Dastardly Destroyers - A guide to Destruction

[Shepbur]

Welcome to this guide on how to effectively play in Destroyers! Through the guide we'll cover basic gameplay pointers, before moving onto some more specific situations which you may find yourself in and how to deal with them to become a successful destroyer captain!

 

 

Destroyers are support ships. They are unable to carry the entire battle on their own, however they do have to be in the front lines amidst the action. As a result, you will want to be following at least 3-4 other ships in your team at the start of the battle, feel free to go at full speed ahead, and scout the surrounding area, perhaps initiating a cap which the rest of your team are heading to. However keep an eye out to see where the enemy team is heading when they are spotted. You will want to manoeuvre yourself to be between your allies and the enemy, preferably with some form of cover nearby in case the water around you starts to become hot. Try to close the distance between the enemy and you to within 10km, however hold your fire of your main batteries.

 

 Hopefully by this point, your allies and the enemy will have begun to exchange fire at each other. Pick a large target (normally a battleship first) which is moving in a predictable manner and switch to your torpedoes (default "3"), using the target lock key (default "X") make sure your target is locked. This will produce a white outline in front of the target ship showing you a predicted lead-aim for the ship you are targeting. Line up the green marker of your torpedoes you can see with this white outline before firing your torpedoes.

 

 After firing, it's normally suggested to turn away from the enemy, and increase the distance until your torpedoes have reloaded. This is simply a safety precaution in case you are spotted and fired upon. Do not fire your main batteries unless an enemy ship is within 5km of your position and you are spotted.

 

Try and save your smoke screens as much as possible. Use them only in emergency situations as you can only use the screen 3 times, and atop of this, it takes a long time to reload. You should only really need to use a smoke screen if you have a large number of enemy ships within ~5km range and focussing on you. Turn away from the enemy ships, deploying the smoke screen before zig-zagging back towards allied ships.

 

When closing into range of your target, it's normally safe to close into ~8km range of them without being spotted, this will allow you to have the best chance of hitting the enemy ship while having a minimal risk that you will be detected and sunk. Additionally to this, the most opportunistic targets are the larger, slower battleships, aligning yourself to sail parallel to their path, you will increase to hit them with your torpedoes as they spread. Additionally to this, if you feel that the path of the enemy ship is slightly erratic, it is normally a good idea to fire both a narrow and wide-spread of torpedoes at the lead-aim point. This can be done by pressing the torpedo key (default "3") a second time after initially selecting them. This will switch the spread type between narrow and wide. It is also normally useful to only fire 2 salvoes of torpedoes at a time at most when at range. This means you are able to fire another round of torpedoes at the enemy vessel if they change course or manage to evade your torpedoes, leaving a gap between the salvoes to try and distract them from the incoming danger.

 

 Try to select targets which are busy with attacking other ships, this will likely mean that they are distracted from the environment around them, this means that they will likely not realise that you've been spotted if it occurs when firing your torpedoes, and keep you safer, but also mean that they're distracted for the most amount of time before realising there are torpedoes heading towards their ship, minimising their reaction time, and increasing the chance that they're going to take more than 1 hit from your salvo. 

 

 When in close-combat with other warships, use the speed and manoeuvrability of the Destroyer to your advantage, out-turning them and crossing their path to minimise the number of turrets which they are able to aim at your ship. When firing torpedoes at close-range, don't forget to lead your aim, as the torpedoes are likely to still miss otherwise. It is also generally seen that HE shells are most effective to fire at larger vessels such as Battleships and Cruisers, while AP shells are more effective at destroying fellow Destroyers at close range. Try to avoid ramming enemy ships, and remember to aim at the hull of the ship rather than the superstructure when firing with your guns.

 

 American Destroyers excel at medium-close range brawling. When playing in american destroyers you should aim to close within 3-4km of your target before firing your torpedoes. This is partially due to the extremely short range of most of the mid/low tier american torpedoes (topping out at ~6km range until tier 8), but also due to the massive increase in accuracy and chance to hit the target at these shorter ranges.

 

You should aim to ambush your targets using terrain such as islands, or even smoke screens lain by other destroyers to cover your advance. Approach the enemy ships to their bow or stern to minimise the chance of them spotting you and being able to kill you before you get into range. If you come under fire, zig-zag while continuing on your course to close the distance as quickly as possible. You can zig-zag effectively if you use full-rudder turns, changing the rudder direction once your ship has turned ~ 20° off your intended course. You should be able to fall into a comfortable rhythm after a while which will make controlling your ship and checking your surroundings much easier!

 

Once you've got into the range of the target ship, you need to turn your broadside across to them to fire your torpedoes. However! you need to remember to aim sensibly and wait for the right moment, else all your torpedoes will miss and you'll be a sitting duck for the enemy to kill you! Make sure that you can see the side of their hull, with their ship at the very least a 30° angle to you. This will guarantee at least 1-2 hits from your torpedoes if you aim correctly.

