The best cruiser at Tier 7 ?

[Procrastes]

37 minutes ago, VC381 said:

I've got a soft spot for most of the British ships. No flashy features or flaring curves, just no nonsense design that looks grand and radiates "imperial power" in an understated but imposing sort of way, like only the Brits can! KGV looks like an Arthurian castle afloat! Even the cruisers are in on the action. Fiji is short and square but damn if it doesn't look poised and aggressive, like it's rolling its sleeves to beat you up.

 

"...an Arthurian castle afloat" - that is a most apt description, Sir! Although I would say that the Warspite is an even more striking representative for that particular brand of ship design, than the King George V.

 

[Aragathor]

1 hour ago, VC381 said:

I can't find it in my menu, yet another way the mobile version of this forum is really crap...

My previous post was written on my cell phone.

It's not the forum, it's the fact that the trollface smiley was removed from the menu, but not as a command.

So if you write :smile trollface: with a "_" instead of an empty space in the middle it should appear normally.

[VC381]

28 minutes ago, Aragathor said:

My previous post was written on my cell phone.

It's not the forum, it's the fact that the trollface smiley was removed from the menu, but not as a command.

So if you write :smile trollface: with a "_" instead of an empty space in the middle it should appear normally.

 

Aha, so they DID remove it (kind of). Thanks!

[Centurion_1711]

4 minutes ago, VC381 said:

I've got a soft spot for most of the British ships. No flashy features or flaring curves, just no nonsense design that looks grand and radiates "imperial power" in an understated but imposing sort of way, like only the Brits can! KGV looks like an Arthurian castle afloat! Even the cruisers are in on the action. Fiji is short and square but damn if it doesn't look poised and aggressive, like it's rolling its sleeves to beat you up.

Dead right about the Royal Navy's design. The L and M class destroyers look aggressive with the twin 4.7" mounts, the Tribals are also sleek, and then we have the Nelson: Kinda ugly to some, but I just love how the design suggests that the only way is forwards. Perhaps if the County class heavy cruisers get added at T7, then I might end up with a new favourite T7 both in terms of looks and performance.

3 hours ago, Procrastes said:

I did already mention the Atago; for me, she kind of symbolizes the concept of beauty and majesty on the high seas

The Takao class has to be one of my favourite cruiser designs, just amazing that an object designed for war can be so well proportioned. 

[Procrastes]

3 minutes ago, Centurion_1711 said:

The Takao class has to be one of my favourite cruiser designs, just amazing that an object designed for war can be so well proportioned. 

 

And now you had me thinking of some episodes of the Xena TV series. How odd.

[piritskenyer]

I really am not looking forward to the CA/CL split in its current iteration, as it will put my beloved Pepsicola at T6 and gimp her in the process. 

The problem with that is that it will completely neuter the ship, in a way that people who already dislike it will now outright just avoid it and people who like it will very likely dislike it. 

 

I rather see her retained on T7 and have New Orleans as a T7 in an alternative line or branchout. 

 

@Aragathor USN CA's only start getting superheavy AP at CA-68 USS Baltimore. Anything before is ordinary Mk 19 mod 6 AP.

 

Ingame the USN CA's and CL's from T6 get special bounce angle AP. 

 

(sorry just clarifying) 

[Affeks]

9 hours ago, piritskenyer said:

Ingame the USN CA's and CL's from T6 get special bounce angle AP. 

 

Cleveland doesnt get better autobounce though. Its the complete standard 45-60. Pensacola on tier 7 gets the 60-67.5, the same as the rest of the line. Cleveland does get the 8.5 degree normalization associated with 152mm guns as opposed to the 203mm with 7 degrees.

 

Curiously enough RN cruisers tier 2-5 gets 65-80 and tier 6+ with 60-75 plus.

[VC381]

18 hours ago, piritskenyer said:

I really am not looking forward to the CA/CL split in its current iteration, as it will put my beloved Pepsicola at T6 and gimp her in the process. 

The problem with that is that it will completely neuter the ship, in a way that people who already dislike it will now outright just avoid it and people who like it will very likely dislike it. 

 

I rather see her retained on T7 and have New Orleans as a T7 in an alternative line or branchout. 

 

@Aragathor USN CA's only start getting superheavy AP at CA-68 USS Baltimore. Anything before is ordinary Mk 19 mod 6 AP.

 

Ingame the USN CA's and CL's from T6 get special bounce angle AP. 

 

(sorry just clarifying) 

 

I don't actually think so, unless you've seen the stats. There has been a lot of power creep and there are ships like Molotov at T6 with similar firepower to Pepsi. If WG are pandering to the widespread US cruiser whine, and if my understanding of forum whine over the years is correct, I think US cruisers downtiered will suffer very little if any nerfing and be considered balanced at their new tiers. Those of us that actually like them where they are now will be rewarded with better MM and de facto clubbing machines. I'm actually quite happy with the proposed split. And Helena. I need that. NAO!!!

