Please Buff USN cruisers allready...

[cro_pwr]

Ok, I know a lot of people will start yelling Cleveland before they even read the topic, but I'm not talking about that.

I don't want some huge freaking buffs, 10k more hp, 2k more dmg and craplike that...

Just for the LOVE OF GOD AND EVERYTHING HOLY, buff the high tier USN cruisers shell arcs allready...

 

There is simply no reason whatsoever for Pensa / New Orleans / Baltimore to have such slow shells, such bad arcs, such a long flight time... (not sure about Des Moines, since I don't own one)...

The way they are now, they are simply unreliable... even battleships can dance around their shells without getting hit, let alone cruisers...

Maybe they are intended to be brawlers, but that things will never happen in high tier games (ok, ALMOST never), because BB will snipe you before you even start brawling...

So anyone that didn't forget to connect his keyboard can easily dodge 90% of your shells, and thats just frustrating...

 

tl;dr: Buff shell flight time for high tier USN cruisers...

 

[__Katniss__]

I agree. Buff them. Especially DM i have 48% with him only.  Laser shells with 6s reload time would be nice. 

 

[Azalgor]

Want good balisticks? Dont miss your chance and go play Soviet Cruisers, before they start nerfing their guns like they did to DDs. All else is pretty much forgotten, except few ships that will continue to be nerfed till they drop from the top of the overal statistic list (like Yamato, Zao etc.)

[__Katniss__]

Want good balisticks? Dont miss your chance and go play Soviet Cruisers, before they start nerfing their guns like they did to DDs. All else is pretty much forgotten, except few ships that will continue to be nerfed till they drop from the top of the overal statistic list (like Yamato, Zao etc.)

 

Meh, i will stick with my parachute HE spamm. Moskva is more BB than cruiser, so it means boring gameplay. 

 

 

 

 

[mrak1979]

Ok, I know a lot of people will start yelling Cleveland before they even read the topic, but I'm not talking about that.

I don't want some huge freaking buffs, 10k more hp, 2k more dmg and craplike that...

Just for the LOVE OF GOD AND EVERYTHING HOLY, buff the high tier USN cruisers shell arcs allready...

 

There is simply no reason whatsoever for Pensa / New Orleans / Baltimore to have such slow shells, such bad arcs, such a long flight time... (not sure about Des Moines, since I don't own one)...

The way they are now, they are simply unreliable... even battleships can dance around their shells without getting hit, let alone cruisers...

Maybe they are intended to be brawlers, but that things will never happen in high tier games (ok, ALMOST never), because BB will snipe you before you even start brawling...

So anyone that didn't forget to connect his keyboard can easily dodge 90% of your shells, and thats just frustrating...

 

tl;dr: Buff shell flight time for high tier USN cruisers...

 

 

Shell travel time depends from shell velocity. Thats the fact. Baltimore heavy AP shell got only 762m/s thats it. But Pensa or NO has 823 m/s shell travel time to 10km is 5.9s compare to IJN 840 m/s 5.7s...thats not huge diffrence. Maybe is harder to hit but US crusisers AP shells have got best penetration and penetrating angel! You may score solid damge even to BB when show broadside and you can wreck other cruisers pretty easily especialy at distance up to 11-12km. Many people forgot concealment of USN cruisers except Pensacola second best after IJN and are more agile! Im end up in NO recently. I love my IJN cruiser but USN are very fun to play!

[C4PT41N_0BV10US]

Des Moines if pretty fine now. Radar gave it a nice niche that she can fill, apart from doing rest of usuall cruiser job. 

But I agree with OP, New Orleans is bad. Baltimore is propably bad as well now (didn't play her since OBT), and despite radar, they're still suffering from low DPM and terrible shell arcs and speed. 

[cro_pwr]

I agree. Buff them. Especially DM i have 48% with him only.  Laser shells with 6s reload time would be nice. 

 

 

yes yes, i know you are really good with cruisers and all that crap... but i cannot even fathom how you did well in baltimore... (yes, i had few good games when my enemy team was potato, and their BBs ignored me, but thats pretty much it)

actually, i find NO even better then baltimore for some reason...

