AnotherDuck

Arguing that cruisers should use AP more is kind of bad if you're using Kirov as an example. In my experience with cruisers (Japanese, German, and Russian up to ~T7, and US cruisers T8-T10), Kirov is by far the one I used AP the most in, without having crap stats with her. Not exclusively, but the vast majority of the time. It's like saying all destroyers should always use their torpedoes all the time, and point to Minekaze. Different ships are good at different things, and Kirov is an excellent cruiser killer with AP. Furry Taco is another example with her Big Guns. But those aren't arguments for why other cruisers should rely more on AP, especially at the expense of HE. And I don't think Kirov needs a buff for her AP. I generally agree with your assessment. Some comments: PT: I think it would be okay if it only worked on spotted enemies. If you look at the guns of the ships, and you're not in a cluster of allies, you can usually easily see who's aiming in your direction. Takes longer to do it manually, and with less certainty, but the skill can also be tricked by switching targets, which makes it a fair. Could be possible to even show which ships are aiming in your direction. TA: I've always found the 20% reduction of range to be excessive, for a paltry 5 kn increase. Never felt that amounted to much for anything other than the rather slow and excessively ranged IJN torps, and it restricts the utility for anything shorter. You're paying both utility and skill points for a small benefit, which isn't worth it with any current torpedoes. Now, it still works for carriers, but for them the range doesn't matter nearly as much, and their torpedoes are very slow to begin with, so the increase is much more significant. FP: The centre area merge is on its own enough to make this skill useful and worth the points compared to the old skill. The idea is good, but I'm not sure how many skill points it should cost. TAE: For DDs, considering that torpedoes aren't fired as soon as they reload nearly as often as ship guns, I think the skill is overpriced here. It's probably better for lower tier DDs that fire more often, but for the longer reloads of higher tier ships, even if the bonus is longer in seconds, it's still less useful due to how the torpedoes are used in practice. BFT: Both overpriced and too strong AA buff. We don't need even stronger AA guns, and it should be a T2 skill. MFCFSA: I've always wondered why the division between high and lower tiers was so abrupt. Make it gradual. Shooting without targetting and without the buff, if considered, should only apply if there's no target selected, and not by secondaries that can't shoot at the target ship, so they instead pick other targets. If it works like that; not sure. Regardless, if you have this skill, you should get used to selecting your targets anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem. MFCFAAA: If it would apply to all AA guns, the bonus should be significantly lower.

Empty bombers being 30% slower doesn't justify any reasonable buff. Maybe it can be used to turn empty bombers into more effective scouts? But they're still going to get shot down the moment they are spotted, since they can't run away from any other planes. Carries being able to use planes while on fire seems mostly useless, but it's at least not a negative skill to have. It's probably better to just buff AA with other skills instead, though. Demo Expert is just plain nerfed. It lost 33% of its effect, while it's 25% cheaper, and that's not taking into account that skills are on average half a point cheaper, so it's even worse than that. BFT got a huge nerf with three times the cost for little benefit, and I really don't think those 10% extra AA damage accounts for the cost increase. Probably more fitting as a T2 skill. Torpedo Armament Expertise is also plain nerfed, since WG hates anything that could threaten BBs. On the other hand, Torpedo Acceleration got buffed, but it's generally not a good idea to take a skill that gives you a benefit and a drawback, as opposed to a skill with a pure benefit, especially since it's competing with skills like Last Stand. Radio Position Finding is crap. Remove, please. The argument that you have to give up other strong skills for this one doesn't really account for that to pick those skills, you have to give up on this skill. HEAP is a mixed bag. Not sure. Jack of All Trades doesn't have to compete with CE or Manual Secondaries, so it's more of a viable option. Adrenaline Rush is in much the same boat, with a small buff that applies to a lot. Still, the buff isn't large in either case. Priority Target and Incoming Fire Alert are very similar, and on the same single point. One could be useful for that cost, but not both. Maybe not the first option, but they're cheap if you've got a point over. Overall, the good DD skills got nerfed, and additional options are mostly underwhelming. Anti-DD skills got buffed, on the other hand, which at best is a double-edged sword, since a DD-hunting DD benefits and suffers from that. AA skills got buffed more than CV skills. BB skills got mostly buffed in comparison to everything else, perhaps with an exception to secondary builds, as those use several of the same skills as DDs.

