New player looking for advice on lines

[VinSoft]

Update: I really dislike the Mahan and the gun arcs. On the plus side, one could take a trip to the moon by riding the shells with the 'z' key. Same with the Farragut; just bugs me too much to keep the line up. The knife fighting is not for me I guess. I'll retrain the 12 pt captain to the Colorado and see where that leads me. Some people do well enough in Colorado. 

I'm thinking about pursueing the russian DD line, getting to know the game best with my Podvoisky and applying that to Gnevny. At the end, two different types of DD await me in the russian line so torping a few games is an option. Unlike the japanese line where the only gunboat is on a dead end line between all torpedoboats. 

Also the Japanese cruiser line, since the survivability and firepower are a nice middleground and I actually had fun in the Furutaka. And, by following the japanese line instead of the russian cruisers I have some variation between nations. 

 

Thanks for all the help here, really nice to see so many people help out! 

[rvfharrier]

5 hours ago, VinSoft said:

Thanks so much for all your advice! I'm staying in the lower tiers for now, just learning more about the mechanics and getting the experience up. As a bonus, my stats should improve, which is always nice if when I start looking for people to play with I guess. 

 

Had a pretty good run with my Furutaka yesterday. Got focussed by two BBs and a CL but survived and escaped to my buddies. I have gotten used to getting wrecked in seconds in a DD so surviving with 60% HP was a nice change. Ofc, I messed up by going too far solo and allowing myself to get focussed though. So maybe cruisers aren't so bad at all. Did nice damage, two kills and had fun. 

 

So, looking at the wiki etc, it seems it's between russian and japanese cruisers for me and my skilllevel. From what I gather though, the russians can do everything the japanese do, but better? Guns are stronger and good AA. USN with the high arcs is out. I really dislike this on my Mahan. Germans and British is not beginner friendly I read. So, between russian and japanese, which would fit me better? I intend to play tier V/VI till I reach a 55% WR and then progress up to tier X eventually but I would hold on to good ships, like my Furutaka. 

 

No problem. :)

 

Very important in all classes is learning tempered aggression, being aggressive and close enough to maximize your influence on the game but not so aggressive that you put yourself in an overly vulnerable or isolated position and end up dying before having done enough. Cruisers are probably where that sweetspot is hardest to find, but it applies to all the other classes as well and it's something that you'll just have to find through trial and error.

 

As for IJN vs Russian cruisers, not quite as simple as that.

 

• IJN cruisers transition to 203mm guns at T5 while the Russians are using 155mm guns until T9 (except for a brief flirt with 180mm at T5). Both are excellent fire starters with HE, but that means a longer reload on the Japanese guns but with slightly more punch, although the damage output difference is practically eradicated if you get a captain with IFHE on the Russian ships (which is highly recommended from Budyonny onwards until the Mosvka which no longer needs it) which gives a serious DPM advantage to the Russians. Japanese AP will be more effective though, especially at range.
• Maneuverability goes to the Japanese, the combination of poor maneuverability and poor AA making the Russian cruisers very vulnerable to carriers in the mid tiers.
• Torpedoes are a non-contest, Japanese cruisers get good numbers of torps with good range. Russian cruisers have to get uncomfortably close to use theirs with just a 4km range.
• Stealth also goes to the Japanese. IJN cruisers are able to get closer and disengage more easily, Russian cruisers at T8+ start getting radar to compensate for their poorer stealth though.
• Armour also goes to the Japanese. At these tiers ships like the Furutaka and Aoba, being CAs rather than CLs, are much better armoured and better able to angle against high calibre guns than the Kirov* and Budyonny.

Worth also noting that floaty arcs are something you might simply have to adapt to. Russian cruiser guns have very high initial velocity but due to the shells being light they slow down quite significantly at range, I don't advocate a totally passive snipey playstyle in them but there will be times when you'll have to shoot at range and the shells can be quite floaty. Also worth noting is that, despite the above looking like the Japanese cruisers wipe the floor with the Russians, I think I slightly prefer the Russian cruisers and at T6 in particular the Budyonny with IFHE is quite possibly the strongest silver ship, tier for tier, in the game!

 

* Kirov is technically a CA by definition due to her 180mm guns, but she's not really armoured like one.

[VinSoft]

2 hours ago, rvfharrier said:

 

No problem. :)

 

Very important in all classes is learning tempered aggression, being aggressive and close enough to maximize your influence on the game but not so aggressive that you put yourself in an overly vulnerable or isolated position and end up dying before having done enough. Cruisers are probably where that sweetspot is hardest to find, but it applies to all the other classes as well and it's something that you'll just have to find through trial and error.

This sounds like my performance in the USN DD's is bad because I get too close and either radared in smoke or torped in smoke. I notice I play better in Russian DD's because they force me to hang back a bit. I learned that getting close, 2 km close, to other DD's gets me killed. Either by my guns getting outturned or killed by support. Again, tempered aggression maybe? Had a game day before yesterday in the Gnevny, although no kills I had 73k damage and 2k base XP by staying at the edge of my gun's range and weaving in and out of detection. In a tier VIII game I almost sank a Tirpitz with my fires and HE. Suits me much better than the USN DD's.

 

Could it be that IJN BB's are therefore most suited for me as well? Staying at range sniping instead of getting close and personal.. Because I have no clue what to do with the Colorado. I usually die in the early game with it by getting focussed, burned and flooded. While my guns miss and take forever to reload. 

 

2 hours ago, rvfharrier said:

As for IJN vs Russian cruisers, not quite as simple as that.

 

Worth also noting that floaty arcs are something you might simply have to adapt to. Russian cruiser guns have very high initial velocity but due to the shells being light they slow down quite significantly at range, I don't advocate a totally passive snipey playstyle in them but there will be times when you'll have to shoot at range and the shells can be quite floaty. Also worth noting is that, despite the above looking like the Japanese cruisers wipe the floor with the Russians, I think I slightly prefer the Russian cruisers and at T6 in particular the Budyonny with IFHE is quite possibly the strongest silver ship, tier for tier, in the game!

I have the Kirov, might just play both lines to find out which I like best. USN again is out because of the need to be closer to be usefull. 

[Verblonde]

This whole 'tempered aggression' thing is something I still have a great deal of trouble getting right too...

[EwoudK]

If you would like to know more about Dutch cruisers and other ships you should like taking a look here: