On the 0.6.0 skills and carrier captains

[pyantoryng]

With tier 1 best pick BFT and BoS moved to 3 points and a myriad of carrier-only skills at tier 1 (at the cost of others, which most choices are rendered useless), picking skills for carriers is now harder than ever. Before it's pretty much a no-brainer to go BoS/BFT (1), Torpedo expertise(2), Torpedo acceleration(3), ASE(4), then Air Superiority(5)...it seems there's a lot of ways to go nowadays with at least 9 free points and a more reasonable grind to the top with an end in sight (though grinding up to 10 becomes longer now).

 

I think that there is still a no-brainer groundwork build for the first 10-points though: ASE (1 point, faster rearm and slightly more HP), Torpedo Acceleration (now 2 points), Torpedo Expertise (now 3 points, 20% faster torpedo plane rearm), and Air Superiority (now 4 points). But now that there are up to 9 points to play around (even more if you do things differently) after AirSup and a number of skills that are useless for carriers (e.g. IFHE and RPF, both of which are 4-pointers, and stuff involving main batteries)...

 

Carrier rework probably won't come quickly enough, so carrier skippers got to live with that there is...so, let's discuss the possibilities of carrier captains in this new regime which choices has greatly expanded...or is it?

 

Any input is appreciated...it's a whole new paradigm, after all.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I spec'd my 14-point Ranger captain as follows:

The No-brainer "groundwork" build (10 points) ASE, Torpedo Accel, Torpedo Expertise, AirSup

The remaining 4 points go to Fiery (emergency) takeoff (3 points) and evasive maneuver (1 point).

 

Haven't got the chance to use Fiery takeoff yet (I did take some damage but those were AP hits so no fire), but the evasive maneuver buff seems huge on first impression (one strike group managed to survive relatively unscathed while under fire from one squad of T7 JPN fighters as they were locked into pursuing as my planes flew over friendly AA and down the pursuers went)

 

...with US strike running 0 fighters guarantees that everything I send out benefit from this. The reduced speed can be compensated by manual orders to move close to flattop and queue return order afterwards. It seems to work as far as I can tell.

 

Now I got to retrain the guy for Lex (starkly stock)...37.5k XP after silver before he can utilize all those skills...

[TH_Killar]

Having a really tuff time picking skills for my ranger now. specially the tier 1 having 3 good choices to go with. but I most ended up following the same route u did.

[StoneRhino]

I think I might have gotten 50,000 free co xp retraining for Lady Lex.  To bd I only had a few days of 15 skill play before the update.

[Reymu]

Emergency Takeoff is useless except on T4-6 CVs in small maps, from using IJN CVs.

 

Evasive, given the 75% buff to HP while returning to CV, definitely is the 11th point spot. I'm going ASE, TA, TAE, AS, Evasive. Last points I'm just putting into DE, since it now adds to fire chance on DB.

 

Any point beyond that, I'd just get Dogfight Expert. The extra ammo is handy. Confident Hiryu and Ranger captains would be delighted to have this when facing AS Saipans.

[StoneRhino]

I'm trying out ase,ya,tae,as then dog fighter, em and tail gunner.

 

Will most likely respec to ""as, CE and em. I just have to try out Lexi's upgraded fighters with 101 ammo first.

[Palladia]

Tempted to do a BfT and AfT build,  but honestly speaking its not like I get into skirmishes that often and I don't really thinks going to save me when I do.  Course now that I think about it I'd probably do AFT and IFHE.  Take the increased penetration over the small RoF increase.  Defensive fire will be doing most of your work at T8 and up anyway....probably never do it but I like having the option there!

 

Probably pick up Dogfighting expert when I have a spare point later.  Won't need it til T9 and 10 but hey,  I'll have it.  Past that I can afford to take some skills to actually improve my ship now,  for when thats a thing.

[EdmonEdmon]

Nothings really changes for strike carriers.

 

Torpedo Speed / Expertise.

Servicing / Supremacy.

 

Everything else is just fluff. Demolition got a nerf. Rear gunner has always been weak pick. Secondary's build (BFT/AFT) has more AA now, but that's not exactly why you came to the party. Flaming Deck take off is going to help weak players but not good ones. You can go Camo if you find yourself exposed often...

 

You can amp up your fighters now, but your still going to lose to fighter builds and your strike wings are now relatively weaker against fighters.

