I need help with CV

[Sharkbait_416]

Spoiler

So, I FXP'd Shokaku from Hiryu. 6500 gold down the drain, bought the premium commander and retrained the captain.

I'm running premium account, and I'm losing money on games.

 

My planes melt going ANYWHERE near an enemy ship, even destroyers. I totaled 2k after 5 strikes. Even an Akatsuki shot down my planes.

Then enemy fighters destroy my planes, because they outrun me.

 

How the hell do you play a Shokaku?

 

I wish I could roll back my account to get the gold back. I should have spent it to skip a cruiser I've been stuck on.

 

 

[Sharkbait_416]

Every ship seems to have DF or be within range of another ship that has DF.

[Carrier_Ikoma]

Are you running stock planes? First step is to not run stock planes.

 

Next... pick low AA targets. Which might only be the DDs, and even some DDs have decent AA these days. Find lone targets that have been shelled with HE a bit. Sometimes you have to wait a while for an opening.

 

If you're low tiered and they're covering each other well, you might just not get to bomb much that match. Focus on scouting if so.

 

Lastly, when you do bomb something, how are your setups? You really can't afford to reposition once in AA. Get in and get out as fast as possible -- in a straight line.

[Sharkbait_416]

Yeah stock planes.

 

I've been trying, just doesn't seem to happen often where I have a good target. That, or a ship with DF is hiding and I didn't realize they are there. Or the DD was running DF. Looking at you US DD's.

 

Alright will have to do that.

[Carrier_Ikoma]

Just now, Sharkbait_416 said:

Yeah stock planes.

 

I've been trying, just doesn't seem to happen often where I have a good target. That, or a ship with DF is hiding and I didn't realize they are there. Or the DD was running DF. Looking at you US DD's.

 

Alright will have to do that.

 

One other quick thing... that screenshot was a T6 match. Plainly... you should have been able to do at least a fair bit of damage. If you're feeling brave, you can post up a replay for specific critiques.

[Frederick_The_Great]

i'm going to be blunt.  this isn't a personal attack, but an objective view of your stats.   ignore the spoiler if you want.   skip the bottom for other advice. 

Spoiler

 

go back to the lower tiers(includes tier 7) and play those IJN CVs a little while longer.  you need to learn to bomb with them, when to attack in general, what to target first, what to avoid at all costs, etc.,   playing 8 games then moving on to the next ship is not enough.  especially when you get to high tiers, where AA is a lot tougher to face, and people generally play better there.  you are doing as much damage in a better CV as i did in my lex, which is just an awful ship.  there is a big jump from tier 7 to tier 8 CVs wise.   your saipan, which is the best tier 7 CV with the kaga, is below 50% winrate.  your kaga numbers are not that great either for it being a great strike CV. 

 

generally speaking, getting the better planes and having a captain retrained are the usual 2 things that hurt someone when they get a new CV.(and a new hull if you are USN)  just getting those issues out of the way, and you should do slightly better off.  getting better planes can make a big difference. 

 

after all of the above, you should be playing better, which should translate to more money and xp per battle.  i get the desire for people to get to the higher tiers.  to get their hands on those awesome ships.  but it is really not worth rushing there.   not until you learn the game mechanics.  You just need more experience at the game.   take it from an average CV player, take your time.  

 

 

 

Anyways, with the above aside.   find weak AA targets.  US DDs can have DF, which makes them harder to hit.  you want to avoid ships like des moines, balitmore, neptune, minotar.  they melt planes very easily.  you have to be aware where all the ships are on the map. 7.2km is a lot of range on AA.(8+km on brit cruisers)  US BBs have very good AA, even if they aren't really speced for it.  your best bet if you are bottom tier is wait and see.  wait for something to open up.  scout.  stop the enemy CV.   dont just rush in.   CVs gain more power as the game progresses, so saving planes for the late game can win you the game.  dont be that guy i had a week or so ago that flew all his planes at my iowa(with aa ships nearby) in the first minutes of the game, say its hopeless, then rage quit 4 minutes in.  you have 20 minutes to pick and choose targets. 