So destroyers can more or less one-shot most ships in the game? Wow, I want that DD. Invisifiring isn't a problem. It's more annoying than anything else, and it means you have no support, so you've probably misplaced yourself, or you're one of the last ships floating in the game.

Sure, fires and torpedoes are better than overpens. But it's more fair to compare against regular penetrations and citadels, which will happen. If all you get is overpens, you should probably try to change how you shoot. Torpedoes are many destroyers' main weapons. Secondaries are just additionals. Even for the German secondary-specced BBs, which still do a good job of assisting in killing other ships. Which is the point: They assist with killing other ships. They don't kill other ships for you. You're essentially taking the worst of battleships and comparing them to the best of destroyers and cruisers.

Any T8 ship in a predominantly T10 game will be at a disadvantage. No one's disputing that. However, that doesn't mean you're completely useless. And as a carrier, if nothing else, you can always just snipe the enemy carrier, keep the enemy destroyers spotted, and keep the enemy carrier from spotting your destroyers. As long as you do better than the enemy carrier, you'll have a positive impact on the game. You can also save your planes towards later parts of the game where more of the enemy's AA have been knocked out, so you'll have a slightly better chance.

Spotting and capping are the main jobs of DDs. Area denial is another, especially in caps and strategic locations. Just being there means larger enemy ships will hesitate to push forward, and enemy destroyers won't be able to come to your larger ships, as you block their way. You'll also spot incoming torps for those larger ships, so they get a much easier time dodging. Focus on those things first if you want to be competent at higher tiers. At lower tiers, being a torpedo- or gunboat alone works better, as you're relatively sturdier (enemies have less firepower compared to your health). At those tiers, you can work on how ships react to spotting torpedoes and yourself, and how to turn encounters to your advantage. Those are skills that will make you survive better at higher tiers, but they're not the main objective. That's still making sure enemies won't be able to torp your allies or go where they want to go, while your allies can go where they want to.

So in other words, you admit you don't have a reason to complain about them not doing their job, because you're not doing yours? What I often do in a DD if I have BBs who only camp is that I use my stealth and mobility and make my way other to the other end of the map, and see if the teammates on that side actually have a clue about what they're doing. Same with cruisers, although less often since they're not as stealthy. I will happily abandon players who don't do their job.

Likewise (although to be fair, I've researched two, Shimakaze and Gearing). It's like people say, losing streaks happen. I had a huge one the last few months with way lower win rate than my usual. Been picking up again the last hundred games or so to where it used to be. You really need several hundreds of games to actually see what your real average is. I mean, for an average win rate, a single percent is notable (the vast majority of players are between 45% and 55%), and in a hundred games, a single match is all it takes to make that difference. What I mean is, having a ton of losses in a single day can be disheartening, but on the whole, your win rate will probably reflect your skill reasonably well. With that in mind, make sure you have fun while playing. Don't focus on the stats. Focus on doing your job, and if you have a good game where you do the best for the team to win, regardless of outcome, count it as a win.

I usually see about two or three destroyers per team in mid-high tiers. That's about right. I also usually see four or five battleships in almost every single battle, which is too much. Here's hoping the influx of destroyers reduces the amount of battleships.

I wouldn't call destroyers 'nerfed', but I do feel that their torpedoes are ineffective against cruisers and battleships. It may be a matter of captain's skills, but if I have a good torpedo loadout I expect any battleship being hit by two or three torpedoes to be scrapped into fish food, which almost never happens because the big lumps just have too much health (never mind trying to hit them with main batteries, at most you'll get a few fires).

No, it's personal because the only point you had was attacking my personal development. And apparently you think Kongou and Fuso (and Nagato, for that matter) are the best equipped for pushing. Because that's the only logical conclusion to your argument if I assume you have read what you're responding to. But guess what, if you push hard enough to take a similar amount of damage in those ships, you're probably doing okay. You're not at carrier range and sniping. You're actually in the fight and taking heat off of smaller and less protected allies. That's the point I actually mentioned. To those who actually read what I write. The only difference between those and the brawlers that are the German BBs is that the amount of pushing you can do is a little different. It's true that you shouldn't wait to get 5 km closer. Hell, I often throw up a spotting plane to be able to fire even earlier. But it's not the only distance, or the optimal distance you should fire from.

