Recommendations for a T9 Cruiser?

[DaBung]

I am not much of a cruiser player, but I would like 1 decent one for T9 just for the sake of a variety of options in my port. I have had the Roon (though it was ok, but I don’t particularly  like the majority rear facing turrets) and the Agir is my only one currently (weak). I have Hinden and Napoli at T10 and I like those. 
 

Any recommendations for fun/good T9 CLs that you can get now? Hopefully they are all there and correct in the poll. I didn’t include Alaska as it’s not available anymore. 
 

 

[ReDiR20]

Agir, overall best cruiser in the tier

[Panocek]

1 hour ago, ReDiR20 said:

Agir, overall best cruiser in the tier

Not really. Her armor layout does her no favors, while guns combine typical flaws of a large cruiser gun with German quirk of higher pen-worse damage. And you don't gain much from increasing pen from 51 to 76mm, while damage barely better than IJN heavy cruiser, with 20s reload and worse accuracy leaves something to be desired. And as you're slinging HE most of the time because AP is so unreliable and your hull is made of glass, you might as well play Azuma which is better for the job.

 

Personally I've kept Ibuki, I just find her much more pleasant to play than Zao with her abysmal firing arcs. Saint Louis was also nice, but just like Ibuki, she's effectively a repost of a tier 8 cruiser with tier 9 features.

 

I don't have Drake, but I suspect she might be actually enjoyable UK CA, without step-up citadel

[black_falcon120]

No Alaska? I can't play her, but I know people who love her.

[Nadrick]

Remember that "The best cruiser" always depends on your playstyle. Most votes, or most recommendations might not be the best for you - Try to specify what the best cruiser is, in your eyes :) 

Alaska is awesome though, and I've heard alot like Carnot aswell. If I had to get another cruiser, it would be Carnot. 

[Panocek]

2 minutes ago, black_falcon120 said:

No Alaska? I can't play her, but I know people who love her.

Alaska is great T9, but as OP stated, he wants ships currently available for purchase/acquisition  and its about 6 months till Black Friday, where one can hope for getting himself an Alaska

[Nit0]

Only tier 9 cruiser I don't have is Dalian.

Coming from someone who loves cruisers, I would say tier 9 is a good tier for this ship class. There are no bad tier 9 cruiser, but of course I do have some favourites.

 

Siegfried: The difference between this ship and Ægir is it's amazing AP. The guns on this cruiser makes this the most satisfying tier 9 cruiser to play.

 

Neptune: It's a lot of stuff you can nitpick about Neptune (especially the bad concealment), but the combination of firepower, torps and well positioned smokes makes this a fun cruiser to play. 

 

Azuma: Solid heavy cruiser for kiting. Easy to get high damage games.

 

Drake: Versatile cruiser for both kiting (not as easy to citadel compared to Albermale) and to help pushing caps. You also have options to improve its lackluster range with "Eye in the Sky" captain skill and Spotting Aircraft Modification 1 (bought with coal).

[Panocek]

1 minute ago, Nit0 said:

Siegfried: The difference between this ship and Ægir is it's amazing AP. The guns on this cruiser makes this the most satisfying tier 9 cruiser to play.

Also the most frustrating, when you don't have overmatch and enemy ship refuses to show broadside. 380mm AP is also somewhat outdated caliber on tier 9 and performance against even moderately angled BBs decreases sharply at usual combat ranges.

[anonym_cwVecOS6ecVy]

In case you did not know, you can search for a ship on WoWs numbers, scroll down and see the statistics for the ships of this class in this tier in comparison. Maybe it helps.

[DaBung]

2 minutes ago, Von_Pruss said:

In case you did not know, you can search for a ship on WoWs numbers, scroll down and see the statistics for the ships of this class in this tier in comparison. Maybe it helps.

I know. I do this for DDs where I know which stats matter, but with cruisers I don’t really know what to look for…. I kinda suspect it’s more in the armour layout that anything, which is hard to see in stats. I think it’s no coincidence that my favourite T10 cruisers are both ones known for good - exceptional armour schemes (Hindenburg & Napoli). 

