Looking for Good AA ships to help protect allied ships?

[Admiral_Thrawn_1]

Looking for good AA Cruisers to help protect allied ships from air attacks while still having some fighting ability if needed. Which are better the German or US Cruisers? I already have Texas to cover low tier so looking at tier 6 and above and particularly tier 8-10

[TheGreatBlasto]

Cleveland? Atlanta?

[Teahee]

Tier 5: Texas

Tier 6: Cleveland

Tier 7: Atlanta, Gneisenau w/ MAA, Flint

 

Tier 8: Kutuzov, NC

 

[Admiral_Thrawn_1]

So the German tier 8-10 Cruisers are no good?

[templar627]

They aren't gonna be better than american cruisers.

[SireneRacker]

At Tier 8 the Hipper is the best Tech Tree ship you can get in terms of AA. Only one with stronger abilites is the Kutuzow. At Tier 9 the Dimitri has good power, but I can do good with my AA spec'ed Roon (96 AA rating). At Tier 10 the Des Moines is extreme but if you don't care about Defensive Fire the Minotaur also offers some nice features.

 

[Admiral_Thrawn_1]

At Tier 8 the Hipper is the best Tech Tree ship you can get in terms of AA. Only one with stronger abilites is the Kutuzow. At Tier 9 the Dimitri has good power, but I can do good with my AA spec'ed Roon (96 AA rating). At Tier 10 the Des Moines is extreme but if you don't care about Defensive Fire the Minotaur also offers some nice features.

 

 

Yeah I tend to avoid Russian tech in these games except for some historic WWII tanks in Blitz, otherwise you end up with a finicky OP vehicle that is slapped together and riddled with crazy weak spots and temperamental modules lol Wargaming did good job capturing the essence of Russian war machines.

I prefer more reliable vehicles that I pretty much know how they will react based on real work counterparts which in Blitz at least after some testing I found Wargaming does like to pour as much historical data as possible into their vehicles, although they still have to adjust them a little for game balance, so I look on at Russian ships and some WWI and WWII ship battles come to mind that are not pretty and I have blown apart some Russian ships which make me think they may have used some historical guidelines for WoWs as well...

 

So what is best AA ship for tier 9 that is not Russian?

[SireneRacker]

Baltimore is very strong at T9 when it comes to AA, but I hear people complaining about how the rest sucks. I haven't gotten her yet and can only speak of the Roon, and she has very decent AA. A T7 Carrier won't stand a chance, T8 will risk heavy losses, T9 mught be able to get some planes through and T10 will be a dance for you. Not impossible to protect but it sure is hard. 

[Kingfishercritic]

I've found that Atkitzuki works rather well as an escort. Since she is so slow, you really can't afford to over extend in her, so generally I find a friendly fast battleship and stay just a tad ahead of it. The AA is pretty good for her tier, but I must admit I was very disappointed when I discovered she didn't have DF. Kinda odd how a a ship specifically designed around AA duties doesn't have DF.....

[Admiral_Thrawn_1]

I've found that Atkitzuki works rather well as an escort. Since she is so slow, you really can't afford to over extend in her, so generally I find a friendly fast battleship and stay just a tad ahead of it. The AA is pretty good for her tier, but I must admit I was very disappointed when I discovered she didn't have DF. Kinda odd how a a ship specifically designed around AA duties doesn't have DF.....

 

Wow that is surprising to have good AA on a Destroyer, although heard Fletcher class is not bad at it, but an IJN Destroyer with good AA is certainly and unexpected surprise and with its DD detection range you could remain hidden longer and enemy may not realize that you are escorting allied ships, fun idea plus the smoke screen tends to be annoying for enemy planes to get good target lock set up for bombing runs. May have to try that at some point in the future since at the moment I have 2 BB lines I am grinding and have the Cruiser lines ready for 3 nations so I can make a god sekectiin get a solid AA cruiser lined up for escorting ships which will be handy since have some friends also working on some lines where the grinds are unforgiving as far as air attacks go.

[Wyatt_DERP85]

The USN Cruisers tend to have very strong AA and they all have defensive fire. The British have strong AA as well and tend to preform better in ship to ship combat.

