RPF, What it is, isn't and how to use it.

[Warlord_Deadeye_Pete]

Greeting from Warlord!

It's a tools of the trade briefing today and the topic is RPF..

   You've heard both about Radio Position Finding or RPF.  It's OP, it's useless,and everything in between.  I'm reasonably expert with it at this point though somewhat far from a "God of RPF" as of yet!

 So lets look at what it does first.  It's function is simple.. It gives you an approximate heading to the nearest opposing ship. It's not much by it's self other then a tool that gives you information.  But it can tell you much much more.  How much it can tell you is entirely dependent on your knowledge of the game, it's maps, it's ship, and how players move. It's an information tool.

 

  Let me give you an exaggerated example.. Say your facing a team of 11 battleships.. (lets make em Fuso's.. you can spot them from orbit!) and one lone DD.. SO your moving along and the BB's are out to your right at 11 Km out to 18 km.  But, your RPF contact is off your left side... What is it.. If you cant see it, it's that one DD because you can see the 11 BB's!  Yep totally over the top example, but it's there simply to illistrate.. you know know where the DD is NOT as much as where he is, and you know that dd is less the 11 Km away from you or your RPF would be pointing at the BB's!

 

RPF gives you information. Often time it's fairly important information.  It points to the CLOSEST target.  It does not tell you if the target is closing or moving away.. you just get an approximate heading.  Oh, and it's always on and has no direct counter.  .If the target is not visible then it's something with a lower surface detection range then anything you can see.  In most cases it safe to assume it's a DD, at least until you have better information.  Now it is important to note that what ever you have your RPF pointing to knows that they are lit with RPF because they get an icon on their display.  (Happiness is that person sounding  out in chat to all "Some leWzOr is running RPF"  Just smile when that happens, you know know exactly who you have on RPF and what they are driving!  ( I swear 10-15% of matches there is someone that gripes!.  They make it soo easy!)

 

 the skill in RPF use  is analyzing the ship mix in light of your ship knowledge, the map and the differing of movement, and know opposing force dispositions and then using what you have determined in your own action during the match.   RPF is a commander skill that deeply rewards the attentive and knowledgable player.  It's not going to do you a lot of good until you've slammed at a best guess of around 4,000 or more matches just to develop your map, ship and game knowledge.  The map knowledge, experience on how ships move and fight are all part of the data set that you as a player are going to be using to get the best use out of RPF.  If you don't have that deep knowledge those 4 commander skill points spent on RPF may better off have been spent elsewhere.  It's not a super skill, until you have the deep knowledge and experience to make best use of it.

 

The practical tactics of it use depend entirely of what ship you driving, and how you've kitted it out along with other commander skills you have.  You'll develop your own specific tactics to use in conjunction with it that will be unique to you.  RPF does give you the opportunity to a bit more aggressive then you might be normally in say a Destroyer or a Cruiser.  For a BB or a CV driver it might be that critical warning that a DD is stalking your ship!  ( I do know of one Kaga driver that runs it..he just grins and brags about suckering DD's) but that right there does point out that it can allow you to turn an attempted ambush into a trap.  In team play settings it can be a critical if you share the information with the team.  Share the RPF info with your team.  It may be useless to them, but its more likely to be game winningly useful to them.    

 

Getting the best out of RPF is both science and nearly art in it's call upon near intuitive deduction.  It may be a useful tool for you. 

 

Fini!

 

Warlord sends

  

[HMCS_Devilfish]

Personally I think RPF is a waste after thousands of games you can pretty much deduce what the enemy team is up to after a few ships are spotted

what it may be good for is at the end of a game with the enemy ahead on points and hiding and you need to head towards them ... its a 1 pointer at best for me

[FayFay731]

I don't have RPF in any of my captain builds, it's too expensive and I don't really have much use of it in my opinion. I might include it in some of my IJN DD builds, but not until I get a higher point captain because I don't find it a priority. I also know most maps inside out and many of them are relatively small, so RPF isn't very nessesary. That's my opinion of RPF and I may not even ever use it at all.