[DaBung]

10 minutes ago, Panocek said:

Also the most frustrating, when you don't have overmatch and enemy ship refuses to show broadside. 380mm AP is also somewhat outdated caliber on tier 9 and performance against even moderately angled BBs decreases sharply at usual combat ranges.

I kinda agree, though I am bad cruiser player so it does not mean much. I don’t feel like Agir can carry games easily. 

[johncl]

In one word ....RIGA 

[GulvkluderGuld]

Most are kinda bad and the punishing current MM conditions makes it worse.

 

Krohnstadt my favorite. Have Alaska but never liked it.

Ægir and Riga are prob the best ones for map impact.

 

[invicta2012]

Ibuki and Drake. Carnot is a bit disappointing and Agir is a bit too big. 

[Verblonde]

I can't cruiser for toffee, so my recommendations would be deeply flawed (although I quite liked Donskoi and Ibuki); instead a question: is there any consensus yet on the impact that the superships will have on the desirability of T9 cruisers in general? I believe they'll face each other?

[Animalul2012]

Where is the "good armor", "strong guns" cruiser named Kronshtadt? You know the one with 15 and 30mm citadel deck and guns that make colombo a sniper?

[Panocek]

22 minutes ago, DaBung said:

I kinda agree, though I am bad cruiser player so it does not mean much. I don’t feel like Agir can carry games easily. 

I have both Agir and Siegfried, initially I was very hyped about latter "because big accurate guns". In practice, you can resort to good ol HE spamming with the former to make up for AP deficiencies, but Siegfried forced to use HE is so tragic you might as well not bother shooting. At the same time, "high accuracy" means if your aim isn't perfectly on point, entire salvo goes into the water or scores overpens instead pens/citadels.

 

Add to that obsolescence of 380mm caliber, being not quite up to the task of dealing with BB main belts at usual combat ranges, especially when they aren't showing perfect broadside, while 305mm are perfectly capable of farming AP pens on BB superstructures or overmatching odd brit cruiser and ye, spending not-easy-to-get RB points on this "unique cruiser" may or may not have been a mistake.

 

13 minutes ago, Verblonde said:

I can't cruiser for toffee, so my recommendations would be deeply flawed (although I quite liked Donskoi and Ibuki); instead a question: is there any consensus yet on the impact that the superships will have on the desirability of T9 cruisers in general? I believe they'll face each other?

They will bump into each other indeed, which is another concern when picking ships. Especially "premium" ones.

[FlyingBender]

Saint Louise is very fun!

[triumphgt6]

I see forumites are having fun promoting the Neptune!

[Verblonde]

3 minutes ago, triumphgt6 said:

I see forumites are having fun promoting the Neptune!

Wasn't she a bit of a monster back when AA had a purpose? Fond memories from that era, perhaps?

[triumphgt6]

Just now, Verblonde said:

Wasn't she a bit of a monster back when AA had a purpose? Fond memories from that era, perhaps?

Yes - fantastic AA. But now just meh. The problem with Neptune is the skyscraper citadel. I seriously always fancy my chances 1 to 1 if in a Fiji against a Neptune. There are some brilliant players who play it with Radar and seem to do well but TIX is a no go area for me and light cruisers! If I must, I take the Alaska.

[BrusilovX]

For the sheer LOLs - Austin.  An Atlanta on steriods.   But I only play her in co-op.

[_HomTanks_]

Don't spend any money on T9-T10 ships anymore. They will be facing superships. Get the non-tech tree ones only by using free in-game currencies.

 

Most fun has a wide range of definition depending on personal taste but when you say fun, it remidns me speed and hence, Saint Louis.

[DaBung]

I am surprised how popular Agir is in the poll. I honestly struggle to see why it is better than the Roon, other than the turret layout. Though I don’t pretend to have any degree of skill in it (or the Roon)… I talk as much for the perspective of fighting them both. 

[tocqueville8]

Just now, BrusilovX said:

For the sheer LOLs - Austin.  An Atlanta on steriods.   But I only play her in co-op.