Frustrating cruiser experience

[KMS_KillMySelf]

I finally started playing cruiser because I was tired of BB rng dispersion but I had no idea how bad it can really be.

This is what happens 90% of the time:

1. I set a fire that gets instantly repaired (good thing for me right? not so fast)
2. I either fail to set further fires OR my teammates gets to set the fires before me
3. I end up with no damage from firing and hitting the entire game. (no fire DOT, shell shatters)

I can't wait for when I finally get IFHE, because relying on fires are killing my will to continue playing cruisers. This also proves to me that the fire mechanics are awful, frustrating for both player involved.

(cruiser in question is the budyonny)

also rip my WTR

[BlailBlerg]

What you havent been deleted over and over again instantly?

[Kapitan_Wuff]

The VMF line makes great flame throwers but also have good AP, it can wreak other cruisers and even rack up some big damage against broadside BBs. As for starting fires, remember the ships is divided into 4 sections and can have only one fire per section. So if you set the superstructure on fire, you can try and adjust your aim and start fires on the bow or where ever.

 

Edit: Fires are bonus damage, but not something you have to rely on. Might just be shooting the wrong part of ships if your not getting damage hits.

[Skramjet]

TBH AP on Cruisers is one of the most underused aspects of this entire game. Try using AP a little more often, you might be surprised. 

[Capt_Binkley]

What cruiser line?  US?  Japan?  etc?

[Komrade_Rylo]

What you havent been deleted over and over again instantly?

 

Doesn't happen 99% or the time as long as you don't sail broadside.

[Reymu]

You're focusing too hard on what offends you.

 

What cruiser line? Each has its own specialty. Posting some replays would help too. Or describing the scenario so we can offer our experience.

[KMS_KillMySelf]

The VMF line makes great flame throwers but also have good AP, it can wreak other cruisers and even rack up some big damage against broadside BBs. As for starting fires, remember the ships is divided into 4 sections and can have only one fire per section. So if you set the superstructure on fire, you can try and adjust your aim and start fires on the bow or where ever.

 

Edit: Fires are bonus damage, but not something you have to rely on. Might just be shooting the wrong part of ships if your not getting damage hits.

 

the ranges for that AP to be useful against BBs is suicidal, and in ths heavy BB meta there aren't enough cruisers around for me to spam AP at.

[Estimated_Prophet]

TBH AP on Cruisers is one of the most underused aspects of this entire game. Try using AP a little more often, you might be surprised. 

 

Generally trying to start fires early; but no hesitation at all to awitch to AP if an enemy gets close, and it looks like I can get their broadside.

[Megrim3]

I'm on the Algérie right now.  I like this ship. Somewhat liked the La Gal too. Mainly as a long range fire spammer. Don't have IFHE yet though.  Is this worth on the Algérie and higher ships in the line? I've looked at the stats and the tier 8 looks very meh in the line.  How is she? 

[klymar8]

I finally started playing cruiser because I was tired of BB rng dispersion but I had no idea how bad it can really be.

This is what happens 90% of the time:

1. I set a fire that gets instantly repaired (good thing for me right? not so fast)
2. I either fail to set further fires OR my teammates gets to set the fires before me
3. I end up with no damage from firing and hitting the entire game. (no fire DOT, shell shatters)

I can't wait for when I finally get IFHE, because relying on fires are killing my will to continue playing cruisers. This also proves to me that the fire mechanics are awful, frustrating for both player involved.

(cruiser in question is the budyonny)

also rip my WTR

 

   I use AP most of the time I am in my Budyonny . I have gotten 20 citadel hits in a match with it using AP . So you might want to switch to AP and use HE only against long range shots at BB's .

[goldeagle1123]

TBH AP on Cruisers is one of the most underused aspects of this entire game. Try using AP a little more often, you might be surprised. 

 

It's underused for good reason. Unless you're British, there are virtually no scenarios except for when the enemy is full broadside, when AP is liable to deal more damage than HE, and that's not even counting the fact that HE starts fires.

[yashma]

I'm on the Algérie right now.  I like this ship. Somewhat liked the La Gal too. Mainly as a long range fire spammer. Don't have IFHE yet though.  Is this worth on the Algérie and higher ships in the line? 

No.  Don't get IFHE on 203mm cruisers.  Some people might argue that IFHE is worth it on the Henri as it allows it to pen the 50mm deck armor of german BBs, but personally I don't feel it's worth the 4 points as it's expensive and only benefits you in a select few circumstances.  But if you want to keep the La Gal, then that ship would benefit greatly from IFHE.

[HMCS_Devilfish]

I finally started playing cruiser because I was tired of BB rng dispersion but I had no idea how bad it can really be.

This is what happens 90% of the time:

1. I set a fire that gets instantly repaired (good thing for me right? not so fast)
2. I either fail to set further fires OR my teammates gets to set the fires before me
3. I end up with no damage from firing and hitting the entire game. (no fire DOT, shell shatters)

I can't wait for when I finally get IFHE, because relying on fires are killing my will to continue playing cruisers. This also proves to me that the fire mechanics are awful, frustrating for both player involved.

(cruiser in question is the budyonny)

also rip my WTR

The thing is about Cruisers is and I don't no if this is absolutely true but after 4000 games in Cruisers my theory is if you fire at range and get just 1 or 2 hits than the likelihood of a fire is not so good ,once yea get a fire and its put out its even harder to get another fire with the same 1 or 2 hits , if you increase the hits fire chance goes up, closer you are fires go up .... also fly dem fire flags 

[slokill_1]

Budyony get the conceal skills for captain and conceal upgrades ASAP.

