Gearing gunboat - is it worth it?

[Brhinosaurus]

I have 470 battles in a Fletcher with every possible torpedo upgrade and captain skill.  When I unlocked the Gearing, I focused on the gunnery upgrades and skills instead.  It made sense, since Gearing's torpedo capabilities are less (with the exception of the absurdly long range) but her guns are better. Focus on what the ship is best at, right?  I continue to play both ships.

After 120 battles in the Gearing, however, it is behind the Fletcher in win rate, K/D ratio, and warships.today rating.  I do slightly more damage with it, but in all other stats I am behind.  With 2-4 radar-equipped ships and/or carrier per match, the opportunities to safely fire the guns for long enough to do anything of value are few and far between.  Worse, given the Gearing's slow torpedo reload, without Torpedo Tubes Modification 3  and/or TAE, it's unlikely that Gearing will have completed her initial torpedo load in time to fire them during the critical first contact at the start of the game. 

I am considering refocusing the Gearing's upgrade module and Captain talent towards torpedo usage, but my concern is that doing so will result in a ship that players similarly to Fletcher but is worse in most respects.  It will still be a better gunfighter when the situation calls for it, but it will also still have torpedos that reload more slowly and do less damage.

Thoughts?

[Destroyer_KuroshioKai]

Gearing does have a unique play style compared to other US DDs.

Most US DDs are very agile, slim and excel in close range encounters, while Gearing works best with a little more stand off range.  The one difference Gearing has over lower tier US DDs is 21mm of armor that negates a lot of HE pens from other DDs.  Figure out how to use that armor in DD fights and DPM does not matter quite so much.  The times you do need to close range, like to kill a DD should be a very quick affair however as  that armor allows BB and CA AP to wreck you.  The gun reload only matters as a way of reducing that window where you are subject to [edited] AP damage volleys.   With the longer torp reload you get more bang for your buck with torp reload boosters.  I run at least TTM3 on mine FWIW.

Dont neglect your torps for a full gun build.  Torps are your key to large amounts of damage by forcing repairs on floodings and fires afterwards.  I should note that you do not want to just HE spam.  AP on broadside ships targeted at areas you can pen has insane DPM even at extended ranges.  The AP works on other thick or armored DDs as well, especially Khaba. 

The question of being able to deal with a Khaba can be a prickly one however.  Your safest option is to spot it for your team, but as most know its a crap shoot if your team with try to shoot it.  Next safest is to ambush the Khaba while using your smoke advantage.  If you cant do either of those you need to pick the fight at 5.8km and closing with the Khaba being forced to turn dramatically away from your torp threat allowing you to get good AP shots into its side.  I really recommend you spend time in the training room working over bot Khabas to get an idea of what you are doing before hand.  That fight is most likely going to severely damage both of you.  Fletcher unless it landed a torp should flat out avoid Khaba at all costs. 

The other boat people say wrecks Gearing is Z-52.  Dealing with Z-52 feels really odd but never turn out from them.  Ever.  The AP will wreck you.  My research indicates Z-52 needs to land AP pens to win against you.  His HE DPM is so low that he can have all guns firing at you while you reverse with just your two bow guns on him and win every time baring RNG surprises.  In my Z-52 I see so many Gearings panic turn and are dead in 4-5 volleys.

In the end you might not top your Fletchers stats.  Fletcher has probably the best torps in the game that reload insanely fast for as good as they are.  The guns, concealment, really everything about Fletcher is great.  Its a hard boat to beat, and thats why I kept my Fletcher when I bought my Gearing. 

[Jimijaz]

What Kurosh said....,

With the exception of the Shima', I own and operate all the t10 dd's. The Khaba's micro cruiser status puts it in a special category that I'll talk about in a minute. My first t10 ever was the Gearing. Took a while to get it to where it needed to be (torp reload/rpf via Flamu Build). It's a beast now and I can pick the fights I want to get into with that boat and usually stay alive to cause damage for the entire match. I've only killed a couple of Khabas with it. They were in close fights where I had him within 4km and deleted him win 4 salvos with AP broadside. Any other fight will fall in the Khabas favor. Now the Z-52 is a different beast. The HE pen is ok (currently at the 4x pen factor, I think) and I now won't chase a shima or outright gunfight with U.S. dd's. I will however use it's hydro and AP to unzip any dd that gives me the opportunity. There's a reason it's such a cap point bully. Unless you have radar cruiser support, you can't fight one who knows how to drive it. My Khaba kill count with a Z-52 currently sits at 4. If you smoke up and park in a cap, and I'm in my Z', it's lights out baby. In a straight up gun fight, the Z suffers from AP pens more than other dd's. Smart gun fighters will use AP against me. Especially if I'm giving broad side.

Using a Khaba as anything other than a incredibly fast micro cruiser is ludicrous. I can only cap if I survive till late in a match. Those things are meant to burn down capital ships. Never engage one unless you're parked in smoke next to one with torps, radar or hydro at your disposal. Good luck and I'm happy to div up with you if you ever want to take out a boat.

-JJ

[Coelecanthe]

I put 8 torps into a BB yesterday and only took 90% of its health!!!!  What Gives..... 

And no, I wasn't to close for the torpedos to arm.

[JochenHeiden]

Gearing is a terrible gunboat.  Don't waste your time with that.  US 5" in this game is pure garbage.  You will lose a gunfight with any other DD, save maybe a Shima, and even that is a losing proposition after about 8-10km.

[Neltak]

I like a hybrid. Torp Module 3 for modules and Torp reload for captain skills. BFT for gun captain skill, and AR for a buff to all reloads.