The Sims in WoWS? My experience so far...

[69thBuLLeT]

I do think I was a bit quick to make my initial comment. I played the Sims yesterday, and this thing is fun. It's all about the guns with torps being a welcome bonus.

[H_E_R_T_Z]

Then again... that's an occurring theme with destroyers to some extent... you can fire your entire load on 1 BB and not kill it, and the next game you get 3 hits on the same type of ship and it's dead from full HP. RNG ftw

 

 

I would say that's an occurring theme with all the damage system mate...I don't even know what ammo to use on what kind of ships anymore (The CV being the notable exception, almost always HE for those

),  lol...Too RNG dependent at the moment. I think it will be tweaked though, there is still time

[tombe0]

Just forget the fact that it has torpedoes, those are for snapshots versus opportunity targets. Sims is freakishly mobile and agile, abuse the crap out of the insane range and firerate your guns have. Even cruisers have hard time to track you when you are constantly maneuvering at ~10 - 12km out.

 

Sure it's a DD hull so no armor to speak of, so if you take a hit, it'll hurt.

[Blue_Bug]

I really like the Sims. It is just fitting my playstyle. However it is the most expensive of the three ships, it is in my opinion (considering my play style) the only ship that is worth the money.

[ot0_m0t0]

Huh good to hear you are also having problems with it. You can check my

of it and yes, I have the similar conclusions. Its kinda bad as a premium ship. Still need to work out the way to play it

effectively.

 

[Shepbur]

You lot are all playing the sims completely different to me XD I pretty much ignore her guns and only use her torpedoes (inefficient, but i tend to get distracted on a charge). It's pretty much a "balls to the wall charge, derp then run away crying" sort of ship to me It's manoeuvrability and speed makes it easy to get from 7km-3km within a BB's reload time even in open water, with it's ability to do a crash-stop in smoke allowing you to save yourself if things turn a little sour.

Of course those tactics run alongside some pretty major risks... those being a good 1/3rd of your games will end with you having done 0 damage and dying straight away... but it's worth it when you get the decent game and kill 2 BBs from full health

 

And to those who keep saying that the Sims gives you a good idea of how US DD's play out... It's true to some extent, however it's probably at the extreme limit of the US tactics, and pretty much no other US DD can get away with the mistakes you can afford to make in the Sims... while the Sims can't get away with half the mistakes you can get away with in the other DDs!

[H_E_R_T_Z]

So basicly you have to pull a Samar...and yes I find it nice for that

[Sgt_Bones]

Watch The Mighty Jingles' Review of the USS Sims on YouTube, he makes some very interesting notes about how to use it.

 

[mtm78]

Which is surprising since he played only one game in them prior to making the video, so even though I am using it in the way he advised, well just look at my average damage versus Shepbur's average damage 

 

[Shepbur]

Which is surprising since he played only one game in them prior to making the video, so even though I am using it in the way he advised, well just look at my average damage versus Shepbur's average damage 

 

I wouldn't worry about comparing your average damage to mine too much at the moment. I've practically lived in US destroyers since the first beta weekend(Oh, and when i first started playing i played in a T2 US DD against T3 ships for a week before changing class ). Jingles gave a reasonable set of tactics to use with the Sims, and it's a nice place for you to start learning. The only bit i really disagree with is ignoring the torpedoes, i mean, if they're able to completely 1shot a ship, why not use them?

 Also... other bits which i slightly disagree with, but don't effect the ships gameplay itself is;

• It's not the best destroyer-killer in the game, that'l be the Mahan or Fletcher.
• No other ship in the game can turn its guns as fast as the Sims - It has exactly the same guns as the Benson... + the fletcher isn't all that slow and neither are the front turrets of the Mahan.
• The Sims gives a perfect representation of US DD gameplay - it's not bad... but it's very extreme compared to the rest of the line nowadays.

 

If you read through my destroyer guide in the newcomers section HERE, then you should have a pretty good idea as to how to use your destroyers, and you'll probably get a pretty clear insight on how i play (and how to counter me ). The only bit you need to get into the hang of is positioning in maps, and learning when to attack, and when to grab your baguette and leg it. That will pretty much only come from experience, and it's ever so slightly annoying trying to write in words how to judge your attacks so i can't do much short of say "only attack when you know you have a chance of killing them AND surviving". How much of a chance? I don't really know... 20% chance to survive it is normally pretty good odds! Although it's also really fun to get yourself into situations with 0% chance to survive! Don't worry about dealing damage, don't worry about dying - you're a destroyer, you're probably going to die by the end of the game anyway, just throw yourself into the craziest situations that the game gives you and enjoy it. Sooner or later you'll get better and as you do get better, the class with become more fun

 

If you still want help and guidance on how to play the US DD's, i'm normally hanging about on the official teamspeak most afternoons/evenings and i'll be happy to jump into a division with you for a fair few games. I can't promise you'll learn alot from it, and i can't promise i'll actually play at all sensibly or well... but there's always the risk that i might do something intelligent that you can learn from XD

[Rilohn]

The Sims is a great ship, I am loving it atm.

