What do I choose to shoot, mainly?

[philjd]

Intrigued as to what priority target most people shoot at - note that this assumes that there is an available target of each type visible and might be hit if you shot at it.

 

This is due to when I am driving a CA/CL it is usually the target of both BB's and CA (and CV's also at times) - so providing AA cover to BB's can be...challenging

[eliastion]

Wait, your post seems to suggest that there's one of each class within reliable firing range? CV being spotted is a very uncommon situation. It being spotted close enough to reliably hit him is a very strange situation... I really don't think CVs should be included as a target in such poll.

In fact, the poll should be more about general preference as in: you try to shoot AND FIND OPPORTUNITIES TO SHOOT certain targets - because DDs or CVs being a likely priority target might suggest that everyone likes hunting them when in fact they are just a target of opportunity when they pop up close enough to be shot at...

[Takru]

3 minutes ago, eliastion said:

I really don't think CVs should be included as a target in such poll.

 

CV sniping is a thing though

[Tyrendian89]

pretty much impossible to give an answer - if you have a brain, your target selection depends on dozens of factors (not the least of which is the temporary loss of brain power known as tunnelvisioning that happens to all of us on occasion^^).

But, in the impossible situation of everything being completely equal I should always target the DD first with every single ship, for multiple reasons. Main one being that an equal amount of damage done to a DD is worth soooooo much more than doing it to any other target, both in terms of influence on the game and rewards I get for it.

Now, that doesn't mean I am actually smart enough to always shoot the DDs - I get greedy and try to burn that BB, I get greedy and try to citadel that cruiser, I get greedy and try to torp that straightline sailor, I get lazy and just keep shooting the target that I've been shooting - but if I think about my target selection, I try to do my utmost to win the game, and I estimate about equal hit chances on all targets, I will go for the DD no matter what ship I'm in.

[El2aZeR]

Always shoot DDs whenever possible.

[Flid_Merchant]

1. Something about to kill me or a teammate.

2. A spotted DD, since even a single hit is a large relative amount of their HP pool, and they can be very dangerous and elusive if you let them get away.

3. A low HP enemy that will probably be put down.

4. Whatever I think I will do most damage to, based on chance to hit and how much damage the shells will do.

But sometimes I get greedy too. Which usually results in me overextending and HE spammed to oblivion.

[ColonelPete]

2 hours ago, philjd said:

Intrigued as to what...

That should be obvious....

It should also be obvious that not all ships of one class are the same, especially DD.

[Tungstonid]

3 hours ago, Tyrendian89 said:

pretty much impossible to give an answer - if you have a brain, your target selection depends on dozens of factors (not the least of which is the temporary loss of brain power known as tunnelvisioning that happens to all of us on occasion^^).

But, in the impossible situation of everything being completely equal I should always target the DD first with every single ship, for multiple reasons. Main one being that an equal amount of damage done to a DD is worth soooooo much more than doing it to any other target, both in terms of influence on the game and rewards I get for it.

Now, that doesn't mean I am actually smart enough to always shoot the DDs - I get greedy and try to burn that BB, I get greedy and try to citadel that cruiser, I get greedy and try to torp that straightline sailor, I get lazy and just keep shooting the target that I've been shooting - but if I think about my target selection, I try to do my utmost to win the game, and I estimate about equal hit chances on all targets, I will go for the DD no matter what ship I'm in.

Basically this. Additionally I'd include low HP targets since damage on a DD is always nice but when I have the chance to finish a low HP BB or CA that could hurt me in the near future, I'd prefer to shoot it instead of the maybe full HP DD.

You can't give a definite answer which ships you prefer to shoot because, as mentioned above, it is very situational.

[tank276]

Well, the natural counter to the DDs are CLs, the counter to BBs are DDs and the counter to CLs are BBs. Carriers attack pretty much everything.

But all those are in theory and in the heat of battle theories go down the drain.

Ranked has taught me something that I should use in Randoms after August 7 : Even when sailing in a BB, if a DD pops up, even when he is maneuvering like a demented person on speed, prioritize him to get him out of the enemy roster. At this mode destroyers are worth gold if they survive for the late game.

Ofc in Randoms there is not the pressure of the star loss and you tend to go after those large BBs 18 km away to make the 30 second reload count....

[22cm]

Always CV first target, if spotted.

[fallenkezef]

Depends on ship.

 

In my RN CLs I try to DD hunt then CA hunt, In my Belfast I DD hunt then burn BBs

[Taliesn]

I don't think there is a unique, suits all-situations answer for any type of ship (either your ship or the target), but a combination of several factors that you need to balance on the spot, mainly:

 

1. Distance to target (usually the closest the better, obviously, as per RNG) 
2. Angle of target (nice broadside when in a CA/BB)
3. Low target HP (call it kill steal, call it better dead now than keeping pestering around later on or worse yet, healed)
4. Presumed importance of target, either because of type (there are some ships that you usually prefer dead asap and others you can live with) or map situation

I tend to favour 1 and 2, when I should sometimes pay more attention to 3 and 4.

 

A few days ago I had a FdG game with 175k damage and no kills. We won so that would indicate someone was doing 3 on my behalf mind.

 

 

 

[RambaRal]

You should edit the poll and add "Minotaur" as fifth vote option for each one. I'm sure it will win hands down! 

[Dominus_Astra]

Whatever pretty little ship pops up, normally I'll take long range sniping shots at enemy battleships or cruisers if I see them and at times get rewarded with citadels. However if I see a DD no matter on I'm in I'll light the little bastard up and go for the kill. In terms of priorty kills for me destroyers - cruisers then battleships.

[Synth_FG]

It all depends upon the situation, 

for example a DD that gets within 8km of my ship is going to have my undivided attention no matter what class I am in 

but beyond this enemy range, angle, what he's shooting at, where he's going and how much of a threat he is to myself or my team is going to decide what I choose to shoot at 

[lycea]

One shoots the ship that has the highest value to the enemy team at that certain moment, for example the ship that is contesting a capture zone. 

[Kittykami]

Doesn't matter what I'm driving, if a DD gets spotted it's getting shot/torped/bombed.

[Torped1ne]

As cv player i try to kill dd's first or to keep them spotted cause the loss of them make the enemy team mostly blind and scared of undetected torpedos then i focus on bb's that in the meantime maybe have lost some of theor aa by cruiser he

 

[Namolis]

1. Kutuzov

2. Minotaur

3. Low HP <whatever>

4. DD

5. CL

6. CA

7 BB

[_DeathWing_]

What to shoot when you are in BB? Everything that shows broadside 

[Ryuuteimaru]

Pretty much target Cruisers frist with everything other than maybe DD and targets of opportunity IE DD fairly close range, Cruisers are piss easy to kill and will give you the advantage.

[philjd]

Thank you for both the votes and the feedback so far guys

Interesting that nobody lays claim to CV sniping when in their CV (so far).

[El2aZeR]

52 minutes ago, philjd said:

Interesting that nobody lays claim to CV sniping when in their CV (so far).

 

Why would you? It's a waste of time and resources more often than not, not to mention you're limiting your own income with it by making you unable to shoot down any planes.

[VC381]

To be honest, there is so much variation within each ship type of what you can or should be doing that this is a completely pointless question. The answer depends almost completely on battle situation and own ship, even down to captain setup and playstyle, not generic to a whole class.

[philjd]

36 minutes ago, El2aZeR said:

 

Why would you? It's a waste of time and resources more often than not, not to mention you're limiting your own income with it by making you unable to shoot down any planes.

I agree - but we all know that it does happen in game.