HMS Warspite - A Beauty and a Beast

[Lightbaron]

We might not have forum categories for the different nations now, but I still want to present you some of my favourite ships currently ingame.

Enjoy reading and I hope you like it.

 

- 2015/10/06: Edited the skills to fit the current skill tree; exchanged Steering Mod. 2 for Damage Control Mod. 2 in the modules part; Replaced old stats with current ingame values.

 

HMS Warspite

A beauty and a beast

 

 

It's some time now since the HMS Warspite's addition into the game and in that time many people were discussing about her. She is the first ship of the Royal Navy and one of five Queen Elizabeth-class battleships that were built between 1912 and 1916.

The sandy colour she had in the beginning which was more fitting for a tank in desert regions than for a ship got changed for a more metallic grey and she is without a doubt one of the best looking ships currently ingame, even though she is missing her nameplate.

 

Sailing in the cold waters of Island of Ice

 

Overview

HMS Warspite is sharing many characteristics with the US battleships we see in the game. She is slower than the IJN battleships but has a very tight turning circle of 550m combined with a (for a battleship) fast rudder shift time of only 14.2 seconds. That makes it quite easy to avoid torpedo attacks not only from destroyers but also from torpedo bombers attacking you.

Her armour is very thick around the citadel area making it really hard for other ships of her tier to penetrate it. Also the citadel starts only at the waterline and lies below it. The only time the citadel is above the waterline is while making turns. With that you have to hope for plunging shots at far ranges if you want to penetrate her citadel with a tier 6 or below while close range citadel hits are more of a lucky or for the Warspite unlucky appearance and normally only penetrating hits appear. Don't forget that those hits can still hurt badly.

 

Main Armarment

Warspite's main armament consists of four turrets with two 15-inch (381mm) guns each. With that she has the biggest main calibre guns of the three t6 battleships available. Both competitors at her tier are using 14-inch (356mm) guns.

Those guns of her are not only big but they also have a good punch and can deal up to 11.400 damage with an AP-citadel hit and is in this aspect once again superior to her competitors with 10.200 maximum damage (Fuso) and 10.500 maximum damage (New Mexico).

She might be lacking behind the Fuso in case of HE maximum damage with 5300 maximum damage compared to the 5700 of Fuso but in exchange she has 9% higher chance to set her enemy on fire with 34%. New Mexico's damage is maxed at 5.000 with a 30% chance to set a ship on fire.

Many where complaining about her gun range once but with the introduction of the US battleships it became obvious that she does not need to hide herself and the 16.3km range she has. Her range is indeed low compared to the Fuso's 21.8km but at the same time it is longer than the New Mexico's 14.9km range of fire.

Her rate of fire is the average 2.0 of most battleships and with that the reload is 0.1 rpm slower than Fuso and 0.2 rpm faster than New Mexico.

Personally I recommend to use AP ammunition only but it can be useful to switch to HE sometimes to make sure you kill a low HP target where AP could bounce off the armor.

 

Since we are talking about a premium ship here it should be clear that she has to have some drawbacks too and can't be at the top or average everywhere.

The first of those drawbacks is the turret turn time. With 72 seconds for 180° her turrets are the slowest turning turrets we have in the game. The only other ship with turrets that slow is the IJN T10 battleship Yamato.

The second disadvantage of her is the number of guns. Both other t6 battleships have 12 guns while Warspite only has 8 guns. With that she can shoot less shells than the other two t6 battleships. Both Fuso and New Mexico can shoot an average of more than 20 shells per minute while Warspite can only shoot 16 shells per minute and has with that a lower maximum dpm.

Together with that comes a last minor issue she has, which is her maximum dispersion of 219m. Fuso, even though she can shoot 5.5km further, has only a maximum dispersion of 241m. New Mexico has with 1.4km less range a dispersion of 209m which is rather similar to Warspite's. With that they both lack behind Fuso in that regard.

 

HMS Warspite firing her 15" guns

 

Secondary Armament

Warspite has 16 secondary guns of two calibres with four guns of each calibre at one side of the ship. The first guns are 102mm guns placed in two double turrets at each side the others are 152mm guns placed in casemates. Both guns have a range of 5.0km and are with that the furthest shooting secondary guns around that tier. The dispersion at maximum range might be wide but when you hit a small target like a destroyer or a light armoured cruiser they will hurt.

Fuso and New Mexico might have more guns than her but both of them have a secondary range of only 4km.

That range gives a big advantage and should be taken into consideration when thinking about the captains skills and ships modules. The maximum range you can achieve with those guns is 7.2km while the secondary guns of the other two battleships can only be pushed to 5.76km.

 

Anti-Air

While her secondary guns are without a doubt top-notch at tier 6 her Anti-Air is rather weak compared to other ships. Don't let yourself get blinded by the 35 points score in the port. While she has indeed an acceptable amount of AA mounts most of them don't shoot further than 2.5km or even 2.1km in case of the 20mm. Compared to that the New Mexico's 40mm start shooting at 3.5km and the Fuso's 25mm start shooting at 3.0km and both also get their maximum AA damage output starting at 2.1km.

