The Wargaming / Warthunder Thread

[Fifrein]

I'm Urza3142 in WOWS. not part of a clan yet and rocking tier 5 non-premiums across the board for IJN and KM, with tier 4 US BBs and DDs as well. Most advanced ship I have at this moment is the Ryujo, but planning on grabbing the Aoba once I can purchase another ship slot to keep my Furutaka.

 

As a relatively new WOWS player, I'm looking to get my first premium ship. I've been considering Tirpitz or Scharnhorst, but Atago has also caught my eye. Which of these ships would you guys recommend for someone who is completely new to higher tier gameplay?

 

Price is another consideration, so if there's a chance for any of these ships to go on sale I would rather take that than spend 50$ if I don't have to. If Warspite and Atlanta are as good as I've heard, I might also consider getting them instead.

 

As PR said, Scharn is not a noob-friendly ship. It requires experience and knowledge of mechanics to properly play.

 

Atago is good, but easy to citadel if you aren't careful. I wouldn't recommend her either for a new player.

 

Warspite is a Battleship with Cruiser Damage Control and a very strong Repair Party. Her AA and secondaries are great, and the only major downside is that her armor is not always up to snuff and her turrets match the Yamato as the slowest turning turrets in the game. (note: she has been buffed recently by being lowered in the water so her belt covers more of her citadel, so her armor is better than when I last took her out for a spin)

 

Atlanta is not as easy to Citadel as Atago, but still has terrible armor. Her guns are great, (fast fire rate, high angle to shoot over mountains, plenty of dakka) but the shell velocity is terrible and taking lead on them is a nightmare. (Edit note: She got radar a patch or two ago, excellent for hunting down DDs)

 

Finally, Tirpitz is a Battleship with fast turrets and torpedoes; she plays more like a cruiser. Her AA is acceptable, her secondaries are good, her guns are pretty good, and her armor is fantastic if properly angled and kept at mid range.

 

In summary: I basically agree with PR. Warspite or Tirpitz would be your best bets here, but Tirpitz is the most expensive of the bunch and I'm not sure Warspite is always on sale. As PR Said, it's also best to wait until you've got ships of the tier you want a premium in before buying it, so you're not one of the wallet warriors who jumps into top tier games and derps right into the enemy team, with nothing larger than t4 otherwise. That said, these are just the ones you've listed. If she goes on sale again, I'd DEFINITELY recommend USS Arizona, as her armor is acceptable, Her secondaries are good, and her guns are god-like. She's a bit slow, but I love playing my Arizona and rarely fail to top the team.

 

One last note: Go on the forums. Look for LittleWhiteMouse's premium guides. She goes over the ships in great detail, explaining their strengths and weaknesses, how they should be played, what you should probably outfit them with, etc. The guides really helped me on my search for premiums to snag, and do a lot to improve gameplay as well. Regardless of which one you choose, I'd say visit the forums and read the guides, at the very least the ones about the premiums you intend to buy. Reading the other ones won't hurt either, because that's valuable information about the weaknesses of ships you will be fighting against.

[PizzaRocket]

With some exceptions, the premium ships are usually special versions (or close enough) of ships you can earn normally. If you find a ship that you like and there's a premium version of it that's another way to pick ones you like.

[Fifrein]

With some exceptions, the premium ships are usually special versions (or close enough) of ships you can earn normally. If you find a ship that you like and there's a premium version of it that's another way to pick ones you like.

It's worth noting that even premium versions of standard ships aren't always played the same way. The Molotov is the same class as the Kirov, but has better guns and faces higher tier ships. The 3 Omaha class ships in the game (Omaha, Murmansk, and Marblehead) all have different stats and equipment, and while they mostly have to worry about the same things, fight completely differently. Texas has stronger AA and better gun angles than New York, and can afford to angle and charge head on with opponents in ways that New York just can't if she wants to get all her guns on target. Small changes can significantly affect the play style of some ships.

[Urza3142]

Just took a look at the LWM guides, thanks for the links. They're really helpful

 

I would hold off on getting scharnhorst except for the fact its the god damn scharnhorst, with a limited offer for only the next 10 days to boot. Adding in the fact its actually cheaper than Tirpitz, and i may just end up opening my wallet.

