Pensacola

[Kostis_Larsson]

Can you please write a guide about how to use this ship and what is its role ?

I tried everything and nothing is working... plz don't tell me to provide anti-aircraft support because it's not providing enough exp to grind it.

[BlackSamBellamy]

This indeed is a difficult ship to play

Low armor, so engage an enemy cruiser or BB of same tier or higher as second one if possible, support your allies, dont attack alone

if alone, fight at long range distances

[conductiv]

best advice I have been able to dig up is to keep the side angled towards the enemy guns at all times..less chance of them walloping the rather big and weak citadel.

 

-support battleships, start by taking down all the "weaker" ships (DD's first and cruisers second, as you kill them quickly) when you see a BB or CA lining up a shot on you...high tail out of there. and let the allied BB wallop them...if he goes for your BB ally, shoot him. 

-when a enemy DD tries using its smoke use your scout plane or ask nearby allied BBs/ CAs to use it...the plane will fly circles around you 5-10 km out and will enter the cloud eventually...spotting the DD...greatly reducing the risk and it might open up a shot

-when a allied DD uses its smoke, stay behind it..the allied DD might be able to spot allowing you a shot..you will vanish soon after as long as the smoke is between you and the enemy force, a target flickering in and out of spotting range is harder to hit. if the allied DD is being pestered by aircraft..move up to get these planes at the edge of your AA..can save the DD as it can't hide with the aircraft on its tail...but keep in mind that while gunning down aircraft the enemy will spot you

 

when enemy aircraft get within your AA range and they seem to be lining up the shot..

-use the Y key to make their torpedo-spread insanely wide..helps both you and your BB buddy. 

-aim at aircraft that havn't dropped their load yet with ctrl+ click on enemy aircraft...focus the AA on those planes as to reduce their number (and number of torps dropped that way) less torps is easier to dodge.

 

keep an eye on what your CV is doing

-some CV's stalk enemy DD's with fighters, these DD's can't hide and as such are great targets to nail before they can unload their torps on allied BB's or CV's...or cap. this is a opportunity that can be exploited. you can also ask allied CV's to use fighters as scouts when you spot smoke clouds in caps or on critical junctions...but its generally better to use the "less usefull" scout plane for that. as that fighter can be used for more productive purposes in 90% of the cases

-when a nearby CV is being chased, tell him to move your way..usually its a DD that slipped past, and with the CV moving your way you might be able to intercept

 

all the tips are easier said then done...ships are slow so you will have to be at the location before it all happens..on top of that you are not very maneuverable. but it might be able to help you..and your allies out a bit.

this naturally works better when you have a BB or CA to division with, as random BB's tend to sit wayyyy back where you can't do anything up to the moment the enemy breaks through..and at that piont you already lost. 

 

[renhanxue]

You do the same thing as in every other ship: click red ships and make them explode. Kill destroyers (very easy). Kill other cruisers (also sorta easy but they tend to shoot back more). Kill battleships, such as Yamatos. Demonstration:

 

[GospodinMijo]

You do the same thing as in every other ship: click red ships and make them explode. Kill destroyers (very easy). Kill other cruisers (also sorta easy but they tend to shoot back more). Kill battleships, such as Yamatos. Demonstration:

 

 

Yamato is broken, as in bugged, thou. 

[renhanxue]

 

Yamato is broken, as in bugged, thou. 

 

Bugged how? Accuracy?

 

In general though if you can get close (<5km) to a battleship showing its side in an American cruiser you can usually massacre it really quickly. The DPM is just insane.

[Hummus]

In general though if you can get close (<5km) to a battleship showing its side in an American cruiser you can usually massacre it really quickly. The DPM is just insane.

 

Yhea .... but don't do this in a Pensicola. Showing your side to a BB at 5Km gets you rekt by the secondary guns. Most of them have more firepower in their secondary guns then a Cruiser has main guns.

