Coal Ships Worth AVOIDING

[Sir_Sinksalot]

Hi guys.

 

Sadly I still haven't pulled the trigger on any coal ship yet lol. I just don't know enough about them and it would be great if we had the option to rent these ships for a "once off" week in exchange for some coal or credits(Maybe you devs can make that happen? You do ship rentals already so... why not?).

 

Anyway, there's been coal ships highlighted that are considered good, strong and/or fun. Of course, while some coal ships are undoubtedly strong for their class and tier, another factor that also makes a coal ship good and likeable for a player simply boils down to that players class preference and style of play... they either click with a ship and love it, or for them the ship sucks balls. But that doesn't necessarily mean another player will feel that way about the same ship/ships.

 

Unfortunately however there are always the runts of the litter. Ships that will undoubtedly simply be weak and pathetic whatever way a player wants to play them or playstyle preference. That's a ship I'd really rather avoid in my noob ignorance of these coal ships on offer. So by all means, please enlighten me to the ships that can be considered ummm... "For the love of God do NOT buy that floating joke!!". Maybe there are no bad eggs?

 

Thank you kindly.

[Montrala]

Generally old coal ships got power crept, so you need to asses each one. Also low tier cruiser are usually nothing special, but there are "gems" like "Charleston" if you like to play low tier from time to time.

 

What i can tell is that for e.g. Leone looks like very bad DD. I also hear that Flint is hard to play now. On the other hand I still enjoy Błyskawica, while she is considered totally power-crept.

[Sir_Sinksalot]

21 minutes ago, Montrala said:

On the other hand I still enjoy Błyskawica, while she is considered totally power-crept.

 

Yes it surprised me by how regular this DD featured in PvP mode battles when I was grinding T7->T9 BB's recently and I just assumed it was noobs playing the highest tier "cheap" coal ship they could get their hands on but tbh the Blyska generally gave a good account of itself for the lower tier DD it always featured as in my battles. 

 

During the battle countdown if I saw the teammate DD in front of my BB was a Blyska I was l like "Hmmm, not sure I want to be following that down a flank tbh... it will probably get killed quickly and then I'll get farmed by unseen cruisers fapping behind islands" and might cross over to the other flank instead to my other teammate with the stronger looking T8 DD but it wasn't performing as bad as I thought and even got to the topside of the XP result sheet during some wins. Never did purchase that DD myself though. The less than ideal camo and that delightful T7 vs T9 MM put me off.

[Montrala]

Blyska is still my most played ship in Randoms so far (270 battles . I got her as my first premium for coal and despite playing her mostly in times when I was still 40%WR-ish player I have 58+%WR (this is above my total WR) on her and I learned "how to DD" on her. Also trained my first 19pt captain. So sometimes getting sub-optimal ship can do some good :)

 

BTW I build Błyska for guns, with either range skill for farming or radio location for capping and DD hunting.

[Yedwy]

Take Neustrashimy she is worth it, trust me, that thing is amazing…

[Procrastes]

20 hours ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

Yes it surprised me by how regular this DD featured in PvP mode battles when I was grinding T7->T9 BB's recently and I just assumed it was noobs playing the highest tier "cheap" coal ship they could get their hands on but tbh the Blyska generally gave a good account of itself for the lower tier DD it always featured as in my battles. 

 

During the battle countdown if I saw the teammate DD in front of my BB was a Blyska I was l like "Hmmm, not sure I want to be following that down a flank tbh... it will probably get killed quickly and then I'll get farmed by unseen cruisers fapping behind islands" and might cross over to the other flank instead to my other teammate with the stronger looking T8 DD but it wasn't performing as bad as I thought and even got to the topside of the XP result sheet during some wins. Never did purchase that DD myself though. The less than ideal camo and that delightful T7 vs T9 MM put me off.

The Blyskawica has a peculiar history in the World of Warships.

 

Back when she was first introduced, she was promoted as the go-to ship for open water stealth fire, which was still a thing at that time. It was one of her official selling points, but she was strong in other areas as well, with good guns, good torpedo armament, half-decent detection radius and a notably high speed.

