Unintentional_submarine

Some maps are just not very conducive for battleships. Let's take Big Race. You can go down Torpedo Alley, and I don't think I should mention why that is a bad idea. You can go for the central open area, but because of the size of the map, you are now visible to all enemies and come under fire from three directions. It is actually a great place to go once the players have been thinned out a bit as it also allows for greater awareness. The final option is the northern route, which really should be named Ironbottom Sound. Since battleships of both teams tend to head for that route along with the cruisers nearby, it usually becomes a deadly mesh of ships, usually punishing for the cruisers. But once the cruisers are out, the battleships are next, and even battleships can't take that sort of punishment for long. So I'm not actually surprised to see battleships glide back and forth near that upper corner, as it is really the only realistic option until the game has progressed. On maps like North, I mostly don't see the timidity. Though the options are limited there too. But at least they don't mean the near requirement for turning back in most cases. But it happens that I see battleships turn back from engagements, which can appear strange. But even I will twist and turn when under fire by more than a few ships. It is simply foolish to rush into the maw. When faced with superior enemy forces it is prudent to extend the engagment, rather than shorten it.

The interesting question really is, does the 7% dispersion reduction of the mod apply to the radius/diameter (on both long and short axis of course), or does it apply to the area? These are quite different values.

I didn't exactly love the Myogi back in CBT. Heck I even played it prior to the armour inclusion (though I suppose that was a relative benefit for her for there to be no armour), but I made her work. Never rebought her. This time around... oh yeah! She is much much better than before, and if you play to her advantages, rather than her disadvantages, she will grant you a lot of fun. What she won't do is give you a lot of 6 kill and 150k damage games. I suppose she can be the direct opposite of the Furutaka, in that she can be fun without doing a lot of damage (where the Furutaka can kill several enemies and still feel painful and not very fun). She is, however, a harsh mistress. Make a mistake, or play her wrong, and you will get punished hard! And I feel that is wrong for a ship so early in the line. Most people that play her will have absolute no idea what is right and wrong in playing her. They will just do what the word 'battleship' implies to them, and who can fault them? It's not as if the game tells them that the Myogi has weak armour, or that she has a pretty big citadel. They do not know that she is a battlecruiser (though arguably the speed should be an indicator). And so she will generally underperform and be disliked for it.

His post was a reply to the silly notion that CV were made obsolete alongside battleships by long range AShMs, which they obviously weren't, and battleships were made obsolete long before the first missile was fired from a ship against another (simulated or otherwise). The trollface emoticon should really have been enough to say that he was being ironic with his use of 'obsolete'.

There is even a lock-on-location function with Shift-X. I don't know what it's value is supposed to be, but it is there.

Yup, Zuiho is sort of maxed out in the TB department. From there on it is more DBs, more HP and more speed. And at the end you have to get fighters. So yes, the IJN progression is rather... odd. All because of those extreme loadouts that have now proven to be bad for the game as a whole.

She can very much pen other cruisers with AP. But playing her you have to switch back and forth a lot. Use AP when the circumstances are favourable, then as the target turns switch to HE until the angle is good again. With the short reload it isn't an issue.

It is pretty amusing that my best success with the Furutaka has been a game where I sank two cruisers with my guns (one mainly by me, the second was nearly dead), and two BBs and a cruiser with my torps (at short range no less). And that second cruiser I sank with my guns would have sunk to my torps too as it would have been struck by the last torp I sent at the cruiser I sank with torps.

Sure. Seeing that the Kongo is a ship you will keep for a long time, even if you decide to sell it again once the grind is over (I have no such intentions), I started out picking two mods. Main Battery Modification 1 (that's the one the reduces turret criticals, turret repair time and magazine detonation chance) and Gun Fire Control System Modification 1 (accuracy mod). I also got the Damage Control System Modification 1, but that one I'm somewhat iffy about and can't say that you really need it. My captain is pretty simple really. T1: Basics of Survivability. T2: Aiming Expert. T3: High Alert.... wait, not Superintendent for that extra heal? Nope. For me at least it isn't worth it over High Alert. It is however a great skill if you generally face lots of torpedoes or enemy BBs shooting AP. It should be noted that I use Damage Control Party II. The lowered cooldown is a lifesaver. That is probably also why I like High Alert so much. Those combined lead to a pretty short cooldown. I don't use either of the Repair Party or spotter plane upgrades. As noted I don't rely on my heals to be ready fast, usually the time between heals is just about enough to get a good effect out of it (fires are healed back a lot), but when I get Superintendent I will probably get it, just in order to get that fourth heal in time. And the spotter? Barely even use it at present. The Kongo has the range it needs, but it is useful very early in the game when carrier planes spot enemy BBs at extreme ranges. Beyond that... not so much (yes I know that spotters also act as scout fighters at present, but it won't last, so I won't rely on it, even if I do use it in that function). I also use the accuracy reducing camo. Battleships tend to get a lot of attention, especially from other BBs. Having that incoming AP shell hit something non-vital instead of the citadel is a big difference, even if the overall effect looks small. It won't make enemy ships outright miss you very much, but lowering the chances of getting citadeled is what I aim for. For 12k credits per game, I think it is worth it.

