HaachamaShipping

Well, that is up for debate. Gameplay-wise, Hood is fine at T7. In terms of where to put the ship in the tiers, I don't see much of a need to put her on T6. Yes, the ship is older than most T7 BBs, but so is Nagato. Putting her at T6, how would it not be an utterly inbalanced ship compared to the QE and the Warspite? Or the Bayern? It's faster, has more displacement (so better hp) and 38 cm guns. And I don't subscribe to the logic that the Hood is to be placed in the same tier as the Eitel Friedrich. The Admiral-class was designed in response to the Mackensen-class, but that doesn't mean it is quality-wise comparable. If you want a proper German equivalent to Hood, the German Ersatz Yorck would be a better fit, having similar displacement and similar gun armament. And moving Hood to T6 would mean moving designs like Eitel Friedrich to T5, where this ship is basically a better Kongo, a ship that already ranks among the best T5 BBs, if not the best T5 silver BB. I quite prefer having Hood in her current version, where the ship is a rather balanced design.

Go to the collection and enable the "Collect". Then it will also drop from normal containers, like Yamamoto items.

It is a very solid ship that allround offers decent performance and at T6 it'd practically be absolutely OP.

Hood is perfectly fine at T7.

I agree. I'm looking forward to this ship, though I'd understand if the ship gets toned down a bit in certain areas. Currently it has among the best speeds at its tier, great AA, best secondaries, a very serviceable main armament, incredible concealment and if it also gets good armour, it basically is an all-round incredibly solid ship, its only downsides being shorter range (who cares?) and the reduced dpm. But 2.0 sigma will mean you actually might hit stuff, instead of just spamming around like Fuso and NM. Don't forget König Albert. For tier 7, it's frankly a worse Scharnhorst. Only better in AA and concealment, but while the guns are larger, neither is going to overmatch much, both have decent accuracy, Scharnhorst is faster, has decent secondaries too, has a torpedoes, more hp, etc. I'd argue that if the stats are too much, tuning it down would be the better option, to retain the ship at T6. If we need another T7 German premium, just get the Ersatz-Yorck out, which is comparable to the Hood.

Turrets look a bit eh, but otherwise, it's ok, I guess. Well, it seems a bit like a T6 Giulio, with good concealment, good speed, decent guns and short range. I'm not sure if that is a good thing, but the stats suggest a T6 ship that is likely to not suffer as heavily from the typical T6 matchmaking. With that speed and concealment, you can even get around T8 and do something meaningful. I'm curious about the armour values though (for upper belt, deck and such). After all, for some ships, like the Giulio, the armour is a weak point. But if this gets some German grade armour... You'd just bait shells on the 270 mm belt and it's fine.

It has better secondaries than the Bayern...

Looks actually pretty awesome. Assuming armour will stay German, that thing is likely tanky enough, 28 knots is nice, the AA is murderous, the only downside is the main battery caliber. But hey, you get 24 seconds reload and 2.0 sigma. Also, 30 seconds turret traverse. With the 5 km base secondary range, this actually could make an interesting brawler, though I'd not invest too much into it, given the decreased value of ManSec at T6 and lower. But AFT and BFT helps kill planes too with that 134 long-range dps. I'd take this over Bayern, unless there's something I missed. Edit: Also... dat concealment.

