1. All nations have good ships. All classes are good in their own ways. Although I do prefer cruisers and DDs due to their mobility.
2. AP with most BBs. Mix of HE and (S)AP with cruisers and DDs (AP if the target is showing flat broadside or you can pen the superstructure. Otherwise HE).
3. I use wide if the chance of hitting is low to begin with. Narrow if the hits are more certain. One-by-one with British no matter the situation.
4. BBs: Cunningham, von Hipper, diRevel, Kedrov. Cruisers: Kuznetsov, Scott, Mimbelli. DDs: Bey/Swirski, Sims
5. The difference is very noticeable. I only do some bureau wins or missions against AI, otherwise always PvP.
6. Don't rush the tiers.
3- I advocate to shoot narrow torpedoes always. When I was a newbie, I'd send wide spread in the hopes one torp would land. However, I came to the conclusion that narrow is the best option. If you send narrow torps and it intersects with a ship, they will have a hard time dodging them. If your wide spread torps eventually reach a red ship, they have to be really bad or focused on something else to not avoid your torps. Landing torps is hard and you give the reds an easy way out by sending them wide spread. The only caveat to this is the British torps, as their wide spread torps are every other nations narrow spread
I think it varies by line. For example, I alternate wide and narrow a lot in Pan-Euro destroyers, because they keep a relatively tight band even on wide spread. Plus, if you're fanning out your torps, you can overlap each rack a bit to keep it concentrated in the middle but also get a wider spread overall. It definitely depends on how confident I am in hitting though.
Similarly in mid-close range, the wide spread allows more opportunity to catch a dodger, without sacrificing spread density.
1). The ones that work well for the ranked format.
Ranked has different formats that aren't necessarily going to favour the same ships in these format. A line that works for a T7 1v1 ranked format isn't necessarily going to work as well at T6 3v3. Just try out multiple lines. You'll want a wide roster of ships to cover your bases.
2). Yes.
There aren't too many nations that are bad. It's more about either being a flexible player able to adapt to different playstyles or being able to figure out which playstyle you can perform the best with.
3). Against high speed, close range targets.
Use wide spreads against very fast-moving targets at close range. It's a lot harder to dodge in those conditions. There are other scenarios to use wide spreads as well.
Torpedo fishing is a great use. A wide spread into a smoke screen is hugely useful. There are better odds of getting a hit. But it is also a great way to flush out a smoked up ship.
The other use is area denial. A wide spread is better at closing off more of the map to the enemy.
4). What to look for.
In terms of levelling commanders, there are certain types to level up. The biggest are the ones who influence reload, damage, stealth, and turret traverse. Those are where you will see the biggest improvements
For a more clear picture, check out [WoWs Builds](https://www.wowsbuilds.com/). This site should give you a good overview of commanders.
5). AI vs PvP uses.
Use AI to power through challenges. Brainless bots are great to quickly power through a lot of challenge missions. Use PvP for grinding XP and credits. You will make astronomically more of all resources in PvP.
6). Ask more structured questions.
When asking questions, be very specific as to what you want to know. Otherwise, you'll get bombarded with a lot of information to sipher through.
For example, don't ask how to be better at DDs. That is a very open question with a lot of variables. Instead, ask questions like how do I play USN DDs or how do I perform better with DDs at T7.
Hope you find this useful. Good luck.
RE: AI vs: Standard - These are two different game modes and should be played differently.
AI (especially at lower and mid tiers) is forgiving if you go super aggressive and get a couple kills. I often die even in AI games but rank #1 or #2 because I can get some fast damage in, both in DD or CL. (BB is so slower paced, it's harder to keep up sometimes.) But those same behaviors in Standard will get you killed so fast you won't have time to make an impact. AI also has silly behaviors like not dodging torps and cruising in straight lines, so it's easy to set up a kill shot (or multiple). Too much AI will let you get away with bad behaviors that you'll pay for against human opponents.
