Albemarle - worst ship in the game? advice needed.

[GulvkluderGuld]

Pardon the frustration quotient, but can anyone make this useless uptiered piece of junk floating citadel DO ANYTHING?

I've had no issues with other heavy cruiser lines, but RN CAs just seem tailer made to make me rip my hair out. Proof below:

 

They seem to have NO way to impact the game. At all. At least compared to any other tier 8 CA.

I've tried ambushing close range with AP, but at 10 km the hard boiled eggs will not even citadel a shchors giving broadside. The only ship Albemarle seem able to citadel are itself and other RN CAs (ironically enough).

I've tried supporting DDs, but the ship lacks the dpm to matter.

I've tried kiting in the open, but even with spotter plane 16 km away, any trades are losing trades due to bad maneuverability and being insanely squishy.

I've tried hiding behind islands to spam, but then friendly DD dies or the team turns around and camps the B/I line and I'm overextended. Yet staying with the team means being out of range to shoot anything.

I've even tried staying behind the BBs, but they promptly race to get behind me again, and so the game turns into a coward's minigame.

 

The ship has two problems:

- It has low dpm and bad arcs, requiring it to get to close / mid range to reliably hit non-BB targets.

- It's got a bigger citadel than old-style Pensacola and will explode if any BB gets closer than 15 km away and sends even a few shells it's way.

Result: If one wants to land shots, one has to get to medium range which promptly will cause the ship to explode unless already winning the game. If one is losing, one can choose to not be in range or get in range to promptly explode.

 

By comparison, Mogami is as tanky as a Kremlin.

 

Can someone having succes in this tub tell me if they use HE or AP, which playstyle they use and any other advice, please?

Also, is Drake and Goliath any different

 

 

[lafeel]

As usual the ever helpfull @Adm_Ballsey aka Carbine Carlito has a video on this that might help.

 

 Here, have a link

[Major_Damage225]

Wasnt the Albany unanimously declared the worst ship in wows? 

Since the begining. 

[lafeel]

3 minutes ago, Major_Damage225 said:

Wasnt the Albany unanimously declared the worst ship in wows? 

Since the begining. 

Albemarle not Albany. The tier 8 RN heavy cruiser.

[Major_Damage225]

2 minutes ago, lafeel said:

Albemarle not Albany. The tier 8 RN heavy cruiser.

I know what OP ment, i just wanted to say it cannot be the worst ship in the game as per OP's thread title, it cannot be, Albany has that honnor since the begining to my knowledge 

[Peffers]

Albany IS worse, but nowadays the Albemarle best play style is to fxp as intended by WG, preferably spending dubs.

 

I still have one to remind of what truly bad balans is.

[lafeel]

3 minutes ago, Major_Damage225 said:

I know what OP ment, i just wanted to say it cannot be the worst ship in the game as per OP's thread title, it cannot be, Albany has that honnor since the begining to my knowledge 

Carry on then. Although I have always kind of liked the Albany personally.

[invicta2012]

I thought it was the Varyag? 

[lafeel]

7 minutes ago, invicta2012 said:

I thought it was the Varyag? 

Varyag wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for that gun arrangement..

[loppantorkel]

I sort of like the ship, at least compared to other tier 8s like Amalfi, but I wouldn't claim it's a strong ship for its tier. More enjoyable than Surrey, but I have higher hopes for Drake and Goliath. Can't say I've got a good tactic. I try to push in but have some access to cover and to disengage, but in the end, I agree, it takes heavy damage at every opportunity.

[Wizard27_1979]

49 minutes ago, GulvkluderGuld said:

Can someone having succes in this tub tell me if they use HE or AP, which playstyle they use and any other advice, please?

Also, is Drake and Goliath any different

Hmm - it's 2nd best in WR and 2nd-best in average-damage: https://wows-numbers.com/ship/4076779472,Albemarle/

So I'm quite sure you´re too aggressive and should be more patient to take shots. 

[AndyHill]

Albermarlerin is by far my favorite target in the game. 

[Chaos_Umbra]

Basically play it like you would a Neptune without a smokescreen, in otherwords you don't want any BB AP to even hit you cause you will get citadel'd.

 

Mind you the ship was technically buffed last patch cause now it is possible to bounce 380mm BB AP so that is at least something...

[Bear__Necessities]

They all have the same play style, kite and burn. I don't really have an in depth toolkit for advice. They are just standard heavy cruisers. None of the line so far are even close to what I would call bad.

[GulvkluderGuld]

1 hour ago, Peffers said:

Albany IS worse, but nowadays the Albemarle best play style is to fxp as intended by WG, preferably spending dubs.

Only 20k short of Drake by now and my FXP is earmaked for FXP ships. Besides I'm wondering Drake and Goliath is more of the same torture.