 

Another question: what is the best definition for a noob or a new player in WOWS? I imagine that being a veteran at one ship does not prevent you from being a noob at another.

[Fifrein]

Just took a look at the LWM guides, thanks for the links. They're really helpful

 

I would hold off on getting scharnhorst except for the fact its the god damn scharnhorst, with a limited offer for only the next 10 days to boot. Adding in the fact its actually cheaper than Tirpitz, and i may just end up opening my wallet.

 

Another question: what is the best definition for a noob or a new player in WOWS? I imagine that being a veteran at one ship does not prevent you from being a noob at another.

 

Again, Scharn takes knowledge of the game mechanics to play. Which, notably, is also the answer to your other question. Do you have knowledge of the game mechanics?

 

Are you the guy who launches torpedoes from behind teamates at targets well outside of torpedo range? Are you confused when you get spotted by an enemy ship while laying a smoke screen? Do you sail side on without changing course or speed for more than 5 minutes at a time? Do invisible destroyers torpedo you consistently with no chance for you to dodge or evade (Note: may be related to the previous question)? Do you autodrop as a carrier player and rage when your torpedoes and bombs don't instakill enemy players? If any of these apply to you, you may in fact be a noob.

 

Now, a noob and a new player are not the same thing. A new player like yourself has little knowledge of the game mechanics, but looks up guides and asks experienced players for help to understand them and better themselves. A noob has plenty of battles under their belt, but recognizes that they are not, in fact, the problem. A true noob would be in the top 10% of players statwise if every team he got didn't suck because all the enemy players were hacking the game and cheating to team up and kill him specifically. His shots aren't hitting their marks because the enemy has a bot that sees where they'll land and can easily dodge, and another aimbot that tells them exactly how to hit his citadel. The Destroyers all figured out how to make it so they can't be spotted at any range and can just torpedo him on a whim from a range he can't dodge. He's not bad at the game, but everyone who is is clearly cheating so he can't win or do well. These players buy t8 premiums, lose in them constantly, and then throw money at the game to convert free xp and buy a t10 of a line they haven't yet played, understood, or practiced in any way. Then they rage that the Moskva's bad because it can't pen a Hindenburg and has no armor. They don't understand that it's fast, has the largest HP pool of any t10 cruiser, has radar, and that there's a difference between AP and HE.

[Urza3142]

 

Again, Scharn takes knowledge of the game mechanics to play. Which, notably, is also the answer to your other question. Do you have knowledge of the game mechanics?

 

Are you the guy who launches torpedoes from behind teamates at targets well outside of torpedo range? Are you confused when you get spotted by an enemy ship while laying a smoke screen? Do you sail side on without changing course or speed for more than 5 minutes at a time? Do invisible destroyers torpedo you consistently with no chance for you to dodge or evade (Note: may be related to the previous question)? Do you autodrop as a carrier player and rage when your torpedoes and bombs don't instakill enemy players? If any of these apply to you, you may in fact be a noob.

 

Now, a noob and a new player are not the same thing. A new player like yourself has little knowledge of the game mechanics, but looks up guides and asks experienced players for help to understand them and better themselves. A noob has plenty of battles under their belt, but recognizes that they are not, in fact, the problem. A true noob would be in the top 10% of players statwise if every team he got didn't suck because all the enemy players were hacking the game and cheating to team up and kill him specifically. His shots aren't hitting their marks because the enemy has a bot that sees where they'll land and can easily dodge, and another aimbot that tells them exactly how to hit his citadel. The Destroyers all figured out how to make it so they can't be spotted at any range and can just torpedo him on a whim from a range he can't dodge. He's not bad at the game, but everyone who is is clearly cheating so he can't win or do well. These players buy t8 premiums, lose in them constantly, and then throw money at the game to convert free xp and buy a t10 of a line they haven't yet played, understood, or practiced in any way. Then they rage that the Moskva's bad because it can't pen a Hindenburg and has no armor. They don't understand that it's fast, has the largest HP pool of any t10 cruiser, has radar, and that there's a difference between AP and HE.