 

and I can't even understand why are people STILL, to this very day bashing on every proposal to give USN cruisers a slight shell buff... (pls don't start with realistic crap, because this game has everything BUT realism)

they are obviously bad, they are dealing lowest dmg on average by far, and there is no reason why should it stay that way...

[__Katniss__]

 

yes yes, i know you are really good with cruisers and all that crap... but i cannot even fathom how you did well in baltimore... (yes, i had few good games when my enemy team was potato, and their BBs ignored me, but thats pretty much it)

actually, i find NO even better then baltimore for some reason...

 

and I can't even understand why are people STILL, to this very day bashing on every proposal to give USN cruisers a slight shell buff... (pls don't start with realistic crap, because this game has everything BUT realism)

they are obviously bad, they are dealing lowest dmg on average by far, and there is no reason why should it stay that way...

High tier USN cruisers are fun to play. Just do what you supposed to do. Long range HE spamm on BB, killing DDs with radar and close fitting with cruisers. Ignore cruisers in midle-long range, cause is waste of time to hit them anyway. DesMoines is worth to grind for sure. NO is boring to play, Baltimore is also more frustrating than fun but DM is epic with that fire rate. 

[cro_pwr]

High tier USN cruisers are fun to play. Just do what you supposed to do. Long range HE spamm on BB, killing DDs with radar and close fitting with cruisers. Ignore cruisers in midle-long range, cause is waste of time to hit them anyway. DesMoines is worth to grind for sure. NO is boring to play, Baltimore is also more frustrating than fun but DM is epic with that fire rate. 

 

i actually had some fun with NO, but Baltimore? The only reason i can make myself to play 2-3 battles a day with him is DM... nothing else... if that sh!t wasn't t9, and 1 step away from DM, i would have scrapped him after 5 games and never looked back...

my biggest problem with it is, while spamming HE from long range, your accuracy, and shell flight time is so painful, even BBs don't give a [edited].

if you want to try and brawl with cruisers (the biggest selling point of NO and Balti, and the thing i enjoy the most), BB will say "Hi, how are you" from 20 km away, and drop you to 10% of hp in single salvo... so, its really frustrating to spend 15 min floating around trying to find good position to actually do something that game...

[__Katniss__]

Dont play Baltimore solo. Use islands as cover and avoid fights in open sea. I got lucky on maps when i played my Baltimore and 95% of games I played in div. 

[cro_pwr]

Dont play Baltimore solo. Use islands as cover and avoid fights in open sea. I got lucky on maps when i played my Baltimore and 95% of games I played in div. 

 

I'm doing that. thats why I said its frustrating to spend 15 out of 20 mins hiding and trying to get into position where you wont be blown up immediatly... and by doing that, most of times you are missing out on dmg dealt bla bla bla, so yea, its frustrating to play that ship

btw, dont talk about maps, yesterday (someone waited too long in a queue) i've ended up in a t9 9v9 match on ocean... much fun.

[__Katniss__]

Thats why I said Baltimore is more frustrating ship than fun to play  I also hated to play with Ibuki but you dont have another option. Just use gold camo for 100% exp boost and flag. Still better option than use free exp. 

 

[byronicasian]

The only USN ships that should have extremely large arcs are the *Pensacola (with the stock 8"/50 gun only, the 8"/55 improves it quite a bit), the Baltimore "top" gun (firing the Mark 21 8" SHS), and the Des Moines.

 

The Mark 14 8"/55, has shell performance  fairly close to Myoukou's 8 inchers. Nawlins and the stock Baltimore guns fires the same non-SHS Mk.19 AP shell so the ballistics should be similar/near identical.

 

Don't believe me?

See the data mines, in-port info cards, and the navweaps page for yourself.

