Research Bureau: Hector

[The_EURL_Guy]

New Tier IX cruiser Hector has arrived!

Read it on the portal

[Sol_reginae]

Why do you diligently "stuff" the so-called "In a nutshell" section into any informational useful message? If you need to promote this very bad actress, the so-called illiterate columnist, make separate news releases on the site, which will be called "Be in the know."
At least the "cutie" - a disgusting vulgar person (((.

 

Result: article unread. And this is on your conscience.

[tocqueville8]

QUESTION: is the heal intentionally bad on this ship, or is it a bug?

 

I notice it only queues 10% of citadel damage, which is exceedingly rare for a Tier 9-10 light cruiser (only precedent is Vallejo) and unheard of for a super-light one (meaning with DD-caliber guns, like Jinan and Colbert). Things like Brest, Napoli and Puerto Rico are more battleship-like, which includes having some torpedo belt protection, so a 10% heal is the norm there.

 

Hector's description in the Armory mentions "low survivability", "weak armor and thin plating on the fore and aft-ends", but nothing specific about the heal.

 

Also, Dev Blog 373 (on Sept. 29th) mentions "Damage Control Party and Repair Party with standard settings", which was confirmed in this review: https://thedailybounce.net/world-of-warships/world-of-warships-supertest-commonwealth-tier-ix-premium-cruiser-hector/ a month later. Subsequent entries mention:

• a nerf to the surface concealment
• a nerf to the smoke-firing penalty
• a nerf to the turning radius
• a change from standard hydro to British long-duration, short-range hydro
• the ship's currency (RB points)

...but I couldn't find one about a nerf to the heal . Incidentally, the "Armada" video on the channel doesn't mention it, either.

 

To be clear: I would've gotten the ship anyway (not much else to spend RB points on...), but this feels like either a petty, last-second nerf, or an oversight.

[tsounts]

9 hours ago, tocqueville8 said:

QUESTION: is the heal intentionally bad on this ship, or is it a bug?

 

I notice it only queues 10% of citadel damage, which is exceedingly rare for a Tier 9-10 light cruiser (only precedent is Vallejo) and unheard of for a super-light one (meaning with DD-caliber guns, like Jinan and Colbert). Things like Brest, Napoli and Puerto Rico are more battleship-like, which includes having some torpedo belt protection, so a 10% heal is the norm there.

 

Hector's description in the Armory mentions "low survivability", "weak armor and thin plating on the fore and aft-ends", but nothing specific about the heal.

 

Also, Dev Blog 373 (on Sept. 29th) mentions "Damage Control Party and Repair Party with standard settings", which was confirmed in this review: https://thedailybounce.net/world-of-warships/world-of-warships-supertest-commonwealth-tier-ix-premium-cruiser-hector/ a month later. Subsequent entries mention:

• a nerf to the surface concealment
• a nerf to the smoke-firing penalty
• a nerf to the turning radius
• a change from standard hydro to British long-duration, short-range hydro
• the ship's currency (RB points)

...but I couldn't find one about a nerf to the heal . Incidentally, the "Armada" video on the channel doesn't mention it, either.

 

To be clear: I would've gotten the ship anyway (not much else to spend RB points on...), but this feels like either a petty, last-second nerf, or an oversight.

How would you compare this to Gibraltar? Which one would you consider more fun to play?

[tocqueville8]

10 hours ago, tsounts said:

How would you compare this to Gibraltar? Which one would you consider more fun to play?

Well, I've only played her a bit yesterday, so I can't say conclusively. The short version might be that Hector is a flawed, but decent defensive ship and Gibraltar an offensive, more dynamic one.

 

For one thing, the torps are very useful: in the first game I landed a Dev Strike on an Ibuki skirting around my concealment range, and then more hits on a Buffalo I knew would be coming out from behind an island. In another game, Dev Strike and First blood on a Halland loitering in the eastern corridor of Hotspot.

A better player might get even more mileage out of them, though the poor heal limits any brawling ideas.

 

The firepower is decent, the turret angles are wonky but not awful. Ballistics like the Colbert's, so I felt right at home. Top speed is fine.

 

The main issue with the Hector are the consumables:

• my Perth has the smoke module, which makes sense at a tier where radar is rare and you can do your thing in peace. As such, I didn't run SI, thinking I wouldn't have time to use 4 charges in most games. On the Hector I thought I needed to be more flexible, so I didn't carry over the module but I did respec into SI (and SE), in part for the heal
• as it turns out, the heal is so bad I never got to use the 4th charge, and the lack of survivability meant I had trouble going past the 2nd smoke: something or someone would sink me earlier. With a standard 33% heal, the rule of thumb is that I can use a full charge every time I eat a citadel (which probably comes with some pens/overpens, too) or a ship-launched torp. In the Hector, I had a game where a Soyuz sniped me early on for 2 citadels, and I still couldn't use a full heal: that made at least 2 out of 4 completely useless
• between smoke charges, you have 2.5 minutes when you need to find something to do. Maybe you can alternate smokes with a div partner, but solo it will get uncomfortable, at times. You'll also waste some smoke duration if you fully build into it. Basically, I find it hard to synchronize smoke cycle and gameplay.

