Strafing and counterstrafing

[pra3y]

12 hours ago, El2aZeR said:

You will still immediately be on the backfoot when it comes to air control. I don't see why you should risk that when you can just go with TBs. Either you deal a big chunk of damage to the enemy DD, outright kill him or at the very least you will force him off the cap with nothing lost on your part. Wasting your fighters on that and putting yourself at an immediate disadvantage would hardly be worth it, especially when there is such a stellar alternative.

 

Personally I just find it a waste if my TBs miss. Sure it forces him off the cap, but at the expense of me wasting those TB squad/s that could have gone after easier targets.

 

Plus I wouldn't have to over focus too much.  Say the other guy isn't a potato and provides air cover for his DD as well. Within that cap area I'll have to juggle between fighter to fighter combat as well as trying to sink that DD and at the same time ensuring that he doesn't strafe out of a fighter lock at my TBs while I try to sink that DD. With just the fighter I can focus on chasing out that DD and deal with the fighters which for me is a plus. What happen if it's a DD with defensive AA? Less stuff less complication. Chase/ scare the DD out of the cap with a strafe, then focus on dealing with the enemy fighters.

[El2aZeR]

36 minutes ago, pra3y said:

With just the fighter I can focus on chasing out that DD and deal with the fighters which for me is a plus.

 

Except that doesn't happen. I can just wait for you to strafe my DD then kill you, giving me immediate air superiority even if I started TBs first, an advantage I will not let go of for the rest of the match. You don't need to commit TBs if there is enemy air cover or DFAA, you can just pull back and move up with your fighters with nothing gained, nothing lost.

 

So yeah, in the worst case scenario you've lost air superiority permanently for the rest of the match, just because you've wasted your fighters on something that was hardly worthwhile.

[pra3y]

11 hours ago, El2aZeR said:

 

You don't need to commit TBs if there is enemy air cover or DFAA, you can just pull back and move up with your fighters with nothing gained, nothing lost.

 

 

That's the thing. I can don't commit my TBs, but what about my friendly DD then? A hypo but say the friendly DD is a Kagero up against a Fletcher, the Fletcher outguns him. With the strafe I can help him out abit and force the Fletcher to focus more on my planes than the Kagero. If my Kagero survives till end game, then it wouldn't have been a waste. If the Fletcher leaves the cap while my Kagero completes the cap, it wouldn't be a waste. Plus I've won games without having air superiority. Air superiority is a huge plus, but not absolute. The team play though is the more important factor to me (well usually. We both know crap happens). 

[El2aZeR]

10 hours ago, pra3y said:

That's the thing. I can don't commit my TBs, but what about my friendly DD then?

 

And if you commit fighters you lose air superiority instead, perhaps even permanently, as the enemy CV will capitalize on that opportunity if he's smart. Is that really preferable?

[pra3y]

43 minutes ago, El2aZeR said:

 

And if you commit fighters you lose air superiority instead, perhaps even permanently, as the enemy CV will capitalize on that opportunity if he's smart. Is that really preferable?

 

I wouldn't mind to be honest. If it helps my team why not? I temporary sacrifice a few planes but'll I'll make up for it later. Better then losing a DD so early in the game ain't it?

[El2aZeR]

2 minutes ago, pra3y said:

I temporary sacrifice a few planes but'll I'll make up for it later. Better then losing a DD so early in the game ain't it?

 

1. Spot Fletch early with TBs, get chased off by fighters, if Kagero still decides to go in he's an idiot you wouldn't be able to save anyway

2. Spot Fletch when he is going to kill Kagero, use fighters to strafe him, obviously lose said fighters, Fletcher is still going to kill Kagero and you've lost air superiority permanently to a skilled enemy CV as losing 1 squad for free will usually do that

 

Yeah, I prefer scenario 1.

