IJN premium

[Panocek]

3 minutes ago, Jvd2000 said:

I think you just missed out on the last Arpeggio event. It gave away free premium Kongo’s and one premium Myoko. They are completely the same as their silver line variants but with all the real premium bonussen. Permanent camo, premium income bonus, free captain placement, lower cost. Myoko is still to be regarded as a solid cruiser. No longer the best but still very ok. Kongo’s speed makes it a still playable ship when uptiered. Would have been a cheap solution for you.

Myoko is still gold standard to compare CAs to. Heavy broadside, considerable payload of torps, hp, speed and 25mm/32mm hull/deck... well, 25mm is no longer unique to IJN CA of midtiers, but reinforced deck doesn't hurt.

 

Kongo still have one of the punchiest guns, the best speed and range, lacking only in weight of broadside. But, compared to other T5 BBs, she have the best firing arcs, so can use all guns and remain relatively safe. She also doesn't suffer from joys of all-or-nothing armor, so her "thin" by BB standards plating can actually shrug off quite big munitions and stop HE shells.

[invicta2012]

38 minutes ago, Panocek said:

You have sample of six single 203 guns on stock Furutaka and its absolutely mediocre setup. To make viable T6 CA out of that, you'd need massive buffs.

Well, six guns can work - Exeter was originally a VI, and Huang He is much better than everyone thinks with only six guns.

 

What it needs to be Tier VI is faster traverse and a nice tight grouping on a full salvo. The good thing about 203mm guns is that they work at any Tier, and can be easily tweaked with soft stats. The torpedo tubes, too, could be quirky - I think they were fixed on the ship, but if you've ever played the Yahagi the angles are so limited they may as well be  fixed ones... three batches of two along each side of the ship with a Kamikaze reload would be fun.  More daft Japanese torpedo cruisers pls! 

 

38 minutes ago, Panocek said:

Mikuma or other Mogami class 155mm as T7 prem is my speculation, once WG gets around and remove 155mm option from Mogami "to make ship consistent with rest of the line". And then, 155mm with IFHE at tier 7 retain 32mm pen, so just like Mainz, premium solution to artificial IFHE rework problem

You may be right, but I think 155mm Moggie at T7 would be a disappointment if they reduced her HE pen and rather OP if they retained it. I would rather have Mikuma at Tier VII as a heavy torpedo cruiser - slower gun reload than Myoko but much improved torpedo angles. Then you'd have a torpedo themed line of Premiums - Yahagi, Kako, Mikuma, Atago. 

[Panocek]

7 minutes ago, invicta2012 said:

Well, six guns can work - Exeter was originally a VI, and Huang He is much better than everyone thinks with only six guns.

 

What it needs to be Tier VI is faster traverse and a nice tight grouping on a full salvo. The good thing about 203mm guns is that they work at any Tier, and can be easily tweaked with soft stats. The torpedo tubes, too, could be quirky - I think they were fixed on the ship, but if you've ever played the Yahagi the angles are so limited they may as well be  fixed ones... three batches of two along each side of the ship with a Kamikaze reload would be fun.  More daft Japanese torpedo cruisers pls! 

 

You may be right, but I think 155mm Moggie at T7 would be a disappointment if they reduced her HE pen and rather OP if they retained it. I would rather have Mikuma at Tier VII as a heavy torpedo cruiser - slower gun reload than Myoko but much improved torpedo angles. Then you'd have a torpedo themed line of Premiums - Yahagi, Kako, Mikuma, Atago. 

Furu have 6 guns too. But in very functional AB-Y layout. Stock Furutaka have only 2 barrels facing forward, half of the the upgraded hull or Aoba class and 1/3 total.

[Furius_Marius]

What about Tone?? The model is already in the game. 

[zFireWyvern]

2 hours ago, Furius_Marius said:

What about Tone?? The model is already in the game. 

Technically, yes though Tone's model was completely removed from the live client ages ago along with Kitakami. There is only one file left referencing Tone and that's the camouflage, everything else is gone.

[dommo77]

Thanks again for all your suggestions and help!

 

So I have a dilemma now...

