck at cruisers...

Sounds a bit like the shop may have had a visit from Mister [male chicken]-up...?

Presumably, WG are testing price-points with this; personally, I think they've gone too high this time. The Graf Spee one *might* be worthwhile, as she's excellent in Ops; the others are less attractive (to me, anyway)...

FWIW when I log into the shop, I see most of the premium CVs still - only Enterprise missing...

<hat-tip>

Hood was the last of them; they're one of the more requested groups of ships (they were significant at Jutland - and noted for blowing up - for one thing)...

Yup. In spades. Nope. Because WG, in their infinite wisdom, feel that submarines are a better use of their dev time (thus illustrating the negative effects of excess vodka on the critical faculties)...!

I've certainly got one ship from a SC - my Kami. That's the only one I remember, and I assume it means I'll get ramming flags in all subsequent SCs until the heat death of the universe...!