 

Anyway, not the thread for that conversation.

 

And Affeks is right. To summarise AP special behaviour on cruisers:

 

- All US CAs (203mm guns) only: better bounce angles

 

- US CAs Baltimore and up only: superheavy AP

 

- All RN CLs: better bounce angles and short fuse

 

 

Back on topic: took a Myoko out the other day. Yeah, it's strong, I didn't mean to say it wasn't. But the turning circle and turret traverse still do my head in. So it's a playstyle choice. To be honest T7 is probably the best tier for cruisers overall.

[piritskenyer]

Yeah, my bad.

 

Still, I see no feasible way for Pensacola to not be either totally overpowered or totally useless... 

[VC381]

26 minutes ago, piritskenyer said:

Yeah, my bad.

 

Still, I see no feasible way for Pensacola to not be either totally overpowered or totally useless... 

If you're going to be that negative about it I can't help you  but I don't see what you're basing it on. The firepower will be at the top end for the tier but not OP. The defining feature is handling, which most people seem to not see as a worthy strength so there's not much reason for them to nerf that. 90% of the time it will be in the same T5-T7 games it sees now and is not OP in; it can't see T4 to club them. So any changes are likely to be small, because the overall game impact of moving it down a tier is also small. 

[piritskenyer]

53 minutes ago, VC381 said:

If you're going to be that negative about it I can't help you  but I don't see what you're basing it on. The firepower will be at the top end for the tier but not OP. The defining feature is handling, which most people seem to not see as a worthy strength so there's not much reason for them to nerf that. 90% of the time it will be in the same T5-T7 games it sees now and is not OP in; it can't see T4 to club them. So any changes are likely to be small, because the overall game impact of moving it down a tier is also small. 

 

We'll see, but I have a gut feeling it will be similar to the old Furutaka (dead slow turrets, long ish reload and the heaviest broadside for the tier amongst cruisers). While I managed to master the Furry Taco experience by the emd, I never enjoyed it, and it would be a shame to lose Pepsi in her current form. 

 

Note that it's just my love for the current Pepsi and reluctance to change that is making me have a bleak outlook, but I can tell you I'm not the only one with such a negative outlook. 

 

Then again maybe they'll put SLC as a T6 and "premiumise" Pepsi at T7 a la T34 in WoT. That is my own wishful thinking, but still, fingers crossed. 

[VC381]

I agree with you that if they make the ship and/or guns clunky for balance she won't be fun to play anymore, and I'll be disappointed if they do that. But I'm saying I have hope that they don't necessarily need to do that, because even if they changed nothing she wouldn't be an especially OP or game-breaking T6 (on aggregate, based on how she's perceived and handled by average players).

[Mr_Tayto]

I have to agree with the previous posters about Pensacola. She'll always have a special place in my heart as my first heavy cruiser. My much more experienced friend and divmate fxp'ed her because he had swallowed the accepted wisdom that she was a floating citadel (well, she is but you can choose not to be shot), and I was dreading her. Following on from the Cleve which I hated at the time, because I was a scrub who didn't know how the game worked, she showed me how powerful a well-played CA can be. I feel like a bloody hero because I can play this much maligned 'tin can' well. I'd hate to think that they'd gimp her because she was the first ship I trained a new captain for and bought prem camo.

 

On topic, Fiji is the best tier 7 cruiser. Belfast is good but easier to play, without even counting the radar, and feels a bit cheap. I do like playing Belfast but it was Leander/Fiji before I felt like I understood what was required from a CL, and it's not all about HE. As much fun as it is to spam HE, chunking broadside BBs with sAP (and murdering DDs) is much more satisfying.

[VC381]

8 hours ago, Mr_Tayto said:

I have to agree with the previous posters about Pensacola. She'll always have a special place in my heart as my first heavy cruiser. My much more experienced friend and divmate fxp'ed her because he had swallowed the accepted wisdom that she was a floating citadel (well, she is but you can choose not to be shot), and I was dreading her. Following on from the Cleve which I hated at the time, because I was a scrub who didn't know how the game worked, she showed me how powerful a well-played CA can be.

 

Interesting, similar experience here. US cruisers were my 3rd line overall but 1st to T7 and I was playing without any biases from reading forum stuff. I disliked both Omaha and Cleveland at the time (I've since rediscovered them) but Pensacola was a bit of a revelation. Something just clicked for me and I've enjoyed her (and the rest of the line) ever since.

[piritskenyer]

18 minutes ago, VC381 said:

 

Interesting, similar experience here. US cruisers were my 3rd line overall but 1st to T7 and I was playing without any biases from reading forum stuff. I disliked both Omaha and Cleveland at the time (I've since rediscovered them) but Pensacola was a bit of a revelation. Something just clicked for me and I've enjoyed her (and the rest of the line) ever since.

