Valentine's sale... Ishizuchi or Atago?

[VC381]

I probably already know the answer to this but I want to hear your advice. I've been playing the game about a week and love it, I've unlocked the Kongou and I have a good feel for playing the fast IJN BBs with long range guns (I'm one of those masochists that actually enjoyed the Myogi). I've been toying with the idea of getting a premium ship to help me along and the sale has nudged me. I think the Atago is the obvious choice but I'm worried I'll just get wrecked if I jump into Tier 8 games with essentially only Tier 5 experience. I love the ship, it looks epic and from what I read would suit my playstyle just fine, I just hope I can handle the learning curve.

 

Now the Ishizuchi is very cheap, I imagine it plays like a Kongo but with shorter range in exchange for better DPM? I want it, because I love battlecruisers but mostly because it's so cheap and seems more forgiving with all those guns. But I'm not sure if I would actually play it instead of my Kongou, which I plan to never sell, it seems they're very similar ships. Is it significantly better in some way and/or makes tons more money to make it worth it?

 

What do you think, should I open my wallet to WG with one of these?

[JapLance]

Range on Ishizuchi is so short that it's not fun at all.

[Marauder9]

I probably already know the answer to this but I want to hear your advice. I've been playing the game about a week and love it, I've unlocked the Kongou and I have a good feel for playing the fast IJN BBs with long range guns (I'm one of those masochists that actually enjoyed the Myogi). I've been toying with the idea of getting a premium ship to help me along and the sale has nudged me. I think the Atago is the obvious choice but I'm worried I'll just get wrecked if I jump into Tier 8 games with essentially only Tier 5 experience. I love the ship, it looks epic and from what I read would suit my playstyle just fine, I just hope I can handle the learning curve.

 

Now the Ishizuchi is very cheap, I imagine it plays like a Kongo but with shorter range in exchange for better DPM? I want it, because I love battlecruisers but mostly because it's so cheap and seems more forgiving with all those guns. But I'm not sure if I would actually play it instead of my Kongou, which I plan to never sell, it seems they're very similar ships. Is it significantly better in some way and/or makes tons more money to make it worth it?

 

What do you think, should I open my wallet to WG with one of these?

atago there is no other option.... best all round tier 8 cruiser and great credit earner.... my humble opinion lol umm just noticed you are new if you do get it go on you tube lots of guides there to help you out.

 

[Pastaiolo]

Go for the Atago. If you don't feel comfortable you can still make some first rounds in Coop mode to get the feeling of the ship and some enemies too

[Mucker]

I probably already know the answer to this but I want to hear your advice. I've been playing the game about a week and love it, I've unlocked the Kongou and I have a good feel for playing the fast IJN BBs with long range guns (I'm one of those masochists that actually enjoyed the Myogi). I've been toying with the idea of getting a premium ship to help me along and the sale has nudged me. I think the Atago is the obvious choice but I'm worried I'll just get wrecked if I jump into Tier 8 games with essentially only Tier 5 experience. I love the ship, it looks epic and from what I read would suit my playstyle just fine, I just hope I can handle the learning curve.

 

Now the Ishizuchi is very cheap, I imagine it plays like a Kongo but with shorter range in exchange for better DPM? I want it, because I love battlecruisers but mostly because it's so cheap and seems more forgiving with all those guns. But I'm not sure if I would actually play it instead of my Kongou, which I plan to never sell, it seems they're very similar ships. Is it significantly better in some way and/or makes tons more money to make it worth it?

 

What do you think, should I open my wallet to WG with one of these?

 

Ishizuchi's guns are nowhere near the AP performance that Kongo has, despite having an extra turret. Basically you will spam HE 90% of the time. But that she does fairly well. Kongo will earn you similar amounts of money. So the only bonus is the ability to train your captain.

 

If you are willing to shell out the extra money for Atago, it's clearly the better choice in every aspect.  

[Elo_Naj]

Well I only use Ap on Ishizuchi and you can citadel BBs with her. See her as a very fast less armored Wyorming with better aim.