 

When open water stealth fire was removed - which was a good decision by Wargaming, by the way - the Blyskawica retained her other, overall good charactistics. But as time went by she got more and more power-crept with the arrival of such ships as the Haida and the British and Pan-Asian destroyer lines. These days, only her high speed and her excellent gun ballstics are much to boast of, as she will be outspotted and outmaneuvred and often quite simply outmatched in a fight with most of her same-tier counterparts. She has received a few token buffs, but nothing to change the fact that she's a bit of a tired, old has-been (although a good-looking one). In an action movie about destroyers, she would be played by Mickey Rourke.

 

As anyone who has seen a Mickey Rourke movie can testify to, though, one shouldn't dismiss a Mickey Rourke character. The Blyskawica can still give a good account of herself, and moreover, she is often captained by the kind of veteran players that will make short of work of cocky young new-comers irrespective of any ship and tier differences. I have seen a Blyska wipe the floor with a shiny new hipster DD, a bit too cool for its torpedo tubes, on more than one occasion.

[tocqueville8]

Just now, Sir_Sinksalot said:

During the battle countdown if I saw the teammate DD in front of my BB was a Blyska I was l like "Hmmm, not sure I want to be following that down a flank tbh... it will probably get killed quickly and then I'll get farmed by unseen cruisers fapping behind islands" and might cross over to the other flank instead to my other teammate with the stronger looking T8 DD but it wasn't performing as bad as I thought and even got to the topside of the XP result sheet during some wins. Never did purchase that DD myself though. The less than ideal camo and that delightful T7 vs T9 MM put me off.

 

The Blyska was for a while my highest-tier DD, highest-tier premium (along with the Nelson) and one of my most-played ships.

Sure, she's not a cap contester, but she can put the hurt on anyone with those 7 barrels and high fire chance.

 

Considering I was largely out of my depth at T7 at the time, and likely with a 10-12 point captain only, she did fine by me.

 

Speaking of DDs, you might read all sorts of terrible things about the Z-44, but I find her very reliable, if unspectacular.

[KillStealBoss]

1 hour ago, Montrala said:

Leone

Is it for coal?

[KillStealBoss]

8 minutes ago, Procrastes said:

The Blyskawica has a peculiar history in the World of Warships.

 

Back when she was first introduced, she was promoted as the go-to ship for open water stealth fire, which was still a thing at that time. It was one of her official selling points, but she was strong in other areas as well, with good guns, good torpedo armament, decent detection radius and a notably high speed.

 

When open water stealth fire was removed - which was a good decision by Wargaming, by the way - the Blyskawica retained her other, overall good charactistics. But as time went by she got more and more power-crept with the arrival of such ships as the Haida and the British and Pan-Asian destroyer lines. These days, only her high speed and her excellent gun ballstics are much to boast of, as she will be outspotted and outmaneuvred and often quite simply outmatched in a fight with many of her same-tier counterparts. She has received a few token buffs, but nothing to change the fact that she's a bit of a tired, old has-been (although a good-looning one). In an action movie about destroyers, she would be played by Mickey Rourke.

 

As anyone who has seen a Mickey Rourke movie can testify to, though, one shouldn't dismiss a Mickey Rourke character. The Blyskawica can still give a good account of herself, and moreover, she is often captained by the kind of veteran players that will make short of work of cocky young new-comers irrespective of any ship and tier differences. I have seen a Blyska wipe the floor with a shiny new hipster DD, a bit too cool for its torpedo tubes, on more than one occasion.

Also getting more and more into T9 MM then in the past didn't help. In the past many people were playing T5 but when they introduced T9 premiums - the T9 became very popular tier to farm credits. 

[Panocek]

With current roster of (hightier) coal ships, its rather case of "pick your poison" than "this is clearly good, while this is stinker", as all ships can be described as "okay, fun when stars align" at best. Which may be seen as a good thing, except when you bump into boomer with older, "better" premium boat. 

