The way I see it DDs are not worth playing atm.

[Kokos78]

I enjoyed playing DDs a lot since CBT. When the current changes occured I started having problems but I gave it a chance so I can figure out if I played them wrong. My personal conclusion is that DDs are too dependent on teamplay, well much more than other classes, and too many things can go wrong very fast and without any chance of reverse it.

I started playing cruisers and I find it very easy to get good results, so thats my new cup of tea.

[ParEx]

As a DD I think it is quite the opposite.

In a DD I consider myself a freelancer, a lone, opportunistic hunter that watches the game evolve and then strike where I can. I can disturb a whole flank while playing alone, forcing the enemy to slow down maybe stop or even turn. No other single ship can do this. (as a IJN DD).

[Siegwald]

I think you are both right in a way.

 

For one, as a DD you can roam alone and look for targets of opportunity. But this play style is mainly suited for IJN-DDs who can stay hidden behind their torpedo fans. You get problems the moment that cruisers decide to rush you and you have no backup.

 

OTOH, as a US-DD you are more of a team player in that you are supposed to screen your own ships. The skirmishing role only works well if you have the backup of larger ships. So you can present yourself as target to draw fire from your own team and kite the visibility border.

 

DD play is difficult. I have both lines @ tier 7 now and I see myself play more and more cruisers at the moment. But I'm not going to give up on them just yet. But the Murmansk and Omaha are a powerful drug. I find it relatively easy to score good results in them. They earn truckloads of money and do a lot of damage.

[Akula971]

I Concur with ParEx. When playing a battleship or cruiser, I find its best stay as a group, and overwhelm the opposition. What causes me problems when playing a battleship or cruiser? Having my detection warning go off, when there are no aircraft about, or enemies in view. Then I know there is a destroyer out there planning an attack run. So i have to start changing course or reverse course.  I aslo play a lot of destroyers too, and can testify that it is easy to remain undetected, and seriously slow down an enemy advance with a few spreads of torpedoes. Just about to get my fifth captains skill, and I will choose Concealment expert which will my Fubuki detectibilty down to 5.4Km. BBut as a destroyer you are free to roam. Roam where you to want to, roam around the world.

[ShuggieHamster]

In various DDs Ive hunted alone. Ive backed up cruisers. Ive been point man. Ive shielded The BBs. I held entire flanks on my own. 

Much as i love CL play in my Kuma ... DDs is where the fun and variety is.

mibi i might learn to love the CA but not right now

 

[ParEx]

I played DDs a lot in CBT (>700 games) and I really enjoyed the US-DDs there (reached Tier9), and I am starting with Nicholas these days.

With it you can kind of quard your attack force. Stay with them, fire when there is a situation for it, and hunt enemy DDs trying to attack your team. And with the new AA-Perk for US-DDs you can even help your BBs: when torpedobombers or something else is incoming, activate it. This will increase their spread so you can actually help keeping them alive.

Thats a big bonus.

[allufewig]

As a DD I think it is quite the opposite.

In a DD I consider myself a freelancer, a lone, opportunistic hunter that watches the game evolve and then strike where I can. I can disturb a whole flank while playing alone, forcing the enemy to slow down maybe stop or even turn. No other single ship can do this. (as a IJN DD).

 

 

I agree with the playstile-thing (being free) but come to the conclusion of Kokos78: DDs are too weak past T5/6.

 

Theres no use in having +2kn compared to cruisers, when you usually cant deal any significant damage, cant sneak up on people (planes) and mistakes take you back to port faster than in any other class.

[Frank_F_B]

It can be both in my humble opinion as a DD player. I often play with a friend in a division in our DD's. Great fun because you can utilize the DD's  great strenght:torpedo's and you can communucat which way to turm after firing. It is sometimes a buden when a friendly ships sail with us because you can't  know which way he will turn after firing torpedo's So yeah, that is dual wolf action for you. On the other hand it is great in a standard battle to defend the cap the best way you can, to give your team a better opportunity to cap or to sink ships. especially in Ocean, that delaying defence works like a dream.

[Flavonov]

 

 

I agree with the playstile-thing (being free) but come to the conclusion of the Kokos78: DDs are too weak past T5/6.