 

and when you do decide to attack, make it as quick and clean as possible.  the longer you sit over the AA, the more likely you are to lose planes.  even ships with weak AA can pick a few planes off. 

[Sovereigndawg]

I am not a good CV player but something that I took note of in one of ichase's videos is that he dumped his load out and used his bombers to spot because they fly faster when empty (I don't really know if this is true) but, if you use the captains skill on the first tier that slows them down this would not work.

[Sharkbait_416]

36 minutes ago, Carrier_Ikoma said:

 

One other quick thing... that screenshot was a T6 match. Plainly... you should have been able to do at least a fair bit of damage. If you're feeling brave, you can post up a replay for specific critiques.

I already turned my PC off. Trust me there was nothing special. Just a terrible match.

30 minutes ago, Frederick_The_Great said:

i'm going to be blunt.  this isn't a personal attack, but an objective view of your stats.   ignore the spoiler if you want.   skip the bottom for other advice. 

  Hide contents

 

go back to the lower tiers(includes tier 7) and play those IJN CVs a little while longer.  you need to learn to bomb with them, when to attack in general, what to target first, what to avoid at all costs, etc.,   playing 8 games then moving on to the next ship is not enough.  especially when you get to high tiers, where AA is a lot tougher to face, and people generally play better there.  you are doing as much damage in a better CV as i did in my lex, which is just an awful ship.  there is a big jump from tier 7 to tier 8 CVs wise.   your saipan, which is the best tier 7 CV with the kaga, is below 50% winrate.  your kaga numbers are not that great either for it being a great strike CV. 

 

generally speaking, getting the better planes and having a captain retrained are the usual 2 things that hurt someone when they get a new CV.(and a new hull if you are USN)  just getting those issues out of the way, and you should do slightly better off.  getting better planes can make a big difference. 

 

after all of the above, you should be playing better, which should translate to more money and xp per battle.  i get the desire for people to get to the higher tiers.  to get their hands on those awesome ships.  but it is really not worth rushing there.   not until you learn the game mechanics.  You just need more experience at the game.   take it from an average CV player, take your time.  

 

 

 

Anyways, with the above aside.   find weak AA targets.  US DDs can have DF, which makes them harder to hit.  you want to avoid ships like des moines, balitmore, neptune, minotar.  they melt planes very easily.  you have to be aware where all the ships are on the map. 7.2km is a lot of range on AA.(8+km on brit cruisers)  US BBs have very good AA, even if they aren't really speced for it.  your best bet if you are bottom tier is wait and see.  wait for something to open up.  scout.  stop the enemy CV.   dont just rush in.   CVs gain more power as the game progresses, so saving planes for the late game can win you the game.  dont be that guy i had a week or so ago that flew all his planes at my iowa(with aa ships nearby) in the first minutes of the game, say its hopeless, then rage quit 4 minutes in.  you have 20 minutes to pick and choose targets. 

 

and when you do decide to attack, make it as quick and clean as possible.  the longer you sit over the AA, the more likely you are to lose planes.  even ships with weak AA can pick a few planes off. 

I probably should play them more. I just get frustrated and do impulsive things. The truth is that I'm not good at CV's, because I'm bad at micromanaging. I got the basics of drops down, but I constantly get massacred by enemy CVs because I can't outrun planes. I have a skill of being the first person to be deleted by CVs while in-game, which frustrated me enough to play them.

 

Ive played most ship lines through T6 at least, and some much further down the line. I'm familiar with most ships AA rating, so I try to go for DDs and low AA ships without DF first. However, even with these, my planes just seem to melt.

[Frederick_The_Great]

12 minutes ago, Sharkbait_416 said:

I already turned my PC off. Trust me there was nothing special. Just a terrible match.

I probably should play them more. I just get frustrated and do impulsive things. The truth is that I'm not good at CV's, because I'm bad at micromanaging. I got the basics of drops down, but I constantly get massacred by enemy CVs because I can't outrun planes. I have a skill of being the first person to be deleted by CVs while in-game, which frustrated me enough to play them.

