AbyssAngkor

Hidden within her bosoms.

Except Hayate is fits none of these reasons. Yahagi is a garbage ship but has her charms. She is a historic vessel that appeared in games and anime. And WG for sure did not charge $320 (or equivalent cost in dubs and fxp) for that ship. And if you are going to use a random anime girl who shares the same namesake as the reason for purchase then she is sure as heck not worth 2m FXP.

I'm not saying that WG should make every ship accessible to everyone. I'm saying that 2m FXP for Hayate is overinflated for a ship that offers no real benefits over F2P tech tree ships. If someone sold a 2005, albeit brand-new, Honda Civic for $25,000, would you buy it? Of course not. Is it accessible to every buyer? Arguably no, because it isn't priced for the average buyer. It doesn't offer anything that newer models don't have and it's way too overpriced. Look at the Smaland, same price as Hayate, but why did it not generate any concerns? Because the Smaland offers unique game play compared to Halland, namely the ability to counter-radar enemy DDs. Smaland can be played aggressively in conjunction with teammates that carry smokescreens. It is a ship that's worth 2m fxp. Hayate offers nothing over Shimakaze or Harugumo. It fills either role poorly because it is basically an uptiered Yugumo with worse concealment. It is the Honda Civic that nobody would buy for $25,000.

Not everyone can make time to play clan battles because of time zones or work schedule. And not everyone wins every clan battle because certain hurricane clans use their B teams to club lower leagues... The issue ppl have isn't the resource cost, but the inflation of fxp cost. Several ppl have pointed out that despite sitting on 2-3m fxp, they are reluctant at buying an inflated fxp price tag for a mediocre ship (with no increased economic bonuses, poor concealment, and offer no unique game play). The price jump between T9 and T10 is just way too high to justify unless: A. It's price-gated for whales and unicum only. B. It's straight up price gouging by WG. That, is why the community is upset.

No. IFHE is needed at T6/7 152mm guns if you want to shoot at T6/7 battleships. They have 25mm pen, but BBs have 26mm armor. Take IFHE if you want to wreck BBs, but you give up half your base fire chance. Very useful in small competitive settings such as Ranked. Please brush up on your research first.

No one likes to have their favorite ship nerfed. I get it. But there are good reasons behind the IFHE change. IFHE was a no-brainer skill for far too many ships in the game. It offered too much benefits for little cost. Some ships live and die by it. Some ships were in need of rebalancing. Light cruisers were far too effective at damage output compared to heavy cruisers (which defeats the purpose of heavy cruisers). Clearly define the role between light and heavy cruisers. Light cruisers have less protection than heavy cruisers, but are better at setting fires and doing damage against lighter foes. Heavy cruisers are better protected and can stand against some BB shells with proper angling. Smolensk. Smolensk was the one ship designed with IFHE in mind (only 1% fire chance penalty, able to melt T10 heavy cruisers with IFHE). Needless to say, it wasn't a fun ship to play against. If you gave Helena 1.3x pen with IFHE (+30%), you basically undo reasons 1, 2, and 3. No one likes being melted by HE that ignores armor values.

You can sink those 4 points into plenty of skills, not necessarily a 4th row skill. JoAT, Superintendent, Expert loader, Radio Location are good skill to have. You can even pick Survival Expert or High Alert to extend your limited health (you lack a heal against fire and flooding damage). Yes, T6/7 152mm guns can't pen T8 BB bow and aft even with IFHE, this means: Fire build is the more viable choice (which was my original point). You can still farm BB superstructures (which is where 90% of the shells land when you shoot at a BB from any range farther than you can spit). By competitive, I mean that a CL build skipping IFHE is just as effective as a straight IFHE build. You give up the ability to pen certain parts of a small group of ships, in exchange for a massive increase in fire chance and 4 additional points to put into utility and survival. Staying alive longer or being able to assist teammates with ready consumables could be far more valuable in-game contributions than simply farming HE damage on BBs. Setting several ships on fire and watching them run away in panic is also a great way to give your team map control (plus it inflates your damage numbers). Yes, the 100mm have ridiculous pen for their shell size. But from a game balance perspective it makes sense. Before IFHE change, 100mm guns had 24mm pen, 32mm with IFHE. This means you absolutely needed IFHE for 100mm gunboats just to pen cruisers that carry 25mm plating (which was all of T8s, minus RN CLs). After IFHE change, 100mm guns had 30mm pen, 37 with IFHE. This means you can effectively skip IFHE because 30mm is the threshold for all T8+ cruiser deck plating (except Moskva, Kronstadt, Stalingrad). You still need IFHE to pen BB extremities, but have to give up 2.5% fire chance instead of 1%. Again, the 100mm guns are balanced under the intention that IFHE should only be a skill for captains that encounter specific circumstances (IFHE Henri IV to counter Stalingrad, for instance), not a "must-pick-or-my-ship-sucks" skill.

@CRZY_TRAIN This. OP, you need to listen to good players and their advice. The old IFHE was a problem because it was a must pick skill with minimum penalties for light cruisers against same tier cruisers. So in response, WG changed HE pen so that light cruisers would only need it against same or higher tier BBs. To further diversify builds, WG made sure that by picking IFHE, 152mm cruisers had to give up a significant chuck of their fire chance for it, as it should have been from the start. So now, fire build is much more competitive with IFHE build for 152mm cruisers. Consider the change a buff for light cruisers as it frees up 4 points to drop into other useful skills. On a side note, I found that fire build is much better for 100mm IJN DDs. Very easy to set upwards of 14~16 fires per game if played right.

