Not a good shooter

[Pulbah]

i have decided after several attempts that I am not a good shooter. I have tried BB CC and DD and I can confirm I am a poor shooter. Please, based on the above information could you suggest a particular ship that is best for those who are not up to the minimum standard required?

[SV_Kompresor]

anything soviet or japanese

[tenacious_torps]

Basically start with ships that have guns with low dispersion. The value in-game doesn't tell the whole story, since sigma is missing from that calculation, but it gives a good enough clue. You need guns that actually shoot where you aim to learn from it. Also check some youtubers for tutorials. Pretty sure Flamu, Notser and iChase all have some up. 

[JiksTBS]

90% of it is just practice ... and you get more of that with ships with high rates of fire. It's certainly easier to hit things with guns with high shell velocity, so that's usually Soviet or IJN like Domem3 says.

 

You are almost certainly are doing this anyway but make sure you have the ALT battle interface enabled, IIRC you get less information otherwise. Take a took at the relevant iChase's captains academy videos, they are very helpful.

 

If the target is going full speed, broadside on the required lead is just maths. If it's actively evading, moving away at an angle, messing with the speed, etc it's a great deal harder & knowing where/how much to lead is tricky. Eventually it almost becomes instinct but this takes a very long time and if those are the shots you are missing you are in good company ...

 

 

[voltaicgrunt]

i have decided after several attempts that I am not a good shooter. I have tried BB CC and DD and I can confirm I am a poor shooter. Please, based on the above information could you suggest a particular ship that is best for those who are not up to the minimum standard required?

 

It's not the guns, it's the shooter, and there is definitely a knack to it. You could have the most accurate guns in the game, but if you're shooting in the wrong place, you'll miss

Check out Notser's videos on youtube. Also, target selection makes huge difference. Ships that are sailing on an oblique angle to you are harder to hit (Hint on how to sail).

Make sure you have Alt Battle Mode enabled. Will give you time to target. (it's in settings). Or press ALT in game.

I play on very old laptop with low res, 25FPS and 120ms latency, which makes shooting difficult. I use Aslan's navigator to give me more info. (in WOWS Modpack). Or, zoom into enemy and double-tap M (for MAP). It will give you a brief birds eye view of enemy orientation.

For closer targets - especially fast moving ones, zoom out 1 wheel click (picked that 1 up off Littlewhitemouse replay. TY MOUSE)

Using torpedo target indicator will also give you an idea of enemy ship speed. Combined with shot time to target, it will tell you how much lead to allow.

 

If none of this helps, try a ship with fast reload. That way you can mash the LMB and 'walk' the fire in. 

Just keep banging away. Once it clicks, you'll be fine.

[ColonelPete]

i have decided after several attempts that I am not a good shooter. I have tried BB CC and DD and I can confirm I am a poor shooter. Please, based on the above information could you suggest a particular ship that is best for those who are not up to the minimum standard required?

 

If you have trouble with guns, use carriers.

[mtm78]

i have decided after several attempts that I am not a good shooter. I have tried BB CC and DD and I can confirm I am a poor shooter. Please, based on the above information could you suggest a particular ship that is best for those who are not up to the minimum standard required?

 

Hit ratio is so situational I can't even begin to think of what to say without you giving more info. What is your playstyle in each class? Which did you feel the most natural in while playing ( disregarding performance )?

 

Best way would be for you to enable replays and upload them to wowsreplays and then ask people to watch them and give pointers. 

[Pulbah]

Thank you all for the very useful advice above.

Probably the best advice is to stick to rapid fire guns and slowly move the hose type shells down on enemy ship. This I will do more often, but this means less BB which is a shame. 

I will certainly try the ALT setting as advised. Thank you.

I tried CV three times and it felt like very slow C&C so if I want play C&C I will play it. 

The suggestion for Russian is very good advice, but for some reason it feels wrong to play Russian, but I still dable and will double my dabbling. 

Yes the suggestion to watch YouTube is being followed avidly , but I am still rubbish.

I will re read all the above again and take note and try all your suggestions, except for probably driving a CV.

