Help chose Tier 8 premium

[Wildmoooon]

Which of the currently available tier 8 premium ships are good for ranked play and just general random battles? In simpler words which of t8 premiums doesn't require alot of skill to get good results?

[KratosTheUnforgiving]

personally, save you dosh, WG don't deserve anything until they change their ways, you may suffer not having a premium in ranked, as tech tree just as good and having all the bonus XP and credits is not what you play ranked for.

[Verblonde]

39 minutes ago, Wildmoooon said:

In simpler words which of t8 premiums doesn't require alot of skill to get good results?

Short answer: none. There are - IMO - no premiums in the game that are idiot-proof; the best you can hope for is to find something that gels well with your play style. To be clear: if you're rubbish with equivalent silver ships, you'll be rubbish with premiums, and vice versa.

 

First, let's get the other usual caveats out of the way:

• Do you really want to give WG money at the moment?
• Newer premium ships can be nerfed - caveat emptor.
• It's *generally* a good idea not to buy premium ships of a higher tier than where you're comfortable with silver ships (unless you're sticking to PvE).
• Submarines are coming; this may change the game out of all recognition and render some premiums obsolete overnight (quite a few don't get ASW for some lunatic reason).

Okay, with that said, some (possibly) vaguely useful things to think about (from the perspective of a below average WR player, and DD main i.e. me):

• You play mostly cruisers, so if you're comfortable there, perhaps have a look at one of Atago, Eugen, or Bagration; the proper cruiser players may disagree (and listen to the good ones if they do, rather than me), but I like all of them, especially Atago - they all have heals, and all have torps, for more versatility. Usefully, all three are not liable to nerfing (which is why I'm not suggesting Tone, which I like a lot as well).
• After that, you're playing quite a lot of BBs; frankly, I'm poorly qualified to comment here regarding PvP, as I like manly play and that gets you killed against real people. I would suggest asking a proper BB player for advice apropos what's good in the current meta, as I go for fun rather than effective (which means things like Tirpitz).
• DDs are my main thing, and at T8 (IMO) the best are probably Cossack, Loyang, and Kidd (not necessarily in that order, depending on opponents); none is nerfable, and all are highly effective. Stick a coal hydro mod on both Cossack and Loyang. Kidd gets a heal, which makes you quite hard to kill, if you know when to bravely run away and/or if the opposition don't know to finish off healing DDs. Note: all three of those require that you know how to pick your spots with gun use (i.e. don't blow your stealth when the entire opposing team have a shot at you).
• Probably avoid premium CVs; Saipan is awful (in most players' hands), and all the rest call for competence if you don't want to be a liability.

The other thing to mention is captains: it's a good idea to pick a premium at higher tiers where you have a reasonable (at least 10 points) captain available to put in her; T8+ is not generally the place to be trying to build up a captain from scratch. Ideally, pick premiums (at least early on) that work well with your silver captains e.g. the (now unavailable) MA is all about her secondaries, and the captains from the US BB line are best with a standard 'tank' build; Tirpitz works perfectly with a regular German BB captain, and so on. Don't forget though that - as of the rework - captains have class-specific skill trees, so you can put a BB captain in a premium DD and not have a stupid skill build.

[meuhbat]

Chkalov komrade 

[KillStealBoss]

Well, in the not so far past I would say that Lenin is the most consistent one. Also Massachusetts. 

Today? Maybe from cruisers Atago. DD - Cossack or LoYang, if you're a CV player - Kaga. 

[black_falcon120]

I mean massa was, but she got removed... 

[KillStealBoss]

31 minutes ago, Verblonde said:

Probably avoid premium CVs; Saipan is awful (in most players' hands), and all the rest call for competence if you don't want to be a liability.

Yeah Saipan is crap. And they're going to introduce it in black version. Oh man it'll be so bad when a newbie will buy it thinking it's good 

It was a hard to play before the rocket changes, now it's just like if it had permanently broken leg. 

 

[KillStealBoss]

4 minutes ago, black_falcon120 said:

I mean massa was, but she got removed... 

That's why I said "in not that far past". Cause yeah both of them are out. I really struggle to think about other T8 BB, sheet secondary changes Tirpitz might be ok. But why would anyone take it if there's a coal version of it on T9 that it's available via free resources and as T9 will earn more credits anyway. As a bonus it gets hydro. 

So maybe Roma? Idk. I had recently very good battles on her. Hard to say imho. But definitely not Vanguard. Kii is also lackluster. 

[black_falcon120]

18 minutes ago, MacArthur92 said:

That's why I said "in not that far past". Cause yeah both of them are out. I really struggle to think about other T8 BB, sheet secondary changes Tirpitz might be ok. But why would anyone take it if there's a coal version of it on T9 that it's available via free resources and as T9 will earn more credits anyway. As a bonus it gets hydro. 

So maybe Roma? Idk. I had recently very good battles on her. Hard to say imho. But definitely not Vanguard. Kii is also lackluster. 

Alabama?

[KillStealBoss]

3 minutes ago, black_falcon120 said:

Alabama?