[pra3y]

39 minutes ago, El2aZeR said:

 

1. Spot Fletch early with TBs, get chased off by fighters, if Kagero still decides to go in he's an idiot you wouldn't be able to save anyway

2. Spot Fletch when he is going to kill Kagero, use fighters to strafe him, obviously lose said fighters, Fletcher is still going to kill Kagero and you've lost air superiority permanently to a skilled enemy CV as losing 1 squad for free will usually do that

 

Yeah, I prefer scenario 1.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree then. I prefer scenario 2. It's a risk, but I feel it's worth it. It can go in any possible way in any case so why not have a go.

[Reniwn]

21 hours ago, pra3y said:

 

We'll have to agree to disagree then. I prefer scenario 2. It's a risk, but I feel it's worth it. It can go in any possible way in any case so why not have a go.

I agree with scenario 1 as well, since enemy DDs tend to run away when detected by planes (especially bombers) which allows your DD to get in the cap and maybe take it for free. This has been working consistently for me, especially in ranked this season.

[pra3y]

41 minutes ago, Fubucky said:

I agree with scenario 1 as well, since enemy DDs tend to run away when detected by planes (especially bombers) which allows your DD to get in the cap and maybe take it for free. This has been working consistently for me, especially in ranked this season.

 

Well it's even more important not to die in rank straight away so I can understand why they'll run. Personally if I'm in my Fletcher I'll probably stay in the cap and kill the Kagero since the fighter can do jack to me except spotting me while the Kagero prays that his teammates shoot at me. If the fighter starts strafing me it'll be a different story though. It's up to each individual player I guess on who you gonna play it and how far you're willing to go.

[El2aZeR]

On 12/31/2017 at 4:09 PM, pra3y said:

If the fighter starts strafing me it'll be a different story though.

 

If the fighter starts strafing you and your own CV isn't entirely stupid he will capitalize on that opportunity. That means you will win both an early kill and air superiority.

There is literally nothing to be gained from fighters strafing surface ships.

[pra3y]

52 minutes ago, El2aZeR said:

There is literally nothing to be gained from fighters strafing surface ships.

Amusement and some help? Human being are randon enough that this game is pretty random at times. What about the reverse then? Say the other CV is a potato and does his own stuff but the Fletcher is good, then won't I be helping my teammate by saving his bacon?

[El2aZeR]

30 minutes ago, pra3y said:

Say the other CV is a potato and does his own stuff but the Fletcher is good, then won't I be helping my teammate by saving his bacon?

 

You could outright kill the Fletcher with TBs.

Thus fighter strafing remains worthless once again.

[pra3y]

2 minutes ago, El2aZeR said:

 

You could outright kill the Fletcher with TBs.

Thus fighter strafing remains worthless once again.

 

  Fine fine. I pick have fun then.

[KarmaQU_EU]

@pra3y @El2aZeR

A point to understand is that the Fletcher does not know (or at least cannot confirm) it has enemy strike planes eyeing it, while the Kagero knows there are friendly planes nearby. You also know the enemy CV may have similar plans, but that the Fletcher will know those accordingly. My recommended course of action is to DB that Fletcher and see how it, and the enemy CV, reacts. TB off-the-bat is a bit overkill and my fighters will definitely force you to have TB losses on your way out. (I fighter first. I never rush first-strikes. The TBs will have arrived too early; the DD will be nowhere sitting in the cap yet and still in range of lots of friendly AA and planes.)

 

"Given the same amount of intelligence, timidity will do a thousand times more damage than audacity."- Karl von Clausewitz

Also: "Never give a sword CV to a man who can't dance joke". - Confuscious

 

 

(TL; just TL)

