How many here will buy the Ashitaka Tier 7 BB which is the old stock Amagi BB

[Mr_Alex]

I actually am looking at buying it

[Fast_Battleship_Iowa]

No, because I don't want to support WG removing stock hulls from other ships and turning them into premiums. We've already had this happen with Mutsu, Kii, Musashi, and Ashitaka. 

[Saetre]

Most of the time I buy these ships to drink the tears of people who whine about unfair business practices.

[aethervox]

I ground thru the Amagi to reach the Yamato, so, No. I have or will have plenty of other Tier 7s.

[Big_Spud]

If I needed another IJN BB trainer I would, but Mutsu and the Zucchini are enough for me at the moment.

 

Now, if they did something neat like making the 14 cm secondaries all fire HE, or buffing the accuracy/giving it better shells, I might consider it.

[Ace_04]

Nope.

 

Why would I want to buy a less effective Amagi, when I can have the full strength model for free?

 

PS - It's also ugly as old boots.

[TheDreadnought]

Won't Amagi be pretty potent at Tier 7?

 

I could see myself getting it if it doesn't get nerfed to oblivion.  I'm discovering that I like battlecruisers.

[Sovereigndawg]

Will buy, but then I buy them all.

[SkaerKrow]

I'll pick it up to go with my Kii, Mutsu, and Ishizuchi.

[goldeagle1123]

Not me, simply because I hate these garbage 1920s-era IJN BBs. They have terrible armor, poor maneuverability, high detection (they're Japanese), atrocious ballistic properties on their guns; the large caliber does not at all translate into penetration power, and finally, zero AA to speak of whatsoever.

 

I like ships that are fun to play, balanced at that tier, and well optimized. I will never pay $40-50 for a tier 8 ship that you just kneecap and call a tier 7. Plus it's just another lazy money grab by WG since it is just the old Amagi A hull.

[Xlap]

Cant answer the question without knowing the ship performance. I love Amagi and was disappointed with Kii.

 

[Nem_Nem]

don't need it and a stock amagi doesn't sound appealing, even if its moved down to VII.

 

Its another VII prem in a tier flooded with them, the scharn and belfast do the job I need a prem to do: play well and make credits

[FitsHeSits]

Tier 7 MM can be pretty sweet. The only real thing I see going for this ship: load in, see a bunch of Vs and VIs below you....yeah that'd be nice. But at then end of the day I'll probably pass on this one. I love Amagi so much (keeper) that it just seems silly to pay money for a downgrade

[HazeGrayUnderway]

I don't know.  To be objective, here's the link the OP had with WG's news post on Ashitaka with preliminary stats.

Here's the Wiki entry for Nagato.  I'm comparing to Fully Upgraded Nagato because that's the Tech Tree BB at the tier.  Amagi is at VIII so it's pointless crying about VIII comparisons when Ashitaka's going to VII.  Bolded values are the notably superior ones.

Nagato / Ashitaka

HP 65000 / 59400

Armor - plating 25mm, belt 305mm / plating 25mm, belt 203mm

For reference, Tier VI Fuso's armor?  plating 25mm / belt fluctuates from 229m-305mm

Main Battery mm 4x2 410mm / 5x2 410mm

Max Range km 20.46km / 19.9km

HE damage 6500 for both

HE velocity 805m/s for both

AP damage 12600 / 12400

AP velocity 806m/s / 790m/s

Reload 32s / 31s

180 degree Turret Turn Time 47.37s / 45s

Max Dispersion (remember this is at max range) 231m / 227m

Sigma 2.0 / 1.8 (Nagato sigma pulled from this post.  Considered one of the more accurate BBs in the game.)

Max Speed 25kts / 30kts

Turning Circle Radius 770m / 870m

Rudder Shift Time 13.7s / 14.9s

Surface Detection 17.1km / 16.8km

 

I'd like for her to have been Tier VIII, but well that's not happening and Kii is there now.  So, objectively speaking, Ashitaka when compared to Nagato looks to be inline in power and has concessions and strengths of her own.

 

Ashitaka is a Tier VI Fuso buffed from a bunch of 356mm guns => a bunch of 410mm guns.  Relies like Fuso on mass of fire with 10-guns to get her hits, compared to 8-gun precision of Nagato.  I am not sure of the old Stock Amagi had worse guns than Upgraded Nagato and that will be an interesting thing of concern, the same way Mutsu didn't have Nagato's upgraded guns for Tier VI.