Once had two BBs tell me, in Myoko, to go contest a cap two other BBs were inside. Well, I actually did, and to their credit, they killed one of them. My torps killed the other. Ended up being my best games in the ship, with a Kraken at the end and 3550 base xp. That's completely the wrong way to play Bismarck. She's a great brawler, and thanks to hydro doesn't need to worry excessively about torpedoes. She's also fast, so she actually can disengage if things turn sour. Why would you even want to snipe in that ship? It's absolutely the most fun leading charges with her. My strategy for learning a new battleship: Charge full on yolo, and then cut it back to see where I get better results. And if I'm top tier, I might just yolo anyway, since that sometimes works, especially in the German BBs, and if you do that, you're more likely to get allies with you.

I still remember my first game in Fuso. Southwest spawn, Hotspot. I went around the island cluster on the inside, and while I didn't live that long, I manage to obliterate two cruisers inside the cap with my first two salvos. Which is really where Fuso shines: nuking cruisers. Still not bad at brawling either.

It doesn't matter if it's fine for everyone. It matters that it's fine for some, and you want to remove that completely legitimate choice from players, just because some ships fail to meet your standards. Yes, those ships aren't relevant, because you said they were my ships. They're not. I wouldn't pick something I don't want to play in a +3 tier game. If I want to play a game like that, or if I just don't have the same tier ship as someone I'm playing with, then I pick the ship I wouldn't mind playing that kind of game in. Is that so hard to understand? What doesn't make sense is for you to decide what I should play in against what. Only if MM did the same. Which won't happen.

You mean ships like Kongou or Fuso, as I already mentioned? Well, Kongou's also fast, but more fragile. And, to clarify your misunderstanding, I learned how hard to push with Bismarck. Not with ships or battleships in general. But really, if all you wanted to do was to say I haven't improved personally, you have a warning in a red post above against that sort of behaviour.

One important thing to remember, which goes for any ship but is especially important for destroyers, is to never pick a fair fight. You always want to stack any advantages you can. Have allies with you. Pick on lower health targets. Fire from stealth (smoke, islands, distance). Use torpedoes to force them to turn so they can't use their guns as efficiently (actually hitting an aware DD with torps is very hard, and mostly up to luck). If you're in a USN DD, close the distance. You have higher DPM but worse shell arcs. Other DDs should do the opposite, especially IJN ones. Good accuracy at range, and good damage on salvos, but lower fire rates.

Bismarck is a great ship. I find that you're less likely to get those awesome games you get in other ships, but on the other hand, you're also less likely to get crap games. She performs very solidly. Armour I find is a mixed bag. Takes a lot of penetration damage, but almost no citadel damage. You're very rarely going to be deleted by gunfire, but you're going to melt under focus fire. Then any, any battleship would melt in that situation. She's also agile enough to dodge a lot of shells, and to swing her back guns into action before turning completely bow in. Or while advancing to longer ranges.

This is pretty much true for me as well. In Ranked, I got High Caliber in most games. It's easier there, sure, but you can carry so hard if you're not facing higher tiers. For higher tiers, she's still a solid ship. The shells are smaller than higher tier BB shells, which means you're not likely to score those huge citadel hits on other battleships, but you can still decimate cruisers. And it still doesn't mean you can't get citadels on higher tier battleships either, if they show a broadside. You are, however, going to get a lot of penetration damage, and fewer overpens than bigger shells. With the large number of cannons, that amounts to a lot. People say she's a shotgun who can't hit at range, but that's not really true. I've scored a lot of Devastating Strikes on cruisers at above max range, with spotter plane. People don't expect to get hit at those ranges, so they don't dodge as much. But that doesn't mean you should stay at that range. Good for opening salvos, but after that, get closer. Be very careful about showing your side, pick your battles, and she will serve you well. For me she's one of the best ships in the game, tier for tier.

