After playing the T9 tech tree BBs... Izumo is definitely the least fun to play

[MrDeaf]

I just want to be clear that I am not asking for a buff for Izumo.
I am just pointing out that Izumo has a butt ton of deficiencies that makes it a very unfun to play.

Key, positive, features of the T9 battleships

• Iowa: Stealthy, Accurate guns, Amazing AA, FAST!, Citadel is hard to hit now
• Fredrich der Grosse: Tanky against HE, Troll citadel, Decent speed, Decent AA, Excellent secondaries, Fast RoF with 406mm, 5.88km hydro
• Izumo: Is somewhat difficult to citadel thanks to thick belt, Average secondaries, Turrets rotate fast, at least for an IJN BB

How do they play in games?

• Iowa: Very flexible gameplay. You can flank, or get into close range brawls with your fantastic speed. Its AA and gunnery range are excellent, which allows it to operate at all ranges. It even has amazing stealth (for a BB) to sneak into highly advantageous positions.
• FDG: Excellent at tanking and brawling. It is fantastic at pushing into and gaining control of key areas of the map. It has poor accuracy, which makes ranged engagements less than optimal, but it is capable of spitting out enough shots to make up for the poor accuracy and can hold its own against bombers, if you spec it for AA.
• Izumo: It is decent at sniping from long range, due to its accuracy, shell flight times and shell clustering... and that's really all it is good at.

The Izumo... Why are you so inflexible?

• Brawling? nope, too squishy and the secondaries don't do a whole lot, unless you are totally broadside
• Flanking? Nope, too slow. You also have extremely poor concealment, which means you are spotted all the time
• Tanking? nope, it's awful at that with 32mm armor all over the ship.
• Pushing into caps? It's okay at that, until the reds realize you are an Izumo punching bag for EZ damage farming
• But it can, at least, kite, right? Nope, it's quite bad at that too, as you have to go broadside to get the aft pointing turret to fire. Not only that, it's rear armor is full of pockets that trap shells and chew away at your HP
• AA? Is gud joke
• Sniping? It's decent at sniping. The accuracy, shell flight times and shell clustering are all good and make for an excellent sniper... were it not for the fact that you get spotted 19.23km away, making you very easy to kite. Everyone will have plenty of time to get turned around and start kiting you to death.
• Easily, the least flexible of the T9 battleships.

 

Is there any redeeming quality for Izumo?
Actually, there is. It is the best T9 BB for camping in the back, attempting to snipe and pissing off all your teammates for being a [edited]useless potato.
I will 100% potato every single match I play in Izumo, because [edited] this crap.

 

P.S. I feel that the rudder shift being tied to the C-hull is very demeaning for players that attempt to give this ship a chance
P.P.S Does the rudder also need to be the slowest of the three, even after being tied to C-hull?

[Frederick_The_Great]

overall i agree with the assessment of the BBs.   though i am not as good in them as i am in CA or DDs imo. 

 

FdG guns are trolly as hell, but i still manage more often than not to have good games(for me) in it.  perhaps it is more forgiving, and those secondaries + fires make up a lot of what the ship lacks.  i find the AA is meh, but i didn't really spec for it. 

 

The iowa is now more forgiving for showing a bit more side.  overall a flexible ship.  one i like to use to run into caps with DDs when i can, as i can keep up with them.(i love shooting DDs with my BB)  good aa as well.

 

i don't have the izumo, but i do respect it.   its guns can hit hard, and it is hard to delete one, at least for me.  it just dies really slow, thanks to its great belt armor.  with other BBs i could get cits, i just cant manage to get them against the izumo.  perhaps i am just not aiming right.  

 

tbh, i wouldn't be suprised if they buffed the izumo, by increasing some of its armor from the current 32mm to make it a little more sturdy from HE fire.   for those that have that ship, do you think something as simple as that would be a nice buff for the ship, or would you like something more. 

[AdmiralHattori]

Grouping, caliber, and fire rate are the pros on the Izumo.

I'm the least bias person here.

[hipcanuck]

Its been the primary tier 9 target for my Shokaku for the last 174k xp lol....

 

Its also what Im saving up my free XP for.....Im gonna pass on this turd. I've fought it enough to know its not the greatest ship out there. I went 1 on 1 from full HP with a mogami and I sank the Izumo (1 torp hit I must admit) and still had over half my HP.

[Ace_04]

Thanks for the write-up, Mr. Deaf.  +1

 

This is good information to know as now that I've finished the grind on all the T9 DD's, I'm entering the grind phase for T9 BB's.  I'm about 3/4 through Iowa and it has been a pretty fun experience (after a bit of a feeling out period).

Have only played one game each in FgG and Izumo, so I don't really have much of an impression of either yet.  This write-up has some good insight that I'll have to keep in mind.

[WhatIsTheOdds]

Free XP'd out of it as fast as possible. The only good thing going for it is FDG makes its guns look usable in comparison, although the dispersion is still quite bad especially when you try to get closer to the enemy. I think the best way to play it is to equip the ramming flag and secondary captain skills and try to brawl and ram the more stronger BBs that you run up against. 