 

Once you've fired your torpedoes, remember to start using your guns as you escape! Using HE shells is preferable as it will use up the enemies repair kit for a while for your team to support you further. As you turn away from the enemy ship, remember to pop your smoke to cover your escape, while also stopping the fire of your guns to lower the range you can be detected from while in your smoke! These tactics can be used for pretty much all the american destroyers at all tiers, and against all opponents. However remember to judge your timing so you're in the right place at the right time! (or at the very least, the wrong place at the right time!)

 

 Japanese destroyers differ to their american counterparts. While they have similar top speeds, and turning radii, they are unable to change their speed as quickly, with extremely slow turret rotation speeds. While this may make you think, why bother with Japanese Destroyers then? You should remember that in place of these changes, they have much better torpedoes, which are able to go both faster and further than the american versions. As well as this, the Japanese destroyers are smaller than their american cousins, making them less detectable by a good 1-2km. With all these differences taken into account, it's clear to see that Japanese Destroyers are built for medium/ long range ambush situations.

 

And they fit this role perfectly! When playing in these destroyers, you should keep a close eye on the minimap, determine where the enemy is pushing, and where your friendly defences are weaker. You need to do your best to judge where on the map you should be to best support your team. Use the speed of the destroyers to move around the map, supporting your allies with torpedo volleys from outside the enemies view range, normally around 7-8km.

 

To keep these attacks successful, you must be aware of how the lead-aim works, and guess where the enemy may change course in the 30-40 seconds it takes for your torpedoes to reach them. I would suggest using both a wide and narrow spreads for your torpedoes (these can be toggled between by pressing the "3" key after torpedoes have been initially selected), as it will increase your chance to hit the enemy ships, while still maintaining a good chance for enough torpedoes to hit the enemy ships to sink them.

 

Wh en hunting down enemy Aircraft Carriers, you should be careful that you are not spotted by its aircraft before you get into range of your torpedoes and guns. You can minimise the range at which you can be spotted by carriers by disabling your AA guns (default "P"). This will mean you get spotted at ~5km instead of ~7km by the aircraft. When first engaging, fire AP shells at the centre engine area of the Carrier, this will disable its engine and mean it loses power and becomes a sitting duck for your torpedoes, continue firing into the carrier with HE shells to cause fire damage to the ship and use your torpedoes to finish off the carrier at ~4-5km range. Additionally, by firing HE shells at the carriers deck, you may be able to set the ship on fire. If a carriers deck is on fire, it is unable to launch or land any aircraft until the fire has been put out.

 

 You should save your smoke screens until either you get into a spot of trouble that you weren't expecting, or if your team mates ask for support from you by covering their escape. Remember that if you throw your smoke-screen in-front of your allies, it will also block their vision as well as the enemies! And what can be more dangerous is that enemy aircraft may also be spotting your allies, allowing for enemy ships to take aim and fire, giving a overall negative affect as a result of your smoke!

 

 The use of disabling your AA guns is often extremely helpful when attempting to go unspotted from enemy aircraft and ships. It can help you evade large sections of the enemy team while manoeuvring, however be careful not to get too close to the enemy while doing this, as it tends to make you feel more daring and get within a dangerously close range to the enemy ships.

 

 If and when you become spotted by enemy ships, turn away from them. Perform a zig-zag manoeuvre while escaping, and use a smoke screen if you feel it is necessary, however remain zig-zagging for some time after setting the smoke screen as enemy ships will still be able to accurately guess your position.

 

 Use the terrain to your advantage, sail round islands and aim your torpedoes at ships as the lead-aim comes round a corner. This will go to further minimise the enemies reaction times to your attacks, maximising the damage you deal to enemy ships.

 

 If there are a few Destroyers in the same battle, try and stay close to at least one other destroyer and support each other with your attacks. This wolf-packing of like-ships is alot easier when in an organised group while talking via teamspeak as to your actions and intentions, however be careful of firing torpedoes in front of each other's bows as to not hit friendly ships!

 

Want to know more about how to hit accurately with your torpedoes at close ranges? Check out a separate guide i've written HERE for that exact purpose!

 

 To further practice your skills, you can use training rooms with a friend to battle against each other in 1-on-1 situations. These situations are common in random battles, and unless you're prepared and know the limitations of your ship, as well as your own abilities you will struggle to come out as the victor of the engagement. However, when you do succeed from a difficult attack it will feel great!

 While it is possible to find yourself in 1-on-1 engagements against all types of ship, the one you will most likely need to practice is battles against other destroyers. This is also the simplest to set up and coordinate with a friend as the battle doesn't require any distractions or ambushes.

Destroyer Duels

 These 1-on-1 engagements of destroyers are often called "Destroyer Duels" in-game, as a result of the speed of the action and the similar capabilities of both ships where player skill is king.

