Fletcher7_1944

Yep, those were the days! When the tier 1 ships were like everything else- they had AP AND HE, different ships were better at different things or more appealing to different playstyles; and tier 1 saw tier 2 and had a much wider selection of maps to play on. Then they nerfed them all to heck, and made tier 1 it's own separate game. Tier 2 is now when you had to figure out all the stuff you used to figure out in tier 1- while dealing with entirely new concepts like torpedoes. I loved my Erie, and had many, MANY fun games in it. Then they introduced the French cruisers, and the French tier 1 became my go to. There are no other ships in the game that play- or maneuver- like the tier 1 gunboats. They were FUN to play- that's why so many played so many games there. I used to use tier 1 to play off the occasional pink, too. Totally agree with the second half of your post. Mission fixation- and the awful effect it had on play, particularly on the Co-op meta burned me right the F out on the game. I haven't played in more than a year, because of it- and how much of the fun has been sucked out of the game. Which is weird, because I finally got ALL the ships I'd been trying for since forever (or they were announced), Got to enjoy, and actually be fairly decent at ships and classes I thought I'd never like; And had a whole heck of a lot of fun, doing it. I got my Fletcher! Finally earned enough resources to get Bourgogne- a ship I LUSTED after as soon as it was announced, because I LOVED my Alsace. I absolutely loved playing Iowa, and was getting close to finally getting my Montana back (3rd trip through the line- ya, I liked US BB's THAT much!) Got so I actually enjoyed the downtiered premium BB;s, like West Virginia, etc. I'd finally gotten through to Nagato; was close to my first tech tree tier 10 DD (the Frenchie)- and then completely burned out. Between the constant mission grinds, and the race to get that next bauble, and the fact that WG changed just about everything that made me like the game in the first place, my interest totally bottomed out. I already WAS a Co-op main, so there really was no place to go but out. That, and I no longer have the patience to wait out the frequent massive updates that slow my computer to a crawl and gobble up all my high speed data in a day... Lol, I think there's currently 40 gigs or so of updates I'd have to do before I COULD play again. AND the game files are corrupted.

Heck, Co-op has been ruined for a year or more. I haven't played for going on a year, now. It wasn't even WG that did it, really- it was the players. The farm the F$%# out of the mode to burn through missions faster mentality. The DD's taking over the mode, and creating all those sub 5 minute games by simply hitting speed boost, charging into the reds, popping smoke, so nobody else could see to shoot the reds, then just dumping point blank torps into bots that blindly charged to where the DD is. If you were in a BB, you could consider yourself lucky to get 3 salvos off. (mostly at ships far, far away- or who were sailing away from you.) In high tiers, you could add the machine gun cruisers to the list. But ultimately, it was the F%$# You- here's to me! mentality. I occasionally check in to see what's going on, what's changed, etc. Haven't seen anything that makes me want to play again- usually the opposite. They just can't seem to figure out a way to restore the balance, to where ANY ship/type can work. It's DD or CL w/torps/ rapid fire guns- or be a spectator, and mostly irrelevant. As you pointed out, taking away the bot's offensive capability AND removing team damage penalties can only make that situation worse. It actively encourages bad play and even worse habits. The biggest problem was the bots were mostly unable to deal with suicidally aggressive DD behavior- they needed improved ability, not worsened! Same for the CL's- how many times do you see paper skinned cruisers showing suicidal amounts of side to bring more guns to bear, or launch torps- and nobody shoots at them? (too busy pot shotting at that lone DD or BB 20km away to bother with the enemies that are actually killing them...) Oh, and I still carry a grudge for Wee-Gee making our AA mostly irrelevant vs planes- but making the BOT'S AA insanely effective vs player squadrons... Lol- I actually logged on here, today because Youtube put several Jingles videos in my recommended feed. I thought, what the heck? I'm in the mood for some Jingles-isms, so why not! Yep- Randoms are still randoms...

I used to be 98% Co-op, and 2% everything else. (mostly Ranked and Clans, with the occasional foray into Random just for a lark.) Now, I played 3-4 games after the captain re-do update finally finished downloading- and no games since. Absolutely nothing to do with the captain changes, or the Pepperoni BB's (although the addition of large diameter SAP shells and yet more smoke was NOT welcome to me) No, it's entirely due to the changed meta of Co-op. As in I don't find it fun or entertaining at all. The never-ending stream of tasks that are better farmed in Co-op means the meta won't improve any time soon, either. Anyhow, as long as I've played the game, I've been a Co-op main. It was just the sort of fun I wanted, and I've ground- and re-ground- several lines to tier 10 solely there. Also 5 19 point captains, and have rarely NOT earned credits. I'm up over 200 million now. Also, I had more than enough FXP to buy Missouri the day it was released without leaving myself with too few- and I've never HAD to grind any stock modules. Around 250 ships in port, and I SHUDDER to think what it would cost me to convert all the stranded XP, lol. I hear everyone talk about low rewards, but they aren't THAT low.