[Tyrendian89]

jumping from Kongo as highest straight to Atago is usually a VERY BAD idea - higher tiers are an extremely unforgiving environment, especially for cruisers, especially especially if you lack experience. I'm not saying it can't be done; for all we know you might just be some kind of prodigy that will pick up all the required skills in no time - but if there's one ship that's found on the bottom of the scoreboards more often than any (well... most...) others it's the Atago because so many players jump straight into it without experience at high tier gameplay. The ship itself is very very potent in the right hands, but again the environment it finds itself in is very unforgiving - as in, sail straight in the wrong spot for a few seconds too long and you'll get oneshot simply because of how powerful the battleships are against you. Or, alternatively, run into a 15 torpedo wall from a Shima, any two of which will nuke you. Or, alternatively, show broadside to a Hindenburg for a few seconds and eat a 20k+ salvo, with another following less than six seconds after that. All of those were extreme cases (well except the BB one, that can happen even from the T6s), yes, and they can be pretty well mitigated by playing well usually, but you need quite a bit of experience for that. I'd suggest playing a cruiser line (doesn't have to be IJN but might as well be since they're pretty darn good) to at least T6, better yet T7, to get a feel for what you can expect - cruisers play very differently from BBs, even very fast ones like Kongo.

[Hanszeehock]

jumping from Kongo as highest straight to Atago is usually a VERY BAD idea - higher tiers are an extremely unforgiving environment, especially for cruisers, especially especially if you lack experience. I'm not saying it can't be done; for all we know you might just be some kind of prodigy that will pick up all the required skills in no time - but if there's one ship that's found on the bottom of the scoreboards more often than any (well... most...) others it's the Atago because so many players jump straight into it without experience at high tier gameplay. The ship itself is very very potent in the right hands, but again the environment it finds itself in is very unforgiving - as in, sail straight in the wrong spot for a few seconds too long and you'll get oneshot simply because of how powerful the battleships are against you. Or, alternatively, run into a 15 torpedo wall from a Shima, any two of which will nuke you. Or, alternatively, show broadside to a Hindenburg for a few seconds and eat a 20k+ salvo, with another following less than six seconds after that. All of those were extreme cases (well except the BB one, that can happen even from the T6s), yes, and they can be pretty well mitigated by playing well usually, but you need quite a bit of experience for that. I'd suggest playing a cruiser line (doesn't have to be IJN but might as well be since they're pretty darn good) to at least T6, better yet T7, to get a feel for what you can expect - cruisers play very differently from BBs, even very fast ones like Kongo.

 

Agree with this advice. By all means buy the Atago at a discount but for the reasons given, do not use it in randoms until you reach T7/8 in a regular CA.

[VC381]

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

Tyrendian89, I expected that much but really the point is that it's on sale so I wanted to know if it's a good investment. I don't have to spam it from the minute I buy it if I find I'm overwhelmed in it. I feel that Myogi has taught me a very cautious playstyle. I'll give it a go and see what happens.

[Azrael_Ashemdion]

I enjoy the hell out of the Ishizuchi, it's great fun teamed up with a couple Imperators.  It's also a great trainer ship.  Plus, it's cheap relative to the Atago.  But if you have the money and you enjoy driving a ship like the Mogami, the Atago is probably a good choice for you - similar behavior on it, and a great detection range.  

 

  Az

[Ferry_25]

I liked all the IJN BB's. I'm struggling a bit with the Amagi to be honoust but the rest was great. I have both the premiums and I like them equal. My strong advice to you should you decide for the Atago is to play a few co-op battle to practise. I see on your profile you're just @T5. Jumping to T8 is a completely new setting. The battles are different. I made the mistake of buying the Atago when I was in your T range and jumped to the randoms too quickly. The Atago is extremely hard to hit. But any hit is almost guaranteed a citadel. Playing the strategy of rushing forward in your cruiser to the caps and cuasing 1 big chaos of gunfire (which I LOVE by the way and that's why I regularly still play the lower tiers) isn't going to work. The maps are different and the BB's will punish you severely for that. But once I got the hang of it I found out it's a beast of a ship. Just don't rush, play your support role and keep moving, turning and changing your speed and you'll be fine.

[Celandri]

go for atago, as tier 4 dont give that much credits over a non prem ship

[yelo_clst]

I own the Atago since the very start. It is a great ship, but sometimes unforgiving and often gets tossed into tier X battles. I love playing it, but at this tier, with tier IX and X BBs you may get wrecked by one salvo. Also, it can't the result of the game by itself - on this ship I have one of the very lowest winrates from all the ships I use. 

 

 Normally, I'd recommend the Murmansk, but it's range will get impacted by some of the commander skill changes in the next patch. However, it should be still OK after the patch and it is a fun to play ship @ tier 5. 

