What is the best cruiser line for hunting DDs?

[MadGelo]

I assume it is either US or UK?

[Comrad_StaIin]

Russian cus Laser guns and Radar

[xenopathia]

Not the line but best 2 ships: Kutuzov and Belfast

[StuntMan0369]

Well.... you could argue any of them. USN and USSR have the advantage at higher tiers due to Radar. The Brits also get it, but it's debatable whether or not to swap out that smoke screen. I'd say the Russians personally, since up until tier 8 they still have those 6" railguns which will tear apart a DD, and the 7" of Dmitri aren't bad either. Brits are good, especially at higher tiers, but the utility of Russian radar is just too good imo.

 

Good premiums for it though are Atlanta and Belfast, they'll tear up a DD pretty good.

[ParEx]

The best cuisers Ive seen for hunting DDs are the Atlanta and the Belfast.

Both have what a DD hunter should have: Radar and fast firing guns with HE.

Atlanta lacks hydro though and smoke, but still awesome for fighting DDs.

 

Ships below Tier7 often lack the radar, ships above tier7 ofthen have guns too slow for close infight with DDs.

Its a bit tricky, but i would say russian ships and their gun would suit that job too in the high tiers.

[Comrad_StaIin]

best DD shredder at tier 10 is Moskva imo 

long Range Radar+Railguns so you can hit DDs at any range

 

Des Moins isnt bad eather with its ridicoules 40sec radar and RoF

[Ghostychan]

IJN because Kanmusu!

 

As the question is regarding a line, I'd say any line suffices, but in different disciplines, whereas the US is IMHO lacking at Tier VII to IX.

When I see a lone USN CA popping up behind a Island while sailing my DD, I don't really feel like "OMFG I'm doomed", rather "just sail straight at him and launch some torps into that poor bastard". For all the other cruisers, you risk eating torpedoes while performing such a maneuver, that's why I'd say either RU (radar and torps, with exception of Moskva) or UK (fairly good rate of fire, always with torpedoes (although Fiji and Edinburgh only have one triple launcher per side)).

 

When it comes to literal "hunting" DDs, you'd have to go for RU T IX /X or IJN, as these are the fastest cruisers which makes it for the DD more difficult to outrun them.

[deadly_if_swallowed]

RU has good HE shells and long range radar from T8 upwards with short duration. But everyone knows it, and DDs will try to stay clear and will call target on you.

 

IJN can randomtorp smokes and hurt with good 203mm HE shells but have no real hunting capabilities.

 

USN: possible but not really designed for such duty

 

KM: I think they are usually underestimated because they do not excel at any particular role but are great allrounders. German hydro and the relatively short reload sure hurt DDs a lot, but they are situational ships.

 

RN: Leander and Fiji have served me well for this. Strangely, you don't really need to hunt them, DDs come to you.

 

Premium: Belfast and Atlanta, as already stated. Kuzutov can kill them alright but cannot really hunt them down. Scharnhorst (quite similar to a cruiser, only with BB icon) has some limited ability to hunt them down because her BB icon usually lures a lot of potatoes into secondary range

[Spellfire40]

Anything but the brits because they are so flimsy they cant activly hunt. DDs. dont get me wrong if someone else spot them near their smokecloud they can wreck them but i wouldnt call that "hunting". US has a slight edge in stealth over RU but RU can more relyable hit at range. IJN can go in behind their DDs but once the DD smokes up must disengage . on the bright side a DD siting in his smoke Cloud is sure to get some Major Torp salvos.

[yahooooo]

Russian. Because RoF and overall gun handling. 

[Deathbysoup]

The whole RN line is good at it but there isnt a better ship at vaporizing a DD than the Minotaur. 2 volleys in 6 seconds and most DDs are hitting Return to Port.

 

Apart from that the US lines tier 8+ and the Belfast are great for it with their dirty radar

 

[Syrchalis]

To be honest, there is arguments for many of them. Let me list them and I will leave it up to you to make a decision - you're smart enough to do so.