USA 8"/55 (20.3 cm) Marks 12 and 15

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_8-55_mk12-15.htm AP Mark 21 - 2,500 fps (762 mps) , AP Mark 21 Mods 1 to 5 (super heavy) - 335 lbs. (152 kg)

compared to /u/iku19 's datamine

http://forum.worldofwarships.com/index.php?showtopic=65360

203 mm AP Mk21 | 762.00kts | 203mm

Its the reason why the Pensacola and New Orleans don't have the floaty arcs as they are using the older 8" gun w/o the Superheavy shell.

USA 8"/55 (20.3 cm) Marks 9, 10, 11, 13 and 14

http://www.navweaps.com/Weapons/WNUS_8-55_mk9.htm

AP Mark 19 Mods 1 to 6 - 260 lbs. (118 kg) , Muzzle Velocity 2,800 fps (853 mps)

203 mm AP Mk19 | 853.00kts | 203mm

 

[T_H_0_R]

Without comparing her with other T9 CA I am not sure what the fuss is about Baltimore. I find her huge improvement over New Orleans. My avg. dmg is ~10k higher than NO and I can dish out much more HE damage than I could with NO. Radar is a Godsend, and I find that I can easily hit DDs within the radar range and the shots grouping is marvelous. With Baltimore being this good, I can't wait for Des. Oh, and coming from New Orleans - Baltimore's actually has armor. You won't get cit penned from the rear like with NO due to her hangars (vertical area behind rear turret). Couple that with heal and radar she is a great escort cruiser with phenomenal AA.

 

Pensacola is fine, except that retarded concealment but I can live with that. New Orleans is basically a Pensacola with same HP pool, one barrel less and armor that works only when nose on towards the target. Citadel is the same size as Pensacola. For whatever reason, might be a placebo effect I find NO guns worse as in dealing damage than Pensacola's. Sure, I even citadeled Izumo and other BBs at range, but last night I had problems hitting cits on MKs showing broadsides at sub 8km range nose on.

 

If any USN ship needs buffing it is New Orleans. I find it a cursed ship. Either I end up with potato teams every time I sail her, or in order to do anything in the match I have to take risks which usually end up with me sinking. I've had 3 matches in the row where I sunk, we won, and I was top scorer for the team. It needs either more HP or better ROF and better HE shells. Or all things combined.

[Xerkics]

So all the high tier USN ships have bad guns essentially then if arcs are poor? Thats kinda contrary to good guns vs good torps approach. USN has on IJN

[Poster_2015]

1st, i liked NO. I played it with huge focus on concealment and staying undetected and it sort of worked. Im not going to argue its a great ship, but it feels like a large step up from Pensacola - you get Pepsi guns, slightly worse turning, but you get also a huge improvement on armor and concealement. NO is not a powerhouse, but compared to Hipper/Mogami it doesnt really stand that badly - probably some slight buff to hp would be the best course of action.

 

As for Baltimore i play it with CV partner and as AA specced and it performs greatly in that role. I actually have another 17 perk captain (from Iowa, i hated her so much i never bought Montana after unlocking) with concealement spec for solo play. I do decently with it, but Id say there is a problem with the ship still (unless meta shifts to CV heavy than the ship will be fine).

It actually has a lot of strong points, but the main issue is with its guns.

 

Baltimore guns are a mess, and while i cant be sure about WG reasoning, it feels its "Des Moines fault". The SHS shells simply lack damage they should have - because if they got it, then DM would become OP with its rof. They actually didnt had that great of penetration - and ironically their strength lied in long range fire - they kept the speed of shell more than lighter shells. In game they still penetrate worse then normal balti shells at short range, but at long range the flight time and angle of impact kills their effectiveness (this game really puts too much stress on angling - tank mechanics dont fully apply to naval game ;/). 

 

They lack however the main reason for the SHS - which is the destructive power. What would make sense would be boosting AP shells to at least 6500 damage (germans have 5900 on much lighter shell with same amount of less potent explosive. Maybe 6000 for balance purpose. HE shells also had 20 % more filling and were more destructive then japanese ones. Bringing it up to japanese level of 3400 (from 2800 iirc). That would make Baltimore still hard to get close enough, and harder to shoot then counterparts, but it would actually HURT more when it did. 