 

[StoneRhino]

After t5 fighter builds are a waste

the increased AA with the patch just componds the problem

[pyantoryng]

I had been thinking...with the excruciatingly long rearm time of US planes, Fiery takeoff basically makes you even deader.

 

3 point for a final strike (launched planes cannot be interrupted even if the carrier is sunk during launch)...none can tell, because nobody is picking it...

[CNitram]

I'm probably going to try Concealment and AFT, the either Dogfighting or Evasive for the 19th. (Plus the standard 1st 10 pts)

[AdmiralMudkip]

If a carrier have a least one torpedo bomber, the carrier should do its utmost to maximize its effectiveness. The current state of carriers have torpedo bombers as its main source of alpha damage. Assuming you have at least one torpedo bomber, go for this:

 

http://shipcomrade.com/captcalc/00010000000100000010000000010000   These are the first 10 points to spend to reach the 4th tier captain skill if you have at least one torpedo bomber.

 

http://shipcomrade.com/captcalc/00010000000001000000001000010000   These are the first 10 points to spend to reach the 4th tier captain skill if your main source of damage is dive bombers. 

 

 

I only put in 10 points because they're the general "core" skills for the CV captain. After that, the captain can do whatever it likes to fit in with his style of gameplay. 

 

 

[HughesDePayen]

saw a lex with a 2 fighter 3 torp squads at same time in game how is that being done? 

[pyantoryng]

saw a lex with a 2 fighter 3 torp squads at same time in game how is that being done? 

 

There's no way any tree US carrier can have more than 1 torpedo squad at once.

 

You must be hallucinating...or that was a Japanese carrier.

[StoneRhino]

Taiho, Lexington... Dame thing right

[Numbah18]

I'm getting AFT back I have no doubts about that and the skill that adds one FT and DB. Now that those have been moved to tier 4 I have 5 points that I don't know what to do with 

 

[Carrier_Lexington]

I took Concealment Expert as my 2nd 4-point skill on my 15-point Lexington, and it seems to help quite a bit (still has a terrible detection range, though).

[pyantoryng]

I took Concealment Expert as my 2nd 4-point skill on my 15-point Lexington, and it seems to help quite a bit (still has a terrible detection range, though).

 

With the concealment mod alone brings Lex's surface detection range down to late 15km, both stacked is 13km or so...pretty much a must after AirSup for US carriers...

 

 

[StoneRhino]

I switched my 15 pointer on my Lexington to CE and EM. Unless the enemy knows how to strafe (it appears to give the finger to EM) your bombers are much more survivable and you can operate way closer to the front lines. CE, Conceal module and cammo is awesomeness. When your detected warning comes on you know you need to wasd rather than "wow there is an enemy on my 1/2 of the map".

[tremor3258]

I'm not sure how I feel on EM for high-tier carriers with my playstyle; most of my plane losses are setting up strikes; not on the returns, and I don't tend to do very deep strikes so I have to worry about AA clouds on the way back.

[Ulthwey]

With tier 1 best pick BFT and BoS moved to 3 points and a myriad of carrier-only skills at tier 1 (at the cost of others, which most choices are rendered useless), picking skills for carriers is now harder than ever. Before it's pretty much a no-brainer to go BoS/BFT (1), Torpedo expertise(2), Torpedo acceleration(3), ASE(4), then Air Superiority(5)...it seems there's a lot of ways to go nowadays with at least 9 free points and a more reasonable grind to the top with an end in sight (though grinding up to 10 becomes longer now).

 

I think that there is still a no-brainer groundwork build for the first 10-points though: ASE (1 point, faster rearm and slightly more HP), Torpedo Acceleration (now 2 points), Torpedo Expertise (now 3 points, 20% faster torpedo plane rearm), and Air Superiority (now 4 points). But now that there are up to 9 points to play around (even more if you do things differently) after AirSup and a number of skills that are useless for carriers (e.g. IFHE and RPF, both of which are 4-pointers, and stuff involving main batteries)...

 

Carrier rework probably won't come quickly enough, so carrier skippers got to live with that there is...so, let's discuss the possibilities of carrier captains in this new regime which choices has greatly expanded...or is it?

 

Any input is appreciated...it's a whole new paradigm, after all.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I spec'd my 14-point Ranger captain as follows:

The No-brainer "groundwork" build (10 points) ASE, Torpedo Accel, Torpedo Expertise, AirSup

The remaining 4 points go to Fiery (emergency) takeoff (3 points) and evasive maneuver (1 point).