 

Ive played most ship lines through T6 at least, and some much further down the line. I'm familiar with most ships AA rating, so I try to go for DDs and low AA ships without DF first. However, even with these, my planes just seem to melt.

imo, you should never send planes where they cant get back home without heavy casualties or all dying.  not unless it is absolutely necessary.  otherwise the damage done just isn't enough to sacrifice a good chuck of your bombers.  now, the later the match goes on, if you have plenty of reserves, you can take more risks. 

 

preferably, you want to fight the enemy fighters over your own ships, as their AA will slaughter them, even out a lopsided fight, or keep them busy while you do stuff else where.  i like to use friendly float planes as bait, the enemy fighters  chase you, the float plane catches them, then you strafe in and kill most of the squad.  worse case scenario, tie their planes down while you attack else where, and get a decent trade out of it.

 

generally, you want to avoid bombing where enemy CV fighters are, as they can strafe a lot of planes down on approach, or just interfere with the bombing.   with enough skill, you can get away with it, but it isn't easy and requires a lot of micro.  it requires a lot of experience.  one of the reasons i recommend going back to lower tiers is to get use to handling more planes as you go up over time.   if you cant micro all the planes the IJN has, then the USN CVs, while sucking, are the better route.  less planes to manage. 

[StoneRhino]

To echo some of what FtG said in his spoiler.  Never ever ever ever ever ... ever skip a CV tier.  In addition you should not tier up until you are not only beyond confident in your abilities at that tier but wait until a bad game is more "Laughable" instead of frustrating. 

Advice:  You would be used to the planes in a stock Shokaku if you played the games to earn her.  They are the same planes as the upgraded Hiryu.  That being said and can not stress this enough, spot.  It does not matter if you do zero damage late into the game.  There will come a time and experience will tell you when, that you can unleash your wrath on damaged normally high AA ships.  Save your hanger and spot. Learn the manual attacks even Strafe.  Put in the work at lower tiers and it will pay off in the higher ones.     

[Peregrinas]

3 hours ago, Frederick_The_Great said:

i'm going to be blunt.  this isn't a personal attack, but an objective view of your stats.   ignore the spoiler if you want.   skip the bottom for other advice. 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

go back to the lower tiers(includes tier 7) and play those IJN CVs a little while longer.  you need to learn to bomb with them, when to attack in general, what to target first, what to avoid at all costs, etc.,   playing 8 games then moving on to the next ship is not enough.  especially when you get to high tiers, where AA is a lot tougher to face, and people generally play better there.  you are doing as much damage in a better CV as i did in my lex, which is just an awful ship.  there is a big jump from tier 7 to tier 8 CVs wise.   your saipan, which is the best tier 7 CV with the kaga, is below 50% winrate.  your kaga numbers are not that great either for it being a great strike CV. 

 

generally speaking, getting the better planes and having a captain retrained are the usual 2 things that hurt someone when they get a new CV.(and a new hull if you are USN)  just getting those issues out of the way, and you should do slightly better off.  getting better planes can make a big difference. 

 

after all of the above, you should be playing better, which should translate to more money and xp per battle.  i get the desire for people to get to the higher tiers.  to get their hands on those awesome ships.  but it is really not worth rushing there.   not until you learn the game mechanics.  You just need more experience at the game.   take it from an average CV player, take your time.  

 

 

 

Anyways, with the above aside.   find weak AA targets.  US DDs can have DF, which makes them harder to hit.  you want to avoid ships like des moines, balitmore, neptune, minotar.  they melt planes very easily.  you have to be aware where all the ships are on the map. 7.2km is a lot of range on AA.(8+km on brit cruisers)  US BBs have very good AA, even if they aren't really speced for it.  your best bet if you are bottom tier is wait and see.  wait for something to open up.  scout.  stop the enemy CV.   dont just rush in.   CVs gain more power as the game progresses, so saving planes for the late game can win you the game.  dont be that guy i had a week or so ago that flew all his planes at my iowa(with aa ships nearby) in the first minutes of the game, say its hopeless, then rage quit 4 minutes in.  you have 20 minutes to pick and choose targets. 

 

and when you do decide to attack, make it as quick and clean as possible.  the longer you sit over the AA, the more likely you are to lose planes.  even ships with weak AA can pick a few planes off. 

