World of Warships

[Skywalker_T-65]

I'm on mobile right now so I can't check to confirm, but I saw a thread on the forum that listed future tech trees. We had Russian, British, German, Italian and French, IIRC. Though the last one there was almost bare.

I also think WG has said no to subs. Too hard to balance, since you'd be slow under water, a sitting duck on the surface, and only countered by DDs.

[Borgholio]

OK then!

Are British and (maybe) German ships going to show up anytime soon? French? Spanish?

I would love to be tooling around in the Bismarck, tbh.

[Elheru Aran]

Well, I picked up a Chester. Not bad, but the range is lacking. Not that I can hit anything for beans past 8km in general but still. Also it looks rather... strange... though I suppose that should be expected it's roughly WWI vintage.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Ok, after digging through the forums again:

There we are. As I thought, we have USN, IJN, Royal Navy, French Navy, Italian Navy, German Navy- Imperial and Nazi -and Soviet Navy/Imp Russian Navy.

For images:

USN:

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w39 ... y4obm8.jpg

IJN:

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w39 ... b9kgf4.jpg

RN:

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w39 ... kriogm.jpg

Germany:

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w39 ... otclju.jpg

France:

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w39 ... cr4ezf.jpg

Italy:

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w39 ... ows3cq.jpg

Russia:

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w39 ... 2ajc5v.jpg

I should note this thread was posted back in 2012. Which likely is why the Italian and French trees have almost nothing to speak of. Still though, it does show at least what we can probably expect in general terms.

[Elheru Aran]

So the Germans may get H-class ships? Goodness. The French chart is definitely scanty, which is a bit injust, they had a reasonable navy IIRC, it just never got much action in either WW. Have to admit I don't know much about the Italian Navy (other than it was considered enough of a threat to Mediterranean shipping for the British to torpedo much of it in Taranto), and for the USSR I suspect they may have to use designs that only existed on paper-- IIRC the USSR never really came up with its own BB's apart from the Soviet Soyuz class. There were some Imperial designs, but they would have been horrifically outdated by WWII.

[Elheru Aran]

So, er. I team-killed someone. Turns out that counts towards your score of ships destroyed, I guess? They shouldn't have been right behind my target...

Oh, and I had a mutual kill. Shot someone, they shot me, we both died. That was interesting.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Yup, you have to be very careful where you shoot when allies are near enemy ships. Especially in ships with bad aim like the early American BBs.

[Elheru Aran]

Chikuma, yay. Also a upgraded Chester ain't half bad. Six guns up from four? Yes please. And an increase in caliber? Yeeeeeep.

At this rate a St Louis will be a lot of fun...

[Nephtys]

Protip for you Japanese destroyers: I cringe every time I see an Umikaze just dance around at 6KM shooting torps at a battleship that's firing back at it. At that range, you will miss. The BB just needs to vary speed or heading by any amount, and you'll eventually be hit and killed.

Take a tip from USN destroyers and fire from within 3km (or closer). Nearly assured multiple hit with the tight volley, and scratch one BB. I just go nuts watching a close game come down to a DD that's afraid of actually improving it's accuracy vs one of the last enemies.

[Elheru Aran]

I have learned, much to my pain, that closing to point blank range... is not that great of an idea. It works in Star Trek Online... but it won't work here. At least with guns; haven't tried the DD's yet and not sure I will. Daddy wants a BB...

[Skywalker_T-65]

You don't want to be too close in a gun ship, no. Harder to dodge shells and all. With torps though, being close is very much helpful since it makes it harder for the enemy to dodge them.

Granted, my only experience with torps so far are Japanese cruisers and the Murmansk, so I can't say how that transfers to DDs.

Oh, and the St. Louis is my favorite gun-cruiser so far. It's like a high-explosive porcupine! Though Aurora comes in close second for much the same reason.

[Nephtys]

I have learned, much to my pain, that closing to point blank range... is not that great of an idea. It works in Star Trek Online... but it won't work here. At least with guns; haven't tried the DD's yet and not sure I will. Daddy wants a BB...

