Guide for CV captains

[Sharana]

Greetings Captains,

 

if you are reading this guide you are probably new hier or just have some questions about the Aircraft Carriers (CVs). This guide will try to explain the basics of the CVs gameplay and help new players with few advices, so if you think that "clickers" only ruin the good game you are in the wrong topic.

 

In WoWs we have CVs from tier 4 upwards. Climbing on the CVs tree you will gain you access to bigger Aircraft Carriers holding more planes and you will be commanding more squadrons (up to 5). Of course the planes will get faster and will be dealing more damage, but the enemy Anti Air (AA) defense will also get much more deadly for your planes! You should always keep that in mind, because you have only limited amount of planes avalible for the battle. After they are gone you are nothing more then a big target with good AA.

 

In the port you will be able to research new modules for your CV making it even better. The most important upgrade will be the "Flight control" as it will modify your squadrons. For example you will start your Langley with 1 squadron of fighters and 1 squadron of Torpedo Bombers (TBs). Upgrading it will let you command 2 squadrons of fighters and 1 squadron of TBs. The ultimate upgrade (on Langley) will give you command of 1 squadron of fighters and 2 squadrons on TBs! If you are playing random and your goal is to be able to cause as damage as possible then you should always have 2 squadrons of TBs as they are the primary damage dealers. Unlocking the higher tier CVs will give you the possibility to command up to 4 squadrons of fighers to enforce air superiority and protect your fleet or up to 3 squadrons of Dive Bombers (DBs) to hunt for enemy destroyers.

The next important upgrade would be the fighters as the difference between stock and upgraded is not small at all and if the enemy CV kills your fighters your bombers will be defenseless against enemy fighters. So after the fighters it's time to upgrade the TBs and the last upgrade should be the DBs.

 

Now it's time to finally enter the battle! Right after the cooldown you will notice how different the gamaplay will be compared to other ships. You have your "satellite view" and your weapons are your planes. You will be using the following keys: 1,2,3,4,5, "Alt", "LShift", "F", "Space" and "Ctrl". 

 

Alt - to manually release the torpedoes;

LShift - to change the camera view (of the ships or the selected squadron) / holding LShift and clocking on the map will create waypoints;

F - to order your planes to take off or land on the carrier;

Space - to center the view on the ship or the selected squadron;

Ctrl - hold the left Ctrl and then select the enemy squadron near your CV, the AA fire will focus on the selected squadron, making it more effective;

 

1. is your ship - click on it and after that click somewhere on the map to set course. Auto pilot will engage and you can focus on the planes without thinking about the movement. Hold "LShift" while clicking on the map to create (up to 5) waypoints. The auto pilot is not good at avoiding obstacles so make sure the way is clear. It will also move at 1/2 speed, so if you want full speed set it manually with W. When under attack by enemy bombers it's always better to swtich the view (with Lshift) and command your CV just as any other ship.

 

The next keys (2,3,4,5) are for your squadrons. In this case:

2. Fighters - they can attack only enemy planes. Use them to engage enemy carrier's planes, enemy scout planes or just scout the map when the enemy CV is out of the picture. They have limited amount of ammo (displayed on their icon) and after it's depleted they will head back to resupply. Always try to intercept enemy bombers before they attack friendly ships or engage enemy fighters so  your bombers can pass and attack their target. 

3. and 4. Torpedo Bombers - they are your primary damage dealers. They are so scary that everyone is running away from them and is hoping that they are intended for someone else. Each plane carriers 1 torpedo so with 2 squadrons (each of 6 planes) you can drop 12 torpedoes in the water. But of course they deal much less damage then the destroyer's torpedoes of the same tier and the range is smaller.

5. Dive bombers - they don't cause as much amount of damage as the TBs, but it's much more easy to score a hit with them and they can start fire. They are best used against destroyers or cruisers as they cause more damage against them and cause lot of criticals. They are also perfect for reseting the cap.

 

On that picture you can also see how many planes you currently have. Each squadron has number top right that shows how many aircrafts are in this squadron right now (up to six without skill)  and on the right you can see how many reserve planes you have in the hangar. They will be used to replace the destroyed aircrafts during the service time on the carrier. On the picture we have 24 planes in 4 active squadrtons and 48 more planes in the hangar (72 planes total, Lexington). The high tier CVs are bigger and have larger hangars for more reserve planes, but everyone have stronger AA defense too.

 

Now it's time to attack someone! New players will prefer the auto attack and the veterans will choose manual attack for better effect. To use the manual attack you just have to select the TBs squadron and click on the target you want to attack. After that you can change from which side to attack by moving the attack point with the mouse and the AI (Artificial Intelligence) will do the rest for you. 

 

After playing few battles you will notice that you should also attack from different directions and coordinate the attack in order to hit moving targets, so before starting the attack run position your planes around the target. Start the first attack and after the torpedoes are in the water your target will try to turn away from them. Predict this turn and start the 2nd attack with a vector that will hit him while he is evading your first attack. Basically the first attack should force him to turn where he will be hitted by the torpedoes from the second attack.

 

Attacking with DBs is the same, you just have to select attack point. You should predict the enemy turn, because the bombs are dropped in ellipse. In order to score more hits (or any in most cases) you should set your attack right, so that this ellipse is covering most of the enemy ship.

 

After spending some time playing CVs you will see that the AI is dropping the torpedoes just too far away from the target and there is plenty of time to escape. Eventually everyone will understand that in oder to inflict maximum damage and make the enemy fear your planes you will need to set manual attacks, because they allow to drop the torpedoes much closer to the target.

Here comes the skill and experience that are making the CV deadly so I will try to explain how it works. It's easy to understand, but hard to master. It takes some time to get used to it and during that time you will make epic fails and I personally spent some time playing PvE for target practice before using it in randoms. 

