Should I start IJN carrier line?

[joshua011]

I currently have the Independence half grinder through and a Japanese 5 points captain from Kaga, heard and saw many videos and posts saying that US CVs suck and IJN CVs being OP, I have about 10,000,000 credits and 75000 free experience, so should I start the IJN CV line and how should I start it if I do? Also curious about how Hosho and Zuiho deal with Langley and Bogue with manual attacks removed. 

Thanks in advance

[Kapitan_Wuff]

If you enjoy CVs than you should absolutely start the IJN line, no need to waste free XP though.

[aethervox]

Yes, begin the Ijn CV line - a 5 pt Cpt should begin on the Hosho - I suggest the 1st 3 skills should be ASE, TA & TAE, in that order, then AS  then CE.

[I_obsessed_I]

im sure my saying so will incite a riot, but, with so much broken about CVs its hard to suggest anyone should play them... imho, nobody should play them until they get changed/fixed (or even acknowledged beyond lip service), such a terrible mechanic for both cv drivers and cv targets. Its the only sure fire way to make sure the devs get how sincere the community is about them getting reworked.

 

that said, aside from saipan, usn CVs are not as good as ijn tier for tier... so, if you have to play them, ijn appears to be the better choice.

[joshua011]

But how should I play it? How do I counter US CVs with their 6 planes squad with my 4 planes without strafing? How should I play it differently compared to US CVs?

[Carrier_Ikoma]

1 hour ago, joshua011 said:

I currently have the Independence half grinder through and a Japanese 5 points captain from Kaga, heard and saw many videos and posts saying that US CVs suck and IJN CVs being OP, I have about 10,000,000 credits and 75000 free experience, so should I start the IJN CV line and how should I start it if I do? Also curious about how Hosho and Zuiho deal with Langley and Bogue with manual attacks removed. 

Thanks in advance

 

...Ok, so... Ranger. Widely considered to be the worst USN CV. There are still people that have 70 or 80% winrates in her.

 

USN air squadrons are also significantly more durable than IJN ones (in no small part thanks to AA mechanics working off maximum squadron health instead of individual plane health). Despite all the people saying "USN CVs suck, IJN CVs OP!", the Midway population is significantly higher than the Hakuryu population. On top of that, high tier USN CVs will be getting new toys soon -- AP bombs, which WG is testing right now with the (unreleased) premium USN CV Enterprise.

 

Try both. Play the one you like. Don't let people tell you your chosen ship line sucks if you're having fun.

[HazeGrayUnderway]

46 minutes ago, joshua011 said:

But how should I play it? How do I counter US CVs with their 6 planes squad with my 4 planes without strafing? How should I play it differently compared to US CVs?

Saipan and IJN CV users rely a lot on strafing to equalize things.  Matter of fact, the inclusion of strafing mechanics was a massive boost to small fighter unit sized CVs.  Without Strafing, USN CVs would simply Left Click your fighters to doom.  But strafing lets you get tricky and whittle those USN fighter squads down to size first.

 

While IJN has smaller unit sizes, they have 4 absolutely crucial advantages:

1.  With smaller unit sizes, they get more units up in the air at any given time.  This gives them strong Spec Flexibility.  Strike Hiryu, Shokaku for example have 2 fighters / 2 torp bombers / 2 dive bombers up... That's a big deal!  Compare that to Strike Ranger, Lexington that have 0 fighters / 1 torp bomber / 3 dive bombers.  IJN specs are flexible, from Tier VII onwards they can do everything.  The only catch is that it can be a lot of units to juggle!

 

2.  With the extra units in the air, for your torpedo drops, you have options.  You can arrange your torp bombers for cross dropping or focus them together in one big attack from one direction.

 

3.  With the smaller unit sizes, IJN CVs have very quick unit rearming times.  They get their planes back in the air far sooner than USN CVs.

 

4.  IJN CVs are stealthier than USN CVs, and the disparity becomes greater from Tier VIII onwards.  USN CVs eventually can be spotted from the moon, IJN ones less so.  Then there's this fact.  The closer the CV is to the action and where their bombers dropped their ordnance, the unit rearming time gets shorter.  So, an IJN CV stealthily positioned close to the fight, with the already natural quick IJN unit rearming times, then the IJN CV can literally "land more punches" in any given time span than a USN CV.  Good IJN CV drivers leverage the hell out of this.  Even when I played USN AS CVs, it was frustrating keeping the IJN planes off my team because he was always back in action sooner than my planes were ready.

[rafael_azuaje]

First point:

 IJN KAGA need buff , only aircraft  FIGHTERS, he has fighters T6  , vs HIRYU T7, RANGER T7, SAIPAN T9, THE KAGA HAS VERY WEAK HUNTS FOR ITS LOW, IT IS WEAKER IN SPEED, AMMUNITION, HARM, AND RESISTANCE. A saipan squadron with air supremacy destroys all kaga planes.

 

second point:

The kaga has exactly the same torpedo protection of the 76MM texas, because texas has 33% MAX, and the Kaga only 22%, if the KAGA hull is BB

[ShellMeNot]

No it doesn't.