Salt and Sugar in Raptor.

[Estimated_Prophet]

Here are two directly relevant threads; though the basics will be presented here;

 

https://forum.worldofwarships.com/topic/129786-raptor-just-whatever/ (Bit of a kvetch thread, by me.)

https://forum.worldofwarships.com/topic/129807-operation-raptor-thoughts-and-a-baseline-strategy/ (Advice thread by GhostSwordsman, some good stuff.)

 

Skipped Newport, basically being chicken. Dabbled in Aegis. Jumped in with both feet in Killer Whale, (at least for me,) so based on the confidence I had after that, I tried Raptor Rescue...

 

Raked in the xp during Killer Whale using Ryujo; the captain went from 16 points to 19 points. Yay! Didn't have a 19 point RU captain, so decided to try that...

 

...for 'reasons' I stuck with Budyonny through ten games...

 

NINE losses, a single one-star win. This sucks; this is male bovie byproducts; insert your favorite kvetch here...

 

Okay then; how much worse can it be if I fall back on my go-to-ship for Killer Whale? (Ryujo; 30 games, 23 wins.)

 

Spoiler

First game out was a five star win. over 100k damage, and a Heroic 'Assistant,' which I've had all three times I've payed RR now, though the second and third were just four-star wins.

 

la, la, la... How can I suck so badly trying to play 'normal' ships in operations; yet do so well driving carriers? (It's the opposite, btw, for me in Randoms...)

 

Oh well... I guess I can just collect a bunch more exp and just use it to train up my first RU 19 point captain.

 

Now for some seriousness and sillyness...

 

Raptor Rescue is seriously intense; I like the heck out of the harried 'rush' that comes while playing; but it irritates me that I can't seem to do really well in anything but a carrier.

 

I think the Cimmaron 'Arsenal' has the hots for my Ryujo; or maybe it's even mutual; they've wound up 'kissing' in all three games so far, 

[_WaveRider_]

I have heard of people having a string of tough games on all the Ops at some point. The fact you are raising this indicates you aren't used to this level of bad luck!

 

And that is what I think it will be - bad luck. The Ops are new and many will probably be rushing in 'head down, ar5e up and brain in neutral'. After a while it should level out.

 

I know people like to say the constant factor in your games is you, but in this case, until people get used to it, you may well be surrounded by idiots lol 

[1Sherman]

I like Raptor, but only when the team knows how to prioritize targets and I'm in a good BB. The key to winning is not letting the enemy cruisers and DDs torp you (It's harder than it sounds when you're playing with random teams). In the end, it all boils down to target prioritization. As well, your choice of ship means a lot. For BBs, close-range fighters with tight turning circles and hard-hitting guns are necessary (e.g. Bayern, Warspite, possibly NM). For cruisers, good AA, a speedy rudder, and strong DD hunting ability is favoured (Cleveland, Budyonny). DDs are largely useless. Gnevnys, IJN ships, and Farraguts are simply too easy for the enemy cruisers to kill. Finally, for CVs, a good Ryujo can be quite valuable in stopping the enemy planes and taking out ships that the team needs dead fast. My ship of choice for this operation is the Warspite. She hits like a truck, has a good pair of dancing shoes on her, and has decent armour and secondaries.

[CapnCappy]

Good IJN T6 (not T5!) captain can make all the difference in this mission. Had one this morning where our CV captain was an R1 and we missed 5 stars by literally 10 seconds and had to settle for 4. 5 out of 7 left alive and all enemy ships killed.

[_WaveRider_]

45 minutes ago, 1Sherman said:

DDs are largely useless. Gnevnys, IJN ships, and Farraguts are simply too easy for the enemy cruisers to kill. 

I used my Farragut with a 6 point Captain and never been killed on Raptor. In fact the couple of DDs in most games have done really well. 

[Estimated_Prophet]

41 minutes ago, CapnCappy said:

Good IJN T6 (not T5!) captain can make all the difference in this mission. Had one this morning where our CV captain was an R1 and we missed 5 stars by literally 10 seconds and had to settle for 4. 5 out of 7 left alive and all enemy ships killed.