[Pulbah]

Which did you feel the most natural in while playing ( disregarding performance )?

 

well I find that laser accurate guns, with a very fast rate of fire with deep penetration and massive alpha damage whilst driving a heavenly aurmoured ship the most natural way to play.  Suggestion of such a ship please.   But if such a ship existed I think everybody would be driving her. 

[mtm78]

well I find that laser accurate guns, with a very fast rate of fire with deep penetration and massive alpha damage whilst driving a heavenly aurmoured ship the most natural way to play.  Suggestion of such a ship please.   But if such a ship existed I think everybody would be driving her. 

 

[LadyJess]

Give the Nurnberg a try or use the Kawachi or Myogi with HE only if you like BBs at the lower tiers.

Am not sure what tiers you have access to so it is difficult recommend ships.

[Pulbah]

Give the Nurnberg a try or use the Kawachi or Myogi with HE only if you like BBs at the lower tiers.

Am not sure what tiers you have access to so it is difficult recommend ships.

 

I have the one below the Nurnberg and find the guns very accurate and the range incredible so yes I will try the Nurnberg when I can.

I have tried the RN light cruiser line, but I am a full speed ahead sailor and do not like sitting still in smoke so have replaced smoke with either a fighter or spotter as the mood takes me.

I am up to Kongo and like her, but I find some maps/charts are a little small for her.

[LadyJess]

Ah if you have the Kongo you are going to love the Fuso and Nagato . If you are a full speed ahead player give the German BB line a try. You won't want to sit in the back with these ships, just move forward ( with support ) and blast away. The german BB line is for brawlers.

[dasCKD]

well I find that laser accurate guns, with a very fast rate of fire with deep penetration and massive alpha damage whilst driving a heavenly aurmoured ship the most natural way to play.  Suggestion of such a ship please.   But if such a ship existed I think everybody would be driving her. 

 

Well, yes they would. The thing is, in this game you need to give and take. None of the BBs have a great rate of fire, and the fastest loading guns are German and consequently would miss a drydock from the inside. The most accurate BB guns are of course Japanese, but they are anything but fast firing. Their armor can also be quite unreliable and are very prone of being set on fire.

 

Laser accuracy, fast rate of fire, and high alpha however can be covered by the Hipper, Roon, and Hindenburg. The Hidenburg opens with a salvo every 8 seconds potentially. Their AP has the highest alpha and their guns are laser accurate. Thanks to their excellent shell velocity and extremely flat shell arcs, they also have some of the best penetration of any cruiser. They're also well armored for cruisers.

 

The problem is of course that they aren't very good. Their handling is clumsy, their damage requires the stupidity of the enemies, and they are very inviting targets for just about anyone and their armor can't save them forever. You mentioned a lot of hard stats, but often some of the best ships in the game would not be the ships that you would think are the best just by looking at them without experience.

[Pulbah]

I have not not reached the German heavy cruisers and did not realise that they might be for me. Thank you for letting me know about these sluggish vessels. 

 

Yes dasCKD I did mention a lot of hard stats in my overly sarcastic answer and you are correct soft stats that can sometimes be very benificial, but can be more differcult to correctly describe. For example I find the new RN cruiser line to have fantastic soft stats that can be useD by drivers more expert than me.

 

 

 

[dasCKD]

I have not not reached the German heavy cruisers and did not realise that they might be for me. Thank you for letting me know about these sluggish vessels. 

 

Yes dasCKD I did mention a lot of hard stats in my overly sarcastic answer and you are correct soft stats that can sometimes be very benificial, but can be more differcult to correctly describe. For example I find the new RN cruiser line to have fantastic soft stats that can be useD by drivers more expert than me.

 

Yes, my sarcasm detector is completely broken. There's not very much I can do about that unfortunately. Now to address your issue the general answer for the issue of solving the aim issue is the IJN heavy cruisers (tiers 5 and up) or the SN destroyers (basically all of them). To help with the aiming issue right away though, turn on the dynamic scope. It really helps. Aiming for the 10 point is perfectly fine for most ships, you can adjust your aim as you get more used to ships and their speeds.

