Failing hard at tirpitz..... Advises?

[Anymn]

After playing a while with the Tirpitz, i totally (and i mean totally) suck with it.

Like:

 

 

I tried a lot, but I'm not getting the results that everyone posts on the forums.

Shooting a meager 50k damage a battle is barely making up for the repair costs.

 

My results usually are:

Staying far against BB: destroyed by citadel hits.

Staying near against BB: destroyed by non-citadel penetrating hits.

Staying far against CA: flamed to dead.

Staying near against CA: flamed to dead too, but giving a occasional hit in return.

And of course I get torped by DD's and planes regularly.

And it seems the enemy always focuses on me when sticking together.

 

Well... That was the frustration part.

Now, I want to improve my play. Can some advanced Tirpitz captains give some advices? Are there any good guides on the internet? 

 

Ps. I'm smart enough not to show my sides to BB's.... and: I usually shoot AP, should I switch to HE? 

 

edit: solved. I need to angle my armor better, against the most heavily BB's. Better positioning and aim also helps.

[txtspeak]

Ps. I'm smart enough not to show my sides to BB's.... and: I usually shoot AP, should I switch to HE? 

completely depends on your target. if your fighting other BBs or CA/CLs fire AP always. if your against DDs only fire at them if they are the only threat around (Keeping DDs away from you is your teammates responsibility, if a DD kills you, your team sucks or you've gone off on your own) and if you ARE firing at DDs fire HE. when fighting CVs fire HE at first and set them on fire, then switch to AP

[Aldramelech]

T8 and above are fairly savage and unforgiving, you need to have a team that understands the meaning of teamwork, your individual performance can only take you so far. Tirpitz is a powerful ship but like any BB it's not a one man army (or navy in this case), support from cruisers is essential to keep the destroyers at bay, provide AA cover and distract enemy cruisers.

 

If I could offer any advice it's take a good look at what everybody else is doing, move in a group and avoid being isolated and focused by groups of enemy ships, it's not much but there it is.

 

Hope you have better luck.

[Anymn]

completely depends on your target. if your fighting other BBs or CA/CLs fire AP always. if your against DDs only fire at them if they are the only threat around (Keeping DDs away from you is your teammates responsibility, if a DD kills you, your team sucks or you've gone off on your own) and if you ARE firing at DDs fire HE. when fighting CVs fire HE at first and set them on fire, then switch to AP

 

Thanks, however I already was aware of this. However, I seem to get very few penetrating shots on BB's.

[V2Spoon]

I'm more or less a noob so your mileage may vary with my advice. Looking at your stats though you seem to be a good cruiser/destroyer player, however, your BB experience seems limited to Tier 3/4. Perhaps you jumped up to far buy getting the Tirpitz.

 

Maybe you should grind up a few tiers to get used to the gameplay at higher tiers in a BB.

[txtspeak]

 

Thanks, however I already was aware of this. However, I seem to get very few penetrating shots on BB's.

 

they are probably angled well then. theres fairly little you can do against higher tier BBs with brains. (most of them dont though)

[ColonelPete]

First of all you need a couple hundred more games.

Maybe play some other BBs. You next best BB is only Tier IV. You need more practice in timing and positioning.

 

There is a reason you should not buy into high tier without some experience.

[Tyrendian89]

Tirpitz really isn't a sniper ship. She's very fast, the rapid-firing and rather punchy guns are great up close, and you've got Torpedoes as an osheet button should you need them. That's not to say you should always run in - but Tirpitz is best when accompanying a cruiser squadron (ideally division up with friends so you know you can rely on them somewhat).

Also, I find it hard to believe that you both a) angle your ship properly and b) "get destroyer by citadels/penetrations" at the same time. Tirpitz is very well armoured when angled - you can very much frustrate anything that's not a Yamato. And she's one of the harder battleships to citadel in any case...

Oh, one thing to add to txtspeak's otherwise perfectly valid advice about Ammo choice: When you're shooting a Monty/Yamato that's not flatly broadsiding you, it often pays to fire HE. You're both going to do more direct shell damage because you'll hardly ever penetrate their angled belt armour, and fires on those 100k HP ships hurt a hell of a lot. I've had one memorable case where I fired one snap HE salvo at a Yamato that had randomly popped up (was busy hunting DDs so had that loaded...), hit five shells for ~8k damage (plenty happy with that already considering the target was an angled Yamato!) - but the real surprise came in the post-game stats: two fires set for a total of over 25k dmg. Sure, i was lucky he apparently had his DC on cooldown, but that was a pretty memorable moment...