[Pata1985]

I love the Izumo, great ship.

[Ghost_Raven75]

Ive been struggling with the Izumo.  I've gone through all the other BBs up to Tier X so I'm trying to just make my way through this to the Yamato.  Maybe I can get enough Free Xp to finish it faster LOL.

[Iron_Patriot3]

 

IDK i think the Izumo is severely underestimated and kinda look forward to playing this BB when i get it and i feel i can do just as good with these as a reference and a guide. I know Flamu is a really good player and WAY better than me but watching his Videos have helped me out

[GoldPile]

Izumo was the first T9 BB I've had the displeasure of stock grinding. She has her faults, actually a lot of faults, but overall I feel like she fared better in the tanking department than Amagi. Of course, that came at the price of offensive capabilities.

 

Some notes:

1. She has worse concealment than a Yamato... yes the prototype paper BB has worse concealment.

2. Fugly, I haven't seen a worse looking BB.

3. Turrets died if you sneezed at them, they're easy to shoot (partially because there's no sloped now) and made of paper. I don't know if they ever fixed that but I've lost all 3 turrets in a few matches, rendering me a floating secondary platform.

4. So much empty deck space, you can't help but plunge some shells and bombs into it.

5. Because she's so fat and catches all the shells, she can't help but light on fire.

6. That metal stern was a big weakspot, random citadels happened there, don't know if it's been fixed.

7. Her AA was not that bad actually although not Iowa standards.

8. Tanks better than the Amagi due to finally being able to employ bow on tactics (while maintaining most of your firepower).

 

Overall, it was ok at first. Then I started hating it more & more. Yamatos didn't make it any better.

[AkiraKurai]

I haven't had experience with the other T9 Battleships but from my experience of playing Izumo without spending free exp at all (f2p here and saving it for missouri) it's and is the most easiest BB to go against compared to all the other T9 BBs and the same applies even if you're driving it. Izumo is just so much easier to deal with as it has c deck armor making your bow on useless if you can actually aim and amazingly you can even citadel an Izumo through the bow if you're an Izumo yourself if you aim at the deck right next to the 2nd gun turret. It's slow and oh god don't even get me started on the ruddershift time without the C hull. It's basically the Dunkek of T9 where you just sit there bow on or when you're in luck and the enemy just ignores you. You can then unlock your 3rd turret and the gloriously miss at 10 kms and you stare obliviously as to how the  did you even miss a broadside Atago watching your shells go in front and behind it. The secondaries? to hell with them as they don't even activate when you're bow on and require you to be literally broadside in order to use all of then and to be about 30 degrees in order to use the 155 mm secondary.

 

Now if you're wondering about the Yamato its god sent as you laugh at you nuking everyone with your OP dispersion and your concealment of  about13 kms which will make a cruiser their pants when you reappear less than 15 kms in front of them. and the bonus of being actually able to tank, yes you can tank in this thing as if you are a USN BB yourself.

[YamatoA150]

Izumo being considered the weakest can sometimes come into play quite well; on 2 Brothers, I was left with an Iowa and NC to defend our base, and I got outright ignored by two FdG while they went for the Iowa.  I literally sailed straight towards both with the intention to ram one, and took them out with ease thanks to the Izumo's gun performance and the fact the one I was threatening to ram gave way to me, subsequently giving me their broadside in the process, before rounding around and sinking the other in a pincer assault with the NC and Iowa.

 

I will admit though that Izumo does need some minor buffs; mainly an increase to her non-bow armor from 32mm to something like 36mm, removal of the catapult hangar, and the addition of a few more secondaries (2 more DP in the platform near the smokestack and 3 Triple 155 on the aft akin to the 140/A and 140/J0 or 140/J1 design).

 

Not asking for the Yamato's level of armor or her octagonal citadel here, but mainly a bit more durability and secondary firepower in the rear arcs.  As well, removal of the catapult hanger to increase retreat survivability; less shells being caught in there and being calc'd into the citadel/machinery space.

 

[Carrier_Ikoma]

The one thing I think Izumo does well is armor against high caliber AP. Well angled, most BBs just cannot do much to her. Of course, with the glacial rudder and turning, staying well angled is also asking to eat a bunch of torps.

 

I would take Amagi, even in t9, any day. Yes, you can post videos of your amazing games in Izumo. I've had a few of those too. Her guns do allow very good games sometimes. But she definitely tanked my winrate a lot.

[Kingfishercritic]

It would be much better if she had more secondaries or a longer range for them. Would help cover her vulnerable aft better.

[Kingfishercritic]

4 minutes ago, Carrier_Ikoma said:

The one thing I think Izumo does well is armor against high caliber AP. Well angled, most BBs just cannot do much to her. Of course, with the glacial rudder and turning, staying well angled is also asking to eat a bunch of torps.

 

I would take Amagi, even in t9, any day. Yes, you can post videos of your amazing games in Izumo. I've had a few of those too. Her guns do allow very good games sometimes. But she definitely tanked my winrate a lot.