 

Interesting. That seems to be quite common. I for one loathed Cleveland, and Pepsi afterwards was fitting me just like a glove. New Orleans I didn't get along with, but then B-more was hella fun (despite me not being able to make her win despite the 61k avg dmg), and I kind of dread Des Memes. 

[VC381]

Just now, piritskenyer said:

 

Interesting. That seems to be quite common.. 

 

It's not. That's why there's so much salt on the forums about Pensacola, people hit it after Omaha/Cleveland like they might hit a brick wall. My main fear is that brick wall will be moved a tier sooner and actually there will be even more salt...

[piritskenyer]

2 minutes ago, VC381 said:

 

It's not. That's why there's so much salt on the forums about Pensacola, people hit it after Omaha/Cleveland like they might hit a brick wall. My main fear is that brick wall will be moved a tier sooner and actually there will be even more salt...

 

The salt is always going to be there at a calibre break. Kuma-Furutaka, Cleveland-Pensacola... 

Anyway, morning me didn't express itself clear enough:

"That seems to be quite common for people to like Pensacola to have disliked the earlier ships for some reason" 

[Centurion_1711]

2 hours ago, piritskenyer said:

"That seems to be quite common for people to like Pensacola to have disliked the earlier ships for some reason" 

I think I enjoyed being able to use AP more. Seeing those big damage numbers on any broadside target is just more fun than seeing shattering HE (never got IFHE for Cleveland). The whole getting deleted honestly isn't too annoying, as it was rare enough to not spoil the fun. Besides, once I saw how useful islands and Concealment Expert could be, the Pepsi stands head and shoulders over Cleveland, and is definitely more fun than Myoko. Maybe I'll have to get USS Indianapolis if I have a few spare quid, it seems quite similar.

[Runegrem]

4 hours ago, piritskenyer said:

"That seems to be quite common for people to like Pensacola to have disliked the earlier ships for some reason"

I had a similar experience the first time I played through the line way back when I started playing. The Omaha I've mostly forgotten and I found the Cleveland unimpressive. The Pepsi on the other hand, I liked. Fragile and crap concealment (this was before the buff) but great guns with shell arcs I could hit things with.

 

But then when Operations were implemented I wanted a good tier 6 ship for them, so I rebought the Cleveland and put my Seagull captain on her. She's a great fun HE and AA platform now that I've learned how to handle the rainbow arcs. And the AP shouldn't get underestimated on broadside ships.

 

I haven't played the Omaha again, but I do have the Murmansk which is the same class and I like playing her.

[Mr_Tayto]

@Runegrem you seem to have identical experiences to me, even down to Omaha/Murmansk.

 

I actually won a Marblehead at Christmas and I was delighted 

[Runegrem]

11 hours ago, Mr_Tayto said:

I actually won a Marblehead at Christmas and I was delighted 

Is that a good ship though? I've heard it's just a worse Omaha.

[VC381]

15 hours ago, Mr_Tayto said:

@Runegrem you seem to have identical experiences to me, even down to Omaha/Murmansk.

 

I actually won a Marblehead at Christmas and I was delighted 

I won one as well a year ago and I was annoyed initially but then took it out and had some pretty hilarious games! I ended up retraining some captains in it, dynamic and fun little boat despite the T5 MM these days. And has a very classic look to it as well!

4 hours ago, Runegrem said:

Is that a good ship though? I've heard it's just a worse Omaha.

For some reason it used to have worse rudder shift but that got fixed. Don't remember the other differences but they're minor. It's not worse, at least not in any way that really matters. "Good" ship is quite subjective. T5 MM is not great but it is fun and versatile and you can be a real nuisance to most opponents.

[bug]

Belfast is P2W, but no longer sold.

I think Pensacola is the best, but its challenging, as it has no smoke, torps or heal.

It has glass hull, but rather OK handling. Its her guns that makes her so good.

[VC381]

Actually had a chance to play Algerie a bit now. I would rate that top 3 of current T7 cruisers actually. Excellent all-rounder.

[triumphgt6]

Fiji is the best silver - when the game starts, I obviously always look at the enemy - first for radar cruisers and then for CVs. Any T7 cruiser without radar never holds any fear if in the Fiji. If i die, it is because I made a mess of it. (Often enough to make me an idiot at times). I look particularly for Belfasts and Atlantas - I can kill both but it will hurt. 

I originally started the game wanting to play the Cleveland - not as good as I hoped as the arcs are awful. 'Upgraded' to the Pepsi - have bought her twice - the first time i thought she was awful - the turret traverse is appalling and I used to get in all sorts of scrapes fighting off destroyers. I sold her and got the New Orleans - which I also hated! Once I improved a bit I rebought the Pepsi - still a truly awful ship!! Sold it in disgust!

Only really play T7 now and cruisers and destroyers almost exclusively. Fiji is my favourite and much better looking than the Belfast.