 

But i guess DM with those numbers would be a pain to balance. So maybe Balti could just use a "non historical" buff to ROF. 5,5 or so ROF would give it some "oomph" on guns to compensate for range and lack of torpedoes. It would still be inferior guns to roon, but armor/layout maybe can justify it. 

Edit: A special reply to THOR - from your post i assume you dont have other t9. I agree Balti is a step up from NO. Poroblem is, t9 is the tier where other cruisers actually get their "strengths" and become dangerous. Roon gets its pretty insane ROF of 8.5 sec reload with really powerful shells. Ibuki while personally i find her underwhelming, suddenly becomes this 19.2km invisifiring firestarter. Donskoi gets really neat firepower too (although id say while solid its not that great either). Baltimore doesnt get anything that NO didnt have - its a small step forward, where other cruisers make a huge leap. 

 

Also while i do play Balti as an escort cruiser, because its easiest that way, Roon is even outperforming her on that front. Roon's long range AA aura is actually stronger then Balti, but shorter - so yes its inferior to Balti, but its good enough that with double t4 perk it demolishes planes. The difference is, when i escort fleet in Roon i have 18km range - 22 with plane - and i actually hit, and even citadel stuff at that range. I can protect my fleet AND deal damage, while Balti can do only one of those. 

[T_H_0_R]

Yes, my only two T9 ships are Taiho and Baltimore. All high tier USN CA from my experience must have full concealment builds with 15 point captains to really start to shine. With NO you can sneak upon an other CA and just plaster away with a full AP salvo. It also helps with AA builds since the planes spot you when they enter your AA aura - then its already too late. That is what I consider an advantage over Roon's AA. And I don't have a problem with citadelling stuff at max range. Yesterday cit penned first MK then Hindi at 17-18 km.

 

For me, Baltimore is a huuuge step up from New Orleans. Has heal, has armor (regularly bouncing BB shots - when angled, not talking plunging fire), and has +40k HP poll. The guns hit hard. I can do much more consistent HE damage in it vs. NO. And when you take the range 3rd slot upgrade, even without precision upgrade the shell spread is nothing short of amazing at sub 11-12 km. This is very useful when hitting DDs painted by radar. I still get surprised how much shells land on DDs with Baltimore.

 

Sure thing, above 12km the shells take a while to land and like with North Carolina guns you simply must lead more and you probably won't hit a maneuvering CA. But once you get accustomed to them I have no problem in dealing damage. T9 CAs often see T7 CAs = seal clubbing.

 

When played close to your fleet with AA and Radar you are a great asset. CVs will avoid you like a plague (I know I do in Taiho and most definitely in Shokaku). Hell, even if you do not have an AA build on her, CVs will stay away.

 

I just don't see the fuss about Balti. A great CA that I immediately started winning matches with from the get go. First match I took her out - 100k dmg, 3 kills and top scorer of the team. Perhaps it has something to do with me sticking with NO where every mistake costs dearly. Same approach with Balti for me yields much better results. If it didn't have radar then I could probably see her as mediocre CA. Now when it has, and we're talking only 0.2km IIRC between max concealment and radar range - loving her.

[Panocek]

So all the high tier USN ships have bad guns essentially then if arcs are poor? Thats kinda contrary to good guns vs good torps approach. USN has on IJN

 

I guess you can blame US Navy for their superheavy shell fetish

 

Although there might be glimpse of hope, as on 5.5 test server it looks like drag coefficient was slightly reduced on most ships, as DM now clocks 13.17s instead 13.7s for AP at 18.4km, Zao loses around half the second too.

[Poster_2015]

 And when you take the range 3rd slot upgrade, even without precision upgrade the shell spread is nothing short of amazing at sub 11-12 km. 

 

Well the myth again. Range module has ZERO effect on accuracy. People think otherwise because you gain more % of range then % of dispersion increase. But thats because there is a constant added. Dispersion for Baltimore without the accuracy module is 35m+6.75m/km of distance. Range module doesnt effect that. Actually every cruiser past tier 3 uses the same formula and mechanics - any deviation in PERCEIVED accuracy is due to shell speed. Accuracy is varied between BBs of different nations (although same nation BBs have same accuracy), but cruisers have unified accuracy. I dont generally use range on Baltimore - prefer to use a combo of reload+ spotter plane myself. I very rarely snipe above 15km, and spotter plane is enough for the times i do. To each his own though, thats not something i will argue. 

