World of Warships

[Venator]

Probably completely out of my depth (*heh*), but I managed to d/l and play some this weekend on my poor old laptop. I was surprised it (the laptop) could keep up, and I really enjoyed the basic game controls, look, and operation. Spent a lot of time toggling in and out of binocular view, had a good feel for my first ship (Black Swan - picked it because I knew I would make mistakes and a little more durability appealed to me), and otherwise did fairly well for a few hours' game time. I think of the two dozen or so matches I played, my group (PUG) won all but 2, I was only sunk 2-3 times, and I scored pretty well in the pack for XP and kills.

It's the larger part of the game I'm sure to screw up: ship choices, research, and upgrades, etc. So as soon as I stepped up to a higher-Tier boat, I got my hat handed to me in the first match. Yes, I over-extended, yes, I lost sight of the mini-map in focusing in on the one enemy ships. So I earned that sunk/loss and didn't get enough time to play with the new ship's longer-ranged guns, get a feel for her maneuverability, or even really convince myself there wasn't something available I wasn't using (like those torpedoes...).

I am a massive cheap-skate have limited funds for entertainment.

If you've only played a few games and don't mind restarting, you should take up Thanas' offer - the free ships and other stuff is a nice shot in the arm.

If you're playing on NA, I'd be happy to division with you and play a few rounds. I have a couple low-tier ships that I'm in the process of working up so I can play any class without having to do-over. I go as Lord_Reaver.

[Khaat]

I will consider it. I would need to squeeze some time out my late evenings....

[Skywalker_T-65]

That, and I (personally) would not advise the Brit cruisers as your first line. I haven't played them myself, but they're a very niche ship line. Squishy, only have AP (Belfast aside, but hey, premium) and they rely a lot on smoke to balance things. At least in the hands of a player who hasn't mastered dodging and long-range gunnery yet.

IJN cruisers are probably the most 'forgiving' line to start, in cruiser terms. Decently tanky, good guns- if slow turning IJN turrets -and they don't rely on any gimmicks like the French or British.

Russians are trolly, but they do require a bit more experience to bring out the full power of the line.

Germans recently got an HE buff that makes low-tiers more forgiving, but again, squishy. And Konig/Nurn can throw you off with their turret arrangement.

USN shell arcs can throw you off if you aren't careful. But at least Pensacola isn't detectable from space now.


Now, battleships are a different story. Germans are probably the most forgiving there, if only because the turtleback armor makes them more forgiving of bad positioning. Less likely to get half your HP carved off from a citadel hit.

[Khaat]

I made time and played some last night after the rest of the house had gone to bed and played with my Caledon some (mostly to try to get a feel for torpedoes), but I ended up back in my Black Swan. The long-range gunnery isn't an issue for me (I am a sniper at heart?). I also don't know any different re: AP only on the Brit cruisers at this point. Yes, I skipped a Tier II boat altogether, and haven't been sharing the love for the other nations' cruisers at all.

Also hit level 7, so now I have personalities (both have the same surname? What are the odds?) on my boats.

[Thanas]

I suggest you give the japanese cruisers a chance, they are quite forgiving to play for cruisers and have strong guns as well as the best cruiser torpedoes out there.

[Thanas]

The missouri credit earning potential is a bit unbalanced



1.45 mil profit lol and it wasn't even that great of a game

[Skywalker_T-65]

I made time and played some last night after the rest of the house had gone to bed and played with my Caledon some (mostly to try to get a feel for torpedoes), but I ended up back in my Black Swan. The long-range gunnery isn't an issue for me (I am a sniper at heart?). I also don't know any different re: AP only on the Brit cruisers at this point. Yes, I skipped a Tier II boat altogether, and haven't been sharing the love for the other nations' cruisers at all.

Also hit level 7, so now I have personalities (both have the same surname? What are the odds?) on my boats.

You'll start noticing the lack of HE when you get to higher tiers (or shooting angled BBs) and you get more bounces than penetrations. HE, for cruisers, is useful for giving reliable damage. Plus fires. AP...well, low-caliber AP can be iffy. Brit AP has special bonuses that make it more effective and if you get a broadside BB (and/or are good at superstructure targeting) you can get reliable damage with it. On the other hand, you have to be much better at aiming on anything but broadside targets.

Having access to HE on the other lines makes it more comfortable to learn how to aim. Because even if you don't hit vulnerable parts, HE is liable to do some damage, at the least. Even if that fails, you may start a fire. Having the option is good too, since it lets you pick your ammo type for your situation.

Also:

I suggest you give the japanese cruisers a chance, they are quite forgiving to play for cruisers and have strong guns as well as the best cruiser torpedoes out there.

^This.

[Venator]

I made time and played some last night after the rest of the house had gone to bed and played with my Caledon some (mostly to try to get a feel for torpedoes), but I ended up back in my Black Swan. The long-range gunnery isn't an issue for me (I am a sniper at heart?). I also don't know any different re: AP only on the Brit cruisers at this point. Yes, I skipped a Tier II boat altogether, and haven't been sharing the love for the other nations' cruisers at all.