If you should decide on an anti-air skill-set you can extend the maximum firing range of her 40mm guns to 3.6km which is an acceptable range and should improve the damage output against planes by a fair bit. You can use that together with your tight turning circle to improve her performance against planes but in exchange the secondary guns won't be able to show their true potential.

 

About playing her

Warspite hates to fight in open waters because of her range disadvantage against the IJN battleships around her tier and the range of cruisers at tiers higher than herself.

Try to fight with her in places where the maximum range is restricted or you can get close unspotted through the terrain (e.g. the area around cap C at Islands of Ice) but keep in mind that those areas often are also destroyer playground and you should change your speed and course sometimes to pre-emptively avoid torpedo attacks out of nowhere.

In case that is not possible you have to close in on your targets while taking as less damage as possible. To do that show your bow to the enemy with the highest fire power while getting close to him. It is best to pick isolated targets first before groups but that is also not possible very often.

Fixate your turrets with the CTRL + X function and use your tight turning to position your guns after the enemy has shot at you. After shooting yourself turn back and show him your bow again.

Don't get too aggressive with her but also don't start playing too passive or you will miss your chance to deal damage and contribute to your teams victory or even worse you will lose without doing anything useful.

Warspite might have less average damage than the other tier 6 battleships but that doesn't mean she is weak. She is strong and can deal tons of damage and when played smart enough she can even fight an Amagi or North Carolina all by herself if she has do do it.

 

 

Modules*

Slot 1:Main Battery Modification 1

You only have 8 guns so make sure those stay working as long as possible.

Slot 2:Secondary Battery Modification 2 or Anti Air Modification 2.

I personally play her with secondary range and would thus suggest the Secondary Battery Mod. over the Anti Air Mod. but if you want her to play on anti-air to counter the strike set-ups of the IJN Carriers there is nothing wrong with it. Just keep in mind that your secondaries take longer to kill light targets and you need to be closer to them making you more vulnerable to torpedo attacks. Also carriers aren't always part of the team compositions.

Slot 3:Damage Control System Modification 1

fires are the archenemy of every battleship thus you should take those 3 percent that can sometimes save your life. Also neither your rudder nor your engine are hit very often thus you don't really need the other two modules for her.

Slot 4:Damage Control System Modification 2

In the current version fo the game where many people use HE shells only over AP shells having Damage Control Mod. 2 over other modules is a way to secure your HP and with your captain skills it's a good way to keep the Lady alive.

 

 

Captain Skills*

Suggested skill-set with 19 points

 

Skill 1: Basic Firing Training (Lvl. 1)

The first improvement to both secondary guns and anti-air which is giving +10% efficiency to both of them.

Skill 2: Aiming Expertise (Lvl. 2)

A must have skill for the Warspite and her slow turning turrets. This skill reduces the turret turning time from 72 seconds to 56 seconds and helps a lot to stay on a target with her guns. Also you can afford to not use the module that increases the reload time together with the reduction of the turret turning time and thus reduces the Warspite's dpm.

Skill 3: High Alert (Lvl. 3)

This skill reduces the cool-down time of your “Damage Control Party” ability and helps to increase your survival time and survival rate as you can deal with fires, flooding and incapacitated modules more often.

Skill 4: Advanced Firing Training (Lvl. 4)

The next must have skill of the Warspite. It improves the range of both secondary guns and anti-air guns and is with that a great help in combat. Together with the module you can increase the maximum range of either secondaries or anti-air to 7km.

Skill 5: Jack of All Trades (Lvl. 5)

Jack of all trades brings a further reduction of the cool-down time for both your “Damage Control Party” and “Repair Party” and makes it easier to have them available in critical situations.

Skill 6: Superintendent (Lvl. 3)

You get one more use of your Repair Party consumable and can “heal” damage one more time. This can come in handy if you want to push your survival rate and damage output.

Skill 7: Basics of Survivability (Lvl. 1)

The repair time of damaged modules is reduced and with it the time you need to extinguish fires and stop flooding.

 

 

Possible changes

• Basics of Survivability can be exchanged for Situation Awareness if you prefer to know when you are spotted by an invisible ship.
• Jack of All Trades can be exchanged for Concealment Expertice and Last Chance. All three have different pros and cons and can be useful depending on the own play style and the situations you face.
• You can ignore the Lvl. 5 Skills and go for Last Stand as 2^nd Lvl. 4 skill to avoid complete incapacitation of your engine and steering. That way you can pick Basics of Survivability, Situation Awareness and Superintendent to fill the remaining skill points. This combination provides you with a maximum of survivability if used right.
• You can also use the remaining skill points after the Lvl. 5 skill to select the Lvl. 4 skill Last Stand. This skill however is rather situational and you might be in need of Basics of Survivability or Superintendent more often.