 

Theres no use in having +2kn compared to cruisers, when you usually cant deal any significant damage, cant sneak up on people (planes) and mistakes take you back to port faster than in any other class.

 

That's why I'm planning on sticking to my T5 Nicholas.

[ParEx]

ParEx, on 08 September 2015 - 11:51 AM, said:

As a DD I think it is quite the opposite.

In a DD I consider myself a freelancer, a lone, opportunistic hunter that watches the game evolve and then strike where I can. I can disturb a whole flank while playing alone, forcing the enemy to slow down maybe stop or even turn. No other single ship can do this. (as a IJN DD).

 

 

I agree with the playstile-thing (being free) but come to the conclusion of the Kokos78: DDs are too weak past T5/6.

 

Theres no use in having +2kn compared to cruisers, when you usually cant deal any significant damage, cant sneak up on people (planes) and mistakes take you back to port faster than in any other class.

Thats a good point. When in DD you have really big issues chasing CVs. If you are spotted, there is no way to reach the enemy CV when he runs away. US DDs at least can shell him while hunting, IJN have quite a disadvantage here.

[allufewig]

 

That's why I'm planning on sticking to my T5 Nicholas.

 

 

I love the Nicholas as well, although I am winning much more on Minekaze.  However, I sold my Hatsuharu and will not advance further on any of both lines until WG reviews destroyers.

 

[Kokos78]

As a DD I think it is quite the opposite.

In a DD I consider myself a freelancer, a lone, opportunistic hunter that watches the game evolve and then strike where I can. I can disturb a whole flank while playing alone, forcing the enemy to slow down maybe stop or even turn. No other single ship can do this. (as a IJN DD).

 

That's because you re playing IJN. I can get better results in my Hatsuharu than in Benson too, cause of the better concealment factors. Still the overall experience I have is not satisfactory enough compared to cruisers. Don't get me wrong I love DDs and I must play Sims anyway but I think something is unbalanced. 

[tobdyls]

I to have not gone past T5. I dont see much point going past them at the moment which is a shame as I think DD's are the most fun. Hate playing BB's as they are so boring. Never got the hang of CV's so I am only going up the CA's tiers.

Might save up free XP and move onto the Benson, but I still don't hear good things about that ship.

 

[Userext]

DDs are bad. They are UP at high tiers(less populated) and OP at low tiers(seriously low tiers needs a bit adjusting umikaze with 8km torpedoes? wtf)

[allufewig]

I to have not gone past T5. I dont see much point going past them at the moment which is a shame as I think DD's are the most fun. Hate playing BB's as they are so boring. Never got the hang of CV's so I am only going up the CA's tiers.

 

 

Theres a good chance you want to stop after T6 for the american and after T8 for japanese cruisers. At these tiers the progression of power just stops, the same way as it does at T5 in the DD-lines. Most of your enemies still level up in power, but you dont. All you get is a higher tier-number and more shitty battles.

 

The only lines that see an near-constant increase in power from start to end are the BBs and CVs. Consequently at T9 and 10 (with the exception of Izumo) battleships and carriers rule supreme.

[Gekko2]

Until they thin the skies of planes able to spot then DDs will not be competitive, only at lower levels do they seem to be any good - as soon as CVs became better spotters than DDs and every cruiser and BB got spotter planes in Beta the writing was on the wall... they need to thin the skies of planes - make players choose between fighters (looking for and dealing with air threats) or spotting aircraft, looking for ship/torpedo wakes and spotting for the team....  that would solve a lot of issues DDs have and clear the sky of 50% of the junk...

[bloomoon11]

I stopped grinding them ages ago and now just minekase out for a bit of fun.   Since the patch I'm seriously considering carrying on the grind, it might actually be fun sometimes since games without CVs are fairly common now.

[Mayv]

CVs arent as much of a problem since the patch. They rarely have free fighters to spot you with.

 

DDs lack a clear role in the higher tiers. I have mainly focused on taking out BBs and other DDs. With the influx of Tirpitzs at tier 8 and most other high tier DDs are IJN there is a target rich environment for my Fubuki. My success in games largely depends on the map and both teams. Some maps such as North give good opportunities for long range torpinng. While I generally dont have to depend on my team for immediate support, it is my team who decides if we will win. As a DD I find my overall influence on the game rather unimportant besides capping in standard mode. I cannot hold a flank and I cannot push. With torps as my main weapon it requires for the enemy team to play into them, especially with the longer reload and the time taken for the torps to reach their target. Therefore I generally have very inconsistent results. 

