Sir_Sinksalot

So in conclusion no, Co-op is not a viable solution to grinding a line. At least not in a sensibly meaningful way for anyone with life obligations that can only allocate an hour an evening to gaming or perhaps even less than that with missing days here and there etc. There's some lower tiers that are viable by virtue of the fact their XP requirements are so low that basically bashing your head on the keyboard a few times will soon unlock the next floating trashcan regardless of the pitiful XP returns. Once you reach a tier that requires XP amounts with some chest-hair on it, aka, T7ish, then T8+, you're reduced to somewhat of a limbo experience even when using(and utterly wasting imo) high-end xp buffs though the first win bonus with all the bells and whistles can be a worthwhile one-off single battle before switching to the massively more XP reward PvP modes(even if you find them utterly dog shhh to play)). But otherwise, it took you almost 38 hours even with all the bells and whistles in regards high-end XP buffs and I assume you also ran a premium account. Now, as mentioned, 38 hours even with all that for a person that can only afford to casually play an hour an even = well... about 38 days obviously, and perhaps they don't get to play a weekend battle or perhaps it's ONLY the weekend when they get to drop in a casual visit. God forbid a player tries this without a premium account or buffs, can multiply that 38hours(which might be equal to days) by many many times lol.

Thanks. I understand the sentiments of "full offense, no defense" but, this game is stuffed with CV's as you know, T7 is sandwiched between two separate tiers of CV's, it's still a big and slow unit(relatively speaking to aircraft) plus it's wrapped in easily penetrated tinfoil which is also overmatched by plenty of ships and penned by lots of HE slingers too along with a very vulnerable citadel so... ya I feel that's taking the "no defense" part to the extreme and beyond that what would be considered balanced... unless the "full offense" involves the use of tactical nukes, it doesn't. Well, the firepower is nice in regards being that of the Amagi albeit a second slower reload and of course this tinfoil ship floats with notable inferior concealment rating on account of lacking the T8 slot for that concealment mod. Now, that might give rise to the easy solution here of "Well, just don't buy it then, problem solved" lol. Well, ya, BUT, apart from that not being a good business model in regards TRYING to sell things to make money lol, I'd still be happy to take onboard all of those negative ingredients so long as it at least had a slightly better defense against at least CV attacks. That would still mean getting shredded by HE slingers, getting probably citadelled even by torps, getting overmatched and/or penned by most ships and just playing that balance of risk vs reward map awareness, positioning type of game. But as it stands, all of that AND being a completely open goal to CV's is just tipping the scales against bothering with it which for me seems like a complete shame. Some outline that a fighter consumable wouldn't make any difference. Well, I'd sooner be looking at it than looking for it. Obviously having properly balanced ships is great and not OP pay2win premiums but having overly weak premiums isn't attractive either obviously. Just needs a little tweak and I'm sure the developers can see how it's not performing well compared to it's Hyuga alternative for just 300 doubloons more. Now, there shouldn't be a big difference between these two T7 premiums obviously other than their playstyle offerings which would attract one player to prefer buying the Ashitaka, and another to prefer buying the Hyuga. But as it stands, it's just a clear case of Hyuga being a notably stronger ship based on winrate which isn't surprising given it's better armor, reload booster consumable, slightly better AA(or less crappy as the case may be) along with a fighter consumable too. Weaker smaller cal guns but it's clearly still getting the job done. Not a case of needing a nerf, more a case of the Ashitaka needing a little buff. Anyway. Thanks again. I really appreciate having contact with WG staff this way that can at least pass on a reasonable suggestion or request with the developers. Obviously removing subs and sensitive topic are out of your control but I still appreciate the feedback and interaction with WG staff like this.

Is there any contents list for what might be in the free jack-o-lanterns? I didn't see one in this link and I'm trying to establish if I could be arsed playing that rinse and repeat operations that quickly becomes dull, especially if you're matched with a team of complete sea-cucumbers and lose with paltry baseXP regardless of dropping in a big personal contribution. From the few free ones I got so far(from not playing playing this Ops) there wasn't really anything other than some free xp and a few buffs.

Was that guy burning to death at 1:26 of the vid?? Ouch!