[Estimated_Prophet]

Saved my tushy a couple of times in Grozvoy...'Why is the indicator pointing at an 'empty' part of the map when the enemy is in the other direction?' 3/4 Khab's guns took care of the rest.

[Wulfgarn]

Great

1 hour ago, TL_Warlord_Roff said:

 

+1

[cheereereerios]

I use it on most of my high end DD's - Fletcher, Shima (Shinonome, Fujin), Lo yang, it might go on Gearing at some point (have both, but the 19 pt captain stayed with Fletch). Likely to go on my German DD captain when I get the points as well for search and destroy shenanigans.

Yeah, I have the general idea of approaches other DD's are going to take, and what kind of evasion may take place, but in some situations it really is almost wall-hack lite. I get a pile of First Blood strikes just based on thousands of games played AND the bit of heading info provided. Oh, a DD smoked up...maybe even holding fire? Booop boop boop *target lock* missile launch torpedo sploosh! Now, it can sometimes trick you - hmm that BB 8km away is what it's pointing at right? HOLY MOLY A GEARING AT POINT BLANK RANGE *panic panic panic*

Overall though, if you are awake enough and have the experience, adding that bit of info can be a gamechanger.

[Seamus_44]

I have it on my USN and IJN dds, and it's worthy every point when approaching a cap. It's also helped in two of the 6 solo warriors as 4 and 5 enemy ships hunted me while I stalked them and open caps.

[Warlord_Deadeye_Pete]

 I use it on IJN DD set up as snoop and poop hunter killers hybrids.  Akizuki, HSF Harekaze 4-10. Kagero. it allows me to probe and find the gaps where I can sneak for the of side "they never saw em coming" torpedo's.  Very useful when carrier air is absent, or else where.  You do have to be a sneaker then the devil sort of skipper though.   Kagero and Hare I run with TRB instead of smoke..  the combination forces me to be more careful as to where I go and when I fire.  I've gotten some very good results, and been able to avoid fights that I might not have won.   It's also a useful close quarters tool.

A cruiser or DD behind an island in maybe in smoke but you cannot see them but you have it on RPF.  Move and torp snipe them.  You don't have to see them. you know where they are because its the only place they can be. RPF with what you know about the target, and how much the target is likely to know of you gives you a advantage.  How you use that advantage is up to you.  But it's there.

 

Warlord sends

[Jimijaz]

I specced into rpf on quite a few of my high tier dd's from all navies. After literally a few thousand games, my opinion is that it's only really useful at the beginning or end of a match. Everything in between is all about positioning/torps and not being radar detected. FWIW, it was very useful for ranked play but for the pubs, I'm not so sure.

If WG offers cheap re specs down the road here, I will eliminate it from my U.S. line but will keep it on my Z-52 and IJN boats. The Z' is a straight up DD hunter and when you can, it's possible to just delete a dd in short order (including Khab's). On IJN boats, I use it to avoid a gun fight until it's on my terms. I'd like to use some other skills on my Gearing and RPF isn't one of them. Maybe with the new rules about IFHE, it would make sense to get better HE pen with my high tier dd's.

-JJ

[cheereereerios]

11 hours ago, Jimijaz said:

I specced into rpf on quite a few of my high tier dd's from all navies. After literally a few thousand games, my opinion is that it's only really useful at the beginning or end of a match. Everything in between is all about positioning/torps and not being radar detected. FWIW, it was very useful for ranked play but for the pubs, I'm not so sure.

If WG offers cheap re specs down the road here, I will eliminate it from my U.S. line but will keep it on my Z-52 and IJN boats. The Z' is a straight up DD hunter and when you can, it's possible to just delete a dd in short order (including Khab's). On IJN boats, I use it to avoid a gun fight until it's on my terms. I'd like to use some other skills on my Gearing and RPF isn't one of them. Maybe with the new rules about IFHE, it would make sense to get better HE pen with my high tier dd's.