If you're within 12 km or less of a cruiser use AP

Get priority target skill.

When you have to turn and are spotted go dark then resume firing when you're angled again.

If you're targeted a lot shoot from as far away as possible using HP.

You've got great dispersion so use it.

Remember you're a cruiser and it's really tough to hold a cap and dominate a battle 'cause you can't take many hits.

Hope that the BB on your team know they are supposed to take the hits so you can dish it out.

[CylonRed]

My Bismark is made of oil or gasoline because if a HE round has a merest whiff of my ship - up it goes. So shoot at Bismarks while swerving a lot.

[Hangoverhomey]

Yeah I get lit on fire like clockwork all the time, not sure why it's not working for you.

 

I will literally get hit with 1 shell, the first shell... bam fire. Happens all the time...

[grumpymunky]

I either fail to set further fires OR my teammates gets to set the fires before me

 

Don't begrudge your team mates for dealing damage.

If I can convince a battleship to use its fire extinguishers, I press F3 a few seconds later so everyone can light fires in all its special places.

[CCloak]

TBH AP on Cruisers is one of the most underused aspects of this entire game. Try using AP a little more often, you might be surprised. 

 

Main reason is that, Cruiser shells usually have a much longer travel time than BB shells at longer ranges. Normal BB players would see your shells and begin WASD. WASD nullifies Cruiser AP damage very quickly, while the same technique is useless against well aimed HE.

[anonym_OlK73e329bMY]

Cruisers seem hard. (｡ŏ﹏ŏ)

[Rekkoff]

TBH AP on Cruisers is one of the most underused aspects of this entire game. Try using AP a little more often, you might be surprised. 

 

 This, a thousand times this. AP from even 6in guns is amazing. You just have to use your brain and aim. Something 99% of this player base cannot do.

[anonym_OlK73e329bMY]

 

 This, a thousand times this. AP from even 6in guns is amazing. You just have to use your brain and aim. Something 99% of this player base cannot do.

 

I definitely can't.. I try though. (｡ŏ﹏ŏ)

[Taichunger]

I suggest finding someone to div with who is good and can show you how to perform better in that cruiser.

 

But fundamentally, getting 15 fires one game and 5 the next is common -- happens even with notorious HE spam machines like Kutu and Zao. RNG plays a huge role.

 

Fire more AP -- especially against broadside BBs and cruisers. Budy's AP is glorious. This means anticipating when the cruiser will be broadside and loading up AP so that it is ready in that brief moment when you can wreck it with 4 cits (killed a Neptune with 7 cits in two salvos from my Belfast today, was glorious). Play some games in coop firing only AP to get a sense of what it can do. That's why they invented coop.

 

I also suggest you purchase one of the easymode cruisers, Kutuzov or Belfast. Belfast is especially brutal, excellent AP, good fire chance, and smoke, radar, and sonar. Kutuzov is particularly deadly up close, in a brawl you can easily put down 30-70K damage in a minute of fighting with torps and AP, and she's surprisingly tough when sharply angled. You won't live long, but every ship that faced you in that brawl will be a wreck. And both cruisers print credits. 

 

The other reason is that a smoke cruiser can teach you a lot about positioning. Because smoke is wasted if not used properly, where should I be? is constantly a question for smoke cruisers. As a smoke cruiser driver, you need to learn: How to use islands to cover your exit from the battle area. How to position yourself so red ships must cross your fire to enter the battle area. How to position yourself so you can fire over islands without using smoke and without being seen. How to exercise patience in a suicide torp run on a BB so you survive it. And most importantly, when to cut and run.

[inktomi19d]

 

It's underused for good reason. Unless you're British, there are virtually no scenarios except for when the enemy is full broadside, when AP is liable to deal more damage than HE, and that's not even counting the fact that HE starts fires.

 

It depends on your point of aim, and caliber of your guns. Superstructures are penetrable by everything from most angles, and are thick enough for the AP to detonate if you hit the lowest deck. Upper belts are also nice and thin (below 45mm on everything but the Hood, Kongo, and Fuso), and most cruisers can penetrate them most of the time. The sides and backs of turrets can often be cracked by 200mm guns, as can conning towers. Both AP and HE hit for 33% of their listed max damage if they don’t hit the citadel, so if you can get a penetration with either AP or HE, then AP always does more damage.

 

When HE does more damage is when AP would have over-penetrated, or bounced. The lower superstructures on many ships can be overmatched by many cruisers (depending on the superstructure thickness and gun caliber). An 8mm superstructure can be overmatched even by the Atlanta’s 127mm guns, but 15mm (which some BBs have) would require bigger guns than the 203mm that are common to CAs. Anything less than 14mm is overmatched by typical CA guns, which means that against most superstructures, you have no chance of AP bouncing. That means that if you can shoot into a thick part of a superstructure to avoid over-penetration (often the lowest part on BBs, but also from the front or rear), you will get more damage out of AP.

 

Most ships also have huge sections that have less than 45mm of armor (generally the bow, stern, and entire upper belt). On those parts bounces are possible if the ship is angled, but AP will still give you more damage if you have a good angle and if you don’t overpenetrate. 

 

At extreme range, sure, HE is best for everything. But as you get closer, cruiser guns are generally precise enough to put all their rounds into an upper belt or conning tower, and that is a lot more damage than HE can do.