 To train using destroyer duels, and to gain the most out of them, you should enter a training room with a friend, and remain on the same team. Place an inactive bot on the enemy team and start the battle. Upon the battle start, move close to the friendly ship on your side of the map (it doesn't really matter what map you need, these duels will normally stay in an open water area). When there's only ~ 3-4km distance between you, agree to begin firing upon each other. Use any type of shell you want, and remember to use torpedoes wherever possible too!

Once a victor has been named, leave the battle, and repeat (you don't need to kill the enemy bot, if all players leave the battle then the game will end and reset the ship you used back into your port).

 

 Playing in these duels will raise your skill in destroyers very quickly after a short while when you begin to get the hang of it. Battles can sometimes end very quickly with a single torpedo hit, or there may be many misses and it may take up to 4-5 minutes to sink the enemy ship! Additional rules can be put in place to not allow ships to fire their guns at each other, and to only use torpedoes. Or, to only allow guns to be fired when all torpedo tubes are reloading etc.

 

 

That pretty much sums up the basic Destroyer gameplay. In the future i will add a few more example situations and what to do to triumph against the masses, but until then, good hunting!

[Shepbur]

Reserved... just in case

 

[Addicus]

Nice guide.

Might I also suggest the new Destroyer players never launch torpedoes from medium/long range if there are friendly ships between you and the target. The likelihood of team damage is just way too high.

[SBS]

Nice guide.

Might I also suggest the new Destroyer players never launch torpedoes from medium/long range if there are friendly ships between you and the target. The likelihood of team damage is just way too high.

 

That should technically be self explanatory, but with how players seem to have played I guess it's worth mentioning.

[Addicus]

 

That should technically be self explanatory, but with how players seem to have played I guess it's worth mentioning.

 

Well it is a newcomer's guide and it should be self explanatory but with the number of times I've been TKed by bad torpedo spreads by new DD captains...

[SBS]

 

Well it is a newcomer's guide and it should be self explanatory but with the number of times I've been TKed by bad torpedo spreads by new DD captains...

 

Yeh, better tell them twice to be extra safe 

[Slauter]

Nice one Shep, +1.

[Kostis_Larsson]

One more point, don't drop torpedoes when allied ship(s) are in front of you.

[Zedrick]

the target lock key (default "X") make sure your target is locked. This will produce a white outline in front of the target ship showing you a predicted lead-aim for the ship you are targeting.

 

Wat. I think they forgot to mention this in the manual... Thanks, I owe you a beer. This is like discovering snipermode in WoT.

[Xaajuk]

 

Wat. I think they forgot to mention this in the manual... Thanks, I owe you a beer. This is like discovering snipermode in WoT.

 

Oh my... Think I should have checked out the keybindings in settings a bit better

[Farcley]

wow it's really helpfull

thanks

[Pete_SB]

Nice guide, already worked out this stuff the hard way before I found it, should be pinned

[conductiv]

 To further practice your skills, you can use training rooms with a friend to battle against each other in 1-on-1 situations.

 

 

wait what we have training rooms already in the game??!

 

if so I must have missed them

 

edit: I can't find them...any pointers where I should be looking?

 

[Tatoosh]

Since this is a guide for newbies, such as myself, you might want to share the keystroke command for "popping smoke" like you did for other commands in your guide.  We don't know intuitively and it doesn't seem to be on the F1 guide in the game. 

[MaxxyNL]

Good guide! Keep up the good work Captain!

 

[Shepbur]

wait what we have training rooms already in the game??!

 

Sorry, training rooms were disabled at the start of the CBT stage... this is simply an unedited guide from the alpha. Hopefully they'll be coming back to the game soon however!

[Tatoosh]

Darn good guide and I'll be rereading the various sections repeatedly.  So much to learn, I hope they bring the training rooms back.  I need all the help I can get.  Getting sunk repeatedly by bots is such a humbling experience!  At least I'm finally starting to get some of my artillery fire on target.  Baby steps ... or I suppose in this case, baby strokes.  

[jcol]

Thanks for the great guide

[OddlyShapedSausage]

Awesome guide +1

[Deckeru_Maiku]

Nice guide, but I have a different view of the basics.

 

On most maps DDs can take the outside slots to sneak behind the enemies line and go for CVs or attack BBs from the rear.

 

Staying between the enemy and your own team just puts you close to search planes or airstrikes and will get you spotted, which usually means a destroyed DD, especially when you're in the gun range of some cruiser(s).

[Shepbur]

That's a valid tactic to go well behind their lines... however in my experience i've found that there are normally large numbers of enemies who head towards the map border, then turn away and back round. Many of these are BBs and CAs who have spotting aircraft up in the air and you can be easily spotted, and once you are, you have no support and no cover to hide behind. I prefer to take my chances with enemy aircraft flying near me and stick near the islands with my team as a distraction behind me while i position.

 

Of course this doesn't mean that if i see a large gap in their defences (i.e. 1/3rd of the map) that i won't go and hunt their carrier down... It's just less of an issue than saying alive and supporting a flank in my eyes.