ok tell me how to "tank" damage in a Sea battle

[icedlemon]

so, i was told i should go in front of my fleet to SOAK damage because i'm in a battleship, thus i should tank. But, how the heck should i suppose to do that?

It's not world of tank in which i can go stand between the enemy and my teammate or poke first around a corner to take the hit.

Nor is it world of warcraft, in which i can taunt in PvE and slow/stun to peel for my teammate in PvP.

It is on the OCEAN, and everyone has guns that can shoot anything in their range! The only situation the enemy is shooting me instead of the cleverland besides me is either the cleve park right beside my ship 0 meter away, or the enemy is stupid enough to ignore the bigger threat.

So, those people who say, "battleship is ok just go tank for your team" what the heck is in your mind? Pls enlighten me with your secret knowledge so i can finnally get away from noobiness.

[Thonar]

How to tank damage?

Don't get hit.

[icedlemon]

How to tank damage?

Don't get hit.

 

well, my presence there in my Kongo certainly wont increase the maneuverbiliy of the ships around me...or make the pilots around me more aware of incoming fire...sadly...

[mtm78]

Tanking damage in a BB is quite possible against other BB's shooting AP at you ( your can angle against that in most bb's except tier XI IJN which is made of cardboard ). You can NOT tank damage from cruisers as they will HE spam you if you're to far ahead. 

 

IMO, a BB should be behind friendly cruisers, who should be behind a DD. Cruisers will provide AAA screen for the BB, DD will spot for entire team ( just as CV if present ), CA/CL will fend off enemy DD's and assist friendly BB's with engaging enemy BB/CA/CL. 

[ironhammer500]

Point you ship slightly angled going front on to them, sure you lose firepower but you gain armour...

[icedlemon]

Tanking damage in a BB is quite possible against other BB's shooting AP at you ( your can angle against that in most bb's except tier XI IJN which is made of cardboard ). You can NOT tank damage from cruisers as they will HE spam you if you're to far ahead. 

 

IMO, a BB should be behind friendly cruisers, who should be behind a DD. Cruisers will provide AAA screen for the BB, DD will spot for entire team ( just as CV if present ), CA/CL will fend off enemy DD's and assist friendly BB's with engaging enemy BB/CA/CL. 

that's precisely the point i'm trying to make here, i can tank and only tank for MYSELF, not the team, i dont know what is in the mind of those who claim BB is the tank for the TEAM.

[AgarwaenME]

that's precisely the point i'm trying to make here, i can tank and only tank for MYSELF, not the team, i dont know what is in the mind of those who claim BB is the tank for the TEAM.

 

Possibly that BBs aren't so far back, sitting at max range, that the enemy has nothing else to shoot at than the less armoured members on your team.

[mtm78]

that's precisely the point i'm trying to make here, i can tank and only tank for MYSELF, not the team, i dont know what is in the mind of those who claim BB is the tank for the TEAM.

 

As above, you need to be close enough to the cruisers so they don't get focused fire by entire enemy team. You do this by making yourself a priority target, being close behind the cruiser but being a bigger threat due to your big guns.

[Makoniel]

Reminds me of my best game ever in Yamato, on Ocean map, 1 night before the wipe. I tanked the whole ennemy battlegroup composed of 2 Iowa, 1 Montana and 1 Izumo, then survived to tell the tale. How? 

Simply angling the ship, putting the prow almost toward them (like 15° angle) and going point blank range, with a team firing at them behind me. I sank 2 of them myself, Montana and Izumo. 

 

But then, if you're supposed to tank for noone,  don't tank. Make sure you have followers supporting you. 

[typhaon]

Well, there are no tanks in naval battles... it was all about hitting the enemy and not being hit yourself.

Every hit could possibly prove fatal, so ships tried to not fire at all... that was especially true for battleships, because they weren't developed to take the biggest punishment, but to carry the largest and most dangerous guns... big guns require a big ship... and a big ship which is hit more easy requires more armor... but no commander would try to sail into the battle to draw enemy fire, except when they were really desperate. After all those decisions were not only about a ship but also about several thousand lives of the sailors on board.

[Spruty]

 

I understand tanking in a BB as taking damage, then move out of range or move out of the "effective range" of the enemy while you repair some of the dmg. Of course you cannot do this while being isolated. You need backup from other BBs and CAs who tank the damage while you´re repairing. Meanwhile DDs and CAs should shield you from enemy DDs, aircrafts and also other cruisers.

Of course there is a chance that you get focussed even though there are plenty of closer targets but thats unlikely from my experience. In a fleet vs fleet battle with an abundance of possible targets, people tend to shoot the closest enemy.. 

 

Important to note is that in my opinion BBs should only "tank" for a reason, to archieve a strategic advantage like giving your smaller faster ships time to cap, close the distance towards the enemies or when you got plenty of cruiser backup. Try to draw attention on you when you see that your smaller comrades approach the enemy fleet but also have a bailout strategy in mind.
 

[Pivke]

Point you ship slightly angled going front on to them, sure you lose firepower but you gain armour...

