Viribus Unitis: Not garbage at all

[LiveWire___]

I feel the need to redress somewhat the mainly negative things I've been reading about this (seemingly) much-maligned ship.

 

I've had for for a little while now, and can report that, after playing 59 battles in her:

 

I have achieved a 54% WR (and rising)

I have sunk 64 warships

I have survivied 40 of the battles I've fought in

My main guns accuracy is 24% (which is about average for me)

I have caused 2,498,064 damage

But, most importantly, I HAVE SHOT DOWN 3 PLANES!!!

 

In my opinion, she is a good ship.

 

She takes an awful lot of getting used to, but, once done, she can become rather dangerous.

 

I will explain why I think this is so. Before I do, though, I believe that you MUST get Concelment Expert for her. This brings her concealment up to a frankly excellent 64, giving 11.2 Kilometre detection range. My winning streak in her really began once I got this.

 

Although she has low HP, her armour is very good. Properly angled, she is well protected.

 

Her 12 12" guns (I don't do Millimetres) are rather good. They also throw out a lot of fire, and are rather accurate. She will citadel even T7 battleships. I recently double citted a Scharnhorst at close range. Although I haven't achieved a Kraken in her yet, I have sunk 4x enemy ships a number of times. It will come.

 

She is an absolute cruiser KILLER. For some reason, cruisers tend to give VU a lot of broadside. This is fatal. Once I learned to dodge Cruiser torps, I found that there was almost nothing they could do to hurt me before I sunk them. I found myself actively looking for broadside on cruisers, planning their turns, and firing.

 

Her very fast rudder shift means she can dodge torps very well.

 

It also means that she can actually TROLL planes. I know that, nominally, people think she is CV mincemeat. She is not. I have found that, once I have successfully dodged enough plane attacks, the CV player will give up and go for easier meat.

 

As I mentioned above: her concealment is very good. So good, in fact, that on a number of occasions, I have been right in front of a friendly BB, which has been targeted (and, in some cases, sunk) right behind me. She will creep up on the enemy, fire, then go dark again.

 

For some reason, the enemy don't seem to perceive her as a threat, even when she is unmasked. Perhaps because they think she is poor. I don't know. Either way, I have not been targeted much.

 

She kites rather well. Her slow speed actually helps here. Most enemy are faster than her. They start to catch up. A quick touch on the rudder, followed by a full broadside, usually punishes them.

 

She is GREAT against DDs. Load HE. Kite. Let them chase and get cocky. Let them fire torps. Anticipate. Dodge. Then watch as they desperately scramble to get away before you unload 12 HE shells into them., Even the two rear turrets on their own will do the job.

 

All in all, I love this ship.

 

Others may struggle in her. I don't. She's currently my favourite ship.

 

EDIT: One other thing: She is a SUPPORT ship. I found that, once I had stopped trying to carry flanks on my own, or attack aggressively, my WR improved. Get behind / next to a Battleship or Cruiser, and lend support. This works beautifully.

 

 

[Captain_Newman]

I can forgive a lot to a BB if the guns work. On the Viribus, they do work, exceptionally well. I haven't played mine much, but the games I did play were great. Sure, she doesn't have AA, but show me a t5 ship that can actually defend itself from planes (as in, actually prevent drops). She can do some torp beats, though - she's slow, but she turns well. Guns, though.. just great. Lots of shiny black ribbons.

[LiveWire___]

9 minutes ago, Captain_Newman said:

I can forgive a lot to a BB if the guns work. On the Viribus, they do work, exceptionally well. I haven't played mine much, but the games I did play were great. Sure, she doesn't have AA, but show me a t5 ship that can actually defend itself from planes (as in, actually prevent drops). She can do some torp beats, though - she's slow, but she turns well. Guns, though.. just great. Lots of shiny black ribbons.

True, dat.

 

Because she is such a small ship, the shells cluster together closely, resulting in some very dense groupings. Man, even thinking about it now, I'm grinning.

 

 

[KillStealBoss]

Im also enjoying my one from Santa crate. 

