What Commander Build on PEF?

[Viravandrel]

I finally had time to get our prize and I must say I like it a lot. The problem is I'm not really sure what Commander build to use, so far I used secondaries captain from Bismarck (Manual Secondaries and AFT) but Im not sure if Eitel is tough enough to go brawl. Maybe i should use standard Fire Prevention + Conceal BB captain? Not enough battles to test properly and clock is ticking on missions, what build do you guys use?

[Tyrendian89]

it's T6. So forget about Secondary Build being any good.

[Major_Damage225]

I'm using my general reserve (dont know what to do with) skipper on PEF atm. 

PM, DCCA, HA, EM, AR, BS, AFT, CE. 

Works ok for ops. 

 

[wilkatis_LV]

Secondary build is great on it, except that you really don't want Manual Secondaries as it's below t7. If you can, get Concealment instead

 

Other than that you can just boost the survivability with a typical fire prevention build as, at least in my experience, fires actually are the biggest danger to you in most situations

[Viravandrel]

Well, I thought exactly the same, to get just aft and bft, maybe even omit concealment for fire prevent as unnecessary. The problem is i dont have a spare captain with at least lvl 14 in desirable configuration for all this so i think ill just use standard BB for now. 

 

You are right, manual secondaries suck before tier 7, useless skill

[Dehtre]

I was using manual AA instead of manual secondaries for my PEF grind, worked wonders against carriers. Although more of them know to avoid this ship now.

[jss78]

In practice I run my Bismarck manual secondaries captain -- it's far from optimal but it's a captain I have around and it's good enough.

 

If I were to do a fresh 19-pointer, I'd go for a healthy mix of AA+secondaries, concealment and tankiness:

 

Priority Target (1) -- because always

Expert Marksman (2) -- absolutely mandatory for this one

BFT or Superintendent (3) -- SI probably optimal, but it's attractive to buff both the AA and secondaries

Concealment Expert (4) -- because always

AFT (4) -- the secondaries+AA make it worth it

Preventive Maintanence (1) -- this keeps your main guns running and enables you to run Auxiliriary Armaments Mod

Fire Prevention (4) -- or possibly combination of Adrenaline Rush and another 2-pointer such as  High Alert of Jack of All Trades

 

BFT and AFT are tricky recommendations -- I'd expect lots of tuning to AA in the weeks/months following 0.8.0, and we can't really know what the return for BFT and AFT will ultimately be.

 

[BrinklyWolls]

Manual AA or CE is probably going to be more useful than manual secondaries for a dedicated captain but it's a tier 6 premium, which IMO is low enough that you can play it as a captain trainer without needing 10+ points. My Bayern captain went into the ship with 8 points (6 assigned) and got AFT for his first 4-pointer; he'll get secondaries for the next one as he'll end up in the Bismarck in due course.

[BrusilovX]

I've just put my rank 19 captain who is on the Bismark at the moment - so a secondary build.

 

I've yet to have a captain specifically trained up for a premium unless there is no silver ship line (like the Commonwealth, Pan-American or Polish ships).

[Breezewind]

I'm also using full secondary build. Brawling and tanking is fine against T6 or lower BBs, just try to avoid 1v1 (or worse) in when bottom tiered. I also try to restrict enemy firing angles to me by using island to cover my flanks when possible. Full secondary setup usually gives you an edge over your opponent when 1v1 brawling with same tier BBs. Helps with DDs too.

[asalonen]

I really feel that Manual Secondaries are wasted here. The dispersion buff is not that significant below tier 7, and in the smaller maps and shorter ranges of the mid-tier games, it's more often beneficial to have secondaries firing on both sides. In any case, the skill is definitely not worth 4 points here. 

I took Concealment Expert instead -- it helps keeping you alive a bit longer when you're up-tiered. Depending on what 0.8.0 turns out to be, possibly Manual AA will become a viable choice.

 

But other than Manual Secondaries, definitely a secondary build all the way. Otherwise you're not playing to the ship's strengths, and you really miss out on the fun. The build also gives you very strong AA in the tier.

[Panocek]

Manual AA is something this ship excel at, so I've put my Hindenburg captain on her (PT, AR, SI, CE, MAA). Kinda shame Manual Secondaries don't work, as this could be great niche for PEF for Operations and occasional Random, if I ever would want to take that ship to battle to start with.

[1MajorKoenig]

On 1/18/2019 at 1:24 AM, wilkatis_LV said:

Secondary build is great on it, except that you really don't want Manual Secondaries as it's below t7. If you can, get Concealment instead

 

Other than that you can just boost the survivability with a typical fire prevention build as, at least in my experience, fires actually are the biggest danger to you in most situations

 

Pretty much this.

 

Or you can do a hybrid 2ndary + Survivability built. AFT/BFT and fire prevention and potentially BoS.

 

Currently I am using Manual AA but the changes in AA mechanics with 0.8.0 May render this skill impotent. But as of now it works well with König, Bayern and PEF.

 

The most important skill though on PEF is Adrenaline Rush. As this skill is the only one that improves your pretty meager punch.

[Ferry_25]

I'm using my Kurry commander on PEF. Full tank build. I have stepped away from secondary build on GF when the HE spam meta spun out of control. I must admit I haven't played Kurry since then. That GTS tic (from which I'm suffering myself) "the ship is on fire" has gotten old very quickly. On PEF it's working like a charm I must add. At least PEF has gotten a bit of dixarit to challenge that tic. A bit. HE hit = fire only in 95% of the cases. So that's a HUGE buff.