World of Warships: General Quarters!

[Otomodachi]

Oh yeah, people on average are really apologetic if a torpedo hits a friendly, as long as it wasn't deliberate. It's just one of those things that's out of your control once it's in the water. This guy was pretty deliberate, though. Right out of the gate he made a beeline for me, pulled up right along side and launched torpedoes. Thankfully, that was the first time I've seen one of these people in my time playing it, so that's pretty good I think.

Spoiler: There's no way this was an accidental launch.

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Curse you, Systemrename9935!!!!!!11111

[Sean Mirrsen]

Pah. I can't for the life of me figure out how to properly play the Furutaka. I was never a good shot with long-range guns, and combined with decent speed I can't restrain myself from going destroyer-hunting like I used to do in the Tenryu and the Kuma. She feels a lot more like the Myogi, a smaller, faster, weaker battleship. And I had no luck at all with battleships. Aside from that one time I was the last one afloat in a Kawachi and survived dodging another battleship and 1.2 torpedo-bomber squadrons (one full, one down to 1 plane) until our side won by points.

And hello, I'm also playing this here game. Started on the locally appropriate RU server, experimentally moved to the EU server to see if there's any differences, and so far staying there. SeanMirrsen is the ingame name. Currently moving up the IJN cruiser line, working to get some more upgrades on the Furutaka. Seriously considering moving her commander back to the Kuma he started on, and getting him enough XP to get the Last Stand skill. Because I have the worst luck with shot-out rudders, and can't fortify both the engine and the rudder with upgrades.

[Brother Oni]

Pah. I can't for the life of me figure out how to properly play the Furutaka. I was never a good shot with long-range guns, and combined with decent speed I can't restrain myself from going destroyer-hunting like I used to do in the Tenryu and the Kuma. She feels a lot more like the Myogi, a smaller, faster, weaker battleship.

The Kuma and below are Light Cruisers, thus play like bigger destroyer gunboats. The Furutaka is the first Heavy Cruiser you encounter on the Japanese cruiser line and as you've noticed it plays very differently - she doesn't really hunt destroyers as her 203s don't have a high enough ROF, plus over-penetration is an issue, but she fends off other cruisers from getting close enough to burn down your battleships with HE.

I tend to sit at about 12km, using AP on any enemy cruisers (or torps if they're trying to close - I think the Furutaka is the only ship to get 10km torps at tier 5 theses days) while switching to HE if destroyers or battleships present themselves.
Bear in mind that you're kinda squishy, so try not to present your broadside to enemy ships for too long. I definitely recommend having a separate commander for the Furutaka and above as CAs and CLs play very differently.

I find using the queue up ammo function quite useful if you're expecting to change targets, but being able to hit targets at about 10-15km is the bread and butter of cruisers. If you're having problem with that, I suggest getting some practice in - have you tried using the range ruler while zoomed in to help lead your shots?

As an example of what a Furutaka can do post patch a few months ago:

Spoiler: Furutaka rocking out

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[mangosta71]

Bear in mind that you're kinda squishy, so try not to present your broadside to enemy ships for too long.

The importance of this sentence cannot be overstated. I was driving my New Mexico last night and oneshotted a Cleveland and a Furutaka on consecutive salvos because they turned broadside to me (3 citadels on the Cleveland, 2 citadels + 3 other hits on the Furutaka).

[Sean Mirrsen]

The Kuma and below are Light Cruisers, thus play like bigger destroyer gunboats. The Furutaka is the first Heavy Cruiser you encounter on the Japanese cruiser line and as you've noticed it plays very differently - she doesn't really hunt destroyers as her 203s don't have a high enough ROF, plus over-penetration is an issue, but she fends off other cruisers from getting close enough to burn down your battleships with HE.

The ROF is a letdown, yes. Upgrading the main battery helps a bit, but four shots a minute is still very slow for my liking. :P
I ended up not caving in to my desire for a slightly-faster-shooting mini-battleship and decided to upgrade the accuracy instead of the firing rate, with the tier V upgrade slot. Hope it'll help.

I tend to sit at about 12km, using AP on any enemy cruisers (or torps if they're trying to close - I think the Furutaka is the only ship to get 10km torps at tier 5 theses days) while switching to HE if destroyers or battleships present themselves.
Bear in mind that you're kinda squishy, so try not to present your broadside to enemy ships for too long. I definitely recommend having a separate commander for the Furutaka and above as CAs and CLs play very differently.

