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Disclaimer: As a battleship main, and one that doesn’t play CV’s at all, I write this opinion purely from that of an observer to CV play and not that of an actual CV captain.

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From my experience in the game since closed beta I can say that from the beginning the balance for CV’s has been skewed. To those who have put the effort into becoming a competent CV captain, I truly applaud (and at the same time loathe) you. It’s a ship class that I have tried but just do not have the patience for. That aside, the CV’s ability to move its weapons about the map with near impunity when top tier and to utterly devastate almost any ship when played by a competent player is frustrating and disheartening as a player. Unlike when against other ships where, if you make a mistake, paying for that mistake with a large amount, if not all of your HP is expected, with CV’s you can do everything right and still end up back in port if you are targeted by a good player.

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Are you good at putting your thoughts, knowledge and ideas down in writing? Would you like to help build a site and community dedicated to improving this game?

I’m currently looking for another staff writer or two to boost content on the new site (http://warshipnews.blog). I’m looking for new guides and reviews in particular, especially focused around Destroyers and Carriers (two ship types I know little about and would not do them much service by writing about them). However, anything is welcome as I am finding it difficult putting out the content I would like with my current work schedule. Please send me a message on the Warships forums and I will get back to you promptly. Also, prepare an article in advance please or at least a writing sample.

https://forum.worldofwarships.com/profile/1000276396-snipeysnipes/

 

Almost a year later and little has changed with the in-game meta, particularly at high tiers. There is still a lot of passive, play for yourself, farm damage play from most individuals in game. The HE spam meta has now migrated from a Cruiser or Destroyer tactic to now being used by battleships. Now, the correct use of HE from a battleship against a battleship is fine, if not a little annoying. However, what I keep seeing is battleships continuing to shoot HE at broadside targets, be them cruiser or battleship. Though I won’t complain too much if I’m on the receiving end of a BB shooting HE at my broadside, but when that player is on my team, it drives me nuts! This has become more of an issue with the introduction of the British Battleships. Some of this Battleship HE issue I can contribute to inexperience, but when you’re sailing a tier 8 or even 7, I would hope you know when to shoot AP vs HE. With all that said, I’m still not a fan of the static play coupled with this burning desire for Battleship players, and not just those in RN BB’s to shoot HE at everything all the time. For me, the games are less exciting when everyone I cowering behind a single island or sniping from the edge of the map while the other team controls all the caps. This leads me to my next point of concern, ranked season 9.

This upcoming season of ranked I’m very skeptical of. To start, the issues that I witnessed in season 7 with the smoke/radar duels is bound to happen again, only at tier 10. Coupled with the extended range of guns and duration of hydro and radar, I can only predict that there will be a lot more players playing to preserve a star from the very start of the battle than trying to win, especially with the increased service costs at tier 10. I miss the days where competitive team play meant teamwork and not self-preservation. So what are my predictions for Rank 10+ play? Early on, I’m expecting to see Montanas and probably Yamatos trying to hit anything they can, probably from 15km+. I further expect to see lots of deepwater torp action from the Yueyang and HE spam from behind cover from DMs and Zaos and some Hindys as well. As people progress and find that keeping that precious star is more important than gaining one, I expect to see more Khabas, Henri IVs and Conquerors on the flanks just farming damage as much as possible, doing little to assist the team in taking caps. CV’s, if they show up, will wind up being crucial to the sway of battle. With their ability to spot errant torps and deter static play or loan flanking they will have the capability to corral the enemy towards the center and hopefully out of cover. Those are just my predictions. I know I didn’t cover their earlier ranks at all, but those won’t have changed since last season and tier 8 has been a tier for ranked in the past where 10 has not. Let’s see how these hold up as the upcoming season progresses and sorry for the earlier rant but it needed saying.

Detonations; the ‘most’ fun and engaging mechanic in the game that many historically can’t stand – myself included. Thankfully though, the latest patch, 0.7.2, has prevented ships from being detonated when they are above 75% health. This was a great step in the right direction as there is nothing more frustrating than being in a full or nearly full health tier 10 ship and being detonated and then paying the repair cost with nothing to show for it. All that aside, the point of this article will be to discuss the mechanic, my current impressions of it, and some new food for thought.