 

Błyskawica is "powercrept" as in, you have tech tree Jervis and Gadjah Mada, carrying similar gunnery, much nastier torpedo payload (albeit only 7km range in Jervis case) while having noticeably better concealment, of 6.3km and 6.1km respectively, compared to Błyskawica own 6.8km. Then you have Haida with identical gunnery to both Jervis and GM, but that one also have 5.7km concealment, making her competitive against higher tiers. Though only 4 torps and without Cossack grade magic reload speed leave something to be desired.

 

Obviously all these don't have the best time when uptiered.

 

Duke of York, in a vaccum, is okay BB with gimmicks being hydro and improved ricochet angles on AP. Sadly, her all-or-nothing armor layout combined with 26mm plating means you will be farmed to kingom come by overmatching AP, also any tier 8 CL or even Akizuki gang will have a field day farming you.

 

Lazo - Shchors exists for free and both were hit hard by IFHE/Armor rework

[Miscommunication_dept]

Don’t buy Marco Polo or Z-44.

 

Most if the others have something that makes them appealing. These don’t.

[Montrala]

26 minut temu, MacArthur92 napisał:

Is it for coal?

 

That I was not sure out of top of my head, as I got it from container, but I'm sure that it's meh ;)

[Verblonde]

2 hours ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

Maybe there are no bad eggs?

I'm not sure there is anything that's utterly worthless in the coal roster (but do be aware of what others have said apropos specific lower tier ships); it is worth thinking about the sorts of ships you will personally gel with e.g. Salem is generally felt to be pretty decent, but I shouldn't go anywhere near PvP with her, as I can't cruiser for toffee, and so on.

 

If you don't have many/any coal ships already, I would suggest picking something that coincides with your playing preferences and skill-set, such that you get maximum use from it (rather than going for something quirkier)...

[Sir_Sinksalot]

So most are not actually all that great in truth? Fair enough.

 

The one I was kinda tempted by and almost pulled the trigger on was the Pommern. I really shouldn't pass judgement on a ship I don't have but from playing a lot of battle against Pommerns with other BB's recently during grinds I do not see as a threat tbh. They never really performed well and in truth I'm actually a little happy if I encounter an enemy Pommern. Is this a case of bad ship or bad player using a good ship... or bad player with a bad boat lol!!? Honestly my FdG had a field day against Pommerns.

 

Now I have seen a couple of YouTube vids where the guy says the Pommern is "one of the best coal BB's in the game!!" well ya but... it's also one of THREE available higher tier BB's for coal so the competition ain't exactly much with only 3 ships is it lol!! So maybe more accurate is the Pommern is the "Best of a bad bunch" or "Sucks balls the least" ahaha! Sorry... maybe it is good, it's hard to know without actually having it but I do have the apparently similar FdG and played plenty of battles with the Bismarck and really enjoyed both of those grinds. Pom has torps? Who cares though. Honestly in a competitive PvP mode with even slightly experienced players that's just never going to be a factor. Players know about the Pom, they know it has torps, they know it has wonky accuracy with terrible sigma smaller cal guns that probably won't hurt but is best farmed at range because of it's turtleback armor and potent secondary guns but that's it, keep the Pom at range and farm freely, no torps, not secondaries, no big guns and no accuracy. This means "one of the best coal ships"?? righhhhhhhhhht. 

 

Well like I said maybe when held against the only other 2 BB's on offer. The Kearsarge. Ya, that's been another big beautiful hp pinata whenever I've encountered them during battles being honest. What's most hilarious about this ship is when the plethora of noob users is flying their Tiny Tims down the map blissfully unawares that their city sized ship is cruising gracefully full broadside in front of most of the enemy teams hard hitting guns lol!! "Weeee I have airplanes... my ships dead??... what???" ahahaha!!. Right so that's not much competition for the Pom there then. Probably another unflattering reflection of what's probably a decent T9 gimmick BB/CV hybrid if used sensibly which they have not been so far during encouters. This leaves the Marco Polo as the only other measuring stick of what can be considered "one of the best" but again, since there's only 3 BB's on offer, we can say any of them are "one of the best" at always be correct. Although perhaps a more accurate description might be the Pommern "Is not as bad as the other two" rather using the term "best" which implies a very good strong ship lol. Then again, maybe it is when actually used properly.

[Seraphice]

2 hours ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

Hi guys.

