why do i suck at dodging so bad?

[dang3rouspeach11]

I'm fairly new to the game, but I feel like I am getting absolutely crushed in gun fights. I've been playing destroyer a lot and am up to the farragut (so I've been doing US). It seems like I end up eating full salvos every time I get into a gun fight and have no idea what I'm doing wrong to make them miss, I've tried the zig zag approach it seems even at long range I still can't get out of the way of cruiser fire.

There's obviously a lot I have to figure out, half my issue with gun fights is aiming as well as I don't think I dish out enough damage... but thats a different post...

any helpful hints or ideas? 

 

I try going straight on so I'm not presenting a broadside target but I still feel like I take a lot of damage regardless.

 

thanks!

[Admiral_Franz_von_Hipper]

If you want to dodge shells better, do less-predictable patterns with different timings.

[Legendary_Typo]

An interesting comparison, but when dodging you need to "dance to the beat." If you just zig-zag all over the place, the enemy cruisers might be predicting your movement, and you conveniently slide your stern into those shells, you need to pick up a pattern where you start angled, and turn into the enemy ship when they fire, so that you swing your stern away from the path of the shells. Although, being completely unpredictable is a good idea as well.

[dang3rouspeach11]

maybe i just suck at timing when to turn then? it seems like cruisers are just constantly raining shells on me, so they maybe miss one salvo but then have another one that i eat like 10 sec later.

 

Currently when ive been turning ive been trying to hit full stop real quick initiate the turn and then crank it back to full speed (in theory that makes my turns sharper?) or should I just be keeping speed at full? 

 

thanks for the responses though! 

[Estimated_Prophet]

Such trouble may mean going back and playing earlier tiers for a while, in order to get more practice dodging.

 

At tier 6, where Farragut is; I regularly hit destroyers withe BATTLESHIP guns because I have the patience to watch their pattern, and know where to put the shells to hit them. If I can do that, then it should be even easier for cruisers to do.

 

Another thing is learn to watch the mini-map, and to use evena tiny speck of rock sticking out of the water to help mask your appoach to an area or a  target. Of coure, be aware the enemy may be doing the same, before you just jump out from behind that rock.

[Aduial]

If i'm knife-fighting DD vs DD, I always turn my bow on them. This has two effects:

-gives you a smaller profile

-makes you harder to hit (people seem to have more trouble leading properly on bow-on ships)

 

If i'm fighting in a DD against a cruiser, i try to kite them from long range, keeping my stern to them. 

[MrDeaf]

IMO zig-zag can be difficult to master.

For example, going from full speed to half speed can throw off a salvo or two, rather than just zig zagging in a predictable manner.

 

 

• twitch reflexes to WASD correctly
• predicting where the shells will go (so you can start your turn and/or speed change at the correct time)
• understanding ship movement (your rear end drifts out, instead of the front end tucking in and your speed also dropping off in a turn, or gaining speed when going straight)
• timing your guns (if they reload slow or have poor rotation speed)
• fire discipline (not wiggling to unmask guns when the enemy has figured out your dance)
• knowing where to aim (like knocking out certain modules to give you an advantage)
• knowing when you should slug it out (because you are in a bad spot and should immediately sink the target engaging you)

 

No, I don't have all of that mastered myself and I even forget to use some of those tricks, despite knowing about them.

[anonym_xgAO60ZDNRAq]

Pick your fights, don't start shooting at the first ship you see.

Sometimes it is better to just spot the enemy DDs and let your team mates take them out rather than giving away your position.

DDs are not ideal for farming damage, they are more tactical. Capping, spotting and good use of smoke will help your team more than trying to kill everything.

Have a look at WOWs videos on youtube, there are many.

DDs best weapon is concealment, everytime you fire your guns you lose a lot of your stealth unless hidden by smoke or  islands.

Maybe go back down to lower tiers until you figure things out.

 

[ramp4ge]

I've always found that the age-old tactic of "chasing splashes" actually works pretty well here too, because very few players are going to try to land a shot where they just missed one. I even do this in battleships. If they fire and fall short, I'll turn in a bit. If they aim long, I'll turn out a bit.

 

This really screws with peoples heads.

[centarina]

it is tough to multi task.  your brain can only do one thing at at time well, so it takes lot of practice to multi task well.   situation awareness,  aiming,  dodging(and not run into island) all takes bit of brain power.   it just isn't that easy to get competency in all those area at once  just keep at it.  it will happen with practice.