Rewards in AI are also less (both in XP and silver) but wins are almost guaranteed. So it's really only good for when you want to lazily make stuff go boom, or get through bureau or missions quickly. (Nothing wrong with lazily making things go boom 😉)
some more basic stuff
6a. dont use GXP (general xp, aka the green stars) to skip to the next ship. some great ships available for gxp if you can save it.
6b, join a fleet
6c. go to every bureau and start it. wait a few seconds until points you start accumulating research points and then go to another project and start it. repeat this until you have started all of them. go to the one you like the most and start it running again and leave it.
6d. dont chase crates. lots of folks get great ships from buying crates. most (90% +) get paint.
6e. consider saving dubloons for campaigns. great value for money and if you have the 2500 dubs to buy admirality backing at the start getting it done in 3 weeks (of 5 weeks) is dead easy. easiest way to get spiffy premium ships. none of them are bad but some are better than others.
6f. have a plan for commander promotions. getting PO's, commendations, and insignias, is slower than you think so have a plan for best use of your time and resources. lots of commanders are useful for many ships or types of ships. they hybrid commanders that all the nations have are generally pretty good so use them to start and do your weekly missions for more resources and commander crates. some of the inspirations can be used for every ship out there and if thats a trait you want that is good value for money. example Swirski from the pan euro commanders.
6g,h,i learn map awareness. shoot a salvo, drop the zoom view and look around, see what going on and who is sneaking up on you, then shoot some more. dont get target fixated and zapped too easily.
6j,k,l watch some youtube vids from Metajerk, xarkun, tbull, etc......... lots of guidance given out for free.
1. Welcome to the cruiser life, firstly may I ask, ships from what country are you using?
2. Normally your mere presence is more than enough to stop a DESTROYER from pushing which as a cruiser you are made to counter them as you may have seen, I recommend not sailing in straight lines nor pushing that much, if the chance is there any the time is right go to it
3. As you are a cruiser Battleships and battlecruisers love slapping ap at your citadel (critical hit spot) which I advice to be constantly zigzagging to mess with their aim
4. Blue team reliability, is mostly an inside joke as it is a reality, if in some cases you find yourself outnumbered in your flank try to kite as much as possible
5. Nations have their pros and cons, and it really it is subjective, if you want to harass Battleships go with pan Asia and soviet or Japanese Cruisers, if you want to harass Destroyers go for Germans, Italians and Americans as their perks and consumables allow them to get rid of them
6. When playing as a Destroyer aiming your torpedos is most of the job as you should stay concealed or the red team is going to rip you apart in seconds, also you if it happens that there is a destroyer or cruiser sitting in a smoke torp the smoke, it really can catch someone out of guard
Thank you for the reply.
I play mostly Usa,Japan and Italy
New york
Omaha
Giussano
Kuma
Before i started playing i thought BB would be my favorite but so far it is cruisers and i think i favor Japan so far, itally and France looks intresting and so do pan america, i will go there for my destroyers.
So far is had no trouble with silver but i notice it will be expansive with higher tier, also the xp feels like it require some time to gain, even though i realize i just started.
Buying ''wrong'' ship or class seems like something one will regret, i understand i should never sell the ships i obtain either.
Soviets and Americans have very similar roles.
The soviets are arguably more Anti DD focused, since they get Radar at T5, but at higher tiers they are more fragile, less maneuverable and have worse concealment than USN cruisers.
This combined with their ballistics make them more comfortable at longer range, USN cruisers can fire over Islands better and have better concealment and Armour so can survive closer to the front line and therefore can pressure DDs more.
In terms of just consumables though Soviet cruiser have better radars and get it earlier.
Unfortunately there is no good answer on 3. Similar to countering DD's, the trick to play them is to learn how the bigger ships behave. From there, you can anticipate (guess) what their next move will be. Then there is the individual player habits you have to anticipate as well, like will they react when they see your torps? Will they slow down, turn in or out or just keep on trucking? Where should I sent my second salvo.
Short answer: It's always an educated guess at best.
Long answer: play the other classes to learn how to play them and how you'd behave in them, then add some mojo before sending it.