All the more reason why the Ashitaka being equipped with this consumable shouldn't be any problem then. Fighters also act as spotters over islands btw. Personally I like having fighters on my BB's regardless of AA strength and find them beneficial not just for spotting targets over an island where I'd otherwise be blind, but find they act as a further CV deterrent and damage reduction from CV's that would have otherwise benefited from a second attacking pass had I not had them. A CV countering them with their own fighters you say? That wouldn't be my experience very often with CV encounters when playing an IJN BB. You have to consider the typical map position for both of these ships early in a battle, a CV's priorities at that point, and the whole risk vs reward at play. An IJN BB is going to be backrow and one of the furthest targets from a CV early on. That means the IJN BB is the longest flight time target which is both there and back again, plus at that early stage of the battle there are far more priority things to do for a CV such as spot and deploy its fighters over an enemy DD, or protect it's own DD by deploying its fighters over it, or try and counter the enemy CV's squadron by deploying those fighters in it's flight path. Also, in order to target a backrow ship such as that IJN BB at that early stage of the battle the CV player has to risk flying his squadron through an umbrella of flak from a long line of advancing enemy ships typically in groups with a lot of those ships also deploying fighters so assuming his squadron even survives that journey which is very unlikely, it's now heavily depleted of hp and probably lost aircraft so... might get nothing at all really plus the enemy CV might deploy his fighters in front of your squadron just to add insult to injury. So again, the combination of priority targets and other tasks and strong walls of flak and fighters kinda acts as a natural deterrent in these early moments. Now, you might say that this means such a pathetically bad AA IJN BB such as the Ashiktaka has no problems from a CV then? Well no. Perhaps early in the battle for reasons stated above BUT, as the battle advances and ships start sinking, gaps in that flak line will start to appear and simply by virtue of all remaining ships now being a priority, that now advancing IJN BB will definitely be on the CV players menu made all the more attractive by the fact it has terrible AA and will be a pretty dangerous ship for that CV player given the BB's long range guns and power of those guns. But here's the difference of that end-game CV vs IJN BB scenario where the IJN BB actually has those fighter consumables compared to how it would most likely play out without fighter consumables. At this late point of the battle and as the delicate Ashitaka is advancing and being far more aggressive, the battle weary CV will now 1. Most likely have used all of his own deployable fighter consumables and 2. Will also be heavily depleted of aircraft, unable to form a full strength squadron of a type most beneficial for tackling a BB, and won't be able to replace/respawn any additional lost aircraft any time soon(apart from maybe those broken Russian CVs). So, if the Ashitaka with its abysmal AA actually has fighter consumables in this 1 vs 1 type of end-game scenario against a battle weary CV typically depleted of fighter squadrons and low on aircraft, you can bet your backside it's a big gain for the chances of that otherwise defenseless IJN BB. Whereas if the Ashitaka has no fighter consumable like it currently doesn't, then even the heavily depleted CV without fighters and without being able to form a full strength squadron, will still be in a strong position to sink that BB, take cover behind an island or flank speed in the other direction and whittle away the BB's hp before it can get at the CV. So for me, I'd carry the value of a fighter consumable with a pretty high level of importance for a backrow BB like this Ashitaka with terrible AA for the above reasons. Don't get me wrong, if a player get's himself isolate and focused by a full strength higher tier CV early in a battle, then a fighter consumable won't save him most likely and can be considered bad play by that BB in most cases. But from my perspective it's more about the crucial benefits of those end-game showdowns vs battle weary CV's depleted of their own fighter consumables and unable to launch full strength squadrons where losing a squadron at that point is critical to both players. Plus being able to peak over islands at enemy ships for intel as to better position my ship or decide the best course of action is another big gain from fighters imho.

btw @Seraphice Could you mention to the developers to strongly consider giving the T7 Ashitaka a Fighter Consumable in the interest of a having a better balance? https://armory.worldofwarships.eu/en/category/ships/4029630384 As it stands and as outlined by players/owners throughout this thread, it's AA is utterly tragic. Now, bad AA on an IJN BB isn't rare lol, but the Ashitaka's AA seems particularly bad even by IJN low standards but this is often partially addressed by having the fighter consumable which offers at least periodical moments of having a little bit of defense against CV attacks which is at least something and gives a feeling of not being an utterly hopeless HP piñata to be farmed. If the Ashitaka did have a fighter consumable it would still appear to be a very balanced ship via it's really weak armor making it a total glass cannon and a ship that can get massively punished for a mistake or even no mistake really, just the crime of falling within gun range of an enemy ship with some big guns. So with that in mind and as owners are eluding too, the current offering of the Ashitaka has really no defense against CV's worth mentioning which isn't really something I would have expected given it's T7 status which sandwiches it between T6 and T8 CV's making an encounter with one undoubtedly a regular occurrence. It will see many a T8 and T9 battle which already brings it's weak armor and often inferior gun range into the mix(along with plenty of equal and lower tier ships being able to smash it) so... does it really need to be utterly hopeless against CV's too? The Hyuga, albeit a slower ship with smaller caliber guns, has more guns, faster reload, better armor, better AA, a gun reload booster consumable AND a fighter consumable. Just to showcase how "naked" the tinfoil ship Ashitaka is. Reason I say it is I would still be interested in the Ashitaka as a fan of the Amagi but not even having a fighter consumable seems like a bit of a deal breaker.