I've never even played New York. Nor Amagi. Didn't play divisions with Nicholas. I have played most of the IJN DDs in +3 tiers, though. And the aforementioned Umikaze in T8, I think (which was hilarious; got third in team). And with T8+ ships, it doesn't matter much anyway, since you can face those T10 ships anyway. But you're basically arguing for the worst case scenario, and want that to apply to every single ship in the game, whether it works for them or not. I'm saying that it's perfectly okay for some ships, and that it's workable for others, so it should be allowed. As mentioned, player skill matters more than ship tiers. If I, as an at best above-average player, can carry in bottom tier, then someone a single tier lower can certainly pull her weight. Also, please quit the "99%" exaggerations. Whenever I see someone claiming a percentage like that, I can safely assume it's someone who's making things up as they go along.

I'm clicking "Yes" but it doesn't do anything.

I make an overall profit in T9 games, and I'm at most above average. That's without premium, but with economics flags. The flag that gives you a higher income works on your gross income, not your net income, so use it on whatever ships you earn the highest gross income, which is before all repair costs and resupply costs are added. But anything at T7 and above, especially T10 games, you really need to know where you're going, what needs to be done, and to have an exit strategy. You need to survive long enough to make an impact, but you also need to be close enough to the action that you don't let your teammates fight for you. Stick with your teammates unless you know what you're doing. Learn what the strengths and weaknesses of your ships are, play to those strengths, and try to nullify the weaknesses. IJN DDs, for instance, have good stealth, and with their torpedoes they can keep doing damage even if they only have a sliver of health left, as well as pick up caps in mid or late game. That means you can play aggressively, but if you start to take damage, fall back. They have worse guns than other DDs, so don't get into gunfights with them unless you have a good advantage (allies, much more health, etc.). On the other hand, if you are spotted, and are going to remain spotted for at least 20-30 seconds, shoot. The guns still aren't that bad, as they do a decent amount of damage, and have good shell arcs.

I miss the fun of T5 matches with Umikaze. Playing actual tier-"appropriate" matches in that ship is just sealclubbing. Bull. A player not loading, being AFK, or a deliberate TK is starting with one less ship. A one-tier difference isn't that significant, but apparently when you go from bottom tier, which is perfectly okay, to one tier lower, that doesn't even count as a ship.

There was one battle where the last ship on our team was a bow-in Yamato at completely full health. Sure, she'd done a lot of damage, but that's over 100k damage that easily could've been spared from other ships if she had bothered to be less worried about scratching some paint, and probably more due to bounces. If you play like that, you've only got yourself to blame that you're alone against several ships, rather than having a few allies. Carry harder, plz. I don't see the point of having that much health and armour and then just sit and snipe. Even with Kongou, which is one of my favourite ships to play, I don't snipe that much. Sure, I will use up one or two spotting planes, but that's mainly for shooting before I get into range, and later on so I can shoot while relocating. Same with any other battleship spotting plane. Although I've got to admit it's hilarious to get those lolworthy Devastating Strikes with Fuso at 22 km range or whatever in the beginning of the match. Doesn't mean I'll stay at that range, though. Now, since I got Bismarck, I've tried to learn how hard to push, and it usually ends with me losing about 50%-75% health at some point, and then I fall back to heal up some, after which I can come back with decent health and fight a lesser enemy fleet than before. It works out reasonably well for me. I have both Superintendent and premium heals, and I often use up all of them (although at the end I often don't take much damage, due to so few enemies being left, and they often prefer smaller and easier-to-kill targets). The hard part is really to figure out when to safely turn around, since if you're advancing and want to fall back, you need to turn and show a broadside. Sometimes there's an island to help out, sometimes not. Point is, I rather die while pushing forward than be left at the end with all my allies below the surface because they took damage I could've taken for them.

Personally I want ARP Takao to show as Takao in the team list with ARP content off, because the ship is Takao, not Atago. The name "Takao" isn't (or shouldn't be) offensive to people who're offended by ARP content, because it's the real ship's name. Atago was a Takao-class cruiser. Any reason about Atago feeling less special is just wanting to be a special snowflake, and if you also want buffs to make it feel even more special snowflake, you want pay to win. I'm just going to say that I don't want that in the game. Pay for faster advancement, sure, but to gain in-combat advantages, no.

It's even more fun to be the one, single DD in a game, especially if there's no CV. That's when it becomes Fun. For the DD. Probably not so much for the opponents. Also often works out that way if it's one vs two DDs. My personal preference in ships, regardless of which class I'm playing: 1 CV 3 BB 5 CA/CL 3 DD Give or take one.