 

Ashitaka is faster than Nagato.  30kts IMO is valuable in the Post-Scharnhorst / Gneisenau Tier VII BB World, so she cannot be easily overtaken.  However Nagato is better in the turn.

 

Staying Power?  This is the most alarming part.  Nagato has more HP.  But I'm not worried about that.  Do note that Armor.  Nagato is tougher.  She still has to angle or pay the price but will get spanked if she makes a mistake.  Ashitaka's armor is terrible.  Fuso's is better, and Fuso is widely acknowledged, despite her awesome guns, her armor is quite bad, and Ashitaka is even worse, but at Tier VII.

 

I think Ashitaka is fine for Tier VII but wise hands are needed for keeping the ship in one piece.  You leverage the characteristics of IJN BBs and stay alive or die horribly.

[Viper101]

Honestly? 

Not going to buy it, since I would much rather purchase something like the Alabama or Massachusetts. 

A lot of it has to do with my having little interest in Japanese BBs at the moment. 

 

That said, I do think its good that WG is bolstering the Japanese premium lineup for higher tier BBs, but understand why some are a little pissed about this one. 

[K1ra_Yoshikage]

No... wait I think again about it... never ever. Since my worst IJN BB captain has 12 points I‘m not in need of a premium ship for this branch. And I will not spend 43$ for a lazy copy&paste ship.

[BlailBlerg]

You mean this isn't a 3 option poll?!?!?!

[AdmiralPiett]

Possibly. Depends on if it is decent. The AA fit looks a bit ahistorically wonky though.

[TheDreadnought]

Hmmm not liking the armor/hit point situation.   This seems less like a battlecruiser and more like a stand-off fire support platform like Fuso.   Not my thing.

[Carl]

Do note she also has a 70mm turtleback, she's still worse off than Nagato, in fact shes still fairly meh verging on bad, (she's got near kongo armour effectively), also she has Mutsu's shells. On the other hand 10 guns, a good turn of speed, overmatch and a good slug of HP offers some compensation.

 

Personally i won't be buying her, but thats a financial determined point, not a look at the ships objective stats or anything.

[crzyhawk]

Maybe.  If I liked BBs it would be a must-buy, but I'm just not a battleship fan at all.

[Sventex]

Tier 7 is the golden tier, and I want a IJN BB premium, but Musashi looks to be the better choice, unless it requires some clan nonsense, or $100+ non-free-exp cost.  I'll have to examine the reviews.  In general, I find that the IJN BBs look best in their WWII config, so I'm lukewarm on the idea.

[Raptor_alcor]

6 hours ago, Cruiser_DesMoines said:

No, because I don't want to support WG removing stock hulls from other ships and turning them into premiums. We've already had this happen with Mutsu, Kii, Musashi, and Ashitaka. 

 

Eh? musashi was never a stock hull and neither was kii, what are you drunk on?

[YamatoA150]

6 hours ago, HazeGrayUnderway said:

I don't know.  To be objective, here's the link the OP had with WG's news post on Ashitaka with preliminary stats.

-Snipped for Space-

I think Ashitaka is fine for Tier VII but wise hands are needed for keeping the ship in one piece.  You leverage the characteristics of IJN BBs and stay alive or die horribly.

 

Stock Amagi had the same Type 88 shells as Stock Nagato did, and also slightly worse accuracy as well, before reaching Ex-Amagi B Hull (now Amagi A). It's one of the reasons it was considered a particularly painful grind at T8 (aside from the armor, or lack thereof for the tier), since Amagi didn't come into her own until players got into her modernized hull.

 

Stock Amagi at T7 in the form of Ashitaka is going to be hilarious; considering she doesn't have the armor to even perform a good drive-by shootout, but her setup encourages such via the torps and gun performance at short ranges. Assuming she gets the same buffs as T6 Mutsu does just to be minimally competitive, she'll be somewhere between a Hood and a Fuso while retaining the armor of a Kongou, but some will try playing her like a Scharnhorst or Tirpitz, only to eat pens and citpens.

 

As to the OP's question, short answer: No.  Long answer: Not until we get the Kongou sisters in their final forms at T5/T6, Yamashiro 1944 at T6, and Mutsu 1943 at T7. Musashi can stay at T9 or T10.

[crzyhawk]

Given Mutsu is well balanced, I think Ashitaka will be just fine.  As it is, I love the Hood.  Battlecruisers seem to suit me, they are my best BB types.