Well she maneuvers reasonably well with the B hull and up, at least. And when people can't get at her citadel or just decide to pour on the HE, she can take a surprisingly heavy beating. Unless somebody gets a hit on the rudder, which happens all too often and at all too frustrating times for me. :P

I find using the queue up ammo function quite useful if you're expecting to change targets, but being able to hit targets at about 10-15km is the bread and butter of cruisers. If you're having problem with that, I suggest getting some practice in - have you tried using the range ruler while zoomed in to help lead your shots?

It's not leading the targets sideways that's often the problem, it's getting the range right. And actually hitting things, with the RNG-driven shot spread. At shorter ranges you can at least be reasonably sure you'll hit where you're aiming. This is a problem I find that happens all the time for me with all battleships and, apparently, battleship-like cruisers like the Furutaka - I can't seem to land hits reliably at the range they're best at, and the fire rate is too frustratingly slow, so I try to get into the more comfortable direct-fire range and get blasted in return. >_>

At least the Furutaka has six turrets instead of three, so there's more of a leeway in terms of firing ranging shots. And the reload time means you don't need to hurry to fire off the whole salvo.

[Abemad]

Try using the alternate battle interface, it helps landing shots (although you still need to guess the speed and direction of your target). It does take a lot of training, but once you have it you can reliably hit any ship moving in a straight line.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Try using the alternate battle interface, it helps landing shots (although you still need to guess the speed and direction of your target). It does take a lot of training, but once you have it you can reliably hit any ship moving in a straight line.

The alternate battle interface is literally a permanently stuck 'alt' key. :P
It's even called that in the settings file. I'd really rather prefer an option to make the alt-interface a toggle.

And I'm slowly getting the hang of the Fururaka, I guess. Still losing badly, but at least doing damage in the process. Highlight of the day was getting so tangled in a gunfight that I scored the Double Strike achievement for gunning down a cruiser and 'killing' a destroyer that was all kinds of on fire and decided that it'd have more luck ramming me than launching even more torpedoes. I got the Die-Hard achievement for that, too. :P

[mangosta71]

What I really want is an option to toggle the automatic steering off. I get really annoyed when I'm trying to hug an island to set an ambush or slide through a narrow channel, and the game suddenly decides to throw the rudder in one direction. Or when I'd rather run aground and throw the ship into reverse than be unable to bring half of my turrets to bear on my target...

[Sean Mirrsen]

What I really want is an option to toggle the automatic steering off. I get really annoyed when I'm trying to hug an island to set an ambush or slide through a narrow channel, and the game suddenly decides to throw the rudder in one direction. Or when I'd rather run aground and throw the ship into reverse than be unable to bring half of my turrets to bear on my target...

You... can, actually. At least, that's what I'm assuming the little option labeled "Collision Avoidance System" in the Controls section of the settings does.

[mangosta71]

Well, I feel stupid now. I've been looking for that option for weeks...

[AdmiralCheez]

Oh yeah, that discovery was one of the best I've made in this game. If I want to ram an island, I'll ram an island! No helmsman is going to override me!

[Brother Oni]

Well she maneuvers reasonably well with the B hull and up, at least. And when people can't get at her citadel or just decide to pour on the HE, she can take a surprisingly heavy beating. Unless somebody gets a hit on the rudder, which happens all too often and at all too frustrating times for me. :P

Last Stand helps, although it's a fair way up the commander tree.

It's not leading the targets sideways that's often the problem, it's getting the range right. And actually hitting things, with the RNG-driven shot spread. At shorter ranges you can at least be reasonably sure you'll hit where you're aiming. This is a problem I find that happens all the time for me with all battleships and, apparently, battleship-like cruisers like the Furutaka - I can't seem to land hits reliably at the range they're best at, and the fire rate is too frustratingly slow, so I try to get into the more comfortable direct-fire range and get blasted in return. >_>

At least the Furutaka has six turrets instead of three, so there's more of a leeway in terms of firing ranging shots. And the reload time means you don't need to hurry to fire off the whole salvo.

A rule of thumb I have is to line up the crosshairs parallel to their waterline, then adjust for lead and whether I want to try and citadel them or burn their superstructure. Make sure that you're locked onto them as that affects dispersion apparently.

You're still at the hands of the RNG though, but I try to remember the good (accurate shots with citadels) when the bad rolls round (bracketing everything in sight).