 

US

• Radar with good range
• High caliber guns
• Slow reload (except DM)
• Mediocre shell arcs
• Good HE damage

UK

• Radar with good range
• Low Caliber guns
• Fast reload (except Minotaur that has insane reload)
• Bad shell arcs (can't hit DD beyond 10 km really)
• No HE at all, but short-fuse low caliber AP resulting in mostly penetrations

IJN

• No radar, normal hydro only
• High caliber guns
• Slow reload
• Very good shell arcs
• Extremely good HE damage

KM

• No radar, improved hydro
• High caliber guns
• Medium-fast reload
• Good shell arcs
• Bad HE damage

RU

• Radar with better range
• High caliber guns
• Medium reload
• Extremely good shell arcs
• Very good HE damage

So generally speaking you either have good guns or good tools. The RU cruisers are definitely the best combo, however their crappy turn radius at lower tiers and crappy concealment at higher tiers make them not so amazing DD hunters as it might seem. Still in my opinion the russian cruisers do a pretty good job and provide other benefits as well. IJN has no tools to hunt DDs but if they are spotted for you by someone they have probably the best guns for the job.

[VC381]

My choice would be US. Although the slower RoF might make them appear sub-optimal, they have a combination of great concealment, agility and tight spread with good HE damage. It means you can close the range undetected, pop radar, dance to avoid torps and inevitable other incoming, put decent hurt on any DD with a small number of salvos, then GTFO if needed. With NO and Baltimore full concealment builds your RADAR range is almost your detection range, basically only a tiny window for any DD to spot you and get away before it's too late.

[MadGelo]

Thanks all.

Got Pensacola, guess ill continue down that line..just hope it gets better 

[AnotherDuck]

I agree with Syrchalis. If you can get someone else to spot them for you, the IJN cruisers can more or less delete destroyers in two salvos. They also have decent stealth and manoeuvrability, so they can get a little closer than many other ships, or even chase them down in smoke with sonar. The SN ships have better range, better shell arcs, but not the same damage, and high tier ones have radar.

 

USN ones have their radar at higher tiers, and the KM ones have their good sonar, but both are overall worse at it, I find.

 

The RN cruisers are a little special, since they have the best stealth and manoeuvrability out of all cruisers (I think), as well as radar on higher tiers, and while they only fire AP, that AP will still do good damage on destroyers. They are overall the most fragile, though, so if the destroyers have support, it will get dangerous.

[xenopathia]

Thanks all.

Got Pensacola, guess ill continue down that line..just hope it gets better 

 

I would rate USN cruisers as the worst DD hunters (excluding Des Moines and Cleveland) because of low ROF and bad shell arcs which are the most important traits to hunt DD's.

Here is an example where I try to kill a Mahan with Indy:

I was noob then and aimed a little high but still 30+ 203mm HE shell hits on a DD should've been enough.

 

[Panocek]

Best cruiser for DD hunting? Something rapid firing and with decent to good ballistics and DD in front, doing the spotting. On your own you're better with USN DD specced into gunboat proper.

 

Russian light cruisers, particularly Chapayev might score most the marks, but lack of manoeuvrability doesn't help and 20s radar duration is too short to sink roughly intact DD on your own. If you get division mates in gunboats/cruisers to focus bugger down, its another matter.

[Dropman12]

I assume it is either US or UK?

 

I dont think so. People often overlook some important aspects.

First of all you have to get close to DD. Atleast for me DD hunt means active search and destroy play. Not just shoting spoted DDs. Which means ships like Moskva can use radar and guns, but I can imagine how you want to surprise DD with 18km base detection. Which means you need good camo. Not even to close in but also to survive return fire from enemy team.

Second you need speed. DD captain with brain will not try to fight, but turn Engine boost on and disengage. The higher speed the better.

Third you need some dirty trick. You dont want to run into torpwall. You need to eliminate their smoke. So you need either radar or hydro. One can allow you to engage DD at unexpected range, second made you invulnerable to torps. Radar is safer, hydro is high risk-high reward.

The gunnery itself is not that important. DD simply cannot win firefight if you get into good position. Dont overrate radar. If you have one it doesnt make you ultimate DD hunter. Its great, but you need camo to get close and actually suprise DD. And radar cruisers dont have usually great camo.