Thanks guys, great info. More than helpful.

What do you more established veterans think of the status Steel ships nowadays when you reflect on how things were a few years ago begore the recent incusing of T11 and subs? This was a time when I missed out on that proper higher tier PvP experience so I can't personally compare the "back then" to the "now". Thing is though, as I now approach a position where I finally have enough steel for that very first Steel ship like a Shikishima or Bourgogne, why do I get this shallow and somewhat uninterested feeling instead of being more exited or happy? Is it because we now have an ever growing population of T11 ships that blunts the power and top tier status T10 steel ships once enjoyed including spilling over to ranked? Is it because a stand-alone gimmick like the Shiki's 510mm artillery is now overshadowed by it's T11 tech tree Satsuma with the same guns and even more of them entirely for free with credits? Is it because T10 ships are finding their armor being overmatched more and more with ever increasing numbers and additions of higher caliber T11 ships which makes them get punished even when no obvious mistake was made other than daring to try and play positively and not a case of punished for playing recklessly? Is it because of the difficulty in trying to play a slow surface ship with an increasing population of CV's where T10 ships are ever more likely to see battles including not just T10 CV's which are already over-powered but also even more over-powered T11 CVs on top of that and IN THE SAME BATTLE? Is it because of the growing population of subs that combine with the above points to make these Steel ships further unrewarding and unattractive play along with a mindset that envisages T11 subs being an expected inclusion at some point just making me even less attracted to why I should care about getting Steel ships anymore? So do you guys think the above is most likely the main reason why I'm not particularly excited or even much bothered about the fact I will soon be in a position to purchase one of these lucrative Steel ships? Or maybe what happens is by the time a player gets enough steel they don't really care anymore? Am I being delusional and romanticizing about a time where Steel ships were possibly far more attractive and worth getting excited about them and a regular play ship? Or did such a "Heyday" of the T10 Steel ships ever exist?

Hey guys, I don't usually play much T7 in competitive modes and even less T5 so I'm even more of a noob at these tiers than I am at my usual T8-T10 regular plays. So..... which do you guys think are some of the more competitive tech tree offerings for a ranked battle sort of environment? Turns out I actually have a reasonable amount of tech-tree ships from both tiers. Sure, we can play T6 for silver league too BUT, why when T7 is part of that MM? Unless it's a God like T6(or a CV!!) Off the top of my head I'm thinking... T5. Furutaka with it's hydro and big meaty guns for a cruiser and maybe a Konig BB with it's 10 artillery with a 26 second reload. T7. I was thinking Sinop initially but that's kinda limited tbh and more likely the Prinz Heinrich would be a better choice with it's sec build, torps, hydro and decent speed... or maybe the more tanky Gneise but the lack of hydro and fewer guns might be a bit off the pace for ranked. Maybe the Algerie as a strong cruiser option with its hydro, reload boast, engine boost and decent gun range might be a pretty strong combination for ranked when tackling sectors and hunting DD's etc. What are you guys thinking of rolling with(apart from OP premium ships))

Is that because of the T11 influence in regards you'd probably purchase a T8 steel ship if the option was there or simply a case of you don't see anything you like?

Well so long as they're offering something a little bit different to the other BB's and are sensibly balanced then why not. Every class, nation and lines seems to either already have or to soon get a second branch with this never ending flow of "Early access!!". Such a branch is probably already in the works. At least you're posting is constructive and not just some whine thread.

Yes but the above set of attributes you've only just now decided to mention kinda contradicts your first post which is what I was commenting on in which you outlined this Not high speed; A large number of main caliber guns 406-mm; Poor accuracy, which is compensated by a large number of guns; Not high firing range; Not high AP penitration, because guns are represented by developments after the WWI(At T10 BB presented guns from Vladivostok, AP penitration only Mecklenburg and Bourgogne are worse); Bad ballistics; I'm not sure what tier ship you're referencing here but regardless, 1.7 sigma is not "Poor accuracy" unless dispersion is horrible. 29knts is not "Not high speed" for a BB. 21km gun range is pretty good tbh and since you made reference to this as a post WW1 era ship and no mention of pre or post WW2 can therefore only assume that's some sort of T5 or T6 ship which makes it as very contradictory reading to what you say this ship should have or have not. You also make reference to the Vermont line and those are only about 20kt ships at around those tiers. Perhaps your wording is just a little misleading so I'm happy to accept that you meant something else.