 

Haven't got the chance to use Fiery takeoff yet (I did take some damage but those were AP hits so no fire), but the evasive maneuver buff seems huge on first impression (one strike group managed to survive relatively unscathed while under fire from one squad of T7 JPN fighters as they were locked into pursuing as my planes flew over friendly AA and down the pursuers went)

 

...with US strike running 0 fighters guarantees that everything I send out benefit from this. The reduced speed can be compensated by manual orders to move close to flattop and queue return order afterwards. It seems to work as far as I can tell.

 

Now I got to retrain the guy for Lex (starkly stock)...37.5k XP after silver before he can utilize all those skills...

 

Very little changed in 0.6.0 in respect to CV skills. Yes there are a few more options, but if you want to stay competitive there is only 1 or 2 builds that will work. Pretty much all the new CV skills are useless. I personally use Air Service expert, Torp Accel, Torp Service, Air Superiority and Concealment. No other build works nearly as well as this one, at least for me.

• Emergency takeoff is only semi-effective on fast CV that can actually outrun things that are setting them on fire.
• Dogfight expert is only good for CVs of tiers 4-7 where there's a slight chance of being matched against a lower tier CV.
• Evasive maneuver will do much more harm than good against an experienced player as it slows down retreating aircraft making them very easy to strafing.
• Demo expert is too expensive for what it does on a CV.
• BFT, AFT, Manual AA are the only arguable alternatives to concealment, but still come in 2nd place because CV snipping isnt very common at high tiers. It happens, but not in every game - while better concealment helps you in every game.

[Carrier_Lexington]

 

Very little changed in 0.6.0 in respect to CV skills. Yes there are a few more options, but if you want to stay competitive there is only 1 or 2 builds that will work. Pretty much all the new CV skills are useless. I personally use Air Service expert, Torp Accel, Torp Service, Air Superiority and Concealment. No other build works nearly as well as this one, at least for me.

• Emergency takeoff is only semi-effective on fast CV that can actually outrun things that are setting them on fire.
• Dogfight expert is only good for CVs of tiers 4-7 where there's a slight chance of being matched against a lower tier CV.
• Evasive maneuver will do much more harm than good against an experienced player as it slows down retreating aircraft making them very easy to strafing.
• Demo expert is too expensive for what it does on a CV.
• BFT, AFT, Manual AA are the only arguable alternatives to concealment, but still come in 2nd place because CV snipping isnt very common at high tiers. It happens, but not in every game - while better concealment helps you in every game.

I would argue that Evasive Maneuvers is only a severe detriment to the IJN CV, which relies on the speed of its planes to ensure that they survive. But, for Strike Lexington, it's pretty much a "must", since you'll see tier 9s and 10s, and your planes are already pretty slow anyway. It just helps you have some reserves at the end of the battle.

[Starfighter_Ace]

I removed "Evasive Maneuvers" from my Captains and they are working like they did before the 0.6.0 change. My damage numbers are back up and my win/loss rate is improving. Your mileage may vary.

[pyantoryng]

Saw the Lex's T8 bombers loading time...taking Emergency Takeoff is suicide if that much number is being multiplied by two.

 

Respec'd to CE and my detection circle now rests only on friendly half of map now...next point I'm going to take Evasive Maneuver back...

[Numbah18]

Personally I like AFT on my Essex, that mass of secondary guns at long range will make a DD at least somewhat annoyed and I can be somewhat of an AA ship if my team needs it. My choices for all my other skills are the same as in the quote at the top of this post.

[Kenjister]

I would argue that Evasive Maneuvers is only a severe detriment to the IJN CV, which relies on the speed of its planes to ensure that they survive. But, for Strike Lexington, it's pretty much a "must", since you'll see tier 9s and 10s, and your planes are already pretty slow anyway. It just helps you have some reserves at the end of the battle.

 

Evasive Manuevers is never a detriment in game, as you can simply choose not to activate it.  If you activate it only when under attack, and switch to normal movement when not, you'll reap the benefits without any drawback.

As for the the benefits of the skill itself, it is mathematically a buff to the survivability of any plane under AA attack.

 

It might not be a no-brainer pick, but if you have a free point floating around it's definitely worth consideration.