IJN cruiser strengths?

[Dr_Venture]

So now that I have the Mino in the bag...I'm going for the Zao (as I have the Ibuki.) So I'm sitting here chugging along and I'm noticing how glaringly obvious the Ibuki is a downgrade from the Atago. Bad torp arcs...bigger detection, gun traverse is sorta the same...terribad armor. I'm making an educated guess here...but the IJN cruiser line hasn't changed much since beta? I mean the low detect range is nice, but in a world of smoke\radar I wonder if the game has truly out paced the cruiser line....

[tugdual]

He not change a lot, armor of Ibuki is nice for one cruiser. And turret traverst is 1s more long.

[RipNuN2]

[AWarmToiletSeat]

it can burn battleships down at 19km, Atago cant do that.

[Hunter_Steel]

They haven't really changed apart from their OP AF fire chances.

 

~Hunter

[Doomlock]

6 minutes ago, Hunter_Steel said:

They haven't really changed apart from their OP AF fire chances.

 

~Hunter

 

Hunter! Haven't seen you in a while!

 

OP, Zaō is great, the guns make every complaint you have about Ibuki go away. Plus a torpedo broadside strong enough to one shot anything in the game.

[Hunter_Steel]

Just now, Doomlock said:

 

Hunter! Haven't seen you in a while!

 

OP, Zaō is great, the guns make every complaint you have about Ibuki go away. Plus a torpedo broadside strong enough to one shot anything in the game.

I post every now and then, mostly just lurking now lol

 

~Hunter

[Crucis]

4 minutes ago, CesilTheDiddler said:

it can burn battleships down at 19km, Atago cant do that.

 

Indeed. The Zao is scary good at starting fires and burning down enemy BB's.  If  I'm in range of multiple enemy BBs, I'll often switch to another BB after getting the first one on fire. I'll only start trying to start multiple fires when I feel certain that the BB has used a DC party and multiple fires will burn for a good long time.

 

I love playing the Zao. And I love playing my Des Moines as well.  They just happen to do thier best with very different play styles, at least for me.

 

[MrDeaf]

IMO, Ibuki is just a T8 in T9 clothing. It is clearly the worst T9 CA, but only by a small margin

[Doomlock]

3 minutes ago, Hunter_Steel said:

I post every now and then, mostly just lurking now lol

 

~Hunter

 

I see, you and I flipped. I now post a whole lot now. 

 

Still good to see you again.

[Hunter_Steel]

5 minutes ago, Doomlock said:

 

I see, you and I flipped. I now post a whole lot now. 

 

Still good to see you again.

Haven't had a need to post a topic in a while lol

I'll see ya round man.

~Hunter

[Special_Kay]

High-damage HE shells which innately damage through 32mm plating are quite dangerous. Of course given your broadside RoF compared to contemporary cruisers, this is not a massive advantage, so you need to find other ways to excel. Your range, accuracy, and shell velocity allow you to drop entire broadsides onto targets which pose problems for others (i.e., nimble destroyers and well-angled battleships). Since you need not be so close, you can (relatively) safely present your belt to accomplish this, compared to other cruisers. When a ship appears only briefly, you can hit them hard and start a fire with near-certainty. When a Des Moines is holding her fire because she hasn't inserted herself into an unassailable position yet, you are able to hammer targets of opportunity. Your sufficient top speed and excellent range also mean you pour on more damage in withdrawl than other cruisers.

There are also your potent torpedoes to take into consideration.

 

Am I an IJN cruiser pro? Not even close. My top cruisers are USN, RN and VMF. But from my perspective, these are your strengths.

[GhostSwordsman]

I don't think I understand why players seem to always fixate on the torp arcs on the IJN cruisers. It's not like they're a primary armament or anything. Sure, they're IJN torpedoes, which do a ton of damage if they connect and can travel long distances, but IJN cruisers are still gunships first and foremost. I mean, Atago's forward torp angles are nice, but you still have to show a good amount of broadside to launch them, a lot like Zao. The only difference I see between Atago's torp angles and the rest of the line(excluding Furutaka and Zao) is that Atago has the capability to be aggressive with torpedoes, whereas the rest should use torps in ambush situations, where you can angle away behind cover and torp around islands, and fighting retreat situations.

Also, Ibuki's detection is only 600m worse than Atago, and only 400m worse than Mogami(with a full concealment build). In a destroyer, that's a world of difference, but cruisers aren't as agile and will likely not be able to play the same game destroyers can with detection ranges.