 

In the Pensicola, you want to annoy the crap out of BB's at max range and/or dual with cruisers (just not with the Cleveland ;) )

So step 1 )  Spot the enemy BB's and throw 1-2 salvo's at them.

1a) Never drive paralel to your targets, always closer or increase the distance (This makes hitting a LOT harder for them as the shots can fall shot or overshoot)

1B ) Run away on time !  1-2 salvos and start zig zagging away. NEVER be the closest target to an enemy BB

 

Step 2) Messing up cruisers.

Those 203 mm can do insane amount of dmg if you hit a Cruiser in the citadel. So don't be afraid to go to medium distance on a cruiser (Just stay out of short range of undamaged Clevelands)

 

Step 3) Hiding behind your BB's

The 203s do a lot of dmg on BBs as well, so if the BB is distracted by a friendly Bb you can add your DPM. If you see those turret come your way, just start dodging and let your friendly BB finish him off.

[DBaron]

Cola can be a great ship if used in the right way.

 

If you are a good shot, go for longer range, never show your broadside, my sweet spot for most damage is around 9-11km distance. Never be the first available target

[Kostis_Larsson]

I 'd like to thank everyone for the advices, i tried all of them and most of them are working.

BUT

I 'm not having fun with this ship, perhaps it's not only the ships but the gameplay in higher tiers that i 'm finding boring and not suitable for an "action game". After that i sold her and i bought a Japanese low tier DD so i can move fast and drop torpedoes.

[DBaron]

I 'd like to thank everyone for the advices, i tried all of them and most of them are working.

BUT

I 'm not having fun with this ship, perhaps it's not only the ships but the gameplay in higher tiers that i 'm finding boring and not suitable for an "action game". After that i sold her and i bought a Japanese low tier DD so i can move fast and drop torpedoes.

 

Gameplay in general changes in higher tiers, as repair costs go way up, ppl tend to play way more tactical than in the lower tiers were you can still make a profit even if you have only a couple of hits and are sunk early.

[BOldMan]

Worst cruiser until now.

[Darthtanking]

I playd it more like a sniper keep it at the back of BB and take sniping shoots it works pretty good like that I did baldy well with so much so I miss it 

[Mozzog]

I liked the Omaha and the Cleveland too but the Cola is prob worst ship I've ever used. slow rof, weak armor and feeling like and bb. Thinking about selling too and go back to omaha.

[Battledragon]

The big problem with the Pensacola is it's a pure escort.  The only things it does better then the Myoko are turn circle, turret traverse speed, and AA firepower. EVERYTHING else is worse.

Compared to Myoko it has:
Less HP, less armour, it's slower, it has less range, it's guns do less damage per shot, reload slower, and are less accurate.

Myoko also has torpedoes, which Pensacola doesn't.

[Hummus]

The Pepsi and the Leans are pretty though grinds, but you got to suffer through them if you want that shiny Des Moines

 

I kinda liked the pepsi when I got the hang of her, but the New Orleans was not much of an upgrade in the closed beta, and the increased MM was harsh (one tier higher BBs in the teams without any extra firepower and only a slight upgrade to survivablity .... ) To play these ships well you need to know what ammo to use (those 203 mm have very nice AP dmg) and you have to be careful of where you are and where the enemies are.

[harkain]

the pepsi is only realy usuable once fully uppgraded prior to that its gonna be bad at whatever you try to do with it. After all the uppgrades the main advantages are speed and accuracy so if you know how to aim the pepsi wont ever disapoint, fast shells and litteraly no disperion meaning any other cruiser coming on you is in a world of hurt when you can multiplecitadel crit them without an effort.

 

It is however a hard ship to play, you lack the spam of the cleveland or atlanta or the added omph of the torpedos of the myogi or atago nor is your armor worth calling even that, but if you utilize the speed and pick your intended targets its a reward and fun ship to play even if it wont ever be counted as one of the best of its battletier.