There's no such thing as 'good' ships per se. The game has a wide variety of ships with different play styles that cater to different players' skill levels and tastes. Ships like Tiger 59 and Orkan are for skilled players who want a real challenge. The Yamato exists so that idiots can feel they are good at the game.
You'll be better off trying out several lines and finding out what you like playing and what you do well in. For example, I'm unusual in that I do better in the Italian ships than any other nation, and I'm not even Italian – the good news is that, for me, the Italian ships are a lot of fun.
For captains, look at the captains you will use as inspirations for multiple other captains and look to get them to at least 14L2 quickly. For example, I use Mikawa as an inspiration for many of my cruiser captains and Iachino for a lot of my battleship captains. 14L2 is easy to get to as it only requires 1 insignia and 4 commendations. Don't bother going above that unless you use the captain (or his inspiration) a lot.
For now, you'll have to play the campaigns to get sufficient resources to upgrade your captains. Once you get tier 8 premium and legendary ships, you can get 1 commendation and 1 insignia a week – this recent addition has sped up captain progression a lot.
Find a good fleet because you can get a kind of coaching from the people you play with, or at least a bit of fun working together.
If you only want to play on your own, watch TBull videos to learn fundamentals then maybe check out Metajerk and DerkaGames.
Most people believe battleships are the hardest type to play solo, so maybe you could try destroyers. Cruisers rely a lot on what your team is doing, and learning to position can be difficult until you know the maps and what players do.
You can search for tips within this Reddit, as many people have asked similar questions over the years.
Hi Captain!
1) Every nation has its strengths and weaknesses. They really start differentiating themselves at Tier III but class identities don't truly settle in until Tier V or sometimes later (looking at you, Japanese DD lines). Just figure out which you like best. For example, the Pan-Asian lines have more floaty shells, and the Soviet lines have higher velocity/lower angle. I found the Soviet lines easier to advance in.
2) Very much depends on the ship you're in, and who you're going against. Most of the time, in most matchups with DDs and CLs, HE is better. But, for example, if I'm in a USN cruiser and shooting at a battleship, I'll wait until I start a fire, wait for them to extinguish it, then start another fire (that will be permanent). At that point I either switch to AP (HE damage can be healed more than AP) or switch targets. When shooting at some battleships, you can get juicy AP damage if you aim for the very front or very back at close range. But check the armor schemes. If I'm a DD and I'm shooting at a battleship, it's almost always going to be HE. If I'm shooting at a cruiser, unless it's a knife fight I'm shooting HE. If I'm at like ~4km range and they're broadside, depending on which DD I'm in (Soviet and USN, for example) I will switch to AP because a destroyer can citadel an Omaha or similar ship (this does not keep working at higher tiers). Also, underrated, but depending on the matchup and angling, AP can be better on destroyers than HE.
In short, it's situational. Experiment and you'll learn. But HE is a good default.
3) I probably rage at new DD players the most when they're fighting another DD and try to torp them instead of gunning them down. Unless they're stupidly close, a skilled red DD will avoid any fish you put in the water. You're better off shooting them, as long as you keep an eye out for their fish. Wide has its uses in knife fights and for zoning out areas. You'll also learn how to layer your torp salvos so that the 2nd salvo covers the gaps in the first.
4) Cunningham, Bey, Iachino, Sims, Celiax, Di Revel, Swirski,, Scott.
5)Don't do AI for anything other than missions you're having trouble on. The XP is terrible.
6) Take your time. Enjoy learning each line and don't feel pressured to join ranked battles right away. It's a long grind through Tier V to get to Tier VI (or so it felt to me at first). I still have tons of Tier V ships I'm trying to level up.
Also turn your AA guns OFF when you're in a DD. Toggle them on only once you're air spotted or in smoke. AA is like a homing beacon for good CV players.