Having said this, on those occasions where I got sunk early in the Hector, my instinct was to play a game in the...Colbert, which is a lot more fun. Unlike Hector's smoke, the defining consumable, the excellent speed boost, is on most of the time, and the heal is very good, too. I don't run SI on the Colbert for all the right reasons.

 

Now, on the Gibraltar, both the smoke and the heal are just fine, and the armor is good enough to bow-tank large cruisers and a few BBs. As such, SI is a no-brainer and you can push aggressively on occasion, forcing crossfires. The frontal firepower is outstanding and it overmatches 16 mm. I've run a double-rudder build and she's very agile. The smokes cycle comfortably.

Of course, with no HE, no torps and poor turret angles she's an awful kiter, so make sure you're not on the weak flank. If you get a messy, mid-range game, especially one in which you can push, the Gibraltar is going to be fun.

 

TL; DR: unless you're a god at brawling and torping, Gibraltar has more potential for exciting gameplay, and I'll take Colbert over Hector for the heal alone. Slava is also worth getting: a below-average performer for me, but one I play often because the guns are so satisfying. She becomes a lot better if you division with a CV player, as you'll have more broadsides to hit at range.

[tsounts]

53 minutes ago, tocqueville8 said:

Well, I've only played her a bit yesterday, so I can't say conclusively. The short version might be that Hector is a flawed, but decent defensive ship and Gibraltar an offensive, more dynamic one.

 

For one thing, the torps are very useful: in the first game I landed a Dev Strike on an Ibuki skirting around my concealment range, and then more hits on a Buffalo I knew would be coming out from behind an island. In another game, Dev Strike and First blood on a Halland loitering in the eastern corridor of Hotspot.

A better player might get even more mileage out of them, though the poor heal limits any brawling ideas.

 

The firepower is decent, the turret angles are wonky but not awful. Ballistics like the Colbert's, so I felt right at home. Top speed is fine.

 

The main issue with the Hector are the consumables:

• my Perth has the smoke module, which makes sense at a tier where radar is rare and you can do your thing in peace. As such, I didn't run SI, thinking I wouldn't have time to use 4 charges in most games. On the Hector I thought I needed to be more flexible, so I didn't carry over the module but I did respec into SI (and SE), in part for the heal
• as it turns out, the heal is so bad I never got to use the 4th charge, and the lack of survivability meant I had trouble going past the 2nd smoke: something or someone would sink me earlier. With a standard 33% heal, the rule of thumb is that I can use a full charge every time you eat a citadel (which probably comes with some pens/overpens, too) or a ship-launched torp. In the Hector, I had a game where a Soyuz sniped me early on for 2 citadels, and I still couldn't use a full heal: that made at least 2 out of 4 completely useless
• between smoke charges, you have 2.5 minutes when you need to find something to do. Maybe you can alternate smokes with a div partner, but solo it will get uncomfortable, at times. You'll also waste some smoke duration if you fully build into it. Basically, I find it hard to synchronize smoke cycle and gameplay.

Having said this, on those occasions where I got sunk early in the Hector, my instinct was to play a game in the...Colbert, which is a lot more fun. Unlike Hector's smoke, the defining consumable, the excellent speed boost, is on most of the time, and the heal is very good, too. I don't run SI on the Colbert for all the right reasons.

 

Now, on the Gibraltar, both the smoke and the heal are just fine, and the armor is good enough to bow-tank large cruisers and a few BBs. As such, SI is a no-brainer and you can push aggressively on occasion, forcing crossfires. The frontal firepower is outstanding and it overmatches 16 mm. I've run a double-rudder build and she's very agile. The smokes cycle comfortably.

Of course, with no HE, no torps and poor turret angles she's an awful kiter, so make sure you're not on the weak flank. If you get a messy, mid-range game, especially one in which you can push, the Gibraltar is going to be fun.

 

TL; DR: unless you're a god at brawling and torping, Gibraltar has more potential for exciting gameplay, and I'll take Colbert over Hector for the heal alone. Slava is also worth getting: a below-average performer for me, but one I play often because the guns are so satisfying. She becomes a lot better if you division with a CV player, as you'll have more broadsides to hit at range.

That was really helpful! 

[S_h_i_v_a]

6/10