I must agree with the contents in the spoiler. Rushing up the tiers is generally a bad idea, but is even worse with CVs. You should be getting comfortable with micromanaging, having map awareness, and striking swiftly and accurately by tier 6, 7 at the latest. If you don't have these skills down, it gets exponentially more difficult at high tiers as AA gets more and more powerful.

[Shoukaku_Kai_Ni]

CVs are the most challenging, and you can't judge a stock ship. Shoukaku's planes are very good since at this tier her planes get a significant speed increase.

 

Also, to reiterate how important it is, don't skip over a ship (especially CVs) since it gives you experience on how to play that line. I see you have only 142 battles, of which 80 were in a Saipan, 20 in Hoshou, and the rest under 10 games each. I highly recommend going back to Ryuujou or Hiryuu/Kaga, since: (1) high-tier AA is merciless and allows for no mistakes and no spare seconds for carelessness, (2) players know how to deal with CVs at high tiers (e.g. good at dodging), (3) many skilled CV players play at high-tier (making you an easy shutdown), many learning CV players play at low/mid-tier. 

 

Some fundamental guidelines. Of course there is a lot more to it, but start with these basics:

• Practice using your manual drops (which I hope you are aware of, thank Wargaming for no tutorial on this), BBs are generally the easiest to drop on since they are the least maneuverable and do not have DF.
• Force an enemy to use damage control (from either fire or flood), then attempt to get them on fire or flood afterwards for damage over time. This is especially important because CVs have the longest "reload" durations.
• Use your fighters effectively - they may not get you damage directly, but they are key to allowing you to get damage (indirectly).
• Most important is situational awareness, it is most important for CV players. The map is a chessboard with you and the enemy CV looking over it. You can't just be aware of your own controllable pieces (planes), but also your fleet and the enemy's fleet. On the same note, keep your CV moving.

Don't give up, every ship type takes practice and CVs require more because it's a different style of game you are playing. Let me know if you have any questions.

[Reyteitoku]

4 hours ago, Sharkbait_416 said:

  Reveal hidden contents

So, I FXP'd Shokaku from Hiryu. 6500 gold down the drain, bought the premium commander and retrained the captain.

I'm running premium account, and I'm losing money on games.

 

My planes melt going ANYWHERE near an enemy ship, even destroyers. I totaled 2k after 5 strikes. Even an Akatsuki shot down my planes.

Then enemy fighters destroy my planes, because they outrun me.

 

How the hell do you play a Shokaku?

 

I wish I could roll back my account to get the gold back. I should have spent it to skip a cruiser I've been stuck on.

 

 

there is a good reason you dont free exp from hiryu to shokaku. Hiryu teaches you to be careful with your planes. If you dont learn this lesson you ll struggle when beeing uptiered to t9,10 as shokaku.

[HazeGrayUnderway]

Recognize the AA Boats out there.

 

When the match is loading, preview the AA stats of all the members of the enemy team.  Give it some time to load the actual ship stats.  When you hover over the player's ship in the roster during match load, you can preview their ship stats.  See for yourself and confirm high AA Boats.  Everyone for example, builds Gneisenau for Main Battery or more often, Secondary Builds.  But sometimes there are those crazy a$$holes like me that play AA Gneisenau to have 93 AA rating with 7.5km range at Tier VII.  If you go under the assumption, "That's another Secondaries Build Gneisenau, I'll nuke him with my bombers" and not preview my stats, you'll lose your planes to me.

- Always preview the stats and confirm AA ratings

Spoiler

 

Hover your cursor over the player's ship icon to see their ship stats.  Give it a few seconds when the screen appears because it takes the game a bit of time to update the stats from stock stats to what the ship really is built for.  You can only do this when the match is loading, hitting TAB during the battle will not let you do this on the Team Members.

 

- Some weirdos will take ships not known for AA and make them a threat.  My AA Gneisenau is an example.  German Tier VIII+ Cruisers are never thought of as AA Boats but with enough dedication, can be deadly to your planes.  Adm.Hipper / Prinz Eugen for example have the AA that "Our National Flavor is AA" New Orleans wishes it had.  Tier IX-X US DDs can actually be decent AA Boats if they're specced for it.  I've run into them with Lexington and they can do quite a bit of damage to your planes if you're not careful.