Thus you do not want to egg on you Kagero by stationing TBs to encourage its foolhardy duel with a Fletcher. But you do want to show the Kgero, and the enemy, you will threaten the Fletcher, by instantly dropping a DB strike on him. This statement only marks the beginning of the mind-game. You will leave 1-squad of DBs to keep spotting the Fletcher at max range (while also spotting the neighboring lane), and view the enemy CV's reaction, and the Fletcher's reaction from there. As situation dictates, you may communicate with the Kagero very briefly. If it decides to chicken-out and turn back, do not blame it. Move your planes away to acknowledge its decision, but at the same absolute distance from the Fletcher to possibly bait more intel from the enemy CV, or spook a consumable from the Fletcher. If the Kagero is aware, you may also do an outright "spook" TB strike (run at it very fiercely and visibly, even sandwich it between escorting fighter planes in a menacing formation) to panic the enemy CV and Fletcher but safely pull them back within safe distance. Such little sparring is encouraged, and does good to get the blood flowing. If the enemy CV mimics your actions with DBs, or does other awkward actions, be careful as it understands the concept of mind-games and understands the concept of a "CV duel". However, it may intend for you to be more careful this way. Thus, actions and their outcomes matter more as concrete evidence, but just be prepared. E.g. how many fighters it engages to chase your DB, if that is but a ruse to move your aerial vision away while if follows up immediately behind with a surprise full-strike with full-escort, etc. You must be aware of the capabilities of both you and your opponent, possible openings and perceptions of these openings from both sides, plane cooldowns, etc. There is the danger of the double-ruse, in which the enemy CV acts like a total potato and does a reckless strike to bait your trust, but so far there is little to gain from actual wasting of assets so it is unlikely. Unless it pulls the reckless strike off, then you will have to consider if it was just your misplay and it got lucky, or if it was fully aware it could cut it that close. And if doing a non-ordinary strike may have anything to do with priority targets, its schedules, I mean, sometimes I sacrifice a weak 1-2 plane squad of non-crucial assets in some fake "mis-play" just to have them come back to CV in time for the next coordinated launch. I sometimes keep empty squads on fake runs just to keep the enemy planes, or enemy ships' attention diverted by an imminent strike (they don't know the squads have no loadout). Sometimes just sending planes to swarm a cap too causes panic and may help in your team's favor. Remember, you can bait enemy surface ships too, not just CV planes.

Sometimes you will bet wrongly, but only lose assets within a controllable amount, such (part of) as a DB squad, because you were prepared. You will also be aware that one enemy fighter squad has just a bit less ammo from engaging your DB squad, and how it engaged it. (Note this will be less a favourable factor if enemy is an AS Haku trying to make you believe it is a strike-Haku by only showing 2 fighters to start with.) And so on and so forth in similar things. The choices the enemy CV makes, the targets it decides to go after, etc. everything betrays a little information. And unless it is a very good CV or a repeat opponent, you can use every possible opportunity to understand the personality and habits of the enemy CV, and you only have 15 minutes to do it. Yet, the objective of such action is not even to be able to predict what your opponent will do in the same match, which is usually misleading and not reliable and less important than actual data. It is to understand general/specific habits of any CV, any loadout, any player, the logic behind such decisions, so you will never be surprised, never panic, and never make the same mistake in the same context, twice. You will understand how events between a CV duel will likely unfold at any time point per match, will recognize patterns, and plan to maximize the efficiency of strike schedules and plane rotations to adhere to these patterns, will build a possible sequence-tree of moves, just like chess, and by habit you will make the better decisions in the long run, while able to more rapidly follow up to any sequence of events and do so correctly too. (I mean there is no way I, or even Fara, can detail every possible sequence of events and the correct procedures to handle them.)

And such. Most "duel" type encounters are a scaling, escalating sequences of engaging small-assets like DBs to more important assets like a TB strike or a fighter duel, to more overall chaos all over the map such as engaging elsewhere to bait attention from you actual TB strike. Care is especially important at the beginning of a match. But later-on, you are more free to fully and intensely capitalize on openings as you see fit, and worry less about mind-games. It's mostly a game of "efficiency" from there on. Still, being able to form or take a joke is sort've relevant to understanding the funny ways CV dynamics interact within that "duel". Sort've. If at least, it'll prepare you to deal with "that f------ Kagero" and its jokes.

And not forget to do the little things while you're at it, like notify the fking Kagero before you do a trick-shot, calm the Kagero down if it is freaking the fk out, and answer the Kagero's fcking jokes acceptably because it learned from somewhere it is "good for building rapport and facilitating moral". And to control any other moral outbreak in the team be it related or not to whatever happened to "that Kagero". While handling a handful of planes.

