RN Cruisers...just...how?

[rnat]

1 hour ago, steveraptor said:

Its incredible really, this is the only ship that 5 second after I fire, half of the enemy team stops what their doing and suddenly I get 5-6 guns pointed at me.

I got deleted so many times by BBs with seemingly rail-gun accuracy at 15km+ while stern/bow side that I thought the ship is bugged. I freaking hate JBs with passion, both as a CV player and now as Cruiser.

There are so many deadly BBs at tier IX-X that one mistake and your back at port.

Neptune and Minotaur are a massive step up in squishyness from the Edinburgh (You can verify that yourself in port by checking the armor and disabling anything but the citadel space), even more so than in fire-power.

And people are aware of that. So not only can't you get away with as much as in the Edin but as you noted ppl are more eager to shoot you as well.

That and the worse concealment means you'll have to play safer than on the Edin to preserve your HP so you can make more bold moves at the end.

So ideally you should utilize cover as much as possible. And where no cover is available your smokes.

You can play radar mino because your radar out-ranges your concealment by >1km, but it's rather risky and requires even more island-abuse and is only recommend if you know exactly what you're doing.

Whether you like playing around your squishyness and frustrating ppl trying to murder you more with every passing minute is up to your taste.

I for example find the Nep to be very fun and a strong ship, but then again i am weird.

[steveraptor]

6 hours ago, rnat said:

Neptune and Minotaur are a massive step up in squishyness from the Edinburgh (You can verify that yourself in port by checking the armor and disabling anything but the citadel space), even more so than in fire-power.

And people are aware of that. So not only can't you get away with as much as in the Edin but as you noted ppl are more eager to shoot you as well.

That and the worse concealment means you'll have to play safer than on the Edin to preserve your HP so you can make more bold moves at the end.

So ideally you should utilize cover as much as possible. And where no cover is available your smokes.

You can play radar mino because your radar out-ranges your concealment by >1km, but it's rather risky and requires even more island-abuse and is only recommend if you know exactly what you're doing.

Whether you like playing around your squishyness and frustrating ppl trying to murder you more with every passing minute is up to your taste.

I for example find the Nep to be very fun and a strong ship, but then again i am weird.

Good points.

 

Neptune, ofc, is anything but weak, that's for sure. 

I just need more time with it and adjust my mind set accordingly.

[Gebbly]

More great advice, thanks everyone. After a few nights trying everyones suggestions (all of which are proving helpful, thanks) I am finding a few things :

1. The advice about being effective at short to medium range is true. The guns are much more effective than at long range, however, the trick is trying to get into medium range of a destroyer or cruiser whilst still hiding from all the battleships.

 

2. I am getting better damage output aiming for a cruisers waterline but a battleships deckline or superstructure. I have even managed to get a few citadels on cruisers which is a new experience.

 

3.Previously If engaged with a cruiser and I won the fight if there was a battleship there I would try and chip away at the battleship to little effect. Now it seems much more effective once a cruiser is down to stop firing, go dark and leave the battleship behind. He is then left out of the fight with no-one to shoot at whilst I hunt down more destroyers or cruisers.

 

4. Getting to short/medium range meant I would often get closer to enemy destroyers but not close enough to spot them. They would then shadow me keeping me detected whilst battleships killed me.

 

5. I always knew that a cruiser should support their destroyer and the battleship should support the cruiser but a revelation was just how tightly you should support your destroyer. I have started picking a destroyer and shadowing them around. They invariably spot the enemy destroyer which I can pick off without too much difficulty. This protects the friendly destroyer, gives me some good hits on the enemy destroyer and stops that destroyer from later shadowing me. It also means I can often jump in to the destroyers smoke.

 

6. Using american destroyer tactics when it comes to torpedoes can pay off lurking behind an island before launching them as something comes round the corner. And torpedoes seem to be an important part of my arsenal that I had been using less as I wasn't close enough.

 

I have read a few opinions now about the Hawkins being a painful experience I shall prepare for another Emerald-esk trudge.

 

If anyone has any more advice please chip in I'm grateful for any thoughts at all to improve my RN CL game. And massive thanks to everyone who has already offered great advice.

[lafeel]

1 hour ago, Gebbly said:

I have read a few opinions now about the Hawkins being a painful experience I shall prepare for another Emerald-esk trudge.