 

DDs - can't get Kamikaze or Harekaze, the only choice considering my low skill level is Shinonome - here comes Catch 22 - I need tier VIII to get it. I do have tier VIII ships - Akizuki and Amalfi, but I'm not very good in any of them. 

CAs - here is simple choice - Atago. But tier VIII, so I think I will get Myoko first and see how it goes. Shame I missed Arpeggio event... I was hoping very much that Yahagi will be decent, but that's not the case, such a shame...

BBs - can't get Musashi :( And again skill ceiling is a problem. I will think about Ashitaka as a trainer, but I won't be able to grind campaigns at the same time... Just can't have everything :)

CVs - Kaga is so tempting :) But I don't play CVs much, so defo first premium will be Ark Royal for me (I saved Cunningham for RN CV line).

 

For now I will wait until June, when I get coupons in the armory, I don't want to spend my dubs for something I won't like. And it will give me time to get more exp.

 

There are also Japanese ships for coal and fXP. I have a long way to go there yet, but  I'll ask anyway:

Azuma vs Alaska - which is better to buy? 

What is your opinion on Yoshino?

I won't ask about Hayate, overwhelming majority of forumites says it's too meh for 2 mil. 

[Furius_Marius]

I have Azuma. Good Guns but very very very squishy. 

Alaska have good guns, radar, is tankier and almost impossible to citadel, and better AA. 

Really, the problem is always the same. Japanese premiums in general have so so so huge weak points. 

 

[Dutchy_2019]

23 hours ago, Major_Damage225 said:

IJN Bias reporting from vacation.

One ship i can happily recomend but there is a catch (was only avalable 2x)

IJN (HSF) Harekaze (T8 DD)

If it comes back, it's a amazing ship, and worth it.



 

I got it the second time around, and although I am not good at all in DD's, I second your comment: It is a whole lot of fun to play. And arguably two of my best 3 DD games ever were in Harekaze. The 122k damage I did in that one is still my Randoms damage record. 

[wot_2016_gunner]

1 ora fa, dommo77 ha scritto:

Azuma vs Alaska - which is better to buy? 

Alaska is just a monster. Yes, she's not japanese, but if you really want a FreeXP ship, nothing really competes with Alaska. Azuma is just not worth it by herself, plus, Yoshino exist, which is just better than Azuma, so there is really no reason to get Azuma. The only problem Yoshino has is that there is just better stuff to get for Coal, like Georgia and Thunderer, but with Jean Bart and Smolensk now being removed from purchase (they have been removed with Update 0.9.3) Yoshino might not be a bad pick after all; squishy as hell, but it's not a bad ship imo. 

TLDR: forget that Azuma even exists. 

 

As @Furius_Marius said, the main problem is the fact that they are Japanese premiums and they are all a bit meh, with very few good/decent ships; with some of them being the only one available (i.e. Kaga) and others being removed from purchase (i.e. Kamikaze and its clones and Musashi). 

 

1 ora fa, dommo77 ha scritto:

I don't want to spend my dubs for something I won't like.

That's very good on your part.

I tend to "select" which ship to get based on "if i want that ship", regardless of the Tier and the fact that it's premium (apart from the fact of being Tier 5 and above). Taking already into account that i might be able to get the said ship (let's say it's for coal), what i do is basically is: i first look at reviews of that ship, from multiple CCs (honestly, i mostly just listen only to Flamu's opinion), just to know if the ship is good or bad. If it's trash, then i just do like if didn't existed, because it would just be a waste of resources, most recent example being Agir. If the ship is good (and "good ship", for me ranges from decently good to straight up BS like Alaska and Georgia), then i ask myself:"Do I want that ship?" forgetting about the Tier and the fact that its a premium.