 

The Japanese Heavy Cruiser line has very good shell performance characteristics though their turret rotation goes from mediocre to glacial. Aiming with AP, especially in a cruiser, requires a lot of experience in order to judge overpeneltration boundaries, citadel locations, turn prediction, and trigger discipline that I'm not good enough to create solid guidelines for. I still struggle to citadel the likes of Pensacolas and Atlantas under 8 km with my Hipper. HE is very consistent in terms of damage and IJN HE is the best in the game, inflicting serious damage and fires on battleships and cruisers alike. Not to say IJN cruiser AP isn't lethal, it's just that most non-BB AP is quite tricky to master. The IJN heavy cruisers, due to the peculiarities in their mid tier, isn't the most maneuverable but they are at least manageable when it comes to maneuverability. They also have sharp turning circles that makes it easy to engage destroyers in close quarters as well as an extremely nasty torpedo complement. You shouldn't use them unless the situation presents itself, but they are there and they are extremely potent. Their AA is weak, but any cruiser without defensive fire save for the Brits and Americans will be ripped to pieces by a same tier carrier commanded by even an average carrier captain. Their arcs and shell damage characteristics often means that they are a very easy class for newer players to learn the ins and outs of the game in. They come highly recommended from me at least.

 

Russian destroyers don't have any appreciable torpedo armaments. They're more like light cruisers than true destroyers even though they are ripped apart by cruiser HE thanks to their low concealment and armor that 150 to 230 millimeter can easily penetrate (except for the Khabarovsk). Nevertheless, they have decent maneuverability, flat gun arcs, and fast firing guns. If your aim is bad then using fast firing guns would be able to offset your weakness as you can correct your aim as you watch the shells you previously shot so your shots would land. The shell damage is quite poor, but they really aren't bad ships and you can do a lot of good for the team by drawing and dodging enemy fire whilst you harass the enemy team from far away. If your aim is still an issue for you, you can always just close in and drop smoke. You are a destroyer after all, and doing that infuriates battleship captains which is good because you're in a destroyer.

 

The battleship line you should go down, if you want to go down one at all, is the German battleship line. Inaccuracies in aiming are punished, but less so than on other battleships as KM battleships tend to have guns that are around 5 seconds faster on the reload. They are the battleship line you can get closest to the enemy lines in though, and any ship's guns tend to find it difficult when you're entering brawling range. KM battleships also are the best for resisting the kind of mistakes that would result in the swift death of most other battleships thanks to their tight turning circles and excellent short range armor. Their rate of fire is pretty slow though, so again you may want to consider the other two options I mentioned above. Battleships tend to be more forgiving to mistakes however, so take that for what you will.

 

On a more general note however: British cruisers I wouldn't recommend, they require too much map comprehension and good aim and mistakes are punished very harshly. Soviet cruisers are a bit like the Japanese but they really don't handle as well and tend to take citadels far more often than their IJN counterparts. IJN battleships requires very good aim to be effective. The USN cruisers aren't very good right now, so I don't recommend climbing their line though the tiers 3, 4, and 5 have good ROF which minimizes the damage of bad aim. USN destroyers are great, but they require excellent aim. German cruisers are simply too inconsistent for me to recommend though I enjoy the line. 

[dasCKD]

Quick note though, I looked through your stats. Your hit ratio, though slightly low, is nothing that is immediately alarming. For the MBH on most of your ships, it's just a few percent off average so as long as you stick to the IJN heavy cruisers you should be able to at least be a consistently useful member of your team. Leave your Schanhorst alone for now though. If you insist on playing her then I just have a quick word of advice. Battleships have very strong hull armor around the citadel but their upper hull armor (lower superstructure, where the secondaries are usually mounted) are relatively weak though strong enough to usually prevent overpens. If you are shooting at a equal or higher tier battleship with the Schanhorst with AP then shoot at the upper hull and you will inflict crippling damage values with your AP and generally I don't believe that guns of that calibre would be able to reliably penetrate a battleship's citadel armor unless you are at 4 kilometers or closer. This advice also goes for when you are in a heavy cruiser, a Hipper can do a good 10k damage to a Bismark if she is given a broadside.

