tocqueville8

Just lost another game to a sub. By the end we had all 3 caps, 2 BBs circling the bugger dropping depth charges, CV trying to help, but we lost by 10 points with all 3 caps. Earlier I tried to take the cap and possibly sink the enemy DDs behind it (Worcester vs Halland), but I also sank a Belfast '43 supporting him, but my Dmg Con simply couldn't keep up with all the (double) pings, and in the end I got shotgunned by 6 homing torps. It's one thing if the sub had been running away, but as I said, we had 2 BBs and a CV circling him, doing all they could: he should've sunk, if this is supposed to make any sense. I'd much rather be in a double CV game than to face 6 homing torps from a ship I can't sink even when I'm right on top of her.

For the Colombo it's 1.250 on the SAP vs 1.200 on the AP when you hit a DD: hardly worth mentioning. Superstructures maybe, but high tier decks bounce 380mm SAP. If there's no overmatch nor a large superstructure to hit, against nose-in targets HE is the ammo of choice, imho, especially with a >40% fire chance. Frankly I'd rather take the Conqueror or the Rép (reload, dispersion and fires) against nose-in targets.

I find that mostly happens because I lead too much. SAP is probably better against some cruisers with a small/low citadel (Helena comes to mind) or spaced armor (Emile Bertin), but against most targets AP is the way to go imho.

Imho it goes like this: 1) nose-in target: AP overmatch (might reach the citadel) > SAP overmatch > HE > SAP > AP 2) broadside target: AP > SAP > HE 3) DD: HE > SAP = AP So SAP is middle-of-the-road.

I get the ships. Not because I don't want to grind the line, but because I get some extra port slots in the process.

I understand secondary damage is rewarded less, which could mean 10% less or maybe 50% less. Surely not 100% less. I only watched your 3rd Georgia replay, and I'd say the 2.5k xp you got is about right: 1) you scored 400+ secondary hits, but they only did about 24k dmg, mostly to BBs: pretty much all those shells shattered on the Lion's and the JB's noses 2) same with the fires they caused: 27k, which is nice, but nothing special. I think the Georgia's guns are deceptively big, in that people (myself included) act like she's got Musashi overmatch, when in fact one should often switch to HE. Same deal with the République, really. 3) you didn't get a single cap nor a single decapping ribbon 4) you didn't shoot down a single plane (not your fault, of course: it was an all-T9 match) 5) you did very little damage to DDs (6k on the Friesland). In short, yes, very good damage (230k or so), but not a particularly high-impact performance, if you don't mind me saying so. Cheers

That's still 16 seconds to switch ammo, unless you have Sansonetti. The thing with SAP is: - unlike HE, it's barely better than AP against DDs - unlike HE, it does nothing to 32 mm angled noses and some strong upper belts - it only overmatches what AP already overmatches, but with no chances of scoring a citadel right after - of course, it doesn't set fires In my experience, SAP is good for spreading damage around, but for instance a République with Gun Feeder, as well as good knowledge of armor schemes, can get better performance out of both HE and AP (permafires and citadels).

Because she's deceiving: - decent secondaries, but awful armor to get to use them - speed boost, but she bleeds speed in any turn - strong AA, but it breaks easily under HE spam

I'd consider getting the Spotter Plane Mod on the Colombo. I mean, she has 4 turrets, 2 of them capable of turning 360°, so maybe Main Armament Mod 1 is less needed than on some of her peers. I've done alright so far in the Colombo, but I can't really see myself pulling a 250k game in this thing...

Because of course . ..and relax, it wasn't a Bismarck, just a stupid Ryujo... Peak gameplay right there

I have a "Cesare Andreotti" with a goblin-esque face, which is close enough to the real thing

Free reset/demount tomorrow? Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen!

1) Premium ships make more credits and come with a permacamo that gives them more xp (and slightly more credits). Use a different camo, they still make more credits. 2) Special ships are only at T10 (as far as I know). They don't make make more credits but they come with a permacamo that gives more xp and more credits. Use a different camo, they make the same credits as a T10 tech tree ship, which is to say not very many.

As far as I know, the Salem has the same fire resistance coefficient of about 0.5 as any other T10 cruiser. DDs and BBs have the same coefficient, only CVs get special treatment

Nope, it just means the most played ships are: 1) old 2) free (tech tree) 3) famous, or part of a line with a famous ship near the top (people play Gneisenau to get to the Bismarck, mostly; they go on and get the GK) 4) German, as they're the biggest community on the EU server

JB is fine. Scharnhorst is fine. Atlanta and Flint are still good in the hands of a good player. Blyska was my 1st T7 DD: I got her for coal way after the stealth-firing rework, and I did well. Belfast was not a "total monster of a ship": she was t-o-x-i-c, and she still is in Ranked. Meanwhile, Druid gets 6.6 concealment and they remove the superheal before release. Still a good ship in the hands of good players (they only ones who are going to bother), but not exactly idiot-proof like a Scharnhorst, or absurd like a Benham...