 

If you haven't read the Fara CV guide yet, please do it. 

[Commander_Cornflakes]

The amount of DDs I have torped before enemy CV could react is high enough, so torpedos first sounds best for me. And even if I lose all planes for one DD, that's definitely worth it.

[El2aZeR]

36 minutes ago, KarmaQU_EU said:

I fighter first. I never rush first-strikes. The TBs will have arrived too early; the DD will be nowhere sitting in the cap yet and still in range of lots of friendly AA and planes.

 

Meh, more often than not a DD is actually stupid enough to move on towards the cap even if he sees TBs gunning for him.

Alternatively if the map is big enough you can simply force a DD to dodge away from the enemy team depending on how he turns.

 

And if the enemy CV chose the wrong cap to scout first or launched all bombers before fighters that's basically a guaranteed first kill without any real risk on your part.

[KarmaQU_EU]

29 minutes ago, Commander_Cornflakes said:

The amount of DDs I have torped before enemy CV could react is high enough, so torpedos first sounds best for me. And even if I lose all planes for one DD, that's definitely worth it.

It's been too long and I can't remember exactly what I did so I'll recommend a compromise. 1 of your fastest-arming squad first, probably 1 fighter. Then the TBs. You'll have both 1 fighter and your TBs on hand. Best.

1 minute ago, El2aZeR said:

Alternatively if the map is big enough you can simply force a DD to dodge away from the enemy team depending on how he turns.

And if the enemy CV chose the wrong cap to scout first or launched all bombers before fighters that's basically a guaranteed first kill without any real risk on your part.

Sometimes you can even force a DD to not change direction and have to overextend by perma-ganking its side with TBs, but its rare.

As for first kill, I'm too greedy for just that. I want first kill and annihilation of enemy's first strike squads. In any case I recommend 1 fighter squad to scout first, they are better at that than strike planes. The DDs will still be too close to their own ships, and you can at least fool the enemy to think you have no early strike planes. You can deal with any foolish "super-early first strike" with your fighter, and be able to see more targets thus pick the most desirable one for your first strike.. 

[El2aZeR]

3 minutes ago, KarmaQU_EU said:

You can deal with any foolish "super-early first strike" with your fighter, and be able to see more targets thus pick the most desirable one for your first strike.. 

 

The thing is that you can simply pull back with your TBs if you see enemy fighters approaching, with fighters launched second they'll be right up behind your TBs so you can then play out the situation accordingly.

And since fighters service slower than TBs you'll basically provide the same initial scouting information as the enemy CV. Nothing gained, nothing lost. By launching fighters first however you lose the opportunity for an early kill entirely and gain nothing unless the enemy is actually stupid enough to fly their bombers right into your fighters (which to be fair also isn't that rare of an occurrence).

[Widar_Thule]

On 19-12-2017 at 4:51 PM, Widar_Thule said:

 

Thank you "El2aZeR" for posting your Fighter Strafing technique. And also thanks to "Farazelleth" for sharing his "6.3.2.3 Fighter Squiggle Strafe" technique.

 

These two Expert Carrier Commanders and forum members have done the WOWS Carrier player base a GREAT service by posting these sort of insider Fighter Strafing techniques.

 

Since they have made this information freely available in this way NO ONE can accuse them of cheating in a secret underhand manner. To me it looks as if these two Fighter Strafing techniques are either a glitch/bug OR it might be that these techniques are working "as intended" by WOWS Development. The only people who can answer that for sure are representatives of WOWS Development.

 

The first thing that comes to mind when looking at these techniques is: "why does WOWS Development not communicate and "teach" these Fighter strafing techniques on their wiki page and in their own videos?"

 

That leads me to some questions for the mostly absent forum moderators and WOWS Development representatives on KEY important game issues such as these.

 

I ask the Forum moderation and/or WOWS Development representatives to:

 

1.      State that the two Fighter strafing techniques as described by "El2aZeR" and "Farazelleth" in this topic respectively his video, are "working as intended" and that they are not a "glitch", "bug", "game exploit" or "cheat". That way everybody will know that these two Fighter Strafing techniques are "allowed" and "the" way to go when using Fighters for strafing in WOWS.