 

It is great with those guns, I can start engagements at virtually 13km with skills and upgrades and the RoF really hurts over time.  But definitely don't ignore the torpedos, switching between the two situationally really works in this DD despite the short range of those torps. 

[mtm78]

 

I wouldn't worry about comparing your average damage to mine too much at the moment. I've practically lived in US destroyers since the first beta weekend(Oh, and when i first started playing i played in a T2 US DD against T3 ships for a week before changing class ). Jingles gave a reasonable set of tactics to use with the Sims, and it's a nice place for you to start learning. The only bit i really disagree with is ignoring the torpedoes, i mean, if they're able to completely 1shot a ship, why not use them?

 Also... other bits which i slightly disagree with, but don't effect the ships gameplay itself is;

• It's not the best destroyer-killer in the game, that'l be the Mahan or Fletcher.
• No other ship in the game can turn its guns as fast as the Sims - It has exactly the same guns as the Benson... + the fletcher isn't all that slow and neither are the front turrets of the Mahan.
• The Sims gives a perfect representation of US DD gameplay - it's not bad... but it's very extreme compared to the rest of the line nowadays.

 

If you read through my destroyer guide in the newcomers section HERE, then you should have a pretty good idea as to how to use your destroyers, and you'll probably get a pretty clear insight on how i play (and how to counter me ). The only bit you need to get into the hang of is positioning in maps, and learning when to attack, and when to grab your baguette and leg it. That will pretty much only come from experience, and it's ever so slightly annoying trying to write in words how to judge your attacks so i can't do much short of say "only attack when you know you have a chance of killing them AND surviving". How much of a chance? I don't really know... 20% chance to survive it is normally pretty good odds! Although it's also really fun to get yourself into situations with 0% chance to survive! Don't worry about dealing damage, don't worry about dying - you're a destroyer, you're probably going to die by the end of the game anyway, just throw yourself into the craziest situations that the game gives you and enjoy it. Sooner or later you'll get better and as you do get better, the class with become more fun

 

If you still want help and guidance on how to play the US DD's, i'm normally hanging about on the official teamspeak most afternoons/evenings and i'll be happy to jump into a division with you for a fair few games. I can't promise you'll learn alot from it, and i can't promise i'll actually play at all sensibly or well... but there's always the risk that i might do something intelligent that you can learn from XD

 

I never been on the official ts server, but I would gladly take you up on the offer so I'll be jumping on it later tonight. Ow and btw, even while being a scrub while playing it, it's still the most fun ship I got atm due to that speed, turn radius and gun range. Unlocking the situational awareness perk made it even more fun!

[Battledragon]

As far as I can see the video does not recomend doing torpedo runs on battleships in US destroyers.  TBH I think that's right, as historically you did not send a single destroyer against a battleship, but rather a pack of them so it would have to split its fire.  HE harassing fire from max range to screw up the BB's secondary and AA systems sounds a much more effective, and realistic use of a Sims Vs a battleship to me.

[Shepbur]

As far as I can see the video does not recomend doing torpedo runs on battleships in US destroyers.  TBH I think that's right, as historically you did not send a single destroyer against a battleship, but rather a pack of them so it would have to split its fire.  HE harassing fire from max range to screw up the BB's secondary and AA systems sounds a much more effective, and realistic use of a Sims Vs a battleship to me.

 

It's a good thing that this isn't a realistic game then isn't it! Else i'd be screwed the second i got within 10km of a BB's guns

[H_E_R_T_Z]

As far as I can see the video does not recomend doing torpedo runs on battleships in US destroyers.  TBH I think that's right, as historically you did not send a single destroyer against a battleship, but rather a pack of them so it would have to split its fire.  HE harassing fire from max range to screw up the BB's secondary and AA systems sounds a much more effective, and realistic use of a Sims Vs a battleship to me.

 

Funny...you are right , but history says otherwise...I wonder if Yamato and Heermann knew about your clear statement at Samar... 1 DD  turned  a 72k tons BB back..like a chicken..and they lost the battle because of it...

[__Helmut_Kohl__]

Hey, 

Still new, but I noticed that with

 

12.9 km Firing Range 

and

7.6 km Surface Detectability Range

 

It should be possible to unload that high ROF without being spotted, as long as you keep away from enemy ships and planes who could spot you. 

 

Or am I not seeing something? 

 

[Eviscerador]

Hey, 

Still new, but I noticed that with

 

12.9 km Firing Range 

and

7.6 km Surface Detectability Range

 

It should be possible to unload that high ROF without being spotted, as long as you keep away from enemy ships and planes who could spot you. 

 

Or am I not seeing something? 

 

When you fire your detectability skyrockets. But you can use a smoke screen, and lay suppressing fire from behind it if anyone else is doing the spotting.

 

Concerning the Sims. I don't have it, but I have the Farragut and the Mahan, which are very similar, and I will give you some tips that I think will improve your point of view about this lovely little ship.

 

The Sims (as the Mahan) is a gunboat. The torpedoes are nice and such, but your main armament are the guns. You have really good aiming time, really good reload time, and pretty nice rank. Use them.

 

Of course you are not going to win a gunnery duel with a full health battleship, but if she is firing at another target... well, you can add damage quickly, since it is not hard doing 1000 dmg per salvo with HE, causing fires, breaking turrets and that is one each 4 seconds...

 

Concerning the torpedoes, the 5.5 km is not that high, but you don't have to wait for the enemy ship to be that close. You have to consider that the enemy ship is moving, and if she is comming towards you, you can fire your torps even a 7 or even 8 km and still hit her in range, because he is moving towards you. It is great to finish BB on scope mode, since they are usually tunnelvisioning.

 

Also, the 4 torp spread is great for close DD combat, just open wide the spread and cover a 90º with two spreads to counter the evasive maneuvers. With a bit of luck, the enemy DD will eat at least one torp, and you will be able to finish it with guns.

 

Think about the US DD like they were autoloaders in WoT. Start sniping and firing from afar, harass, and when the game is advancing and developing, look for flankings and finish wounded cruisers or BB with the torpedoes.

 

Also, great use of smoke for ambushes, or just "area denial" is a must in this DD.

 

I really love the american DD, the Japanese are bland in comparision. All you can do is fire torpedoes while out of view and pray that the enemy is bad enough to sail in a straight line for 1 minute.

[mtm78]

The sims can fire at max range without a smoke screen and not get detected, from my own personal observations. 

[__Helmut_Kohl__]

Also, great use of smoke for ambushes, or just "area denial" is a must in this DD.

 

 

Do you just mean the escape, or setting up an ambush? 

Because even though smoke prevents spotting, everyone will know that someone is there. How would you do it? 

[Blue_Bug]

 

Do you just mean the escape, or setting up an ambush? 

Because even though smoke prevents spotting, everyone will know that someone is there. How would you do it? 

And because of the smoke, ships will not come close. As in "area denial" If they come close, they make them self a target.

 

Also great as in release smoke=> go in a different direction to ambush  Because people will think your DD will be in the smoke and don't expect you in another place. Unfortunately this will not increase your survival chanche because you don't have any smoke left to escape after the attack. 

[__Helmut_Kohl__]

Still getting to know it, but the Sims seems to be like a light tank with autoloader in WoT. 

Speed and Stealth make it possible to pop up behind a close Island and throw out fast torpedos/gunfire, while already retreating in Smoke. 

 

The trick is to get close enough. For that it has its maneuverability. 

[RapscallionDK]

I like the guns, my god they turn so fast, but as any other US destroyer, guns can only do so much and once i am spotted, its really difficult to get those torps off.

 

I feel that even though the Japs have less able gunnery, they have thx to the torp range, much better ways of helping the team to victory.

 

Ive had much more success on the Russian destroyer.

[__Helmut_Kohl__]

Torps fired at long range have a low chance to hit anyway. 

Firing fast torpedos at short range is much better. 

And the Sims does have good torp-salvos at close range. 

 

It is so mobile, using it at distance would be a shame. 

Pop up from cover, hit hard, get away. 

[nicromutan]

I think the sims is realy good the mobility can help you escape from trouble and those guns are always pointed at the enemy cause they turn so fast.

[MassiveDYT]

had my greatest games in USS Sims to be honest. The ship feels exactly like Type 59 , in that way that the kit for its tier is amazing Most people jump on SIMS and play it as they would theyr jap destroyers, and fail miserably, because tahts not what its meant to do. Its Incredibly mobile, incredibly stealthy, you can molest BBs with it and even duke it out with cruiser if you are good with using mouse 2 mode to spam shots and use full concentration to maneuver and dodge shots. Torpedos are fast and powerful, plagued a bit by the american thing of being 5km, but honestly thats all you need in sims, its so fast and stealthy that you will be able to sneak up to people and deploy torpedos in their face.

 

Altho that being said, Sims needs to be played very conservatively. In the begging of the game cap / scout / mollest BB's with long range weapons, mid game try for ambushes and fire exchanges, late game hunt and finish wounded enemies.

 

I had multiple games so far where i came out with 750k credits , multiple kills, multiple torpedo hits, over all - amazing fun and amazingly powerful ship if used well.

 

Bad Sims pilots will rush and die in few seconds just liek people who drive lights in WOT, and good Sims players - they are death itself