For BB main transitioning to cruiser

[Admiral_Oily_Discharge]

Hello ,

I have so far done grinding every bb line upto tx . I had like to begin with cruisers now . Pls suggest me a noob frenly cruiser line to begin with . I have unlocked a couple of cruisers using fxp tier 6 budyony , aoba , leander watched some how to videos on youtube I think I should be fine but are there any tips you would like to share that would be greatly appreciated . I had a specific question about cruiser ap . WHere do you aim it for citadel (Waterline or deck )and also what range your target should be at . Should I get ifhe for all crusiers as a must have skill ? ALso positioning wise how its different from bbs . SHould I focus on enemy dds as priority or I could save my salvos for any broadside cruisers around cap ? Also they say that certain cruisers ap can even citadel angled cruisers because of better angles idk .

 

Many thanks :D

[RenamedUser_92906789]

RN cruisers have same playstyle all the way.

Sit in smoke and dakkadakka, short fuse AP only, single torps and no armor. Just dont get radared when in smoke :)

Gems: Fiji,  Minotaur.

 

IJN are kiters and HE spammers.

You set fires and burn BBs. ZAO is one of my favorite cruisers.

Gems: Mogami 155 with IFHE, Zao.

 

Soviet were splited recently and offer the most variety of the three lines. Some play as IJN ones, some are very tanky.

They currently are the most wanted because of OP ship that is called Petropavlovsk. Its basically a moving Stalingrad.

Gems: Budyonny with IFHE, Tallin, Riga, Nevsky with optional IFHE, Petropavlovsk.

 

So in the end its up to you and your playstyle. My advice is go parallel and find out for yourself. Compared to BBs, consider that you will be BB main target and learn cautious play. Use your stealth to turn, your tools such as radar and hydro, and farm BBs.

 

gl

[Bindolaf_Werebane]

You are asking questions that can't be answered in the scope of a post.

 

First I'd say, don't skip to tier 6. Play some cheap cruisers at 4 and 5 and see how you like them. 

 

The Budyonny is just a glass cannon. Good firepower, but blows up easily. The Leander is a relentless monster, which has the British cruiser smoke. I found the Aoba frustrating and skipped half of it.

 

A lot comes down to personal preference. I love the French cruisers and am decent in them, if I may say so. They play in open water, with high speeds, kiting, repositioning, lighting fires and punishing broadsides.

 

The British cruisers play in hops. You take a position, exploit it, then take a new one, depending on the flow of battle.

 

Japanese cruisers are more mid- to long range alpha-strikers and fire starters, relying on cover and concealment.

 

In general, don't aim for citadel's, unless at broadside cruisers under ten kilometers. Cruiser AP is weaker than battleship AP and will not penetrate citadels easily. American AP has better bounce angles, but that doesn't mean you can citadel everyone through the nose.

 

Play different cruisers and find out what you like, the positioning and roles. Yes, you should support destroyers, but when and how? Try things and have fun.

[Panocek]

1 hour ago, Admiral_Oily_Discharge said:

Pls suggest me a noob frenly cruiser line to begin with

There aren't really "noob friendly" cruiser lines akin to "noob friendly" german BBs. All cruisers can be punished for their mistakes. And at times it feels like bringing cruiser to battle was a mistake in first place

 

Closest to that would be line with good range, so, in worst case scenario, you can just keep your guns busy should enemy team preemptively scurry to A1 corner. That leaves German, Russian and French cruiser lines. IJN cruiser line is still "vanilla" one, giving lesson in all the bases - positioning, playing around concealment, islands and torps, ammo switching for maximum effect, evading shots because armor sure won't hold. But their "standard" range can prove inadequate at times, especially when facing rather open hightier maps.

[mariouus]

2 hours ago, Admiral_Oily_Discharge said:

I had like to begin with cruisers now .

Years back went from BBs to CA/CLs. Generally speaking, you do not need "noob friendly" cruiser. When you play a BB, just pay attention on enemy cruisers who are hardest and most annoying targets for you - note how they are played. And then just try do replicate their playstyle when you are playing cruisers.

[Camperdown]

Special mention: as a cruiser, one of your key goals should be to support your DDs and attack enemy DDs. Especially if you are a CL and if you have radar. Try to communicate with your nearest DD and follow him at about 5 km (so you don't get spotted by a red DD before him). Make sure there is some cover nearby but don't hug an island. Try to kill the first red DD to be spotted without getting killed. Second priority enemy (radar) cruisers.

Good luck!

[Admiral_Oily_Discharge]

2 hours ago, nambr9 said:

They currently are the most wanted because of OP ship that is called Petropavlovsk. Its basically a moving Stalingrad.