 

2.      If these two Fighter Strafing techniques are "working as intended" I kindly ask WOWS Development to make a text explanation and two videos showing "how to" use these techniques and make them available on the official website and on the official WOWS wiki so that ALL WOWS Carrier players learn how to use/execute them and not only those players that visit the forum or Farazelleth's YouTube channel in order to "level the playing field" for all WOWS players of ALL skill levels and ALL levels of experience.

 

3.      If these two Fighter strafing techniques are NOT "working as intended" I kindly ask WOWS Development to make sure that they are REMOVED from the game. Because these two Fighter Strafing techniques give a HUGE advantage to those which are aware that they exist and know how to use/execute them, as opposed to the great mass of players who have no clue that these two Fighter techniques even exist as is evident from the average Random Battle match in WOWS.

 

Even though I am doubtful that we will EVER get a response from WOWS Development or even the forum moderation on these two KEY Aircraft Carrier Fighter Strafing issues, I hope that this will be addressed since in my opinion these two Fighter Strafing techniques give a HUGE advantage to the most skilled and experienced Carrier Commanders in WOWS, which puts these Expert Carrier Commanders even further ahead of low skilled and average skilled Carrier Commanders than they already are. And that means that not only will the lower skilled Carrier Commander be a disadvantage when facing these Expert Carrier Commanders, but also all the 11x players will be at a disadvantage that are on the side of the lower skilled Carrier Commander when he is absolutely clueless about the existence of these two Fighter Strafing techniques, let alone able to counter them.

 

Again, many thanks to "El2aZeR" and "Farazelleth" for sharing these two Fighter Strafing techniques!

 

Dear WOWS EU Forum moderators, specifically:

 

@MrConway @Tuccy @Crysantos

 

Is it possible for you to get an "official" response from the WOWS Developers regarding the three questions that I asked above concerning the Fighter Strafing "techniques" described by @El2aZeR @Farazelleth et al in this forum topic?

 

[MrConway]

On 12/19/2017 at 4:51 PM, Widar_Thule said:

 

Thank you "El2aZeR" for posting your Fighter Strafing technique. And also thanks to "Farazelleth" for sharing his "6.3.2.3 Fighter Squiggle Strafe" technique.

 

These two Expert Carrier Commanders and forum members have done the WOWS Carrier player base a GREAT service by posting these sort of insider Fighter Strafing techniques.

 

Since they have made this information freely available in this way NO ONE can accuse them of cheating in a secret underhand manner. To me it looks as if these two Fighter Strafing techniques are either a glitch/bug OR it might be that these techniques are working "as intended" by WOWS Development. The only people who can answer that for sure are representatives of WOWS Development.

 

The first thing that comes to mind when looking at these techniques is: "why does WOWS Development not communicate and "teach" these Fighter strafing techniques on their wiki page and in their own videos?"

 

That leads me to some questions for the mostly absent forum moderators and WOWS Development representatives on KEY important game issues such as these.

 

I ask the Forum moderation and/or WOWS Development representatives to:

 

1.      State that the two Fighter strafing techniques as described by "El2aZeR" and "Farazelleth" in this topic respectively his video, are "working as intended" and that they are not a "glitch", "bug", "game exploit" or "cheat". That way everybody will know that these two Fighter Strafing techniques are "allowed" and "the" way to go when using Fighters for strafing in WOWS.

 

2.      If these two Fighter Strafing techniques are "working as intended" I kindly ask WOWS Development to make a text explanation and two videos showing "how to" use these techniques and make them available on the official website and on the official WOWS wiki so that ALL WOWS Carrier players learn how to use/execute them and not only those players that visit the forum or Farazelleth's YouTube channel in order to "level the playing field" for all WOWS players of ALL skill levels and ALL levels of experience.