Also hit level 7, so now I have personalities (both have the same surname? What are the odds?) on my boats.

Take a look at various guides online (Thanas has his own a few pages back) when picking skills for your captains, there's some skills that look good on paper but aren't so useful in practice (and vice versa), and planning ahead can save you a lot of trouble having to start over or spend gold (real money) later on.

To add to the other posters above, my very short breakdown of all the nations' ship lines:

US:
Destroyers - Slow-loading, short ranged torpedoes, but fast-firing and fast-traversing guns. Excellent destroyer-hunters.
Cruisers - Anti-aircraft porcupines; other than the Cleveland, fragile and, at higher tiers, the only cruisers without torpedoes.
Battleships - Tough bow armour, good AA (for a battleship).
Carriers - Haven't played enough to call with confidence. From what I hear, mostly worse than the IJN.

Japan:
Destroyers - Stealthier than the US, with more and more dangerous torpedoes; able to stealth torp (launch outside detection range) almost from the get go. VERY slow-loading and slow-turning guns.
Crusiers - Reasonably tough, fast, stealthy, good torpedoes, gets bigger guns before any other nation. Great starter line as others suggested.
Battleships - Generally quicker, longer-ranged and heavier-gunned than the US, but with worse armour and AA defense.
Carriers - See above.

Russia:
Destroyers - Very punchy guns, but slow turning. Painfully short-ranged (but hilariously punchy) torpedoes.
Cruisers - Split-the-difference between US and Japanese; along with the US and UK, gets radar at high tiers which is very powerful.

Germany:
Destroyers - largely considered weak; they do get some unique properties (hydroacoustic search and larger guns).
Cruisers - Fragile at low tiers, but with lovely guns and decent short-ranged torpedoes. Fantastic hydroacoustic search.
Battleships - Good overall armour and amazing secondary batteries to discourage people getting close. Poor accuracy at long range. Another good starter line to play.

UK:'
Cruisers - Swiss Army Boat; lots of unique abilities but lacks things like HE shells. More challenging to play.

France:
Cruisers - Very fast. Don't know enough about them to give more feedback than that.

[Thanas]

Here are my captain builds.

And here is what I consider my noob-friendly build that is pretty much good for any cruiser captain up to Tier 8 (unless you want to play AA cruisers in which case take AFT). As a cruiser captain, what you most need to learn is how to dodge shells, how to angle and how to use your consumables right.

You do those three things right and you don't have to worry that much about things like damage or wins as they mostly result from you not failing at those three things.

As for gameplay videos, here are a few of my games that people have made commentaries of:


Tier X USN Cruiser, Des Moines:



Tier X German BB, Großer Kurfürst:



There are more out there but those two kinda show how different you have to play with bbs and cruisers.

[Thanas]

And one important bit of advice: People will rage at you. You will rage at the idiocy of other players. This is okay, this is normal. Apologize if you teamkill someone or damage him, never launch torps from second row and most importantly: Get a thick skin

Also: NEVER EVER do what jingles think to be a good strategy in his videos.

[Reyvan]

I just started playing again after a few months away for school. Finally unlocked the Gneisenau and had a bunch of bad matches with it, so out of frustration I switch over to the Colorado and this happens.

Might be a sign that I should continue on the US path instead of the German one.

[Steel]

I played my way up the german BB line with a friend. Had a good time, got all the way through the Bayern just as I skipped to the Bismarck in the event last month.

I'm not sure if it is just an anomaly from not so many matches yet, but I've gone from a 60%-66% win rate with the pair of us at tier 6, to a 25% win rate from about 30 games in the Bismarck at tier 8. Even trying to TK I don't think it is possible to force the win rate that low. I lost the first 9 games in a row despite doing between 75k and 125k damage in all of them.

I have also found, that even with a captain fully specced for secondaries with both level 4 skills and the level 3 one, that my secondaries have never done more than 10% of my total damage, and I still do more damage with the main batteries to destroyers than the secondaries do. Moreover, closing to 10.6km for secondaries seems to invite screen-filling salvos of 20+ torpedoes, that even with hydro on, just gives you an extra few seconds to know how many are still going to hit you no matter how you dodge.

Also had a great time the first time I was deleted from full hp when bow on to a Yamato at 22km- not even a detonation, just many, many citadels.

Is there some magical thing secretly introduced at tier 8 that changes the whole game? I'm doing damage, I'm at the front and staying alive (longer than the rest of the team) and still losing every time.

[Thanas]

Upload a replay to Wowreplays.com and I will tell you what you did wrong.

[Lonestar]

I have also found, that even with a captain fully specced for secondaries with both level 4 skills and the level 3 one, that my secondaries have never done more than 10% of my total damage, and I still do more damage with the main batteries to destroyers than the secondaries do..

I have a Tirpitz and I'm a bit of a Tomato myself.

My feeling towards secondaries is that they act more as an annoyance, possible fire starters and just plain deter some ships form getting close even if the damage isn't a lot. They are nice to have, but I would be shocked if they ever hit the 10% mark of total dmg(other than through starting fires).

[Steel]

Upload a replay to Wowreplays.com and I will tell you what you did wrong.

