Question for those of you that have played the Kirov.

[pegon]

So, based of my playstyle and the reviews on the upcoming Russian Cruisers, i may have found my self a new little favorite, the Kirov. (until they nerf it of course )

That`s why i like to know if you used the accuracy or reload mod on this ship, and why.

Already looks like laser in the vids, so i wonder if more accuracy is worth it for range play ?

[Gojuadorai]

So, based of my playstyle and the reviews on the upcoming Russian Cruisers, i may have found my self a new little favorite, the Kirov. (until they nerf it of course )

That`s why i like to know if you used the accuracy or reload mod on this ship, and why.

Already looks like laser in the vids, so i wonder if more accuracy is worth it for range play ?

[the_dude33]

"like laser in the vids"? I hope not.

 

Historically, the Kirov and its sister ships were among the least precise shooting cruisers in WW2. Reason: the guns packed too close together in the very small triple turrets. When the guns were fired, vibrations caused higher dispersion among them.

 

So yeah, that would be a disappointment to hear the Kirov guns being precise.

[Ictogan]

Which reload mod? The module to increase reload is only available on t9 and t10.

[Wolfenbane]

Plays like a Konigs,though feels more heavier and sluggish and has the same paper armour.I like the fact though it has two turrets at the front.If firing at an angled ship,the guns are not too accurate at all,unlike the Konigs and the Nurn.At medium range though those 180mm guns are brutal.Only played a few games with her in Co op so this is only first impressions and doesn't really count..Though the guns are brutal i don't think she'll take too much to sink.Fine looking ship though.

[LittleNipper]

My first impressions are that under 10km if you offer your side to those 188mm guns.... you are dead..... i love it. it fits perfectly my game style. The trick is to know how to play it and the weak spots it has. I must upgrade my fire control skill as i have notived it sets on fire quite easy (like konigsburg....).

[SinkTheOthersNotMe]

Problem I see is when you are thrown in a higher tier match -> you suffer as you are too sluggish and big to easily avoid incoming fire plus and your range advantage is now less good.

 

Other than that I like it quite a lot, can dish a lot of dmg as the guns are quite precise, have a good reload and a good fire arc.

[TheIdesOfMarch93]

It's like a Russian version of the US Pensacola at T5. Mediocre AA, paper armor and an engine that just loves to be knocked out, but very good guns and shell damage. She can citadel herself even from the bow (yep no kidding I just did that in a previous match) and you're almost always guaranteed a fire whenever you fire HE at any ship. Just angle a lot, keep moving keep twisting, and never get caught alone because you will get eaten up by AP shells from quickfiring enemy cruisers. 

[Exocet6951]

A great little machine, with great guns.
It does have a few oddities, such as the first hull having access to a spotter plane. Not a catapult fighter, an actual legit spotter plane. Which you then lose when you get the second hull.

 

It's a paper ship, with poor AA, very low range torpedoes, and it actually quite big all things considered...But those guns with a good turret rotation speed just make it a pleasure. An absolute treat.
I honestly don't care about the branch itself, and probably won't go further than Tier5, but if you have a a few days of grinding pretty good tier2-4 ships ahead of you, get the Kirov.

[Vincinzerei]

Poor AA ?

Its got the best AA Rating of all Tier5 Cruisers.

With the right Captain you have a Range of 7 km for AA, and with the AA Skill on, every tier4-6 Carrier have a hard Time to get Planes over/to your Ship.

 

but yes.. the Armor is made out of TetraPack..

[Kurbain]

Overall I didn't really enjoy my time with the Kirov, but not because of the paper armor.
All T5 cruisers got paper armor, which means it is nothing out of the ordinary and something all cruisers at that tier have to deal with.

The real issue is its bad maneuverability. With 11 seconds rudder shift un-upgraded and a turning circle radius of 860m, it has less maneuverability than the Des Moines, Moskva or Zao despite being a T5 ship.
The difficulty to dodge shells (and especially torpedoes) with the Kirov is a serious issue considering its bad armor.

Another issue is the slow shell speed. The shells don't seem to be any faster (maybe even slower) than those of the other T5 cruisers, despite being 180mm. They are definitely slower than the 152mm of the Budyonny.

Good damage per salvo, though.
Play it like a German cruiser and use your range, especially since it got better HE than the Germans.

 

Vincinzerei, on 24 March 2016 - 09:58 PM, said:

Poor AA ?

Its got the best AA Rating of all Tier5 Cruisers.

Most of the AA guns on the Kirov only have 2 KM range, though. Unless you fully upgrade its AA to get at least 3 KM, you aren't going to be shooting down much.

Also I'm pretty sure the Murmansk got more AA DPS. Ratings don't mean much.

[FaceFisted]

This ship is awesome! It is not for everyone though. It is quite fraggile, but guns... they are so good. With improved accuracy mod, it's most precise ship in game.  Citadel hitting machine

 

 

 

 

Sadly, I feel that this ship will be nerfed because it is a pleasure to be played when you actually know how to play. Odd thing is that many tiers will pass until RU ships get 180mm guns again.

[Comrad_StaIin]

I quit like the guns but everything else is crap about this ship

[Aotearas]

Reload mod? What reload mod?

 

As for the Kirov herself, I've only got three games under my belt yet but she's been doing great. Matchmaking was pretty rough because it for some reaons put me bottom tier in each match and I got nuked in one game pretty early, but the other two games were decent and I got ~ 65k damage each. The guns are pretty good. Nice high shell velocity, flat arc (but arcing enough so you can lob shells over islands, just the sweet spot imho) and the accuracy (with the accuracy mod) is very good. Shell groupings also tend to be nicely packed as far as I could tell. HE damage is pretty good and it starts lots of fires. AP damage is pretty decent too and penetration aswell, can definately use AP on cruisers to good effect (citadels) if they give a broadside.

