Alaska advice please!

[DerpyMcDoom]

sooooo.... unlocked Alaska and passed the mandatory 10 battles before asking for this advice but how does someone exceed in the ship? So far I've found myself in the top 4 in most games but i simply cant seen to really do anything amazing in her. I have a 17pt capt build focusing on SUP, INTEND, ADRE and the rest on module reload times, survivability etc. Still finding fires to be a nightmare but having great success exploiting flanks etc. Just nothing amazing. Am i missing something? Any help would be great. Cheers! :P

[wot_2016_gunner]

1 minuto fa, DerpyMcDoom ha scritto:

sooooo.... unlocked Alaska and passed the mandatory 10 battles before asking for this advice but how does someone exceed in the ship? So far I've found myself in the top 4 in most games but i simply cant seen to really do anything amazing in her. I have a 17pt capt build focusing on SUP, INTEND, ADRE and the rest on module reload times, survivability etc. Still finding fires to be a nightmare but having great success exploiting flanks etc. Just nothing amazing. Am i missing something? Any help would be great. Cheers! :P

Flamu can help 

 

[lafeel]

25 minutes ago, DerpyMcDoom said:

sooooo.... unlocked Alaska and passed the mandatory 10 battles before asking for this advice but how does someone exceed in the ship? So far I've found myself in the top 4 in most games but i simply cant seen to really do anything amazing in her. I have a 17pt capt build focusing on SUP, INTEND, ADRE and the rest on module reload times, survivability etc. Still finding fires to be a nightmare but having great success exploiting flanks etc. Just nothing amazing. Am i missing something? Any help would be great. Cheers! :P

Solid captain build at least. Be aware though that the rumours of her being immune to citadels are a exxageration.

[DerpyMcDoom]

2 minutes ago, lafeel said:

Solid captain build at least. Be aware though that the rumours of her being immune to citadels are a exxageration.

I did notice this...
She seems very sturdy but so far i feel like its a ship that needs to sit back waiting for the moment to pounce and unleash her quality points. For me that feels really unintuitive because i feel like being passive in game is letting our team down (see reversing musashis on full health lol)

[GarrusBrutus]

@DerpyMcDoom

Glancing at the leaderboards, I'd say ask @VeryHonarbrah for advice as he is a very proficient Alaska player. 

[lafeel]

13 minutes ago, DerpyMcDoom said:

I did notice this...
She seems very sturdy but so far i feel like its a ship that needs to sit back waiting for the moment to pounce and unleash her quality points. For me that feels really unintuitive because i feel like being passive in game is letting our team down (see reversing musashis on full health lol)

She is very sturdy, probably the sturdiest of the supercruisers. But if you show your broadside to a BB it's going to hurt, citadels or no citadels.

[wot_2016_gunner]

10 minuti fa, lafeel ha scritto:

Solid captain build at least. Be aware though that the rumours of her being immune to citadels are a exxageration.

She's basically immuse to cits at close range, 'cause it's so waterline. You can rush BBs and came you as the winner, cause they can't cit you and Alaska's guns can cit most BBs at close range (apart German BBs); but at mid to far range she's as easy to cit as other cruisers. 

[lafeel]

5 minutes ago, wot_2016_gunner said:

She's basically immuse to cits at close range, 'cause it's so waterline. You can rush BBs and came you as the winner, cause they can't cit you and Alaska's guns can cit most BBs at close range (apart German BBs); but at mid to far range she's as easy to cit as other cruisers. 

I have seen otherwise, so I wouldn't count on her legendary immunity if I was you..

[ForlornSailor]

16 minutes ago, DerpyMcDoom said:

She seems very sturdy but so far i feel like its a ship that needs to sit back waiting for the moment to pounce and unleash her quality points. For me that feels really unintuitive because i feel like being passive in game is letting our team down (see reversing musashis on full health lol)

 

Alaska needed a while for me to click aswell. She is an oppotunist. Alaska is most deadly between mid- to close range when you catch stuff broadsides. Cruisers can really be oneshots. You can play Alaska like an oversized DM. Use islands to get stealthy into position and pick your targets thoughtfully by moving in their broadsides. Make sure you cant get focused by many ships early to midgame in such rather offensive positions. Late game - you can go brawl anything that has no torps and is not a DM-class. Going into a brawl with a BB is hilarious in Alaska. Musashi/Yamato still can be really dangerous, but you can beat them by outmoving their slow gun traverse. then they are just XP-pinatas. But yea, to be able to make such plays late game, you want to preserve your health earlier on. Which has nothing to do with beeing passive, just pick your positions as I described.