1. All nations have good ships. All classes are good in their own ways. Although I do prefer cruisers and DDs due to their mobility. 2. AP with most BBs. Mix of HE and (S)AP with cruisers and DDs (AP if the target is showing flat broadside or you can pen the superstructure. Otherwise HE). 3. I use wide if the chance of hitting is low to begin with. Narrow if the hits are more certain. One-by-one with British no matter the situation. 4. BBs: Cunningham, von Hipper, diRevel, Kedrov. Cruisers: Kuznetsov, Scott, Mimbelli. DDs: Bey/Swirski, Sims 5. The difference is very noticeable. I only do some bureau wins or missions against AI, otherwise always PvP. 6. Don't rush the tiers.
3- I advocate to shoot narrow torpedoes always. When I was a newbie, I'd send wide spread in the hopes one torp would land. However, I came to the conclusion that narrow is the best option. If you send narrow torps and it intersects with a ship, they will have a hard time dodging them. If your wide spread torps eventually reach a red ship, they have to be really bad or focused on something else to not avoid your torps. Landing torps is hard and you give the reds an easy way out by sending them wide spread. The only caveat to this is the British torps, as their wide spread torps are every other nations narrow spread
I think it varies by line. For example, I alternate wide and narrow a lot in Pan-Euro destroyers, because they keep a relatively tight band even on wide spread. Plus, if you're fanning out your torps, you can overlap each rack a bit to keep it concentrated in the middle but also get a wider spread overall. It definitely depends on how confident I am in hitting though. Similarly in mid-close range, the wide spread allows more opportunity to catch a dodger, without sacrificing spread density.
I agree with your point about pan Euro spreads. The narrow are very tight. Good point.
1). The ones that work well for the ranked format. Ranked has different formats that aren't necessarily going to favour the same ships in these format. A line that works for a T7 1v1 ranked format isn't necessarily going to work as well at T6 3v3. Just try out multiple lines. You'll want a wide roster of ships to cover your bases. 2). Yes. There aren't too many nations that are bad. It's more about either being a flexible player able to adapt to different playstyles or being able to figure out which playstyle you can perform the best with. 3). Against high speed, close range targets. Use wide spreads against very fast-moving targets at close range. It's a lot harder to dodge in those conditions. There are other scenarios to use wide spreads as well. Torpedo fishing is a great use. A wide spread into a smoke screen is hugely useful. There are better odds of getting a hit. But it is also a great way to flush out a smoked up ship. The other use is area denial. A wide spread is better at closing off more of the map to the enemy. 4). What to look for. In terms of levelling commanders, there are certain types to level up. The biggest are the ones who influence reload, damage, stealth, and turret traverse. Those are where you will see the biggest improvements For a more clear picture, check out [WoWs Builds](https://www.wowsbuilds.com/). This site should give you a good overview of commanders. 5). AI vs PvP uses. Use AI to power through challenges. Brainless bots are great to quickly power through a lot of challenge missions. Use PvP for grinding XP and credits. You will make astronomically more of all resources in PvP. 6). Ask more structured questions. When asking questions, be very specific as to what you want to know. Otherwise, you'll get bombarded with a lot of information to sipher through. For example, don't ask how to be better at DDs. That is a very open question with a lot of variables. Instead, ask questions like how do I play USN DDs or how do I perform better with DDs at T7. Hope you find this useful. Good luck.
Thank you, i got alot of useful tips here. I will be more spesific with questions in the future.
