Hipper, Talents and modules

[JOVA1982]

I recently got Admiral hipper on to my line of ships, and currently it's full stock and the same captain talents I was running on York (13 point captain)

But with the stock hull I get abismal turret traverse, So bad in fact that I opted for main battery mod 2. but now the fire rate is... well Battleship like...

 

Curent captain talents (and I got no dubloons or free captain XP for respeccing)

1. Perventive Maintenance

2. Adrenalin Rush

3. Superintendent

4. Concealment Expert

 

My main question is should I take Expert Marksman, or will the turrent traverse improve with hull upgrades?

[Rasengan007]

It does not improve with hull upgrades. I chose Expert Marksman and it is playable with it. Adrenaline Rush is inferior to EM for this ship.

 

Edited: I actually do not recall if it improved, can only speak for Hull © which needs EM in my opinion.

[Devantejah]

Abysmal turret traverse on Hipper? 22,5 seconds is briliant. You will only gain 1,8 seconds with EM.

 

EDIT; And no, turret traverse remains the same throughout all hull upgrades.

[Toivia]

I'll have to look at Yorck's turret traverse because I always considered Hipper's 22,5 secs excellent. Afaik it's among the best you find on cruisers (bar Minotaur's extra speedy turrets).

German cruisers is definitely the line to not get Expert Marksman on. Far better to spend points on 3/4 point skills (Demolition expert makes HE workable, Vigilance stacks with Hydro now, AFT, Manual AA both work very well for better air protection etc.).

[Affeks]

http://shipcomrade.com/captcalc/0100100000000010000000100000110119

This is the build I would go for any day. Take Concealment Expert first then take MFCAA second. Once you get MFCAA you can switch AA barrage for Hydro. MFCAA combined with Double catapult fighters will take care of most AA pests. What you take with the last 5 points is up to you. 

alternative good skills if you really like them better: Preventive Maintenance, Vigilance, AFT and BFT

 

Also note that you can take Superintendent if you use a BB to train your captain. Other than that I would take Demolition Expert over SI even on Roon and H-burg.

[Toivia]

I'd just switch Preventive maintenance for Priority target on your recommendation, Affeks. Otherwise I entirely agree and would use (if I had a 19 point captain - only had a 14 point one, but gave it to Roon).

[JOVA1982]

As this has been ship which I just got, and most likely eveentually just sell and continue I have had only 13 point captain which was still in training when I had this issue.

 

I took the AA modules, this is cause I as a CV player have been getting wrecked by german cruisers even when they dont have defensive AA fire. and I see the hydro at least currently more important than AA due lack of CV's

 

For build, I have currently this one.

http://shipcomrade.com/captcalc/0100000000100010000001000000000119

And I was saving for manual AA, but as I found the turret rotation too slow for my liking I eventually went with EM first.

 

[Toivia]

Yeah, I checked Yorck's turrets. They take over 30 secs to turn. So the Hipper can't possibly seem to have sluggish turning turrets to anyone coming off the Yorck.

And again, you only get like 2 seconds off that turret traverse with EM.

 

One thing though, the Hipper itself is sluggishly turning, particularly when stock. Aren't you by chance turning your ship more than turrets, JOVA?

[Patteri666]

Just about to get the Hipper, so I'm asking if MFCAA is also worth it on the last 2 ships as I'm probably selling Hipper and continuing on them with the same captain.

 

In my eyes it seems like the 2nd 4p skill to go for.

[Quallo_Musto]

Just about to get the Hipper, so I'm asking if MFCAA is also worth it on the last 2 ships as I'm probably selling Hipper and continuing on them with the same captain.

 

In my eyes it seems like the 2nd 4p skill to go for.

 

Good question. I currently have CE & AFT on my 16 point Hipper question, but have been considering changing to MFCAA as I feel the AA is quite weak currently. Looking forward to hearing the experiences of other players.

[Patteri666]

Do you run hydro or defensive AA with AFT?