 

 

So all in all best DD hunter is IJN cruiser to me. Great cammo, great speed, comfortable gunnery, hydro. HE with punch. Ability to disengage when things go wrong. RN are fine as well but they are painfully slow to me. With smoke they have great plan B. RU have godlike firepower but they dont like being close, its usually suicide. Same for GE or US.

[Syrchalis]

Moskva does a surprisingly good job at DD hunting due to super accurate guns with extremely fast shell travel times (19,4km in 10,8sec or so). Your concealment allows DDs to avoid you, but if you position yourself somewhere where the DDs want to be (e.g. between two caps) your extreme range radar (11,7km) can absolutely ruin their day.

 

I actually have not noticed any DD ever really avoiding my radar range. Either they go the other side of the map or you will be able to radar them.

 

All in all I think all cruisers do a good enough job at DD hunting right now. But radar is a very useful tool, while hydro is more a crutch that makes it feasible to hunt DDs instead of suicide. The only nation I can imagine having trouble are KM CAs because they have bad concealment and only hydro. RU has worse concealment (only on T10 though) but long range radar. US has concealment and radar, but not the best guns for the job. IJN has a mix of good things, just lacking radar, so you mostly need a DD who spots DDs for you or a radar cruiser. RN has such amazing concealment they can just hunt down DDs and they will barely see you coming. And often they go too close to your smokes.

 

If you don't mind relying on teammates to spot the DDs for you IJN make by far the best DD hunters due to superior guns, super high HE damage and very good concealment. If you want to hunt DDs by yourself you really need US or RU cruisers.

[OttoZander]

It would be either the Des Moines or Moskva. Depends what you like better. Poor gun ballistics but short-range long-duration radar + decent concealment and very good AA as a bonus, or insane laser guns but long-range short-duration radar + very durable armour as a bonus. 

[DasTongle]

Moskva is great if she can engage. Hindenburg would be my pick for hunting with AP even... The others over t8 are giving up to much to kill dds, though i went after shima and gearing in a Neptune yesterday

...

[Beardroid91]

I said the USN cruiser when the new buff comes to the live server, as with "rare" radar buff module the Baltimore gets a 49 second radar at 9,45 km, but at the cost of the Concealment or SteeringGears module, and she can get a 8,8 sec reload on her guns so DD's be warned

 

[SinkTheOthersNotMe]

DM is the best one, end of the story. Moskva-minotaur come far behind:

- Minotaur because so easy to citadel and so fragile anyway even bow on or angled.

- Moskva because even with 19pts captain your concealment will get you killed + not as agile as the DM....hard to dodge 15 torps at CQC.

 

At even skill level a DM can sink DD at the start of the game, provided the DM is following its DD, knows the map and is a good player:

- DM has a very good concealment (module + CE).

- ROF able to sink DD quickly.

- Not squishy compared to minotaur

- Most dom games have caps surrounded by hills/islands so DM can use that to avoid getting obliterated

- Agile enough to dodge torps

 

At the start of every DM game I try to delete red DD ASAP while supporting my own DD, usually doesn't fail except on ocean map, I follow a DD which is supposed to have decent concealment, to a cap that has islands for my retreat.

-> Let my DD cap, if my DD spots the red DD then -> red DD sunk, if red DD smokes -> radar -> red DD sunk, even better when there are 2 red DD.

 

Usually I can avoid the torps, sinking the DD is not an issue and most of the time I can get my concealment back/find an island to avoid being devastated by the BB....

luckily those BB are usually (if at all) following from very far their DD....

 

Even best, a DD who smokes me at the entrance of the cap, then he goes spot red DD -> means red DD sunk and any cruiser following gets also sunk....

 

[EsaTuunanen]

Good premiums for it though are Atlanta and Belfast, they'll tear up a DD pretty good.

Atlanta needs either very very very high leading skills or getting close to destroyer because of trajectory of 127mm/38 AA catapult.

[ShinGetsu]

At tier 8, I'd say Mogami is one of the best : 5x3 155, with high velocity and powerful HE is just a nightmare for any DD that crosses its path. Tier 6 and 7 can almost be killed with a single salvo, Kutuzov doesn't even compare.

Yet Mogami only have normal hydro and slow turret, so it has to guess where the DD is, and it works better if someone else is spotting for it.