Funny thing is, when the other team ISN'T shooting at you, both Omaha and Pensa are also absurdly dangerous to be down range of. As glassy as Omaha is, it also has DD-like maneuverability, and is absurdly well armed. You run into 2 types of Omahas: in the hands of players just trying to grind the heck out of it as fast as possible; and in the hands of players who really like it- and have a LOT of games in it. The latter can be truly scary to face off against. (and seriously fun, if you ARE one of those, lol) As for Pepsi, the other reason everyone likes to shoot at it: 10 USN 8" rifles. As long as it's alive, it's dangerous. Pensa will rack up silly numbers of citadel hits, if it's opponents give it half a chance. Seattle, too. Yes, it's irritatingly fragile. Yes, seeing an Iowa looking at you is a seriously pucker inducing thing, lol. And yes, the change in gun ballistics is unwelcome to many and comes with a learning curve- BUT: Like Cleveland before it, you have 12 6" guns with a high rate of fire- that can deal devastating amounts of damage in a hurry, and an excellent selection of consumables. I love mine, but dang does it suck when 2 BB's gang up on you!! I agree on IJN cruisers. The torp angles stink worse than a bloated corpse- and so many cruiser drivers think torpedoes first. Combine that with lots of turrets- and a long, long citadel. Which means when I see one, I think CITADELS!! "that's right, Myoko- show me that broadside while you try to get your torpedo tubes on target, lol. BOOOOM!!!! bwahahahaha!" They DO have good guns, though- and plenty of them. Also good bow armor- which can mitigate a lot of damage, as long as you aren't too eager to use those torpedoes. Stay away from islands, though, they don't turn worth crap... I think I'll give the nod to: Hawkins: Super glassy, and horrid gun arrangement. I always ate stupid amounts of damage trying to play it... Emerald. The RN Omaha, but without the wickedness. Vulnerable as hell- and everyone knows it. Also, the torps HURT- and everyone knows THAT, too. So, get spotted? Get shot- a lot. ANY tier 8 or up DD in Co-op. The bots have always had a giant boner for DD's- but they take a big leap in deadliness when you get into these tiers. Your first mistake often proves to be your last. Honorable mention goes to the French cruisers, La Gallissonier; and the tier 8 and up CA's. This is what you get, when you put ALL your eggs into the offensive firepower basket, and none into defense. Offensive juggernauts that die if you so much as look meanly at them.

True, that. I absolutely loved Mahan, Gadja Mada, and Minsk, and the Froggie is proving just as good as Guepard to me. The tier itself, middle of the road. Tier 8 can be extremely trolly for a DD, but Benson was a joy to play, and a real monster once I (finally) adjusted my playing habits. Le Terrible is also really fun, and I look forward to Le Fantastique because of it. Oggie, I both love AND hate- depends on the match, lol. Mid tiers sure are fun, with all the good DD's, no radar, and you don't have to face any of the really good CV's, lol. Also, the BB's haven't gotten too accurate yet, and the truly scary cruisers are mostly out of your tier range. (The Omaha sisters or an Atlanta can be a VERY unpleasant surprise to encounter, though.)

They also didn't have a 24/7 news cycle to fill, and armies of vapid, empty headed "journalists" eager for low hanging fruit. Plus, rocket going kablooey looks sexy and sells more ad space.

Saw that. (subscriber here) Put it on the watch later list, because it's a long one, and my hi-speed data is used up for the month. Buffering pauses really tweak my twiddle... Looking forward to watching it!

