Tier IV US Cruisers

[Hawk8762]

How to use?

If I lead BB,s I get targeted and instantly blown up

If I stay behind BB's I'm generally out of range, and once I am in range, enemy BB's choose me over friendly BB it seems

Where is the cruiser sweet spot?

I get, its sorta a support ship, having a lot of AA guns

But for something that should be reasonably tough, getting one shotted CONSISTENTLY isn't fun

Yes I dodge, but it just takes one broad side, and when a BB is focusing you, its only a matter of time.

(IMO, I do feel there should be either BB limits per match, or greater rewards for non BB [which ever ship class is least populated])

[Kevik70]

Hide in a pack of other cruisers, and bbs and hope you don't get targeted and if you do don't show your sides.

[457th_FighterGroup]

Phoenix is hard ship to play. But don't be discouraged. Just tag along with the main fleet. If you get separated or overextend,  use your speed to run or wait behind islands to torp something.

If you encounter a herd of BBs just run away while spamming HE.

[LancerUlysses]

Treat it like a big, awkward DD. Islands your best pal, rapid fire the guns at stuff smaller than you or distracted BBs. The torps are fairly useful too, but make sure to stay alive until you can use them. 

[Crucis]

4 minutes ago, Hawk8762 said:

How to use?

If I lead BB,s I get targeted and instantly blown up

If I stay behind BB's I'm generally out of range, and once I am in range, enemy BB's choose me over friendly BB it seems

Where is the cruiser sweet spot?

I get, its sorta a support ship, having a lot of AA guns

But for something that should be reasonably tough, getting one shotted CONSISTENTLY isn't fun

Yes I dodge, but it just takes one broad side, and when a BB is focusing you, its only a matter of time.

(IMO, I do feel there should be either BB limits per match, or greater rewards for non BB [which ever ship class is least populated])

 

Hawk, exactly what makes you think that it should be "reasonably tough"?  The tier 3 St Louis was certainly "reasonably tough", but that was due to the nature of cruiser design in the late 1800's and first decade of the 1900's.  The Phoenix is a paper ship that's presumably an early design study for the  Omaha class.  And it's also worth mentioning that the USN didn't build any new cruisers in the 1910's until the Omaha's.  And that the Omaha's were build to be "scout cruisers" rather than as "light cruisers" because the light and heavy cruiser terminology didn't even exist yet.  And as such, they were built for speed, rather than durability.

When it comes to how to play cruisers, this is a long standing question.  Yes, it's a support ship.  You support BBs, DD's,  and even sometimes CV's.  It's generally best to try to stay at the extreme range of your guns as well as minimizing the time you expose your full broadside to enemy BB's.  If you need to reverse course and expose your broadside, try to wait until the enemy BB has fired his own guns and make the turn immediately thereafter, in the hope that you'll complete the turn before he gets reloaded.  Also try to use terrain by trying to shoot over islands at enemy ships that can't see you over said islands.  Another thing is, if possible, try to find situations where you see an enemy BB fighting over one side of his ship while you can shoot at the other side.  That is, if he's engaging a team mate of yours over his port side and you're on his starboard side, he's hardly in a position to engage you immediately, and that makes that BB a good target for you.  BTW, this will remain true at every tier.

 

[Ronin_ICOP]

Also remember that concealment is your friend. When targeted by multiple ships, sometimes it is best to stop shooting, show them your heels, and wait until you are no longer spotted. Remember that your concealment range is much larger (your gun range) when firing, but will shorten up soon after you quiet your guns. When they have targeted someone else, resume firing.

 

Respects,

Am

[LowSpeed_US]

All great pointers by the posters above. 

 

The thing I noticed, whether it is a Tier 4 battle (or higher). Is that some players invariably forgets that after a small window of time; of being 'seen'. When under heavy contacts. Continues to return fire when they could dodge as best they could and get back into their natural detection ranges. Effectively, not being seen to be able to egress, and live. 

 

Also, your main threats are those ships with long range plunging projectiles. Many times, I have intentionally targeted Tier 4  (T4) Cruisers. It's a target of opportunity for my Battleship, and a quicker kill to deny the OPFOR a ship advantage.

I think others do this too, when they see any T4 cruisers.

 

 

 

 

[AJTP89]

 The great thing about the Phoenix is you outrange about half the BBs. Use that to your advantage. Stay at range, probably 10km from the reds. Doesn't matter where the BBs are. Then engage WASD and spam. Duck and spam, laugh at ineffective shell-fire. If too many ships start trying to kill you, then stop firing, let concealment take over, reposition, and repeat. It's a little tricky to get the right range, but the Phoenix can be a very fun ship if played right. The Omaha plays much the same way, as does the Pensacola and New Orleans. The Cleveland teaches you terrible habits as it can get away with bow tanking a lot. That generally ends badly in the Pensi, so use the skills you learned on the Phoenix for all cruisers in the game. Picking your ideal engagement range, engaging enemies, WASD, concealment, those skills will always serve you well.

