Azuma, Agir and Groningen

[Sir_Sinksalot]

Anyone got a little insight into these 3 FreeXP ships in regards their playsytle, pecking order for their tier and class and ultimately if they're worth bothering with?

 

Also, has anyone heard anything on the grapevine in regards future plans for FreeXP ships, are others being added, are the few currently on offer going to be removed?

 

I have enough for one of these ships and I while I don't want to waste FreeXP I could better spend maybe acquiring RB points towards a preferred RB ship option, equally if any of them are genuinely good I wouldn't want to waste the chance to bag one of them should they be removed in the future. 

[Klopirat]

Gerade eben, Sir_Sinksalot sagte:

are the few currently on offer going to be removed?

Zitat

In Update 12.4, IX Groningen, X Hayate, IX Azuma, and IX Ägir will no longer be available for purchase in the Tech Tree for Free XP. At the same time, players will have the opportunity to purchase these ships in the Armory in exchange for Coal.

https://worldofwarships.eu/en/news/game-updates/update-120-lunar-new-year/#content-additions-and-changes

[Karkong_the_Impaler]

Tier 9 is the new crap tier with supershits in the game. That being said:

• Groningen is a worse Sherman. I got both about the same time and I've never looked back at Groningen.
• Hayate is a Shima with worse conceal which can change the smoke for TRB. Dunno about guns, not really a favourite ship apparently. Also power crept by supershits. Don't have it.
• Ägir a secondary cruiser which was an idiotic concept in the first place and quite bad - and then additionally got with the commander skill rework - and nobody cared even then. Don't have it either.

Basically, the answer is no unless you have a special interest in Hayate for some obscure reason. Also, depending on the price, might be easier to get for coal if you need free exp for RB ships. Which are also free exp ships, just more expensive and with a timer, unless you don't value your sanity, then you can grind it too. Without multiplier, even, but people that do also get a colonoscopy for fun.

[lafeel]

28 minutes ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

Anyone got a little insight into these 3 FreeXP ships in regards their playsytle, pecking order for their tier and class and ultimately if they're worth bothering with?

 

Also, has anyone heard anything on the grapevine in regards future plans for FreeXP ships, are others being added, are the few currently on offer going to be removed?

 

I have enough for one of these ships and I while I don't want to waste FreeXP I could better spend maybe acquiring RB points towards a preferred RB ship option, equally if any of them are genuinely good I wouldn't want to waste the chance to bag one of them should they be removed in the future. 

I genuinly like the first two. Not a huge fan of DD's that don't have torpedoes so should come as no surprise that I am not a huge fan of Groningen.

[TheNubination]

Will there be any new FXP ships? I know they are phasing it out so if you know something else... 

[lafeel]

19 minutes ago, TheNubination said:

Will there be any new FXP ships? I know they are phasing it out so if you know something else... 

Think the fact that they are turning the remaining ones into coal ships answered this one with a resounding no.

[Verblonde]

3 hours ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

I have enough for one of these ships and I while I don't want to waste FreeXP I could better spend maybe acquiring RB points towards a preferred RB ship option

Most of my insight into the three ships you mention is based on Coop (I have all three, arguably twice in the case of Groningen/Friesland), so for use in proper modes you want others' feedback. FWIW Ägir is very good in Coop, for mission grinding, but that's true of most reasonably hefty cruisers that also have torps.

 

My feeling is that it might be worth saving your free xp for other things, if the free xp ones are converting to coal: I tend to find it easier to build up decent coal reserves than spare free xp.

[Itwastuesday]

Asthma is okay. It spams HE like cruisers do. It's good HE. 

 

Gröningen is a gunboat that spams HE from smoke. Decent enough.

 

Ägir is pretty meh to be honest. I like her sometimes, but she lacks the power of Alaska or the HE of Azuma.

[lafeel]

1 hour ago, Itwastuesday said:

Asthma is okay. It spams HE like cruisers do. It's good HE. 

 

Never forget she has pretty good AP too if they make the mistake to show you broadside because they think you're only shooting HE from her.

[HMS_Kilinowski]

6 hours ago, Sir_Sinksalot said:

Anyone got a little insight into these 3 FreeXP ships in regards their playsytle, pecking order for their tier and class and ultimately if they're worth bothering with?

 

Also, has anyone heard anything on the grapevine in regards future plans for FreeXP ships, are others being added, are the few currently on offer going to be removed?