- Some guys will take a ship that is traditionally known for great AA and spec other things that do not make that normally great AA a reality.  Example:  What is an Iowa that doesn't have AAGM2, BFT, AFT slotted?  Just another target to nuke from the air.  On the flip side, someone with AAGM2, BFT, AFT will be costly to attack in their Iowa.  Some may even have Manual AA trait on top of that.

 

Be patient before attacking ships with high AA capability.  Let the wear and tear of battle destroy ships' AA mounts.  An AA spec NC, Alabama, Iowa, Missouri, etc. that have been battered enough by attacks will have lost a good amount of HP and of course, Secondary & AA mounts.  They resist your air attacks worse as the match progresses and they've taken damage.

 

Bait Defensive Fire use.  If you have to attack a target that may have Defensive Fire, send some bombers to the edges of their AA to try to bait Defensive Fire use.  You can tell when planes start going fast.  Pull the planes back out of the threat AA range.  Count in your head to let their Defensive Fire active time run out and send your bombers back in.  How long is DF good for?  It varies, I refer to this page for the times.  Do note that some guys are more careful about when they use DF.  They wait until the bombers are well into the AA aura and then cut loose with DF.  You can fly your bombers back out to save them but still suffer a lot of losses for no damage done on the target.  Or you can keep pressing and land damage if the bombers are already too far in committed.

[Frederick_The_Great]

pretty much what Shoukaku and others said.  it takes practice.  CVs also get a lot of hate from both sides for one reason or another.  justifiable or not.  just have to get use to it.

 

if you need help, ask.  there are plenty here that can help.  you can also watch videos/streams on how to play.  Femennenly is a well known CV player.  just watching how she plays can help.

 

[hipcanuck]

Keep your strike planes handy, circling somewhere around a friendly battlegroup...behind them!!!, and let your fighters work for the first few minutes when you find yourself in a high tier AA or cruiser heavy match. Scout the CAP's, find DD's, spot torps, defend friendly DD's who often overextend themselves. In my last game in the Shokaku (Taiho now!) I picked off 51 Lexi planes, he had the 2-0-2 setup and twice I baited both his fighters to take on one of mine so I got to strafe the fighterball with my other fighter. This gave me a free run into his BB lines.

 

The benefit of holding back your first strike is letting the ships disperse a bit. Cruisers separate from the BB's, and the faster BB's separate from the slow ones. The AA thins out a bit at this point. You can also look for a BB thats burning, they've likely lost a bit of AA so they are a good target.

 

Keep your distance from Iowa and Montana, Yamato's have been known to have nasty AA but not always, Izumo's are almost always a safer target if you must go after a tier 9, Most German tier 7-10 BB's have decent AA but you should still hit them.

 

Always send your bombers to the target first, TBers second.

[desmo_2]

5 hours ago, Frederick_The_Great said:

go back to the lower tiers(includes tier 7) and play those IJN CVs a little while longer.  you need to learn to bomb with them, when to attack in general, what to target first, what to avoid at all costs, etc.,   playing 8 games then moving on to the next ship is not enough.  especially when you get to high tiers, where AA is a lot tougher to face, and people generally play better there.  you are doing as much damage in a better CV as i did in my lex, which is just an awful ship.  there is a big jump from tier 7 to tier 8 CVs wise.   your saipan, which is the best tier 7 CV with the kaga, is below 50% winrate.  your kaga numbers are not that great either for it being a great strike CV. 

 

generally speaking, getting the better planes and having a captain retrained are the usual 2 things that hurt someone when they get a new CV.(and a new hull if you are USN)  just getting those issues out of the way, and you should do slightly better off.  getting better planes can make a big difference. 

 

after all of the above, you should be playing better, which should translate to more money and xp per battle.  i get the desire for people to get to the higher tiers.  to get their hands on those awesome ships.  but it is really not worth rushing there.   not until you learn the game mechanics.  You just need more experience at the game.   take it from an average CV player, take your time.  

