Dear BB captains

[That1Villain]

I have played BBs to some extent, I'm to t7 in the German tree, t10 in Japan and t8 in the american. I know how much it sucks to be focused fired when you are trying to push, I will gladly lay smoke for you to travel safely so you can get to an optimal firing position if I am in an American or Soviet DD, however I have been playing my Yugumo lately just to finish my Japanese DD grind and I just so happen to have the torpedo reload booster on because I tend to play aggressively and I play to capture points in it since I am stealthy and have 16 torpedoes in about 10 seconds I am able to do that and generally hit and possibly sink anyone that might just come by. Sorry that I don't have a smoke screen so you can sit back in it and fire with impunity. I play to win and capturing points is how you win. Not relying on RNG to maybe citadel that one cruiser that's bow on to you while he and his other 5 friends start to push into the cap only for the smoke screen to run out and see you sitting still in it. If you learn to play without a smoke screen you will get better I promise. If you make a push into a cap and I see you trying then I will gladly do what I can to help you take it. But please don't whine when the DD doesn't smoke you 2km outside of the cap just so you can shoot from it. Thank you

[SinisterSe7en]

for this, I offer the most interesting applause in the world.

 

[Dareios]

as a primarily BB player, I agree 100% with the OP. Rely on your own observation of the map and flow of combat and not rely on any given from a team mate.

 

from the other side of a fence, a couple of things that as a BB player annoy me about allied DDs, and make me less likely to support them up close.

a) dumping smoke as soon as spotted and sitting in it for a minute unseen... not a terrible idea, but consider the support ship 7km behind you who is now spotted by the DD that just saw you, and is now being burnt to the ground by 5 ships, several which are unseen due to the allied smoke cloud. might be more of a radar cruiser problem?

b) when allied DD is spotted by one enemy DD, and a single cruiser also starts lobbing airballs at them, they scream for 'why is BB not 2km away brawling with this one cruiser'. A: because its the opening of the game, you are speedy, turn on a dime and probably have smoke. If I charge in recklessly against that one cruiser, as opposed to semi-sniping while angle creeping forward, then I almost always discover there are 3 more ships behind that cruiser that you didnt spot, which will end me in less than a minute regardless of bow tanking, angling or running. Simple maths... you might get out of it, I wont. Entirely different situation mid-late game when I can make an educated guess as to what may or may not be waiting to ambush me.

c) not that it is pertinent to this conversation, but at high tier, unless you have 12 x 16" and firing at 5km, the DD is probably limping away. Less so that the BB is deleted by about 4/10 of your torps hitting. Which kinda backs up the OP again... DDs torp, its what they do (cough, russians). BBs should brawl, but in an advantageous situation, and not necessarily yolo.

 

[That1Villain]

20 minutes ago, Dareios said:

as a primarily BB player, I agree 100% with the OP. Rely on your own observation of the map and flow of combat and not rely on any given from a team mate.

 

from the other side of a fence, a couple of things that as a BB player annoy me about allied DDs, and make me less likely to support them up close.

a) dumping smoke as soon as spotted and sitting in it for a minute unseen... not a terrible idea, but consider the support ship 7km behind you who is now spotted by the DD that just saw you, and is now being burnt to the ground by 5 ships, several which are unseen due to the allied smoke cloud. might be more of a radar cruiser problem?

b) when allied DD is spotted by one enemy DD, and a single cruiser also starts lobbing airballs at them, they scream for 'why is BB not 2km away brawling with this one cruiser'. A: because its the opening of the game, you are speedy, turn on a dime and probably have smoke. If I charge in recklessly against that one cruiser, as opposed to semi-sniping while angle creeping forward, then I almost always discover there are 3 more ships behind that cruiser that you didnt spot, which will end me in less than a minute regardless of bow tanking, angling or running. Simple maths... you might get out of it, I wont. Entirely different situation mid-late game when I can make an educated guess as to what may or may not be waiting to ambush me.

c) not that it is pertinent to this conversation, but at high tier, unless you have 12 x 16" and firing at 5km, the DD is probably limping away. Less so that the BB is deleted by about 4/10 of your torps hitting. Which kinda backs up the OP again... DDs torp, its what they do (cough, russians). BBs should brawl, but in an advantageous situation, and not necessarily yolo.

 

I agree, your speed boost is to get you out of trouble, not your smoke. You're stealthy and that is your primary weapon, use it to your advantage. Russian DDs are a bit different since in reality they're just light cruisers but for the Americans and definitely the Japanese, you have stealth, good if not great torpedoes, and you have speed, so use them. Problem I think with this is a lot of people just don't understand their ships role in combat and just do whatever they want or think best helps when really it causes more problems

[JCC45]

9 hours ago, That1Villain said:

I have played BBs to some extent, I'm to t7 in the German tree, t10 in Japan and t8 in the american. I know how much it sucks to be focused fired when you are trying to push, I will gladly lay smoke for you to travel safely so you can get to an optimal firing position if I am in an American or Soviet DD, however I have been playing my Yugumo lately just to finish my Japanese DD grind and I just so happen to have the torpedo reload booster on because I tend to play aggressively and I play to capture points in it since I am stealthy and have 16 torpedoes in about 10 seconds I am able to do that and generally hit and possibly sink anyone that might just come by. Sorry that I don't have a smoke screen so you can sit back in it and fire with impunity. I play to win and capturing points is how you win. Not relying on RNG to maybe citadel that one cruiser that's bow on to you while he and his other 5 friends start to push into the cap only for the smoke screen to run out and see you sitting still in it. If you learn to play without a smoke screen you will get better I promise. If you make a push into a cap and I see you trying then I will gladly do what I can to help you take it. But please don't whine when the DD doesn't smoke you 2km outside of the cap just so you can shoot from it. Thank you

 

 

Translation:  I like to rank up as many kills and caps as possible to keep my WTR purple and that sweet, sweet XP rolling in.  If the team wins or loses is really none of my concern.

 

Also known as the Selfish Build.

[Helstrem]

Thanks, but I do my job better when not in smoke.  I can't draw fire from the cruisers and DDs if the enemy can't see me.

[That1Villain]

15 minutes ago, JCC45 said:

 

 

Translation:  I like to rank up as many kills and caps as possible to keep my WTR purple and that sweet, sweet XP rolling in.  If the team wins or loses is really none of my concern.

 

Also known as the Selfish Build.

Well if I was selfish building then I would use smoke so I can survive longer and farm XP on bad players, since the longer you live the more chances you get to get xp, if I use torp reload I play aggressively and prevent anyone from pushing allowing teammates to put themselves in better position, so if anything it's a selfless build. Like I said I play to win since you get more xp from winning anyways. I think that's checkmate.

4 minutes ago, Helstrem said:

Thanks, but I do my job better when not in smoke.  I can't draw fire from the cruisers and DDs if the enemy can't see me.

To each their own, I'm just pointing out my point of view since a lot of BBs were crying about me not smoking them so they can just sit in it and farm damage.

[JCC45]

1 hour ago, That1Villain said:

Well if I was selfish building then I would use smoke so I can survive longer and farm XP on bad players, since the longer you live the more chances you get to get xp, if I use torp reload I play aggressively and prevent anyone from pushing allowing teammates to put themselves in better position, so if anything it's a selfless build. Like I said I play to win since you get more xp from winning anyways. I think that's checkmate.

To each their own, I'm just pointing out my point of view since a lot of BBs were crying about me not smoking them so they can just sit in it and farm damage.

 

 

No point in arguing with me.  You can argue with the person who coined the phrase...

 

Although I doubt you will be very successful.

[VTAdmiral]

What kills me is there are people in here who legitimately think speed boost is legitimately the best way for a destroyer to get out of a hot zone once spotted, and not smoke.

[chewonit]

3 hours ago, JCC45 said:

 

 

Translation:  I like to rank up as many kills and caps as possible to keep my WTR purple and that sweet, sweet XP rolling in.  If the team wins or loses is really none of my concern.

 

Also known as the Selfish Build.

Is there a non-selfish build for BBs?

[Viper101]

Speaking for myself:

 

If I see a Japanese DD at a high tier, I don't even expect them to have a smoke screen. 

Soviet/American? Yes. 

But not Japanese. 

 

Carry on, OP, and make poor scrubs on the enemy team cry at your wall of torpedoes. 

[K1ra_Yoshikage]

The same problem is when BB expect that you lay smoke while you try to stealth cap. Smoke is usually an invitation for torpedos. 

[chewonit]

1 minute ago, Erebthoron said:

The same problem is when BB expect that you lay smoke while you try to stealth cap. Smoke is usually an invitation for torpedos. 

 

And radar. Which is worse.

[JCC45]

1 hour ago, chewonit said:

Is there a non-selfish build for BBs?

 

My 27 Close Quarter Experts, 49 Flesh Wounds, 38 Fireproofs, 21 rammings and 4 Die Hards, all in US Standard BBs, would like a word with you.

 

 

Or maybe you could try more than 17 whole games in BBs before making uninformed comments?

[VTAdmiral]

3 minutes ago, JCC45 said:

My 27 Close Quarter Experts, 49 Flesh Wounds, 38 Fireproofs, 21 rammings and 4 Die Hards, all in US Standard BBs, would like a word with you.

 

Or maybe you could try more than 17 whole games in BBs before making uninformed comments?

I'm going to say that no, there is no unselfish build for battleships. Everything they do is them-first. Any teamplay that results is incidental to the secondary, AA, and survival traits that are taken by a battleship captain for his own benefit.

[ReddNekk]

4 hours ago, Helstrem said:

Thanks, but I do my job better when not in smoke.  I can't draw fire from the cruisers and DDs if the enemy can't see me.

I got a news flash for ya pard. BBs don't draw fire from DDs and CAs, it's the opposite. When I see a CA and a BB near each other, I target the CA because, as we all know, CAs are easier to take down than a BB. I've been focused on over nearby BBs when driving a Cruiser more times than you can shake a stick at. And we all definitely know that DDs are the focus of undivided attention as soon as they get detected no matter how many BBs are nearby.