 

Oh, also, sidenote: your average damage isn't all that abysmal - I've stumbled upon Tirpitz players who had less than 20k average damage with a lot of games. Completely baffles me, that...

[Anymn]

First of all you need a couple hundred more games.

Maybe play some other BBs. You next best BB is only Tier IV. You need more practice in timing and positioning.

 

Maybe you should grind up a few tiers to get used to the gameplay at higher tiers in a BB.

 

Which BB line would you suggest to use to get used to higher-tier BB's in general? Which one has the best learning curve?

[Alteisen]

Warships.today says 50k is more or less average so i don't think anything is wrong with your playstyle. It's mostly just getting used to higher tier meta.

[txtspeak]

 

 

Which BB line would you suggest to use to get used to higher-tier BB's in general? Which one has the best learning curve?

 

I think USA has the best ones. japanese BBs arent really BBs mostly. they are mostly battleCRUISERS. so they tend to sail and turn faster but they also tend to have fewer guns making it a lot harder to hit anything, really the burger BBs are your best bet

[ilhilh]

I would say that a lot of your problem will be general inexperience at that tier.  Looking at your other stats your highest non-premium ship is tier 6 (Cleveland) and your premiums account for a very small number of games at tiers 7-8.  More specifically, you have 91 battles in BBs total of which perhaps 1/3 are Tirp, 1/3 are Imperator and then a scattering of games in Arkansas and tier 3s.  That is not a lot of BB games and if you couple it with general inexperience at tier 8 then I think we can start to get some idea why you are under performing.  Looking at your average damage... it is on the low side but not terrible... it certainly doesn't exactly explain the WR so it might also translate into you not make the right decisions in terms of what flank to attack, when to turn and defend and other macro positioning decisions.

 

General Tirpitz tips:

• You are fast have high RoF/fast turrets.  Make sure that you are weaving around... angling whilst you load and then if you are sure the enemy is still reloading expose the minimum broadside to get all 4 turrets in play and fire.  Then duck back into cover.
• You have really tough armour from shorter ranges.  At long ranges plunging fire can citadel you but closer (10km) the Tirp is a problem to citadel.
• Ignore your torpedoes.  Well don't ignore them... but don't try to put yourself into situations just to use them... it will get you killed.  I largely use mine for self defence or occasionally to deal with a bow on Iowa/Montana/Yamato that I simply can't pen with AP.
• Your AP is not the best... it is perfectly capable against broadside BBs (any tier), lower tier BBs and cruisers but don't waste time shooting ships you can't damage if there are better options.
• Your AA is pretty crap.  This makes you an attractive target to CVs so you need to keep manoeuvring. I assume you have the steering mod on your ship (like all BBs should have).  Make sure you keep ctrl+ clicking squads to do what you can against them.
• Don't use HE.  General BB advice and some might disagree but it is a waste of time. Use AP only.

​

 

 

[anonym_gCiyicUsNYGl]

i'd play in div with you if i still had prem which would motivate me but since i don't...

[Tyrendian89]

 

I think USA has the best ones. japanese BBs arent really BBs mostly. they are mostly battleCRUISERS. so they tend to sail and turn faster but they also tend to have fewer guns making it a lot harder to hit anything, really the burger BBs are your best bet

 

hmmm.. well the USN line is probably the more solid of the two, but IJN tends to outperform them - plus, they're closer to the very fast and pretty agile style of the Tirpitz. Especially the Kongo feels very similar - tough to pen when angled, lightning fast, four twin turrets with pretty good punch at tier...

[Kurbain]

I only got 22 battles fought, but I would consider myself a solid Tirpitz player nevertheless.
 

 

 

 

The two most important tips I can give you to succeed in a high-tier battleship are:

1. Constantly keep an eye on where the spotted enemy destroyers are and where those could be that are not spotted. Regularly adjust your course and speed accordingly.

2. Know when you should be playing defensively. Depending on the amount of enemy ships ahead of you, it can be better to play a more defensive role and conserve your HP so you still got some later in the battle.
Even though players like to complain about BB snipers, sometimes it is the correct decision to stay at 18 KM from the enemies and wait for the right moment, even in a Tirpitz.
Charging into 5 enemies and getting yourself killed quickly won't really help your team. Since BBs require a long time to turn, you already have to decide whether you will play aggressive or not when the enemy ships are about

15-18 KM away. Don't pick a fight you can't win unless you have to do it to guarantee a win (stop enemy from capping).