BBs have shotgun-like dispersion, and nimble destroyers are rarely hit. If they are, you can actually take a few (as BBs will probably have AP shells still in their chambers for the first volley at least which barely harm you). Their secondary batteries have horrible accuracy and only fire from under 4.5km it seems.

When the first main battery volley misses, you've got 30 seconds to zoom in, line up torpedos (or double torp broadside for US Destroyers), then to escape in smoke. No Battleship is going to survive 6 torps at the early-mid tiers delivered abeam.

Destroyers are much better torpedo delivery platforms than the light cruisers, as their size makes them much nastier to hit targets for BBs. I was able to nail 4 in succession with a Clemson, using the islands as cover to get close.

[Temjin]

Protip for you Japanese destroyers: I cringe every time I see an Umikaze just dance around at 6KM shooting torps at a battleship that's firing back at it. At that range, you will miss. The BB just needs to vary speed or heading by any amount, and you'll eventually be hit and killed.

Take a tip from USN destroyers and fire from within 3km (or closer). Nearly assured multiple hit with the tight volley, and scratch one BB. I just go nuts watching a close game come down to a DD that's afraid of actually improving it's accuracy vs one of the last enemies.

To be fair, with the kind of opponents that the Umikaze goes up against, chances are that BB won't actually change course or speed, continue sailing in a straight line, and then complain "zOMG torps are IMBA!" when they die.

[Simon_Jester]

This may be a redundant question, but... Do immune zones work in game? I've heard mixed reports.

Historically, at least in principle, most ships had a set of ranges within which they would be "immune" to enemy gunfire. If the enemy got too close, enemy guns would punch right through the vertical belt armor covering the ship's sides. If the enemy got too far away, their shells would come plunging in at such a high angle that they'd punch through the deck armor and blow up inside the ship's guts. But in between, there would typically be a belt several kilometers wide in which the ship is far enough away to be protected by the belt and close enough to be protected by the deck. Thus, 'immunity.'

Does anyone observe this in game?

[Sea Skimmer]

I blew up a Kuma class light cruiser two hours ago with three shells that clearly hit the funnel of the target, so I am going to say that while I don't know if IZ theory is present in the game or not, I do not believe the game is complying with it right now, nor any other realistic armor logic. You can penetrate the 'citadel' on a destroyer as well. Armor seems to act far more as a damage modifier then actual modelable protection. Considering how FUBAR actual gun ranges are anyway, any application of IZ theory would have to be very warped to say the least. I hope they are and do do so, but I don't believe is happening right now. Honestly I got 49 penetrations for 51 hits in one recent battle with a St Louis, and my enemies only sank from cumulative damage anyway. That would make sense on the later factor, but not the former as the guns should just not be capable of penetrating the citadel of another St Louis.

I tend to think IZ theory does not apply right now simply because no data is provided on armor of the ships, so if it did that would be very be lame for those whom don't already now about warships. Personally I ship AP at similar sized targets, HE at those much bigger or smaller.

One other thing I also cannot tell is if torpedo tubes can induce catastrophic explosions or not. They should but whenever I've been hit on my own tubes it simply wrecks them, but I've blown up a couple other ships that seemed like they hit on the tubes.

[Simon_Jester]

Wargaming certainly isn't shy about having you die in one shot because your ammunition reserves blow up violently, but if ammo rack hits in World of Tanks are any guide, there's a percent chance your shot to the target's volatile ammunition actually inflicts a massive critical hit. It's not guaranteed just by virtue of you getting your shot placement correct.

[Jub]

I blew up a Kuma class light cruiser two hours ago with three shells that clearly hit the funnel of the target, so I am going to say that while I don't know if IZ theory is present in the game or not, I do not believe the game is complying with it right now, nor any other realistic armor logic. You can penetrate the 'citadel' on a destroyer as well. Armor seems to act far more as a damage modifier then actual modelable protection. Considering how FUBAR actual gun ranges are anyway, any application of IZ theory would have to be very warped to say the least. I hope they are and do do so, but I don't believe is happening right now. Honestly I got 49 penetrations for 51 hits in one recent battle with a St Louis, and my enemies only sank from cumulative damage anyway. That would make sense on the later factor, but not the former as the guns should just not be capable of penetrating the citadel of another St Louis.