It certainly has a citadel, and you can hit it. Only it is slightly different from most ships in that it is more to the rear, and it is quite low on the ship. Because the ship itself is somewhat tall, it is very inviting to just hit centermass. On other ships doing that is not optimal, but you still have a chance at citadelling, on the the St. Louis it effectively means no citadels. But aim a little to the rear, and a little lower than normal and the citadels will happen. However, it is small and hard to hit, so don't expect Kuma-levels of citadels. My suggestion: Be aware of your team's positions. Don't go rushing off towards some objective, get sunk by superior numbers and then complain your team didn't support you. Chances are that they had picked other objectives long before, or that they saw the impossible odds of following you. It is a valid complaint now and then, but it isn't a valid complaint just because you got sunk.

Yeah, but see, HE can already 'bounce' against the heavy belt armour (obviously it doesn't bounce, it just doesn't cause damage). Check it out, HE shells can very much cause 0 damage on hits to the belt. So it is already in place. And full HE damage to the superstructure? That's a buff. Even HE doesn't do full damage unless it is a citadel (yes, HE can cause citadels on certain ships).

Yeah, even down at cruiser levels. I can't number the cruiser that have gone up against me, broadside on, shooting HE while I shot AP. It is so damn easy to kill those big citadel cruisers with AP. And I have to admit I have a guilty pleasure. I love it when in a BB I turn around, only to find myself looking at another BB shooting at my now exposed citadel. Shells travelling true, citadels hits are a given... BOOM, HE impacts. I laugh when that happens. It's like getting scared, but then finding out it was just a good prank.

140 planes? That has got to be a record! Anyway, I noticed something interesting in a stream by iChase. He got annoyed at much the same issue in his Indy. So he parked his fighters in patrol over his ship (that little triangle marker was active) while he went bombing himself. He got attacked in the meantime and when he looked back all three enemy TB squads had launched torps on panic spread. I was quite surprised. It actually looked like the defending fighters managed to panic each TB squad in succession with no help from Chase. As far as I remember there weren't any T6 cruisers around to panic the bombers. Considering that scout fighters tend to be quite intelligent and can, if allowed and in the right place at the right time, panic bomber squadron in succession too, then I have to conclude that they use the same script. Unless of course I made a major mess of things and didn't notice a Cleveland nearby or something. And of course, stacking the bombers up perfectly would negate this, but in this case the bombers were staggered just a little bit.

My favourite is when the torpedoes does a sort of en-echelon fan. Looks really odd.

Pure U-boat special weapon. Practically worthless against destroyers and the like. Also it wasn't a sonar tracking torpedo, but an acoustic torpedo. It usually tracked the propellers.

Then we are at different ends, as I feel she is better than ever before. Meanwhile Wyoming doesn't feel all that impressive, lacking penetrative power and have a massive shotgun effect in comparison.

Yeah, Atlanta is proper scary now. Planes are dropping even before she is on the screen (when focused on the squadron). My first experience against an Atlanta was very unpleasant indeed.

I have to say that this bug is getting incredibly annoying. Turning into TBs is becoming a gamble. Just today I managed to do just that multiple times against some Langleys. But in one case I ate two torpedoes because they lined up so perfectly with the other torpedoes making sure I couldn't avoid them (it was either eat two or eat more). In the other case I only just managed to Neo the torpedoes. Against regular drops or even manuals from the front, I would at most have been hit by a single torpedo. If I wasn't a regular CV skipper myself and a regular visitor here, I would get the perception that turning into TBs is just not a good idea. And I suppose it really isn't, as if I had been in a DD in my Kongo example, I would have been dead. But it seems WG is on the case, and I hope they can fix it soon. But until then I will still be annoyed as hell.

Yeah... the USN had plenty cruiser designs that could be tested. Instead they pick the very same ship over and over again.

Well that explains why I haven't noticed the DP effect. Never bothered with the third hull. But then this is pretty much just a return to the old 0.3.0 stats, where the two-gun Mutsuki had about twice the fire rate of the four-gun. Even then it wasn't really worth it. Probably won't be a return to that though, most likely less. And so the Mutsuki will remain utterly useless with her guns.

Well, I got the dispersion wrong.

I would suggest you give them a try. Or at least get past South Carolina and/or Kawachi as well as Myogi (while I think she can do very well, she is harsh if you make mistakes). If for no other reason than to learn what makes the BB gameplay tick. Chances are that new battleships will play in roughly the same manner. Besides, in order to get to Bismarck and Littorio (and Littorio is quite far off at the moment), you would still have to go through the various low tier ships. Might as well find out if the class is worth the time right now. I just hope you won't give up on the class just because the first couple of ships are rough (and they are).