 

 

*The modules and skills are suggested for the current game situation and can be less useful after future changes in the gameplay and game mechanics.

The skills are outdated since a few patches now. I will update this guide after the arrival of the german BB line and include those at that time.

You need one skill of each level to unlock the skills of the next level. Except for that limitation you can swap the skill order how you see fit for your own play style.

The last skill point requires a large amount of experience points. Because of that it might be a good choice to keep a Lvl. 1 skill you want to have instead of farming for a higher level skill.

 

[Lightbaron]

And I have her again.

Buying her was the first thing I did after my gold arrived.

C'mon guys. Go to t6 fast so I can play her again with a good matchmaking

[zFireWyvern]

And I have her again.

Buying her was the first thing I did after my gold arrived.

Same here

[SyntheticApathy]

I have been wonder ever since they added the camo feature what the Warspite's camo looked like, since I don't have her myself and have at least 1 ships from the other nation I can view theirs and what they look like but not from the British tech tree. If possible can you please show a picture of her sporting her camos.

[Hanszeehock]

Actually the camo looks awful. I just don't understand why they don't use the awesome RL camos.

[Lightbaron]

That's how the paintings look like it the port.

 

[Zenith]

That's how the paintings look like it the port.

 

 

My eyes... they burn! 

[zFireWyvern]

They do look horrible indeed, I just use a skin personally. I'll be working on my own version of a skin for Warspite when I have the free time but until then I will use this one

 

 

[Sams_Baneblade]

 

My eyes... they burn! 

 

I vomited when I saw the first one.

 

But I think the second (the striped one) has some charm.

 

 

However, I think this is somewhat annoying there is so few patterns available and (in a certain way) that they have different effects.

I mean.. You want to improve the camo of a -let's say- DD. You want to buy camo, but the one you like doesn't have the desired effect.

So OR you play with the wrong effect, OR you play with the awful camo. Or no camo at all. Even if it's not dramatical, you are a bit screwed. :/

 

(Was this the Warspite's camo during WWII?)

[narbar]

Just brought this beauty, love the accuracy!  Bare metal though no camo!

[Ra97oR]

How is the average earning of this ship compared to the Atago?

 

I have played through both and they perform very well, but is the T8 earning far more or is it in line?

[Lightbaron]

How is the average earning of this ship compared to the Atago?

 

I have played through both and they perform very well, but is the T8 earning far more or is it in line?

 

I usually earn between 250k and 450k with her.

But my average damage with her is at ~80k what should be far above the average.

I don't have the Atago but from what I heared in the forum it appears to be easier to make credits with Atago than with Warspite.

Maybe somebody who has both can confirm or negate that.

[Scilya]

i like the review BUT the AA armament on the warspite is better than you give it creddit for. if a squadren comes to attack me they arnt all going back alive. i have killed almost 40 planes in a match where the carriers were determind to kill me.

[bathoz]

The Warspite's AA is not super useful for preventing strikes (it's too short range), but it does exact a cost for them.

[Rokasovski]

One more Warspite here, cmon guys hurry to t6 so we can play, playing vs bots its not fun and lucrative

 

[Salamander_]

I have this ship too, and I love her. Can't wait til we have the full Royal Navy tree to play with!

[PhroX]

I gave into temptation and picked her up again yesterday (had her in CB). Only played a couple of game, but damn she's fun. Highlight was landing a ~30k citadel on a Myogi who thought she could take me one-on-one

 

[caldark]

nice little review I picked her up in closed and got her again in open beta

 

[PyckenZot]

Great review of a great ship. The only thing I do not like about her is that (for me at least) I can't seem to have a single shell hit target at max range. They all nicely fall around my prey. Once within 14 km,... well, let's just say "heavy caliber"

 

Need to get used to the traverse speed of the main batteries too,...

[Naskoni]

So far the only thing I don't like about my Warspite was the inflated price I had to pay for it...

[damo74]

Also re-bought the Watspite

 

Rule Britannia!!

[DontShootBrah]

Do you guys know whether it'll be possible to purchase the Warspite again anytime soon?

[Lightbaron]

Do you guys know whether it'll be possible to purchase the Warspite again anytime soon?

 

You will most likely be able to buy her again but that probably won't be anytime soon.

 

[Ra97oR]

Can anyone confirm if their Warspite's secondary (first shell type) ever hit once? Mine never did, not even once in the games I have played with it so far.

 

Bug report you can add to: http://forum.worldofwarships.eu/index.php?/topic/19730-warspite-secondary-first-shell-type-never-does-any-damage-or-hits/page__pid__348047#entry348047

[Blixies]

By the way, I think you calculated the secondary range battery wrong.

You say it's maximum achievable range is 7.2 km. So I guess you calculated ((5 + 20%) + 20%) which is indeed 7.2 km.

But I believe its calculated (5 + (20% + 20%)) which would be 7 km.

 

Anyway great guide. + 1