-JJ

Yeah, don't think I will actually put it on my Gearing or not. I kept it on my Fletcher since I basically play that like an IJN DD from heaven. (Full torp spec - torp reload module, capt skills include SE/TAE/CE/RPF.) Fletcher has incredible torps plus the ability to defend itself. Best IJN DD in the game!

But Gearing I've decided to build as a gunboat with some team friendly quirks (Gun reload module, have a base 10-pt captain, will add BFT, SI, run defensive fire).

[Landing_Skipper]

I consider RPF essential for Shimakaze, Yugumo, Fujin/Kamikaze, Etc. It helps make luck chuck torp launches more effective. Lots of First Blood medals. It also helps YOU decide when to engage an enemy destroyer and when to run. Is that Neptune still exposed at the end of that island or has he backed away to where torps can't hit him?  Did that Fletcher stay at the end of his smoke cloud or is he backing toward the middle?  

There are better 4-point skills for Russian DDs. I don't run it on my Z-52 or Z-23 but often wish I had it on those ships. On the Benson, I feel like I'm half blind without it. I don't have it on Farragut right now for Random battles, but it provides vital information for Ranked.  

I've played a lot of battles in a DD and have good map awareness. I know my opponents and how they are likely to approach Cap X on a given map. RPF gives me information that makes me a better DD player. 

You may think that Flamu is a horse's petute. Sometimes I think he's that or worse, but he is one heck of a great player. If he thinks RPF is extremely useful, you might want to consider the possibility that it can be very useful even for the best players:

 

[Assisted_Suicide]

I find RPF  very useful on DDs. Firstly it helps tremendously in launching a not so "blind fire" of torpedoes down a channel while you are not yet detected. Secondly - If my DD is detected and I'm being focus fired; it tells me which way NOT to run to try to escape. I also find it useful on BBs with slow turret traverse speeds because I know before the enemy ship is  actually spotted as to which way my guns should be generally pointed. To each their own I guess, but that's the basic capability I find most important about RPF.  Side note... If two on your team have RPF and voice communications with each other and properly convey their RPF indications to each other, it can be used to not only tell the direction of the closest enemy, but also the location of the nearest enemy by incorporating a  manual version of triangulation... Ships aren't fast enough to rule this combined capability out but it is most effective will only a few enemy ships remaining to be located.

[KaptainKaybe]

I use RPF on all DDs unless the necessary build and playstyle makes it very impractical.

For example, RPF on German DDs is pretty much a must have. Long range hydro is a huge advantage, but it's definitely meant to be used offensively to counter your poor concealment. So if you get spotted, knowing *where* to charge forward is critical. I'd never play a german DD without RPF.

I also took RPF on USN DDs as they are great close range gunboats and tend to lead a charge. They have average concealment and RPF helps when they get spotted.

I did not take RPF on Grozovoi nor would I on Khab if I had it simply because Russian DDs are support DDs, not front line cap contesters. They are better at staying behind other allied DDs and let them spot on their behalf. A Grozovoi has 'okay' concealment, but it's huge bulk would have a miserable time spotting torpedoes if it was out in front. So those four points are better spent elsewhere, such as making a heavy 3 point skill build, or taking AFT for longer gun range on their very reliably arcs (unlike all other DDs)

RPF could be a valid on Pan Asian for the same reason as USN, since their high tier DDs are basically USN DDs with different torps and consumables. It could also give them an edge against other DDs since they would know the direction their torps would be coming from (as they can't torp DDs in turn).

RPF is sadly a no go on the upcoming RN DDs due to the *need* for IFHE (*grumble curse hiss*) at high tiers. But that being said, their great concealment means they'll rarely get outspotted, so it's not that important and those points could be realistically spent elsewhere.

RPF is a must have on torpedo focused IJN DDs since they desire to avoid other DDs at all costs, so knowing where they are means you can be elsewhere, lol. On gunboat IJN DDs, probably not. Even with the quarter HE pen change, most of them will take IFHE anyways as it allows them to tear apart 32mm battleship plating. Personally, I think they buffed these ships too much.