Kinda makes your point moot, coming from a reroll account. One should not cast stones in a house of glass.

Right, but you can't do this without serious risk to yourself as the spotting DD. And you can't possibly do it from spawn.

Too little drawback for too much gain. Cruisers do not need yet another way to get rekt by their natural counter. Juliet Charlie flag nullifies the penalty.

It's not the CV that kills you, it's the spotting. This is how WG wants to close the skill gap and make CV popular. Normally a potato captain would be useless in any other ship, but put him on a CV and watch him contribute to kills just by circling over a target. This is the same exploit 899 Musashi divs use. Thus the dumbing down of the meta continues.

Post a replay. You're only inviting apathy and cynicism when you put up a whine thread. CV players have to strike a balance between plane conservation and damage contribution. It's easy to fall into an overly aggressive early game, only to struggle in the mid to late game when your planes are depleted. Yes, CVs can regen planes, but your effectiveness as a strike platform leans heavily on the number of aircraft you can put into the air. Yet at the same time, you want to be useful to your team by actively scouting and keeping track of enemy ships. CVs become more efficient as the game progresses, whether by destruction of AA mounts or by enemy ships being stretched thin. Never fixate on one target unless you are sure you can deliver a killing blow. Always look for targets of opportunity: the pushing BB, the camping CA, the capping DD. You should always be scanning the battlefield and ask, "If I was the enemy, what would I do to get an advantage in the next minute?" Your job is to not let them do that. Remember, CV is not a carry ship, but a force multiplier. Always keep your team in mind and provide them with spotting, air cover, and zoning. You are essentially the support character, not the DPS or the tank.

Cruisers in WOWS have very distinct flavors. These are just some general overviews. You have to play them to figure out their individual quirks. American, light - high rate of fire, high shell arcs. Primarily HE spammers with light armor. Ideal support cruisers with wide variety of consumables. Excellent anti-aircraft platforms. American, heavy - average rate of fire (until T10). AP shells from American 203mm guns have improved bounce angles and penetration. Access to "superheavy" 203mm AP shells at tier 8, characterized by their excellent penetration but long flight times. Good armor when bow-on. Has radar at high tiers. Japanese, heavy - slow rate of fire compensated by extremely tight dispersion. Improved HE damage and fire chance. Ideal long range snipers and HE slingers. Excellent concealment allows flanking and ambush attacks. Lacks radar, but possess powerful long range torpedoes. Best when kiting enemies and luring them into unsuspecting torpedoes. German, light/heavy - improved HE penetration compensates for low HE damage and fire chance. High AP damage on broadside targets, even against battleships. Weak armor at low tiers, good brawlers at high tiers. Starting at T8, cruisers of this line become extremely difficult to citadel at close range due to turtleback armor scheme. Vulnerable at long range, however. Possess improved, longer ranged hydroaccoustics and numerous short ranged torpedoes. Ideal for brawling. Russian, light - long range HE spammers up until tier 10. Extremely high velocity guns allow for ease of aiming with very flat shell trajectories. Very high shell penetration despite carrying smaller caliber guns. (Especially 180mm guns) Weak armor compensated by high rate of fire combined with extremely long range radar. Radar range exceeds concealment range at high tiers. Bane of destroyers. French, light/heavy - exceptionally fast with speed boost consumable. Primarily long range HE spammers. Tier 10 possess 240mm guns which can bully some light cruisers of same and lower tiers. High burst damage with reload booster active. Spaced armor profile can sometimes result in 0 damage penetrations from enemy AP shells. UK, light - unique AP shells that arm quickly, even against thin armor plates. Improved AP pen angles. Ideal destroyer hunters when equipped with radar, very powerful defensive unit against enemy pushes when equipped with smokescreen. Possess "single fire" torpedoes to lock down choke points. Lacks HE shells and very weak armor. Has improved repair party. UK, heavy - medium range fire support. Slow rate of fire. Boast the same improved repair party as their light cruiser cousins. Spaced armor profile grants better protection against AP shells. High durability at the cost of damage ceiling and consumable utility. Lacks radar. Italian, heavy - unique SAP shells that pack more power than conventional AP shells. Ideal against destroyers and broadside battleships. Very high velocity guns allows for shorter target leads, great for long range shooting. Possess unique "fuel smoke" ability that conceals the ship for a short time, even at max speed. High top speed and able to make surprisingly tight turns (very sports car-like). Lacks HE but possess long range torpedoes. Only cruiser line unable to mount hydroaccoustics. So, pick your poison. My recommendations are: Team play: American, British light, or Russian. (Radar, AA) Aggression: Japanese, German, Italian. (Alpha damage) Hit and run: French, Italian or Japanese (Mobility and long range torps) Tanking: British heavy, Russian heavy* *Russian heavies are WIP, but they are essentially immune to most AP shells when bow-tanking thanks to their 50mm icebreaker bow and main deck.

One of the best 1v1 ships of T8. You play GZ for the memes and assert your dominance over the fake Russian BBs. Your fast bombers will fool you into thinking you have legit jets, then realize you are better off dropping propaganda leaflets instead of torpedoes. You might not win many games in the GZ, but she's a fun ship to play.