[wot_2016_gunner]

Proprio ora, lafeel ha scritto:

I have seen otherwise, so I wouldn't count on her legendary immunity if I was you..

oh, i don't, it's just that at close range she's really difficult to cit.

[DFens_666]

If the map allows it, i try to radar a cap at the start. F.e. North can work nice at the C or D cap (depending on layout), where you can go park at the island and be safe from enemy fire. Also if people go up 9-10 line, which they normaly do, you can get their broadsides.

Alaska is heavily favoured if you see BBs with max 381mm caliber, as you can bowtank them. Its nasty against Cruisers, but also against BBs when you can close the distance and if they have a citadel.

Always try to use your AP, if you need to shoot HE too much, your positioning is not good enough. Remember that Alaska has improved AP angles, so you can shoot AP even at mostly angled targets. You can even cit german BBs "easily" through their angled bow.

[lafeel]

36 minutes ago, wot_2016_gunner said:

oh, i don't, it's just that at close range she's really difficult to cit.

Tell that to the pve bots, they seem to have a knack for it.

[zheng_he14]

I find Alaska to be a solid performer but not something that's spectacular in game, its not a 'fun' ship like a massa or a Jean Bart. Its not squishy like most cruisers  so its forgiving and can even bully lower tier BBs, I end up playing her more like a BB with added toys than a cruiser, that way you condition yourself to the long reload times and slow turret traverse, depending on the match making I end up playing her like a KGV most of the time use AP for cruisers  and HE for everything else unless you get a broadside BB and be wary of been burnt down or torp'ed. The concealment and rate of fire isn't great so if you want to go 1 on 1 with a high tier dd then you need the upgraded radar module to maximise the time you keep them lit. The main prey are heavy cruisers, for some reason I find the Alaska is really effective against German cruisers citadelling Roons and Hindes  at mid to long ranges is fairly common occurrence,  despite the turtlebacks, and I am not great at aiming!

 

Initially, I tried to play her like a normal US heavy cruiser (was grinding through the Baltimore at the time) but the concealment wasn't there and as a radar cruiser you get targeted if you get too close to a cap early in game HE spammers and smoke cruisers want you out of the game ASAP., so depending on match making you do have to hang back a little initially till you get the lay of the land in the current META.

 

Just my 2 cents

[DFens_666]

18 minutes ago, zheng_he14 said:

for some reason I find the Alaska is really effective against German cruisers citadelling Roons and Hindes  at mid to long ranges is fairly common occurrence,  despite the turtlebacks, and I am not great at aiming! 

 

Naturally, the improved AP angles work in your favour aswell when shooting a turtleback ship. As the turtleback has a certain angle, Alaska or US CAs in general, have an easier time passing that bounce and actually reach the citadel.

[VeryHonarbrah]

4 hours ago, GarrusBrutus said:

@DerpyMcDoom

Glancing at the leaderboards, I'd say ask @VeryHonarbrah for advice as he is a very proficient Alaska player. 

yeah always willing to help, i run mine with haisley, normal cruiser build, but with FP and double rudder. I mostly play it a lot like business6, but with a tad more HE. Honestly is my favourite ship now since the leg dm got nerfed and double rudder petro isnt as viable.  I was el former number 7 EU in mine, but i let my son play it, so it dropped a bit 

This covers the most important stuff gameplay wise, his cpt build is not what i use though, i run PT, EL, AR, EM, JACK, SI, CE, FP  on haisley (also my dm cpt) @DerpyMcDoom 

[DFens_666]

23 minutes ago, VeryHonarbrah said:

This covers the most important stuff

 

I swear to you, everytime i attempt to go brawling recently (lets say this year) i get RetardMcRamface who hammers his W-key and points his bow in my direction.