As mentioned earlier, CAs have slower, more measured gameplay than the seat of the pants driving, rapid fire dakka of CLs and destroyers - if the latter is what you prefer, then try looking into high tier Russian and US DDs or staying with CLs for now.
I believe that they're proposing to split some of the cruiser lines into CAs and CLs, but that's way down the line in terms of game development (remember how long it took WoT to get British tanks and even longer to get all the famous ones like the Sherman Firefly?).


With regard to the Alternate Battle Interface, it's possible to turn it on permanently by editing the .ini file (not sure whether it's in the options yet), but I don't think they've implemented a toggle option yet.

[mangosta71]

Yes, there is an option to turn the alternate interface on.

And yeah, the RNG can be a major bitch. Over the weekend I fired one of my Kongo's turrets and the shells bracketed the cruiser I was targeting lengthwise.

And yes, Last Stand is a great skill, especially for DDs since any shell landing within half a mile of them blows up their engines and/or rudders. My Hatsuharu was maintaining about 25 knots with her engine knocked out, which tells me that you have about 75% functionality even with the component damaged.

[Sean Mirrsen]

Okay, so. I just spent a few hours trying to get some progress done with my Myogi back on the RU server. Apparently the best advice for me regarding playing battleships is "Do not play battleships. Ever. No, not even then."

Basically, I have the absolute worst luck playing anything with a range over 12 km and a reload time longer than 15 seconds. Give or take a few in either category. >_>
AP or HE shells, alt interface or no, with or without the spotter aircraft for extra perspective, I am just downright terrible at getting those guns do any kind of damage appropriate to their hideous rate of fire.

In my experience, it seems battleships in WoWs are like nuclear weapons. Oh, they will very much murderize the hell out of anything you hit with them square on. But I have about as much chance of squarely hitting something with them, as I have the chances of randomly guessing the nuclear launch codes.

edit: Although when the RNG is merciful, it can lead to moments like just now, aka "I wish I had enabled replay recording already".

Small tier 3-5 match on the Solomon Islands, I think Domination (whichever it is with just two capture points). Spent the first half of the battle staying at our point B, plinking uselessly at battleships and cruisers at the edges of effective range, dealt maybe 5k damage total. Rest of the team shows signs of losing horribly, we're down to a cruiser and three battleships, enemy team has two cruisers more and a destroyer, and all allies on the left side are sunk, enemy moving in. I notice the friendly cruiser inching towards point A, with an enemy Wyoming at about half HP tearing it up, so I go into the center gap and into the enemy point. Take lots of fire (literally) from the advancing cruisers as I clear the tall center island, and I can't fire back at them because I'm swinging the guns around to face the Wyoming. Firing full broadside into his bow as he approaches, insignificant damage. Swell. He turns to broadside me as I reload, and I turn towards him so the same thing repeats from the other side, meager damage to me at most. I got only the one turret facing him now, so just the two shells he proceeds to eat. I'm not sure what the second shell hit, because the first struck directly amidships at the waterline, taking all of his remaining health with it, or enough of it that the second shell finished him off. Alright! :D

So now I'm in point A, capturing, but the enemy is doing the same to our point - and since they were in our point first and have more ships, they're going to get ours before I get theirs. The two remaining battleships on the right side of the map somehow finished off an enemy destroyer and another battleship, so the only enemies remaining are in our point, and have their undivided attention. Unfortunately, they're not firing at the cruiser with all the capture points, since it's smart and further away from them, and directly behind the tall center mountain/island from me, even if still in my range. Our point is nearly captured, we're going to lose at this rate, and I'm nothing if not silly, so I decide to take a blind potshot, at the cruiser in our cap point, completely blind, over the mountain. Alt-estimated the range by pointing the binoculars over water to the side of the mountain, moved the reticle directly over to the cruiser's visible icon, and fired off the whole salvo.

Six shells, their arc barely bringing them over the slope. One hit the mountain. TWO hit the cruiser. (:o) Of them ONE hit the cruiser's CITADEL. (:O)

No, it didn't kill that cruiser, sadly, that would have been even more epic. Just reset the capture progress on our point almost all the way back. But I still a good chunk of experience for successfully pulling that win off. :D

[Brother Oni]

I've found a code for NA and EU servers (sorry RU and SEA) that gives you a day's premium and 5 of each flag: WOWSALIENWARE

Enter the code via the appropriate website portal for your region:

EU: https://eu.wargaming.net/shop/bonus/
NA: https://na.wargaming.net/shop/bonus/

Edit: Also found this new player invite code (EU server, judging from the URL): https://eu.alienwarearena.com/giveaw...k-key-giveaway, with just under 5,000 keys left at time of this edit.

