The CV Captains Cabin

[LongJohn_]

2 hours ago, El2aZeR said:

 

It's 1/1/2 actually.

Things were always skewed towards Saipan as she is the single most overpowered CV tier for tier.

 

I'll just use free exp to skip Ranger once the update hits.

 

I liked my Ranger and run it 1-1-1 then. Its nice clear and easy to manage loadout and with Ranger hangar you have plenty of spares. I had pretty nice success with it but WR wasnt that great. 

 

What comes to Saipan its only OP at good hands. If you autodrop its a mess and you easily run those T9 fighters dogfighting Ranger 7 plane squad one by one and with dogfighting expet that Ranger squad eats them alive. Did it many times. But if you stay away with better speed, fight on your own terms and most importantly use manual drops and strafe a lot (with success) it is a strong ship.

 

 

[unsinkable_sam_]

Nagato dont like AP bombs. 

 

 

 

[RUSSIANBlAS]

13 minutes ago, longley89 said:

Nagato dont like AP bombs. 

 

 

 

 Wow, a one shot....

 

Always wondered if the extra DB over Enterprise squadrons would make a difference. Most I've had vs a Naga is 40k. 

[LongJohn_]

***rant***

 

Okey dokey. 17 games with Essex today.

 

Stats before the day: 231 battles, 57,58% winrate, 2468 PR, 113452 avg dmg, 1,41 avg frags, 22,25 planekills.

 

Todays stats: 17 battles, 47,06% winrate, 1409 PR, 73823 avg dmg, 0,88 avg frags, 26,24 planekills. Tried both AP and HE bombs, met both Essex and Taiho enemies, mostly other Essexes which isnt a surprice.

 

Maybe I should start with ups:

 

+ Aircontrol is easier and 1:1 fight challenging Taiho is doable

+ AP bombs hurt (with limitations). One shotted AFK Shima, plenty of hits to KM BBs...

+- AP bombs dont need aiming. Autodrop is ok, just approach from right angle

 

I guess thats pretty much it.

 

Downs:

 

- Fighters are crap (T8?) - normal (no AA spec) DDs like Shimas shoot them down if you try to spot them

- TBs are total crap. Too slow and too weak. You can use single squad once - it almost every time dies off before returning to CV

- Only 1 TB - you cant kill DDs unless they behave like idiots and drive into torps.

- AP bombs are overall crap. Sure you CAN cause major damage and even oneshot things if very lucky. As average almost useless. Hit cruiser with good aim 2x7 DBs and did 2x800 damage. 2x800?! Inconsistency is at idiotic levels.

- Because of fighter loadout your spares for attack aircrafts are limited and you often run out - crap

 

My keyboard control is still all over the place and at least 2 fighter squad control needs a lot of work. I think this setup suits better for IJN veterans...

 

Changed to HE bombs in my last game. Instantly better results. Still lost but 143k damage... AP bombing Montanas, Yamatos and such is totally useless. You do 3-5k damage per squad and thats below half what 1000lbs HE does PLUS the fires.

 

I think I might give it another day and if it doesnt get any better by my own actions its going for sale. It just feels its now useless in everything. Old strike at least packed punch and those who liked AS really got AS cancer loadout. Now it feels just bad in almost every way.

 

[LongJohn_]

 

Oh.. One more up. Changes free some 130k free xp and 4-5M credits. Got the Shokaku elited before even getting it and still have +40k free xp for spare.

[El2aZeR]

Holy RNGesus, I think the manual drop circle for AP bombs is even smaller than on tech tree USN CVs.

Spoiler

Though on the other hand the circle when being disrupted is also much larger.

I demand a buff to Big E now! 

 

EDIT: Yep, definitely smaller. Can even reliably hit DDs with them and cause reasonable damage (~3-5k).

Fighter reserves are a bit too low for my tastes, tho. Then again maybe E has spoiled me too much.

[LongJohn_]

45 minutes ago, El2aZeR said:

Holy RNGesus, I think the manual drop circle for AP bombs is even smaller than on tech tree USN CVs.

  Reveal hidden contents

Though on the other hand the circle when being disrupted is also much larger.

I demand a buff to Big E now! 

 

EDIT: Yep, definitely smaller. Can even reliably hit DDs with them and cause reasonable damage (~3-5k).

Fighter reserves are a bit too low for my tastes, tho. Then again maybe E has spoiled me too much.

 

Manual drop circle for Essex AP bombs is pretty much Shimakaze size. I matched them very closely when I got to drop it. 

[El2aZeR]

For comparison, AP bomb manual drop circle for Big E AP DBs.

Spoiler

Definitely bigger.

 

[LongJohn_]

21 minutes ago, El2aZeR said:

For comparison, AP bomb manual drop circle for Big E AP DBs.

  Hide contents

Definitely bigger.

 

 

Sure but it doesnt mather. Even if you hit all damage is way too inconsistent. I dont care if I can delete single Bismarck with single swing if it doesnt even make a dent to Yamato. HE also deletes AA so you can use that to soften up enemy for TB. 

 

Single T8 TB squad is very poor. They just die like flies and take forever to fly to target and back. Maybe with Midway which has plenty of reserves.

[El2aZeR]

9 minutes ago, LongJohn_ said:

Sure but it doesnt mather. Even if you hit all damage is way too inconsistent.

 

Yeah, I can imagine HE bombs are better for high tier as they deal roughly the same damage AND set things on fire + break stuff. For Lex however AP bombs is perfectly viable as she has plenty of BBs vulnerable to AP bomb one-shots in her MM spread.