 

3.      If these two Fighter strafing techniques are NOT "working as intended" I kindly ask WOWS Development to make sure that they are REMOVED from the game. Because these two Fighter Strafing techniques give a HUGE advantage to those which are aware that they exist and know how to use/execute them, as opposed to the great mass of players who have no clue that these two Fighter techniques even exist as is evident from the average Random Battle match in WOWS.

 

Even though I am doubtful that we will EVER get a response from WOWS Development or even the forum moderation on these two KEY Aircraft Carrier Fighter Strafing issues, I hope that this will be addressed since in my opinion these two Fighter Strafing techniques give a HUGE advantage to the most skilled and experienced Carrier Commanders in WOWS, which puts these Expert Carrier Commanders even further ahead of low skilled and average skilled Carrier Commanders than they already are. And that means that not only will the lower skilled Carrier Commander be a disadvantage when facing these Expert Carrier Commanders, but also all the 11x players will be at a disadvantage that are on the side of the lower skilled Carrier Commander when he is absolutely clueless about the existence of these two Fighter Strafing techniques, let alone able to counter them.

 

Again, many thanks to "El2aZeR" and "Farazelleth" for sharing these two Fighter Strafing techniques!

 

Please refrain from using those colours, its hard to read in dark mode :)

 

As I have been poked repeatedly about this thread let me just jump in.

 

The simple fact is that the current form of CV mechanics are a bit of a mess and not working the way we would want them to work. The mechanics as described are however working as intended within the current mechanics.

 

We will not be publishing any guides on these kind of tricks, as our efforts are currently dedicated to a rework of the CV mechanics as a whole, which would render any such guide useless in any case.

 

I know this is not what you want to hear, but until we have "fixed" CVs, this is the situation.

 

[Widar_Thule]

2 hours ago, MrConway said:

 

Please refrain from using those colours, its hard to read in dark mode :)

 

As I have been poked repeatedly about this thread let me just jump in.

 

The simple fact is that the current form of CV mechanics are a bit of a mess and not working the way we would want them to work. The mechanics as described are however working as intended within the current mechanics.

 

We will not be publishing any guides on these kind of tricks, as our efforts are currently dedicated to a rework of the CV mechanics as a whole, which would render any such guide useless in any case.

 

I know this is not what you want to hear, but until we have "fixed" CVs, this is the situation.

 

 

Thanks @MrConway for your reply.

 

While your reply is understandable it is also very bad news for all the new Carrier players and all casual Carrier players who have no idea that this "strafing and counterstrafing" mechanic even exists in WOWS. And all 7x or 12x players on the side of the new or casual Carrier players are being hurt in their gaming experience if a new or casual Carrier player loses his Aircraft due to the "strafing and counterstrafing" mechanic.

 

If the "strafing and counterstrafing" mechanic indeed is "working as intended" then WOWS in my opinion has a "moral" duty to inform the WHOLE Carrier player base about it to "even the playing field" for ALL players. It would not be all that difficult to at least inform Carrier players via the WOWS in-game "tips" system and the WOWS WIKI of the existence of the "strafing and counterstrafing" mechanic. It will not require six or more months of work to add one in-game "tip" to WOWS and to the WOWS WIKI.

 

The Carrier rework was announced for 2017 but was not implemented, and there is no guarantee that Carriers will be "fixed" in 2018 either. There is currently no timeline or deadline on "fixing" the Carriers in WOWS. So the only thing we for now have to go on is the Carrier interface that we currently have in WOWS and not one which we might have one day in WOWS.

 

For the time being, for the benefit of ALL players in WOWS, at least OFFICIALLY inform your Carrier players that this "strafing and counterstrafing" mechanic exists.

 

Seriously, how much effort would it take to simply add this text to the WOWS WIKI and the WOWS in-game "tips" system:

 

"Advanced Fighter strafing tip: When your Fighter Squadron is "locked" in "click fighter combat" and the enemy Fighter Squadron "strafes out" of it, then select your Fighter Squadron and give ONE movement command (not an attack or "strafing" command) in the direction where the enemy Fighter Squadron is "strafing out". This gets your Fighter Squadron out of the "stun" they receive when an enemy Fighter Squadron is "strafing out". Then give a "strafe" command in the same direction so that your Fighter Squadron will start "strafing" the enemy Fighter Squadron either immediately or shortly thereafter. Do not place the "strafe" command too close or your Fighter Squadron will circle around to get into position."