 

Currently my self assigned role is to do as much damage as possible to enemy BBs, take out enemy IJN DDs and cap any uncontested objectives. But other classes can do these better.

[GunnyL]

I too played a lot of DD in CBT and I am now at the same tier (IJN T8) in OBT.

 

I have come to a halt though, I really wanted to get all the way to T10, but its 10 bad battles followed by one good one, so I too have switches to CR instead.

[EsaTuunanen]

My personal conclusion is that DDs are too dependent on teamplay, well much more than other classes, and too many things can go wrong very fast and without any chance of reverse it.

Both yes and no.

With DD you can't push enemy away like properly supported BB can do and lack of armor obviously means fast sinking if exposed to multiple enemies from closer range.

But beyond that DD's speed and stealth allows more freedom in movement around map than other classes.

And faster returning to defend team's rear from for example enemy DD trying to sneak on CVs and with "gunship" DDs it's possible to reset capping of enemy cruisers/BBs.

 

Don't get me wrong I love DDs and I must play Sims anyway but I think something is unbalanced. 

You should have bought also other pre-order DD, Gremyashchy.

Sims is at tier where amount of planes starts increasing and it still has those weakish short ranged torps whose reload times are also in fast increase.

 

Gremy's torps are slowest reloading of T5, but at least their 1km longer range than detectability (8km vs 7km) allows stealth launch and punch is same as of Minekazes torps.

And while guns are now slowest turning of T5 DDs (after Minekazes gun buff) ROF is 12 shells/minute and they have very long range and flat trajectory allowing easier shorter lead at long ranges.

After mastering all that what's needed for effective use of those guns and staying alive it can be really rewarding.

 

[Kokos78]

Both yes and no.

With DD you can't push enemy away like properly supported BB can do and lack of armor obviously means fast sinking if exposed to multiple enemies from closer range.

But beyond that DD's speed and stealth allows more freedom in movement around map than other classes.

And faster returning to defend team's rear from for example enemy DD trying to sneak on CVs and with "gunship" DDs it's possible to reset capping of enemy cruisers/BBs.

 

You should have bought also other pre-order DD, Gremyashchy.

Sims is at tier where amount of planes starts increasing and it still has those weakish short ranged torps whose reload times are also in fast increase.

 

Gremy's torps are slowest reloading of T5, but at least their 1km longer range than detectability (8km vs 7km) allows stealth launch and punch is same as of Minekazes torps.

And while guns are now slowest turning of T5 DDs (after Minekazes gun buff) ROF is 12 shells/minute and they have very long range and flat trajectory allowing easier shorter lead at long ranges.

After mastering all that what's needed for effective use of those guns and staying alive it can be really rewarding.

 

 

The real question here is Atlanta or Atago?

[allufewig]

 

The real question here is Atlanta or Atago?

 

The real answer is: None of both. The two worst premiums on the servers.

 

 

[Kokos78]

allufewig, on 08 September 2015 - 04:22 PM, said:

 

The real answer is: None of both. The two worst premiums on the servers.

 

 

 

Havent seen any replays but you need to train your captain somewhere ;)

 

 

Siegwald, on 08 September 2015 - 12:08 PM, said:

 

DD play is difficult. I have both lines @ tier 7 now and I see myself play more and more cruisers at the moment. But I'm not going to give up on them just yet. But the Murmansk and Omaha are a powerful drug. I find it relatively easy to score good results in them. They earn truckloads of money and do a lot of damage.

 

I don't mind if it's difficult /challenging as long as it is rewarding overall, and atm it isn't

 

[gbgroger]

DD is not a fraction of the fun it used to be. Except jap dd who can torp quite regularly and a us dd which has a good round every 10 rounds or so. 

 

In my book it shouldnt have more hp, but its crippled in engine/rudder dept much to often, which often just means death anyway (with skill taken out of it which makes all mad and take out the enjoyment for the victor).