[RockyRoller]

i have decided after several attempts that I am not a good shooter. I have tried BB CC and DD and I can confirm I am a poor shooter. Please, based on the above information could you suggest a particular ship that is best for those who are not up to the minimum standard required?

 

Don't expect shoot to hit then, just get in there and be a target (shoting at you means they are not shooting a better shooter) or a spotter (the team needs to see targets and positions of the other side) or get in so close (by hiding and using cover) that you can't miss and support (your team) by being beside them instead.

 

Who knows, whilst you are working as a drudge and not being the hero you might end up being the most experienced player out there?

[Pulbah]

Dear Rocky, which are the best vessels for the action you suggest please?

 

Dear dasCKD, thank you for a very informative explanation. I will certainly take note and try and follow your advice. Also thanks for checking out my stats.  The Scharnhorst was only procured the other day as an impulse buy and your advice is more than good as so far I have been spifflicated every time I have taken her out for a drive. I will return to my IJN heavy cruiser and try and be a help to my team.

 

 

 

[RockyRoller]

there are no magic ships, just types.

 

the destroyers are fast, harder to see when not firing, but need to be up close to hit with torpedoes, but you can still practice at mid range with guns

the cruisers are like the destroyers, they are the bulk of the navy and with that you need to stick with a pack of other cruisers  and fire at the same targets to kill them 1 by 1

the battleships are the defensive line, the Gandalf non shall pass bruisers.

 

the carriers are the spg of the game and no doubt will get forum hate posters when planes can sink battleships in one pass lol

 

I'd say pick your favorite nations battleship or cruisers and then hang very slightly back from the pack and practice your aiming until you get the hang of it. But sticking with the pack of the team is your best option until you figure out moving with them and firing at others. The destroyers for now and again see how to get as close as you can to the other side by using land and other ships as cover or just hang with the pack, cover them with smoke and use the time for gun practice.

 

(in getting close 4km is the most you can be at, 2km better but average as missing still happens, 1km is lethal when firing torps at them)

 

If you really find you really can never hit with the guns try the carrier, it uses a totally different method of aiming. you pick a plane type from the menu, pick a ship on the screen, click the mouse and off it goes

[Pulbah]

Rocky, Right, I will take up with the IJN destroyers and give them a go. I have HMS Campbeltown and have done very well in that, in fact I find that the two guns that can fire to be very accurate and pack a fiery punch. The fish are slow, but have a stealth type range. Then I will go back to the IJN cruisers as they have good stealth. 

[RockyRoller]

Well it took me a while to figure this out for myself, but you probably already know this; press X to target when you pick a enemy ship, press 3 for torpedos, and the bit I didn't know, the white line in the green is the suggested path to fire on and hit your target.

With guns its a matter of X to target and then lead your sights to compensate for their speed, then adjust that lead until you get the range.

 

The destroyer speed should help you weave and bob about like a boxer missing their blows, the smoke to hide behind.

 

Practice makes perfect, good luck.

 

PS

STAY with the pack! I just finished a game with Captain Sir Rodney, who bravely ran away leaving 4 ships firing at me as he went boldly far away.

[Pulbah]

Not sure about staying with a pack. I  seem to get rammed or torpedoed by friendly DD when I follow pack. I find the lone wolf DD IJN fish firing preferable.

Rocky, yes I knew that and I have just had a few games with the new IJN destroyers and I find them rather good  and will persevere. The campletown is very similar and I was wondering if the eventual RN destroyers will be like the IJN destroyers. Maybe they will as the IJN originally based its tactics on the RN. E.g. Perl Horbour was a  copy of the RN raid on Toranto.

 

 

 

[ScriptorFaust]

Still, try to stick to your Königsberg and get the Nürnberg after her. High Firing rate and pretty good aim should work out well.

 

Also, maybe an interesting fact to know is what type of crosshair are you using? Is it the normal one that doesn't scale with zoom or are you using a dynamic crosshair?

[Pulbah]

ScriptorFaust, I use the Dynamic crosshair. Yes I still intend to go down the German Cruiser line.