Might be ok but some people don't like the slow shell velocity. Harder to aim at distance but for those who played NC and like it - yeah sure. As a bonus it gets way better torpedo protection and turns better than NC. 

[meuhbat]

If you really want a Massa, the black version should be available for black Friday in 2 months

[tocqueville8]

Seems like you've got a Saipan already.

 

It also seems like you're struggling a bit above T6, so if I were you I'd go for something lower than T8, or at least I'd get something with a heal, like an Atago or a Kidd.

[Hakssor]

Wait for Black Friday and get a Massa B.

[DeviousDave02]

If were talking CV's (not that I recommend getting a TVIII CV unless you know what your roughly doing with it) at TVIII your best off just getting Lexington and her Premium Camo (or the awesome Halloween Camo)

 

If you really want a Premium TVIII CV then your only real choice is Kaga.

 

Saipan as explained above (although I disagree she's bad) is very hard work and you need to know what your doing in her to do well. She's basically extreme mode CV with really good DPH but incredibly vulnerable squadrons due to their small size and slow restore and is not for a new CV captain (TBH she's a bit too much hard work in 90% of cases where any other CV would do the same job but... well... easier)

 

Graf Zeppelin is a meme boat and nothing else (Que @HansRoaming slapping me for dissing his boat *) Godly secondaries that are the equiv of having a heavy cruiser and DD worth of firepower strapped to each side of your ship but by gods the planes are an interesting mix of "Ye Gods it's awful" to "Meh plane is meh" - she used to have Hilarious (With a capital H) speed (200+ knots planes) but has been beaten with the nerf bat over several patches leaving her decidedly weak.

 

Indomitable is... well... bad. Super fast planes with tiny squadron sizes, no sustain and no ability to actually hurt anything quickly outside setting lots of RNG fires and praying.

 

New Russian Premium CV... can't say, don't own one. Going from the tech tree silver line Russki CV gameplay style I imagine it's Saipan'esc in it's a CV that requires skill to use so probably better learning the line before trying it.

 

Enterprise (hallow be thy name) Don't own (breaks down in tears) but is God like in decent hands, El2aZeR can do things in that ship which should be illegal. No longer available outside scam boxes.

 

Which leaves Kaga, big squadrons of lower tier planes with a massive regen capability allowing for losses without really noticing. Big attack waves with lots of ordinance going down range to make some ones day a bit worse, decent secondaries although she can be detected from low orbit and has a huge profile so trying to get close is a bad idea most times.

 

But again, Shokaku, Lexington, AVP, new Russian TVIII boat who's name I can't remember are TBH all either better or just as good (and free)  

 

 

*Sorry Hans

[WildWind84]

Kii sec. build

[tocqueville8]

10 minutes ago, DeviousDave02 said:

Saipan as explained above (although I disagree she's bad) is very hard work and you need to know what your doing in her to do well. She's basically extreme mode CV with really good DPH but incredibly vulnerable squadrons due to their small size and slow restore and is not for a new CV captain (TBH she's a bit too much hard work in 90% of cases where any other CV would do the same job but... well... easier)

Saipan is his most played ship.

 

13 minutes ago, DeviousDave02 said:

Which leaves Kaga, big squadrons of lower tier planes with a massive regen capability allowing for losses without really noticing.

Kaga planes actually regen quite slowly: about 90s for the torpedo bombers, compared to about 70s on the Shokaku.

[DeviousDave02]

11 minutes ago, tocqueville8 said:

Kaga planes actually regen quite slowly: about 90s for the torpedo bombers, compared to about 70s on the Shokaku.

Ok, Massive sustain would have been a better choice of words...  but the huge squadron sizes combined with the not "ye god awful" (except rocket planes 89 seconds... that's pretty bad)  regen speed and large deck parking still make it so the plane loses are not particularly noticeable (unless you actively try to eat all the flak)

[KillStealBoss]

44 minutes ago, DeviousDave02 said:

Saipan as explained above (although I disagree she's bad)

Her rocket planes are now limited. On Midway at least you have more planes per attack wave so you'll hit something. On Saipan they're good only against BBs. And when you get a matchmaking with 2-3 BBs per side only - they become almost useless. So I think because of that they should buff the DB and TB plane regeneration. Not by much but some buff is needed. 

[KillStealBoss]

52 minutes ago, DeviousDave02 said:

she used to have Hilarious (With a capital H) speed (200+ knots planes) but has been beaten with the nerf bat over several patches leaving her decidedly weak.

But on boost the DBs and TBs on GZ still go up to 226 knt using boost. Yes they could go 260+ knt with boost at day 1 of CV rework but that was really insane. The rocket planes are slow and go only 180 knt on boost (same as rocket planes of Implacable) which also needs little buff cause they are super squishy and can't hunt DDs anymore. 

[DeviousDave02]

8 minutes ago, MacArthur92 said:

But on boost the DBs and TBs on GZ still go up to 226 knt using boost. Yes they could go 260+ knt with boost at day 1 of CV rework but that was really insane. The rocket planes are slow and go only 180 knt on boost (same as rocket planes of Implacable) which also needs little buff cause they are super squishy and can't hunt DDs anymore. 

