Is the Atlanta for me?

[VC381]

I've got this urge to try something new and I occasionally look at Atlanta and think "that looks completely unique and really fun" but then I realise I don't really need it, not as a captain trainer or credit earner anyway. Still, I'm a confident cruiser player and I love getting up close and personal, dodging like mad and blasting away, and this ship looks like it ticks all the boxes in a way no silver ship does (plus it looks gorgeous). However, I'm hesitant to get it in case I've got the wrong idea of its playstyle. Could someone who has this ship fill me in?

[BuccaneerBill]

Atlanta's primary gameplay is shooting over rocks, which it does very well.  Its also the most devastating and hilarious ship against DD's. It can brawl well, just be careful on the amount of ships that can shoot you whilst your brawling, its like bees to honey.  AA goes without saying.  Its just dirty.

 

My setup is without IFHE and with max AA.  I find the much reduced fire chance and skill point usage just isn't worth it.  Don't forget to shove on adrenaline rush, and reload skill for extra lols.  

 

If your a good player I highly recommend this ship.  Nothing gets close to its gameplay and fun factor, except the Flint.  Still i prefer the Atlanta, more interesting to play as you have to find rocks to shoot over, not hit the smoke button, and it has radar for more hilarity against DDs, which you delete in mere seconds.

 

Problems are the low hp, getting over matched by eight inch, and shell travel time.  Range also short but not a problem cause you wont hit much at 13km anyway!

 

The ship is also no where near as maneuverable as the RN CL, so I would suggest the engine mod.

[Spellfire40]

If you have a T6+ Us DD with AFT and can relyable hit around 25% of your shells agist larger not so mobile targets? After that consider that your stealth and speed isnt the best. Atlanta can be fun but sometimes it can be frustrating. It really helps if you play her in a Div with a US DD.

 

Atlanta can be very fun but she isnt the most new player friendly prem in existence. Plus to really shine you need a pretty high skilled captain.( min 10 better at least 14 Points)

[VC381]

The shooting over rocks thing doesn't sound overly appealing, I was hoping I could be more dynamic although I can see how being in the open would be a bigger risk with this ship than other same tier cruisers. I'm surprised you say it's less agile than RN cruisers since on paper the Fiji only turns slightly tighter while having worse rudder shift and both Leander and Edinburgh turn worse. Does it feel sluggish because of the speed loss in the turn? How does the engine mod help instead of rudder shift? Also, on a related note, does it need Last Stand?

 

Good to know IFHE isn't mandatory, I was worried Atlanta would need a dedicated captain. Having said that, it still sounds like it does, or at least my US DD captain is not set up optimally to share with it. I do have a Benson and generally enjoy it although it's not my best ship looking at stats. As I said I'm a cruiser main and I'm a big fan of the US ships (kept all T6 to 10). I was hoping it would have the same kind of excitement as brawling in a Pensacola but with the added fun factor of vast volume of fire.

[Cmdr_Kouta]

well if you like a ship thats just a bigger DD then go for her. Her armament is nice, has a nice quick reload, yet the stopping power is well, mediocre. I rarely get beaten by atlanta's if i battle them one on one and ofc. first. If i am already damaged, then the victor is the HE barage of atlanta.

[RUSSIANBlAS]

I'd say No at this stage as RN Cruisers are basically more accessible now and even free unless you free XP or Belfast. Fairly similar play style but with smoke and torps to help you out. They only really start getting good at the Leander however. 

 

Alternatively win Ranked 3 times and get a free Flint.

 

I've had my Atlanta long time and I don't use it all that often. Probably the best example of power creep.

 

Apologies to any Atlanta hard core guys out there 

[Spellfire40]

Good to know IFHE isn't mandatory, I was worried Atlanta would need a dedicated captain.

Bit carefull here IFHE isnt needed but helps. AFT on the other hand IS needed but higher Tir US DDs normally don't skill it anymore. Depending on playstlye and Divisoning CE is not required but a must have skill on DDs. Personally I use my keeper Cleveland on her not a DD one.