 

1 hour ago, Wizard27_1979 said:

Hmm - it's 2nd best in WR and 2nd-best in average-damage: https://wows-numbers.com/ship/4076779472,Albemarle/

So I'm quite sure you´re too aggressive and should be more patient to take shots. 

Dont put too much stock in early stats. I refuse to believe those numbers holds up 6 months from now. 

 

Anyhow thank for the advice. I'm generally one of the last 3-4 ships to go down. Maybe I need more patience taking shots, but what shots? I dont use AP very often since it is unreliable.

 

1 hour ago, loppantorkel said:

I sort of like the ship, at least compared to other tier 8s like Amalfi, but I wouldn't claim it's a strong ship for its tier. 

Amalfi isn't good for her tier, but it was much, much tankier and able to make plays than Albermarle.

 

43 minutes ago, Bear__Necessities said:

They all have the same play style, kite and burn. I don't really have an in depth toolkit for advice. They are just standard heavy cruisers. None of the line so far are even close to what I would call bad.

 

Then why can I make the other CAs work, but not this line? It's not just the Albermarle, its also the preceding ships.

They have zero carry potential compared to something like an IJN CA. They dont kite and burn, because they blow up the instant they get spotted. Or they Burn down. Even a gunboat DD can easily farm them.

[Bear__Necessities]

10 minutes ago, GulvkluderGuld said:

53 minutes ago, Bear__Necessities said:

They all have the same play style, kite and burn. I don't really have an in depth toolkit for advice. They are just standard heavy cruisers. None of the line so far are even close to what I would call bad.

 

Then why can I make the other CAs work, but not this line? It's not just the Albermarle, its also the preceding ships.

They have zero carry potential compared to something like an IJN CA. They dont kite and burn, because they blow up the instant they get spotted. Or they Burn down. Even a gunboat DD can easily farm them.

Can't say I've had any issues with the T6, 7 or 8. They don't blow up easily, they are quite good with survivability, very solid AP and do good amounts od HE and fire damage. Some ships/lines just don't suit people. 

[lafeel]

32 minutes ago, Bear__Necessities said:

Some ships/lines just don't suit people. 

This. Personally I like two out of the three I have played so far (Devon+Chessie), while the third (Hawkins) can die in a fire..

[Zemeritt]

Why is the Albemarle always considered so bad?

Can't say I played her much different then the Surrey a tier prior

[aboomination]

Shape of her citadel is crap, she catches citadel pens via that step from weird angles.

Same issue on the t10, but less problematic.

[MadBadDave]

I’m actually warming to the glass ship that is awful mess, crap name; crap bote, in comparison to the likes of Hipper and Eugen it’s a joke, as soon as a BB looks at you your cacking your pants.   Play style is simple;avoid any and all BB’s, including T6, and do not show any side to cruisers and DD’s.    It “Looks” nice, Baltimore’ish.

[pra3y]

I play it with the kite and burn style, using its good stealth and cover to engage and disengage from fights. The line plays like a Zao or UK high tier BB. You shoot, disappear and shoot again or just disappear if there is too much attention on you.

 

I also have IFA, and combined with angling and speed trottling I have never been one shot in this ship so far and usually tank about at least a million plus damage before dying.

 

Only gripe i have is that its fire starting potential feels way lower than the Surrey before. Oh yah i alternate between AP and HE. If there is a broadside cruiser I'll usually dump my AP on it. No problem aiming or hitting targets usually.

[KillStealBoss]

4 hours ago, Peffers said:

Albany IS worse, but nowadays the Albemarle best play style is to fxp as intended by WG, preferably spending dubs.

 

I still have one to remind of what truly bad balans is.

And imagine buying the premium version - Cheshire...

[lossi_2018]

4 hours ago, loppantorkel said:

I sort of like the ship, at least compared to other tier 8s like Amalfi, but I wouldn't claim it's a strong ship for its tier. More enjoyable than Surrey, but I have higher hopes for Drake and Goliath. Can't say I've got a good tactic. I try to push in but have some access to cover and to disengage, but in the end, I agree, it takes heavy damage at every opportunity.

Wait, Amalfi is bad? :O

 

I dream of returning to game to play it that's a bummer

[MadBadDave]

1 hour ago, pra3y said:

I have never been one shot in this ship so far

How many times has one shot taken off half your HP 😉.

 

Its not as tanky (for its tier) as Surrey nor is it as good as Surrey for HE spamming, that said Yorck’s a better fire starter than Hipper/Eugen.

 

Torp range and AA are ok on awful mess but seriously it needs a major buff.

[Runegrem]

7 hours ago, lafeel said:

Varyag wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for that gun arrangement..

Isn't the Varyag almost exactly like the Aurora, except slightly better? At least it does over 20 knots. The Aurora still has that superiour turn radius though, only beaten by the previously mentioned Albany (and the T1 ships, but they don't count).