Ranked advice for a marginal New Mexico captain?

[Deuce5150]

Hello,

 

I'm pretty bad at this game, but I'd like to improve.  What better place to do so than in ranked play?  Oh, pretty much every other battle type would be better?  OK.

 

If rumors prove true, this season of ranked will be at tier 6.  I just so happened to have peaked at tier 6 with Cleveland and New Mexico.  Thus far, every time I sail Cleveland, it has been a 30 second disaster.  So, New Mexico it is!

 

I have her fully kitted out with all the modules and the following upgrades:

 

-Main Armaments Mod 1

-Damage Control Systems 1

-Artillery Plotting Room Mod 1

-Steering Gears Mod 2

 

Also, I've been spending Dragon Flags like a lottery winner to get her a 10 point captain.  He has the following skills:

 

1-Preventative Maintenance

2-Expert Marksman

3-Basics of Survivability

4-Fire Prevention

 

 I was inspired by the "Zombie Battleship" build.  I'd like to get at least two more points before the ranked season starts to get either High Alert, Jack of All Trades or Adrenalin Rush.  I am also planning on running all the consumable cool down and repair time reduction signals I can along with premium consumables.  This is all a very roundabout way to present my strategy in what will be my first ranked season.

 

My thought is to push, push, push.  Follow DDs into caps and try to take the enemy ships attention away from them - using my increased tanky-ness to survive and deal damage.  Basically try to be difficult to dislodge from a cap while offering support.  My worry is that this will feed into my worst habit in this game, which is to overextend.  Sadly, even at a blazing 21 knot top speed.

 

I can usually pick out what I did wrong immediately post-explosion.  Most of the time (for fear of hiding in the back and not contributing) I keep advancing ahead of everybody else and become a big juicy target.  By the time I realize it, I frantically turn a 180, exposing my big, shiny broadside and rotating my guns right out of the fight.  What follows is a delightful series of fires, floods, desperate mouse-clicking and then a beautiful, high-definition rendering of a battleship capsizing.

 

So, if you are still with me, my questions are these:

 

Do I commit the cardinal battleship sin and hang back at the beginning?  I don't want to be helplessly watching DDs die and have to pour on the "speed" when it's too late.

 

Is a bow-on, stationary New Mexico a more difficult target than a full throttle, circling New Mexico?  I'm wondering if/when I do overextend whether I should slam the brakes and back up, or make a u-turn and get out of dodge.

 

Is this build/strategy even viable?  I want to be the best support I can.  I will am doubtful that I will be the top scorer on my team, so victory is my only means of advancing.  With that in mind, I could care less about personal score and want to win at all cost.

 

What can I do to elicit the fewest groans from my teammates aside from "Don't Die".

 

Any suggestions are welcome.  Apologies in advance for those with the misfortune of being on my team.  You'll recognize me as the New Mexico bow tip slipping under the water.

 

Thanks!

[Deuce5150]

Now realizing this is probably the wrong spot to post this one.  There is a bolded link that says "Tactics and Strategies" mere inches from the post button.  Oops.

[_ENO_]

Judging by your stats I'm seeing a gradual increase in damage and experience. That is promising and shows that you're working towards getting better where things count. Your survival is quite low as is your hit%. 

 

My suggestion to you will be to stop using your full speed setting for the first few minutes. It looks like you're extending too far forward and getting crushed. I think you're doing that to close distance because you're not good at shooting. 

 

HIGHLY recommend you invest some time in learning how to shoot properly. Load the dynamic gunsight... watch ichase's videos on shooting- the newer one where he goes into detail about shell flight time, ship speed and the calibration of the tick marks on the reticle. Do that first... Try to hang back a bit more- learning to shoot better will help you do this more reliably while still being able to increase damage.

[Crucis]

"General Discussion" isn't a bad place for this post, all things considered.

 

[landcollector]

My suggestion to you will be to stop using your full speed setting for the first few minutes

 

Not sure this is the best advice for a slow USN Standard.  Their Full speed setting is roughly 1/2-3/4 speed for most Cruisers and Destroyers at those tiers.

[_ENO_]

 

Not sure this is the best advice for a slow USN Standard.  Their Full speed setting is roughly 1/2-3/4 speed for most Cruisers and Destroyers at those tiers.

 

Yup.

[Kapitan_Wuff]

I would probably recommend some changes. First, If your gonna go into ranked with only a 10pt captain. I would do PM, EM, BFT, AFT. And SI would be the skill I would work towards next. Also, I would DCS2 over the stearing gear mod.

Other than that, your plan to push caps seems a bit aggressive, you don't want to get focused down, plus the cap is liable to be a torp fest.

[jdlobo]

Full speed until contact with the reds, you're so slow you pretty much have to, then 3/4 to maneuver. You can drop to half, but don't stop moving. Once you stop it's a half-hour before you get back up to speed. 

[Deuce5150]

HIGHLY recommend you invest some time in learning how to shoot properly. Load the dynamic gunsight... watch ichase's videos on shooting

 

Yeah, aim wasn't​ so bad until I started using the @$#?! spotter plane.  I have the dynamic crosshairs loaded.  Probably better freshen up with that video.

 

I'll maybe push up to the edges of the cap and slow it down to 3/4 once there for manuevering.  That way I'm hopefully not doing a constant torpedo dance while still being in the area, but not too far ahead.  And perhaps keep an island nearby for turns.

 

I wondered about AFT and BFT.  If things go horribly, I'll be re-speccing.  I do want superintendent eventually with this Captain.  My thought was that ranked battles might not last long enough to have five repair charges and I can already get four with the premium repair party.  

 

Thank you for the tips.  I'll consider them homework assigned

[_ENO_]

You don't want to be wading into caps- at least not at the start.  It's situational but you do want to support DDs that are doing so. Make your presence known so that people shoot at you but try to keep it out between 11-14 km or so. Once things thin out, push the throttles forward and merge with your fleet.