[kfa]

13 minutes ago, Captain_Newman said:

I can forgive a lot to a BB if the guns work. On the Viribus, they do work, exceptionally well. I haven't played mine much, but the games I did play were great. Sure, she doesn't have AA, but show me a t5 ship that can actually defend itself from planes (as in, actually prevent drops). She can do some torp beats, though - she's slow, but she turns well. Guns, though.. just great. Lots of shiny black ribbons.

Exactly. The ship itself is garbage, every single aspect of it, the best feature being the small size if you can call it that.

BUT the guns are plentiful, accurate and hit hard, low tier cruisers explode like from the Fuso or Lyon and i consider those one of the best BBs in their tier for their firepower.

[LiveWire___]

1 minute ago, kfa said:

The ship itself is garbage, every single aspect of it, the best feature being the small size if you can call it that.

I disagree. Her armour is very good. Her rudder shift is very good. Her small size makes her a difficult target.

[HaachamaShipping]

And what of that is not achievable in other T5 BBs?

17 minutes ago, Thundercracker_3 said:

It also means that she can actually TROLL planes. I know that, nominally, people think she is CV mincemeat. She is not. I have found that, once I have successfully dodged enough plane attacks, the CV player will give up and go for easier meat.

If that is your go-to AA strategy, then that's just a sad testament to the lack of skill among the T4 Houshou tryhards.

12 minutes ago, Captain_Newman said:

I can forgive a lot to a BB if the guns work. On the Viribus, they do work, exceptionally well. I haven't played mine much, but the games I did play were great. Sure, she doesn't have AA, but show me a t5 ship that can actually defend itself from planes (as in, actually prevent drops). She can do some torp beats, though - she's slow, but she turns well. Guns, though.. just great. Lots of shiny black ribbons.

Main issue imo isn't AA, it's lack of hp. VU takes a cit (and it can eat those) and loses a third of its hp basically permanently. VU eats a Ryuujou drop and is potentially at barely over half hp. You get a Gneisenau rushing you down and you potentially are a devstrike to its torps. No other T5 BB is this level of bad. And the guns aren't exactly great enough to make up for it. Even disregarding ships like Pyotr and Giulio that beat the VU with ease, even ships like New York or König have as good if not better guns.

[LiveWire___]

3 minutes ago, Bunny_Lover_Kallen said:

And what of that is not achievable in other T5 BBs?

If that is your go-to AA strategy, then that's just a sad testament to the lack of skill among the T4 Houshou tryhards.

Main issue imo isn't AA, it's lack of hp. VU takes a cit (and it can eat those) and loses a third of its hp basically permanently. VU eats a Ryuujou drop and is potentially at barely over half hp. You get a Gneisenau rushing you down and you potentially are a devstrike to its torps. No other T5 BB is this level of bad. And the guns aren't exactly great enough to make up for it. Even disregarding ships like Pyotr and Giulio that beat the VU with ease, even ships like New York or König have as good if not better guns.

 

My go-to AA strategy cannot be any different than it is, as VU has no real AA. I am good at dodging planes. CV players give up. End of story.

 

EDIT: literally none of the things you just outlined have happened. Because of the way I play in this ship. No Gneisenau would ever get close enough to devstrike me, since I always keep my distance. I hardly ever take cit damage, because I stay at range and angle. CVs barely touch me. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been sunk by them.

 

VU is a very high skill ceiling ship. Most give up even trying before they master the above.

[HaachamaShipping]

1 minute ago, Thundercracker_3 said:

 

My go-to AA strategy cannot be any different than it is, as VU has no real AA. I am good at dodging planes. CV players give up. End of story.

Yeah, but that works against morons, as decent planes you cannot dodge. End of story.

[LiveWire___]

1 minute ago, Bunny_Lover_Kallen said:

Yeah, but that works against morons, as decent planes you cannot dodge. End of story.

No, it works so often that I mentioned it in my original post.

 

EDIT: Unless you're referring to most CV players as morons?

[LiveWire___]

5 minutes ago, Bunny_Lover_Kallen said:

New York or König have as good if not better guns

But not as many of them, nor are they as accurate, and nor do they produce such close groupings.