The point is that you use her speed to dictate the fight. You can stay out of range of USN battleships while hitting cruisers, easily in fact. It doesn't matter that you don't do a lot of damage then, as your XP income is based on percent damage done of enemy ship's max health. So killing a cruiser nets exactly the same as killing a battleship of the same tier. Don't go fighting against ships where you firstly risk bounces of your few shells, but secondly is unlikely to do much damage per hit. Instead you fight ships where you do more damage per hit. And a Phoenix or Omaha are not small ships. Sure they are slim, but broadside on they are just as easy to hit as a Wyoming. More in fact since they have a longer citadel section and a much higher freeboard. The Kuma is slightly smaller, but it should still be easy to hit her what with people sailing in lines. Can't hit you say? I have 26% hitrate on the Myogi. I have 25% on the Wyoming (I'm a little surprised at that, considering it's massive shotgun effect) and 27% on the Kongo. Now why is that? Gunlaying. Simple as that. Know where the enemy citadel is and aim for it every time. Leading and elevation are skills learned by training. And yes, it does take more than a few battles to learn it. I thought I had gotten the hang of it back in CBT when I was playing these ships. I clearly hadn't. I do a lot better now and hit citadels a lot more often. I haven't gotten luckier, but I have gotten better. And I'm not even great at this. There are people running around with 30% or more accuracy. And it shows. They have more kills per battles, more XP and more damage in general than me. So the only conclusion I can find is that they are better at firing main guns than me. Since they generally survive as well or better, I can also conclude that they don't take much greater risks than me (for instance running closer to the enemy than I do). Simply speaking, they are better. So yes, you can hit, and yes your skill has an impact even on inaccurate guns. Let's not forget that the guns also fire quite straight at times. Those are the times where you really really really want the gunlaying to have been good. Those are the cases where you get 3-4 citadels in a volley (and usually a kill). Again, do not engage an enemy battleship, like the Wyoming if he can/will shoot back. Just don't. You will lose that fight, unless you are super accurate and have a bit of luck and knock him out in the first couple of volleys. But skill can overcome a lot of obstacles, so the point really is, always assume your enemy is as skilled or more so, than you. Expect him to hit. Thus don't let him get the chance to hit. How do you do that? By not running off alone firstly. A Myogi on it's own is an XP piñata. Take note if some of the heavier battleships are going you direction. If not, then be prepared to run like hell. But no battleships doesn't mean you can hang around and beat up cruisers before the enemy battleships arrive, if they do at all. Let's assume you engage a few enemy cruisers, and a Wyoming begins to get closer. Well, then you move away while shooting at what you can, maybe that is the Wyoming. But then a friendly Wyoming enter range as well. What will the enemy Wyoming do? He will either try to run, or he will engage the friendly Wyoming. That's the time you go back in closer, and hit him. He is preoccupied with the friendly ship, the one that can handle the hits better. All to often I see people bullrush with the Myogi, but she can't handle that. So how well did I do in the Myogi? 59% victories (better than average for me), survived two thirds of the battles, 1.13 kills per battle and 43k average damage. Now that average damage might look somewhat small, and it is (still better than my Wyoming). But that is because my main targets were cruisers. Because of that I still managed to get 1343 average experience per battle from her (apparently that is base experience). That's not bad at all. All because I picked my fights with care. You have to know 'yourself' (in this case the Myogi) to be able to win. Yes, the Kongo is better, a fair bit in fact. But I don't think the Wyoming is better. You can angle your ship a lot better in the Myogi due to better turret arcs. In the Wyoming you have to expose your citadel. And just after the enemy has 'wasted' his salvo is when I fire my salvo, right into that exposed broadside. You also have a lot faster turrets. Meaning you can more effectively maneuver around and change tacks than the Wyoming. You don't bleed much speed comparably and in a turn you don't list nearly as much (ohhh Wyomings that are facing away and try to turn back towards you... so tasty citadels). However, the Myogi is not an easy ship to play. In order to play to her advantages you have to know what you are doing. She isn't newcomer friendly at all, since all her weaknesses are stressed badly if you treat her as a regular battleship. And that I think is her main downfall; that she is located where she is and is thus introduced to people who generally are not prepared for such a ship.

Yes. If you do the calculation like this: Range / dispersion; you get a result that shows how many range meters you get per single dispersion meters. It is a little backwards to be fair, as you don't increase dispersion to find the range, but rather the opposite. But it can also be said that with that calculation you can increase the range by the result, and get a single meter of dispersion. Clearly having more range for each meter of dispersion increase is good. If you want dispersion per range unit, then I suggest doing it like this: 237(meters) / 21.2km; that way you get dispersion meters per kilometer. In this case 11.18 meters. With the old range and dispersion it is 224/19.3 = 11.6 meters. Every kilometer you increase the range, you add either 11.18 or 11.6 meters to the dispersion. In this case less is better.

She will not be the 'new' Tachibana, but the old version. She is described as fast and having a powerful torpedo armament, neither of which the newer variant can claim it had. That Mutsuki line though... Dual-purpose? Since when? And what is the effect? I mean I assume her guns will reload faster, but WG has put about 200 points into the captain's perk 'Confuddle - Your ability to confuse has been increased by 500%.'