 

Anyway yes, the shell spread is very nice (and is the same as on NO), but so is the spread on Roon, Ibuki or DD. 

The armor - definitely true, it can bounce shells head on , but you "pay" for that, with being absolutely a floating citadel when showing side. Ibuki or Roon have nowhere close to the level of armor of Baltimore - but hits to their side often end in overpenetrations. Sheer SIZE (not armor!) of Baltimore citadel makes her very vulnerable if you get attack from multiple angles. Dont get me wrong, i find armor an overall strong side of B, but its not without its flaws.

 

While I had some "glory moments" in Baltimore - to mention 2: it holds my current record of 4400 base xp as well (but thats with MANY plane kills which are very valuable to a cruiser in terms of xp), and i managed to obliterate a full Iowa in ~23 seconds (2nd reload of guns) scoring 12 citadels from point blank range, taking almost nothing in her 1 salvo return, those are outliers. In Roon if i can get close to a BB thats NOT a t10, Im basically confident i can 1v1 her. Broadsides upwards of 15k mean i can do 45k dmg not counting torpedoes between his salvos - thats something USUALLY baltimore can only dream of.

 

And sorry if this post has any tint of "you are a noob". I saw you play a few times and you are definitely a worthy player. Just trust me - other tier 9 cruisers gain same things as Baltimore - and way more !

[T_H_0_R]

Wait a sec, IIRC for you to use a spotter plane you can't have radar, am I right? Are you saying that you do not use radar with Baltimore??? If so, why oh God why? 

 

Don't worry about sounding "you are a noob". I welcome criticism and it makes me a better player. Curious when did we play together? I can't recall, but perhaps I was in a division and missed you on the roster.

 

Not sure about dispersion gaining any benefits from Artillery Plotting Room Modification 2, but I definitely am not landing as many shells and doing as much damage to DDs with NO as I am with Baltimore. If the dispersion stays the same (haven't checked) but the range increases - the cone should result with better / smaller dispersion at original max range. Well, thats theory at least.

 

Almost forgot - another advantage of Baltimore is that it actually has a torpedo belt, unlike NO where each torpedo hit pretty much cripples you. I am not saying Baltimore is better than both Roon or Ibuki or D.Donski. What I am saying it definitely has its role as a fleet escort. Without radar it would surely lag behind other T9 CAs. I haven't played her before radar was introduced. Actually, radar is what gave me the incentive to go past NO since I lost numerous matches due to capable DD players and there wasn't anything I could do if my team was dealt a set of bad DD players. Now with radar I play much more aggressively and support my own DDs in clearing caps. This results with winning games. Even if I don't kill a DD I can drive him out of cap or make him retreat towards friendly forces. I don't think that I have to tell you what losing your DDs early on means for your chances of winning games.

 

As for a floating citadel. The only time I was deleted, and it took 2 salvos, was by a Yama when I got too close and tried to do 180° and bugger out. With NO that would have been insta-trip to port. The other time I was cit penned was Amagi (Spithas was driving) and that is because I got too close when chasing their Shima. Also took 2-3 salvos before I went down. Never one shot deletion.

 

I will say that anyone reading this should take all of this with a grain of salt. I have only 16 games with her. Will report back if my experience changes. But somehow I doubt it, since after 400 games in NO and Pensa combined - unlike NO, Baltimore is a definite improvement. For me, at least.

 

With NO you only gain concealment and marginally better armor vs. Pensa. Pensa guns are heavenly on T7 and work vs. T7 ships. NO lacks the punch for me. In as much that I drive her with gun precision upgrade, Hydro & Radar with max concealment. Only then I can do something continuously. Was even top scorer in a T10 match with T10 CVs lol. Without DF.