Now this can go both ways; here's a little story. The first Coal ship that i wanted to get was Musashi, i had just started playing, but you know, it was a long term goal that would have takien it's time, i wasn't in any hurry; i wanted it, not because she was a Tier 9 premium, but because she was Yamato's sister. However, WG removed it from purchase, and I couldn't do anything about it and i let her go. Then, Georgia gets announced, and at the beginning i'm a bit "okay, let's see"; i follow her development, and the more i follow it, the more I'm like "I WANT that ship", not because she was premium, but because she was a (really) good ship. Then Georgia get's released and I got lucky that i had just enought coal to get her with the coupon (which i had), because i wasn't playing since a couple of months due to the fact that i was studying for my High School Exams, and just before the coupon reset I got her. Same thing was for Alaska (which i got on my birthday btw, with FreeXP), it was just that it took way longer to get 1milion FreeXP.

Smolensk, on the other hand, is when i DON'T want a ship; was Smolensk a bad ship, absolutely not, it's completely OP; it was very recommended, but did I wanted it? Absolutely NOT. In fact, before Jean Bart and Smolensk got removed, I chose to get Jean Bart, which i kind of wanted a bit to be honest, (on March 6th, her launch anniversary), because i didn't wanted her to have the same fate that Musashi had for me.

[Panocek]

2 hours ago, dommo77 said:

Azuma vs Alaska - which is better to buy? 

Alaska by far.

 

Alaska have survivability - 27mm bow/stern, 36mm deck, underwater citadel.

Alaska have American Piercing, decent AA and Radar for utility

 

Azuma have slightly better accuracy and more potent HE, at expense of massively sticking out citadel, no "team" utilities besides usual Hydro or DFAA.

 

2 hours ago, dommo77 said:

What is your opinion on Yoshino?

Balanced ship in age of broken ones. Which means, mere "balanced" doesn't cut it, especially as for the same cost you can get Thunderer, delivering much more balans per displacement.

[Pikkozoikum]

On 5/1/2020 at 8:05 PM, dommo77 said:

But sometimes I like to visit higher tiers and try. And tier VIII is the only way to complete campaigns...

T8-T10 is something different and just needs experience. I remember when I started to play T8, it was pretty frustrating espeically in a cruiser vs T10s. So if you stick first with lower Tiers, it's totally fine. Just don't get frustrated by higher tiers, and remember, that it only needs experience and knowledge, what you will get over time

[MadBadDave]

3 hours ago, dommo77 said:

CVs - Kaga is so tempting :) But I don't play CVs much, so defo first premium will be Ark Royal for me (I saved Cunningham for RN CV line).

Kaga is good, just select targets wisely, compared to her Ark Royal is really frustrating, planes are painfully slow, torps are painfully slow and arks fragile, you’d be surprised how many DDs have been killed by kagas secondaries 😉.

[Migantium_Mashum]

@dommo77

 

What ship do you feel most comfortable in?

 

Asashio can be a hard ship to understand at first, but once the penny drops she is lethal.

 

 

 

 

Mutsu is a good BB for Tier VI (I have her) and she has Torpedoes that reload in 21 seconds...

 

 

 

 

I am not a Cruiser man so that's as far as I can go.

[dommo77]

21 hours ago, Dutchy_2019 said:

 

I got it the second time around, and although I am not good at all in DD's, I second your comment: It is a whole lot of fun to play. And arguably two of my best 3 DD games ever were in Harekaze. The 122k damage I did in that one is still my Randoms damage record. 

Only one time I had a pleasure to watch her in action, in my team :) Set up with 100mm guns, she did very well.

 

20 hours ago, wot_2016_gunner said:

That's very good on your part.

I tend to "select" which ship to get based on "if i want that ship", regardless of the Tier and the fact that it's premium (apart from the fact of being Tier 5 and above). Taking already into account that i might be able to get the said ship (let's say it's for coal), what i do is basically is: i first look at reviews of that ship, from multiple CCs (honestly, i mostly just listen only to Flamu's opinion), just to know if the ship is good or bad. If it's trash, then i just do like if didn't existed, because it would just be a waste of resources, most recent example being Agir. If the ship is good (and "good ship", for me ranges from decently good to straight up BS like Alaska and Georgia), then i ask myself:"Do I want that ship?" forgetting about the Tier and the fact that its a premium.

