Insta killed every time

[Winterwolf]

So.. I'm playing in the low tiers 3-4 roughly and I'd just like to know... whats the deal with Devastating strike 1 shotting me every time I look in the direction of a battleship? Every time I even see a battleship, 1 salvo and boom, I'm gone, all my health wiped. And it's usually 1 round that will do me in, the entire salvo will miss except 1 stray round and boom I'm out, full health.

This happens every time I see a battleship. They just have to tap me once. So... can someone explain this fair and balanced mechanic that they just have to land 1 shot to kill me?

[Ryuu]

Take a look here about armor, AP shells and citadel hits: https://steamcommunity.com/app/552990/discussions/0/1676938384239733183/#c1676938384239749204

Broadsiding ends badly, so when you notice a battleship aiming at you (Priority Target commander skills helps) — ideally you should be heading directly away from it. Or at least turn sharply (together with changing speed, it decreases turning radius) when you see it firing, assuming you're not too close and have time to make that turn (getting below approx. 9 km is a bad idea usually).

[Sidian]

Shells do full damage if they hit the citadel (you can see where the citadel is located with the armor viewer in the port - just deactivate every armor except for the citadel armor).

If you are in a cruiser or even battleship and show too much of your broadside, battleships have an easy time hitting your citadel multiple times with AP shells and thus dealing massive damage to you.

Cruisers are much more vulnerable to citadel hits from battleships because of their weaker armor, so try to maintain enough distance make it more difficult to hit you and use islands to block line of sight and protect your broadside.

If you want to learn more about citadels and penetration mechanics, have a look at this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe08M9VUen4

[Winterwolf]

That's the thing they aren't even hitting my citadel. The shots rake the deck and instantaneously kill me. Why won't my AP shells do the same to them even though I aim right at where their citadel should be? IDK it just seems the RNG even with the 70% reduction to my magazines exploding seems to favor the enemy battleship being able to one shot me with a glancing blow to the deck.

[Ryuu]

Originally posted by Winterwolf:

That's the thing they aren't even hitting my citadel.

You can upload replays from your \World of Warships\replays\ folder tp shpw tp everyone or even rewatch them yourself under slo-mo.

The shots rake the deck and instantaneously kill me.

Plunging fire can reach citadel as well, why not? Do you think citadel is only ever vulnerable through the sides?
http://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Gunnery_%26_Armor_Penetration#Armor-Piercing

Why won't my AP shells do the same to them even though I aim right at where their citadel should be?

Cruisers have smaller weaker guns, especially tier 3-4 ones, in my opinion they should almost never user AP shells vs battleships, only against other broadsiding cruisers. High tier cruisers can sometimes pen battleships, but again you need to know where to aim: somewhere at the waterline under turrets that are closest to the center. That's where the most thick armor is ending usually but part of citadel should be exposed. Additional bonus is that's also close to powder stores so instead of citadel hits you might cause a Detonation, which is even cooler.

Try using a battleship yourself and you'll see it's no magic and takes practice and effort too!
Actually it's a good way to learn how to play AGAINST a specific class or ship — using it at least a bit yourself, knowing its' weaknesses from the inside beforehand.

[Winterwolf]

Didn't find any replays, maybe a different folder?

Horizontal strafe across the deck, it's not arcing down its raking across ----> like that not _\_\_ The one or two that clip the outside edge of my ship tend to be the ones that kill me. Say this is the ship's hull sides (---) The battleship is firing in this direction ---> (---) and all but one miss clipping this side (---)<-- boom, dead.

Honestly then why even have battleships at low tier if cruisers or destroyers get 1 shot by battleships? Also, if I wanted to play battleship, I would and I have. It's too slow for me even though its really easy to secure kills since I can basically down any ship that isn't another battleship in 1-2 salvos. The only counter I've had issues with as battleship are torpedos, but the problem is as a destroyer or cruiser with torpedo capability I can't even get into range to unleash these sharks before getting sunk myself. I don't know, honestly this might just be a ragey rant. I'm probably going to quit because it's not fun getting 1 shot no matter how I play. What can I do against a battleship then to just not ever face them because against fellow cruisers, destroyers and even aircraft carriers I do not have a problem, the fights tend to be even and I even know how to juke aircraft payloads. The only problem I ever have is battleships and the 1 shot Devastating Strike.

[Scarecrow]

As the Mighty Jingles doth say "Broadside to a BB? ..that's a paddling."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REMMDnAHtzg

[Ryuu]

Originally posted by Winterwolf:

Didn't find any replays, maybe a different folder?

No, i'm pretty sure it's \World of Warships\replays\ for both Steam and non-Steam version and 30 last battles are recorded automatically since some version, 0.7.9 maybe.
So not sure why you're not seeing any.

Ah, also note about overmatching: "If the armor thickness is less than 1/14.3 of shell's caliber, a ricochet does not occur regardless of armor encounter angle. This phenomena is called overmatching."
At such circumstances the armor is too thin to deflect the shell and penetration occurs.
Mind that low-tier BBs dispersion is quite significant, so it's still not an automatic insta-win and takes patience and effort too. Also without that AP shells would hardly ever worth it.

If you keep away in a low-tier cruiser peppering enemy BB with a couple of other cruisers — BB shouldn't be able to deal with you all. BB is a beast that is taken out the last unless it receives a well-executed torpedo strike. BB are weak when outnumbered and without escort, since they can't hide, can't run unlike other classes.
DDs especially low-tier ones mostly rely on torpedoes therefore they're rarely spotted and shot at (i mean if they know how to play, most have torpedoes with bigger reach that their own spotting distance). And it's actually their job to deal with BBs.
Your job as a cruiser is to shoot at spotted DDs and fight cruisers directly, while avoiding BBs until they lose escort and you can gang on them.

Still consider trying out other ship classes even if you don't play to level them up yourself. It's important part of understanding BB → cruiser → DD → BB balance.


We can't change your fun, we can only explain how you're supposed to use cruisers, especially low-tier ones: squishy, with a lot of smaller rapid-firing guns.

I love rewatching this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zEh-0z58FQ

[endlessBoogie]

I had the same problems when i started with this game, especialy with level 4-6 cruisers.
Most of those don´t have the range, speed or firepower needed to fight bb in open water, but you can sit behind an island and light them up or ambush them if you got torps ready.

Just be patient and wait for the bb to make a mistake.

[Firewalk]

Cruiser gameplay is by and far the most frustrating to me, since it doesn't forgive mistakes in the slightest. It is also the reason I hesitate to go beyond tier VII in them.

Made a mistake in a BB? You usually have the HP to cut and run to heal up.

Mistake as a DD? You can speed away... usually.

Mistake as a CV? If you lost all your bombers to AA, they will refill eventually.

Mistake as a CA/CL? You are dead.

Seriously, it's reasons like these why I consider ships like the Omaha the worst in the game. That thing is a citadel with propellers attached to it.

- RA -

[Ryuu]

I truly suck at cruisers, it's my least favorite class personally, so i'm a DD main

[Sidian]

Originally posted by Winterwolf:

Honestly then why even have battleships at low tier if cruisers or destroyers get 1 shot by battleships?

Destroyers don't have a citadel. It's a "cruiser only issue". But it's not only a low tier thing. Cruisers at higher tiers might get better protection (sometimes), but battleships get better accuracy.

Originally posted by Winterwolf:

I don't know, honestly this might just be a ragey rant.

Cruisers are the most difficult ship class in the game to play well in my opinion. Unless you play a cruiser that is basically made for it (like Zao, Hindenburg, most of the french cruisers with their special citadel layout and speedboost consumable), fighting battleships in the open sea is almost suicidal as a cruiser.
You have to be aware of your positioning and use islands to your advantage to block vision (players need to be able to lock on a target in order to shoot over islands) and/or the shells themselves.

However, that does not mean that cruisers are weak. Cruisers are beasts if you can master them (with the exception of german cruisers, they suck imo :P). Light cruisers (with 152mm guns) need the IFHE skill (+30% penetration with HE shells) to be effective against battleships and other cruisers at t8+ though.

I'd like to leave you the replay of the best match i had with the Cleveland. It's not my best cruiser game and not representative of how a Cleveland game usually turns out, but it demonstrates really well how to make use of islands as cover, how to use concealment well, when to hold your fire (e.g. don't fire if you are not spotted and battleships are pointing their guns at your position, only waiting for you to be visibile again) and so on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpIoVc0N35c

[Sadoone]

also in my minotaur, bbs look at me and boom... gone, oh wait.. nvm, armor.
try to find out which ships can overmatch your frontal armor and deck armor.

[B_Wald]

Only use AP shells against a ship of similar displacement to your own. Using AP against a smaller ship will over-penetrate, passing right through the enemy ship without really damaging anything. Using them on a larger ship will get penetrations but won't cause much damage (100-500 pts at most).

Even with an appropriate target, you only want to use AP at close range, <6 km for BBs. Plunging fire with AP shells is only effective if you score a citadel hit. Additionally, AP shells almost never cause fires.

[Firewalk]

Originally posted by B_Wald:

Additionally, AP shells almost never cause fires.

They in fact never start fires. They also damage modules far less frequently, requiring accurate hits to damage them.

- RA -

[endlessBoogie]

Originally posted by B_Wald:

Only use AP shells against a ship of similar displacement to your own. Using AP against a smaller ship will over-penetrate, passing right through the enemy ship without really damaging anything. Using them on a larger ship will get penetrations but won't cause much damage (100-500 pts at most).

ever used usn 203mm guns or russian dd guns at under 8 km for instance?