 

That advice should not have been hidden behind a spoiler.  That is solid advice.  Skipping tiers to move up to fancy, shiny higher tier ships is rarely a good idea.  There is usually a progression in a ship line that players need to experience to learn.  Skipping some of those progressive steps means you may not be learning how to play those higher tier ships.

1 hour ago, Shoukaku_Kai_Ni said:

...and you can't judge a stock ship.

Also, to reiterate how important it is, don't skip over a ship (especially CVs) since it gives you experience on how to play that line. I see you have only 142 battles, of which 80 were in a Saipan, 20 in Hoshou, and the rest under 10 games each. I highly recommend going back to Ryuujou or Hiryuu/Kaga, since: (1) high-tier AA is merciless and allows for no mistakes and no spare seconds for carelessness, (2) players know how to deal with CVs at high tiers (e.g. good at dodging), (3) many skilled CV players play at high-tier (making you an easy shutdown), many learning CV players play at low/mid-tier.

Yes.  Never, never, ever judge a ship's worth based on its stock configuration.

[Sharkbait_416]

Thanks for the help and advice, everyone. I'll box up the frustration and start practicing.

[cometguy]

Every new tier in CVs is a big jump, because the baseline AA increases. Whenever entering a new tier, I recommend acting as a support ship for a while.

Let your team do most of the damage, then go in and strike when you see an opportunity. The more you do it, the more you'll see, the better you get, then you tier up and start all over again.

[The_Really_Good_Man]

It also might help to change your play mentality to a more passive play. Don't go off trying to get the famed massive damage everyone in forums complains about. Keep tabs on enemy DD. Personally, I actually find myself playing more with an enlarged minimap for micromanaging and only look at the actual plans when I go to place me drops. Definitely blow up the minimap to the max and micromanage from there. And find some shortcuts you find comfortable

-A crazy Independence main

[Desmios]

Best CV tip you will ever hear:

 

Don't play USN CVs.

[Darth_Blackcat]

As a veteran CV player, all the advise you so far have heard is spot on. Long ago I skipped some CV tiers in my newbie days as I found out later I regret. Skipping ships is bad enough but on a CV you really impact your gameplay experience. 

You have to play a game of chess that not only allows you to max your credit and xp earnings but also manipulate the battle outcome to secure victory for your team.

 

Here is a collection of tips I have collected that improved my CV gameplay since closed beta.

 

1. Avoid USN CV's for the time being: The balance difference between them and the IJN counterparts is too much. I know many new players start off with USN CV because this is NA region favorite but also since they have more planes with fewer squadrons making them easier to learn for a new player on micro-managing. The problem is this is the very reason why USN CV's are horribly balanced compared to IJN CV load outs. WG is aware and working on it in the next few patches.

 

2. Micromanaging: The biggest hurdle many new CV players run into is properly managing their flight deck on takeoffs and landings. When done incorrectly they will get frustrated with the wrong squadrons taking off or delays due to the return of aircraft at the wrong time. This can impact a CV players overall DPM or worse cause your CV to be vulnerable to an incoming attack waiting for a fighter group to launch since John Doe forgot he had DB on approach to land. Always select up a few planes at a time to take off with returning aircraft to return to your CV initial area by waypoint versus allowing an aircraft out of ammo to return on auto. Allowing yourself to hit F to manually tell the squadron to land will help a lot to manage your air traffic by providing priority to the critical squadrons you need at that time. This is critical when playing higher tier IJN CV's since you will have up to eight squadrons to manage that can easily get overwhelming to a CV player that has yet to master this. So only launch a few squadrons at a time instead of the average CV player trying to launch everything at once.

 

3. Priority objectives: As a CV your main task is to spot the enemy position providing intel, counter the enemy CV attack squadrons, attack ships that are providing the most threat to your team, and strike enemy ships out of position. Intel early in the match is critical for your team to know where the enemy is pushing. Spotting DD early near objectives will result in them to get focused that either will die or make them run passively in the back abandoning the objective. Remember a team that loses their DD early in the game most likely loses the match. Keep a fighter squadron near the main fleet to give pause or eliminate enemy attack aircraft foolish enough to harass your team. Last but not least see that ship sailing solo on the 9 line? That is a target asking you to put him out of his misery. Oblige him.  Keep in mind I usually leave these ships low on the list as most are driven by very poor players and their playstyle usually tells me that I am correct. If no other objective is present first then go ahead and farm them for easy damage and a kill.

