Not a good shooter

[ScriptorFaust]

Okay, are you familiar with the way this crosshair works? How many ticks you have to shoot before or after an enemy ship to land a hit on it? I use it myself and find it a good choice to rely on. 

[Pulbah]

I usually at long range start at about number 10 and then adjust according to where the ordinance lands or how the victim moves. It can take up to three attempts to get it right with BB, two CC and for DD it is down to what nations DD is being used. Actually I find the USN cruisers and BB to be the worst, but that might just be me. The lone British DD seems the most accurate with her two titchy guns and have sunk USN DDs in knife fights, which seems all wrong to present opinions expressed by others on youtube. 

[ScriptorFaust]

Okay, I guess you should try to learn how the crosshair works in combination with the indication for how long a shot is flying to your target. Once you get things done you don't have to rely on what ship you are sitting in to hit a target.

Since you have enabled the Alt-Interface already you might have noticed that there is a small timer next to your crosshair that shows you how long your shot does take till it reaches the position you have aimed for.

Basic rule for dynamic is: Your flighttime in seconds = ticks you have to use if the enemy vessel drives 30kt in a straight line. So, if the enemy moves from, let's say, left to right with 30kts, you aim on him and the timer says 10 seconds until you reach your target, you have to count 10 ticks on your crosshairline and place the 10 somewhere in the middle of the vessel (or wherever you want to hit him). If he drives slower, let's say a Tier V US BB with 20kts, you must do a quick maths and put it at something around 6,7 ticks (since 20/30 is 0,67 rounded up). If he drives faster, let's say a DD with 40 kts (easier for me to do the maths) you should use around 13,3 ticks (since 40/30 is 13,3 rounded down). 

 

It might get useful for you to know the basic speeds different vessels from different nations have like 34-35 kts for IGN-Cruisers, 21kts for US BBs (T V-VII). No need to exactly know them but having a slight guess of how fast your vessel might be makes the difference. Also keep an eye on the smoke your enemy is pumping into the air. What is its colour and where is it heading (does he drive backwards?)

 

If your enemy gets closer to you in a diagonal line or gets away, you have to adjust accordingly. Close = less ticks as you would normaly use, Getting away = more ticks. 

 

If that all confused you (and I guess it did since I am not an english native) I recommend this video for you.

 

 

If you know "where" to shoot you don't need the laser guns you've been talking about earlier. Dispersion still ruins your day but more shots are at least heading towards your target without warning him the way you are doing it right now if you try to "shoot your way to the target".

[Pulbah]

Thank you SF for all the info above. Yes it has been a great help and the Notser film was also excellent. I have been driving my IJN cruisers more and there seems to me an improvement in my hits and even a few citadels. However my experiences with my new IJN DDS has been a disaster. I feel that I am not helping my team at all and in one instance a BB saved me from some deadly fish. 

[ThinderChief]

anything soviet or japanese

 

​LOL! Those carpet bombing entire areas with H.E in the hope to torch you? Some Brits are doing it too, not to mention Atlantas or other US Cruisers...

[SV_Kompresor]

 

​LOL! Those carpet bombing entire areas with H.E in the hope to torch you? Some Brits are doing it too, not to mention Atlantas or other US Cruisers...

 

except you can't hit anything at range with them

[ScriptorFaust]

However my experiences with my new IJN DDS has been a disaster. I feel that I am not helping my team at all and in one instance a BB saved me from some deadly fish. 

IJN DDs aren't that well known for a great gun performance, at least not the lower tiers. I must admit that they can hit really hard against other DDs but their rate of fire isn't something I would rely on in the heat of the battle. I guess you should rather play the role of a scout, finding enemy ships, preventing your team with smokescreens whilst you are driving in front so they can still aim for targets. You fire your excellent torps to get big fishes out and use your concealment to your advantage. 

 

If you want DDs with great gun performance, use soviet DDs. They fire fast, hit hard - a trade for their poor 4km Torpedorange (up to T7).

[walter3kurtz]

Practice shooting in higher RPM ships, because they allow you to adjust aim more easily. Just play a couple hundred games shooting at fast targets, slow targets, far away, targets, close targets. You get the idea.

[Pulbah]

Yes I have been having success with the tier 5 Russian DD.

Well there is one very good IJN Destroyer gunboat at tier 3, but it is a cruiser with punchy guns and DD Performance fish. I think I might move one of my destroyer captains to her and see how I perform.