 

Sadly I still haven't pulled the trigger on any coal ship yet lol. I just don't know enough about them and it would be great if we had the option to rent these ships for a "once off" week in exchange for some coal or credits(Maybe you devs can make that happen? You do ship rentals already so... why not?).

 

Anyway, there's been coal ships highlighted that are considered good, strong and/or fun. Of course, while some coal ships are undoubtedly strong for their class and tier, another factor that also makes a coal ship good and likeable for a player simply boils down to that players class preference and style of play... they either click with a ship and love it, or for them the ship sucks balls. But that doesn't necessarily mean another player will feel that way about the same ship/ships.

 

Unfortunately however there are always the runts of the litter. Ships that will undoubtedly simply be weak and pathetic whatever way a player wants to play them or playstyle preference. That's a ship I'd really rather avoid in my noob ignorance of these coal ships on offer. So by all means, please enlighten me to the ships that can be considered ummm... "For the love of God do NOT buy that floating joke!!". Maybe there are no bad eggs?

 

Thank you kindly.

As for "really dont get these" I dont think there are any in the coal selection.

Like some others have mentioned, it comes down a lot to preference. What are you looking for? TX/T9? Maybe something lower like T7? or even lower like T3?
What kind of type are you looking for? A BB, cruiser, DD?
What kind of playstyle do you like, and what are you looking for in a ship to enjoy it?

This information could help people help you.

You could also try searching on the subreddit, as "which coal ship to get" is a very frequently asked question there as well and you're sure to find some opinions there.
You can also refer to a post I made earlier on a similar topic which could answer some of your questions:

Fair seas captain!
~Sera

[Sir_Sinksalot]

1 minute ago, Seraphice said:

As for "really dont get these" I dont think there are any in the coal selection.

Like some others have mentioned, it comes down a lot to preference. What are you looking for? TX/T9? Maybe something lower like T7? or even lower like T3?
What kind of type are you looking for? A BB, cruiser, DD?
What kind of playstyle do you like, and what are you looking for in a ship to enjoy it?

This information could help people help you.

You could also try searching on the subreddit, as "which coal ship to get" is a very frequently asked question there as well and you're sure to find some opinions there.
You can also refer to a post I made earlier on a similar topic which could answer some of your questions:

Fair seas captain!
~Sera

 

Thanks.

 

Sure, preference and styles and wants and needs are all a factor of course.

 

Might the WoWS WG team give serious consideration to a "Try before you buy" one-off rental on a coal(and steel) ship? 

 

The thing is, I know some players can rack up a lot of coal and steel quickly but for me and others it doesn't build to those required levels all that quickly in fact this will be my very first commitment to a higher tier coal ship. Because of this, I am very very very very slow to actually get one now that I have enough because I just don't want that sinking feeling(pun intended albeit a bad one)) after I take a chance on a ship I THINK I'll like but then quickly discover it wasn't the type of ship I thought it might play like and in fact I actually don't like it at all and will rarely ever play it.

[tocqueville8]

Just now, Sir_Sinksalot said:

The thing is, I know some players can rack up a lot of coal and steel quickly but for me and others it doesn't build to those required levels all that quickly in fact this will be my very first commitment to a higher tier coal ship. Because of this, I am very very very very slow to actually get one now that I have enough because I just don't want that sinking feeling(pun intended albeit a bad one)) after I take a chance on a ship I THINK I'll like but then quickly discover it wasn't the type of ship I thought it might play like and in fact I actually don't like it at all and will rarely ever play it.

 

Watch some replays, it'll give you an idea of what the ship plays like.

 

You can find plenty that are on Youtube from here, just checkins some boxes: https://replayswows.com/site/index/sort/uploaded_at.desc/video/1/

 

[VuilbaardGames]

Wait for the Forrest Sherman, that one will be fun and slightly on the OP side when it arrives, esp. considering the latest changes

[Seraphice]

5 minutes ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

Might the WoWS WG team give serious consideration to a "Try before you buy" one-off rental on a coal(and steel) ship? 

I will be sure to forward your suggestion, however I dont know of any such plans in the pipeline for the foreseeable future.