Thanks. I don't have replays enabled, so I don't have any historic ones to go off, unfortunately.

That said, today all the matches went well so perhaps this is the end of a bad streak... Highlight was secondaries managing to do 20% of overall damage and getting 100k damage with 4 kills, although that was helped significantly by a cyclone with 8km visibility and sailing through the middle of an enemy cruiser squadron deleting them one by one.

[Thanas]

I have also found, that even with a captain fully specced for secondaries with both level 4 skills and the level 3 one, that my secondaries have never done more than 10% of my total damage, and I still do more damage with the main batteries to destroyers than the secondaries do..

I have a Tirpitz and I'm a bit of a Tomato myself.

My feeling towards secondaries is that they act more as an annoyance, possible fire starters and just plain deter some ships form getting close even if the damage isn't a lot. They are nice to have, but I would be shocked if they ever hit the 10% mark of total dmg(other than through starting fires).

Yep. Secondaries should not be used as means of dealing damage but more as a zoning out tool against enemy ships. Oh and be the deciding factor in BB vs BB fights if both are angled.

[Venator]

I have also found, that even with a captain fully specced for secondaries with both level 4 skills and the level 3 one, that my secondaries have never done more than 10% of my total damage, and I still do more damage with the main batteries to destroyers than the secondaries do..

I have a Tirpitz and I'm a bit of a Tomato myself.

My feeling towards secondaries is that they act more as an annoyance, possible fire starters and just plain deter some ships form getting close even if the damage isn't a lot. They are nice to have, but I would be shocked if they ever hit the 10% mark of total dmg(other than through starting fires).

Yep. Secondaries should not be used as means of dealing damage but more as a zoning out tool against enemy ships. Oh and be the deciding factor in BB vs BB fights if both are angled.

Not that what Thanas says generally needs follow up, but yeah. The psychological effect of a Bismarck lighting you up with dozens of shells flying at all arcs and angles from over 10km away is much greater than the functional effect.

They are stellar for finishing off very-low-HP DDs and CAs so you can start traversing your guns bear on a new target, too.

[Skywalker_T-65]

There is something to be said for a Bismarck raining secondary fire down on you. I know my Amagi doesn't like when that happens if a cyclone pops up and I end up too close on accident. The psychological effect is rather large.

[Thanas]

The most secondary damage I ever got was 99k (out of 269k overall), but that was because two bbs were idiots and fixed the first fire they got.

[Lonestar]

Something changed with chat in WoW.

Previously, I had my game windowed(which was fine, because it let me see if there was activity if my SO was messaging or something on FB), now whenever I hit "enter" to chat it makes the entire game go full screen. I'm having trouble figuring out how to stop this or at least get back to enabling chat like it used to.

thoughts?

[Venator]

It's a recurring bug in WoWS and WoT - I usually find restarting the game client, or changing from fullscreen to windowed and back in the options, fixes it.

No idea what the root cause is.

[Thanas]

The root cause is that the bigworld engine probably has some issues with windows GUI. I use the classic shell extension for windows 10 and it causes the game to minimize at some points...which obviously is not what you want the game to do when you are knifefighting lol.

[Thanas]

In other news, if you haven't gotten the Hindeburg yet do so. They buffed her in a major way - she now does HE penetration that has IFHE value without you needing to skill IFHE.

This means that she still has the same fire chance but now much better HE penetration. She is now such a strong T10 cruiser, quite possibly the strongest yet. You can do 5-10k salvos with HE against angled targets and I think I averaged something like 130k or so over the weekend with her.

[Steel]

The current ranked season, which is my first, has been quite interesting.

The gameplay when it works well is way more fun than random battles. The focused teamplay, and everyone being the same tier, makes everything you do much more satisfying. Also the smaller teams mean you can reliably control being spotted, rather than it being basically guaranteed that some enemy moron lights you up while they suicide run, or there are just going to be enemy ships in all directions.

That said, the first few ranks from rank 23 - 18 or so were absolutely god awful. From around 15 it has been really good. I'm just at 12 now, the last safe rank.

The first 5 ranked matches, there wasn't anyone who would respond on chat or to pings, and my team would split into three groups and just be massacred one by one by the single blob of the enemy team. I lost every single one. It was just horrible. Once past that initial horrific phase, I started to get people would talk in chat, coordinate movement and focus targets, while sticking together and covering each other. There is still the occasional moron who refuses to go with the team and tells people using the chat to shut up and fuck off, but they are rarer now, and tend to die without achieving anything, so there should be a significant pressure to either learn or get left behind.

My only Tier 6 ship was a Cleveland, which I wasn't too keen on initially. As I have had to use it every battle, over the ranked season so far I think I have become a lot better with it and like it a lot more. With a 13% fire chance (which facing Tier 6 seems to actually be 13%, not the 1% it feels like facing tier 8s all the time in randoms) setting an average of one fire per salvo does make fighting battleships while sitting behind an island fun. I think I have improved significantly, but it is hard to tell how much will translate to random battles with 23 idiots bumbling around...

[Thanas]

I haven't been motivated to get into ranked battles this season whatsoever.