 

Considering the absolute slaughters most of my Budyonny games were; the three Ryujo games so far have been like you said; most if not all of the Reds wiped out.

[Final_Spark]

It's probably what happens when you go with full randos. Tier 5s, afks, etc. really can't be controlled. Divisioning up and being in communication with your allies makes these ten times easier (in fact, there seems to be a way to have public Operations divisions so you can somewhat coordinate before the battle).

 

I got my 5 stars in all ops with 3 being with my clan and one going solo (last week's).

[1Sherman]

4 minutes ago, _WaveRider_ said:

I used my Farragut with a 6 point Captain and never been killed on Raptor. In fact the couple of DDs in most games have done really well. 

 

I've seen too many DDs run off and get mowed down by enemy fire to agree with you. In the games I've had with the Warspite, I've usually been the one to carry, doing about 165-170k damage per game.

[_WaveRider_]

Just now, 1Sherman said:

 

I've seen too many DDs run off and get mowed down by enemy fire to agree with you. In the games I've had with the Warspite, I've usually been the one to carry, doing about 165-170k damage per game.

Then I would caveat your post with: 'In the games I've played' perhaps? Rather than a blanket statement that DDs are largely useless; as in my games they have been very good. 

[MrDeaf]

I feel that Arsenal is definitely a leading cause of losing a star in Raptor, unless you literally provide a meatshield for it.

In particular, it refuses to dodge torps and only has enough HP to eat 1, if that.

[poeticmotion]

1 hour ago, 1Sherman said:

 DDs are largely useless. Gnevnys, IJN ships, and Farraguts are simply too easy for the enemy cruisers to kill. 

Actually, Raptor has been the best mission for me with DDs. Admittedly, Farragut is one of my best boats, but the fact that I could hang with the 'engineer' ship for a minute and get some hp back was an advantage compared to Aegis and Killer Whale. Idiot DD players won't do well, but a well-driven Farragut does very well in Raptor if they play in a 'fleet DD' role, work the periphery of the group while setting fires and finishing off damaged ships, and darting out and back quick to torp as the opportunity presents itself. Where DDs get in trouble on Raptor, I think, is when they lone wolf off and get focused; saw another DD die badly that way.  I've done two runs on Raptor, and got 5/5 stars and led team in XP with Farragut in my first run and was 2nd on team in my other run, also with Farragut (we got 3 or 4 stars on that one, don't remember which.) And I'm obvi no unicum so it's doable for average players (although USN gunboats are my best line, to be fair.)

[Mahrs]

I played tonight and it felt like an entirely wasted effort.  It's hard for me to watch potatoes potato that hard...I mean...lordy...they don't know how to shoot, they don't know how to handle their ship, they don't know how to WASD and they don't play the objectives.  

 

I am just glad this is the second week in a row where in my first three games I got a 4-star result simply because MM put some people together that aren't terrible.  

 

The single worst thought?  These people could play ranked.  That is horrifying.  In fact, scenarios seem like a GERAT time for skill based MM.  Are you a good player?  Cool, MM matches you with other good players and your romp through scenarios.  Are you a potato? Awesome, you can be terrible with other potatoes and either learn or remain among your fellows.  After implementation, at least 3-stars in the current OPN will be required for entry into ranked games.  Two birds, one stone... 

[Cooper_Capt]

Everyone on the team needs to keep the Mission Tasks as the FIRST priority.  Particularly the Primary Mission.   If 4 ships run off to "sink the CV" and Raptor sinks, mission fail.  

 

The biggest problem with Operations are the players that do not focus on the Mission.   In this very thread there are those bragging about their Damage per game and raking in XP.    Not the point of the mission.   

 

WG should reduce XP and Coin for Operations; team based rewards be the goal.    Also, allow repeat wins of camo and signals.   

 

PS    DDs work great.