 

I have enough for one of these ships and I while I don't want to waste FreeXP I could better spend maybe acquiring RB points towards a preferred RB ship option, equally if any of them are genuinely good I wouldn't want to waste the chance to bag one of them should they be removed in the future. 

 

I can honestly only recommend to invest heavily into FXP and use all the FXP bonusses necessary to get ALL currently available FXP ships that are still missing in your port. The question should not be which ships to get, but in what order, implying the risk of not getting the ships of the lowest priority. We are talking about grinding 3M FXP. That is reasonably achieveable until patch 12.4. I would even try to get the Hayate while you still can.

 

I checked your stats. It appears you like to play german brawlers in coop a lot. That suggests you might enjoy the Ägir, since it has torps, hydro, some secondaries and guns that should do good damage in drive-by situations. Maybe Ägir should be a priority.

 

The Groningen is still one of a kind. It is a hell of a DD killer. It has spamming from smoke and islands as a fallback option. On top it prints a lot of ressources, not just because it is a T9 ship, but also because it shreds planes. Altho I don't like DDs without dev-strike capability, the Groningen/Friesland often was surprisingly fun and effective for me in the past.

 

The Azuma is probably the least effective ship of the three. Long range HE spam often means sacrificing utility and map control, two things that win games. But I also like to play the Azuma. It is one of my late-night ships. When I get tired for any smart plays, the Azuma is a steady damage dealer. it works very well in divisions with other ships that don't compete for fires.

 

The 3M FXP are really not a big deal. The alternative is investing into 4.5 regrinds, which, depending on the volume of battles you play, will earn you 1 to 1.5 RB ships. The RB ships are not intentionally or systematically better than the FXP ships. They are also not that good to be at risk of removal.

The FXP ships for 1M FXP each are still the best deal for spending FXP that you're going to get by far. That is precisely the reason and the only reason, why they are removed.

[JohnMac79]

There will not be any more free xp ships.

[Itwastuesday]

3 hours ago, lafeel said:

Never forget she has pretty good AP too if they make the mistake to show you broadside because they think you're only shooting HE from her.

Yeah the guns are good either way. The ship is just rather poorly armored and a large target, but you can always work with decent guns.

[RuneSlayers]

In terms of Azuma you should not forget that you also can get the Yoshino for coal. A pimped Azuma on T-10 with additional 4x4 20km Shima torps. Nice trolling potential. In terms of the guns, same playstyle as the Azuma. 

[Onsterfelijke]

Groningen has HE but it's AP is where you realy do damage with. But the fire start capacity is good and it can hurt planes.

[Panocek]

6 hours ago, HMS_Kilinowski said:

The Groningen is still one of a kind. It is a hell of a DD killer. It has spamming from smoke and islands as a fallback option. On top it prints a lot of ressources, not just because it is a T9 ship, but also because it shreds planes. Altho I don't like DDs without dev-strike capability, the Groningen/Friesland often was surprisingly fun and effective for me in the past.

Groningen isn't one of a kind since Sherman exists as dedicated gunship. And once she goes Coal, there's little reason to get her when objectively much better gunship, Forrest Sherman, exists while both can and will face supershits. And both are ships made in steel with some peacetime service history to them.

One still need to find at least 10point captain in niche nation though, that or fork out little bit of Coal/Doubloons to get whatwasit Dutch commander from the Armory.

 

7 hours ago, lafeel said:

Never forget she has pretty good AP too if they make the mistake to show you broadside because they think you're only shooting HE from her.

Azuma/Yoshino AP penetration is actually above Alaska and Agir, only shell damage is lagging behind.

 

Still, Azuma vs Agir is like "which kneecap you want to have surgically removed with a shotgun", alternatively you're desperate for hightier German/IJN premium """cruiser""" and/or you want them for weeb reasons

[Miscommunication_dept]

13 hours ago, Karkong_the_Impaler said:

Tier 9 is the new crap tier with supershits in the game. That being said:

• Groningen is a worse Sherman. I got both about the same time and I've never looked back at Groningen.
• Hayate is a Shima with worse conceal which can change the smoke for TRB. Dunno about guns, not really a favourite ship apparently. Also power crept by supershits. Don't have it.
• Ägir a secondary cruiser which was an idiotic concept in the first place and quite bad - and then additionally got with the commander skill rework - and nobody cared even then. Don't have it either.