Really all of the cruisers but the IJN have impressive AA. The IJN isn't that bad with defensive fire but it's DPS seems to be lacking a little bit.

[Admiral_Thrawn_1]

The USN Cruisers tend to have very strong AA and they all have defensive fire. The British have strong AA as well and tend to preform better in ship to ship combat.

Really all of the cruisers but the IJN have impressive AA. The IJN isn't that bad with defensive fire but it's DPS seems to be lacking a little bit.

Yeah because IJN get good stealth ratings, Torpedoes, and good guns for surface combat.

So British Cruisers have good AA as well? Had heard some where those often suffered in AA department?

 

[SireneRacker]

Yeah because IJN get good stealth ratings, Torpedoes, and good guns for surface combat.

So British Cruisers have good AA as well? Had heard some where those often suffered in AA department?

 

Up until T8 their AA may be solid but it's unimpressive, especially when counting the lack of Def Fire. With the Neptune you slowly start to get that strong long range AA making you dangerous, though Def Fire will still not be available.

[HazeGrayUnderway]

Long Range AA with high DPS ratings are the best for AA Escorting.  Great short, medium range AA DPS does nothing for that ship you're trying to protect that isn't right next to you.  Defensive Fire in conjunction with long range is paramount.  "Good" range for long range AA I consider to be around 7.2km.  Very few exceed that range.

 

Tier IV & V - No true AA Escort exists at these tiers.

 

Tier VI - Without a doubt, Cleveland, the first true AA Cruiser in the tiers and possesses strong, long range AA umbrella if properly specced.  Can reach out to 7.2km for deadly effect.  Accesses Defensive Fire.

 

Tier VII - Premium Atlanta, Flint.  Have excellent long ranged AA DPS that reaches out to 7.2km, accesses Defensive Fire.  I did not count Pensacola nor Indianapolis because their effective AA DPS is short, medium range.  Battleship Gneisenau if built for AA is a No Fly Zone even against Tier IX aircraft.  These are very rarely found but when they do show up, they shoot planes down so fast that even Saipan's Tier IX planes can't do anything to an AA spec Gneisenau.  They just disappear from the skies. 

 

Tier VIII - Without a doubt, Adm.Hipper / Prinz Eugen.  Their AA is severely underrated as unlike New Orleans, their long range AA is very good.  NOLA's air defense is strong in shorter ranges, a poor choice for AA Escorting.  They all access Defensive Fire.  Premium Mikhail Kutuzov has a very good AA suite going for her that excels at range.

 

Tier IX - Dmitri Donskoi, Neptune, Baltimore, Roon all have great long range DPS and some have even more lethal short, medium range DPS.  Again, emphasis on the long range AA DPS.  All access Defensive Fire except Neptune who is a special case.  With AAGM2 upgrade and AFT, Neptune can reach out to 8.6km but has no Defensive Fire access.  Yet she shoots down lots of planes.

 

Tier X - All Tier X Cruisers except Zao.  They have excellent long range AA capability.  Minotaur is like Neptune, no Defensive Fire but she can rip planes out of the skies.

[SireneRacker]

Tier IV & V - No true AA Escort exists at these tiers.

 

Yuubari could be a candidate...

[Admiral_Thrawn_1]

Long Range AA with high DPS ratings are the best for AA Escorting.  Great short, medium range AA DPS does nothing for that ship you're trying to protect that isn't right next to you.  Defensive Fire in conjunction with long range is paramount.  "Good" range for long range AA I consider to be around 7.2km.  Very few exceed that range.

 

Tier IV & V - No true AA Escort exists at these tiers.

 

Tier VI - Without a doubt, Cleveland, the first true AA Cruiser in the tiers and possesses strong, long range AA umbrella if properly specced.  Can reach out to 7.2km for deadly effect.  Accesses Defensive Fire.

 

Tier VII - Premium Atlanta, Flint.  Have excellent long ranged AA DPS that reaches out to 7.2km, accesses Defensive Fire.  I did not count Pensacola nor Indianapolis because their effective AA DPS is short, medium range.  Battleship Gneisenau if built for AA is a No Fly Zone even against Tier IX aircraft.  These are very rarely found but when they do show up, they shoot planes down so fast that even Saipan's Tier IX planes can't do anything to an AA spec Gneisenau.  They just disappear from the skies. 

 

Tier VIII - Without a doubt, Adm.Hipper / Prinz Eugen.  Their AA is severely underrated as unlike New Orleans, their long range AA is very good.  NOLA's air defense is strong in shorter ranges, a poor choice for AA Escorting.  They all access Defensive Fire.  Premium Mikhail Kutuzov has a very good AA suite going for her that excels at range.

 

Tier IX - Dmitri Donskoi, Neptune, Baltimore, Roon all have great long range DPS and some have even more lethal short, medium range DPS.  Again, emphasis on the long range AA DPS.  All access Defensive Fire except Neptune who is a special case.  With AAGM2 upgrade and AFT, Neptune can reach out to 8.6km but has no Defensive Fire access.  Yet she shoots down lots of planes.

 

Tier X - All Tier X Cruisers except Zao.  They have excellent long range AA capability.  Minotaur is like Neptune, no Defensive Fire but she can rip planes out of the skies.

 

Actually at tier V Texas works well as AA escort ship to aid BBs since it can fight off other Battleships and carriers will either be fearful to approach because you are in the area or else they attempt to attack and all get shot down.

Good to know that Gneisenau can be so good at AA though since I am on my way up to Bismarck and will be nice to know I can get some relief from air attacks with it lol.

[HazeGrayUnderway]

 

Actually at tier V Texas works well as AA escort ship to aid BBs since it can fight off other Battleships and carriers will either be fearful to approach because you are in the area or else they attempt to attack and all get shot down.

Good to know that Gneisenau can be so good at AA though since I am on my way up to Bismarck and will be nice to know I can get some relief from air attacks with it lol.

 

I excluded Texas because as nice as her AA is, it's short ranged.  If you are going to escort someone you need great range because you are not sailing right next to them.  You need the extra range to reach out to incoming aircraft further away.  AA shooting at bombers and taking their toll when they are already 2km from the target is "Too Late AA."

 

Texas' AA is really only for personal defense.  You are not reaching out to 7.2km like AA Gneisenau does with high DPS.  AA Gneisenau is a No Fly Zone no matter what angle the CV tries to attack from, and ships within a few km of her are pretty safe.

 

Another reason why Texas falters as an AA Escort outside of her short range is that she is SLOW.  She gets left behind because of how slow she is and any Escort has to be fast enough to go at the speed the group sails at.

[SeaRaptor]

They aren't gonna be better than american cruisers.

 

In point of fact, Hipper's AA is far, FAR superior to that of New Orleans at Tier VIII.  Tier IX is a toss-up, and while Des Moines does have better AA at Tier X, Hindenburg's is no slouch.

[_Fantomex_]

As others have mentioned, the Neptune and Minotaur have superb AA, but no defensive fire. Both of them have the unique ability to boost their AA range to 8.6 km, which is further than their detection by air while firing AA. So if someone else is spotting those planes for you, you can shoot them down without being detected. A Neptune or Minotaur in smoke is a deadly AA combo, as an unaware CV might mistake your smoke for a DD's smoke and fly over you.

 

Ironically enough, the Taiho, Hakuryu, and Midway also have amazing AA, especially with their godly defensive fire that lasts for two minutes; though you won't be doing much "escorting" with your carrier itself. The tier 8 - 10 USN BB's have the best raw AA DPS per tier, with the Montana having the absolute best raw AA DPS in the game.

[WhiteRecon]

^^ _Fantomex_

If you're throwing out the Russians, then Neptune is the obvious T9 choice.  Mine is mostly spec'd AA and it skins T9 planes alive.  Manual AA pushes the DPS to ungodly levels on two sets of guns, and AFT pushes the other sets to long range as well.

 

All this and the Neptune's guns are monsters, and smoke can be set up for almost non-stop use.

[crzyhawk]

 

Yuubari could be a candidate...

 

Yubari's AA is not very good.  However at T5, Murmansk and Omaha both have excellent AA.  No DF, but they swat planes down pretty well.

[bewbs_]

 

Yeah I tend to avoid Russian tech in these games except for some historic WWII tanks in Blitz, otherwise you end up with a finicky OP vehicle that is slapped together and riddled with crazy weak spots and temperamental modules lol Wargaming did good job capturing the essence of Russian war machines.

