Destroyer Line for a Beginner

[anonym_MfZ6T7iwWpUC]

OK, most of you know I am mainly a BB player, but I would like to try something different.

 

I would like to dip my toe into destroyers. So which line should I try? I am not concerned with what the best high tier DD is. I want to play up to say around tier 5, in order to get a good feel for the gameplay. Something that will ease me into the gameplay style in order to give me a good feel to see if I want to take the class more serious and thus take them higher.

 

Thanks in advance. 

[rvfharrier]

USN I'd say. The best all-round DD line, especially for beginners. Early tier ships can't stealth torp, so you need to use smoke and islands well or carefully judge when to fire at a target coming towards you. Guns are consistently good, however, and the smoke is the longest lasting of any DD line. Nicolas at T5 I remember liking a lot.

 

IJN DDs rely very heavily on torpedoes, which are a pretty unreliable way of doing damage. A bit all-or-nothing, not personally a huge fan. The two tier 5 candidates are also simply awful.

 

KM DDs are fun in the early tiers, unique in the sense they get bow-mounted torps, but don't really shine until after tier 5 at which point they become pretty beginner unfriendly. Also suffers from 'kill me now' syndrome at tier 5. After T5 they become good gun/torpedo hybrids which have the shortest smoke duration but trade it for hydro, making them excellent at contesting caps.

 

Soviet DDs are great in the early tiers. Derpzki and Izyaslav were some of the funnest ships I've played. Can't comment on the Podvoisky at T5 as when I ground through the line it was the Gnevny, which is now T6. Doesn't really start to develop into a gunboat line until T5, so beware that the early tiers are pretty unrepresentative. This would be my second recommendation though.

[mtm78]

USN all around. IJN only fun low tiers and they are much more a one trick pony. GE DD's up to tier 5 ( haven't played higher ) are also ok, but feel like they make you work harder. VMF DD's on low tier are basically light cruisers with suicide torpedo's. Once you get to tier 5 and up though they become really good and with the line split you get two potential tier X's there. 

 

 

 

 

[walter3kurtz]

Either Russian or USN.

 

I voted USN because it's easy to lay smoke near the front, helping your teammates, and pew pew the enemy that's far away. While you can easily outgun anyone in close quarters. Torps become excellent at later tiers but are a great tool al lower tiers for fools trying to rush you / your smoke or yolo'ing around an island. There is no bad ship in the entire line (also true for the Russians though). Russians can also be played without much problems but their generally worse concealment mean that they don't really play like destroyers around the caps, they are basically cruisers without citadels.

[Aotearas]

USN.

 

Teaches how to use guns, teaches how to use island and smokes to your advantage and how to ambush (cuz low tier torps have short range, no easy stealthtorping). Guns are also more reliable even if they lack the insane alpha of a torpedo spread, thus making them more consistent even against good opponents.

[Prospect_b]

1 hour ago, atlasapl said:

I want to play up to say around tier 5, in order to get a good feel for the gameplay.

German ones are fun till tier 4. Tier 5 sucks major league. 6 is meh.

Don't really know about US at those tiers since I started with farragut, which is nice.

Russian one are fun till tier 4. Tier 5/6 are bad.

IJN ones are all really good around those tiers, except for tier 5.

 

If you wanna go more for guns, I'd say US, if torps, IJN. (all this considering your own constriction of tiers) And I would personally recommend both just to feel both sides of the dd spectrum - at those tiers you will grind extremely fast anyway. Enjoy :)

 

(I voted IJN)

 

edit: btw, tiers until tier 8 have a very different gameplay than at t8+. So you will only get "good feel for the gameplay" in a certain sense.

[mtm78]

I'd say there are 3 'meta games', one in protected MM - one in 4 to 8 and one 8+. 4-8 is the most diverse and most fun imho. I also think this is where destroyers are the most fun ( lack off radar ). Cruisers seem to peak at tier X with them being the best balanced against battleships of the same tier ( though very low tier, 4 maybe 5, is also quite favorable for cruisers due to bad sigma of battleships ). 

 

Getting a feel for the game would involve playing more classes as one as well though. 

[_Teob_]

There's no doubt in my mind that USN is the way to go. Just stop at the Fletcher as that's the high water mark for the line.

 

It's one of the only (if not the only) lines that actually has decent progression and you get something additional for each tier so you actually want to go from one to the other. Lower detection, better torpedoes, more health etc.

 

 

[Capra76]

50 minutes ago, mtm78 said:

VMF DD's on low tier are basically light cruisers with suicide torpedo's. Once you get to tier 5 and up though they become really good and with the line split you get two potential tier X's there. 

 

 

I have to confess I'm really struggling to make Minsk work, at least partly because I don't have a very good captain on it.

 

Khaba is about to get a massive effective nerf with the imminent arrival of HMS MegaZao and her sisters so I'm starting to wonder if it's worth bothering.

[mtm78]

All I can say is that I <3 tier 8 Taskent but I'm loathing tier 9 Trashcan, but it just might be less drive for Khaba   

 

When Megazao appears I might quit playing tier 8+ anyway. 