 

I feel like there's quite a few stories behind this XD

 

So basically the amount of experience you have in the game is meaningless if you don't put any effort into understanding the mechanics of the game?

[Fifrein]

 

I feel like there's quite a few stories behind this XD

 

So basically the amount of experience you have in the game is meaningless if you don't put any effort into understanding the mechanics of the game?

 

That's about the sum of it, yep. Even if you don't become Unicum, you're not a noob as long as you take the time to put effort into improving yourself. Just learning not to teamkill and to recognize when a bad performance is your fault. You can be bad at the game and not be strictly a "noob" so long as you try to recognize and fix your mistakes.

[PizzaRocket]

The big things are:

 

recognizing when AP is the ammo to shoot (in general it's when enemies are broadside on and you have biggish guns for the tier, but even destroyers can citadel cruisers under the right circumstances)

 

Minimize how much you go broadside on to enemies for the same reason (need to be able to balance getting guns on target and not being a target)

 

How to make the most of your armor with angling when you have enough to bounce shots.

 

Get to know destroyer and cruiser torpedo ranges. If you spot on in range torpedoes are probably already on the way!

 

If you're spotted but can't see what's spotting you, chances are it's a destroyer and if they are IJN or high enough tier again: torpedoes probably on the way. Also possible battleship AP is on the way to drop big damage on you.

 

In general being by yourself is bad, though destroyers can get away with independent action if they are sneaky enough.

 

Pay attention to the minimap! Planes and ships are often visible there before they are launching torpedoes at you.

[PizzaRocket]

Big changes coming in Warships!

 

Can finally view armor models on ships in port for now and in the future will have British cruisers, a branching IJN destroyer tech-tree, and Arpreggio Takao is finally going to make an appearance.

[Wellington99]

 

That's about the sum of it, yep. Even if you don't become Unicum, you're not a noob as long as you take the time to put effort into improving yourself. Just learning not to teamkill and to recognize when a bad performance is your fault. You can be bad at the game and not be strictly a "noob" so long as you try to recognize and fix your mistakes.

 

In general, my issues are that I feel that I don't know how to play certain ships. I can, more often than not, do reasonably well in my Kongou and in the Omaha. However, if I try playing the Warspite or Arizona or the Iwaki Alpha, or really any other ship that isn't the Kongou or Omaha, I have a really hard time doing reasonable. Maybe it stems from when during the Alpha and Beta, Kongou and Omaha were more than likely my most played ships along with the Nicholas and Clemson. My biggest issue is the same one I have in World of Tanks: being too aggressive.

[Historynerd]

My nick is the same: Historynerd.

 

However, I play only sporadically, when I feel like it.

 

And I'm eagerly waiting for news on Italian ships, of course...

[PizzaRocket]

Indeed, the more nations the merrier! I was actually surprised to hear that the IJN destroyer tree was getting expended, thinking that more effort should be in completing the Russian and German trees or bringing other nations into the game. I can't deny that I wanted Akizuki and Shirastyuyu class ships in game, but thought they would show up as premiums...

 

Takao is a ship I'm surprised we hadn't seen sooner to be honest. Her real life sister ship is already in game and if they had just made her a special edition premium version of the Atago I'm sure all the Arpreggio fans and collectors would have rained cash on wargamming.

[Historynerd]

I must say I was a bit skeptical about the Akizuki class; mainly because I felt that its guns, while a very good AA weapon, seem to be a little underwhelming in the anti-ship role, and I was unable to find any data that suggested otherwise.

[PizzaRocket]

The torpedoes are going to be a little underwhelming as well, so I'm guessing we are going to see an a-typical destroyer that has a role closer to that of cruisers.

[Urza3142]

Little White Mouse's premium reviews are amazing. Does anyone know a good set of companion guides for the standard tech tree ships?

[Fifrein]

There are some scattered around the forums, but I couldn't give you any consistent guides. You may find some useful ones on Youtube. The best advice I could give here is just watch gameplays of good games in the ships you want to learn or expect to fight. Pay attention to what the players are doing so you know what you would have to do to emulate or counter.

[PizzaRocket]

I like watching Arlios and Eurobeat, but those are mostly funtages and guides to odd premiuma...

[Procyon]

Prepare yourselves for feels...