I prefer more reliable vehicles that I pretty much know how they will react based on real work counterparts which in Blitz at least after some testing I found Wargaming does like to pour as much historical data as possible into their vehicles, although they still have to adjust them a little for game balance, so I look on at Russian ships and some WWI and WWII ship battles come to mind that are not pretty and I have blown apart some Russian ships which make me think they may have used some historical guidelines for WoWs as well...

 

So what is best AA ship for tier 9 that is not Russian?

 

Baltimore or Neptune... I give the edge to Neptune if spec'd for AA, with out DF that ship swats planes out of the air with great range, Minotaur also has crazy good AA.. I average more planes in my Neptune/Minotaur than in my Baltimore/DM...even without DF.

 

I believe part of the reason is the smoke, CV may just think its a DD until all his planes disappear... I had an enemy CV say WTH is in that smoke?! in chat. But the Neptune has great effective range all the way out to 7+km.

[Komrad_B]

Kutuzov annihilates whole squadrons at tier VIII. 

 

 Yubari's AA is not very good.  However at T5, Murmansk and Omaha both have excellent AA.  No DF, but they swat planes down pretty well. 

 

Say what?? Its AA is excellent for a tier IV. Keep in mind it'll never face a carrier higher than V, and that it has defensive AA ability, as far as I know the only ship to have it before tier VI. I've erased the entire plane completement of some early tier carriers with mine, they can't replace loses at these low tiers. If you don't kill the planes you can at least disrupt them, helping defend friendly ships.

 

[Skyfaller]

Neptune in full AA is a monster.

 

You may not get AA consumable but you make up for it in the sheer number of planes shot down...its like having the AA consumable damage boost enabled permanently but not having the disrupting effect on the plane's accuracy.

 

To give you an example, in a tier 10 battle a Midway sent its torps and dive bombers bunched up against an Izumo...and I can see he bunched them up because Izumo has no AA to speak of.. but the CV did not see my Neptune inside a smoke cloud right next to where the izumo was sailing by.

 

Needless to say, I shot down all but 1 of his squadrons... and that surviving squadron left with just 2 planes in it...and it was the only squadron that survived long enough to attack the izumo.

 

Des Moines has the absolute highest damage in AA and has AA consumable... but it has short range for it... most of its damage is inside 3km range. That makes it a 'revenge AA' type of ship that relies on the AA consumable to protect itself/others..then kills planes as they exit their attack runs post-attack.

 

Neptune pushes half of its total AA damage out to 8km and the other half kicks in under 6km... that alone allows your Neptune to MOW down squadrons before they can hit the green ships you escorting. Furthermore, Neptune has smoke screens it can hide in.

 

Most of my AA kills are at the start of the game when I go in with the DDs near the caps and sit behind some island and pop smoke... or I have the DDs exit the smoke so the planes are spotted and I mow them down before the CV can even realize his squadrons are dropping out of the sky as he sent them to attack the DD. I also get lots of AA kills merely by sailing with the BBs. Neptune is an excellent escort as its a DD slayer and an AA monster... and its not too shabby vs battleships given it can lob horrendously high damage at BB superstructures and it has an amazing setup of torpedoes. This is no one-trick pony like the Des Moines...but its a squishy ship and you'll get insta-gibbed many times if you get hit on the sides.

 

[HazeGrayUnderway]

Most of my AA kills are at the start of the game when I go in with the DDs near the caps and sit behind some island and pop smoke... or I have the DDs exit the smoke so the planes are spotted and I mow them down before the CV can even realize his squadrons are dropping out of the sky as he sent them to attack the DD. I also get lots of AA kills merely by sailing with the BBs. Neptune is an excellent escort as its a DD slayer and an AA monster... and its not too shabby vs battleships given it can lob horrendously high damage at BB superstructures and it has an amazing setup of torpedoes. This is no one-trick pony like the Des Moines...but its a squishy ship and you'll get insta-gibbed many times if you get hit on the sides.

 

 

 

That is what I do with my Neptune.  When it's a CV match, I know I'm going to bag a lot of aircraft kills for some good XPs.