[Boris_MNE]

I like IJNs but thats my personal choice tho I think they are the worst atm due to so much hydros, radars, planes and torps can be dodged too. To not mention that other DDs at higher tier have good torps too.

[anonym_MfZ6T7iwWpUC]

Food for thought. Thanks.

 

You do all realise don't you that me playing DD's is probably going to be hilariously bad. 

[Strapps]

I still haven't forgiven WG for what they did to the Minekaze. Mainly because I missed the chance to get a Kamikaze but still, yah boo sucks and all that. 

 

I quite like IJN DDs, that was the first line I played (not DDs, ships in general). They're certainly torpedo boats first and gun boats a very poor second but since the torps were nerfed (slower with a higher detection distance so easier to avoid) you're pretty much reliant on hitting distracted enemies. Great concealment, useful for spotting ahead of your team and then dropping torps as your support hides behind the nearest island engages the enemy.

 

Recently I started playing KM DDs and they're quite fun up to tier 5. The T-22 is horrid as stock and not improved vastly after it's fully upgraded, which means the grind to tier 6 can feel rather onerous. At tier 6 the line appears to become more of a light cruiser/destroyer hybrid, which I'm looking forward to as the Nurnberg is (currently) my favourite ship in the game.

 

Based on the recommendations in this thread I may give the US a try soon, though I'm not a fan of the rainbow shell arcs.

[Kenliero]

Have played all DD lines in game to TX and recommend USN. Even Gearing is great DD, dispite advices stopping at T9. Low tier ones already have superior guns. Just learn aiming with higher gun arcs. 

[Lord_WC]

47 minutes ago, mtm78 said:

All I can say is that I <3 tier 8 Taskent but I'm loathing tier 9 Trashcan, but it just might be less drive for Khaba   

 

When Megazao appears I might quit playing tier 8+ anyway. 

Trashcan is very good (it also was).

 

Conqueror is retarded, WG is still stuck in their hads in an era where matches didn't have 5+ radar/hyro/planes so getting torped was actually a risk.

[EmilyFara]

I voted for USN and not just because that is the only line I have at high tier. Below are my views on the different DD lines. These are broad strokes and every line has its own exceptions on the 'rule'. (IJN also has gunboats, SN also has torp boats)

 

USN is a great all-rounder. It has ok to good torpedoes, ok to good guns, good concealment, ok speed and great smoke. Great to play as a team player and cap contesters. You also get defensive AA ability.

IJN are mainly torpedo ninjas. I don't play them because I like gunboats. But the general consensus is that they are 'meh' these days. Great concealments, ok to good torpedoes, meh guns, good speed, good smoke. Mostly solo ships that can get a cap with the concealment and spot other DDs (better concealment than any other DD). But the guns generally don't perform good enough to go toe to toe with the other ones.

KM, good torpedoes, ok guns, meh concealment, good speed, meh smoke. At the higher tiers they also get the hydro. These DDs are not for beginners. They kind of fill the same role as the USN DD but with worse concealment and no AA ability available.

SN, not really destroyers. They have great guns, great speed, good smoke, poor torpedoes and poor concealment. These DDs are quite good with great guns and high speed, making them perfect for sitting at range and speed tank the [edited]out of everyone. However, for the general role of the DDs in this game (cap contesters) they aren't great with the worst concealment of any DD. And generally speaking also the worst torps.

[cro_pwr]

USN since nothing else is worth of playing atm.

[MeTaLMooSe]

As a Destroyer mong (but trying to git gud inum) I find tier 7 the high water mark.

For that I think Błyskawica is a fantastic all round ship.

Line wise I'm on US - Mahan which I detest. Farragut was a nice cap brawler and I'm going to rebuy Clemson so I can do the Clemson face again.

VMF was good until Kiev moved to T8. Although it's a better ship now, I derp out frequently. Need more practise but its on my list after learning Portuguese.

IJN I'm on Mutsuki which I like. I enjoy the stealth cap and torp game. It's either rewarding or returning to port. I have Harekaze but as mentioned at T8 life gets tough which is why I restarted the IJN line to learn and skill up.

KM only on the V25 but it's a little monster.

If you only want to go to tier 5 I would think one line would be dull as there are lower tier stars in all nations.

T2 V25

T3 ?

T4 Clemson or Izyaslav

T5 mostly unavailable now - Kamikaze and variants but Mutsuki has 5.4km stealth and 8km torps which is fun.

 

Certainly tiers 3 to 6 are fun and even I can get some great games in. T7 playable with a taste of what's to come. T8 requires some skills and experience.

 

Certainly playing Destroyers gives you an appreciation for and from other classes. The team responsibility you carry is higher than any other class.

Spotting, capping, surviving the initial cap frags,

Defending caps, spotting.

Taking caps. Killing low health enemy and staying alive.

It's the class my underpants hate the most!

 

[jss78]

If you're mainly concerned with early tiers, Storozhevoi (T2) and Izyaslav (T4) are monsters for their respective tiers.