Please keep in mind that if you buy a ship from the armory that isnt part of a bundle or container, you can still choose to have it refunded if you only played 1 battle with it, though I would advise you not to use this too often as a "try it out mechanic" as this can only be done every 6 months.

Fair seas!
~Sera

[Sir_Sinksalot]

21 minutes ago, Seraphice said:

I will be sure to forward your suggestion, however I dont know of any such plans in the pipeline for the foreseeable future.

Please keep in mind that if you buy a ship from the armory that isnt part of a bundle or container, you can still choose to have it refunded if you only played 1 battle with it, though I would advise you not to use this too often as a "try it out mechanic" as this can only be done every 6 months.

Fair seas!
~Sera

 

Thanks, much appreciated. No harm in asking and putting that idea on their radar. Nothing lose, everything to gain. 

 

[Panocek]

47 minutes ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

The one I was kinda tempted by and almost pulled the trigger on was the Pommern. I really shouldn't pass judgement on a ship I don't have but from playing a lot of battle against Pommerns with other BB's recently during grinds I do not see as a threat tbh. They never really performed well and in truth I'm actually a little happy if I encounter an enemy Pommern. Is this a case of bad ship or bad player using a good ship... or bad player with a bad boat lol!!? Honestly my FdG had a field day against Pommerns.

Pommern have Atrocious (with capital, bold and itallic A) firing arcs, even compared to FdG. And that requires showing very chonky amount of broadside to bring rear guns to bear. And unlike FdG, Pommern doesn't have quick reload (33s base reload, 29s with Reload mod) and can be noticeably less consistent with worse Sigma of 1.5 compared to 1.8 in FdG. 380mm caliber also doesn't quite help when every cruiser and their mom have some form of 27mm+ plating nowadays.

 

Torps at least give you one yolo possibility, but then I've seen more than plenty of Tirpitzes and Pommerns throwing their ship away in effort to launch torps.

[Verblonde]

51 minutes ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

Pommern is the "Best of a bad bunch" or "Sucks balls the least"

My feeling is that Pommern is probably fine (although bear in mind I don't play BBs properly very often); she can be great fun though - I have mine built respectably manly, and they spend most of their time being hilarious firework displays in Coop (and/or doing missions).

 

The other thing that Pommern has excelled at in the past is 'tiny team competitive' at T9 (although I'm fairly confident that one season was deliberately timed to sell more Pommerns, or rather the gamble box she originally came from), so 1v1 or 3v3 - that's a pretty niche reason to pick up a T9 premium, but if they happen again, anyone with Pommern(s) will be glad they have them.

 

Thing is, those are not particularly good reasons to get Pommern as a first/early coal ship (unless you're a Coop main, in which case fill yer boots, as I'm assured the Young People say), but they are factors to bear in mind.

 

Personally, I think the best coal ship at the moment is probably Neustrashimy, but that isn't remotely helpful for anyone that doesn't get on with DDs...

[Thalandor_gaming]

Vor 2 Stunden, gopher31 sagte:

Don’t buy Marco Polo or Z-44.

 

Most if the others have something that makes them appealing. These don’t.

I agree.

[Migantium_Mashum]

3 hours ago, Yedwy said:

Take Neustrashimy she is worth it, trust me, that thing is amazing…

She is an excellent DD and I second that.

[Migantium_Mashum]

1 hour ago, Panocek said:

Pommern have Atrocious (with capital, bold and itallic A) firing arcs, even compared to FdG. And that requires showing very chonky amount of broadside to bring rear guns to bear. And unlike FdG, Pommern doesn't have quick reload (33s base reload, 29s with Reload mod) and can be noticeably less consistent with worse Sigma of 1.5 compared to 1.8 in FdG. 380mm caliber also doesn't quite help when every cruiser and their mom have some form of 27mm+ plating nowadays.

 

Torps at least give you one yolo possibility, but then I've seen more than plenty of Tirpitzes and Pommerns throwing their ship away in effort to launch torps.

Once you learn the firing Arc of her guns Pommern is actually a tough cookie especially if you don't rely on all turrets but just angle with the front ones.