I agree entirely.

[Show_Me_Your_Cits]

I deleted one from full health with an Essex strike the other day. I almost felt bad until I remembered I was doing that person a favor in sending them back to port to play a ship that's not the Izumo. 

[MrDeaf]

4 hours ago, Show_Me_Your_Cits said:

I deleted one from full health with an Essex strike the other day. I almost felt bad until I remembered I was doing that person a favor in sending them back to port to play a ship that's not the Izumo. 

I admit, Izumo is such a bad ship that, it is the one ship where I would not mind being one shotted by a CV.
Other BBs I can carry my own weight... Izumo... not so much

[Summon3r]

well this is just great im less then 20k from getting it lol...........

that said i absolutely DISPISE the FDG and its continent sized turning radius and extremely unreliable guns, was hoping Izumo would be a fun t9 

[WhatIsTheOdds]

1 hour ago, Summon3r said:

well this is just great im less then 20k from getting it lol...........

that said i absolutely DISPISE the FDG and its continent sized turning radius and extremely unreliable guns, was hoping Izumo would be a fun t9 

 

I agree. I've played every single BB out there except some premiums, and the FDG is honestly one of the worst if not the worst that I've played. Bismark has better range, armour, accuracy, survivability, turning speed, and goes up against much less armoured ships. I'd much rather play the Bismark in T9 than I would the FDG. I also find it weird that it seems to take quite a lot of random citadels, similar to Scharnhorst and Gneisanau. Not like you would notice when you do, due the thin belt plating, poor turret angleing and huge size almost every salvo will knock off a big chunk of your health pool. Not the best design by the Germans. This ship does make the Izumo feel like it should be at T9 at least.

[1nv4d3rZ1m]

One thing it does have is good penetration, I have only played one other ship that can citadel Montanas and Yamatos so easily and thats only because the other ship does not care what angle they are at. 

[Kerabatsos]

8 hours ago, YamatoA150 said:

Izumo being considered the weakest can sometimes come into play quite well; on 2 Brothers, I was left with an Iowa and NC to defend our base, and I got outright ignored by two FdG while they went for the Iowa.

 

This! this ship gets ignored all the time except by TX CAs. one reason they ignore the Izumo is I am sitting bow in and they leave me alone after they waist time bouncing shots off her. The other reason is that when i travel with other BBs, reds always tend to shoot at other BBs first. Of course this doesnt always happen but it does happen so much I find myself at the end of the match with more health that other BBs even though i am right in the middle of battle.

 

It took me a minute to learn to play this ship but once I did, I think its actually more fun than the traditional BB.

 

but for sure what the OP is saying is correct and nice post. Only difference between him and me is I LOVE the Izumo. In fact its the funnest ship for me to play in because of its quirkyness. but thats  what makes this game so great, ships can be so different just like our personalities. Izumo is a challenge and I like that just like being lower tier. I always prefer to be lower tier. Why do I want to play a game thats easy?

 

this thing cits like no ones business, its been good all week. this was my highest though:

 

[Lampshade_M1A2]

Seems like everything but the armor belt on her is made of cardboard. I've had single salvos from destroyers cause me 6k damage.

[TheKrimzonDemon]

I fully intend to free xp past her. I will never, ever play her. Not once. It'll be the first time I've done that.

[MrDeaf]

3 hours ago, NeoRussia said:

 

I agree. I've played every single BB out there except some premiums, and the FDG is honestly one of the worst if not the worst that I've played. Bismark has better range, armour, accuracy, survivability, turning speed, and goes up against much less armoured ships. I'd much rather play the Bismark in T9 than I would the FDG. I also find it weird that it seems to take quite a lot of random citadels, similar to Scharnhorst and Gneisanau. Not like you would notice when you do, due the thin belt plating, poor turret angleing and huge size almost every salvo will knock off a big chunk of your health pool. Not the best design by the Germans. This ship does make the Izumo feel like it should be at T9 at least.

I think you are just angling really badly in FDG.
The armor on it is excellent, but the firing arcs are somewhat poor, which means you will only be able to fire the forward turrets when properly angled.
Luckily, you get the fastest rudder by T9BB standards and this allows easy wiggling.

Not only that, but due to its troll armor, you can go full broadside to turn around and bail if things get too hot.

[ryuukei8569]

Really Izumo has just one flaw, however it is a very big flaw and that is 32 mm armor plates everywhere. and that makes her an easy pinata for cruiser HE and DB's. Of course having inexplicably bad torpedo protection compared to Yamato or even Amagi doesn't help her case, but she is still the worst of the three T9 BB's, though honestly, none of the T9 BB's are all that great, though since Iowa lost that monster sized citadel, she is much better now. But still all three T10 BB's aren't particularly good. None of them are anything resembling maneuverable, all three have terrible torpedo protection and in some ways they downgrade from the T8's in ways they shouldn't. FDG is an obese bismarck, Iowa is an overgrown cruiser and Izumo is a gasoline coated HE pinata. Of course the fact that the T9 are always fighting T10's doesn't really help.