[Captain_Newman]

3 minutes ago, Bunny_Lover_Kallen said:

Yeah, but that works against morons, as decent planes you cannot dodge. End of story.

 

Yes, but from that it does follow that it works like, 98% of the time - and I'm probably being generous to this player base  I mean, if you run into a unicum that decides to kill you with his CV, you're going ot have a bad time regardless of the ship you're in.

[LiveWire___]

7 minutes ago, Bunny_Lover_Kallen said:

Main issue imo isn't AA, it's lack of hp

Then don't get hit too often. 

[LiveWire___]

Just now, Captain_Newman said:

 

Yes, but from that it does follow tha tit works like, 98% of the time - and I'm probably being generous to this player base 

Plus, even good CV players are only human. They won't let themselves lose damage potential very often when they can go after easier targets. 

[Captain_Newman]

Just now, Thundercracker_3 said:

Plus, even good CV players are only human.

 

Jury's still out on that one 

[HaachamaShipping]

Just now, Thundercracker_3 said:

No, it works so often that I mentioned it in my original post.

As said, there are a lot of incompetent CVs. Those were never the issue. You can dodge those in other BBs as well. BBs like Pyotr might even shred their planes. But CVs with actual competence aren't exactly going to struggle hitting a 20 knot dreadnought. I played enough CV to tell you that.

1 minute ago, Thundercracker_3 said:

But not as many of them, nor are they as accurate, and nor do they produce such close groupings.

In your experience maybe. In my experience, they work just fine.

1 minute ago, Captain_Newman said:

 

Yes, but from that it does follow tha tit works like, 98% of the time - and I'm probably being generous to this player base 

By that logic, I guess CVs in general are a non-issue and CV rework was a success, because while the skilled murder you with little issue, enough potatoes feed you plane kills?

3 minutes ago, Thundercracker_3 said:

Then don't get hit too often. 

I'll tell the enemy to please be worse at aiming then.

2 minutes ago, Thundercracker_3 said:

Plus, even good CV players are only human. They won't let themselves lose damage potential very often when they can go after easier targets. 

VU is basically free damage to good CV players though...

[LiveWire___]

Just now, Bunny_Lover_Kallen said:

As said, there are a lot of incompetent CVs. Those were never the issue. You can dodge those in other BBs as well. BBs like Pyotr might even shred their planes. But CVs with actual competence aren't exactly going to struggle hitting a 20 knot dreadnought. I played enough CV to tell you that.

In your experience maybe. In my experience, they work just fine.

By that logic, I guess CVs in general are a non-issue and CV rework was a success, because while the skilled murder you with little issue, enough potatoes feed you plane kills?

I'll tell the enemy to please be worse at aiming then.

VU is basically free damage to good CV players though...

You're arguing against my experience, which I've quoted in my original post, and which is verifiable by anybody at any time on the game itself. The arguments you are making are indeed shortcomings of this ship. 

 

As an experienced player, you will also know that many shortcomings can be overcome  / mitigated with experience. That's what I've found with this ship, which I think is a good ship.

 

If I were to continue playing in the same manner as I have been, then I have no reason to believe that the statistics I have quoted can't be maintained, or indeed improved.

[HaachamaShipping]

2 minutes ago, Thundercracker_3 said:

You're arguing against my experience, which I've quoted in my original post, and which is verifiable by anybody at any time on the game itself. The arguments you are making are indeed shortcomings of this ship. 

 

As an experienced player, you will also know that many shortcomings can be overcome  / mitigated with experience. That's what I've found with this ship, which I think is a good ship.

 

If I were to continue playing in the same manner as I have been, then I have no reason to believe that the statistics I have quoted can't be maintained, or indeed improved.

Well, good luck with that. I'm not going to invest money into a ship though that is just worse than any other T5. and as an experienced player I can tell you, yes, you can get a decent WR in the ship and some okish results. It's a BB at a tier where most cruisers are basically an easy kill for any BB and most players aren't exactly the most experienced. 