 

 

[anonym_2hneAFaIyP4T]

1 hour ago, Widar_Thule said:

 

"Advanced Fighter strafing tip: When your Fighter Squadron is "locked" in "click fighter combat" and the enemy Fighter Squadron "strafes out" of it, then select your Fighter Squadron and give ONE movement command (not an attack or "strafing" command) in the direction where the enemy Fighter Squadron is "strafing out". This gets your Fighter Squadron out of the "stun" they receive when an enemy Fighter Squadron is "strafing out". Then give a "strafe" command in the same direction so that your Fighter Squadron will start "strafing" the enemy Fighter Squadron either immediately or shortly thereafter. Do not place the "strafe" command too close or your Fighter Squadron will circle around to get into position."

Bookmarked for when I get to T6 CV's 

[MrConway]

1 hour ago, Widar_Thule said:

 

Thanks @MrConway for your reply.

 

While your reply is understandable it is also very bad news for all the new Carrier players and all casual Carrier players who have no idea that this "strafing and counterstrafing" mechanic even exists in WOWS. And all 7x or 12x players on the side of the new or casual Carrier players are being hurt in their gaming experience if a new or casual Carrier player loses his Aircraft due to the "strafing and counterstrafing" mechanic.

 

If the "strafing and counterstrafing" mechanic indeed is "working as intended" then WOWS in my opinion has a "moral" duty to inform the WHOLE Carrier player base about it to "even the playing field" for ALL players. It would not be all that difficult to at least inform Carrier players via the WOWS in-game "tips" system and the WOWS WIKI of the existence of the "strafing and counterstrafing" mechanic. It will not require six or more months of work to add one in-game "tip" to WOWS and to the WOWS WIKI.

 

The Carrier rework was announced for 2017 but was not implemented, and there is no guarantee that Carriers will be "fixed" in 2018 either. There is currently no timeline or deadline on "fixing" the Carriers in WOWS. So the only thing we for now have to go on is the Carrier interface that we currently have in WOWS and not one which we might have one day in WOWS.

 

For the time being at least OFFICIALLY inform your Carrier players that this "strafing and counterstrafing" mechanic exists for the benefit of ALL players in WOWS.

 

Seriously, how much effort would it take to simply add this text to the WOWS WIKI and the WOWS in-game "tips" system:

 

"Advanced Fighter strafing tip: When your Fighter Squadron is "locked" in "click-fighter" combat and the enemy Fighter Squadron "strafes out" of it, then select your Fighter Squadron and give ONE movement command (not an attack or "strafing" command) in the direction where the enemy Fighter Squadron is "strafing out". This gets your Fighter Squadron out of the "stun" they receive when an enemy Fighter Squadron is "strafing out". Then give a "strafe" command in the same direction so that your Fighter Squadron will start "strafing" either immediately or shortly thereafter. Do not place the "strafe" command too close or your Fighter Squadron will circle around to get into position."

 

 

 

The Wiki is run and edited by players, please feel free to add it there! :)

 

I think it is a bit to complicated and niche for an in-game tool-tip though.

[Widar_Thule]

On 3/12/2018 at 6:21 PM, MrConway said:

 

The Wiki is run and edited by players, please feel free to add it there! :)

 

I think it is a bit to complicated and niche for an in-game tool-tip though.

 

Thanks @MrConway for your reply.

 

We probably have reached the "agree to disagree" status on this issue.

 

In my opinion it is not up to players like @El2aZeR, @Farazelleth or me to "teach" the whole WOWS player base about the Fighter strafing mechanics of the game. @Farazelleth, @El2aZeR et al to their credit "teach" those players that they can "reach", but it is not their job to "teach" the WOWS player base as a whole nor do they have the "reach" to do so. Neither is it my job nor do I have the "reach" to do so either.