When I turn away and "run" from a DD, it's a trap. If he chases me, the chances of him landing a big torp salvo on me plummet- and I can SEE him turn out to launch. Which, of course, I've been waiting for- to get a better shot at effing up his torp launchers, engine and/or rudder, lol. I'm also doing it to avoid giving him the chance of simply charging me and dropping point blank torps I have 0 chance of avoiding, if he can aim at all. Ignoring one? Not an option. I learned that lesson way back in tier 3 lol. THIS BB player got tired of being blown to kingdom come by torpedoes rather early in his career. (which also led to my love of playing cruisers)

Pretty much. That's the choice, when you learn to BB- either learn how to fight back effectively, or enjoy eating someone's torpedoes. I chose to SHOOT the little jerks, lol. AND to avoid the usual DD hotspots. And to get better at dodging torpedoes. Finally, I got irritated enough with the stinkers that I began hunting THEM. After all, that 12,500 damage from wiping out that DD pays pretty well! Just like dev striking a cruiser, or smashing that enemy BB- it just doesn't look as impressive on the results screen. HE works well- if I remember to switch, and if they're still visible when my guns reload. If it's AP loaded, that's what's getting shot- either way, if a DD is spotted within reasonable chance of hitting him range, I AM shooting at him. Heck, I'll run them over if I have to!! (my NY has quite a track record of doing this!) As a DD player, I really hate it when the BB's come after me. Those ginormous shells really trash my modules!!

I use premium time, flags, camo, and joined a clan. I also have the military month contributor flag on every ship. Additionally, I have a large fleet of premium ships and elited ships that I play frequently. That breaks up the grind, and helps keep the credits and fxp coming in. Tbh, unless I'm getting close, I don't actually "grind" anything- those ships are simply part of the rotation. They'll get 3 games back to back- at most- before I move on to something else.

This^ They totally deserve it though! (for introducing that stupid "I'm a big DD!" meta into the game)

Yup, Podvoisky and Minsk are responsible for my love of fast gunboat DD's. It's just an addictively fun playstyle. Then WG released an entire LINE of them T2-T10!!! Once I got past the no smoke thing, the French DD's quickly became a huge favorite. And that Le Terrible premium everyone whined about sucking? Is an absolute hoot for me! I loved both Wyoming AND New York. I still think NY holds my all time record for number of DD's trashed in a BB, lol. I'll add my voice to those singing the praises of Krispy Kream too. Still the same buzz saw Svietlana is- but people seem to forget KK gets high damage 8km torpedoes. I've nut punched more than one red that way, lol.

There are quite a few for me- I just never know which ship will just click with me. Some recent ones: California. Read lots of meh reviews about it, to the point that I just wasn't interested in it at all. How it would be UP at tier 7, blah, blah, blah. The new BB line split with the USS Snail, USS Watching paint dry; and USS Jeez- are my guns reloaded YET?? didn't help my frame of mind. Then I pulled one out of a Santa crate (as predicted!), and took it out to dust off the snowflake. WHOA! This is New Mexico- as it only WISHES it was! I was instantly hooked on the accuracy of the guns, and the improved secondaries added fires to my damage totals. As a long time US Standard guy, the ship felt just like home to me. Hell of a fun ship to brawl in! Benson. After a VERY rocky start, I finally figured out how you're supposed to play this. I went from EFF this... to DAYUM- this thing is an evil monster! Richelieu. Admittedly, I had gotten it right around the time that WG introduced that French ship Op (forget the name, as they pulled it...), and Richie was included! So not at all familiar with it. It's also 2x the size of Lyon- and handles like it. I spent more time getting off islands I'd rammed, and trying vainly to get the turrets pointed in the right direction than I did actually contributing. Didn't like it much, and ended up fxp-ing to Alsace. Fast forward to Jean Bart. I ended up LOVING that ship, and decided what the hell- I'll give Richie another try. This time around, I liked it from the get go. Similarly, I got Missouri the day it came out for FXP. When I finished North Carolina, I didn't see the point in grinding through Iowa as I already had it's sister ship. So skipped right to Montana. Recently started playing it after resetting the US BB line- and LOVE it! I love this ship in a way I never did the MO. It's an absolute beast, and pure evil, lol. (having gotten tired of getting my butt handed to me by red Iowas, I kinda knew it was a good ship. Just wasn't expecting to like it this much!) Acasta. I didn't care much for RN DD's at first, and was nearly ready to give them up- until I bought this one. Holy Hand Grenades is this little ship a murder machine! In my hands, it's evil, rotten, mean and nasty. I've long since ground out of it, but can't stop playing it, lol. Having Jingles as it's captain sure doesn't hurt, either. G-101 (or whatever the tier 4 is called) Same thing. I was about to write off the line, when this ship clicked with me. A wicked little a-hole of a ship- the AP is hilarious!! Hill. Another ship nobody talks about- and when they do, it's usually to dismiss it as meh and forgettable. IMO, nothing is further from the truth. I LOVE this little ship!