[RUSSIANBlAS]

Bit carefull here IFHE isnt needed but helps. AFT on the other hand IS needed but higher Tir US DDs normally don't skill it anymore. Depending on playstlye and Divisoning CE is not required but a must have skill on DDs. Personally I use my keeper Cleveland on her not a DD one.

 

 Yes my Atlanta shares the Cleveland captain too. IFHE greatly hikes your anti BB capability.

 

Also Minotaur is the new power in terms of a never-ending bullet stream.

[VC381]

I'm all the way up at Edinburgh and Fiji (kept) is now one of my favorite and best performing ships. Minotaur looks fun but I've stopped that grind mostly because it's a long way to T10 and I don't really care for the ship as a fairly obscure "what if". Anyway it's playing RN cruisers that made me revisit the Atlanta idea because as you say the playstyle looks similar on the surface but also different in some key ways. I'm not an amazing player but I can handle myself in tricky specialised cruisers, can get the Pensacola to perform just fine.

AFT necessary? I would almost think the bloom changes make it a liability, as with the DDs. Is concealment based hit-and-run not worth it? Looks like you can get it down to <10km. My Cleveland captain is only on 3 points because I don't care for high spec captains on mid tier ships and my good ones are on all the heavy cruisers. Anyway Cleveland desperately needs EM but that's a waste on Atlanta, so no AR or LS. Still not ideal.

 

Also, you guys are at odds with BuccaneerBill regarding IFHE

[Spellfire40]

AFT necessary? I would almost think the bloom changes make it a liability, as with the DDs. 

For Atlanta  AFT is a must have and the 1st T4 Skill take

 For DDs especally Fletcher plus it's useless that was my point

 High skill DD skipper are Not the best pick for a Atlanta.

[deadly_if_swallowed]

I use two different captains on Atlanta: Iowa/Missouri and Cleveland

The Iowa/Missouri captain (19 pts.) has full AA build. CE, AFT, manual AA. Works very well and I can take Hydro + Radar because AA is ridiculously strong without Defensive Fire.

The Cleveland captain (still in training) has IFHE. Honestly, it feels lacking... somewhat okayish but I don't have the feeling that IFHE actually buffs anything on her. Maybe if I add AFT I can get some higher dmg numbers at max range but so far it's rather meh.

 

But hell, the ship itself is so much fun Don't regret buying her at all.

 

edit: Just for shts and giggles, put Steven Seagal with Expert Marksman at the helm. Poor gunners inside the centrifuges turrets

[VC381]

 

edit: Just for shts and giggles, put Steven Seagal with Expert Marksman at the helm. Poor gunners inside the centrifuges turrets

 

And Expert Loader? Those guys must need a hell of a workout to unload an HE shell and load a new AP shell in 2 seconds flat shame he's busy doing that on my NO

[deadly_if_swallowed]

Atlanta is a premium. I'm sure Steven does not mind doing that on either ship

 

[VC381]

Atlanta is a premium. I'm sure Steven does not mind doing that on either ship

 

Doh! Brainfart! I guess he does have DE and CE...

[Jester86]

Atlanta is my most played ship. I love it!

 

It has a dedicated captain that is shared with the Cleveland. It does require you to be highly aware and on top form to make it work.

 

Only you can decide if it is for you. I run IFHE and AFT and it is pretty merciless at times.

[VC381]

Alright, I'm sold (I think). Now to wait for some kind of discount...

[Admiral_H_Nelson]

Flamu is a big fan of using IFHE on USS Atlanta

Atlanta 0.6.0 - Blessed Be IFHE

[Nechrom]

I would use IFHE on the Atlanta if I had a high enough dedicated captain. Unfortunately I don't so I have to stick with my AA captain (main BB captain), which thankfully at least has CE which I think is a must.