[BillydSquid]

From what I've seen Baltimore can take more hits than my Roon, which is an awesome first strike CA with scary rate of fire, 8 rounds per minute x 9. That's a lot of AP shells hammering a target. But Jesus, citadels really hurt her despite the big Hp pool, even lower calibre shells can get good penetration as her armour is relatively thin. Main reason I stopped playing her was the Shimi spamming torpedoes every game, now with radar and HAS buffs I'll definitely pick her up again and finish the last 60k xp to get to Hindenburg. Especially now patch 5.5 is coming with weather effects, torpedo spam nerfs and new maps, I'm positively salivating at the chance to use the weather to slip away after hitting first in a CA. 

 

Im actually more interested in the USN CA line now they've got radar, I was initially looking to go for the IJN, but the Des Moines and Baltimore looks like they're more fun than the Zao sitting 18km away spamming HE. 

 

I can can only speak from fighting Des Moines and Baltimores that their armour is very effective at deflecting my AP shells when angled in comparison USN AP has better angle penetration than my Roon's. So really I don't want to get into a close range slugging match when I hold all the advantages in a mid to long rang engagement. I can still get good hits on an angled Baltimore or Des Moines, but eventually he's going to force me to break off and distance myself as his armour can deflect my shells at a more oblique angle than my armour can vs his AP and I lose the advantage up close given my armour is thinner. 

 

Up close they're pretty good, and the Des Moines has a staggering rate of fire, if a Roon or Hindenberg can control the initial engagement the German CAs have the deck stacked in their favour, able to inflict crippling damage, but that drops off sharply if the enemy can angle affectivly and minimise plunging fire. 

 

After patch 5.5 comes in I'll probably pick up the CAs again as they look to be more effective and I won't be tearing my hair out after getting nailed my stray torpedoes because I play waaaaay to aggressively and get killed. 

 

I encountered THOR a couple of times a while back in his USN CAs, good games, vs my Hipper and Roon after the initial heavy damage I scored, he angled and my DPM dropped hard, best tactic to deal with German CAs angle and close.  

 

[Poster_2015]

Wait a sec, IIRC for you to use a spotter plane you can't have radar, am I right? Are you saying that you do not use radar with Baltimore??? If so, why oh God why? 

 

Don't worry about sounding "you are a noob". I welcome criticism and it makes me a better player. Curious when did we play together? I can't recall, but perhaps I was in a division and missed you on the roster.

 

Not sure about dispersion gaining any benefits from Artillery Plotting Room Modification 2, but I definitely am not landing as many shells and doing as much damage to DDs with NO as I am with Baltimore. If the dispersion stays the same (haven't checked) but the range increases - the cone should result with better / smaller dispersion at original max range. Well, thats theory at least.

 

Almost forgot - another advantage of Baltimore is that it actually has a torpedo belt, unlike NO where each torpedo hit pretty much cripples you. I am not saying Baltimore is better than both Roon or Ibuki or D.Donski. What I am saying it definitely has its role as a fleet escort. Without radar it would surely lag behind other T9 CAs. I haven't played her before radar was introduced. Actually, radar is what gave me the incentive to go past NO since I lost numerous matches due to capable DD players and there wasn't anything I could do if my team was dealt a set of bad DD players. Now with radar I play much more aggressively and support my own DDs in clearing caps. This results with winning games. Even if I don't kill a DD I can drive him out of cap or make him retreat towards friendly forces. I don't think that I have to tell you what losing your DDs early on means for your chances of winning games.

 

As for a floating citadel. The only time I was deleted, and it took 2 salvos, was by a Yama when I got too close and tried to do 180° and bugger out. With NO that would have been insta-trip to port. The other time I was cit penned was Amagi (Spithas was driving) and that is because I got too close when chasing their Shima. Also took 2-3 salvos before I went down. Never one shot deletion.

 

I will say that anyone reading this should take all of this with a grain of salt. I have only 16 games with her. Will report back if my experience changes. But somehow I doubt it, since after 400 games in NO and Pensa combined - unlike NO, Baltimore is a definite improvement. For me, at least.

