RUSSIANBlAS

If cruisers are so bad then how did I get to Rank 1 with them when I'm a BB player normally? A lot of the problem like others have said is user error. Don't fire as soon as something is in range, you must be observant of the enemy. Always look at enemy BB guns and NEVER give them an easy target as I guarantee someone will be looking to farm your citadel. You must be paranoid about every shell you could potentially take!!!

I only achieved R1 a few days ago. A week ago I was R4 and floundering but went from R4 to R1 in about 3 days. There is is an argument that it's easier to hit R1 late in the season because someone can shine easier due to the standard of play. As opposed to early on where the higher Ranks are all made up of the more skilled folk.

True, my Atago captain looks abit silly as he's trained for the Isokaze which was long thrown away and has 15 points. Maybe it's time to rebuy the T4 DD to seal club?

Prem ships don't care what captain sits in the chair though? You get full power skills whether they "belong" to that ship or not.

The "real" grind is the Premier League. I expect a lot of players rise and fall from R5 to R6 all the time because it's quite a gulf in quality. The majority of players will use smoke well and know not to yolo although there are still insane exceptions and almost always one per team... If you are serious about hitting R1 and are an "ordinary" player (I don't pretend to be anything amazing, anyone is free to look and critique my stats all they want) then you really need to be 100% serious about it and be prepared to fight tooth and nail for every single star. If you're not prepared to do that every game then you're probably not going to be hitting R1. I hit R1 in about 400 games, I could have probably cut that down by 100+, maybe more if I didn't make so many random mistakes & bad choices in games. One thing that everyone should consider is that every star you lose, you need to win twice as many to make progress again and be +1 star from where you were so its almost like the longer you play the more hours you have to put in to reach that elusive R1. I am a big fan of BBs, I play them all the time and have a 15 point Bismarck captain but I simply couldn't get it to work in Ranked. BBs are too reliant on DD spotting/capping. Ranked meta will likely never change on that. I'm still a little mystified at how I hit R1 with the Atago and not my favoured class or the meta favoured class. Everyone says cruisers are the weakest class but my results say otherwise... Then again Atago could very well be P2W!! There IS a huge degree of luck with the MM as you do get some games that are utter hell because of others. I've been in losing streaks of 5+ with absolutely nothing at all I could have done. But by the same token I've had a lot of games where I could have yoloed or done anything and still won a star because the other team was that bad. You do need skill to hit R1, granted you need A LOT of perseverance and time which a lot of us don't have. It's no accident or stroke of luck that someone hits the top rank, you simply have to play too many games for it to be by sheer chance. I've posted quite a lot about Ranked recently but I'm keen to share what I've learnt and experienced as I've said before I don't see myself as Super Unicum or anything just someone who's put some time and effort into it.

Lost a weekend game on Trident. Standard game, around 5 mins. We got capped and I came top of the losing team with 20k Saipan torp bomber damage. I want to name and shame but it's frowned upon.

I've been there many times. You simply have to keep fighting although now with the time left unless you're a firm Premier League player and don't keep slipping down to R6 it's likely over for your R1 push this season. Try to analyse every loss, even game. There's usually something more you could have done or something you could have done differently.

I think an issue is that at higher tiers every BB is expected to have good armour and speed. Both Naga and Colo have suffered power creep.

Oh no... That will further strengthen T7 as T8/T9 will incur the credit farmers.

Fuso may feel more accurate because of the large number of shells and it's shotgun dispersion whereas Naga fires less shells with tighter accuracy (less forgiving as a result). If you own a Warspite then the Nagato plays very similar strangely.

True story, I won't go back to AMD after the mess that was my R9 290. Had both factions over the years but Nvidia or go home for me... Mind you my "backup" laptop has 2x8970m (AMD) so whatever

Hurrah... Second SC after days of claiming 15 flags. Got 250 Damage Control Parties. Amazing...

Your experience, and even Ranked record seems similar to what I've been through. Well done on the R1 also It's very easy to do well in Random Battles now if you're a R1 member I saw a Hull A Amagi in the Premier League and countless detonations too, some people....

Imagine if when it comes out, someone wins one via a Super Container. The rage from others would be immense

800k free exp is a joke but there are still going to be the rich/silly/desperate who will pay out for that. They'll be farming target #1 in most games I imagine...

urgh I fell below the Premier League 3 times, one of them was down to R7. That level with even 3 weeks to go was utter hell. The standard of play was just something else... I seriously considered giving up, especially when I fell to 7 but powered through. Ranked really does teach you to stay alive and exploit weaknesses. Occasionally you'd get the 100k+ damage hard carry games when you break the red team's resolve as you've got an opening.