 

4. Carrier sniping in general sounds better in theory than in practice: This is a big tactical NO most new CV players attempt especially in the low and mid tier CV games but I have even found new high tier CV players still trying this that failed to learn. The problem with this tactic is the time it takes to launch aircraft, group them up, hug the corner of the map, and then play a 50/50 chance game on the element of surprise to strike the enemy CV they hope is incompetent enough to not notice them. The problem with this comes in in two forms trying to role play Tora Tora Tora.

A. The time it takes to get to the enemy CV and snipe him takes between the first four to seven minutes of the game depending on loadout time and speed of the aircraft. A lot can happen during that time that is far more useful to your team. (see 3. Priority Objectives)

B. While you can catch some CV players with their pants down a great or unicom player will see this tactic a mile away. I always pay attention to the position of my enemy CV planes. If I see no planes or only his fighters after two or more minutes in the first part of the battle, I assume he is coming after me directly. I just reposition my fighters and go to town strafing away his attack aircraft collecting many ribbons in the process. So, in the end, the enemy CV spent all that time only to lose his strike aircraft providing my team a huge advantage and an enemy CV with a larger empty hanger.

So remember if the CV player is that bad you can snipe them, it is better to lock them down and earn more XP just farming his planes then going for an early snipe, plus you're impacting the other enemy teams ships helping your own team. If the enemy CV player is a good CV player this tactic is a waste a time and will cause you have a very bad match due to him locking your attacks down.

 

5. Avoid AA envelopes: The ships you should be targeting are the ones out of position near the main enemy fleet. Preferably solo. Going after one ship like a Tirpitz sounds good but if he is surrounded by two Atlanta that AA envelope will eat your planes faster than an all you can eat buffet. I've seen many CV players just fly their planes in a fleet AA hailstorm only to complain AA is too strong versus looking hard why they lost those planes so fast. This also goes for planes that are returning to your CV. Do not allow them to fly over AA envelopes as they will get eat alive doing so.

 

6. Use the correct upgrade and captain skills.

 

There is a lot of upgrade choices and captain skills to choose from but not all are the most optimal for an IJN CV let alone any CV build. Here is a rundown of the best practice choices and ones to avoid.

 

Slot 1: Air Group Mod 1 (+10% to average damage per second of aircraft guns) Applicable to fighters only. Survivability to secondary and AA i pointless as the goal is not to get them to target you.

Slot 2: Air Groups Modification 2 (+20% to fighter survivability, +50% ammo count) Increase fighter HP pool and ammo. Keeps your fighters in the air longer. Reduce flight time is not needed for IJN CV's. More ammo is essential to your fighters.

Slot 3: Air Groups Modification 3 (+15% to attack aircraft survivability) Increased attack aircraft health pool (Tier 9/10 only) No brainer your attack aircraft is your bread and butter and the increase AA DPS higher tier makes this essential to your attack aircraft survival.

Slot 4: Damage Control System Modification 1 (everything else is trash for CV's) reduce fire and flood chance. Yes please.

Slot 5: Damage Control System Modification 2 (everything else is trash for CV's) You do not need steering gears to avoid torps. If your getting torpedos aimed at you then you misplayed.

Slot 6: Concealment System Modification 1 (Tier 8 and above only) Always get this. Target and Steering are useless for a CV. Your planes is your intel and steering is pointless as you don't want to get focused on.

 

Skill build

 

These are a list of skills CV players should get and traps I see players use to avoid

 

Tier 1

Get:

Aircraft Servicing Expert - Mandatory. Increases servicing speed and HP for carrier-based aircraft.

Dogfighting Expert - The skill calculates improvement based on aircraft tier, which may not correspondent to ship tier. Skill provides no benefit if enemy fighters are equal or lower tier. (example helps with Hiyru vs Saipan and if you have stock fighters)  Also, adds 10% fighter ammo

Avoid:

Priority Target - If detected everyone and their uncle are going to tunnel vision and shoot at you. Useless even if for one point.