Well if the ship is so slow it never actually reaches most targets on time made worse by having a short gun range plus when it does finally get into a position to shoot at something most all shells miss and those shells that land have crappy penetration. Yup, sounds awful.

And....... this above list of utterly terrible "attributes" is a fun how?

Do you have any other options? They both seem to perform decent enough in battles but the Napoli seems to be played more aggressive brand when I encounter them via it's shorter range mains and smokes whereas the Moskva tends to be only spotted as it's reversing behind an island just after it's put a nasty salvo into the side of someone or as it slips behind an island after doing something similar from the opposite flank thanks to it's superior gun range and shell velocity. That said I'm happier to have either of these on my team instead of a Yoshino since I know that at least a Napoli player kinda has no choice but to bring his ship in close to the action where he can pop a smoke, farm some ships and apply pressure around a cap. The Moskva can at the very least cause problems if it only uses it's very impressive 12km radar which has at least 30 seconds of activation time which is more than enough time to cause some problems and allow teammates to catch a DD or clear a cap along with other situations where that radar could prove vital battle winning intel. Since I'm not a very experienced and conservative sort of cruiser player when it comes to PvP modes I'd sadly play it safe and go for the Moskva if I had to choose. I'd just find it hard to argue with having a big long lasting radar, also hydro, long range faster reloading guns with about the same salvo as the Napoli... I just wouldn't have the experience or confidence yet to start getting all ballsy and aggressive around a cap with a cruiser which a Napoli seems to do better though I would like those long range torps on the Napoli!

That sounds like the IJN BB's. They lean towards long range accuracy better than most and are faster than your average BB. They tend to have bigger than average guns and usually hold good sustained shell velocity and penetration over long distances plus a good meaty salvo that makes most ships feel a bit sad after they properly eat it. The downside is their armor usually isn't amazing and their AA is usually poor but when you consider the fact that they tend to be play from deep and behind all your teammates most the time, this means that the turtleback style armor usually works to stop those enemy shells which have lost their penetration over that distance... don't be reckless though! Also, CV's are most likely to get attracted to attacking one of the plethora of teammates between you and him so that AA isn't as big of a liability as you might think plus most IJN BB's have fighter consumables. The US BB's of T5-7 are slow as F tbh which means you're married to a flank, can't retreat if needs be and are a rather easy to hit target to farm. This doesn't change until T8 where the branch splits into the North Carolina which is a fine ship but has pitifully slow shells making the "on paper" excellent sigma accuracy and long range guns a bit misleading since you can't really hit anything further than 18-20km reliably. The German BB's and BC's are a mix of usually good speed, reasonable accuracy and reasonably good gun range. The BBs are a bit slower but usually have longer gun range and better sigma along with better armor and AA while the BC line are a bit faster with shorter gun range that are less accurate, have weaker armor but access to torpedoes which the BB's don't have other than the Gneisenau which is a bit of a stand alone type of BB in that line with just 6 mains and torps and no hydro. Which is better? They tend to switch over and back between tiers and might ultimately depend on a players playstyle and preference. They're decent ships.

Ya and maybe you should try it and surprise yourself too while you're at it. According to your account you've never played this ship and haven't played anything other than cruisers. Nice story though.

Ya I've made the decision to stay in Bronze for the T5 MM. Bailed on Silver qualification apart from a few battles mainly to test various ships with different setups and commander skills, nothing more. Once I found a few ships I enjoyed playing and got used to all the other ships of T5, my opinion switched from finding T5 annoying to actually enjoying it more and more as the finish line approached. It's all about the same tier MM I guess. T5 turned out to be pretty good when not getting bashed about by T6 and T7 ships along with avoiding subs, cv's etc. So not surprising really. So far as the lower amounts of Steel and Doubloons go, I can get over it. When I saw that Gold League included T11 ships I'd already decided that I would purposefully go no further than Silver so I think all I miss out on is 200 Steel and 200 Doubloons with each Sprint? Ya I can get over that plus it seems to easier to get the Bronze League rewards too so less drama and lower blood pressure. All good.