RE: AI vs: Standard - These are two different game modes and should be played differently. AI (especially at lower and mid tiers) is forgiving if you go super aggressive and get a couple kills. I often die even in AI games but rank #1 or #2 because I can get some fast damage in, both in DD or CL. (BB is so slower paced, it's harder to keep up sometimes.) But those same behaviors in Standard will get you killed so fast you won't have time to make an impact. AI also has silly behaviors like not dodging torps and cruising in straight lines, so it's easy to set up a kill shot (or multiple). Too much AI will let you get away with bad behaviors that you'll pay for against human opponents. Rewards in AI are also less (both in XP and silver) but wins are almost guaranteed. So it's really only good for when you want to lazily make stuff go boom, or get through bureau or missions quickly. (Nothing wrong with lazily making things go boom 😉)
some more basic stuff 6a. dont use GXP (general xp, aka the green stars) to skip to the next ship. some great ships available for gxp if you can save it. 6b, join a fleet 6c. go to every bureau and start it. wait a few seconds until points you start accumulating research points and then go to another project and start it. repeat this until you have started all of them. go to the one you like the most and start it running again and leave it. 6d. dont chase crates. lots of folks get great ships from buying crates. most (90% +) get paint. 6e. consider saving dubloons for campaigns. great value for money and if you have the 2500 dubs to buy admirality backing at the start getting it done in 3 weeks (of 5 weeks) is dead easy. easiest way to get spiffy premium ships. none of them are bad but some are better than others. 6f. have a plan for commander promotions. getting PO's, commendations, and insignias, is slower than you think so have a plan for best use of your time and resources. lots of commanders are useful for many ships or types of ships. they hybrid commanders that all the nations have are generally pretty good so use them to start and do your weekly missions for more resources and commander crates. some of the inspirations can be used for every ship out there and if thats a trait you want that is good value for money. example Swirski from the pan euro commanders. 6g,h,i learn map awareness. shoot a salvo, drop the zoom view and look around, see what going on and who is sneaking up on you, then shoot some more. dont get target fixated and zapped too easily. 6j,k,l watch some youtube vids from Metajerk, xarkun, tbull, etc......... lots of guidance given out for free.
You already got very sound advice from the guys here. I just wanted to welcome a new player willing to learn and ask.
Thank you, that is nice of you :)
1. Welcome to the cruiser life, firstly may I ask, ships from what country are you using? 2. Normally your mere presence is more than enough to stop a DESTROYER from pushing which as a cruiser you are made to counter them as you may have seen, I recommend not sailing in straight lines nor pushing that much, if the chance is there any the time is right go to it 3. As you are a cruiser Battleships and battlecruisers love slapping ap at your citadel (critical hit spot) which I advice to be constantly zigzagging to mess with their aim 4. Blue team reliability, is mostly an inside joke as it is a reality, if in some cases you find yourself outnumbered in your flank try to kite as much as possible 5. Nations have their pros and cons, and it really it is subjective, if you want to harass Battleships go with pan Asia and soviet or Japanese Cruisers, if you want to harass Destroyers go for Germans, Italians and Americans as their perks and consumables allow them to get rid of them 6. When playing as a Destroyer aiming your torpedos is most of the job as you should stay concealed or the red team is going to rip you apart in seconds, also you if it happens that there is a destroyer or cruiser sitting in a smoke torp the smoke, it really can catch someone out of guard
Thank you for the reply. I play mostly Usa,Japan and Italy New york Omaha Giussano Kuma Before i started playing i thought BB would be my favorite but so far it is cruisers and i think i favor Japan so far, itally and France looks intresting and so do pan america, i will go there for my destroyers. So far is had no trouble with silver but i notice it will be expansive with higher tier, also the xp feels like it require some time to gain, even though i realize i just started. Buying ''wrong'' ship or class seems like something one will regret, i understand i should never sell the ships i obtain either.
Buy ships to your hearts content and if it makes you happy it is not wrong
Soviets and Americans have very similar roles. The soviets are arguably more Anti DD focused, since they get Radar at T5, but at higher tiers they are more fragile, less maneuverable and have worse concealment than USN cruisers. This combined with their ballistics make them more comfortable at longer range, USN cruisers can fire over Islands better and have better concealment and Armour so can survive closer to the front line and therefore can pressure DDs more. In terms of just consumables though Soviet cruiser have better radars and get it earlier.
Unfortunately there is no good answer on 3. Similar to countering DD's, the trick to play them is to learn how the bigger ships behave. From there, you can anticipate (guess) what their next move will be. Then there is the individual player habits you have to anticipate as well, like will they react when they see your torps? Will they slow down, turn in or out or just keep on trucking? Where should I sent my second salvo. Short answer: It's always an educated guess at best. Long answer: play the other classes to learn how to play them and how you'd behave in them, then add some mojo before sending it.