 

In my humble opinion the Hawkins is actually considerably worse than the Emerald. Even worse gun angles (isn't that saying something), slower reload, only one torpedo launcher per side, and last but by no means least: No smoke.

 

Speaking of which, the best use I have found for a smoke is as instant cover for when you need to disengage, not so much to sit in to dakka. Although, obviously, if you get the oppurtinity to use your smoke that way, by all means go right ahead.

[tsounts]

Minotaur line is probably the most unforgiving after Fiji/Edinburgh for a new player.

[pissBoiler]

On 4/8/2020 at 6:39 PM, lafeel said:

Friendly warning before hand: The Hawkins is simply horrid, should be smooth sailing after that though (at the Devon myself)

 

Got the Hawkins for free (or in a drop in the RN campaign), the one with the great looking white-gold camo.

 

Worst ship I played in WoW, hands down. A mighty shame since it looks decent. 

[pissBoiler]

IMHO the Leander is a fantastic fun ship to play. Will surely keep going back to her over and over again.

 

Fantastic handling, eats destroyers for breakfast and is very good for pushing against caps but even better for a 2nd line supporter, particulary where many islands involved. 

 

 

[lafeel]

7 minutes ago, YidDogg said:

 

Got the Hawkins for free (or in a drop in the RN campaign), the one with the great looking white-gold camo.

 

Worst ship I played in WoW, hands down. A mighty shame since it looks decent. 

Devon is much better I am happy to report.

[Gebbly]

Well I went into it expecting the Hawkins to be a nightmare but I have to say so far it hasnt been too bad. If the Devonshire is like the Hawkins but better I'm looking forward to it.

The hawkins is annoyingly slow at times and you really have to predict when there will be torpedoes because there is no chance of avoiding them once you see them. Along those lines being without hydro-acoustic search is a pain. Also it took a game or 2 to get used to much slower gun reload times. No smoke is a serious drag but the tougher armour means I can try and get out of a fight by tanking rather than hiding with smoke.

Having said all that :

1. The guns have a nice punch to them. Seeing the enemies health plummet when they get a volley is great and I have even one-salvo'd a cruiser back to port. I'm definately seeing more citadels, whether thats the higher caliber guns or me changing my aiming or a combination I dont know.

2. Much tougher armour than RN light cruisers. Sometimes I get caught by surprise with a ship opening up on me but unlike all the RN light cruisers it isnt instant death on first salvo. I can bow tank a little and combine the armour with the heal and the Hawkins is a much tougher ship.

3. Although I miss the hydro-acoustic search, the enhanced AA consumable thingy is great for those pesky planes and I am now undecided if I had the choice which I would go for.

 

Lastly a double edged sword is the ammo types. I need to do more reading on why to choose each type. It was simple with the light cruisers as there was no choice and now I have something extra to think about. Do I switch to HE for that cruiser or if I do is he about to turn broadside on in which case I would have to go back to AP. Having said that the ability to do damage even whilst ships are bow on is a definite bonus.

 

I think to compare properly I need to get back into my Leander and see how she plays with what I am learning here thanks to everyones help.

[Gebbly]

Goodness me! I've just been watching DFens_666 's videos he attached to this thread. Your a beast in those RN CLs! I can see I have a looong way to go to get the hang of the RN line but its sure encouraging seeing what they can do in the right hands.

[steveraptor]

On 4/12/2020 at 6:09 PM, YidDogg said:

IMHO the Leander is a fantastic fun ship to play. Will surely keep going back to her over and over again.

 

Fantastic handling, eats destroyers for breakfast and is very good for pushing against caps but even better for a 2nd line supporter, particulary where many islands involved. 

 

 

And that amazing 9km camo with CE.

[Gebbly]

Well I have to say, despite the negative reviews, I'm having quite a bit of fun in the Hawkins. Its such a tough little ship. It may not be fast but the combination of much improved armour over the light cruiser line and the tier 5 matchmaking mean she can pretty much bow tank anything and if a cruiser is foolish enough to show a broadside and I can get the AP loaded its citadels galore :)

I realised after some looking that I can swap out the AA defence consumable for the hydroacoustic consumable. Now thats a tough choice. Taking AA defence and then finding there are no aircraft carriers is annoying but when there are aircraft carriers the AA defence chews through the planes nicely.