 

you gain armour.... which doesnt help at all because everyone is shooting you with HE ammo

[Makoniel]

 

you gain armour.... which doesnt help at all because everyone is shooting you with HE ammo

Not at higher tier. Low tier games are a mess and noobs that never citadel things with AP are going full HE in their BB...

[Spruty]

Many BBs captains use their repair ability too early. Of course fire is an annoying dot but i think the fire damage is over-estimated due to the impressive visual effects. Even though your BB looks like a burning candle, the fire damage dot only starts hurting with 3 fires at a time. 

 

And of course, if you get HE spammed by multiple cruisers, you did something wrong in the first place. Battleships captains cannot expect to fight several cruisers alone while taking no damage. 

 

 

[SunSkaRe]

The tanking with BB is not the same as with tanks in WoT...

 

For example, you are in a BB with 20Km range, next to you is a cruiser with 15Km range (that is defending you from enemy DD's and planes)...

 

Now if you stay at 20Km from enemy, that cruiser cant shoot the enemy... but if you move closer to the enemy then not only you but also that supporting cruiser can fire at enemy (which I assume its easy to see as a good thing). Of course you can say "why dont the cruiser just go foward himself?"... cause then he would be focused by everyone...

 

Battleships have a lot more HP then cruisers, they have more armor as well... and while HE shells can cause fires and do damage, with a press of a button they regenerate all that lost HP.

Also if you get close enough from enemies with your BB not only can you fire your main guns but also your secondaries start hitting the enemy (at low tiers dont really make a difference but as you go higher you can have your secondaries firing at 10Km, its not like you need to be hugging them)...

 

 

So all in all, if BB's move closer to enemies, they can absorb a lot more damage then any cruiser could, not only that since enemy will focus on you (and you can really take a lot of heat with it) it will alow all your escorting cruisers or DD's to be in range of enemies firing safely at them. 

 

 

That is what tanking with BB's mean... not some dumb ideas that tanking is to not get hit at all and snipe from far away, leaving cruisers to decide if they want to spend their time sailing next to you while being unable to shoot at anything, or to go alone charging the enemy cause the BB's were too scared to do their job.

 

 

[icedlemon]

 

As above, you need to be close enough to the cruisers so they don't get focused fire by entire enemy team. You do this by making yourself a priority target, being close behind the cruiser but being a bigger threat due to your big guns.

 

The tanking with BB is not the same as with tanks in WoT...

 

For example, you are in a BB with 20Km range, next to you is a cruiser with 15Km range (that is defending you from enemy DD's and planes)...

 

Now if you stay at 20Km from enemy, that cruiser cant shoot the enemy... but if you move closer to the enemy then not only you but also that supporting cruiser can fire at enemy (which I assume its easy to see as a good thing). Of course you can say "why dont the cruiser just go foward himself?"... cause then he would be focused by everyone...

 

Battleships have a lot more HP then cruisers, they have more armor as well... and while HE shells can cause fires and do damage, with a press of a button they regenerate all that lost HP.

Also if you get close enough from enemies with your BB not only can you fire your main guns but also your secondaries start hitting the enemy (at low tiers dont really make a difference but as you go higher you can have your secondaries firing at 10Km, its not like you need to be hugging them)...

 

 

So all in all, if BB's move closer to enemies, they can absorb a lot more damage then any cruiser could, not only that since enemy will focus on you (and you can really take a lot of heat with it) it will alow all your escorting cruisers or DD's to be in range of enemies firing safely at them. 

 

 

That is what tanking with BB's mean... not some dumb ideas that tanking is to not get hit at all and snipe from far away, leaving cruisers to decide if they want to spend their time sailing next to you while being unable to shoot at anything, or to go alone charging the enemy cause the BB's were too scared to do their job.

 

 

 

The thing is, the enemy doesn't HAVE to shoot me even if i'm sit right next with my cruiser. Take the prior example, i can present myself as a target,but it's up to the enemy to choose which one to shoot, if there is a cleveland sit next to me, the enemy CAN shoot the cleveland without anymore difficulty. Obviuosly the cleveland will be higher threat to them, and they should shoot him, if they dont, they are making mistakes. Basically what i do is testing the enemy's target priotization skill. I dont call this tanking for your team at all. I call this noob testing.

[mtm78]

Sadly this is true, but if the enemy is noob enough to prioritize the wrong targets even though it might not be fun getting shot at while you have higher priority allies around you, you could interpret it as being valuable to the team by just being a target. Your team should win against noobs, usually at least

 

It is something a lot of cruisers use as excuse in why they don't screen in front of attacking battleships and they have a point. Sadly, you can't fix human factor.

 

 

[Zenith]

In short? You don't. The people telling you that are either A) stupid, B) cowards, or C) trolling you.

 

Yes it's possible to bounce shells, and yes it's also possible to minimise the chances of a citadel hit, but RNG is an even bigger factor in this game than in WoT. Also, in WoT it's rare to have the entire enemy team firing at you at the same time, but in this game? Well, if you're in front of your team, then that is exactly what is going to happen... and guess what? Yeah, that means you're probably going to sink... very quickly. Oh, and said team? They'll be turning around and running away, leaving you to take the brunt of it. So yeah, ignore those donkeys, play the game how you want to play it, and NEVER charge unsupported in a BB. 