[yaayifications]

*PepsiCola

[ttchip]

Pensacola is my second highest scoring ship in terms of average exp (2.2k with prem) right after Baltimore (2.4k with prem). I guess I'll provide some replays of relatively aggressive play on my part. Now, mind you, you'll see some very questionable matchmaking in those because I had the ship quite early after the wipe. The core principles still apply:

 

• AP is your friend. If you want to sling a lot of HE, you picked the wrong ship.
• Your AA is great against lower and equally tiered CVs. Against higher tiered CVs you'll struggle a lot.
• You can trade quite efficiently against equally tiered BBs. Abusing your excellent maneuverability is paramount.
• Treating Pensacola as a pure escort is a waste of potential.

 

In my opinion, Pensacola does everything New Orleans can do. It is either on par (long range AA, maneuverability) or better (artillery) in virtually every respect that matters while being lower tiered, making it a much more competent ship. Even Baltimore is barely an upgrade in the artillery department while meeting some rather stiff competition. To date, Pensacola has been one of my favorite ships in the game just because I couldn't cope with Cleveland's ridiculous shell arc. Stock, Pensacola can be quite a mule to play with.

 

Edit: Holy mother of necros. Didn't notice the date until it was too late.

 

  Pensacola.zip   8.42MB

Pensacola.zip

[nibiru_star]

Ship is a piece of crap

[GeneralRushHour]

I absolutely hated both the Pensa and Norleans when i got them simply because i loved the playing style of the Cleveland and Omaha. 

They were proper brawlers, designed to get in and get dirty, hit as much stuff as you possibly can and go down swinging. 

 

With the Pensa and Norleans it´s a much more measured approach needed, stay on the outside pick your targets carefully, don´t get into a knife fight in a phone booth so to say. 

It´s very accurate and packs a punch, extremely good support ship if say a BB or CV needs assistance for a wave of planes incoming. 

 

I´m starting to enjoy them now for what they are but i can´t wait until i get the Baltimore and especially the Des Moines. 

 

[deathcaster]

I absolutely hated both the Pensa and Norleans when i got them simply because i loved the playing style of the Cleveland and Omaha. 

They were proper brawlers, designed to get in and get dirty, hit as much stuff as you possibly can and go down swinging. 

 

With the Pensa and Norleans it´s a much more measured approach needed, stay on the outside pick your targets carefully, don´t get into a knife fight in a phone booth so to say. 

It´s very accurate and packs a punch, extremely good support ship if say a BB or CV needs assistance for a wave of planes incoming. 

 

I´m starting to enjoy them now for what they are but i can´t wait until i get the Baltimore and especially the Des Moines. 

 

 

Baltimore isn't really that different playstyle though; also got slow firing guns (although 4.6rpm isn't that slow). The DM is just a spam monster, as long as it stays that way.

[Dbars_eu]

Does anyone know if the Pepsicolas gun upgrade give better shell velocity?

[morti271]

101% OP

 

 

 

Does anyone know if the Pepsicolas gun upgrade give better shell velocity?

 

It obviously should. But since WG even makes the Tirpitz a premium ship instead of the Bismarck ... just don't think there is any logic behind their decisions.

[GeneralRushHour]

 

Baltimore isn't really that different playstyle though; also got slow firing guns (although 4.6rpm isn't that slow). The DM is just a spam monster, as long as it stays that way.

 

Could be yea, my line of thinking was that Baltimore might have a citadel similar to Cleveland because if you look at the hull itself, the Cleveland, Baltimore and Des Moines have roughly the same design philosophy while Pensa and Norleans has a vastly different hull. 

[ttchip]

Could be yea, my line of thinking was that Baltimore might have a citadel similar to Cleveland because if you look at the hull itself, the Cleveland, Baltimore and Des Moines have roughly the same design philosophy while Pensa and Norleans has a vastly different hull. 

 

Both Baltimore and DM are super squishy compared to Cleveland.