 

As for taking the Hawkins into co-op, she will happily go toe to toe with bot battleships...and win. (Pound away with HE and chuck in a couple of torps when close enough to guarantee 2 hits being sure to bow tank as much as possible)

 

The armour layout on the Devonshire looks quite different so I cant tell how effective it is in the higher tier matchmaking compared with Hawkins but if its as tough as the Hawkins the RN CAs are gonna be fun :)

[steveraptor]

Hawkins is very good at trolling BBs, but other than that the guns are terrible and the ship handles like a brick.

 

The upgrade from Hawkins to Devon feels the same when upgrading from Emerald to Leander.

[Maris_Piper]

2 hours ago, steveraptor said:

The upgrade from Hawkins to Devon feels the same as the on from Emerald to Leander.

So true Tier for Tier I'd say the Devonshire is the best of the Bunch at it's own level, The Cheshire is probably the worst T8 cruiser I've ever played I did read the reviews but thought no ship could be that bad oh yes it can! angle all you want.. Boom  it's T8 Emerald time again. London is worth a few ££ but be careful firing in smoke just use it to disengage if the  enemy is close, I'm looking at the Drake now but not feeling the love for either her or the Neptune tbh but that goes for a lot of T9 Speed Bumps. All of which is just my own opinion feel free to extend the finger 

[Gebbly]

I found the move from Emerald to Leander to be a huge change. Emerald was such a pain. Hawkins has been pretty good fun especially if you can catch cruisers broadsides. I'm having less luck with the Devonshire. Her armour seems less strong (comparatively) and tanking doesnt go nearly so well as it does in the Hawkins. As for the range of her guns, thats a right pain, seeing broadside targets and being out of range. Especially when they shoot at me from that same distance and I ca

do nothing in retaliation.

 

I'm persevering with the Devonshire to see if I can find the right way to captain her but so far meh.

[Ragoutrabbit]

I stopped on the Neptune the line just got progressively worse the higher tier I got.

 

Neptune I just found myself doing less damage than I'd do in a T5 CL, guns are near useless at ranges over 10-11KM and anything even DD decide to bow tank you your DPM drops to near zero.

 

Whole line takes far to much effort for next to no reward.

[triumphgt6]

RN CLs are by far my favourite line. Emerald I only played when it first came out and Free Xp'd it because it was truly dire. Leander was good and Fiji Magical. Edinburgh is just a slightly sluggish Fiji with the ability to print a new ship and stealth torps! It is also good if a bit dangerous as a radar cruiser - stealth radar - just!. The heal helps with this. Neptune used to be a great AA cruiser but less so with the CV rework. The problem is that despite its good DPM it has a very high freeboard and a citadel the size of a house. Add in the very high smoke firing penalty and you will be picked on as soon as you are spotted. Minotaur is great as lower freeboard and ridiculous guns but I am not a good enough player to make the most of it. The power creep at T9 and T10 means there are a lot of big accurate guns that can instant delete you if you make a small mistake. 

[The_Chiv]

To be fair the RN "CL"(yes it matters) is a bit of a challenge.  The shell arcs will make most engagements one of plunging fire thus you will have to learn to lead and aim properly. Landing on the deck or even super structure can do great, However if a ship turns bow in you will notice much of your shells will just bounce off with no damage. This means you need to look for opportunities to farm, unlike other smoke campers who just need to be in a range and then they turn on the flame train, the RN cl must be tactical and must wait for the right moments to rain down a thousand needles of pain. luckily you have a plethora of things to help you in this regards.

 

1. Great concealment that allows you to move around with a greater degree of safety.
2. Torps you can customize the spread in order to punish bow in pushes and or turn the enemy so your guns can get better impacts.
3. SMOKE...if I have to explain this then I think you are missing the point of the class.
4. some of the best agility and engine management in the game.

 

With that said I also have to point out that this line is a very unforgiving line interns of mistakes. Every single bb will overmatch you. One mistake is all it takes for your game to be over. So the primary concern for you at all times should be survival, not DPM. DPM is the realm of the HE cruisers, Semi ap cruisers its about support and staying alive. Yes a RN CL can do some amazing things when you get to t9 and 10, but the same rules still apply. You must engage your brain rather then your ego when playing a RN CL.

[Rooke_1704]

On 4/5/2020 at 7:32 PM, Gebbly said:

I've read various posts and watched a selection of videos but I just cant get the hang of RN cruisers. I managed to get through the pain of early tiers and things got a little better at the Leander and I am now trying to get the hang of the Fiji.