Since some general advice only goes so far, here are 4 Tirpitz replays:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/xfmxq9rk0xn0moj/20160207_185616_PGSB002-Tirpiz-1942_35_NE_north_winter.wowsreplay?dl=0 (Win, T10, 2 enemy Yamatos, 150K damage)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/2uc3a8j9ggz5qcm/20160208_220225_PGSB002-Tirpiz-1942_19_OC_prey.wowsreplay?dl=0 (Win, T8, 5 enemy DDs, 100K damage)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/x5jgwta1zt932l9/20160131_222947_PGSB002-Tirpiz-1942_35_NE_north_winter.wowsreplay?dl=0 (Loss, T8, 150K damage)

https://www.dropbox.com/s/jyh1vekxmta5oxu/20160131_210050_PGSB002-Tirpiz-1942_18_NE_ice_islands.wowsreplay?dl=0 (Win, T9, 110K damage, none taken)

 

[Nechrom]

The best thing about the Tirpitz is that she can fit many roles.

Being fast, agile (for a BB), having torpedoes, having really good main gun ballistics and being very robust. All this means that you can fill many roles:

• At long range you are more like a CA. A bit vulnerable to plunging fire from other BBs, but with a good chance to hit most ships due to your high velocity guns. At those ranges you don't do much damage to other BBs, but you can wreck CAs. Keep evading if you aggro some enemies.
• At medium ranges you are more like a BB with the good survivability you'd expect. Still better to focus on CAs, but other BBs are vulnerable in certain situations and you can always do some damage hitting the aft or stern part of the ship.
• At short ranges you really turn the tables on other BBs, easily penetrating them while they are un-angled and being able to withstand most hits if you time your maneuvers. Having torpedoes is also a nice bonus here.

 

The rule of thumb is to not be afraid to maneuver since you have really good gun turret traverse speed. Be a difficult target to hit and stay mobile. Even against DDs at medium to close range you have a good chance if you know roughly where he is.

 

At the start of battles you want to be cautious until the battle develops and get a feel for what the enemies are doing before you fully commit.

But you can't go wrong with supporting your team's CAs from the second line. Any situation where you won't be the main focus is a situation where you can provide powerful support fire, just don't stay too far behind. Even if you end up being focused, your speed allows you to open up the range between you and the enemy, cut their line of fire using an island or get back to the second line if your teammates are still around.

As the battle goes on you can start moving closer if the situation allows for it and even start capping points. Remember that you get stronger the closer you are, but you are not invincible and will still get demolished by concentrated fire.

[BadGene616]

Just because you can go fast doesn't mean you always should either.

 

I'm not saying move around at a crawl but there is such a temptation for less experienced captains to race into engagement ranges and get hammered really early in the match.

 

Look at phoenix captains after driving the st Louis, very often see them charge in to die. Hell, I do it myself still sometimes.

 

Think of your speed as a tool to get you into a firing position, to move effectively with a pack, or to gtfo.

 

Always try to have one other ship between you and the enemy, it'll help you spot torpedoes and other threats sooner.

 

Line yourself up with another bb who isn't heading to the blue line or charging in and shadow them. Two bb is better than one bb in must situations. You'll soon learn to spot the derp from the epic.

 

Finally, don't fixate on BBS, the best way to learn to survive in a ship is to understand its nemesis.

The best way to understand its nemesis is to play it.

[Jethro_Grey]

 

 

Which BB line would you suggest to use to get used to higher-tier BB's in general? Which one has the best learning curve?

 

The US line is very well suited for this.

The New Mexico and Colorado play very similar to the Tirpitz, despite being much slower. Like the Tirpitz, both are brawlers and you'll learn quite a bit about armour angling in those ships. And like the Tirpitz, they are not very accurate at max distance.

 

[Hedgehog1963]

The advice being given to OP about playing some more battles is fair and accurate.  It doesn't look like you have three battles in your New York and that is the highest tier BB you have "earned" rather than bought.  I can tell you my win rate in the Tirpitz sucks so bad I've laid off it until I get more BB play in at teirs nearer VIII.  I have HMS Warspite and she I can handle with a good WR.  So I can handle VI.