 

[ShockPirat]

Ishizuchi is a bad ship. Don't buy it. Only thing it has going for it is speed. The armor is bad, it turns like a brick, it has huge detection range and low firing range (tier 5 cruisers will outrange you) so you can't sneak into firing range and surprise someone showing broadside. AP won't penetrate enemy battleships if they don't show a perfect broadside, while their return fire will penetrate you easily except on extreme angles. Most of the times I shoot HE at enemy battleships...

It is a pretty good cruiser killer, but not any better at it than other battleships at that tier, except Myogi perhaps.

It can work well against DDs that are stupid enough to chase you as it's fast. Just show them your stern, run away and blast them as they are trying to catch up.

Smart CVs will wreck you because it turns so slowly and has no AA... Not that there are many at that tier...

I found it very unforgiving to play and it doesn't give you much options to outplay your opponents.

Of all the tier 4 battleships I got in my port - Arkansas (=Wyoming), Imperator Nikolai and Ishizuchi - I like it the least.

 

Go with Atago. It can be a total monster in capable hands. Just get some more experience before you start playing it regularly. Get one line up to tier 8-9 and you should be ready for the Atago

[BadGene616]

Why not get an aurora?

1) it cheap

2) it gets premium mm

3) it is fun to play

4) you've been playing a week?

 

Atago is brilliant but has a fairly brutal learning curve. when they went to open beta there were a lot of atagos out there and they were delicious.

[Elo_Naj]

Ishizuchi is not bad, but it is a brawler BB per default, if you play her as such it will show results.

 

[Tyrendian89]

Thanks for the advice guys.

 

Tyrendian89, I expected that much but really the point is that it's on sale so I wanted to know if it's a good investment. I don't have to spam it from the minute I buy it if I find I'm overwhelmed in it. I feel that Myogi has taught me a very cautious playstyle. I'll give it a go and see what happens.

 

fair enough! Atago is definitely a very very good investment - brutally good if well captained, and earns heaps and heaps of credits (half a million on a good but not amazing game - those can easily reach 700k+). And who knows - maybe you ARE a natural and will do well in it quickly Just a word of caution: Don't play a few co-ops in it and expect to know what high tier gameplay will look like. The bots are nowhere near good enough for that. By all means do a few to get a feel for the ship, but expect your first few PvP T9-10 games to be a vastly different experience.

[22cm]

Range on Ishizuchi is so short that it's not fun at all.

 

Atago, Ishizuchi gets a lot of tier 5 battles, and any tier 5 BB, CC or even some DDs outrange it.

 

If you want a premium BB, best is Imperator Nicholas.

[22cm]

Why not get an aurora?

1) it cheap

2) it gets premium mm

3) it is fun to play

4) you've been playing a week?

 

Atago is brilliant but has a fairly brutal learning curve. when they went to open beta there were a lot of atagos out there and they were delicious.

 

Aurora's guns have very bad firing arc.

[BadGene616]

 

Aurora's guns have very bad firing arc.

They are fine for low tier, works on St Louis...

[22cm]

They are fine for low tier, works on St Louis...

 

No, St Louis has better arc, and Aurora is very slow, 18-19 knots.

[VC381]

I liked all the IJN BB's. I'm struggling a bit with the Amagi to be honoust but the rest was great. I have both the premiums and I like them equal. My strong advice to you should you decide for the Atago is to play a few co-op battle to practise. I see on your profile you're just @T5. Jumping to T8 is a completely new setting. The battles are different. I made the mistake of buying the Atago when I was in your T range and jumped to the randoms too quickly. The Atago is extremely hard to hit. But any hit is almost guaranteed a citadel. Playing the strategy of rushing forward in your cruiser to the caps and cuasing 1 big chaos of gunfire (which I LOVE by the way and that's why I regularly still play the lower tiers) isn't going to work. The maps are different and the BB's will punish you severely for that. But once I got the hang of it I found out it's a beast of a ship. Just don't rush, play your support role and keep moving, turning and changing your speed and you'll be fine.

 

 

fair enough! Atago is definitely a very very good investment - brutally good if well captained, and earns heaps and heaps of credits (half a million on a good but not amazing game - those can easily reach 700k+). And who knows - maybe you ARE a natural and will do well in it quickly Just a word of caution: Don't play a few co-ops in it and expect to know what high tier gameplay will look like. The bots are nowhere near good enough for that. By all means do a few to get a feel for the ship, but expect your first few PvP T9-10 games to be a vastly different experience.