 

If there are crucial and competitive play relevant Fighter strafing mechanics in WOWS like the one described in this topic which have not been "taught" (explained) by the Developer to the WOWS player base and which are even admitted to be "a bit to (sic) complicated and niche" to "teach" (explain) via the usual way, then the point still stands and becomes even more important that the Developer of a game needs to "teach" the WOWS player base these sort of crucial and competitive play relevant Fighter strafing mechanics.

 

If the learner has not learned then the teacher has not taught.

 

Like I said earlier however @MrConway, we probably have reached the "agree to disagree" status on this issue.

 

Again, thanks for your reply.

 

 

 

Edit: I added a description for the "Strafe-Out Tactic" and "Counter-Strafe-Out Tactic" on the WOWS WIKI "Aerial Combat" page, but that does not compensate for WOWS not "teaching" the tactics related to "strafing" to the mass of their Player Base. The majority of Carrier Commanders that I meet in WOWS do not even use "strafing", let alone the "Strafe-Out Tactic" or the "Counter-Strafe-Out Tactic".

 

 

http://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Aerial_Combat

 

"Strafe-Out Tactic"

As described earlier one of your Fighter Squadrons can engage, or be engaged by, an enemy Fighter Squadron via a mouse button left-click which then "locks" your Fighter Squadron into that Fighter engagement. Via the "Strafe-Out Tactic" it is possible to "break the "lock" of a Fighter engagement by giving a "strafe" command in any direction but it will cost the Fighter Squadron ammunition and one of its Fighters in return. When your Fighter Squadron "strafes out" of the Fighter engagement the enemy Fighter Squadron will receive a "stun lock" which prevents them from moving for a few seconds. The "Strafe-Out Tactic" allows a Fighter Squadron to "strafe out" of a Fighter engagement at any time. The tactic is especially useful when a friendly Fighter Squadron is "locked" in a Fighter engagement and is either losing that Fighter engagement, or is in danger of being "strafed" by another enemy Fighter Squadron or in order to prevent the friendly Fighter Squadron from being destroyed when running out of ammunition. The Premium Tier 7 Aircraft Carrier Saipan is currently the only Carrier that can let a Fighter Squadron "strafe out" of a Fighter engagement without losing a Fighter in the process.

"Counter-Strafe-Out Tactic"

As described earlier one of your Fighter Squadrons can engage, or be engaged by, an enemy Fighter Squadron via a mouse button left-click which then "locks" your Fighter Squadron into that Fighter engagement. If the enemy Fighter Squadron then uses the "Strafe-Out Tactic" in order to "strafe out" of that Fighter engagement it is possible to use the so-called "Counter-Strafe-Out Tactic" by selecting your Fighter Squadron and giving ONE movement command (not an attack or "strafing" command) in the direction where the enemy Fighter Squadron is "strafing out", this will allow your Fighter Squadron to get out of the "stun lock" that they normally receive when an enemy Fighter Squadron "strafes out" of a Fighter engagement. Then give your Fighter Squadron a "strafe" command in the same direction so that your Fighter Squadron will start "strafing" the enemy Fighter Squadron either immediately or shortly thereafter. Do not place the "strafe" command too close or your Fighter Squadron will first circle around to get into position. If executed properly the "Counter-Strafe-Out Tactic" will allow your Fighter Squadron to "strafe" the enemy Fighter Squadron as it "strafes out" of the Fighter engagement.

 

[VC381]

It's easy to say WG should teach the mechanics as they are but they teach much more basic things that nobody reads either. These are advanced tactics, the few who actually care and would benefit from learning them have no issue seeking them out here on the forums. The effort is wasted on most of the rest who fail at a more basic level and wouldn't read guides anyway.

 

I'm not saying I don't appreciate your efforts but I personally dislike the strafing mechanic and all these little nuances you're teaching feel like bugs/exploits to me. I admit that's partly because I'm bitter I can't do it myself very well but I'm with @MrConway on this that the right decision as a company is to not publicise these "mechanics" pending a major re-work, however long that may take.