 

With NO you only gain concealment and marginally better armor vs. Pensa. Pensa guns are heavenly on T7 and work vs. T7 ships. NO lacks the punch for me. In as much that I drive her with gun precision upgrade, Hydro & Radar with max concealment. Only then I can do something continuously. Was even top scorer in a T10 match with T10 CVs lol. Without DF.

 

Well I bet you didnt remember me, because i post on different account from what i play on.

 

As for radar - thats a good point you mentioned. I generally dont use radar, because like i said before, i have the luxury of having multiple CV-oriented player in my friend pool. I take Baltimore out almost exclusively as an AA carrier escort - and i found that staying behind and serving as AA escort definitely doesnt give me a lot of radar opportunities - I prefer to occasionally shoot with plane (otherwise i lack range). When i play solo (very rarely, I mostly grind up my chapayev/play premiums for cash solo), I do have the luxury of a full concealment captain , and i do indeed take radar/sonar. Still most peoples dont play with a CV so you are correct. 

 

As for score - thats something that Baltimore has going for her. All the ships have individual multipliers for both silver and xp gains - and Baltimore has huge ones. Doing exactly same damage in Ibuki with roughly same spread (as in BB , DD or CA damage), and generally similiar game yields almost twice as much reward in Baltimore. Now that obviously doesnt mean you magically help your team more, but it always feels nice to be generously rewarded - even if you do crap .

 

As for citadels, I have different experience. Both Baltimore and Des Moines are citadel magnets when i play a BB, and while i cant say about the receiving end in DM yet, showing side as Baltimore is more punishing then most other cruisers. Baltimore armor also doesnt seem to work almost at all at long ranges, all hits seem to hit citadels - almost like a Pensacola. 

 

Also the stock Baltimore /New Orleans guns have BETTER penetration then the top ones, they only have less damage. 

[T_H_0_R]

I encountered THOR a couple of times a while back in his USN CAs, good games, vs my Hipper and Roon after the initial heavy damage I scored, he angled and my DPM dropped hard, best tactic to deal with German CAs angle and close.  

 

Hipper I deal with carefully. But Roon - with respect. Those AP shells have crazy damage potential. Once when I was running away from Roon and Udaloi that were in a division together I only showed like 30-35° angle to fire my front guns ("over the shoulder"). Result: cit pen from some 10km. Then Udaloi burned me to death. Still, we won while I occupied their 3 ship division for too long and made them work for the kill.

 

With NO my tactic is usually rush nose in just with the front guns. Unless Roon can destroy my forward turrets (happened the other day), his shells can't co much. But if caught off guard, yeah you do not want to be on the receiving end of a KM CA.

 

I'd recommend pushing towards DM. Radar really does help, if you know what you are doing. And I actively hunt both Shimas and other DDs. At sub 11-12 km, under radar range, Baltimore's shells are sufficiently fast to hit them accurately. I continuously get surprised how much shells land and damage done to them.

 

 

 

Well I bet you didnt remember me, because i post on different account from what i play on.

 

As for radar - thats a good point you mentioned. I generally dont use radar, because like i said before, i have the luxury of having multiple CV-oriented player in my friend pool. I take Baltimore out almost exclusively as an AA carrier escort - and i found that staying behind and serving as AA escort definitely doesnt give me a lot of radar opportunities - I prefer to occasionally shoot with plane (otherwise i lack range). When i play solo (very rarely, I mostly grind up my chapayev/play premiums for cash solo), I do have the luxury of a full concealment captain , and i do indeed take radar/sonar. Still most peoples dont play with a CV so you are correct. 

 

As for score - thats something that Baltimore has going for her. All the ships have individual multipliers for both silver and xp gains - and Baltimore has huge ones. Doing exactly same damage in Ibuki with roughly same spread (as in BB , DD or CA damage), and generally similiar game yields almost twice as much reward in Baltimore. Now that obviously doesnt mean you magically help your team more, but it always feels nice to be generously rewarded - even if you do crap .