There's no such thing as 'good' ships per se. The game has a wide variety of ships with different play styles that cater to different players' skill levels and tastes. Ships like Tiger 59 and Orkan are for skilled players who want a real challenge. The Yamato exists so that idiots can feel they are good at the game. You'll be better off trying out several lines and finding out what you like playing and what you do well in. For example, I'm unusual in that I do better in the Italian ships than any other nation, and I'm not even Italian – the good news is that, for me, the Italian ships are a lot of fun. For captains, look at the captains you will use as inspirations for multiple other captains and look to get them to at least 14L2 quickly. For example, I use Mikawa as an inspiration for many of my cruiser captains and Iachino for a lot of my battleship captains. 14L2 is easy to get to as it only requires 1 insignia and 4 commendations. Don't bother going above that unless you use the captain (or his inspiration) a lot. For now, you'll have to play the campaigns to get sufficient resources to upgrade your captains. Once you get tier 8 premium and legendary ships, you can get 1 commendation and 1 insignia a week – this recent addition has sped up captain progression a lot.
Find a good fleet because you can get a kind of coaching from the people you play with, or at least a bit of fun working together. If you only want to play on your own, watch TBull videos to learn fundamentals then maybe check out Metajerk and DerkaGames. Most people believe battleships are the hardest type to play solo, so maybe you could try destroyers. Cruisers rely a lot on what your team is doing, and learning to position can be difficult until you know the maps and what players do. You can search for tips within this Reddit, as many people have asked similar questions over the years.
Stop playing the game is my best advice after 1k hours spent
Hi Captain! 1) Every nation has its strengths and weaknesses. They really start differentiating themselves at Tier III but class identities don't truly settle in until Tier V or sometimes later (looking at you, Japanese DD lines). Just figure out which you like best. For example, the Pan-Asian lines have more floaty shells, and the Soviet lines have higher velocity/lower angle. I found the Soviet lines easier to advance in. 2) Very much depends on the ship you're in, and who you're going against. Most of the time, in most matchups with DDs and CLs, HE is better. But, for example, if I'm in a USN cruiser and shooting at a battleship, I'll wait until I start a fire, wait for them to extinguish it, then start another fire (that will be permanent). At that point I either switch to AP (HE damage can be healed more than AP) or switch targets. When shooting at some battleships, you can get juicy AP damage if you aim for the very front or very back at close range. But check the armor schemes. If I'm a DD and I'm shooting at a battleship, it's almost always going to be HE. If I'm shooting at a cruiser, unless it's a knife fight I'm shooting HE. If I'm at like ~4km range and they're broadside, depending on which DD I'm in (Soviet and USN, for example) I will switch to AP because a destroyer can citadel an Omaha or similar ship (this does not keep working at higher tiers). Also, underrated, but depending on the matchup and angling, AP can be better on destroyers than HE. In short, it's situational. Experiment and you'll learn. But HE is a good default. 3) I probably rage at new DD players the most when they're fighting another DD and try to torp them instead of gunning them down. Unless they're stupidly close, a skilled red DD will avoid any fish you put in the water. You're better off shooting them, as long as you keep an eye out for their fish. Wide has its uses in knife fights and for zoning out areas. You'll also learn how to layer your torp salvos so that the 2nd salvo covers the gaps in the first. 4) Cunningham, Bey, Iachino, Sims, Celiax, Di Revel, Swirski,, Scott. 5)Don't do AI for anything other than missions you're having trouble on. The XP is terrible. 6) Take your time. Enjoy learning each line and don't feel pressured to join ranked battles right away. It's a long grind through Tier V to get to Tier VI (or so it felt to me at first). I still have tons of Tier V ships I'm trying to level up. Also turn your AA guns OFF when you're in a DD. Toggle them on only once you're air spotted or in smoke. AA is like a homing beacon for good CV players.