Smolensk was for coal, wasn't she?

Indeed, if you "yolo stupidly at some point", and that point isn't the end of a long match, the extra heal is going to be useless to you. Imho a ship with 1) bad pen on the secondaries 2) no HE to reliably damage angled targets should probably not get close for a good portion of the game. Re: fires. I once surveyed my last 20 or so games in BBs, most of them in a tank-build Shikishima, and I found fires only did about 15% of the average damage I suffered. It could've been even less if I hadn't let some of them burn to farm a couple of Fireproof achievements (back when they used to give flags). On a ship that can smoke up to disengage, I'd say fires are even less of a threat, so you can probably trade some of that resistance away for other perks. For instance, you might take 3 2-point skills in total: turret traverse, priority target and swift in silence, which helps you getting closer (and synergizes well with the smoke) to make up for your poor range.

You should've turned *into* the target and pulled a Red October on them! Oh wait, scratch that: friendly fire has been removed

I think there are pros and cons: 1) Edinburgh can stealth-radar, Neptune cannot. 2) Neptune has a worse smoke-firing penalty: 6.6 km instead of 5.4-5.5 for most of the line (and the Plymouth), 4.5 on the Leander. Therefore, smoke is slightly more difficult to use than on the Edinburgh 3) Neptune will be in some all-T9 matches, which are guaranteed not to have a CV, making radar a bit more viable.

Incoming Fire Alert shouldn't be necessary if you stay in your smoke as you should, but sometimes things go awry and you'll be spotted in the open. Last Stand is the same deal. The only alternative for 1 point is Grease the Gears, but the turret rotation is good enough anyway. It was pretty effective, even when I played solo: This a smoke build. I wouldn't recommend radar on the Neptune: the range is (barely) worse than her detection range, so the DD might get away, unlike with the Minotaur. EDIT 1 - The same safe build applies to the Plymouth, except I'd prioritize Grease the Gears over Incoming Fire Alert, as the turret traverse is noticeably worse than on the Neptune, let alone the Mino. EDIT 2 - Improving radar duration would have diminishing returns: the DD will either get sunk in 3 salvos, or he will angle and escape with a fair amount of health, or in some cases, if it's only the two of you, he might realize he's got better bow armor and better penetration on the guns, and pull a trick on you: That's me, getting mauled by a Neptune before finally putting 2 and 2 together

If it helps, what works best for me is: 1) go for the nearest island 2) hydro up, if available 3) turn away 4) radar up (use RPF to pre-aim your guns, if available) 5) give the enemy DD a heart attack 6) kite away 7) once you're near max range from the main threats (BBs and supercruisers), stop, and only use your engine (take the module) to dodge salvos by accelerating back and forth. It should be enough to give your DD a leg up in a knife-fight, possibly make the enemy DD give up on the enterprise, and allow you to farm 30k-ish on some Grosse Kurfurst, probably. Speaking about the Napoli, yes I can see the pros of a DD divmate. On the other hand, last few games I got a friendly Khaba on my flank, and it just felt that whatever Halland/Gearing the MM threw at us was effectively taking us both hostage

Richi and JB are the only real ships at high tiers: it's only fair to F2P players to include them in the tech tree. I mean, would you have liked it if the North Carolina and the Iowa had been for free XP/coal/dubs, and the original USN BB line had been the Kansas one? Just move the République's aft turret to the front, Richi-style, and I'll marry her!

What are these "cheats" you speak of? Smoke and radar? HE? I've got twice your games and I've never seen cheats Also, why do you downvote people asking what the cheats are? Do you have any proof at all? Why not actually become a good player instead of taking our your frustration on the little guy who's just started the game? It's the psychology of the bully, if you ask me.

Fair enough, but my point is that you need those consumables *more*, not less, if you go for brawls, which are obviously the Napoli's strong suit. If you stay at range like, say, the Henri IV, then you have no use for radar and you probably take Def AA (for what it's worth) instead of hydro, as well. Meanwhile, the Nevsky can dumpster on anyone at range, but also close in with radar, hydro and torps. She might be worse at brawling BBs, but she's damn well better at chasing DDs, which usually happens earlier and is thus more decisive over a number of games. Cheers