Preventive Maintenance - Useless as the goal is not to get yourself in a position to get shot at.

Incoming Fire Alert - Same as before why are you picking a skill based on you getting detected and shot at?

Evasive Maneuver - Complete waste even for one point. Just makes your planes slower to return to your carrier making it easy for a good CV player to catch up and eliminate your returning planes.

 

Tier 2

Get:

Torpedo Acceleration - Applies to all types of torpedoes (helps against fast DD)

Expert Rear Gunner - Applicable to dive bombers and torpedo bombers only. Just 10% DPS increase (pick only if you prefer this over Torpedo Acceleration)

Avoid:

High Alert - Premium Damage control is all you need. If you are always on cooldown this means your out of position

Jack of All Trades - This only removes 4 seconds from premium damage control or defensive fire consumable. Waste of two points

Last Stand - I hit an engine on a Lexington one game and saw he was still sailing at reduced speed. Not a preferred talent as if you are being shot at you have bigger problems then having your engine knocked out.

 

Tier 3

Get:

Torpedo Arm Expertise (bread and butter of your alpha damage)

Basic Firing Training (get if torpedo rearm is already good and AA is decent for a nice 20% overall bump)

Avoid:

Vigilance - Your aircraft spots threats. If you need this you are not positioning your planes correctly.

Demolition Expert - USN and IJN DB already have high HE fire chance over 100%. Spending three points for an 2% increase is not the best use of those points.

Emergency Takeoff - If you're on fire you have bigger problems

Survivability Expert - The extra HP will only buy you seconds, it won't save you.

 

Basics of Survivability - Not worth the three points spent on other useful things like increasing your DPM.

 

Tier 4

Get:

Air Supremacy: +1 to fighter and DB group. A must get for any CV players

Manual AA: Many IJN CV ships especially high tier has excellent long range guns that just troll any CV player that tries to attack you. A must

Advanced Firing Training: Increase AA range (best for those with good AA if you wish to extend the rainbow)

Concealment Expert: Best for USN CV as they can get spotted across the map easily. For IJN CV I tend to avoid as I want my detection around 11km to 13km as it gives me an early warning when a DD is chasing me. If you lower it that allows the DD to slip near torpedo range to snipe you.

Avoid:

Fire Prevention: If you are worried so much being set on fire this means your out of position allowing the enemy to rush you.

Radio Position Finder: An absolute no. Ran into an enemy CV in my BB near A on two brothers finding out it was him detecting me the whole time behind an island. Waste of four points.

 

Hope this helps

[Wanturskul]

Wow, these are some great really tips.  Thanks for outlining items to work on with CVs.

 

I only recently took up CVs, only after about 3 years in game.  I have grinded up to the tier 6s on both nations and I am about to unlock the tier 7s.  I have the premium CVs but I have mostly ran those in coop so far.

 

I am able to do decent with the strike aircraft and I am learning the positioning for attack runs better.  I was wondering if you guys have any tips for strafing?  Like positioning for runs and countering enemy runs, formations of enemy planes to look for, when is the best time to strafe vs tying up the enemy fighters/bombers, and maybe any tricks for baiting or countering enemy strafes.  I have learned to watch for the speed change on enemy planes for when a strafe is coming, but could use some more help.

 

I had the pleasure, maybe the pain, of seeing Femennenly on the red team in her Enterprise and she took it to our team.  I was in my ShowMe and not in a CV.  Our CV died rather quickly and then proceeded to bash her and say how the Enterprise is OP, but really she was just head and shoulders above his skill level. It hurts to lose, but seeing that kind of domination gives me something to aim for.

[Fuyukaze]

Adding on to Shoukaku's list of fundamental guidelines.

• Taking note of the opposing team's respective AA value will do you much good in identifying targets to attack and avoid; this is applicable to every tier. not just high tier.
• Avoid head-to-head dogfights unless you are near/or able to kite enemy fighters to friendly AA bubbles; i'd like to emphasize more on this too if you face US CVs as they have a numerical advantage which IJN CVs do not match up to in my experience.
• Last but not least, learning how to effectively use the strafing mechanic will set you apart from those who don't so learn it well and learn it fast!