Well, stat-wise, the guns do strike a middle ground inbetween BB accuracy and CA accuracy, so that is to be expected in actual performance. And from personal experience, they do perform a bit better than BB guns, but not as good as for example six shots fired from an Aoba. Flamu's negative opinion is most of all based on the Graf Spee getting screwed over by MM as a T6 cruiser that is good against cruisers. and because if you invest a bit more, you can get a Scharnhorst, which is hands down much more comfortable to play, Neither the T6 MM meta (putting you against T7 or even T8 quite often) nor the BB-heavy meta are likely to change anytime soon, except for the current break due to US CL release. And don't stay away from islands. Yes, you cannot shoot over them. Still, they provide valuable cover, allowing for a more stealthy approach to ambush other ships or for reducing the angles from which you can get fired upon. Graf Spee is not some French flanking cruiser that just zooms around in the open spamming shells. You'll die fast that way with little to show for it. Frankly... if I had the choice of taking any T6 cruiser into battle and do well against T8 BBs in (which is what I call a hissy fit for T6 cruisers), I'd take the Graf Spee only over the Huang He, maybe the Aoba and the La Galissoniere (which I personally absolutely dislike). Ships like Nürnberg are in my opinion not really as impacted by T8 matches, because their MO as I play them is to just avoid being shot at in general, find a position to shoot from without being seen and use the good dpm. Whether a Nürnberg gets shot at by a Fuso or an Amagi, with both you just hope for RNG to survive without losing most if not all your hp. 1/4 caliber HE penetration is quite valuable though when fighting T8s. Ship of choice aganst T8 would be Leander though. Graf Spee is the least likely to just get one-shotted, but it also is the least likely to ever be able to disengage. T8 BBs are almost all as fast if not faster than the Graf Spee. Its concealment is not crippling, but certainly not good. The maneuverability is ok, but coupled with size and speed, dodging is harder than for any other T6 cruiser, I'd say. The armour also only is strong at the waterline belt and only there. Everywhere else, it's not good. Not much worse than other T6, but for a "tanky" cruiser, you'd expect more. The greatest strength of the armour scheme is that the citadel is narrow and when you get shot at from the front or rear, it is hidden behind the turret barbette, so you won't get citadelled from such angles (unlike most T6 cruisers that will just get overmatched and eat citadels from any angle). I do like the ship, but really, giving up the Nürnberg dpm or the Leander smoke, heal and concealment for the ability to tank a few more salvos you shouldn't be taking in the first place is not a nice trade, imo. And a Graf spee that gets away at low health is pretty much a joke, a Nürnberg or Leander might still go and use cover or smoke to use their dpm, buffed by AR. They have the shell arcs and the consumables to do so. Leander is just great. It's in my opinion the best T6 cruiser and since I got her a couple weeks or so ago, it has been a very pleasant experience. It benefits imo a lot from knowing how to play DDs and I'm looking forward to the Fiji, though I'll need to figure out how to get another captain. a complete contrast to RN BBs which I mostly only play the premiums of (Hood, Warspite, working towards Nelson, ships that really aren't there to HE spam their way to large damage numbers).

Well, at least none of these T3 cruisers is a real competition for the Bogatyr that is free. Some are straight up terrible. Balanced around the opposition being typically seals.

Using Fuso at 20 km range? I see you haven't yet embraced the way of the spotter plane, scrub.

The USSR showed more continuity with the Russian Empire than Yugoslavia with Austria-Hungary. That's as if half the PA DDs were just attached to the IJN DD line, because Korea and such became independent from the defeated Japanese and some Japanese ships were handed over to the Chinese.

Why do AH BBs transition into Yugo DDs?

Likely saturation mechanics. See below. There actually are informative videos out from WG itself. They made them recently. e.g.

HE can only penetrate if the plating is less than 1/6 of the caliber (rounding to the nearest whole mm). 127/128 mm goes through 19 mm, but not 21 mm.

Which matters. Looks like saturation.

Tell me about the continuity in the IJN alt DD line...

Gearing hull has too thick plating for 127 mm HE to go through. Aim for superstructure or load AP.

But before you know it, you enter a slippery slope and end up buffing all the T2 BBs and suddenly you end up with some serious powercreep and proliferation of BB meta even at this tier!

Honestly, I cannot envision much of a IJN CL line. Most of the ships just aren't good enough. Agano itself is not even T6 material without some gimmicks, given it is frankly a worse Leander. I'd expect any IJN CL line to only go to T8 at most, Akizuki style. As for gimmicks, I expect no radar, because IJN. I'd guess hydro, smoke screen, defAA and a generous stealth torping window. T5 Sendai T6 Agano T7 Kai-Agano T8 155 mm Mogami (replaced in main line by Takao) with balance adjustments to fit in line? Best I'd ever imagine.

It's the best BB at its tier already!

Interesting answers. Thanks for posting. Also good to see they think of working on Belfast and GZ and aren't yet planning to sell it again.

I don't even know what the legal situation is here. Though I think there is just no culture of gun ownership here much. K98k really would look better if she had maybe a few touches to her art, but sadly, despite being a poster girl, there has been no real new art there. No skin no nothing. But, because I'm back from work and can finally post some imagery...

You're not alone. I'm not planning on getting a firearm (too much hassle and cost for no real use), but if I get one, it'd be a bolt-action. In terms of cute bolt action dolls though, I am trying to grow my Springfield, I don't have Enfield, but I do have Mosin, whom I also like a lot. Especially the anniversary skin. Ah, too bad. I kinda like bunny-style ribbons. Regarding more optional bunny... how about BAR? Also voiced by one of my favourite VAs.

They are quite different. But I did keep Kongo in port. Both are well-rounded and versatile. And at Kongou's 54k hp.