Continue reading “Game Mechanics: Detonations”

The Mighty Mo’, USS Missouri, BB-63 – a few of the names of the best money maker in the game. She’s one of the beautiful Iowa-class battleships (and the last) to be commissioned by the US Navy in June of 1944. In-game, she is a dream ship to sail if you’re a battleship captain and is by FAR, my favorite premium ship to sail.

What Makes Her Special

She is the first of now 3, premium tier 9 ships in the game, the other two being the Black (Fletcher-class destroyer with radar AND smoke) and the Musashi (the Missouri’s premium replacement and a tier 9 Yamato). As a tier 9 premium there are multiple advantages that you have over lower tiers. The first is you can only be up-tiered one tier, instead of the usual 2 and you will earn more XP and credits. Further, since you’re a tier 9 you’ll likely be up-tiered more often than not, and thankfully you are competitive against tier 10’s, you will earn even further since you are at a ‘disadvantage.’ I use that term loosely for the following reasons. First, you have some of the most accurate guns in the game with the Artillery Plotting Room Modification 2. Second, since a several patches ago, you have a lowered citadel (compared to the Musashi – older players will remember the days of the raised citadels of the Iowa & Missouri) making you harder to citadel or certainly delete. Third, you have a better armored forward bulkhead compared to your Iowa counterpart, Fourth, your AA is devastating if equipped as such and finally, you are the ONLY battleship in the game with radar. As another point of note, if you run her with the special Steven Seagal – now John Doe – captain, you have a very fast turret traverse and if you run Expert loader (the current meta is making this more enticing), you can swap from AP to HE or vice versa in 7.5 seconds BEFORE adrenaline rush. Pop your radar and watch the DD’s squirm.

Playing the Missouri

If you have played the Iowa, or even the North Carolina, the Missouri should be played the same way. However, you can certainly be a bit more aggressive if you have some support due to your improved forward bulkhead and radar. Like any ship with a citadel, you want to keep ships away from your broadside, particularly in the Missouri or Iowa. You have the weakest side armor of the tier 9 battleships and even cruisers are capable of landing citadels at close to medium range. However, due to the shape of your armor, you can maintain a nice angle to most ships (except Yamato and Musashi) and nearly eliminate the possibility of frontal citadel damage so bow in, similar to the North Carolina, is usually a good strategy. Further, you are the fastest battleships in the game that doesn’t have a speed boost, allowing you to chase down and overrun most other BB’s if you must, especially the Japanese.

She is a great short to mid-range sniper. Adding a full concealment build to her can allow you to use your nice, accurate, 16″ guns to devastating effect. Further, if you are lucky enough to get into a battle where a cyclone is imminent, hold your radar until the visibility has dropped. You can out spot any battleship in the game and can do the same to unsuspecting cruisers as well, dealing huge amounts of damage if not deleting the ship completely.  Her AA allows you to be nearly immune to lower tier CV strikes and to pose a real threat to the aircraft of tier 9 or 10 CV’s, though I still would avoid being stationary if a CV exists in the game, regardless of tier.

When I play this belle, I run her with the John Doe commander with Preventative Maint, Expert Loader, Adrenaline Rush, Superintendent, BFT, AFT and Concealment, while my modules consist of Aux. Armament 1, Damage Control 1, AA Guns Mod 2, Steering Gears Mod 2, Concealment, and Artillery Plotting Room Mod 2. As you can see, I run her as an AA/Concealment load-out. Though CV’s still are not very common on the NA server, when they do show up, it’s nice to have.

Overview

Pros

• Very fast for a BB
• Excellent Accuracy (with module)
• Excellent AA
• RADAR!
• Decent Bow tanking potential
• Quick traversing Guns
• Tied for heaviest broadside at tier
• Prints Credits!
• Excellent US commander trainer

Cons

• Slow ruddsershift (without module)
• Weak side armor
• Expensive when it was available
• No longer available
• No spotting or attack aircraft
• Easily set ablaze

Quick Tips

• Always run her with camo – Gamescom is the best overall if you have it
• Run with any credit or XP flags that you can while not sacrificing slots useful to gameplay
• Run with November Echo flags if you can when CV’s are present
• Running her with Sierra Mike’s make her even faster

If you don’t have this ship I’m sorry since she is no longer available and is an absolute gem. However, if she ever returns, snag her…she is most definitely worth it.