[Abemad]

The code you posted doesn't work for me, BUT, you can get one here https://eu.alienwarearena.com/giveaw...e-key-giveaway (not the starter pack, but a give-away)


*edit* Well, I also got the code WOWSALIENWARE, so I guess that everyone gets that code, but it only worked for the first 5000 who used it at the wargaming site (which weren't the first 5000 at the alienware site...)

[Sean Mirrsen]

Got myself a carrier, the IJN tier IV Hosho. Primarily because there's a three-stage mission that requires shooting down 30 planes in its second stage, and I kinda want to see if I can complete all three.

Carrier gameplay is... sadly frustrating. Primarily, for just one stupid reason. Wargaming turned carrier gameplay into an RTS, and forgot to give the player RTS camera controls. I mean, specifically, post-2007 RTS camera controls, where you can naturally zoom in or out of the map however you please. As it is, the maximum zoom-out available has you looking at a tiny sector of the map, and the view does not even automatically transition to the Tactical Map when you try to zoom out further. (It would've been a poor but acceptable substitute to free zoom, and it's especially strange that it's not there considering the inverse - zooming in from the tactical map - indeed does work.) Also Shift is used both to queue up multiple waypoints, and to transition between the top-down and the third-person views, leading to extra headaches, and the squadron selector hotkeys can be unresponsive.

Aside from that source of frustration, and somewhat convoluted squadron controls overall, I do find it somewhat of a fresh experience in WoWs. Actually scored a kill on a cruiser in my second match, and annoyed a battleship with a few torpedoes. Neat.

[mangosta71]

Go USN CV if you want/need air kills. The air superiority load options from the Bogue on are great, and even without upgrades USN fighters spank the crap out of IJN.

[Brother Oni]

Go USN CV if you want/need air kills. The air superiority load options from the Bogue on are great, and even without upgrades USN fighters spank the crap out of IJN.

Coming from an IJN carrier driver, I completely second this.

[GloatingSwine]

And then you get to the USS Midway and can arbitrarily delete anything you want from the game because unless all the enemies shelter together for cover their AA is nowhere near good enough to stop you.

[Sean Mirrsen]

I seem to have warmed up to the Furutaka. It coincided with me warming up to IJN battleships in general.

Playing like a faster, flimsier, torpedo-armed battleship rather than like a heavier and slower-firing cruiser, actually brings decent results, and I've had a number of good battles with it. It can even tango with battleships, especially at closer range where you can sink them very quickly with torpedoes.

I've also had some very fun - or at least amusing - games with the Hosho. The matchmaker refuses to set me opposite of another IJN carrier, and I always have to fight against the superior numbers of Langley carrier fighters. Which gave rise to a particular semi-suicidal strategy of using the carrier itself as a mobile anti-air emplacement, just driving it closer to the battlefield and deploying the bombers from short distance so they can be pulled back into the carrier's AA range if enemy fighters show up.
This one last fight I even had to kill a destroyer - an Izyaslav - with my secondary batteries, all the while dodging barrage after barrage of torpedoes it was sending up my stern (and orchestrating torpedo runs on a Wyoming that was taking our control point). IJN carriers are surprisingly nimble when they have to move.

[Leon]

Im going to have to DL the Asia Version and see if it likes having a server closer to home since its nigh on impossible to play otherwise

[Sean Mirrsen]

Im going to have to DL the Asia Version and see if it likes having a server closer to home since its nigh on impossible to play otherwise

No need to download their version! There's a mod that allows you to play on all servers with one install, you just need to make separate accounts on the servers you want to play on.

Paste this file into the res_mods folder of your install, into the subfolder named the same as the current version.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...pts_config.xml

All this does is add the server addresses for the NA, EU, RU, and EA servers to the login drop-down menu.

[mangosta71]

"Upgrading" to the Fuso from the Kongo is painful. Detected from almost 20km, range is only 13. And 10 knots slower. Killed by a New Mexico; couldn't even get close enough to return fire.

[Yana]

Happy belated New Year to my fellow captains!

To those who weren't in the know already, Wargaming is holding an event for the next two months: http://worldofwarships.com/en/news/c...e-steel-debut/

The summary for those who don't click the link are as follows: from now until March 1st, you have the opportunity to earn two premium ships: The ARP Kongo (T5 BB) and the ARP Myoko (T7 CA). Best get started now though as the requirements for them are slightly onerous.

ARP Kongo Requirements (You need a t5 ship to accomplish these missions):
Stage 1: Kill 30 Cruisers
Stage 2: Shoot down 150 planes
Stage 3: Deal 1,000,000 damage.

ARP Myoko Requirements (t6 ship reqired):
Stage 1: Kill 30 Destroyers
Stage 2: Set fire to 300 ships (not sure if it's 300 different ships, or 300 different fires)
Stage 3: Deal 1,000,000 damage.

[mangosta71]

Damn, I thought it ended on January 3, so I spent two entire days doing nothing but playing WoWS to grind out the Kongo. Apparently I didn't need to rush, but it's a beautiful ship. I'd written off the Myoko as DDs are hard enough to find, let alone land a killing blow if anyone else on your team is within gun range, but with 2 more months surely I can find another 18 (I think) DDs to kill. Of course, if t5 ship kills counted, I'd have about twice as many now...

Also, after getting the hull upgrades for the Fuso, I have changed my opinion of it. Even just the first one; that increases its gun range from 13.2km to 19.8 so you can at least shoot back at the things targeting you. The second, along with the fire control upgrade, really lets you reach out and touch people.

[Brother Oni]

Some nights, nothing seems to go right (got 1 win out of about 10 last night), then everything just seems to click into place with a bit of luck:

Spoiler: I love it when they drive in straight lines

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Base XP of 2635.

Now back to grinding for the Myoko and Kongo...

[Brother Oni]

ARP Kongo Requirements (You need a t5 ship to accomplish these missions):
Stage 1: Kill 30 Cruisers
Stage 2: Shoot down 150 planes
Stage 3: Deal 1,000,000 damage.

ARP Myoko Requirements (t6 ship reqired):
Stage 1: Kill 30 Destroyers
Stage 2: Set fire to 300 ships (not sure if it's 300 different ships, or 300 different fires)
Stage 3: Deal 1,000,000 damage.

Interestingly enough, I found the hardest part of these quest to be the first stage. Once you've cleared that, the other stages are a doddle: shooting down 150 planes is possible even in an IJN CV, since matchmaking will always put you up against an enemy CV and those 10 or so planes you get per match all add up in the end (better than hoping you get a CV when you're driving a Cleveland anyway). ARP Myoko Stage 2 is 300 separate fires, so just burn everything in sight and you'll get there.

If you can clear Stage 1, Stage 3 is just a matter of time, just how quickly it goes - I'm averaging ~31K damage per game according to my profile, so it's not impossible and if you drive a tier 6, you get to do both mission chains simultaneously.


How are people finding the pearl hunt for Project R? Even if I clear all the outstanding non-weekly missions (I'm not too sure I can be bothered with the tier 2/3/4 frags), it still leaves me 2 full weekly mission sets short of 260 and I'm dubious that the event will last that long, even if the mods think that the rate of pearl gain will drop towards the end.
On the plus side, if we do get another 2 sets of weekly missions, you won't have to do all the non-weekly missions, assuming you haven't missed any from earlier.

[otakuryoga]

took a break from tanks to give this a try
like it
BUT...after playing with no problems for a week or so I suddenly find myself viewlocked everytime I enter battle
cant see anything on minimap and viewpoint is locked looking straight ahead from above/behind ship spawn point..so I cn steer if I stay close...but cant aim at anything

upon exiting said battles it informs me that wows performed a fatal error

[Brother Oni]

took a break from tanks to give this a try
like it
BUT...after playing with no problems for a week or so I suddenly find myself viewlocked everytime I enter battle
cant see anything on minimap and viewpoint is locked looking straight ahead from above/behind ship spawn point..so I cn steer if I stay close...but cant aim at anything

upon exiting said battles it informs me that wows performed a fatal error

Yeah the game is a little buggy. Some people have the black screen error when entering a match (all they can see is the chat and ship interface UI), which typically requires a restart.

I get a cursor offset error (it's actually about 2 cm below where it appears on the screen) that an Alt-Tab out and back in fixes.