Hi guys, as title. So, I just picked up the Des Moines, had a quick Co-op battle to get a feel for how it goes about it's business, really really nice ship. What I've done is bought a Radar Mod for slot 2. and picked Consumable Enhancements for 2 point Commander Skill option making the Radar Sweep for a pretty trollish 46.2 seconds. Fine. But is that enough? What equipment would you Des Moines pros suggest for slot 4, 5 and 6? My guess would be Concealment and the Reload mod but what about the notion of a Consumable Mod and Firing Range mod?(I just happened to have a spare firing range mod so popped in there instead of nothing). Also, the 4th slot. Again, I just happened to have a Damage Control Mod so popped that in there but what would normally go there for most benefit? Also, what's the priority commander skills with this one? I only have a now 12 skill points commander(Optimus Prime for extra kewl)). Ya, that's a pretty lowly commander but hey let's roll with it. So, should I invest in a 1-2 point skill next or wait and grind either a 3 or 4 point skill next? Thanks in advance.

The link to reset is at the bottom of this webpage. https://worldofwarships.eu/en/news/game-guides/submarine-guide/

I picked up the "free" container for freeXP under the notion that % chances favored winning more freeXP but unfortunately this happened.... Well, to answer the OP's questions, I the factor which will dictate how I use these sub tokens will be which option is the most beneficial and hopefully you guys can work that out for me/others. What do I mean? Well, maybe it makes more economic sense to get the subs with the tokens and then sell the subs for credits instead of just using the tokens to buy credits. What do you guys think of that idea? Another thing. I haven't bothered with that T8 Salmon-sub yet BUT, I'll probably keep it for a couple of reasons along with any other sub I win or unlock via normal gameplay or ranked etc. 1. As outlined by a player above, getting the T10 sub will or at least should translate into getting a free SC. 2. Personally speaking I don't mind the concept of having subs in this game so long as they are implemented into modes that best suit them which imho is not the current random battles or ranked battles style offerings. As mentioned. if they were included included in Ops and if perhaps WG add more sub orientated PvE modes or dramatically change the direction they've taken with them. Now, how those modes or inclusions can be implemented in a way that WG make meaningful amounts of money from is beyond me and something they need to get thinking about.

Same. I just needed to adjust to ships I've not played or faced much of. Once I found a couple of ships I enjoyed playing, understood the various ships of T5 better and improved with battles, it was actually ok towards the finish.

You could be onto something there. Perhaps staying in Bronze league and just periodically farming all the goodies whenever a new sprint kicks off is overall the most fun way to go about it. Ok, there's less steel and doubloons to be had but if a player see's the Bronze league through to completion including obtaining the final reward(the one with the container) then that's not too far off the steel and doubloons obtained through Silver and Gold league. What's more, as you guys either pointed out or eluded too, T5 is actually more balanced and less corrupted by pay2win premiums plus you won't have to work as hard or suffer as many lost star ball kickers and insults to achieve the haul of steel and doubloons. No radar ships, no CV's... ya, about as "honest" as a random ship vs ship mode can be really.

The Exeter was actually my second go-to T5 for Bronze this season. It floats with hydro, repair parties and fighters which is a lot of useful tools for contesting caps, offsetting damage and avoiding torps along with exposing enemy DD's that thought they could pop smoke to save themselves plus the fighters are useful for peaking over little islands and exposing ships at the other side which is beneficial for teammates in other locations with perhaps better angles or simply deterring those spotted enemy ships from trying a more aggressive play. The big guns inflict a big salvo's strike on DD's and cruisers along with possessing 8km torps that hit hard and reload reasonably quickly. Concealment is good, speed is ok. Ya, I enjoyed playing the Exeter. Personally I felt it was a stronger package than the Furutaka which fell short on the consumables, lacking the often crucial repair party plus has inferior concealment which can often translate into the old "First spotted = first shot" scenario. Still, as I played more and more of these T5 battles, the ship I enjoyed the most, regardless of it's less than impressive firepower and ended up playing almost exclusively unless I happened to die before the battle was over, was the T-22. I tried the Minekaze and a few other boats but tbh the T-22 just became a very reliable and comfortable DD to play thanks mainly to it's hydro which in a ranked battle type of scrap, is just very useful when contesting caps and instills a level of confidence the non-hydro DD's just don't offer. Obviously it's not just about the hydro and offers pretty strong concealment which I think only really get's bested by IJN DD's but not much else. The concealment deficit isn't much either and usually the IJN DD gets spotted very soon after as I about turn, just enough to say hello with a gun salvo before popping smoke and hydro and torps which can often be enough to scare that IJN DD out of the cap with the hydro allowing me to evade any counter-torp effort... usually!(I've got a lot better at judging torps over the course of Bronze league)) Well, that's done now, onto to quali and T7 ships.

All I got from the code was a run of bad teams.