 

The ship is fast and it also accelerates fast, so you don't need to sail in a straight course all the time to ever get to the listed topspeed, which is very nice.

 

Armour, well, it's paper, but if you angle well you can protect yourself from cruiser AP decently (at least not get citadelled all the time), though it won't help against BB AP shells. The ship is loooong and high, but has a slim profile directly from the front and behind, so if you sail away/towards an enemy and present only your bow/aft, you're not easy to hit, especially if you keep your distance.

Turret clearance is decent too, though hazardous to try and put all guns on target at medium distances.

 

The ship turns like a brick though. 11 seconds rudder shift time unupgraded and 860m turning radius takes a loooong time to shake that arse around and you'll be giving a nice, big target to everyone within shooting range if you turn in front of enemies. Not recommended. The upgraded rudder shift time is 7.8 seconds, much better but still not too great. Not easy to dodge torpedoes in this one, so make good use of your HAS when you know DDs are around.

 

So far only played the stock version (duh, three games ...) but I found her manageable overall (positioning needs to be planned ahead) and very good when played to her strenghts (supportive fire). Looks like a great ship to escort BBs around and add her firepower. It really chews up DDs. Shots on 10km+ DDs are easily doable if they are foolish enough to sail in straight lines for longer than 9 seconds and the HE hurts.

[Exocet6951]

Poor AA ?

Its got the best AA Rating of all Tier5 Cruisers.

 

 

This v

 

 

Most of the AA guns on the Kirov only have 2 KM range, though. Unless you fully upgrade its AA to get at least 3 KM, you aren't going to be shooting down much.

Also I'm pretty sure the Murmansk got more AA DPS. Ratings don't mean much.

 

It has good AA rating, and the 37mm guns look very appealing at first glace,but the very low range means that it's not very efficient.

You can only ever count on your long range 100mm guns for DPS, which are pretty good in that regard, but it remains a tier5 cruiser, so very limited in terms of AA.

 

If a tier6 carrier decides to send dive bombers at you, there's not much you're going to be able to do, unless you have a captain trained with the AA focusing skill, and all the AA upgrades possible, then focus a squadron as soon as it gets within range.

It will fare better than a Furutaka in that regard, but it won't exactly be spectacular. So in the grand scheme of things, it may have better AA, but it doesn't really make it any good.

[StringWitch]

"like laser in the vids"? I hope not.

 

Historically, the Kirov and its sister ships were among the least precise shooting cruisers in WW2. Reason: the guns packed too close together in the very small triple turrets. When the guns were fired, vibrations caused higher dispersion among them.

 

So yeah, that would be a disappointment to hear the Kirov guns being precise.

 

They are very accurate. Strange, cetainly, but I think it makes her an interesting ship; Kirov has been designed in-game to be a big squishy alpha sniper. I've been getting 5k salvoes on BBs using AP, and citadelled a Kongo. She's very good at doing damage, but also very vulnerable to receiving it due to a damning combination of large size, poor armour, and a slow rudder. If they gave her historically monstrous dispersion, she'd pretty much amount to a gimped Furutaka. Speaking of which, I do feel Kirov's gun traverse speed is far too fast. It should be 30 or 36 seconds like IJN CAs, not 22.5 which compares well with CLs.

[Unintentional_submarine]

 

I do feel Kirov's gun traverse speed is far too fast. It should be 30 or 36 seconds like IJN CAs, not 22.5 which compares well with CLs.

 

Heh, it is just about the only correct aspect of her guns as it is. Her turrets really did traverse really fast.

[Gojuadorai]

I quit like the guns but everything else is crap about this ship

 

and IRL the guns were crap too 

[Crow_Eschatologist]

1st game 1-salvoed a broadside Aoba at 12 km not managed a repeat performance yet, but the AP is pretty beasty.

[Comrad_StaIin]

 

and IRL the guns were crap too 

Well the guns were not crap just the turrets because the guns were mounted too close the disperision was very high

they also tuned down the muzzle velocity to 800mps rl was 920mps

[ApesTogetherStronK]

She's an evil ship in the right hands. 

*Fired one salvo, devastating strike on Koenigsberg.* 

*Fired next salvo, devastating strike on Kuma* 

*Fired next salvo, triple citadel on Fuso.* 

 

I view her pretty much as a Koenigsberg with even worse survivability but the ability to citadel anything it damn well pleases. She's like someone took a glass cannon, made it bigger and more dangerous but made the glass break even easier. She's a true paper tiger.

[Vincinzerei]

*Fired next salvo, triple citadel on Fuso.* 

 

Would love to see a Screenshot of this..

ABout the Pen.. yes it Pens quite well.. but on some cases it tends to overpenetrate :/

[gravelbelly]

I view her pretty much as a Koenigsberg with even worse survivability but the ability to citadel anything it damn well pleases. She's like someone took a glass cannon, made it bigger and more dangerous but made the glass break even easier. She's a true paper tiger.

heh heh , love your description.

[ApesTogetherStronK]

 

Would love to see a Screenshot of this..

ABout the Pen.. yes it Pens quite well.. but on some cases it tends to overpenetrate :/

 

I was too busy at the time (obviously) to screenshot it, if I get another one similar I'll try though.  

[mtm78]

Nice stats on your Kirov Reaper_JackGBR, I guess that 100k game was the one with the above anecdote? 

 

As to the BB citadel, I suspect it was about 14km plunging fire on those weakly armored decks (as the 180's shouldn't penetrate Fuso's belt armor with enough oomph left to go through the turtle neck armor )?