creamgravy

I'll have Edinburgh with a 16 point captain tomorrow Maybe Neptune with a 15 point captain too?? Na, I'll save my last bits of free XP for general upgrades, Fiji and Leander have 12-15 point captains that need retraining too (which one gets lumped with DE? )

Belfast gets normal 152mm AP. It's comparable to everyone else, tech tree AP is very different. For example Belfast AP will overpen most superstructure for 310 damage while tech tree AP will penetrate most superstructure for 512-1024 damage (or 0)

RN CL captains should aim for the gun turrets if they do this, the AP should be enough to keep them off line. (Note: You can't troll Belfast this way. She'll melt your bum, set you on fire, cripple the guns and blow up your engines. DDs should run like the wind from balanced Belfast)

A bit of good news I wonder what people would take if they had the choice. Radar and normal HE/AP vs Heal and 2x3 10km torpedoes?

Belfast and Perth have a standard detonator threshold of 25mm compared to 12mm for RN tech tree CLs. You can see that from all the overpens Belfast AP gets on superstructures, RN tech tree ships will get normal penetrations in this scenario. Destroyers can to go 'bow/stern on' to reduce nearly all damage from RN CL tech tree guns, not many destroyer captains will know this atm. Just run with your bottom pointed directly at the RN cruiser and spam them with HE!

Just bump Belfast up to tier 8 (with tier 8 consumables) and be done with it. Like they did with Blys at tier 7.

RN CL tech tree captains will need to understand these points. (Note. Belfast has normal AP, this doesn't apply to her) 1. Aim for weak sections of of the ship, like your using HE. Most armour belts will block your AP, even if the shells penetrate they could detonate before reaching the citadel. Your not a AP citadel monster, so always go for the consistent 16-33% penetrations. (As always weakly armoured ships the Omaha are fair game) 2. Don't shoot heavily angled or 'bow/stern on' ships, like your using HE. HE doesn't care about angles and fire stacking is very punishing, RN CLs need to be smarter (or pay WG for the privilege in Belfast) Try superstructure first to see if your can maintain good DPM. If not just stop firing, stealth up and stay safe. You can always switch targets, flank or go for a torpedo strike.

Yeah, small cal AP shells do nothing against Konig. I've seen a Leander trying to shoot one already Here's a good example of Notser in Belfast shooting a Colorado (5k+ salvos) then a Konig straight after. (Edit: RN CLs have very different AP to Belfast)

These new RN CLs will really punish those bow camping BBs! Oh no wait... that's just Belfast, even a destroyer can bow camp a RN tech tree CL. (still looking forward to them)

All Khab captains have tasted that sweet Yamato salt in chat. They're not penning your glorious belt, just the flat 'unarmoured' sections above it. RN tech tree cruisers should do very well agasint these 'all or nothing' armour ships (That's almost everyone except German BBs, I wouldn't want to face a Konig with a RN tech tree crustier very often )

Tier 7 ships get terrible (or great) matchmaking. All Belfast can do at the moment is go around seal clubbing tier 5 ships. You don't get much XP for that.

Neptune has better close range AA, only Montana has more. As mentioned planes don't get spotted until ~6km so Minotaur's crazy super long range AA doesn't really work without someone spotting them first.

Belfast and Perth are 'stand alone' ships that don't use the same mechanics as the f2p cruisers. There's no premium RN CL that uses the tech tree game style

RN CL tech tree ships ...so bad WG are too embarrassed to sell premium versions of them.

That's not correct. Look at Flamu's stats (or El_GringoPotato for more recent crusier stats) http://worldofwarships.eu/en/community/accounts/529265619-Flamu/!/pvp/ships/?bestShip=essex Standard tier 7 cruisers are nowhere near Belfast and she even exceeds most tier 8 cruisers too (and that's with less HP/XP to farm from tier 8-10 ships)

Belfast is still no.1 in the stats over the last few weeks, even if a few supertesters are struggling (many won't have 15+ point captains with CE)

How many significant nerfs have RU DDs been through now? Stealth fire ability, HP, HE, fire% and what's the most recent one? Oh yeah, range. Even the 1950s red speed boat got removed! WG totally know how to balance ships

All tier 7 cruisers get < 25mm on the hull (aka 100% pens from any DD HE) There's no difference between 6mm and 19mm in this regard. (Only Myoko gets 25mm immunity in the middle) It's this weakness to HE that makes all Tier 7 or less cruisers feel very squishy. The Pepsi has far less protection than Belfast with a 76mm belt and <25mm everywhere else.

My option is based on the current Belfast spec. Which is.... Tier 8 upgrade slot. Tier 8 cruiser amour (114mm belt etc) with tier 7 RN CL bow/stern/superstructure sections (10-13mm. Normal tier 7 cruisers get 13-16mm) Tier 8 sister ship. No torpedoes but 3 consumables slots. Tell me why Belfast is tier 7, there's no NDA on her anymore right?

Belfast and Edinburgh are sister ships. They gave Belfast hydro, smoke and radar (3 consumables) to make up for loosing torpedoes. Yes, that's a bit OP at any tier. To drop Belfast down a tier 7 they gave her 13mm bow/stern armour. Wahooo big deal. She even keeps her tier 8 OP upgrade module. Seriously WTF? Tier 5 ships shouldn't have to face that **** Let's drop Scharnhorst to tier 6 for more Flamu LUL videos. Atago at tier 7? LUL. How about Yamato at tier 6 with generic tier 6 bow/stern armour? Oh noes Nagato can pen my bow. LUL.

There's zero reason Belfast should be tier 7 with access to 3 consumable slots. Will Edinburgh get all 3 and torpedoes too? LUL.

I'm still not sure why Belfast is at tier 7 and Edinburgh is at tier 8.The extra consumable slot plus HE is better than 2x3 10km torpedoes and a bit more AA. 13mm might even be better than 19mm at this tier, they're functionally the same agasint BB AP and all HE. Loosing 8" AP front/rear auto bounce for more consistent overpens is a fair trade.

Anshan.

RP50 Mk.V is the name of the mount/director not the gun. They're controlled by Type 262 radar, a big step up to the Type 282 which could only calculate range. (Fully locks on and tracks a moving target) Mk.V RP50 (Type 262) STAAG (Type 262, the only RN mounts that could blind fire) Hazemeyer (Type 282)

Belfast has access to the OP concealment module. Who gives a **** about BBs with a 8.7km surface detection, smoke and a 2km stealth fire range.