What are the best DD line for killing/hunting other DDs?

[MadGelo]

Thanks

[XbodzioXplX]

US or RU or PL

(when knife fighting because of rate of fire)

[TheCoolBird]

For knife fighting I'd say US. When up close the rate of fire really helps. I haven't got that far down the US line though. Russians are better at killing destroyers at range, as US destroyer's have rainbow arcs so it becomes harder to hit at a further range. 

[xXx_Blogis_xXx]

would say ru dd best dd hunter

 

[El2aZeR]

I'd go with US, at least on high tiers. You get the amazing stealth values (tied with or just slightly inferior to IJN) which enable you to close the distance anyway, denying any kind of range advantage your enemy might have.

[nooberg]

US

Get close, bury them in ordnance. The good thing about getting close is that once you catch the other DD he have no chance of getting away. Kill is secured.

 

RU dds can do it, but they are better suited for harassing bigger ships at range. US have upper hand in close quarters. Tier by tier this balance can change a bit, but overall holds true.

That said anyone who pick up a fight with a Khabba gonna have a bad time.

[darky_fighter]

US-DDs

[EsaTuunanen]

Soviet 130mm's flat trajectory is excellent news for hitting smaller faster targets.

But after Tier 6 Soviet DDs  become more like very light super fast cruisers... with detectability closer to cruisers than destroyers.

So solo spotting and hunting good players in stealthiest DDs becomes hard, because they can spot you from about 2km farther than you them.

Though if enemy is spotted/direction known high speed of post T6 Soviet DDs allows chasing and catching other DDs very effectively

And before that challenge especially at T5 you need to plan ahead like you were driving BB, because that turret traverse speed is considered bad even for cruiser.

 

USN DDs have alwayst fastest turning guns eventually turning lot faster than ship turns.

Also their firerate increaes to very high meaning they can fast melt down anything they can hit reliably.

And except for Tier 7 Mahan their stealth is usually very competitive for tier.

Bad news is the trajectory of 127mm/38 gun found in all of them starting from upgraded Nicholas.

While difference to others isn't that much at 5-6km range after 7 km hitting away running destroyer becomes fast hard needing very high skill in leading and reading enemy's movements.

So they need to use their stealth to get closer to already spotted enemy before opening fire if wanting to go for kill instead of scaring that DD away.

[Comrad_StaIin]

Germans because of Hydro and reasonable arcs + good enough RoF

[KaraMon]

I found germans from t8 very strong when you get close and use combo hydro + smoke , t7 can do the same probably but i really didn't test it

 

USN are all about geting very close

Soviet long range fights

GE are somwhere in the middle but without some tricks like smoke+hydro you are not going to win with USN in brawling fight or with soviet DD at range

[AnotherDuck]

I find that the USN DDs are best at it, although I mostly only have experience with the USN and IJN ones. I have played a little with some of the other ones on the test server, but not nearly as much. I also find the USN DDs the hardest to deal with myself. The main reason is the decent stealth of the USN DDs. When hunting DDs, getting into range before they can spot you and run away, especially to their allies, is vital. If you get to within your detectability range, your guns will melt down any DD. The fast turret traverse also means you can dodge however you want, and still have them on target. Even if you change side you won't lose that much (although you should still avoid it if possible).

 

Also, if you intend to hunt DDs, Radio Location is your friend. Obligatory mention that I want it gone, but it's great for that.

 

I just want to mention that while IJN DDs have worse DPM than other DD lines, they're still good at hunting down low-HP DDs, as those tend to be more cautious, and the IJN DDs have the best stealth. That also means they're great for spotting other DDs so your allies can shoot them down (never fight a fair fight). The guns have great alpha damage (for DDs, even if nerfed), and they have good shell arcs.

 

Bottom line, even if you're sailing an IJN DD, hunting DDs isn't out of the question. It's just not the line you should pick if you want to primarily hunt other DDs.

[Spellfire40]

For knife fighting I'd say US. When up close the rate of fire really helps. I haven't got that far down the US line though. Russians are better at killing destroyers at range, as US destroyer's have rainbow arcs so it becomes harder to hit at a further range. 