I understand the idea of trying to hide and hit from cover, I can last a fair way into battles or even all the way through. I know giving a battleship my broadside is asking for a one way ticket to port. Having said all that :

1. If I'm in a stand-off with another cruiser I can be bow on shooting at their broadside, each of my salvos will do maybe 5% damage to them. Each time they hit me I will lose about 20% of my health. The amount of damage that the Fiji puts out against cruisers and battleships compared with the amount of damage taken seems horrible.

2. Shooting at battleships seems to be pointless. Sometimes it gets to the stage in a battle where due to losses on both sides I will have to take on a battleship alone. I know that I should be aiming at the superstructure but even then its like throwing paper planes at a brick wall. Last battle I played I was shooting a battleship for quite a while over islands or dodging his shells. According to the after game report I hit him 33 times for a grand total of 9000 damage.

 

Has anyone got any advice at all about actually being able to do significant damage in a battle? I am also concerned that looking at the tech tree as I get higher up the line the remaining tier 8, 9 and 10 cruisers all have the same 152mm guns. If I can hardly do damage to battleships now how bad is it going to get trying to damage a tier 10 battleship?

 

How can I make a meaningful contribution to my team if I just cannot get the damage output?

 

I would be grateful for any advice at all about playing the RN cruiser line.

Thanks.

It took me a long time to get the hang of RN light cruisers. Its the line I started playing and at the time they were the hardest line to master, I suspect that might no longer be the case but they still take some time. Unlike most other cruisers you dont have HE to burn things down and thats what puts most people off.

 

If there is one tip I can give you that I wish i could go back in time and save myself a lot of trouble it is this.. forget your torpedos until you absolutely need them. You are a DPM monster with your guns, the torps must always be a last resort. Your primary target is going to be destroyers and other light cruisers. You have improved AP penetration angles so that helps even against angled cruisers. On heavy cruisers and battleships you want to be aiming for the deck and super structure. Dont aim for the water line you will only get bounces and shatters. 

 

Try not to smoke up in open water if you can avoid it. Find an island and strategically plant your smoke next to it in such a way that if you need to leave your smoke or when it fades you can retreat into cover quickly.

[Rooke_1704]

On 6/3/2020 at 8:13 PM, Ragoutrabbit said:

I stopped on the Neptune the line just got progressively worse the higher tier I got.

 

Neptune I just found myself doing less damage than I'd do in a T5 CL, guns are near useless at ranges over 10-11KM and anything even DD decide to bow tank you your DPM drops to near zero.

 

Whole line takes far to much effort for next to no reward.

 

Although I'll be the first to say you have to find a ship line that suits your playstyle, I'd urge you to give it another try. Even the Neptune with its unusually poor concealment (by RN standards) can deal massive amounts of damage and be a lot of fun to play if you play to its strengths.

[rimmer_the]

Get the few good ones like Fiji and try to forget the others exist. 

[Mad_Dog_Dante]

I love the UK CL line, it's my go to line for regrind getting RB points. Looking at my performance on the line, I noticed I do fine on most tiers except the Edinburgh. It's weird. Any one knows how Edinburgh differs from Fiji and Neptune that I'm not getting to explain why my (apparantly) normal handeling if these ships doesn't seem to work for the Edinburgh?

 

[Rooke_1704]

59 minutes ago, Europizza said:

I love the UK CL line, it's my go to line for regrind getting RB points. Looking at my performance on the line, I noticed I do fine on most tiers except the Edinburgh. It's weird. Any one knows how Edinburgh differs from Fiji and Neptune that I'm not getting to explain why my (apparantly) normal handeling if these ships doesn't seem to work for the Edinburgh?

 

Edinburgh is in a bad spot i think largely because of the match making. Its by no means a bad ship but it doesn't have the same MM Fiji gets and doesn't get Neptune or Minotaur main guns tops and AA

[Mad_Dog_Dante]

6 hours ago, Rooke_1704 said:

Edinburgh is in a bad spot i think largely because of the match making. Its by no means a bad ship but it doesn't have the same MM Fiji gets and doesn't get Neptune or Minotaur main guns tops and AA

I think its because whenever I am in an Edinburgh, all DD's on m,y teams die while all DD's on the enemy team tend to survive. Guess I didnt know that was one of the midules taht came with it :\