[LongJohn_]

11 minutes ago, El2aZeR said:

 

Yeah, I can imagine HE bombs are better for high tier as they deal roughly the same damage AND set things on fire + break stuff. For Lex however AP bombs is perfectly viable as she has plenty of BBs vulnerable to AP bomb one-shots in her MM spread.

 

Have you tried Lex HE bombs? They are also 1000lbs like the AP ones. I understand the difference with Enterprice that has stock 500lbs HE bombs and upgraded bombers with 1000lbs AP? So they are not even comparable. Essex, propably Lex and of cource Midway, have identical planes with only difference in bombload.

[El2aZeR]

6 minutes ago, LongJohn_ said:

Have you tried Lex HE bombs?

 

I'm actually in the process of comparing damage totals in the training room now (against high tier BBs). Give me a couple of hours and I'll have something conclusive.

[LongJohn_]

14 minutes ago, El2aZeR said:

 

I'm actually in the process of comparing damage totals in the training room now (against high tier BBs). Give me a couple of hours and I'll have something conclusive.

 

Good. This is intresting.

[RUSSIANBlAS]

Damn pr0 noobs.... 

 

Just played a Lex game and I even warned the team I only had 1 fighter.

 

Somehow shooting down 55 of the enemy and bombing all the lone targets in a T10 game isn't enough and I got called an idiot for not spotting all the enemy DDs 100% of the time.

 

Apparently I should be using my DBs to do that, in a USN deck that has only 4 groups of planes? We had plenty of DDs including some early adopting PA DDs. 

 

If I was using my Shokaku I'd understand but I don't think a Lex can afford the DPM drop by screening for DDs when we had enough of them ourselves to screen. 

 

Lost karma because they were in a fail div that didn't take any AA so it was somehow my fault 

 

Other than the pro children the changes to Lex seem like a step in the right direction. 

[Sea_viper]

I even lost karma because of refusing to spot a DD next to an enemy Alanta

 

Yesterday is kind of horrific in terms of player quality... Full lemming to A cap in Island of Ice... or All to C in Hotspot...

 

Anyway, the Lexington seems to be very picky with builds. Servicing Time reduction is a must, Concealment is also a must, and HE DB is kind of meh in Lexington, not because the bomb is bad, it is just that Lex cannot secure air superiority which makes DOT difficult to apply

[LongJohn_]

3 hours ago, Negativvv said:

Damn pr0 noobs.... 

 

Just played a Lex game and I even warned the team I only had 1 fighter.

 

Somehow shooting down 55 of the enemy and bombing all the lone targets in a T10 game isn't enough and I got called an idiot for not spotting all the enemy DDs 100% of the time.

 

Apparently I should be using my DBs to do that, in a USN deck that has only 4 groups of planes? We had plenty of DDs including some early adopting PA DDs. 

 

If I was using my Shokaku I'd understand but I don't think a Lex can afford the DPM drop by screening for DDs when we had enough of them ourselves to screen. 

 

Lost karma because they were in a fail div that didn't take any AA so it was somehow my fault 

 

Other than the pro children the changes to Lex seem like a step in the right direction. 

 

That sounds like life in (USN) CV. In some battles you can be a idiot while whole team cramps up into one corner and if you stay calm and help turning the game there they praise you just few minutes later. 

 

I actually think Essex had better spotting capability with old 1-1-3 strike. 5 squads in the air and empty DB makes a great DD spotter. Now with 2-1-2 you practically have to use your fighters for spotting without killing all your strike potential. 

[El2aZeR]

It's up.

Tl;dr: Use HE bombs with Essex/Midway. Even Lex if you want to.

[unsinkable_sam_]

Notser Essex 0.6.14  

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

[LongJohn_]

2 hours ago, longley89 said:

Notser Essex 0.6.14  

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2 hours ago, longley89 said:

 

 

Yep. Notser liked it but looked like opposition was very weak from the enemy CV. And its also very dependent to MM. If you are top tier and AA is weak propably this new loadout is better than old. I think Flambass also covered Lexington and Midway last night.

[El2aZeR]

Made a follow up test on how AP bombs perform when you specifically target different sections of a ship to avoid damage saturation.

Tl;dr: Initial alpha strike is higher, but not by much. Still recommend using HE bombs for Essex/Midway.

[LongJohn_]

 

Could anyone that likes new Essex step up?

 

Another 4 games today. 50% WR which is ok, PR 1282 which is about half I used to have, avg dmg 73k something which is 40k below my average. 23,75 planekills. +30 planekills is pretty easy but everything else its useless. Boring cruising around, playing 0-0 with enemy CV.. And if team sucks those point-and-click dudes play you over. Point and click fighter battles, point and click AP bombs, kill or two and "decent" result. Feels like idiots ship now. Sorry. Very very close to sell it...

[lycea]

Played a game in the midway out of curiosity and with those 2 torp squads you are pretty much guaranteed to kill a tier 8 BB with one strike, and it's disgusting to crossdrop a DD since it has no chance to come out alive. 

But I think that due to the long reload of planes the hakuryu is still better.

Anyway, it's better then what it used to be so it's a step in the right direction.

 

[LongJohn_]

 

 

Looking pretty good. Essex main problem, T8 TBs, are corrected by having 2 squads and plenty of reserves. Essex has neither. With Midway it seems to be working and you still have about half the planes through to a pretty hard AA target like Iowa and have the hangar to replace the losses.

 

[LongJohn_]

 

If a enemy Kurfurst player calls you "flying whores" is that the right time to quit CVs for today?

[cuddlesRO]

4 minutes ago, LongJohn_ said:

 

If a enemy Kurfurst player calls you "flying whores" is that the right time to quit CVs for today?

 

Yes.

 

Nothing to be said there, you could just quit the game and never come back because he basically owned you at a chat level :)

 

Impossible to come back from that insult.