StarDestroyer.Net BBS

My fairly limited impressions so far:

--Japanese ships: fast but light. Slightly better accuracy. (I've only been in the basic Chikuma so far though). I understand the Kawachi (or whatever the first Japanese battleship is) is pretty lousy as far as battleships go though, but the later Japanese ships such as the Kongo are extremely good.

--American: 'Average' would be the best term, I think. Except the St Louis. Man, I am such a fanboy for that boat now. It's like a baby battleship, just about, but better South Carolina sucks IMO-- slow and difficult. Fairly durable though, I'll give it that much. Wyoming is supposed to be better.

Obviously I haven't tried the Russian ships as they're pay only right now (and there's only two anyway), and the others aren't out, so. Also haven't gotten far enough to use carriers much either.

What's the training like for switching captains between ships? Do you have to play a few missions first with the new captain, or what?

Elheru Aran wrote:What's the training like for switching captains between ships? Do you have to play a few missions first with the new captain, or what?

You can pay some normal currency to get them halfway to trained for the new ship and then you need to play games to get them working at full capacity. The exception is that you don't need to retrain to stick a commander into a premium ship of the same type (ie. cruiser commander to premium cruiser).

Furthermore type of ship doesn't matter for commanders as it does in Tanks - so you can retrain a captain in whatever premium ship you have, or retrain to a different type of ship with no penalties. Your torpedo-specced destroyer captain may not do much to buff the premium battleship he's in, but that's about it.

St Louis

The St Louis is a beast. A good broadside can get you 10 shots off easily.

No premium ships here, thankyouverymuch... It's not a major concern for me right now but it'd be nice to be able to just use the one captain rather than have to worry about training up a bunch of them.

Speaking of which. The new abilities or whatever. You have to pay one point for the first, two points for the next, right, and so forth? So if you want a third tier ability you have to level up your commander like six times? Once for the first, twice for the next, and thrice for the third? And it just gets longer if you spread stuff out on the same tier, like getting the faster switch of shell types and fire-fighting on tier 1 before you want to get the faster traverse on tier 2? How the heck do they expect people to be able to get to tier 4 or 5 abilities then... cause let's see, if each commander level is roughly equivalent to a rank level and you start at Ensign, that's one point, LTJG, LT, LCDR, CDR, full Captain, RDML for tier 3. 4 more levels and you're all the way up to Fleet Admiral. But I suppose as you start hitting the higher ranks they might give you more points to spend...

Borgholio wrote:

St Louis

The St Louis is a beast. A good broadside can get you 10 shots off easily.

I KNOW RIGHT :v

Seriously though. You do have to bear in mind that since it's a cruiser... those 10 guns don't necessarily add up to as much firepower as a BB's broadside, given that the calibers are lower (152mm versus 305 on the SC) unless every turret hits and that's unlikely. So toe-to-toe against a South Carolina, the St Louis will hurt it, but *probably* lose. Against other cruisers though, it's a monster. DDs? Forget it.

Now if I can get the hang of torpedo firing with my new Phoenix that might become a favorite...

Now if I can get the hang of torpedo firing with my new Phoenix that might become a favorite...

Saw a video of a guy in a tier 10 Japanese destroyer...has 20 torpedo tubes on each side. He was sinking battleships left and right with that thing.

Borgholio wrote:

Now if I can get the hang of torpedo firing with my new Phoenix that might become a favorite...

Saw a video of a guy in a tier 10 Japanese destroyer...has 20 torpedo tubes on each side. He was sinking battleships left and right with that thing.

That's from the closed beta, IIRC. They knocked that off because, well, come the hell on.

Elheru Aran wrote:No premium ships here, thankyouverymuch... It's not a major concern for me right now but it'd be nice to be able to just use the one captain rather than have to worry about training up a bunch of them.

Speaking of which. The new abilities or whatever. You have to pay one point for the first, two points for the next, right, and so forth? So if you want a third tier ability you have to level up your commander like six times? Once for the first, twice for the next, and thrice for the third? And it just gets longer if you spread stuff out on the same tier, like getting the faster switch of shell types and fire-fighting on tier 1 before you want to get the faster traverse on tier 2? How the heck do they expect people to be able to get to tier 4 or 5 abilities then... cause let's see, if each commander level is roughly equivalent to a rank level and you start at Ensign, that's one point, LTJG, LT, LCDR, CDR, full Captain, RDML for tier 3. 4 more levels and you're all the way up to Fleet Admiral. But I suppose as you start hitting the higher ranks they might give you more points to spend...

I suspect that once you hit the max rank you just get more points without any further rank increase. Though I suspect that I'll be well into tier 10 before I need to start worrying about that.

Elheru Aran wrote:

Borgholio wrote:

Now if I can get the hang of torpedo firing with my new Phoenix that might become a favorite...

Saw a video of a guy in a tier 10 Japanese destroyer...has 20 torpedo tubes on each side. He was sinking battleships left and right with that thing.

That's from the closed beta, IIRC. They knocked that off because, well, come the hell on.