[chewonit]

59 minutes ago, JCC45 said:

 

My 27 Close Quarter Experts, 49 Flesh Wounds, 38 Fireproofs, 21 rammings and 4 Die Hards, all in US Standard BBs, would like a word with you.

Those are all your achievements. They have nothing to do with selfish or not. You can technically get those in a 1 vs 12 match. You can be a very unselfish player, which I believe you are. But BBs have no worries about builds or configurations that would benefit other ships.

But if a DD is configured for damage instead of support, it's selfish.

[ReddNekk]

21 minutes ago, AraAragami said:

I'm going to say that no, there is no unselfish build for battleships. Everything they do is them-first. Any teamplay that results is incidental to the secondary, AA, and survival traits that are taken by a battleship captain for his own benefit.

Uh, yeah. It's to the team's benefit that the BB survive and deal out max damage. There's no unselfish build for any class, the idea is the be a effective as possible. Don't you use skills/traits/mods that improve the survivability and effectiveness of your precious DD for YOUR own benefit? According to your quoted outlook, that makes you pretty selfish.

So how about you show us a UNSELFISH build for BBs? One that would benefit the TEAM more instead of those selfish BB players.

[Canadatron]

2 hours ago, chewonit said:

Is there a non-selfish build for BBs?

No. Now give me your smoke.

[ReddNekk]

3 minutes ago, chewonit said:

Those are all your achievements. They have nothing to do with selfish or not. You can technically get those in a 1 vs 12 match. You can be a very unselfish player, which I believe you are. But BBs have no worries about builds or configurations that would benefit other ships.

But if a DD is configured for damage instead of support, it's selfish.

What builds are those? One would think that a build that ensures max damage delt and improved survival (which all classes do) would benefit the team as a whole.

What's the difference between a "support" DD and a "damage" DD? I've never heard of a "support" DD until your post.

[AnimaL21]

The, nameless, last chance BB i recognized prior to action in delegacy of all BB's,  sailed right through my smoke full steam on all of your behalf.    As such, by this decree, I no longer am obligated to share my smoke.  

[Enforcer017]

There is no unselfish build for a BB but there is unselfish play. Pushing at the right time, attempting to draw fire (keyword being attempting), slowing down an enemy push on a failing flank long enough tor the other flank to get an advantage, targeting the biggest threat to your DD, etc. 

 

OP has a valid point,  and DDs without smoke are fine by me. There will be enough other ships on the team with it. That said, its always appreciated when I get the attention of too mang ships and a DD saves my [edited]with smoke. My thanks to anyone thats ever done that.

[VTAdmiral]

52 minutes ago, ReddNekk said:

Uh, yeah. It's to the team's benefit that the BB survive and deal out max damage. There's no unselfish build for any class, the idea is the be a effective as possible. Don't you use skills/traits/mods that improve the survivability and effectiveness of your precious DD for YOUR own benefit? According to your quoted outlook, that makes you pretty selfish.

So how about you show us a UNSELFISH build for BBs? One that would benefit the TEAM more instead of those selfish BB players.

 

45 minutes ago, ReddNekk said:

What builds are those? One would think that a build that ensures max damage delt and improved survival (which all classes do) would benefit the team as a whole.

What's the difference between a "support" DD and a "damage" DD? I've never heard of a "support" DD until your post.

 

Yeah, no. You're not doing tons of damage for the team's benefit. You're doing it for yours. The fact that the team may benefit is ancillary. A secondary benefit. Because you can do tons of damage and still lose.

 

"I can live longer and do more damage" is a selfish build, no matter how you slice it. There is no unselfish Battleship build. It's not like you can take Superintendent for additional Smoke or Defensive Fire charges, but you're more than happy to demand destroyers and cruisers burn these consumables to help you.

[vak_]

3 hours ago, Viper101 said:

Speaking for myself:

 

If I see a Japanese DD at a high tier, I don't even expect them to have a smoke screen. 

Soviet/American? Yes. 

 

Why would you expect a smoke from anyone in randoms, unless you're divisioning with them? I never do when I play BBs, nor do I expend my smoke to cover my team's BBs outside very-very rare occasions.

 

Most BBs that whine* about not getting smoke have horribly mispositioned, and will probably die soon regardless of being concealed by smoke.

 

* I almost never get these requests though, probably because most of the time I'm screening ahead and would have to go back a couple of km to smoke anyone.

[vak_]

10 minutes ago, AraAragami said:

"I can live longer and do more damage" is a selfish build, no matter how you slice it. There is no unselfish Battleship build. It's not like you can take Superintendent for additional Smoke or Defensive Fire charges, but you're more than happy to demand destroyers and cruisers burn these consumables to help you.

 

As if DDs have no use for smoke charges or DF for themselves.

 

Quit thinking of captain builds as "selfish", that's foolish. BBs that survive longer and dish out more damage are most of the time very beneficial to their team.