I tend to think IZ theory does not apply right now simply because no data is provided on armor of the ships, so if it did that would be very be lame for those whom don't already now about warships. Personally I ship AP at similar sized targets, HE at those much bigger or smaller.

One other thing I also cannot tell is if torpedo tubes can induce catastrophic explosions or not. They should but whenever I've been hit on my own tubes it simply wrecks them, but I've blown up a couple other ships that seemed like they hit on the tubes.

They had the armor data in the game until rather late in the closed beta. IIRC, They removed it around the time they added American BBs and Japanese carriers. No idea why they would have done it though.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Well now that I've finally got it back, I'm reminded of just how much more I prefer the Wyoming to the South Carolina. Not much faster/more agile, and the guns aren't that much better in range. But man, those six turrets make up for it.

Still looking forward to the New York though.

[wautd]

Which of the two nations has the best low tier carriers? Or are they both very similar?

[Jub]

Which of the two nations has the best low tier carriers? Or are they both very similar?

It seems like community consensus is that the Japanese carrier line is the better of the two all the way through. They tend to pack a bigger alpha strike with their extra air wings and increased number of torpedo bombers, but they do tend to burn out quickly if their limited number of planes gets shoot up too much. Through the first two tiers, the US line also has the two slowest ships in the game as well if maneuvering is something you look for. The upside of the American CV line is that they do anti-aircraft much better than the Japanese do, the issue this faces is that it means American carriers facing a match without enemy carriers tend to do poorly.

[AniThyng]

Well now that I've finally got it back, I'm reminded of just how much more I prefer the Wyoming to the South Carolina. Not much faster/more agile, and the guns aren't that much better in range. But man, those six turrets make up for it.

Still looking forward to the New York though.

The New York is pretty fun. Too bad neither new York nor Wyoming will get their true late war AA fit, even if only for looks...

I hope they add in the other standards soon. New Mexico and Colorado are nice but they didn't get rebuilt after pearl and so don't have wonderful DP 5" turrets .

[Irbis]

Germany:

http://i1073.photobucket.com/albums/w39 ... otclju.jpg

That Deutschland is supposed to be Panzerschiff or Linienschiff one? I kind of have soft spot for pocket battleships, but I can't see them fitting anywhere in standard classification without big dose of artistic licence, so...

Speaking of French ships, I am very interested to see Jean Bart/Richelieu. Finally we can see how much that design was really worth and how big differences in gameplay there will be

[Jub]

The Scharnhorst is really going to need some crazy high rate of fire to make nine 11" guns work at tier 7.

[Temjin]

Which of the two nations has the best low tier carriers? Or are they both very similar?

Carriers are in such a sorry state right now, it's sad.

It basically boils down to Japanese carriers are better with bombers, and American carriers are better with fighters. Sounds really nice on paper, right? In actual practice, it just leads to a lot of frustration.

Japanese fighters are terrible, so most people run with pure bomber setup (something that most Japanese carriers are designed to do in game). This can lead to fun games... unless there's an American carrier on the other team. Then you are Shit out of Luck. Any American Carrier halfway decent will blow your bombers out of the sky with no effort. Even if you don't go for a pure bomber setup, and you bring along some fighters for protection, it doesn't help. American Fighters can go toe to toe against Japanese at almost 2 to 1.

American carriers tend to have setups focusing on fighters, with only a smattering of bombers. If you are in a game versus another carrier (especially Japanese), you can have fun shooting down all of their planes. Until the enemy is out of planes (or there's no enemy carrier in the first place), whereupon... you're just not that useful. You might be able to do some damage some enemy ships if you have a torpedo bomber squadron, but you're just as likely to have a dive bomber squadron which will only do minimal damage.

Carriers, as they stand now, just aren't that much fun.

[Elheru Aran]

Well, hey. Managed to win a game just by sitting on the enemy base and spinning around shooting other ships at extreme range, with them outnumbering my side to boot and being less than half health myself to boot. Nice.