They got rid of the Kitikami because it was the worst ship in the game. Sure it could spam torpedoes, but even after they gave it smoke it still had a very, very poor win rate and often didn't manage to do anything at all unless you were both lucky and very good at playing it. Mostly you ended up launching torps and 9km, turning, getting shot and nearly killed, and missing with all of your torps and then dying trying to do it again.

Just played my first DD game with a Sampson. Man, I feel like I'm made out of glass. 9100 HP versus 29500? Jesus. It's going to take some adjusting.

Elheru Aran wrote:Just played my first DD game with a Sampson. Man, I feel like I'm made out of glass. 9100 HP versus 29500? Jesus. It's going to take some adjusting.

Some tips, learn the distance you can be spotted at from the sea and air and stay hidden while you move up the map. Slow down to ahead 3/4 when you pop smoke so you stay covered by each blob as it spawns. Uses islands as cover and set ambushes when and where you can. Never sail in a straight line if you've been spotted. Don't fire unless they're looking the other way or are already shooting at you. And most importantly, no torpedoes should be fired if an ally might pass through them, just hold your shot until they pass.

Yeah when I fight against destroyers, I constantly see them using their speed to their advantage. The ones I can kill easily are the ones that steam in a straight line. These things can go 30+ knots and turn on a dime. When they bob and weave, they're next to impossible to score a hit on.

Is there going to be an account reset after the game finishes beta?

Thanas wrote:Is there going to be an account reset after the game finishes beta?

No, at least not without something very strange happening, the last wipe was at the end of the closed beta. The game is pretty much in a release state and is only really lacking in a larger variety of playable nations and ships.

I suppose there's that. I did try, but I'm used to just running up to other ships and blasting the shit out of them. That's easy when you have 29500 HP, but not so much otherwise. That's kicking my ass with the Phoenix too, it's just not as sturdy as the St Louis and when I'm distracted by trying to line up a torpedo salvo... yeah. Doesn't help that the Phoenix is slightly faster than most other cruisers that I've been playing with, so I tend to be ahead of the crowd. Which of course means I get everybody salvoing right on me...

That's good to hear about the wipe. Be nice to keep my baby ^_^

Thanas wrote:Is there going to be an account reset after the game finishes beta?

Word on the game forums is "No". There was a reset between Closed Beta and Open Beta, but the transition from Open Beta to Release should be straightforward with no reset.

Edit - what Jub said.

Doesn't help that the Phoenix is slightly faster than most other cruisers that I've been playing with, so I tend to be ahead of the crowd. Which of course means I get everybody salvoing right on me...

Ahead 3/4 for the first few minutes is your friend. Hide behind your teammates.

Is there a way to transfer accounts from one server to the next? Because I got a promo code for NA, but would like to play from Europe.

I don't think so, which is kind of lame.

Thanas wrote:Is there a way to transfer accounts from one server to the next? Because I got a promo code for NA, but would like to play from Europe.

From what I read, there's no way to transfer accounts between servers unless there's a special event where they can mass-move accounts. But if you have a NA code, you should be able to move that to the EU servers if you open a support ticket with them.

Had another go in a Phoenix and... yeah... maybe not. On a lighter note, I just now realized "OP" means 'overpowered' in gamer speak. I've been wondering for a while what exactly that meant...

Elheru Aran wrote:Had another go in a Phoenix and... yeah... maybe not. On a lighter note, I just now realized "OP" means 'overpowered' in gamer speak. I've been wondering for a while what exactly that meant...

Don't despair at the Phoenix, especially stock, it does getter better and the Omaha is a decent upgrade over the Phoenix. Then you get to teir 6 and magic happens!

Jub wrote:

Elheru Aran wrote:Had another go in a Phoenix and... yeah... maybe not. On a lighter note, I just now realized "OP" means 'overpowered' in gamer speak. I've been wondering for a while what exactly that meant...

Don't despair at the Phoenix, especially stock, it does getter better and the Omaha is a decent upgrade over the Phoenix. Then you get to teir 6 and magic happens!

Feh, I know. Just feels like I blow up a lot quicker because everybody's opening up on me while I close in enough to be sure of a hit on my torpedoes. Just don't feel like I'm going to tag anybody at 5km (isn't that the max range?) given how they disperse.

I'll get over it but it's frustrating...

Elheru Aran wrote:Feh, I know. Just feels like I blow up a lot quicker because everybody's opening up on me while I close in enough to be sure of a hit on my torpedoes. Just don't feel like I'm going to tag anybody at 5km (isn't that the max range?) given how they disperse.

I'll get over it but it's frustrating...

It's a gunboat, shoot people and stay at range while staying nimble to avoid return fire. The torpedoes are a secondary feature, not your primary damage source. If you get a BB coming around an island at your, or if you manage to chase down a carrier use them, but don't play the ship around them.

Mm, yeah. Just feels like six guns isn't very much after 14, lol.

Elheru Aran wrote:Mm, yeah. Just feels like six guns isn't very much after 14, lol.

Yeah, but it's six guns on a much nimbler ship and if somebody does come in close you have a surprise that the St. Louis wishes it had.