Now this can go both ways; here's a little story. The first Coal ship that i wanted to get was Musashi, i had just started playing, but you know, it was a long term goal that would have takien it's time, i wasn't in any hurry; i wanted it, not because she was a Tier 9 premium, but because she was Yamato's sister. However, WG removed it from purchase, and I couldn't do anything about it and i let her go. Then, Georgia gets announced, and at the beginning i'm a bit "okay, let's see"; i follow her development, and the more i follow it, the more I'm like "I WANT that ship", not because she was premium, but because she was a (really) good ship. Then Georgia get's released and I got lucky that i had just enought coal to get her with the coupon (which i had), because i wasn't playing since a couple of months due to the fact that i was studying for my High School Exams, and just before the coupon reset I got her. Same thing was for Alaska (which i got on my birthday btw, with FreeXP), it was just that it took way longer to get 1milion FreeXP.

Smolensk, on the other hand, is when i DON'T want a ship; was Smolensk a bad ship, absolutely not, it's completely OP; it was very recommended, but did I wanted it? Absolutely NOT. In fact, before Jean Bart and Smolensk got removed, I chose to get Jean Bart, which i kind of wanted a bit to be honest, (on March 6th, her launch anniversary), because i didn't wanted her to have the same fate that Musashi had for me.

I can see that collecting coal/steel/freeXP is a time consuming enterprise to say the least :) If I knew it from the start.... I was spending coal and freeXP left and right, without giving it a thought.

From my early years I was interested in ships and naval history, WW1 and WW2 in particular. So my list is built around historic ships that I grew up with. Maybe that's why I was rushing up the tiers, because I wanted to get these ships (like Akizuki). From freeXP ships I got Nelson, and now I think Alaska. Coal - my aim is Thunderer, but if I won't get any decent Japanese premium by the time I have coal maybe Yoshino?

And yes, I have a few ships I will never pursue, and Smolensk is one of them. Or Lenin. Or Baije... If I get them in SC so be it, but otherwise no / niet / nein.

 

20 hours ago, Pikkozoikum said:

T8-T10 is something different and just needs experience. I remember when I started to play T8, it was pretty frustrating espeically in a cruiser vs T10s. So if you stick first with lower Tiers, it's totally fine. Just don't get frustrated by higher tiers, and remember, that it only needs experience and knowledge, what you will get over time

I had a glimpse of these tiers in Akizuki and Amalfi, and yes, it seemed different than lower tiers. I was very much annoyed because of static gameplay, I was rushing and dying quickly. 

 

20 hours ago, MadBadDave said:

Kaga is good, just select targets wisely, compared to her Ark Royal is really frustrating, planes are painfully slow, torps are painfully slow and arks fragile, you’d be surprised how many DDs have been killed by kagas secondaries 😉.

For Kaga I think I will need more experience, my highest tier is T6 with Ryujo, slowly grinding Shokaku, but little experience. That's the reason why I want to try Ark Royal first (and her historical significance), is it really so bad? I was under impression that it's fun ship?

 

19 hours ago, Migantium_Mashum said:

@dommo77

 

What ship do you feel most comfortable in?

 

Asashio can be a hard ship to understand at first, but once the penny drops she is lethal.

 

Mutsu is a good BB for Tier VI (I have her) and she has Torpedoes that reload in 21 seconds...

 

I am not a Cruiser man so that's as far as I can go.

I would say DDs are my main, but really I'm jack of all trades :) I like to try everything, so I have all classes and play them all, just DDs the most. 

Asashio - I think I will need more experience to play her on higher tiers, I would like to grind Shinonome first.

Mutsu - I will get her sooner or later, WW2 Pacific theater was my favorite for a very long time, so I'd say she has a sentimental value for me :)

[jss78]

Azuma vs. Alaska -- Alaska's definitely the stronger ship. 

 

That said, personally I love the Azuma, however it's a ship that I'd hesitate to recommend to others. She's a one trick pony, but as far as I'm concerned, the trick is good enough. Especially when top tier, she's a real bully.

 

I think Azuma is a ship that ideally has a fairly competent cruiser captain at helm. You need to play out long range a lot, but ideally you can identify situations where you actually don't have to. And close in, where possible, in that incredibly clumsy and vulnerable ship of yours. Basically Cruiser Positioning 101, but in this case played especially conservatively.