 

​The Problem is RU cant spot other DDs on their own or if they do they are out of their confort Zone and take plenty of damage in return. Overall US is best if you just take it 1:1 especally since your can make them work without losing skillpoints to aft.

[creamgravy]

Hunting other destroyers?

 

IJN if you have half decent team mates.

US for random domination battles

RU for random standard battles

[Comrad_StaIin]

German DDs dont get any attention

 

[Plaztma]

Russian DD line and Blyska for tier 7

[JOVA1982]

USN T8 (Benson) and up seems to be great but only of you get really close. I like to take my Benson as close as 2-4km which is just abut ideal. Far enough that you can still quite reliably dodge enemy torps, but close enough that you can pump many hits very reliably and very swiftly, and you can run around RU DD'sand their guns cant really keep up

 

RU T6 (Kiev) and up is good at longer ranges, 7-10, when USN shells are starting to float and it's hit rate gets poor, Meanshile you can quite easily keep your guns pointing the right way, How ever other DD's might run away, or try to close the gap, and that makes it bit harder.

 

IJN. I havnt tried the "gunboat" line, where Akizuki seems to be only one that can reasonably reliably sink enemy DD in gunfight. and Minekaze Kamikaze and Fujin send so many torps in short amount of time. other than that Id say they are useless in DD hunting

 

KM, I have played only Maas and Gaede, They do have good guns, but I havnt had too much luck with DD hunting, RU has better guns, and the time you spot USN they are allready too close for comfort. INJ doesnt pose too big threat.

[AnotherDuck]

IJN. I havnt tried the "gunboat" line, where Akizuki seems to be only one that can reasonably reliably sink enemy DD in gunfight. and Minekaze Kamikaze and Fujin send so many torps in short amount of time. other than that Id say they are useless in DD hunting

 

Gunfights in IJN DDs work differently. It's more of a hit-n-run harassing style that's effective than a straight out gun duel. Get one or two salvos in, and then disappear before the enemy can lock in on you properly.

[AbuHajar]

Russian, not even close

[Spellfire40]

 

Gunfights in IJN DDs work differently. It's more of a hit-n-run harassing style that's effective than a straight out gun duel. Get one or two salvos in, and then disappear before the enemy can lock in on you properly.

 

​The Problem is the hit and run part since the gun Performance was lowered for rof, Someone at WG wants to push the idia of low caliber AP when its way to situational for do or die DDs that dont have the healthpool to deal with it when it dont work.

 

One of the reson most dont consider german DDs gunboats but rather suport boats that cant perform that well on their own.

[Sarmanil]

Think USN, but haven't played any german boats though. The reviews I've seen bout the german dd line weren't to positive, so stayed away from those. Also USN has the best smoke if you like to play for the team.

[Taralack]

In my experiance US and PL (Blyskawica) at mid-high tier.

[Dams_77]

Even if soviet DDs strike very hard and can be devastating into the right hands, I'd go with USN as they are much more versatile, and indeed their smoke is completely cheated. In a knife fight you'll be able to spam your opponent, I guess this lead to more incapacitations of modules (not sure 100% since caliber may be taken into account, but must be it) and fires. Their great turrets traverses and good manoeuvrability are also advantages during close combat.

It's true their ballistic is nice to shot from behind obstacles, but the counterpart is that it will become harder to aim at longer ranges, but with a little practice they are very effective against DDs (engage DDs at low range for best results).

[Akula971]

Hunt and kill yourself? US hands down.
Hunt  and have destroyed? A well stealthed 5.4km detection IJN DD. Nothing better than shadowing a gunboat, and have your team wreck them. When the game starts, check the comparative cammo ratings in the team players screen, remember who is better, equal or worse and play accordingly. 

 

[Dams_77]

Hunt and kill yourself? US hands down....

 

This is my strategy against shimakaze ie (with her bit ugly concealement) ... in benson ! lol (5.8km with camo)

PS : Moreover, you'll be able to spot the torps for the team, this is a good advice

[Raziel_Walker]

Akizuki actually has the firepower to shoot other DD's but it has the speed of a cruiser so it can't outrun or chase down anything that's not a battleship.