Interesting thread. I'll begin with 2 caviats: My experience in CV's is VERY limited- I'm guessing 3 dozen games max. Additionally, ALL but one of mine were obtained via missions or crates etc- with Langley being the sole exception. I don't especially like playing them, suck rocks at them, and have done essentially no levelling up. Thus no recommendation! I play Co-op 98% of the time. The rest is in Ranked, clans, and the occasional Random match. My last OPS match was more than a year ago- and it will stay that way, since WG has effectively abandoned the mode. I'm bored to tears with the handful of ops that are left, and when I do remember they're there (lol), it's always Newport- which I've always disliked. I said that to say this: My picks are for the mode I play- Co-op. YMMV, if you're looking for a line to grind in Randoms. DD: I'll agree with several of the posters above, my pick for best first/only line to run all the way to tier 10 is US. And for the same reasons: They're good enough at everything to at least be relevant in the majority of games. Great, long lasting smoke is their "best at" quality. They also have very good guns, high rate of fire, speedy traverse, and typically well placed for good fields of fire. Both types of ammo are above average to good, but not best in class. You DO have to learn to use the guns effectively, as the shells are slow, and they aren't long range spammers. (unless the target is huge, clumsy and/or distracted) Once you do, they become pretty deadly- esp at close range. Torps are initially short to med range, but they hurt, and you often get a lot of them. At high tiers, the line shifts towards a more torpedo oriented ship, and you get longer ranged fish. AA- for whatever it's worth these days- is usually decent to pretty good, once you get out of the WW1 and interwar ships. Mostly due to those dual purpose 5" guns. Low to mid tier, they're generalists- and can do well gunboating OR torpedo chucking. Great for dealing with enemy DD's, and contesting caps. Starting at tier 8, the focus shifts strongly towards torpedo boats with good guns. Benson can have a bit of a learning curve, while you adjust your play, lol. It's VERY worth it, though. Fletcher is more of the same- but better. Gearing is almost edging towards pure torpedo boat- mainly thanks to it's fantastic torpedoes, and the meta up there. (for pewpewpew!!! you really want to look at IJN gunboats or French DD's esp) The other main reason I picked this line, is because I liked each and every one of them! Nicholas , Mahan, and Benson being major favorites. I know the OP didn't ask, but- a fringe benefit of this line, is that there are a large number of premiums covering most tiers- and nearly all are good. Some are REALLY good. So you can get captain trainers; first win farmers, and/or alternate options all the way up. Runner up: French. This one is very much a matter of taste, as they are very different from the other lines. And that's why I like them! FAST gunboats with rather good torpedoes as well. They trade smoke for a main battery reload booster. In play, you're essentially a tiny light cruiser w/o the citadel. Made to hunt other DD's. Stealth isn't the best, but you are a GUNBOAT- your guns will be firing a lot, making you UNstealthy anyway, lol. Very fun to play, for adrenaline junkies like me. Kleber is considered one of the better tier 10 DD's, and worth the grind. Honorable mentions: RN and Germans. I'm only on tier 6 with the trees, but have a large collection of early releases and/or premiums for both lines- up to tier 8. Solid lines. They are both tending towards the all-rounder type, like the US. I'm working on these now, and really like both. The Germans have hillariously good AP, like the cruisers. Battleship. Again, I'm going to go with the US line- the original one. ESPECIALLY as a first grind. They're user friendly- easy to learn, and their performance increases with player skill. They also have, for the most part, excellent guns; good health and tankiness; Very good AA; and are fairly maneuverable. They DO require some skill and attention to get the best out of their armor (they like an active hand- not a sit and tank style), but by the time you get well into the mid tiers it'll be second nature. They start out slow and fat, but turn better than many of their contemporaries- and have faster turning turrets. The guns are solid, and reasonably accurate. (no BB is truly accurate in the lower tiers- all will troll the hell out of you) Each ship builds upon the last consistently, until you finish Colorado. They share the same playstyle, and use the same captain skill builds.