[LiveWire___]

2 minutes ago, Bunny_Lover_Kallen said:

Well, good luck with that. I'm not going to invest money into a ship though that is just worse than any other T5. and as an experienced player I can tell you, yes, you can get a decent WR in the ship and some okish results. It's a BB at a tier where most cruisers are basically an easy kill for any BB and most players aren't exactly the most experienced. 

So, you haven't even played the ship at all?

 

Why even bother arguing, then?

 

EDIT: and why, for that matter, even bother arguing against the evidence I've supplied, which shows that no, it is absolutely not the worst T5 BB. You've clearly decided that you don't like the ship, and no amount of evidence will dissuade you. Move on to the next topic, then. This post was for people on the fence about the ship.

[howardxu_23]

12 minutes ago, Bunny_Lover_Kallen said:

Well, good luck with that. I'm not going to invest money into a ship though that is just worse than any other T5. and as an experienced player I can tell you, yes, you can get a decent WR in the ship and some okish results. It's a BB at a tier where most cruisers are basically an easy kill for any BB and most players aren't exactly the most experienced. 

There is a reason why some people here do well and enjoy the crispy creame boat. Also it t5, more likely then not you are going to find less experienced people.

[LiveWire___]

10 minutes ago, howardxu_23 said:

There is a reason why some people here do well and enjoy the crispy creame boat. Also it t5, more likely then not you are going to find less experienced people.

I have seen plenty of experienced players drop down to T5.

 

I myself tend towards playing lower tiers.

 

Not to seal club, but because I hate the High tier meta. Static play. Camping. Not capping. Long range gunfire. Des Moines. Smolensk. Minotaur. Kremlin. Yamato (AKA CAMPER-to). Virtually every T10 DD. Goddamn, I hate those ships. I can perform at T10. But I choose not to play there often.

 

Oh, how I hate it.

 

I prefer my action at closer range, more frenetic, and varied. T7 and below provides this. 

[LiveWire___]

Ship                 Nation     Battles        Win rate    Avg. frags      Avg. damage     Avg. experience     Avg. planes destroyed       Kills / deaths

 

Giulio Cesare Italy         1 461 103   58.54 %     1.24                 55 828               1 327                       1.84                                        2.66

 

Viribus Unitis Europe    41 285         53.86 %     1.01                46 345                1 259                       0.12                                       1.86

 

VU second place at this tier, just behind GC

 

EDIT: Table spaced and annotated for clarity, as it wouldn't paste, for some reason. Stats speak for themselves, I think. They also show that, currently, I'm performing above average for this ship.

[Procrastes]

In my first Viribus Unitis game, I managed to corner an overextended Kongo against the map border. I kept pummeling him over and over until he keeled over and stayed down. It was protracted, painful and brutal; like watching Joe Pesci stabbing an unfortunate barfly with a pen and then kicking him to death against the counter (see below).

 

Then I spent the remainder of the battle trying and failing to get within shooting range of any of the other enemy ships, but they kept their distance. I guess they'd seen what had happened to their Kongo buddy and didn't fancy to get more of the same, and I can't say I blame them. The Viribus Unitis packs a mean punch, but god-dang it she's slow and then some!

 

 

Spoiler

 

 

[LiveWire___]

4 minutes ago, Procrastes said:

In my first Viribus Unitis game, I managed to corner an overextended Kongo against the map border. I kept pummeling him over and over until he keeled over and stayed down. It was protracted, painful and brutal; like watching Joe Pesci stabbing an unfortunate barfly with a pen and then kicking him to death against the counter (see below).

 

Then I spent the remainder of the battle trying and failing to get within shooting range of any of the other enemy ships, but they kept their distance. I guess they'd seen what had happened to their Kongo buddy and didn't fancy to get more of the same, and I can't say I blame them. The Viribus Unitis packs a mean punch, but god-dang it she's slow and then some!

 

 

  Hide contents

 

 

I've seen this post before. I smiled then, too. Kudos, sir!

[Procrastes]

7 minutes ago, Thundercracker_3 said:

I've seen this post before. I smiled then, too. Kudos, sir!

Sometimes being on the forum is kind of like a night out at the pub - old favourites get retold and improved in the retelling!