 

I actually wanna look of how often real dds had modular damage, cant be a majority at all. There was a dd in pacific ( known as the dd which fought as a bb) which charged an enemy main battlegroup and got BADLY shot up) but could return to own fleet, with turrets, bridge knocked out but apparently engine/rudder did work.

[shulzidar]

I also came from CB and saw what WG did when they launched this into OB... And confirmed my initial fears with 0.4 patch. They are basically caring about BB player perception of the game... And if you think overally, every single important "balance" change has been to ease the game for them. I can't blame WG, after all a good portion of new players are attracted to BB gameplay (The Tirpitz "selling campaign" proves this clearly), and they have ALWAYS been the more vocal section of the population now and back on CB. Sadly, I also like high-risk/high-reward gameplay, so I naturally drifted to DDs. The problems are multiple and they will be painfully obvious once Ranked matches appear and competitive ppl will simply not use any T6-7 DD at all and use all those slots for cruisers. The main flaws are:

 

- Spatial Awareness. This captain power by itself neglects any hopes of surprise attack... Guess what? Tier 1 skill immediatly available for every1. The solution? Remove it from the game... It makes no sense to have entire crews of Jedis able to perceive a disturbance in the force because some1 else is seeing them. This skill by itself forces DDs to operate in close proximity of other ships so the detection pings do not alert the enemy... But by then random combat maneuvering will make Torpedo Hits primally a matter of luck. If you read this same thread you still can see how some DD Commanders still believe they can go around as "lone wolves"... When more and more coordination appears on Raked battles, and players start to regularly report their "Jedi Powers Disturbances", they will find themselves wasting their team's time into failed torpedo launches... Time better spent by a Cruiser Supporting Long Range DPS.

 

- Heavy AA. The changes on CV matchmaking has triggered a cascade effect that ends screwing DD Cpts even more. Will try to explain the chain of events. Notice that, again, the main motive behind CV MM changes is NOT what CV Cpts. were requesting, which was fairer fights... No, it's to remove the scenario of BB Commanders having to face a superior CV force, that was the main goal to be addressed and that's why WG rushed this changes that forced CV Commanders to equip their best AA squadron configurations... Now coming to DDs... I hope I don't need to explain what half-decent CV commanders do with their fighters once the oppossition is suppressed... There goes your chances at surprising the enemy. Recently I find myself spending more and more time paying attention to how the battle in the sky unfolds... because I know that If I'm in the loosing side, my whole utility as combat ship will dissapear after a certain period... This is slowly forcing me into early rushes and fast attacks because I know that there is a chance that my effective battle time is not 20m... Can be much, much shorter.

 

- Hydrophones. The new toy, that now that Skies are more secure (see above about CV MM changes), are far more frequently equiped by CA, makes our Torpedos far easier to dodge but... The speeds of our torpedos haven't been updated. Hydrophones DOESN'T have a limited number of uses... When coordination improves, do you think we will have ANY chance at torping anything when Cruisers captains start to coordinate their Hydro uses to offer close to 100% uptime?

 

- Ship Speed. Affects US DDs in a slightly different way than Jap... For US cpts is the crucial stat to close in to launch or harass a fleeing DD. For Japs is the stat needed to keep an enemy at bay while launching volleys from the "invisible zone". Well, for both types of gameplay... Engine Boost is a joke. I agree that increasing the base speed of DD would make them too easy at kiting tactics and able to trigger a lot of draws, that's why giving a limited use speed increase skill is a good idea... The problem is that the effect is not strong enough nor decissive enough to justify its limited charges. If you compare the RADICAL effect of defensive fire on AA batteries you immediatly realize it's a resource to treasure... Meanwhile Engine Boost is only usefull when travelling in a straight line (Something that guarantees an early return to port when done under fire) precissely, in the situations a DD cpt needs that speed more to close or separate fast enough. Or the net effect is increased or the basic mechanic of slowdowns on sharp turns is removed while EB is on (Totally unreallistic... I prefer a net increase in speed).

 

But I'm pessimistic... WG is clearly moving the game towards easing the Gunner Gameplay, precissely the one that will be more harmed once aimbots return to WoW. The next step I'm waiting to keep confirming this tendency will be the (IMHO justified) nerf to fire damage, because is the new "hot complain topic" bettwen BB-centric commanders.... Which, in turn, will hit hard the Cruiser Gameplay.