Yeah exactly I want petropav asap . I just get the gut feel I will do very well in that tiny monster of a ship :D

1 hour ago, mariouus said:

note how they are played. And then just try do replicate their playstyle when you are playing cruisers.

Thats why I will probably spend 2-3 hours watching various commentaries on youtube by experienced players and attempt to materialize gathered info in my own game to best extent possible

2 hours ago, Panocek said:

There aren't really "noob friendly" cruiser lines akin to "noob friendly" german BBs. All cruisers can be punished for their mistakes

Kek I just learned that lesson hard way , the first mistake is essentially the last mistake you will evar make in cruiser line (Unless you are fortunate enough ofcourse)

 

 

Btw 1 last question how do you know if ifhe is gonna be good on a "X" cruiser and why ???

[Admiral_Oily_Discharge]

2 hours ago, Bindolaf_Werebane said:

In general, don't aim for citadel's, unless at broadside cruisers under ten kilometers.

is this some golden rule for cruisers of all tiers ? For example a tier 8 cruiser cant citadel t7 cruiser sailing at 15-17km range full broadside or stationary parallel to your ship ?

[TeaAndTorps]

@Admiral_Oily_Discharge To answer your question about IFHE, this is a good reference guide from Little White Mouse: https://forum.worldofwarships.com/topic/213359-ifhe-all-night-long/

 

[Removed outdated link to wiki]

 

You can use that to decide whether it's worthwhile on a case-by-case basis. TL;DR: Take it for 155s and 152s, but not 203s.

 

Btw, you're missing out by skipping Furutaka. 203s on T5 are no joke 

[invicta2012]

6 minutes ago, Admiral_Oily_Discharge said:

is this some golden rule for cruisers of all tiers ? For example a tier 8 cruiser cant citadel t7 cruiser sailing at 15-17km range full broadside or stationary parallel to your ship ?

Cruiser guns have different trajectories to BB guns. It varies hugely from line to line, some cruisers (American ones) have quite floaty gun arcs, some have quite flat ones (Soviet ones, generally). So you won't get "through the side" citadels at all -  even where armour allows it - with an American cruiser gun until about 10k, because the shells are coming down at too much of an angle. So you go for the superstructure, weak areas of the deck (bow/stern) and the side (bow/stern again). A full pen shell hit there, particularly with the number of shells a cruiser can fire, will do decent damage, and that's what you're looking for - not huge dev strikes, but banging out these 5k salvos every 10 seconds or so. 

 

With heavy and super cruisers you have more choice, but it's complicated because the guns vary so very very much in terms of their calibre, type, shell, velocity, arc, HE penetration... everything. A ship like Tallinn, whose guns do everything reliably (and whose AP will get you citadels) and which isn't made of glass, is a refreshing change.

[DFens_666]

9 minutes ago, invicta2012 said:

Cruiser guns have different trajectories to BB guns. It varies hugely from line to line, some cruisers (American ones) have quite floaty gun arcs, some have quite flat ones (Soviet ones, generally). So you won't get "through the side" citadels at all -  even where armour allows it - with an American cruiser gun until about 10k, because the shells are coming down at too much of an angle.

 

Hightier US CAs wont get deckpens before ~14,2km. Even then the chances are bad, and you will get beltpens much easier. At 16,5km, you will get pens on both belt and deck.

 

 

Im not sure if belt ricochet actually exists right now. Even NC has only 29° impact angle at 21km.

[Panocek]

36 minutes ago, Admiral_Oily_Discharge said:

is this some golden rule for cruisers of all tiers ? For example a tier 8 cruiser cant citadel t7 cruiser sailing at 15-17km range full broadside or stationary parallel to your ship ?

Like 90% of the cruisers in game use 100mm as citadel plating. You can expect to penetrate such plating with good consistency using:

small caliber DD guns (100-113mm) only at point blank, that is <3km

DD (127-130mm) guns up to 5km

CL (152-155mm) and hightier FR DD guns up to 10km

CA (180-203mm) up to 15km

high performance 203mm (Zao, hightier Italian) and bigger calibers: at any range.

 

[Admiral_Oily_Discharge]

37 minutes ago, TeaAndTorps said:

@Admiral_Oily_Discharge To answer your question about IFHE, this is a good reference guide from Little White Mouse: https://forum.worldofwarships.com/topic/213359-ifhe-all-night-long/ 

  

There's also a useful table here on the wiki: https://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Armor_thresholds 

  

You can use that to decide whether it's worthwhile on a case-by-case basis. TL;DR: Take it for 155s and 152s, but not 203s.

 

Btw, you're missing out by skipping Furutaka. 203s on T5 are no joke 

 

Thanks for sharing this I just hope its not outdated :D

[Admiral_Oily_Discharge]

28 minutes ago, invicta2012 said:

With heavy and super cruisers you have more choice, but it's complicated because the guns vary so very very much in terms of their calibre, type, shell, velocity, arc, HE penetration... everything.