- mid range brawlers, that reward an active, aggressive playstyle. They hit like trucks, too. AA starts coming into it's own around Colorado as well. From there, I STRONGLY recommend going with North Carolina, and running that line to the end first. These are different animals entirely- Fast battleships! Long and narrow, as opposed to short and wide. 3x3 turrets, until Montana at tier 10 which gets a second turret aft for a 12 gun broadside. AA takes a big leap forward in power, as does the main battery accuracy and hitting power. It takes some time to adjust to the speed, handling and different playstyle, but once you do, these BB's are freaking beasts! You also gain considerably better armor protection in the bow- but are a bit more vulnerable in the flanks. Secondaries are okay, but nothing special. Mainly for adding some chip and fire damage. Like the prior ships, they share a basic playstyle and build upon each other. Iowa is a freaking monster, and Montana also- but in a different way. Runner up: French (again!) This line is less uniform, you kinda get a bit of everything ship design-wise. They tend to have slightly smaller main guns, with poorer accuracy than the US- but often make up for it in number of barrels, and speed. Lyon, at tier 7 has 16 guns!!- and a 27 kt top speed. LOTS of secondary guns is another hallmark, as well as better than average AA. These, too are easy to play, FUN, and generally pretty good ships. The line is, imo, good all the way up. The tier 9 is a HUGE favorite of mine. (surpassed, really, only by the premiums Jean Bart, and Bourgogne) Again, a line of general duty battleships- with no major specialties, or glaring flaws to balance those out. I agree, for the most part, with the Soviets being a good line too. They ARE basic and deadly effective. I gave the above 2 lines the nod, because I find them more FUN to play. Cruisers. Here the waters get much more muddy. There are a lot of really good cruiser lines. I'm a lot more hard pressed to pick just ONE... So I'm going to cheat, lol- and pick TWO. It still adds up to 4 lines, right? Light cruisers: US line is hands down my favorite- mainly because of the GUNS. Aside from the tier 4 and 5, they don't get torpedoes- so WG gave them better guns, and excellent consumable options instead. As a side benefit, they aren't as glass cannon-y as the Brit, French, and Soviet lights, either. Again, all are good- and tier 6 up, they share a pretty straitforward playstyle: blow the hell out of things with your guns. Enjoy the fireworks show when CV's get too close. Both ammo types are good- don't forget about the AP!! Good rate of fire, and usually a large number of barrels, too. No gimmicks here- just strait up gunships. Heavy cruisers: Here you have my true loves! And a much tougher decision. I tend to lean towards German and US with Japan being the first runner up. French are too easily crushed for my taste; Soviets are even worse- until you get to tier 10; Italians are just... eh. not to my taste. Brits are too new, and I'm only on tier 6- but I LIKE it! They also are a much better choice for a 2nd or third line- once you've learned how to play heavy cruisers. Germans are tough. they get turtleback armor which helps a lot vs other cruisers. They have very accurate guns with great AP. HE is decent, but not much more. Short ranged torpedoes- but lots of them- and they get very generous firing angles. Best hydro. Average AA. The tier 10 is VERY much worth the grind, and one of my all time favorites. The only downside is that Hipper and Roon are both kind of vanilla, and not that exciting to play. Roon has that annoying backwards armament, too. US: Start out very fragile, with Pensacola, and end with an 8" machine gun called Des Moines. EXCELLENT guns!! They're accurate, both ammo types are good, and they hit like trucks. I use them as cruiser smushers, and citadel crushing machines. Pensacola makes up for it's irritating flimsiness, slow traverse, and horrid stealth with 10 of these 8" rifles. Challenging to survive in and master, but an excellent cruiser trainer because of it. The tier 7 is a significant improvement- and they just keep getting better. Great AA too. I guess I'd give the nod to the Germans- the extra survivability really helps, and they have that extra short range torpedo punch, if something gets too close. It's a VERY close thing though- I love my US CA's too.

That's what I thought, but try it anyway! It was a very pleasant surprise- not only is it tough, but it's accurate. And that is NOTHING to sneeze at when you have 12 guns! It's what New Mexico should be, but only wishes so because tier 6. I've found my Cally to be both effective and a lot of fun to play. Never tried it in Narai, though. (I got bored with that scenario a long time ago) Florida is pretty much what others have said: Good guns that reload a trifle slower than you'd like, and fairly squishy for a US BB. It IS however, faster than Cally- which can be a factor in the current pve. Kinda feels and plays more like a really heavy CA, than a full-on BB (perhaps battlecruiser-ish?), in that you have to be actively involved in it's defense, when facing ships with heavy guns. You just can't passively tank. All in all, I like it- not as much as California or NC, but I do like it. Having 8 guns forward can be a big plus when a good opportunity strikes! More cruiser crusher than BB slugger. I have a crap ton of Soviet premiums in this range- few if any have more than a few games in them. I'm not actively grinding USSR cruisers atm, and still fooling around with the tier 5 BB, so I have no recommendations for ya. I did like the hell out of Buddy for ops, and Lazo can be pretty fun to play as well.