 

("But there's Yoshino" is true, but here I'd say 1M FreeXP is much easier to come by than the coal for Yoshino, so Azuma might be a lot more accessible in reality.)

[MadBadDave]

2 hours ago, dommo77 said:

That's the reason why I want to try Ark Royal first (and her historical significance), is it really so bad? I was under impression that it's fun ship?

It’s not a fun ship, especially if you have played beyond T6, I’d rather play Hosho than the Ark TBH, the planes are dreadful, KAGA’s very good and easy (in cv terms) to play, all 3 plane types deal about the same damage, not very high but consistent.   Most people have ark because of its historic appeal, not because it plays well, Kaga is less well known in the U.K.  but is both historic and fun to play.

[asalonen]

7 hours ago, dommo77 said:

That's the reason why I want to try Ark Royal first (and her historical significance), is it really so bad? I was under impression that it's fun ship?

Ark Royal is strong, equal to Ryujo in terms of winning games in my experience. However, it really isn't all that fun. The planes are super slow and T6 CV's need to play some very big maps when bottom tier. 

[Nov_A]

13 hours ago, dommo77 said:

That's the reason why I want to try Ark Royal first (and her historical significance), is it really so bad? I was under impression that it's fun ship?

Ark Royal works fine in randoms but the fun is limited. You spend a lot of time pressing "W" and watching your planes cruise around. They are also very sluggish in turning, so you just sit there and watch them lean sideways. If you are a patient man and dont have the furios urge to help the multiple dumpster fires across the minimap before they even get worse, there surely is a lot of fun to have. She does fine with strong strikes, literally shotgunning DDs and keeping up meaty squads, but most of the time the feeling is more like "meh" or "wish I was playing Ryujo".

[Otowi]

Atago is a solid choice, and she looks good wich is a plus.

 

Mutsu is great in operations.

 

Asashio is good, but she has deep water torps, wich is a thing to consider.

 

Ashitaka can be a bit hit or miss. She handles well, and the guns are decent, but she is a squishy BB. 

 

Kii is a solid allround perfomer in my experience. Not outstanding in any way, but she gets the job done.

 

The best choice for a Japan premium would imo be the mighty Musashi at tier 9, but you can't get her any longer, outside a few events or the christmas containers, if you're lucky that is. She's the sister ship of the Yamato, but one tier lower, and those 460mm guns can make players regret their choice of sailing broadside on to ships like Yamato or Musashi.

[Hopeless_Guppy]

On 5/1/2020 at 11:00 PM, lossi_2018 said:

Kaga if you like winning games, Atago is also nice but if you are good with Ryujo, Kaga is a fan favorite excellent historical ship.

Kaga is ok until your in a tier 10 match,not sure about the Azuma,people here are slating the Kii,in yet in other quarters she seems to have a huge fan base.

[Furius_Marius]

The fact that ships have issues is that you almost never see japanese premiums in the battles. 

[dommo77]

4 hours ago, Furius_Marius said:

The fact that ships have issues is that you almost never see japanese premiums in the battles. 

There is some truth in that, I can see Atago and Asashio quite often, but Kaga only few times, Yahagi I've seen only once, others on very rare occasions... Never seen Kii, only 2-3 times Ashitaka. They don't seem popular. Nothing compering to JB or Massa. 

 

Thanks again for all your replies, I will give myself time to think, I don't want to force anything. If I won't find a suitable ship I can always buy one from other Navies.

[Hopeless_Guppy]

6 hours ago, dommo77 said:

There is some truth in that, I can see Atago and Asashio quite often, but Kaga only few times, Yahagi I've seen only once, others on very rare occasions... Never seen Kii, only 2-3 times Ashitaka. They don't seem popular. Nothing compering to JB or Massa. 

 

Thanks again for all your replies, I will give myself time to think, I don't want to force anything. If I won't find a suitable ship I can always buy one from other Navies.

Kaga is and always will be a tier 7 ship, it has no right at all seeing tier10 ships