[Quallo_Musto]

Do you run hydro or defensive AA with AFT?

 

Running Hydro with AFT. The Hydro feels too good to pass up on. Btw its not like the CV's are a problem, they dont go for me, but even multiple squadrons flying overhead dont ever get punished. 

I guess I should have picked MFCAA with the range module to get 5,x km range and 250+ DPS, maybe I should respec. It does look like this applies to both the Roon and the Hindenburg as They have most DPS on the 105's. 

[Patteri666]

Hmm... in a matter of fact that build seems interesting enough to try out (AA module + MFCAA).

 

Just got the Hipper last night and I'll start my grind today, using the concealment module in the start for testers, but rudder doesn't seem too shabby either. Will see how it goes.

[Quallo_Musto]

I think ultimately I will respec and go for something like this: http://shipcomrade.com/captcalc/1100100000000010000001100000010119 

 

If the captain was to stay on the Hipper I would drop SI for Vigilance.

[22cm]

Hipper has one of the best AA of tier 8 cruisers, except Kutuzov, and also will see a lot of carriers, mostly tier 6-8 cariers. With AFT and AA module, it reaches 6+ kms, and your Defensive AA Fire will help your allies a lot, more than Manual AA, and you want to travel with your fleet, because you are not a sneaky Atago.

Get the double fighter perk too, because those will also spot torps for you.

This is the AA build for Hipper, screwing up manual carrier drops on your team is more important than killing the planes.

In case you use Hydro, maybe Manual AA works better. But nowadays Radar works better than Hydro at chasing DDs, you need to get too close to use Hydro, and the 5-6 BBs per team wil insta-delete you. So Hydro Hipper is overrated, go AA build.

I had Manual AA with Defensive AA on it, but changed it to AFT because the range was too short.

 

[Quallo_Musto]

Hipper has one of the best AA of tier 8 cruisers, except Kutuzov, and also will see a lot of carriers, mostly tier 6-8 cariers. With AFT and AA module, it reaches 6+ kms, and your Defensive AA Fire will help your allies a lot, more than Manual AA, and you want to travel with your fleet, because you are not a sneaky Atago.

Get the double fighter perk too, because those will also spot torps for you.

This is the AA build for Hipper, screwing up manual carrier drops on your team is more important than killing the planes.

In case you use Hydro, maybe Manual AA works better.

I had Manual AA with Defensive AA on it, but changed it to AFT because the range was too short.

 

Thanks for sharing some good insights! You are right about Defensive AA being the best pick against CV's, but I feel Hydro is more useful for the team as you can detect plenty of torps early enough for your BB's to evade, and push out enemy DD's of their smoke whilst still delivering decent AA protection, albeit without a great range. 

[22cm]

 

Thanks for sharing some good insights! You are right about Defensive AA being the best pick against CV's, but I feel Hydro is more useful for the team as you can detect plenty of torps early enough for your BB's to evade, and push out enemy DD's of their smoke whilst still delivering decent AA protection, albeit without a great range. 

 

I edited my reply explaining why Hydro is not so good. The rank 1 perk that doubles your fighter gives you 2 fighters that will circle arround you spotting the torps, AND killing enemy planes. Pushing DDs out of smoke is for Radar cruisers, With Hydro you have to get too close, and usually enemy BBs will citadel you. Hell, with 5-6 BBs per team, even with Radar is too risky, because there will always be 1-2 of them in each corner of the map looking for free citadels.

[Patteri666]

Thanks for the post 22cm, you made many valid points there!

 

Time to get Hippering!

[22cm]

Thanks for the post 22cm, you made many valid points there!

 

Time to get Hippering!

 

You re welcome. Another advice: always load AP first and use HE only if AP does not work : DDs (AP works on them but you have to target the submerged part of the ship, but HE is better due to criticals), angled BBs (here with AP you aim for superstructure). You can get many citadel hits with AP on broadside BBs. AP is the ammo of choice for high tier GE and US cruisers.