Basically, the answer is no unless you have a special interest in Hayate for some obscure reason. Also, depending on the price, might be easier to get for coal if you need free exp for RB ships. Which are also free exp ships, just more expensive and with a timer, unless you don't value your sanity, then you can grind it too. Without multiplier, even, but people that do also get a colonoscopy for fun.

Agir was only a secondary cruiser in testing.

[Miscommunication_dept]

8 minutes ago, Panocek said:

 

 

Azuma/Yoshino AP penetration is actually above Alaska and Agir, only shell damage is lagging behind.

 

Still, Azuma vs Agir is like "which kneecap you want to have surgically removed with a shotgun", alternatively you're desperate for hightier German/IJN premium """cruiser""" and/or you want them for weeb reasons

AP Yoshino/Azuma always surprises me.

 

When I'm in  a light cruiser, it's  painful surprise!

[Panocek]

2 minutes ago, Miscommunication_dept said:

Agir was only a secondary cruiser in testing.

She still could use secondary build to decent effect, with her 32mm penning secondaries from get go.

[Miscommunication_dept]

1 hour ago, Panocek said:

She still could use secondary build to decent effect, with her 32mm penning secondaries from get go.

When she could spec secondary skills her base range was 5km. Siegfried was the one with improved secondary range. I used to run it as a secondary cruiser.

[Ubertron_X]

Azuma is build for one thing and excels at it: Spamming HE from afar (with all pros and cons that come with it).

Ägir, while not a bad ship at all, firmly falls into the jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none category and depending on playstyle and personal preference can either be more "jack" or more "none".

Groningen, we don't talk about Groningen! Jokes aside the ship is ok if you like the torpedoless, smoke firing DD playstyle. I severly despise this playstyle because a Groningen will be assinged the same slot as a DD better suited for DD tasks (contesting caps, deterring enemy advance, spotting) so I avoid playing mine and can't comment on it much.

[Karkong_the_Impaler]

4 hours ago, HMS_Kilinowski said:

The FXP ships for 1M FXP each are still the best deal for spending FXP that you're going to get by far. That is precisely the reason and the only reason, why they are removed.

 

These are crap port queens with little to no entertainment value, they are worth nothing. Feel free to disagree if the ship or the gameplay style just clicks with you - but just for having?

That's dangerously close to the "collector" mindset, the truly philatelist who didn't realize digital goods are gone when the server is shut down and selling rare ships for a cashout isn't possible. I know one, 500 ships and he can't competently play a single one of them.

 

If you don't know what else to do with your billions of free exp, sure, go for it, that's also worthless if there is nothing left to buy with it.

 

 

[Karkong_the_Impaler]

2 hours ago, Miscommunication_dept said:

Agir was only a secondary cruiser in testing.

Yeah, now it's entirely

If you really, really insist, get the Sevastopol, that one at least has fun gimmicks.

[NewHorizons_1]

31 minutes ago, Karkong_the_Impaler said:

These are crap port queens with little to no entertainment value, they are worth nothing. Feel free to disagree if the ship or the gameplay style just clicks with you - but just for having?

 

9 hours ago, HMS_Kilinowski said:

The FXP ships for 1M FXP each are still the best deal for spending FXP that you're going to get by far. That is precisely the reason and the only reason, why they are removed.

Their value depends on the value of your account. If you've not got that many coal ships then the fact you can buy these for FreeXP (now) and use your coal for a different ship is useful too.

So it kinda depends how much relative value an individual player puts on FreeXP & coal.

And that depends on what the player uses FreeXP for. If they're using it for actively resetting lines for RB points then they'll assign more value to it than myself (who doesn't).

 

For me, I've got most FreeXP ships**, and I don't regret it. They all have their own character and I use most of them daily for slowly training up commanders. But there's still plenty of coal ships left in the armoury.

Granted, I've got a vastly different viewpoint from @Karkong_the_Impaler regarding T9s as I avoid that particular problem of T11s (and subs) by preserving what's left of my sanity in co-op.

 

** Groningen, Agir, Alaska, Nelson and even Hayate.

[Karkong_the_Impaler]

Just now, NewHorizons_1 said:

preserving what's left of my sanity in co-op.

[Miscommunication_dept]

Firefly was cancelled too early. Good movie though…