I love to brawl, but in randoms, i start to get a phobia doing it. Because all i see is the toptier BB honking around "RAMMING SPEED" because its free damage for those numbnuts. Even if you manage to dodge, it means that your most likely wont get a proper citadel shot at him, which makes the whole thing kinda iffy.

When you look at the Alaska video, when he shows gameplay footage: Brainiac Moskva turns flat broadside - what could possibly go wrong? Seriously, where you get those players anymore? At best they sit bow on and start reversing. F.e. recently in my Alsace game, we were losing so i had to power through some enemies. While i was steaming towards a Monarch at 6-7km, naturally he stops and points his bow towards me. I steam towards him, he reverses. I want to go around, he maintains the angle. Even tho we always complain how stupid the playerbase is, clearly they are not that dumb anymore.

Interestingly, brawling in Ranked and CBs is easier, because there people think they might have a chance.

[VeryHonarbrah]

9 minutes ago, DFens_666 said:

 

I swear to you, everytime i attempt to go brawling recently (lets say this year) i get RetardMcRamface who hammers his W-key and points his bow in my direction.

I love to brawl, but in randoms, i start to get a phobia doing it. Because all i see is the toptier BB honking around "RAMMING SPEED" because its free damage for those numbnuts. Even if you manage to dodge, it means that your most likely wont get a proper citadel shot at him, which makes the whole thing kinda iffy.

When you look at the Alaska video, when he shows gameplay footage: Brainiac Moskva turns flat broadside - what could possibly go wrong? Seriously, where you get those players anymore? At best they sit bow on and start reversing. F.e. recently in my Alsace game, we were losing so i had to power through some enemies. While i was steaming towards a Monarch at 6-7km, naturally he stops and points his bow towards me. I steam towards him, he reverses. I want to go around, he maintains the angle. Even tho we always complain how stupid the playerbase is, clearly they are not that dumb anymore.

Interestingly, brawling in Ranked and CBs is easier, because there people think they might have a chance.

Thats him just showing the ful  potential in that moskva / yam clip, further on in his vid, and in his more recent double rudder petro vid you see more the positioning. I do agree the ramtards are more common, so its even more imperative positioning wise to ahve the ability to dodge the ram, or turn out / bait to drive by and blap them

[ForlornSailor]

3 hours ago, VeryHonarbrah said:

I mostly play it a lot like business6

 

Perfect Video - that first minute with the Yamato is exactly what I tried to tell with "beeing an oppotunist, get in position using islands to get broadsides, mid- to close range & brawl BBs in late game". Video just brings the point across so much better. Some players would kite and shoot HE at that yamato - then you will underperform in Alaska. @DerpyMcDoom make sure to check out that video, it really tells you a lot about Alaska.

[Yedwy]

Offtopic - I treid the double rudder Petro but when you need to stop/go or change from reverse to ahead its so annoyingly slow I just cant endure that so I slapped the engine module on slot4 i  the end...

 

Btw I rarely play Alaska but definetly rudder in slot 5 build...

[HansRoaming]

Thanks very much for this thread and the replies everyone, I've been practicing with Alaska in coop with this style of play which means you get a few less kills as it isn't random but it gets your head around ambushing, angles and up close. Will try in randoms soon.

Double rudder makes it so much better than concealment mod.

[batch1]

Lots of good info already but just to add a few small improvements.

 

Put Admiral Halsey on Alaska for the Expert loader alone, all other buffs good to have, being able to call up AP when you have HE leaded in 5 seconds is great and vise versa.

 

Also get the RADAR mod to give you (if i remember correct) 10k for 42 seconds 

[HansRoaming]

1 hour ago, batch1 said:

Lots of good info already but just to add a few small improvements.

 

Put Admiral Halsey on Alaska for the Expert loader alone, all other buffs good to have, being able to call up AP when you have HE leaded in 5 seconds is great and vise versa.

 

Also get the RADAR mod to give you (if i remember correct) 10k for 42 seconds 

I'm guessing one of the Doe brothers would be a reasonable alternative?

[batch1]

15 minutes ago, HansRoaming said:

I'm guessing one of the Doe brothers would be a reasonable alternative?

That would work fine, i have one of the Doe's on another ship.

[HansRoaming]

23 minutes ago, batch1 said:

That would work fine, i have one of the Doe's on another ship.

Thank you.