 

However the play style is very specific and maybe not what you're looking for. You're mainly a gunboat, however with both ships you have a hilariously strong though very short range torpedo alpha.

 

The imperial-era German DD's (tier 2-4) very fun torpedo boats. The torpedo torpedo layout with two facing front is interesting.

[BeauNidl3]

3 hours ago, mtm78 said:

I'd say there are 3 'meta games', one in protected MM - one in 4 to 8 and one 8+. 4-8 is the most diverse and most fun imho. I also think this is where destroyers are the most fun ( lack off radar ). Cruisers seem to peak at tier X with them being the best balanced against battleships of the same tier ( though very low tier, 4 maybe 5, is also quite favorable for cruisers due to bad sigma of battleships ). 

 

Getting a feel for the game would involve playing more classes as one as well though. 

I agree 100% with this plus the other posters who have said USN. They are far the best generalist nation with flexibility around guns and torpedoes and they help teach the role. Admittedly I've not played the KM ones, but comments above

 

I'm a relatively new player, got IJN, Soviet and USN destroyers all at Tier 7, IJN got really frustrating by T5 and I've more than once considered abandoning them completely as they really are a one trick pony which is a badly busted one minus a leg when you start encountering Radar and manoeuvrable ships with players who know how to use hydro and WASD hacks. They're so fragile that getting blown out of the water on a whim is a real risk.

Soviet DD's are essentially gunships and this becomes rather punishing without clever island play at T6 and upwards as they get utterly splattered by gunfire and with detection range at gunfire range keeping your guns hot (which is pretty much it for damage as the torps are only 4km so barring island ambush or a really unobservant enemy, forget landing them) is hazardous to the chances of playing a game past a few minutes.

 

I really enjoy DD play, I'm slowly learning a few of the tricks of the trade, but it is far from easy as your durability is low and any mistakes get brutally punished.

 

Oh and training up a captain with relevant skills Is a must, and the differences in nations need to be reflected other than concealment which is critical.

[anonym_MfZ6T7iwWpUC]

Had a quick dabble with T3 DD's (Wakatake, Wickes, & G-101), in coop as I have never played DD's before.

 

The G-101 is ok, nice torp arcs. But the IJN and USN feel way better (after only a handful of games in each, mind you). The Wickes has the edge over the Wakatake for me, as it has torps on both sides. So you can swing around and have a second go without waiting for them to reload. Plus I had a 13 point USN captain sat around without a ship to go in.

 

As I am working nights until Monday, and then I am away for a week, I wont have much chance to play much more until after I get back. But the few games I have played have been a blast. OK its not representative as its only coop, but never the less. Fun it was, so I shall pursue it further for a while.

[Strapps]

14 minutes ago, atlasapl said:

Had a quick dabble with T3 DD's (Wakatake, Wickes, & G-101), in coop as I have never played DD's before.

 

The G-101 is ok, nice torp arcs. But the IJN and USN feel way better (after only a handful of games in each, mind you). The Wickes has the edge over the Wakatake for me, as it has torps on both sides. So you can swing around and have a second go without waiting for them to reload. Plus I had a 13 point USN captain sat around without a ship to go in.

 

IMO the G-101 is the least good of the low-tier German DDs. It's really not much more than a slightly up-scaled V-25 but without the charm of the tier 2 beastie. I've kept the tier 2 and 4 ships in my port for low-tier headless chicken games but the G-101 was sold as soon as the grind was over.

[Aotearas]

3 hours ago, atlasapl said:

Food for thought. Thanks.

 

You do all realise don't you that me playing DD's is probably going to be hilariously bad. 

 

Everyone started somewhere.

[MoveZig]

USSR. It's probably the simplest playstyle of all (past t3). Once you're past the cap phase, you can just turn your brain off, tape up your LMB, aim at the closest thing you can shoot at and wasdhax randomly while staying at 10km+. It's highly unlikely you'll get killed quickly as long as you dance unpredictably and in the meantime you're putting out quite consistent damage.

 

KM 1-5 is a very poor representation of the rest of the line. These are dedicated torpboats, which is very unfortunate at tiers where you will often see 2x carriers on small maps, that can spot both you and your torps. If you want a good idea of the rest of the line, play to t6. They are quite nice from there and become good brawlers.

 

Early USN are brawlers. They're good but an aggressive playstyle is required to do well. At t7+, you can be a stealthier, with long-range torps, but your guns will always have short effective range.

 

Go IJN if you like stealth and torps. The opposite of USN. IIRC the first few tiers give you a good impression, except later you get to switch out smoke for faster torp reloads, which is pretty bad for you if there are carriers in the match.

[Prospect_b]

12 minutes ago, MoveZig said:

and in the meantime you're putting out quite consistent damage.

Really? I'm grinding the RU DDs now and I'm at the gnevny. The dmg for shells hitting is pathetic and I very frequently end games with about +-100 shell hits and 1 or even zero fires.. Especially since she sees tier 8 (aka bismarck & tirpitz land) so often, then it just feels like throwing pillows.