Again true, however she has been hit hard by all the CV changes  such as rocket plane aiming reticule, speed changes, AA changes etc. etc. (TBH I couldn't remember the exact speed her planes could hit but I do remember that being one of her strong points which was then toned down making it so the main advantage of her squadrons was no longer there.)

 

With the recent aiming reticule change she might be actually better now but I haven't played her enough since the change to comment on that.

 

Anyway leaving it here because otherwise it'll be derailing and get the mods ire for "talking about that which must not be talked about outside its containment thread" 

[KillStealBoss]

8 minutes ago, DeviousDave02 said:

TBH I couldn't remember the exact speed her planes could hit but I do remember that being one of her strong points which was then toned down making it so the main advantage of her squadrons was no longer there

I have such thingy that I do remember numbers. I don't know why but it is what it is. I do remember it had that insane 260 or 262 knt speed. The "global" CV plane speed nerf did hit her hard especially the rocket planes....

[Aethervoxx]

4 hours ago, Wildmoooon said:

Which of the currently available tier 8 premium ships are good for ranked play

#1) I advise not playing Ranked battles (as currently set up with no irreversible ranks) & #2) As others say, WG does not deserve a penny until it reforms itself (you know, when Hell freezes over) .

[The_Chiv]

5 hours ago, Verblonde said:

Short answer: none. There are - IMO - no premiums in the game that are idiot-proof; the best you can hope for is to find something that gels well with your play style. To be clear: if you're rubbish with equivalent silver ships, you'll be rubbish with premiums, and vice versa.

 

First, let's get the other usual caveats out of the way:

• Do you really want to give WG money at the moment?
• Newer premium ships can be nerfed - caveat emptor.
• It's *generally* a good idea not to buy premium ships of a higher tier than where you're comfortable with silver ships (unless you're sticking to PvE).
• Submarines are coming; this may change the game out of all recognition and render some premiums obsolete overnight (quite a few don't get ASW for some lunatic reason).

Okay, with that said, some (possibly) vaguely useful things to think about (from the perspective of a below average WR player, and DD main i.e. me):

• You play mostly cruisers, so if you're comfortable there, perhaps have a look at one of Atago, Eugen, or Bagration; the proper cruiser players may disagree (and listen to the good ones if they do, rather than me), but I like all of them, especially Atago - they all have heals, and all have torps, for more versatility. Usefully, all three are not liable to nerfing (which is why I'm not suggesting Tone, which I like a lot as well).
• After that, you're playing quite a lot of BBs; frankly, I'm poorly qualified to comment here regarding PvP, as I like manly play and that gets you killed against real people. I would suggest asking a proper BB player for advice apropos what's good in the current meta, as I go for fun rather than effective (which means things like Tirpitz).
• DDs are my main thing, and at T8 (IMO) the best are probably Cossack, Loyang, and Kidd (not necessarily in that order, depending on opponents); none is nerfable, and all are highly effective. Stick a coal hydro mod on both Cossack and Loyang. Kidd gets a heal, which makes you quite hard to kill, if you know when to bravely run away and/or if the opposition don't know to finish off healing DDs. Note: all three of those require that you know how to pick your spots with gun use (i.e. don't blow your stealth when the entire opposing team have a shot at you).
• Probably avoid premium CVs; Saipan is awful (in most players' hands), and all the rest call for competence if you don't want to be a liability.

The other thing to mention is captains: it's a good idea to pick a premium at higher tiers where you have a reasonable (at least 10 points) captain available to put in her; T8+ is not generally the place to be trying to build up a captain from scratch. Ideally, pick premiums (at least early on) that work well with your silver captains e.g. the (now unavailable) MA is all about her secondaries, and the captains from the US BB line are best with a standard 'tank' build; Tirpitz works perfectly with a regular German BB captain, and so on. Don't forget though that - as of the rework - captains have class-specific skill trees, so you can put a BB captain in a premium DD and not have a stupid skill build.

This is extremely sound advice. Especially when it comes to cruisers. Atago is by a great ship that the more you play the better you will get with other non premium ships. It has some forgiveness with that Heal and concealment but if you play her wrong you will be punished. Personally I found it to be a great ship to teach how to aim, and how to survive. The skills and tactics I learned in her I still use to this day.

 

[Miscommunication_dept]

Well all new premiums can be nerfed at any time.

 

If you like CVs, Chkalov is extremely good but I've heard CCs saying they think it might get nerfed.

 

I struggle to recommend buying any tier 8 premium as being bottom tier always makes it feel a little less special. 

 

I don't spend money on WG anymore but I did spend some stockpiled doubloons on the Chkalov the remainder of my doubloons will be spent on dockyard starter packs and possibly tier 9 premiums if a good one actually comes out!

 

I wish I could give better advice but  rarely play anything lower than tier 9 now as being two tiers down is unpleasant. 

[Hogger4169]

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING.

SAVE YOUR MONEY.