High tier USN DD advice

[Waggafuffles]

I need some advice from high tier USN DD players.

I'm just waiting for a tier 9 sale then I'll be buying the Fletcher. I heard she's a really good ship but I'm not sure where to take her when it comes to captain skills.

I have a level 18 captain that I mostly use for my favorite ship, the Atlanta. This captain will be used when I get the Gearing too.

 

Right now, it is

1st Row: Basic Firing Training

2nd Row: Expert Marksman, Torpedo Armament expertise, Last Stand

3rd Row: Vigilance (Atlanta) I can do without superintendent

4th Row: Demolition Expert, Advanced Firing Training

 

The question is, is it better to get concealment expert and lose some skills like 1 Row 2 and Row 4?

 

Right now, my main strategy is to tell allied cruisers to follow me in a distance they can back me up because I want to kill enemy DDs ASAP. If I survive, I shoot and torp enemies.

The problem with losing a 4th row skill is this: Demolition expert pretty much doubles my rate of fire chance and advance firing helps me in shooting enemies faaar away (yes, I can hit them because I play Atlanta a lot)

 

Do you guys get concealment and torp BBs a lot or do you go knife fighting more? I know concealment expert can help in DD knife fights because it gets you spotted a few meters later, therefore getting to enemy DDs closer while being spotted at a closer distance. I'm just conflicted with what skill to get and prioritize.

[Mexicanarmada15]

I use concealment to get into close range with russian dds. By the time I will get spotted I will win the dpm match up. It also lets me get close to IJN dds to where they will not be able to escape. The extra range is nice but at that point the shells will arc and take a long time to reach the only thing you can really hit is a battleship but your stealth window to invisfire is decent enough for that using the concealment skill. Fletch has really good torps so it would be a shame not to use them.

[Aduial]

I would drop EM (the turrets are fast enough that EM isn't even noticeable), and drop AFT (the slow shells are not effective for long range gunnery). Personally i prefer SE over DE, but DE is still good. 

AFT is useful only if the target is moving in a completely straight line. Even if you have perfect aim, the slightest movements will throw it off. Fletcher has a good enough range already (almost 13km), so there's no need to buff it. 

[slags83]

SE or DE. AFT is a waste of time, you're never going to hit anything at max range.

[MrDeaf]

BFT

LS, TAE

SI

SE

CE

 

Alternatively, if you have a Gearing

BFT

LS

SI, TA

SE

CE

[Waggafuffles]

Interesting.

A lot of the advice that I get is go for Survivability Expert.

Is it really that good against Demolition expert? I guess DE still relies on RNG, but SE is a flat, hard always active passive right?

 

Also, the Fletcher can invisifire without AFT as long as it has Concealment expert right?

[MrDeaf]

You can take DE if you want to, but having HP is important when contesting caps.

And then, USN DD guns aren't too great at harassing from long range, simply due to shell travel time.

 

Fletcher and Gearing torps are very stealthy.

When it comes to Fletcher, it has one of the fastest torp reloads at T8+ right now, with stealthy and deadly torps.

 

Basically, you need HP to survive the initial stages of the game.

If there's no one there to spot you, then you can reign supreme with invisifire and 10 torps.

[Aduial]

Interesting.

A lot of the advice that I get is go for Survivability Expert.

Is it really that good against Demolition expert? I guess DE still relies on RNG, but SE is a flat, hard always active passive right?

 

Also, the Fletcher can invisifire without AFT as long as it has Concealment expert right?

 

Fletcher can invisifire without anything but the GFCS upgrade, as far as i know. 

As for SE vs DE, it depends on your playstyle. I use my USN DDs to contest caps and hunt destroyers, which means that i end up having very little HP during the last minutes of the match. So SE is very useful for me. If you use your USN DDs to harass bigger ships, DE is an excellent choice, because it allows you to set 60% more fires. 

[Feminist]

I've made it up to fletcher so far and I'm running:

 

Tier 1: basic firing training, basics of survivability

Tier 2: torpedo armament expertise, last stand

Tier 3: vigilance

Tier 4: survivability expect

Tier 5: concealment expert

 

I used to run demolition expert, but switched to survivability expert for ranked and kept it that way since. IMO vigilance is an absolute must for destroyers due to the torpedo soup at high tiers.

 

[Falls_USMC]

I'll throw my hat in the ring here, as a self-admitted Fletcher addict. Here are my current setups for Captains Skills and Modules. 

 

 

- I agree with what others have said here about maximizing your concealment. Fletch is stealthy enough to match up with any DD in the game with the module and Captain skill combined, bringing it down to just 5.8km. This is a massive advantage when capping and knife fighting, allowing you to dictate terms of the engagement. 

 

- Also, I agree that Survivability trumps Demo Expert every day of the week. Having that extra HP has saved me more times than I can count. Especially when you come up against Gearings, Khabs and Udalois. Trust me, you want that HP when facing those ships. Not to mention the crazy volleys of HE from high tier cruisers. 

 

- Max out your torpedo reload. Fletch torps are awesome, and the more you can put in the water, the better off you'll be. 

 

- As others have said, forget about Expert Marksman. Your turrets spin like a Russian Ballerina on speed right out of the box. Anything more is just overkill. 

 

Even as a maxed out 'Torpedo Boat' you're still fantastic at contesting caps and fighting DDs thanks to having SE. It's really what makes the Fletcher awesome. You're just a Swiss Army Knife of flame and torpedo spewing death. 

 

The only thing that's really up for debate for me is swapping Vigilance with Super Intendant for the extra smoke, depending on your play style. But after far too much gold trying out both, Vigilance is what I've settled on to save me from those torp hits while I'm in smoke or fighting on caps. 

[AngryLou]

This is a good post. Thanks to those of you who have contributed.

[Waggafuffles]

It's a little bit late but thank you for all the suggestions and advice in here.

It really helps out a lot. Thanks again guys

[Seamus_44]

Only problems with the Fletcher is how much fun the Gearing is, and she is a money maker with the fancy paint.

[Bill_Halsey]

I've been finding out that going to torp boat rather then gun boat is a much better choice due to the maps being used. That means a break in the gun boat meta I'ved used from Mahan to Benson. I'll have to rework my Captain skills to match.