 

Well, I've never been the guy to enjoy rushing anywhere, I've been playing the back line artillery support from day 1 in this game, I shoot at people who are busy and turn away when they shoot back. I know I play way too cautiously but until I get the hang of things aggression just gets me killed. I got the Atago and took it straight into a random. Now, I got very lucky having a good team that swept a pretty brutal win but I managed to citadel a Nagato, got some shots in on a Myoko and nearly torpedoed an Iowa. I know that's not representative of much but other than people being much better at angling and dodging I didn't feel the gameplay to be so wildly different as people describe. I decided not to push my luck after that and just got first wins on my other ships but I look forward to more Atago!

[Echelon2k]

Since i own both here are my 2 cents on the matter

 

Atago:

Pros:

• it earns massive credits
• because of its self-heal you can make a mistake without being completely out of the match
• superior torpedoarcs
• excellent concealment allows you to be a bit more picky about your engagements
• bonus XP camo with no cost to refill

 

Cons:

• IJN cruiser so somewhat easy to citadel
• T8 therefore can get into T10 matches

 

 

Ishizuchi:

Pros:

• fast
• good manuverability
• bonus XP camo with no cost to refill

 

Cons:

• underwhelming penetration vs other BBs
• low range
• actually just 4 turrets because you can't bring all 5 to bear without going near full broadside
• bad armor when not angeled @ 60°+

 

I would pick the Atago just because it is more in line with other cruisers. The Ishizuchi is a decent BB. Although you have to really know what you are doing to make it work. It's also the only BB in which i switch to HE on a regular basis because of its inferior penetration.

[Beardroid91]

Aurora's guns have very bad firing arc.

 

Exactly what is wrong with the gun arc, i just bought the Aurora and this was my first battle i'd say it is a very OP ship as i got 13 fires with 100 hits with the 8% fire chance guns.

 

So i like it better than my St. Louis and it shows, 6 kills first match of the day in a completely new ship i'd say that is pretty good ;)

 

[Tyrendian89]

 

 

Well, I've never been the guy to enjoy rushing anywhere, I've been playing the back line artillery support from day 1 in this game, I shoot at people who are busy and turn away when they shoot back. I know I play way too cautiously but until I get the hang of things aggression just gets me killed. I got the Atago and took it straight into a random. Now, I got very lucky having a good team that swept a pretty brutal win but I managed to citadel a Nagato, got some shots in on a Myoko and nearly torpedoed an Iowa. I know that's not representative of much but other than people being much better at angling and dodging I didn't feel the gameplay to be so wildly different as people describe. I decided not to push my luck after that and just got first wins on my other ships but I look forward to more Atago!

 

nice to hear you had success! the main difference, especially for cruisers, is that mistakes (as in, showing any kind of broadside) tend to get punished much much harder. It's not going to happen every time, but it will happen frequently. And that harsh reality will teach you not to make those mistakes better than anything else

 

By the way, the fact that you sit back and snipe shows HEAVILY in your average damage stats, particularly in your Kongo. Your goal should be to do around your health pool in damage to the enemy, and on average you don't reach half that number. Please don't take this as an attack on you or your skills - especially since you're only just starting on the Kongo and have a lot of time to improve, and you realize that's one of the areas you need to improve in (which is more than many a Kongo driver out there could say for themselves...). I'll just leave a few ramblings here, make of them what you will:

It might sound strange, but I actually consider Kongo to be the superior brawler compared to New York, for three main reasons: a) you have the speed to actually get into brawling range, and to often get back out should things go south; b) you have massively superior firing angles on your guns meaning you can maintain a much better angle while having your full firepower available; c) your bow armour is actually capable of bouncing shots from your opposite number, while New York's usually isn't and often gets overmatched by 14" guns. When it's top tier, there's nothing a Kongo has to fear. Sure, you do have to respect other battleships (as in, angle as much as you can), you can't solo multiple cruisers usually, and you have to be careful of Isokazes and Minekazes - but there's no ship that straight up outmatches you. Even against carriers, your very decent AA for T5 plus nice maneuverability make you a rather unappealing target, especially compared to slow tubs like New York or Wyoming, let alone Nikolai or Arkansas with their utter lack of AA.

I'd suggest, next time you're top tier in a game try to advance with a couple of cruisers, maybe a couple of kilometers behind them (should be easy enough since that's where you often spawn...) so they can screen you from any dastardly Destroyers the enemy might have, try to get an engamement range around 10-12km and see how much more accurate your firepower will be from there. A Kongo that's played as a true Battlecruiser is a very very powerful ship. I'll just leave an example from one of the best players on the server here, we all can learn a lot from Flamu: