New Orleans better than Pensacola?

[Wyatt_DERP85]

I unlocked the New Orleans and deiced to buy it figuring I'll soon have plenty of credits rolling in when I buy the Mighy Mo (but haven't had time to play it yet). It seems like it has a good bit more armor than the Pensacola and can withstand cruisers considerably better while angled. It loses a gun but gets a better configuration of 6 forward, 3 aft. Can have radar + hydro which is nice. For now I'm not bothering with the fighter because I see a lot more destroyers than carriers currently.

I was wondering if anyone goes for a concealment build with this ship or are you better off going for rudder shift? It seems like it's rudder shift is amazing at first glance but concealment isn't broken like Pensacola's is. What do you guys do?

[Kojo401]

Yes she is a much better ship than Pensacola, concealment build is an absolute must and it is also highly recommended for Baltimore. Concealment will allow you to get into positions where you can use your radar more effectively and challenge enemy cruisers with your fantastic mid range AP.

[Tzarevitch]

It better be. Pensacola was the beginning of that line of American cruisers. New Orleans was the end product. Game-wise, it is mostly the same ship, but with radar, better concealment, better, armor and a better gun layout for bow angling.  

[magnus392]

I actually liked the Pensacola....NO so far is nothing but disappointment.

[templar627]

New Orleans is better, but so are your enemies. It's got much better armor, but not still enough to stop BB shells. Also, the NO has significantly better detection. It's base is 12.4km and since it's a tier 8 you get access the upgrades that can decrease that even further.

 

Also, you get a 9km radar which is great for shutting down DDs in smoke, and the new British CA/CLs with smoke.

 

The NO biggest issue is that you face the same issues everyone does with going up a tier, generally players are better. But, so far, even stock I really love the ship. The stock grind is nothing compared to the pensacola, you start out with a ship with good traverse, hard hitting guns, good concealment, and good ruddershift. 

 

Concealment seems to be the name of the game, since you can already get the -20% ruddershift time from the lower tier upgrades, and it's always nice not to be focused in the start of a fight. Honestly, I think you should just play the ship a bit and see what works for you.

[_Luna]

NO is better than the Pensacola for 1 reason.

You can get her detection range down to, I believe, 9.5km with modules/camo/captain skills.

 

Otherwise she's pretty much the same. NO can bow tank cruiser AP better than Pensacola, but BB's punish her just as hard.

 

I hated the NO stock, but fully upgraded she's not bad.

[centarina]

I am running double rudder set in NO and it is pretty agile even with stock hull.   not sure if I will get concealed setup.  I prefer small/agile ship that dances at high range.   sub 15km range sucks though.

[inktomi19d]

I am running double rudder set in NO and it is pretty agile even with stock hull.   not sure if I will get concealed setup.  I prefer small/agile ship that dances at high range.   sub 15km range sucks though.

 

I found the NO to be pretty agile with concealment and the first rudder upgrade. Double rudders just seems like overkill to me.

[thehelmsman]

New Orleans is MUCH better than Pensacola simply because it doesn't get spotted almost 16km away. Even as a stock ship you can immediately put the concealment upgrade on it, which brings the detection down to 11.2 right out of the box, and it only gets better with CE and camouflage. New Orleans is also tankier than Pensacola by far. BB shells will still rip you apart (as with any cruiser) but other cruisers will have trouble if you don't show them broadside, meanwhile your superheavy 'murrican AP pens better than theirs.

 

Upgrading the FCS should be the first thing you do. 14.7km stock range is terrible, but 16.2 is much more workable. The gun upgrade is marginal but you have to go through the hull first to get it anyway, so it comes last by default.

 

Not a bad ship. I like it better than Pensacola after two games in it.

 

--Helms

[Cragger]

+ Much lower detection

+ Radar

 

- Same guns and shells as Pensacola.

- Facing higher tier battleships that will citadel you at max gun range with random dispersion gods.

- Not much faster then all the new fast battleships so you can't outrun them while avoiding fire.

- No repair party and low HP compared to the Atago which you will see many of. And the Tier 9 and 10 cruisers which you will see many of.

[centarina]

I am still on stock hull with double rudder.   doing pretty well (much better than  stock edinburgh)      range is bit short, but   with stock hull, having fast rudder helps a lot. (about what it would be upgraded or bit better than that without it)   I am looking forward to even faster rudder.   still nothing has been upgraded, but I am happy with NO so far.        I run it like DD gun ship but much heavily angled.  only used radar once  for effect.