Telastyn

I'm unicum in most CVs and didn't know about it. Or rather, I knew about the immunity but only used it inadvertently when chaining strikes.

Except those bombers only get 7k vs a quarter of your enemies in a normal game, and the flood chance on torps is pitiful. The only time she is one of the strongest t8s is when you're paired down and can just hammer away at Queen Elizabeths and loner Bismarcks.

The just before rework GZ was hilariously, laughably overpowered. The just after rework GZ was... pretty strong but challenging to play. Once I got my aim down with TB I could pretty comfortably do 100k and at times get ~30 hits when top tier. The dive bombers were decent because the targeting was more consistent once you got a feel for the drop angles, and the fighters were good as far as fighters go (because you could fire, turn, fire again on same target) even if they did less damage and were just as RNGy. But the planes still were still weak. So if you couldn't dodge flak, you lost a squadron. If you flew anywhere near a mino, you lost a squadron. You lost planes to pretty much anything so had to pick your targets and get out fast (just like today). Then they (rightfully) nerfed return to carrier which was vital to all of those "lose a squadron" scenarios. Then fighters got slower targeting so they couldn't target dds effectively or the same target (assuming they lived), and the dive bombers had their targeting and damage nerfed. And then torp bombers had increased targeting time, and decreased damage, and then the flooding change happened, and then the torp damage got nerfed again (and the rocket damage buffed). So the skill tests are still there but not the rewards. These days I don't even take her out. All the work dodging flak and picking targets and aiming torps gets me 55k as bottom tier (which is almost all the time as tier 8) unless I can catch a yammy or kurfurst and flood them. The Lex, Implacable, or even Shokaku are easier to play and yield nearly double the damage. It's sad, but the way things are.

At this point it is just a bad ship. The bombers are fairly fast, and the ship itself is tough with good self defense armament. But the planes are fragile and their damage has been nerfed to hell. Fast means you can outrun some fighters and scout well, but tier X (and most IX and even US VII-VIII) guaranteed AA damage just melts them. I am so sorry for your purchase.

Only have the GZ, but as others have mentioned, she's terrible now. Fragile planes with nerfed everything. Low damage torps with low flood% (and decreased flood damage because of that rework) along with long aim time, few rockets with long aim time and so-so dispersion, and AP bombs that are... fine? I mean you don't get DoT and can't effectively damage dds or most US BBs and your planes die more than most because the planes' short bomb run means the "attacking damage reduction" only applies after you've flown through 3km of flak. The rework means she can't even brawl amusingly anymore since you can't control repair and lost sonar and can't drive the ship effectively.

Yeah sorry, an 8% difference isn't a "Why bother" game. That's pretty much standard for WoWS matchmaker. Come back when a 20% difference team overcomes.

Yes, my GZ captain runs adrenaline rush, BFT, AFT, concealment (and a bunch of plane boosts). It was far more effective pre-rework when I could actually move and shoot and use planes on attacking ships (and before the concealment nerf) (and before the GZ lost its hydro). These days its fragile planes get nuked by anything nearby during takeoff since they can't dodge flak while taking off. But still, it helps me play closer to the battle (reducing flight times, aiding friendlies with AA and tanking) and will usually kick in 5-10k if needed. Not that it matters, since it's uncompetitive now after all the nerfs.

75% of games or so (at tiers 8+ US Pacific evenings)? Even the merely good divs get disproportionate WR from improved focus fire and combined AA. It's not quite to the level where you need a 3div to be competitive, but there's certainly daily auto-loss (and occasionally auto-win) matchups.

oh, and one other tip for the Furious: You know how torpedo bombers "dip" when they start their run, which you can use to dodge flak? The Furious' dive bombers get the same trick, though they dip upwards. (Other CVs' bombers go up a little, but they still get plastered by flak)

The torpedoes do like 4500 damage each against most BBs, more against things with weak torp protection. They also aim quick, have a tight spread and a fast arm time meaning you can use them against lighter targets once you get a feel for the targeting. They are your bread and butter. Find a loner with weak AA and just hammer them with torps. Repeat as able. The bombers are finicky and kind of meh. The biggest thing to note is that the targeting reticle is where the bombing run starts. You get another 10s or so of time to drop, so start the run sooner than you might expect. The bombs suck, but you get 6 of them and they have a ~30% fire chance. Good to punish ships that use their damage control fighting your surface ships. Also they seem to take a bit of punishment. The rocket planes are fine. Standard faire - low pen, low fire chance, a pain to target. Useful to spot and deliver fighters and when you've run out of better planes.

They aren't immune during the attack run, but the "duck" as they begin the run means you avoid the AI flak that thought you were flying straight. Even nerfed the torps do decent damage if you can land a bunch of them. Parked/backing up Yamatos, Izumos are good targets. GK because it's so long. Even Monty or Iowa/Missouri if you can use islands for cover during the attack run (or if you are lacking better targets and are willing to lose all your planes). But as others have mentioned, the dive bombers are its bread and butter.

There was a learning curve 200 or so games ago, though I got a head start during beta (even though feedback was ignored). I know what ships to attack, which to ignore... I can land my shots. And still can't do much with the GZ in it's present state.

So I played with other CVs, just to make sure I hadn't forgotten how to play. 115k in Lexington, 104k in Furious, (edit: 102k in shokaku), 3 more games in GZ for 65k average - even kicking in secondary damage and fires. It's no longer competitive.

Aww yeah, 6 games, 59k average damage! Feel that nerf! Time to play some apex I guess.

Yeah, some CVs' rockets are fine. GZ planes have few "hard hitting" rockets, which means they rarely hit dds, do better damage against cruisers (if the cruisers didn't shred them first), and can penetrate BBs that you should be using other planes against.