Missouri dispersion is absurdly wide.

[Axiom808]

I used to think it was just my imagination. I've had some really good games in the Missouri, gotten a fair amount of kills, but those games are the exception, rather than the rule. The primary reason? Terrible dispersion. And I'm not talking about 18-20 km shots, I'm talking about >16km shots. Case in point, today I was firing at a Yamato who was bow-on and backing away from me. He was 11km away. I fire two volleys straight at his center line, only two watch them BOTH go to either side of him. I would expect this at 15, 18, certainly 20km+ . . . but 11KM?!

 

And the dispersion is even worse if you factor in more extreme distances and speeds. I can't count the number of times I've fired at a broadside, stationary BB, only to get misses and glancing shots. These are against citadel magnets like the Iowa. How is this possible? This is the only ship I've experienced this issue on, and I'm honestly at a loss for any other explanation. I'm no stranger to USN arcs and dispersion, but this is bordering on purposeful nerfing of what SHOULD be a powerful glass cannon battleship. 

 

[RN_Roma]

Dude, one question what are you smoking cause I want some.

[Unabletony]

Did you take the upgrades to make your dispersion less bad?

[RivertheRoyal]

It's a known fact that the Iowa sister's accuracy is directly correlated to how well you're aiming. They have some of the most amazing groupings when you're right on target.

 

Also, if you aren't running the artillery plotting room modification 2, then that might contribute to it.    

[Axiom808]

I do run the  artillery plotting room modification 2, and sometimes my groups will be DEAD ON target, as I experienced when I first got the Mo, but in the last several weeks, I've been noticing more and more frequent wide shots, even at closer ranges. It's baffling me.

[RivertheRoyal]

I do run the  artillery plotting room modification 2, and sometimes my groups will be DEAD ON target, as I experienced when I first got the Mo, but in the last several weeks, I've been noticing more and more frequent wide shots, even at closer ranges. It's baffling me.

 

Do you have the training rooms enabled? If so, then I'd suggest going in there with the ship and trying to find the optimal aim. Practice shooting at stationary ships, bots who are moving, angled ships, etc, etc. Often, I've found that you can be aiming where you think is best, but it really isn't and the dispersion is affected.  

[skol_vikings]

It's a known fact that the Iowa sister's accuracy is directly correlated to how well you're aiming. They have some of the most amazing groupings when you're right on target.

 

Also, if you aren't running the artillery plotting room modification 2, then that might contribute to it.    

 

This, x1000000. One salvo tonight:

 

 

When your aim's off, it definitely has a tendency to spread. But when it's on, oh man.

[Axiom808]

I haven't ever had to use the training room, but my recent experiences with the Mo might be enough to convince me. The problem though isn't where I'm aiming, it's the shot group itself. If a quarter of the time they group tight and fall where I aim them, and the rest of the time they splay all over the place, how will the training room help? I mean, unless I just plan on landing one round per volley.

[EmGee42]

OK, I'll bite. What does aiming have to do with dispersion? 

[Herr_Reitz]

OK, I'll bite. What does aiming have to do with dispersion? 

 

You would think nothing - but try firing at a target that is not locked then fire at it again with it locked. See if you can "perceive" a difference in the dispersion.

[EmGee42]

 

You would think nothing - but try firing at a target that is not locked then fire at it again with it locked. See if you can "perceive" a difference in the dispersion.

 

Well that's kinda of a "duh" conclusion, no offense intended. I do know not having a lock will cause all sorts of weird shots.

They way I read the conversation above is that you can affect dispersion by where you aim at a ship. I've never known that to be true. I would like to learn more.

One thing I know is true is that the USA 16 inch gun accuracy sucks. Firing a single turret at a cruiser under 10k and you can bracket it left,right,up, or down with all three shells. Anything over 15k is a waste of time imho.

[Axonn]

I don't what ure talking about or smoking, but she is one of thee most accurate ships in the game that I have ever played. U just need the right skills and equipment.

[ValkyrWarframe]

Do you consider this bad dispersion?

[RivertheRoyal]

I haven't ever had to use the training room, but my recent experiences with the Mo might be enough to convince me. The problem though isn't where I'm aiming, it's the shot group itself. If a quarter of the time they group tight and fall where I aim them, and the rest of the time they splay all over the place, how will the training room help? I mean, unless I just plan on landing one round per volley.