[Aerroon]

Like this, you switch aggro:

[mtm78]

You where the tip of the spear, got damage and fell back switching point with a Fuso. WP, on the other hand, against a more competent team that wouldn't have happened

 

[Gl0cK_17]

Wel tanking, more like try to draw fire off your cruisers.

In short be in the thick of the fight, kill cruisers first, and dont stay at max rang or on the map edges the whole game.

[SunSkaRe]

The thing is, the enemy doesn't HAVE to shoot me even if i'm sit right next with my cruiser. Take the prior example, i can present myself as a target,but it's up to the enemy to choose which one to shoot, if there is a cleveland sit next to me, the enemy CAN shoot the cleveland without anymore difficulty. Obviuosly the cleveland will be higher threat to them, and they should shoot him, if they dont, they are making mistakes. Basically what i do is testing the enemy's target priotization skill. I dont call this tanking for your team at all. I call this noob testing.

 

Thats very pretty and all... but I'm yet to see any enemy prioritize a cruiser 14Km away over an BB 10Km away... and even if they do, a cruiser can quite easilly dodge shells at those ranges while the BB will have easy time hitting from 10Km anyway...

 

Those theories of cruisers having to be in front of BB's are kind of hilarious though... so the cruisers go in front, die instantaneously so the weak BB's can snipe from all the way back with their super accuracy and fast firing guns? lol yeah that sounds about right...

 

 

Shame I didnt record that game in closed beta where in my Amagi I went right into the middle of 2 Clevelands (talking about under 4Km from them with 1 on each side of my ship) and my secondaries completely ripped them appart killing them both while I used main guns to shoot a BB that was behind them... Ended up with secondaries doing over 80k damage that game.

Would be a good game to show how weak BB's are close range.

[caronmickeydevries]

Angling the ship to gain armor... LOL. This is not WOT! Most of the enemy fire comes in an arc, that the projectiles hit your deck from above. So you dont really bounce any shots but you will give the enemy a smaller surface to hit, if you turn your ship towards them.

[icedlemon]

Wel tanking, more like try to draw fire off your cruisers.

In short be in the thick of the fight, kill cruisers first, and dont stay at max rang or on the map edges the whole game.

 

What if both side try to kill cruiser first? Isn't BB again pointless in this situation?

 

Thats very pretty and all... but I'm yet to see any enemy prioritize a cruiser 14Km away over an BB 10Km away... and even if they do, a cruiser can quite easilly dodge shells at those ranges while the BB will have easy time hitting from 10Km anyway...

 

Those theories of cruisers having to be in front of BB's are kind of hilarious though... so the cruisers go in front, die instantaneously so the weak BB's can snipe from all the way back with their super accuracy and fast firing guns? lol yeah that sounds about right...

 

 

Shame I didnt record that game in closed beta where in my Amagi I went right into the middle of 2 Clevelands (talking about under 4Km from them with 1 on each side of my ship) and my secondaries completely ripped them appart killing them both while I used main guns to shoot a BB that was behind them... Ended up with secondaries doing over 80k damage that game.

Would be a good game to show how weak BB's are close range.

If the cruiser can easily dodge shells at 14k, why need BB there to "tank"?

 

Cruiser be at front doesn't mean 5km away front, you should be really close to your BB but in front of them, within 1km, turn your speed down to 3/4 or 1/2. The point of cruiser at fornt means spot destroyers and torps earlier. If you let bb go front, when he spot dd, it would be already too late for him to dodge torps. And you really need to stick really close to your bb to provide any meaningful AA support.

[Hauptbahnhof]

Angling the ship to gain armor... LOL. This is not WOT! Most of the enemy fire comes in an arc, that the projectiles hit your deck from above. So you dont really bounce any shots but you will give the enemy a smaller surface to hit, if you turn your ship towards them.

 

No, actually unless the fire comes from 15km or longer they will have a very shallow angle of less then 10 degrees and all AP shots will bounce harmlessly of if they hit the deck. That's why your Armor is 3-5 times thicker on the side/belt where the most danger to penetration from shots closer then 15km away comes.

 

The chance these shots will penetrate is lowered if you have an angle of the ship towards or away from your enemy.

 

For incoming HE shots it doesn't matter if your in a Battleship, they will be aimed on the superstructure or deck and do their damage/fire thingie regardless of armor or angle.

 

 

 

 

The whole idea of using the Battleship as a tank is a bit lost currently with all the noobs spamming HE against cruisers, because fires do % hull damage and will burn up a BB just as fast as a cruiser so hitpoints matter less, and the extra hitpoints and heal the BB have is negated by the Cruisers smaller target, so they have about similar survivability.

 

Once people understand how dangerous it is to fire properly aimed AP against enemy cruisers though... then you start to have a reason to use BBs as tanks, because a BB taking HE fire from enemy cruisers and AP from their Battleships will survive ( on average due to randomness of AP ) 2-3 times longer then the cruiser that takes AP shots from the same enemy cruisers and Battleships does, and the Battleship can also heal up alot of the damage taken.