 

You can attack the target by dropping manually the torpedoes in the area you want. To do this select your TBs squadron and press Alt. You will see the minimum attack range and the torpedoes patch projected in front of your planes. There are few numbers on the picture and they mean:

1) The direction your planes are moving right now.

2) The point where they will start the attack run and you lose control over them, so you need to target before they reach that point (the white circle). If you set the attack after they've entered this white circle they will turn back and start new approach to the target.

3) From the attack point they will move in a straight line and drop the torpedoes at that point. Note that you can't control them after they start the attackt, so you can't abort it anymore!

4) The torpedoes need some time to arm and if they hit the target before they are armed (have the green triangle over them) they won't explode and won't cause any damage. This point I've selected with 4. is not ingame so you need to predict it in your attacks!

5) Torpedoes maximum range, they will disappear after that point.

 

So in order to hit the target you first need to position your planes right before the attack, because you can aim and drop only in the direction where your planes are heading now. You should also predict your target's speed and you planes position in order to score a hit. Also leave some space if the target will start turning towards them.

 

To maximize your chances you should also attack from 2 directions and predict the enemy's evasive actions to attack that position with the second squadron. But sometimes when you see that the enemy won't be able to evade (he is engaged in combat and is not paying attention, he is stuck or moving slow) it's better to group your TBs squadrons together and attack from one direction. This will allow you to score many hits at once and kill that target.

 

The most important thing is not to drop the torpedoes too close, because they won't have enough time to arm and that's just a wasted attack!

 

Dive bombers have manual attack too where the ellipse is smaller, but it's still not causing enough hits and damage, so I doubt anyone is using it.

 

Also your planes can sometimes "panic". That will happen when they are under attack by enemy cruiser with his active skill engaged or when they are under attack by enemy planes. In this panic mode they move a bit slower and drop the torpedoes in a hude spread. Usually that's a bad thing, because you won't be able to score many hits, but sometimes that's good when there are many other ships nearby and the only chance to hit evading cruiser or destroyer, because they would evade the tight spread and that way you can at least score few hits.

 

We've covered the attacks, but what to do during the rest of the time? Well you should use your fighters to scout the map and intercept enemy bombers. You should also protect yourself by moving to the parts of the map that is secured by your team. You should be on the move at any given time, because you don't know when enemy destroyer or bombers will visit you and when you see them you don't have time to accelerate anymore. If you like your position just use waypoints to sail in circle and with low speed, but don't stop. You should avoid being spotted, but also don't hide on the edge of the map, because your planes will have to fly longer and your dpm (damage per minute) will drop significantly. 

 

The role of the CV is clear, but sometimes in the battle you should set priorities. You shouldn't attack the first ship you see and keep the fighters to defend your squadrons only. Sometimes it's more important to save teammate from the enemy bombers, because that's a team game and you can't afford to be selfish. If you don't help your team you will either die, because you will be left alone at the corner or you will be the last one alive with many damage caused, but you will still lose. And that's not always team's fault, but yours, because it's up to you defend them from the other CVs and help killing dangerous targets.

Your priority is the enemy CV, but it's hard to get him, because he is far far away protected by his team. That's why you should focus on rambo stype battleships (without cruisers escort) and damage or sink them while protecting your own battleships. When there are no battleships left OR the game has developed and you see free passage to the enemy CV you should attack him, don't leave him for last, because while you are killing the enemy battleships he is doing the same! Don't lose time on alone targets that wont harm anyone soon or agile targets you won't hit - take care of the enemy CV.

 

If you've actually spent some time reading this whole Wall of Text you deserve a medal, but all I can give you is few useful tips.

1) When engaging enemy squadron don't kill it, leave 1-2 planes alive. They will have to fly back and land instead of forming new squadron aboard the enemy CV and taking off again. Don't spare him that flyback time!

2) If you can choose where to start the air battle ( the enemy is chasing you) look for some friendly ships nearby and fly over them. Their AA fire will help you win this encounter and you will lower your losses.

3) If you still don't see the enemy bombers after your first attack they are probably going for you hugging the edge of the map. Recall your fighters and start sailing with full speed to make it harder for them to hit you.

4) Try to stay alive at all costs. Even when you are the last just run and hide so the enemy team will have to cap. The repair costs are huge and it's not so hard to stay alive as CV.

5) After your planes are out of ammo they will head back using the shortest way. If enemy bombers or enemy ships are following them and there is no one to cover you direct your planes to another position, away from you. That will give you time to escape or for someone to get back and help you.

 

At last I will say a few words about the captain skills that are useful for CV captains.

1. Line - you can choose between better AA and shorter repair time

2. Line - you can choose between shorter service time of TBs and better view range for planes

3. Line - only Situational awareness is useful for CVs

4. Line - you can choose between shorter service time + better survivability and more powerful fighters

5. Line - you need the Air Supremacy that will add 1 plane to fighter and DBs squadron (they will get 7 planes each).

 

I hope you will find something useful for yourself in this guide.

 

See you on the Battlefield

Sharana

[Sharana]

reserved

[Barracada]

well that goes to be hard , i´m a noob

Lets see if i can do it

Thanks

[fc_rex]

very helpfull...got some kills with auto torpedoes attack but i want to try it manually.

Had a problem though with 2 sides-attacking when one side is close to an island. If the enemy ship is close to an island, the planes kinda "diasapear" over the island and appear again on the map (2-3 sec) later after launching torpedos.

Also the squadron of fighters when dogfight with enemy fighters, they keep changing their distance very unusally. It may sounds odd by i'll get back to this with a proper screenshot later