Firstly either go with your team as the mass to one cap or see if you can get a DD to go with you to the off cap. Either way you support the DD and try to nail the enemy ones. Lean on your hydro to cover yourself and your team from torps. I had CE for the final push to R1 as a 9.1km detection is borderline OP. Don't EVER show BB a broadside. If you are under fire then sail directly away from them. Their guns probably won't cit you. Watch enemy BB and harass them when they have used Damage Control. Enjoy the 5k+ burn damage when you re ignite. Know when to load AP (close range broadside cruisers). The Atago is extremely flexible but you have to constantly read the battle to stay ahead. My very last battle before R1 was tense but I wasn't going be denied. Covered about 3/4 of the map screening BB from a Fubuki, hunting said Fubuki, opportunity fire starting on their BB and finally going after their cruiser force. Probably lots more but with the time left you need to get playing!

T6 CV is the worst place to be right now. I remember trying to level my Ryujo. Cr@p planes, small reserve and everyone has epic AA... Plus the whole T7 MM issue where it seems to get the sweetest MMs.

Willingness to team play and the ability to be a hard carry sees you through to R1. Bad players can sink one's day however, it's why I played Atago as I felt it has a greater influence over games than BBs.

Lo Yang's were too situational. Losing a gun off a Benson make a big difference i found. Fubuki's are a difficult one. Their torps and detection make them very strong but lose in shoot outs to anything. I've lost and won from the rogue Fubuki spotting and torping.

Well if I lack it then what about all the guys who aren't R1?! I obviously had enough to get up there. Although I don't feel i have anything to prove by doing it all again in a new season unless something changes in the format no. Was just a massive time sink but it has improved my general play quite substantially as it teaches you to fight for every last point of damage and hp.

I'm a BB player but I couldn't use the Bismarck in Ranked. No idea why. Anyone who is still R5, hitting 1 is still possible. I spent 2 weeks at 5 yo-yoing between 6 and 4 but last weekend I just started winning and went from 4 to 1 in probably under 50 games. I'd wager alot of R5 ppl are guys who find the Premier League difficult and keep slipping back to the First League. Takes a bit of time to adapt to it.

Hit R1 in Ranked with exclusively the Atago for the Premier League to R1 push. It's no ordinary T8 Cruiser however and probably is a little P2W.

Oh also. - Hydroacoustic is literally your best friend, even on IJN Cruisers. It's been vital for spotting torps. - Cruisers with good concealment should think very carefully what they fire at and when, Atago with full concealment mods allows successful trolling of BBs by shooting until they train their guns on you. Dodging/stopping then waiting for them to lose interest and repeating. - As a cruiser, never EVER reveal your broadside. It will simply get kicked in by BBs AP. Always zoom in and look at their turrets too, wait for them to fire also so you know you've got a window of opportunity.

Finally reached Rank 1 just now. Just over 400 battles, 5 days to spare (was on holiday for 10 days during the season which worried me a bit). Firstly I am NEVER playing Ranked seriously again unless WG change the format, it is a test of mental willpower and endurance as much as skill. I used the Benson and Bismarck for the lower leagues and exclusively Atago when I hit the Premier League. Which is a strange choice since I used the Blys last season and I barely play Cruisers at all. I couldn't get Benson working at the highest tier and BB are unplayable in Ranked to me as the game is simply taken out of your hands by the DD way too often. Having barely played my Atago since buying it I adapted to it for Ranked use and it's probably somewhat OP. I doubt I'd have hit R1 with any other T8 ship. A few tips I would offer that I found helped me on the way: - A split at the start is usually better, a DD and CA to the off cap will mean you can either contest/kill their cappers or cap it outright. Failing that you just pull back and rejoin the fleet. Holding the other cap is so important, as it means your team will slowly gain points over the non splitting team and can win by camping/waiting for the enemy to make mistakes. - Always support the DD, everything starts and finishes from their spotting/capping/torping. - LOTS of people seem to feel that being broadside in smoke and firing constantly is totally fine, the amount of torps I've got hits from by pumping them into smoke is crazy. Even in the Premier League. - Unless you're a spotting DD, NEVER go alone and always try and focus something as a team. Solo heroics are too high risk and if they fail you all suffer. - Communicate with your team, a team that says nothing to each other is likely going to lose. Finally I can go back to Random Battles and harvest noobs with BB AP again