High time to test ap performance at various ranges of each class in training room I guess

[TeaAndTorps]

2 minutes ago, Admiral_Oily_Discharge said:

Thanks for sharing this I just hope its not outdated :D

I don't remember if the wiki page is (should've checked, sorry!), but LWM's post was made in response to the IFHE rework 

[Panocek]

2 minutes ago, Admiral_Oily_Discharge said:

Thanks for sharing this I just hope its not outdated :D

Wiki one is tad outdated, as still uses 25mm plating on midtier BBs, as since IFHE change they have 26mm precisely to prevent CL HE pens without IFHE

 

Just now, Admiral_Oily_Discharge said:

High time to test ap performance at various ranges of each class in training room I guess

That is the best approach, you can get rough idea by fiddling with wowsft artillery chart though

https://wowsft.com/arty

 

Its unofficial datamined info, so WG won't comment on this. Thus no confirmation whether its actually accurate, but so far, its close enough in my book

[TeaAndTorps]

6 minutes ago, Admiral_Oily_Discharge said:

Thanks for sharing this I just hope its not outdated :D

Yeah in fact the wiki is out of date. Might just remove that...

[rnat]

1 hour ago, Admiral_Oily_Discharge said:

Btw 1 last question how do you know if ifhe is gonna be good on a "X" cruiser and why ???

General rules of thumb (T5 and up):

152&155mm guns that can fire HE -> yes

KM 150mm guns -> no

Soviet 180mm guns-> matter of taste since the AP is so bloody good, (on Donskoi likely yes since it doesn't get the improved AP-angles, definite no on the T5)

IJN 100mm main-battery -> yes

Atlanta/Flint/Smolensk/Colbert -> yes (i find direct dmg to cruisers too valuable to skip on the Smolensk/Colbert but some might argue the opposite)

Roon/Hindenburg -> an option if you wish to farm Yamasushi, Shiki and Kremlin decks

HIV -> an option if you wish to farm KM BBs, Soviet BBs and Soviet large/heavy cruisers

other DD guns -> no

other heavy cruiser guns -> no

[Admiral_Oily_Discharge]

Thank you very much folks. I guess thats all the info I needed to begin with . Stay safe good day everyone! <3

[Please_helpme]

5 hours ago, Admiral_Oily_Discharge said:

Hello ,

I have so far done grinding every bb line upto tx . I had like to begin with cruisers now . Pls suggest me a noob frenly cruiser line to begin with . I have unlocked a couple of cruisers using fxp tier 6 budyony , aoba , leander watched some how to videos on youtube I think I should be fine but are there any tips you would like to share that would be greatly appreciated . I had a specific question about cruiser ap . WHere do you aim it for citadel (Waterline or deck )and also what range your target should be at . Should I get ifhe for all crusiers as a must have skill ? ALso positioning wise how its different from bbs . SHould I focus on enemy dds as priority or I could save my salvos for any broadside cruisers around cap ? Also they say that certain cruisers ap can even citadel angled cruisers because of better angles idk .

 

Many thanks :D

are you good with bbs ?

[Admiral_Oily_Discharge]

1 hour ago, 123789123789 said:

are you good with bbs ?

Got a public profile can always check it out

[invicta2012]

1 hour ago, DFens_666 said:

Hightier US CAs wont get deckpens before ~14,2km. Even then the chances are bad, and you will get beltpens much easier. At 16,5km, you will get pens on both belt and deck.

Well, yes, but assuming that OP was working his way up the line I was thinking of this sort of thing: 

 

 

The US 6 inch guns are pretty consistent in their performance but you can see from that graph that penetration drops off above 10k to the point where you're going to struggle to pen belt armour even with a flat broadside to aim at, especially when you get Helena and Cleveland and start to see better armoured opposition. And those shell angles do get a bit floaty, especially at ranges over 14k. 

 

Comparing Baltimore and Tallinn is quite instructive, too. 

 

.

[Yedwy]

Just play all cruiser lines untill you unlock T7 and then see which you like the most, only line that is exception is German as they are CLs up to T6 and CAs T7+ here you should grind Hipper to see if you like them or not...

[Admiral_Oily_Discharge]

17 minutes ago, Yedwy said:

Just play all cruiser lines untill you unlock T7 and then see which you like the most, only line that is exception is German as they are CLs up to T6 and CAs T7+ here you should grind Hipper to see if you like them or not...

My first budyony game stock modules :D

[Yedwy]

Russian CL line (one ending in Nevsky) is now a full Kiter line, if you like them French and Japanese cruisers are your logical next step...