 

I think you aim might actually be the problem here, right? I mean, from what I hear, most of what you're having trouble with are those ships which are mostly stationary and closer than 15 km, right? Personally, that what I sometimes have trouble with as well, since the optimal point of aim for those ships aren't quite where you'd expect them. 

[TenguBlade]

OK, I'll bite. What does aiming have to do with dispersion? 

The prevailing theory is that if your aim is off from what the game thinks is proper lead, the RNG will throw a wider dispersion roll in an attempt to give you a better chance at scoring a hit.  Hence if your aim is good, dispersion will usually cooperate.

 

One of the primary reasons why I've never bothered with APR2 on my Iowa and don't plan to for Missouri.  Their dispersion is just fine without it if you can aim. On the other hand, for Montana you have enough guns to wipe people out with a single accurate salvo, so I went for accuracy and oneshots instead of DPM.

[EmGee42]

The prevailing theory is that if your aim is off from what the game thinks is proper lead, the RNG will throw a wider dispersion roll in an attempt to give you a better chance at scoring a hit.  Hence if your aim is good, dispersion will usually cooperate.

 

One of the primary reasons why I've never bothered with APR2 on my Iowa and don't plan to for Missouri.  Their dispersion is just fine without it if you can aim. On the other hand, for Montana you have enough guns to wipe people out with a single accuracy salvo, so I went for accuracy and oneshots instead of DPM.

Gotcha! Thanks for explaining that.

[PigBot50]

The prevailing theory is that if your aim is off from what the game thinks is proper lead, the RNG will throw a wider dispersion roll in an attempt to give you a better chance at scoring a hit.  Hence if your aim is good, dispersion will usually cooperate.

 

One of the primary reasons why I've never bothered with APR2 on my Iowa and don't plan to for Missouri.  Their dispersion is just fine without it if you can aim. On the other hand, for Montana you have enough guns to wipe people out with a single accurate salvo, so I went for accuracy and oneshots instead of DPM.

 

Wow I had no idea.  Do you think this is true for all ships (i.e. German BBs) or is it somehow case dependent?

[TenguBlade]

Wow I had no idea.  Do you think this is true for all ships (i.e. German BBs) or is it somehow case dependent?

My personal belief is that it holds true for all ships of any class (besides CVs for obvious reasons).  I've certainly seen it happen with the Scharnhorst: on paper, she's quite accurate for German BBs (2.0 sigma, above-average dispersion/range ratio), but in practice you can get stuff like this if you're not locked onto a target:

[Peacemaker100]

Didn't even know dispersion was correlated with your aim.  Might need to try this in training room at some point then.  Might also explain why sometimes I get garbage dispersion on broadside targets in my Yammy

[Freshy_Fresh]

My personal belief is that it holds true for all ships of any class (besides CVs for obvious reasons).  I've certainly seen it happen with the Scharnhorst: on paper, she's quite accurate for German BBs (2.0 sigma, above-average dispersion/range ratio), but in practice you can get stuff like this if you're not locked onto a target:

I'd like to believe this is true. It would explain a lot of gunnery abnormalities. However, what then is the explanation for dead on aim, but the shots bracket the target? Or shooting unlocked into smoke, and killing the (un-rendered) destroyer hiding within? Does the game decide to give the "high-roll" to the other player for the former, and yourself for the later? If the game is in fact deciding high/low rolls based on specific player input, then what is the best solution to mitigate bad luck?

[Axiom808]

If this is all true, about the locking on greatly affecting dispersion too, then a lot of this is making more sense.

[TenguBlade]

I'd like to believe this is true. It would explain a lot of gunnery abnormalities. However, what then is the explanation for dead on aim, but the shots bracket the target? Or shooting unlocked into smoke, and killing the (un-rendered) destroyer hiding within? Does the game decide to give the "high-roll" to the other player for the former, and yourself for the later? If the game is in fact deciding high/low rolls based on specific player input, then what is the best solution to mitigate bad luck?

Bad luck still happens no matter how good your aim is, which is why the theory that accuracy correlates to aim is still theory and not given truth (or at least treated as such).  It does depend somewhat on the ship you're sailing (at low tiers and on BBs with low sigmas like New Mexico, there aren't very many "good" rolls to come by to begin with), and regardless of how you aim it's always possible RNGesus might throw you godlike or terrible rolls: the theory is that there's a correlation, not a definitive trend.

[templar627]

I would agree. I've generally found that if you're hitting the middle of a ship with a salvo the hits dramatically increase compared to if you're farther forward of backwards. Most of the time if you're missing it's less to do with the dispersion and more to do with lead.