 

Maybe I'll get a Cleveland/Atlanta captain since those two should benefit from roughly the same skills. Even then it will take a while to get 14 points for both IFHE and CE.

 

Still, before both IFHE and radar was a thing I had tons of fun in the Atlanta. So no rush to get super optimal skills.

[kalamies]

Atlanta is great ship, i would totally buy it again.

[22cm]

 

Maybe I'll get a Cleveland/Atlanta captain since those two should benefit from roughly the same skills. Even then it will take a while to get 14 points for both IFHE and CE.

 

Actually you need AFT too, so you need at least 18 points to be able to get IFHE.

[BuccaneerBill]

IFHE is all very well, but it actually nerfs the Atlanta against all same tier and below ships, except BBs. Even then the positives against BBs are questionable, as the ability to pen is somewhat offset by the halved fire chance. Especially when the BB is saturated by HE damage and you can't do much more damage to it.

 

Regarding worse maneuverability, Atlanta has slower accel than RN, and loses a lot more speed in turns.

 

Instead of IFHE, I take Manual AA for ultimate hilarity v carriers.

 

 

My skills:

Incoming fire alert

Adren rush

Vigilance

BFT

AFT

Manual AA

 

That leaves two skill points to spend as you wish.

I have both fire flags on it and have the AA modules and AA flag.

Experiment with and without IFHE, see what you prefer. But if you can regularly division with a carrier, I'd definitely take the above setup.

 

[ilDuca]

I don't have Atlanta, yes she looks interesting but I have only heard bad things from the most part of players and for the few times I have met her I never felt threatened even a little.

Yes they are trying to push her with that juicy bundle but listen to me if you want the higher bang/bucks ratio possible take the Belfast,she can do everything the huge DD can do better except for the AA.

You will have only to endure that sensation of being dirt when you play with her.

 

If wg doesn't nerf her I'll promise to take her out as little as possible.

[VC381]

I don't have Atlanta, yes she looks interesting but I have only heard bad things from the most part of players and for the few times I have met her I never felt threatened even a little.

Yes they are trying to push her with that juicy bundle but listen to me if you want the higher bang/bucks ratio possible take the Belfast,she can do everything the huge DD can do better except for the AA.

You will have only to endure that sensation of being dirt when you play with her.

 

If wg doesn't nerf her I'll promise to take her out as little as possible.

 

I have a Belfast and I really don't find it particularly fun or strong. I don't regret I bought it because it's still a good captain trainer, but I will always pick the Fiji if I just want that playstyle, much better ship IMO. The Atlanta bundle is kind of tempting but I would prefer a good old fashioned discount. I'll see how well I can resist over the next few days.

[VC381]

OK so still toying with the idea of this, I'm somewhat hung up on the required captain skills. I know people are saying they're not completely necessary but if I do get the ship I don't want to play it sub-optimally (especially since I want to play it for fun so I may as well make my life easier). So, say I'm willing to re-spec a 10-point captain specifically for this ship and nothing else, which combination of T3 and T4 skills is best?

 

DE + CE

DE + IFHE

BFT + CE

BFT + IFHE

 

DE + CE would actually not require a re-spec since all my CA captains run this anyway. Personally I'm leaning towards BFT + CE so I can get closer, unload faster, run away. Been playing Benson a bit recently and while I can deal with the arcs I don't feel there's much point to getting AFT with those guns, provided I have CE to give me the margin to close first.

[Jester86]

You don't want to be close in an Atlanta. Only if you are behind an island able to shoot over, or for an ambush behind said island. Atlanta isn't a ship that runs away very easily.

 

AFT allows you to cover entire cap points in domination from quite a few islands, which means you can shell capping ships relatively easily. The arcs take some time to deal with but are no big deal after a while.

 

BFT is decent but if you run Adrenaline rush you mitigate the reload time advantage anyway. Only leaving the AA dps increase, which is more situational.

 

If you have only a 10 point captain I would personally go DE/AFT then with the next 4 points go IFHE.