 

As for citadels, I have different experience. Both Baltimore and Des Moines are citadel magnets when i play a BB, and while i cant say about the receiving end in DM yet, showing side as Baltimore is more punishing then most other cruisers. Baltimore armor also doesnt seem to work almost at all at long ranges, all hits seem to hit citadels - almost like a Pensacola. 

 

Also the stock Baltimore /New Orleans guns have BETTER penetration then the top ones, they only have less damage. 

 

Well, that explains it. Care to share your in-game nick with me?

 

You aren't kidding either. I thought it was a placebo effect, but for me Baltimore is a money maker. Even when sinking I am usually in 100-150k in the net positive. Go figure.

 

One reason why I picked up Balti was since a friend of mine did so before. The idea was for us to division Taiho / Balti - now that is a dream combo. First, no one ever tried sniping me seeing a Baltimore in a division with a Taiho, and he can then help cover our fleet with AA. But, he spoke highly about her even in solo games and so I picked her up. No regrets. Coming from NO any T9 CA is an upgrade.

 

About citadels, perhaps it has something to do with the drill I got from NO where I use the concealment before doing 180° and only ever try to fire angled. Pepsi school taught me to actively avoid shells by manipulating speed and course - very easy to throw someones aim off. Doing the same in Baltimore, when some shells do land, and they will - definitely do not yield the same results as in Pepsi / NO. Yes, cit penning hurts but there are no one shot deletions like there, at least I have not experienced one yet (fingers crossed). And you can just disengage and heal yourself. Not an option in T7/8 CA.

 

I did not know about stock guns being better. Where did you get that info and what is the possible reasoning behind this? SHS shells? Maybe that is why I feel Pensa guns have a bigger "umph" than NO (upgraded ones).

 

EDIT: About radar and staying back. That is not how you sail an USN CA. You push forward with the fleet, preferably BBs into the cap. Ideally with a BB and DD. And this is where Baltimore shines. I tend to to just that even when sailing her solo. Either supporting ships that push or our DDs in caps. Exception being if I see a CV on my team, I will always ask if he needs AA.

[Poster_2015]

Well first your edit - yes, if i have radar i push with the fleet, but i said "im usually staying back as AA cover". Snipining being what it is, it usually yields results. Stick to your CV till he snipes the other then its smooth sailing from there.

 

I dont know about stock guns being "better". To elaborate. Stock guns have more shell velocity but less shell weight - the weight difference is actually almost 33%, more then expected 335:260 lbs ratio, because the difference is almos entirely in projectile weight. That has implications which are somewhat reflected in the game - the shell is initially slower - resulting in a higher arc, but it will lose its speed and penetration slower to air resistance, and towards the end of flight it will actually surpass the lighter shell. As a result they will get better penetration (which i related to in previous post) at low ranges - which is usually when you mostly use AP cruiser shells and see citadel results. However at high range the SHS will overtake them in penetration, and at extreme ranges with plunging fire they will actually have a lot better penetrating power due to weight/angle. The shell arc will be higher, but if you use the range module it will be possibly even slightly flatter towards the extreme ranges (especially with plane). Also obviously the "better" guns have more ROF. 

 

From the historic point of view - Im not actually 100% sure where the SHS advantage was. With BB sized shells the advantage was pretty clear, with SHS cruiser size shells, the ballistics seemed to be a wash - and yet SHS were widely adopted and considered "unmatched" by other navies. I can only assume it was due to 50% better "firepower" (bursting charges and such) with similiar ballistics. That however is not reflected in game - their damage is actually lower than German counterparts (leaving penetration aspect alone - just talking about damage). 

 

Baltimore is another step down in maneuverability from pepsi and NO - it actually gets hard to use engine to dodge shells given how sluggish it feels. Still obviously the concealment is nice still, so trying to drop enemy vision before U turning is definitely a good thing to do. 

 

As for my real nickname, im contemplating more and more to switch to my real one here on forums, but for now it remains a secret  

[T_H_0_R]

You could always sent a PM with real nick name info. So that I know if we ever meet in combat. Promise won't tell anyone.