[Fishrokk]

You keep mentioning cruisers.  Your best tactic against them is not fighting them - they are the paper to your rock.

 

When you start taking fire from a cruiser, silence your guns and run.  Use your smoke if you have to. 

 

If you're in a DD knife fight, a Farragut - or any USN DD, really - should do pretty well, even down-tier.  When you have a battleship in your sights, stay at some range (island ambushes aside).  You should be able to dodge the high caliber shells easier than cruiser fire.  I'm guessing you know these things already, though.

 

Don't hang out in a fire fight with a cruiser.  Shoot them when they aren't paying attention to you - then run, and go find something easier to kill.

[Lochnivar]

Good question.

 

In the occasional times I don't suck, I've learned that the best method is to not get in the situation in the first place.  If I get into a knife-fight, I get reamed.  However, if I can keep out of that, I usually do pretty well.

 

[DwarfKingHack]

How close are you getting? Because if you're trying to get close enough to torpedo folks in a low-tier US destroyer, you're getting too close to be able to dodge well. Unless you are able to use smoke or terrain to spring an ambush on someone, getting within torpedo range of anything bigger than another destroyer is a good way to get killed fast. On the other hand, your guns perform poorly at long range so in order to make the most of them against destroyers and even cruisers you do need to be close. It's a very fine balance to maintain, but generally you want to keep your distance unless you can catch a single enemy alone and by surprise. It's OK to be close to enemy destroyers since that's where you can use your ship to its best advantage against them, but when enemy cruiser and battleships start to get inside 8-10-km you need to be already gone or else you won't be able to dodge what's coming.

[Grevester]

If i'm knife-fighting DD vs DD, I always turn my bow on them. This has two effects:

-gives you a smaller profile

-makes you harder to hit (people seem to have more trouble leading properly on bow-on ships)

 

If i'm fighting in a DD against a cruiser, i try to kite them from long range, keeping my stern to them. 

 

I would actually recommend giving your stern to everything you engage. Bow in gives you less warning time for torps, and you are also most likely driving towards the enemy. Turning away also allows you to fishtail to avoid shells.

 

 

[TenguBlade]

When you're dodging, you have to remember that, even as nimble as some ships (DDs) are, they don't respond to inputs in any significant way instantly.  If you send an input to your rudder or engine, commit to it for a few seconds, then switch; the effects of what you told your ship to do will become more apparent with a little more time.  If you just input rudder then immediately cancel, however, the ship will continue on a largely-identical course to what you would have sailed without touching the controls at all.

 

That aside, though, don't be discouraged if you can't dodge everything.  Ships have HP pools for the very reason that it's impossible to dodge everything, and as any pro will tell you, one of the harder things to figure out about your opponent is just how good, bad, or lucky they are with their aim.

[Aduial]

 

I would actually recommend giving your stern to everything you engage. Bow in gives you less warning time for torps, and you are also most likely driving towards the enemy. Turning away also allows you to fishtail to avoid shells.

 

 

 

Actually for dodging torps turning bow-in is much better. If you make a mistake while trying to avoid torps by turning away, the stern of your ship could potentially slide across and catch multiple torps. 

But yeah, stern-on also works. 

[ramp4ge]

 

I would actually recommend giving your stern to everything you engage. Bow in gives you less warning time for torps, and you are also most likely driving towards the enemy. Turning away also allows you to fishtail to avoid shells.

 

 

 

Yeah. Showing them your stern is god-mode against torps. I learned this back in NavyFIELD. It's MUCH harder to hit someone with torps that's moving away from you. It also has the effect of lessening their torpedo range because you are moving away from the point of launch, and the distance meter starts rolling down from the moment they're launched. If you're 4.5km away from them and they launch 5km-range torps and you're running away, they aren't going to hit you.

 

I also tend to engage other ships while moving away from them. Another tactical I learned in NavyFIELD. Kiting, basically. It forces them into an uphill battle. A ship with the same range will eat your shells and won't be able to hit you back if you're at the edge of your range.

 

You can even kite someone into your range this way even if they're technically outside of your range. Because as they're closing, they move into the range of the position you fired the rounds from. Hangtime abuse is beautiful.

[KlendathuDrop]

It may actually help to slow your speed when dodging, as your turns are less likely to over compensate.