 

 

So the advice is to lean BBs by grinding more is sound.

[creamgravy]

BB noob with a 38% survival rate Tirpiz reporting in.  

 

I always charge in hard and take out as many DDs/cruisers as I can. You get rubbish XP and damage stats but it's huge fun!

[Admiral_noodle]

Tirpitz isn't a battleship. She's an oversized cruiser. Well that's how I play her anyway and get decent results. Not spectacular damage (apart from my all time record, which is with tirpitz) but decent wins.

 

I do find I switch a lot between HE and AP. I even torp

 

She seems fast and manouverable. Very good reload. Not great accuracy or penetration so sometimes HE really is better. She's not a sniper not really a brawler. But versatile. She can do anything in a pinch, but don't go toe to toe with other BBs you'll probably lose in a fair fight. So don't play "fair". Use cover, use speed, work in groups.

 

I prefer her to NC though.

[ArtyIsWorseThanCorona]

After playing a while with the Tirpitz, i totally (and i mean totally) suck with it.

Like:

 

 

I tried a lot, but I'm not getting the results that everyone posts on the forums.

Shooting a meager 50k damage a battle is barely making up for the repair costs.

 

My results usually are:

Staying far against BB: destroyed by citadel hits. Angle your ship ( as a little help for beginners -> use the "Navigator"-Mod which is inside Aslains Modpack )

Staying near against BB: destroyed by non-citadel penetrating hits. Still all about angleing when he is shooting and finding the right moment to shoot him when he is not angled against you and has already shot at you

Staying far against CA: flamed to dead. ignore them? there is now the tool to disable / block communication from those players ( press ctrl and then right click on the name of the user in the teampanel, if you dont have the teampanel activated -> activate it in your settings

Staying near against CA: flamed to dead too, but giving a occasional hit in return. Still all about angleing when they shoot AP, if they shoot HE well ignore it and give them AP back, you can heal like 90% of the HE/Fire damage you get back

And of course I get torped by DD's and planes regularly. Decrease your speed randomly, change your direction a bit and the most likely important note if you get torped - Turn into the torps / into the direction they are coming from, DON´T turn with them into the direction they are running, you will eat more torps

And it seems the enemy always focuses on me when sticking together.

 

Well... That was the frustration part.

Now, I want to improve my play. Can some advanced Tirpitz captains give some advices? Are there any good guides on the internet? 

 

Ps. I'm smart enough not to show my sides to BB's.... and: I usually shoot AP, should I switch to HE? Normally I would say AP only but sometimes against a well angled North Carolina you can also shoot HE giving him like 6k volleys instead of bounces and superstructure overpens

 

• Don't use HE.  General BB advice and some might disagree but it is a waste of time. Use AP only.

​

 

 

 

Well like said above, AP is in 97% the right choice of ammo but against a well angled North Carolina you will deal only like 2-3k with an AP volley because of those superstructure overpens. HE is the better choice in that moment because you will deal 5-8k Volleys on the angled ship and you have a high chance of setting him on fire, giving him two of those volleys with 1 fire each and he will burn sometime.

 

What I need to say also is that I use my Tirpitz more like a brawler then a sniper. Most of the time im just going in don´t giving a single f... ^^ Still keeping my average and getting good results because angleing is like one of the important things you have to know about when driving a BB

 

And well because you are showing your Tirpitz stats:

 

 

Oh and Anymn, if you want I can take you with me in some matches at evening time, maybe you learn something

[Flukeyluke]

play the tirpitz like you play the kongo and you will do better than 70% of the tirpitz players i often see....

[perrinluns]

personally I would say play a lower tier battleship and learn your art from the lower tiers.

knowing when to turn to shoot and when to not...knowing when to heal and when to not....resisting the urge to put out fires instantly if your under sustained HE spam...and many other things you will learn at a lower tier.

 

also tier 8 can be pretty tough and is less forgiving of someone who is learning their trade.

 

I would step away from her for awhile or she may become your boggy ship which you have a mental block with

 

just my two peniths worth

[Anymn]

Thanks for all the useful advises! I love all those constructive comments! This will help me improve a lot, as gaining some experience will do.

 

I've still a few questions:

• which ships in tier 7-10 are really well armored and are dangerous?
• any booster flags/commander skills/etc. you really recommend?

And, if you come across any useful youtube vids, feel free to share them. But most I found until now, weren't playing smart either.