[Ulthwey]

1 hour ago, Dr_Venture said:

So now that I have the Mino in the bag...I'm going for the Zao (as I have the Ibuki.) So I'm sitting here chugging along and I'm noticing how glaringly obvious the Ibuki is a downgrade from the Atago. Bad torp arcs...bigger detection, gun traverse is sorta the same...terribad armor. I'm making an educated guess here...but the IJN cruiser line hasn't changed much since beta? I mean the low detect range is nice, but in a world of smoke\radar I wonder if the game has truly out paced the cruiser line....

Ibuki is not a downgrade. It is however basically the same ship as the Mogami, except at tier 9 - and at tier 9 the opposition is much more dangerous than at tier 8.

French tier 9 Saint Louis has the same problem, it almost the exact copy of tier Charles Martel but at tier 9 where it just can't stand up to such strong ships Iowa, Izumo, De Grober, and all the tier Xs ... most of which can easily citadel you from any direction.

[Parliament_Funkadelic]

the Zao...as others have said, the Zao can burn down the world kiting at range....many games I haven't even been fired at and rack up 120k+ damage. Pick a good spot, use spotter plane and you can have 40-50k damage before the fighting actually starts. It can truly be the ghost of the sea if you play her right. I've sold many tier tens, will never sell my Zao.

[Big_Spud]

Just burn things. That's pretty much it.

[Parliament_Funkadelic]

1 minute ago, Big_Spud said:

Just burn things. That's pretty much it.

This is true, but lets not forget the 6k smack in the mouth, multiple things broken and the fire or two per salvo.

[PTX_007_03C]

Fire and torps. Some people forget that you get 10km torps at tier 5.

[Crucis]

17 minutes ago, Sweetsie said:

the Zao...as others have said, the Zao can burn down the world kiting at range....many games I haven't even been fired at and rack up 120k+ damage. Pick a good spot, use spotter plane and you can have 40-50k damage before the fighting actually starts. It can truly be the ghost of the sea if you play her right. I've sold many tier tens, will never sell my Zao.

 

Also, if you're doing your sniping well behind friendly BBs, more than likely the enemy is going to be a lot more concered with them than you. Plus a good Zao player can keep multiple enemy ships burning at any given time with some friendly RNG on your fire starting roles and a willingness to regularly switch targets.

 

[Crucis]

Just now, ShiroDNL said:

Fire and torps. Some people forget that you get 10km torps at tier 5.

 

 Don't undervalue their AP. While HE is their bread and butter, AP is worth using when you get clean broadsides, particularly on ships that are already burning.

 

[Crucis]

17 minutes ago, Sweetsie said:

This is true, but lets not forget the 6k smack in the mouth, multiple things broken and the fire or two per salvo.

I whacked a Neptune for a little over 10k damage. Of course, I got lucky and hit 10 of 12 shots in that HE volley!

 

[YamatoA150]

The IJN cruiser line's main specialties are high concealment and high HE chances.

 

They haven't changed much since OBT:

- Myoko's turret traverse and range nerfed

- Mogami's 155s' traverse nerfed, then recently buffed (ignoring Captain skill changes that no longer affected her 155 performance)

- Zao's traverse, HP, and RoF nerfed (excluding the changes made from Senjou to Zao)

 

About the only buffs the line needs are:

- AP Mod 1 shells on Mogami 203, Atago/Takao, and Ibuki to slightly increase the AP performance after plateauing since Furutaka 203.

- Unnerf Zao's traverse and HP, leave RoF as-is.

- Nerf Myoko's RoF to 4 RPM, unnerf traverse and range, maybe consider better firing arcs if possible.

 

[crzyhawk]

2 hours ago, Dr_Venture said:

So now that I have the Mino in the bag...I'm going for the Zao (as I have the Ibuki.) So I'm sitting here chugging along and I'm noticing how glaringly obvious the Ibuki is a downgrade from the Atago. Bad torp arcs...bigger detection, gun traverse is sorta the same...terribad armor. I'm making an educated guess here...but the IJN cruiser line hasn't changed much since beta? I mean the low detect range is nice, but in a world of smoke\radar I wonder if the game has truly out paced the cruiser line....

Hasnt had to.  It was better than USN at the beginning, and is a middle of the pack performer now, despite power creep.

[Dr_Venture]

I'm guessing I should remove the shell rammer and put on the range mod? 

[1nv4d3rZ1m]

It just speaks to the strength of the IJN cruiser line that they have not had major buffs since release and they still perform well. People have since the beginning talked about how the ships are not strong based on the numbers but they have a set of abilities that mesh well with the meta.