RUSSIANBlAS

I've played a bit more Kutuzov since optimising the new captain skills and IFHE is essentially an unwarranted for buff. I got it in a Christmas box and it took awhile getting used to her but basically if Ranked was T8 then I would be taking this above the Atago most likely. The last game I played I scored 290 hits and 200 of them were penetrations, only 90 shattered...

Rough for mid tiers yes but that is good training if you (ever) get up to the higher tiers of CV play... CV play isn't about an enemy fleet of free targets, you'd be silly to go straight for the largest BB at the start to try and strike him out the game. I mean I'm no pro CV player but you have to be thoughtful, spot for the team, harass/kill DDs and watch carefully to see which ships have probably taken enough damage so that their AA mounts have been eroded. All whilst trying to protect your own team. I passed T5 and T6 before the MM went funny, although I did free XP the last of the Ryujo. Remember, if the enemy plays anti fun AS USN then all you need is 1 good torp bombing run and you've probably done more work than he will over 20 mins

They've got to do something about the lower tier CV seal clubbing... I played a Langley game just now (shameful yes) but the counter part was a Super Unicum CV player who probably had no business down at T4. He lost as I think he didn't take me seriously and lost his fighters

Anything within 15km away from a BB gets dangerous for a HE spammer. If they want to close to about 10km then they're extremely vulnerable to anything AP touching them, yes you will get a lot of over penetrations but one good shell through the bow is a 10k+ citadel which will massively hamper their ability to continue. If you're in a fleet vs fleet fight then I would kill the cruisers or enemy BB sailing broadside, try and thin down the numbers as soon as possible. Hopefully your own team will focus fire the stuff that's left. HE spammers are not known for their ability to tank. Don't waste shots on things that are dodging/hiding when there is lower hanging fruit that can be easily picked. Even with the IFHE of this patch, I don't feel the BB meta (for good BBs atleast) has changed very much.

There is a point where every ship over commits and dies. It's just that in anything other than a BB this death is almost instant, in a BB you have a bit of time to sit there and cry but reality is you were dead ages ago. You just need to learn that balance of when to stop advancing or pushing and I don't mean camping at 20km.

That is the only way to get to R1 in Ranked unless you'rer a potato willing to play over a thousand games (however even they are probably good to an extent). You "need" to have the ability to hard carry in Ranked as there's only so far any team will take you. Granted sometimes you get easy victories but they won't take you all the way. I'm considering taking Saipan over Hiryu as I'm not a top player who can micro and protect everything I have like a Korean Starcraft player. Maybe if Dive Bombers were more reliable too as they're often a waste of brainpower as the RNG derps you hard even with perfect strikes. I think the 2/0/2 Saipan is elegant and gives capacity to micro and review the map.

The ship is doing exactly as intended, it is essentially a bigger Bismarck and was designed to be that if the real thing was ever finished.

I find Fat Freddy has better accuracy than the two derp gun T8 twins. They're not Iowa guns by any means but good enough for 15km or so gun battles.

Yes, you get utterly idiotic BBs you can plant a double torp strike into with ease whereas others who are better drop everything to evade you. I guess watching the battle counts for a lot.

I find this skill silly, albeit strong. One use of it spawns two planes like some sort of twin embryo

Atago still has almost 360 degree torpedo coverage and the torps themselves are no joke. Far better stealth than Kutuzov too. I'd be interested to try Ranked in the Atago whenever T8 comes round again as I found her the optimal ship last time round.

Colorado is too slow to make a significant impact, when it is end game and about 3 ships left a Colorado is basically left stranded. It's armour isn't even "that" good, still takes big damage and dies but probably as it's hp pool is bad rather than a lack of plating. Nagato AA is bad and you're not going to buff it without significant cost to other skills/abilities so if CVs are prevalent then she'll suffer. Gnesi and Scharn I guess. I have a full secondary Schan build and captain (that's linked to Bismarck and on 19 points) so its optimal for brawling. The Gnesi build I have is for stealth and slightly longer ranged combat, it's essentially a T7 lift of how I set up the Tirpitz and shares the same captain, not sure if that build would work for Ranked as I play it more like an opportunist than a brawler. Also as much as I love the Gnesi and do well in her, the guns are still somewhat derpy. I really should try and hit R1 in a BB since I gave up on the Bismarck last season and went instead with the Atago. Generally I found BBs cannot influence Ranked games hugely, you're simply there to tank damage and to (hopefully) land massive devastating strikes. The capping, spotting and general smart play comes from the smaller classes so you almost always have to rely on others not to mess up.

Forum seems divided on which guns to use but there is some agreement that they're so similar that there isn't really a wrong choice. Use both and decide for yourself. I personally roll with 420mm as I feel they do better damage vs top tier BB. Besides with Adrenaline Rush both guns can reload pretty fast after you've taken some damage. The 406mm can be buffed to Scharn speeds of reload times.

Yeah the T10 camos haven't helped as it means T10 has become a right when something like a Yamato is a privilege. I'm fairly sure there was an MM change that gave T7 massively preferred chances of being top tier

They're far faster firing, on a better platform and with IFHE do pretty well...

Oh and I almost forgot, T4 was made the ultimate seal club paradise as they'll never see anything above T5.

WGs MM re vamp never ceases to amaze me. Whereas before everyone got up tier punished, now it's just for specific tiers. With T5 and T8 being the main losers and T7 now being a mini T10. I laugh when I get top tier in the Scharn again and again.

Give OP a break, at least they haven't bought a T8 BB and gone straight into derp gaming.

That's just unlucky MM. All T8 ships have it bad, if you feel that way about it try asking WG for a refund...

That's your own fault for taking speculative shots at that DD and not immediately taking evasive maneuvers. You may want to take Priority Targeting on your captain too, might help...

Lel, it's all T8 ships. Go play a stock Shokaku in a hard T10 game and I might take your complaint seriously...

wtf how can it include non launched float planes?!? Fail WG, MM with a few enemy Yams and you know you'll never get this!!

There's stats and ppls experience that Saipan fighters need to strafe or they'll lose normal dog fights. I tried playing the AS Saipan earlier and hated it. The big DB Squadron still derps except it takes an age to re arm. Don't expect more than a handful of bombing runs in a game.

The amount of bad Strike Lex makes this possible if you go AS Shokaku and you're top tier but once again it's a non sense WG Task that relies on the idiocy of others rather than your own ability.

An issue with Saipan Strike (for me atleast) is I find it very difficult to torp bomb DDs, as the spread is only 3 torps and they're so dammn wide... Any tips?