[Lert]

WASD is your friend. You should always be turning, especially when you're targeted.

[Ulthwey]

1 hour ago, Hawk8762 said:

How to use?

If I lead BB,s I get targeted and instantly blown up

If I stay behind BB's I'm generally out of range, and once I am in range, enemy BB's choose me over friendly BB it seems

Where is the cruiser sweet spot?

I get, its sorta a support ship, having a lot of AA guns

But for something that should be reasonably tough, getting one shotted CONSISTENTLY isn't fun

Yes I dodge, but it just takes one broad side, and when a BB is focusing you, its only a matter of time.

(IMO, I do feel there should be either BB limits per match, or greater rewards for non BB [which ever ship class is least populated])

Ehhhh that's your first problem there buddy, people usually just skip the tier 1-5 US CAs because they suck (St.Luis being the exception).

On a serious note, just suffer through it, use flags, XP boosts, free xp and etc - don't play anything short of the Cleveland.

[Seadog_Supreme]

59 minutes ago, Crucis said:

 Another thing is, if possible, try to find situations where you see an enemy BB fighting over one side of his ship while you can shoot at the other side.  That is, if he's engaging a team mate of yours over his port side and you're on his starboard side, he's hardly in a position to engage you immediately, and that makes that BB a good target for you.  BTW, this will remain true at every tier.

 

Very important that the slow battleship turrets are pointed at something else. Look through your binoculars and pay attention to this.

[Warped_1]

Honestly Kuma and Phoenix are two of the redeeming ships of T4.  They are great DD hunters and BB harassers.  Just keep moving and don't be afraid to run.

[IronWolfV]

Concealment and islands are your best friends.

[ReddNekk]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Cruiser play Hawk. What you're experiencing is how it's going to be at every level pard. BBs will focus on Cruisers because they're much easier to kill than BBs (if the BB can hit them) Cruisers are very vulnerable to AP hits from BBs because Cruisers have huge citadel areas and most AP hits from a BB at almost any angle will be a cit.

Stay near islands for cover as much as possible and if caught in the open, use the WSAD hack to (hopefully) avoid shots, stop shooting until your detection range is reduced and you disappear, then re-position. Trust me, you will not win a duel with a BB unless you're in knife fighting range and have torpedoes. Even then it's iffy. BTW, with the exception of the Phoenix and Omaha, none of the US tech tree Cruisers has torpedo armament, but starting with Cleveland they make up for it with good to excellent AA.

[UrPeaceKeeper]

9 hours ago, Hawk8762 said:

How to use?

If I lead BB,s I get targeted and instantly blown up

If I stay behind BB's I'm generally out of range, and once I am in range, enemy BB's choose me over friendly BB it seems

Where is the cruiser sweet spot?

I get, its sorta a support ship, having a lot of AA guns

But for something that should be reasonably tough, getting one shotted CONSISTENTLY isn't fun

Yes I dodge, but it just takes one broad side, and when a BB is focusing you, its only a matter of time.

(IMO, I do feel there should be either BB limits per match, or greater rewards for non BB [which ever ship class is least populated])

 

I'm glad you ask! :)  I happen to have an entire YT series on the USN Cruisers and how to play them!

 

Here is the T4 Phoenix one:

 

 

I hope it is helpful to you!  A lot of the other advice in this thread so far is good. Being on the move, paying attention to the ships around you and make sure to be the least appealing target.  Using AP and HE effectively is also critical to success as the USN AP on the cruisers is pretty potent at all ranges.

[Psycodiver]

I found her to be a great cruiser, I spend early match keeping BBs at max range because there easy to hit still while making it easier to dodge their shells. Cruisers and DDs require you to move in, don't forget about your AP, it's more effective than you imagine. Also your torpedos make for great ambush weapons but that's about it, don't rely on them for much else

 

I actually used her during the ribbons portion of the recent russian BB mission and I was able to get 150-200 shell hits a game

[Zyu]

I linger in the lower tiers - 4-6 mainly.

If there's one Tier 4 ship that's truly annoying - I'd have to say it's the Phoenix.

A poorly operated Phoenix = Devastating strikes all day long.

A Skilled Operator of a Phoenix is so hard to hit, dancing round your shells as they incessantly ping you non stop. Lighting fire after fire, waggling their little aft in your face until you want to just give up and sail away in your BB with head bowed in shame. My tactic has been to turn away from them to outrange them(as their method is kiting larger ships) - then wait for them to target something else and try a surprise broadside. Again - learn this ship well and you'll infuriate BBs Cpts out there.

As other folks have said: NEVER show your broadside to anything!

[HazeGrayUnderway]

First and most important rule of Cruiser Play:

 

Don't be the easiest, most preferable thing to shoot at. 

 

If you think being ahead of the BBs is a good thing in a Cruiser, think again.  The BB can take the punishment, the Cruiser can't.  And I will tell you now, if I am playing a BB and I see both a BB and a Cruiser at the same ideal gun range for me, I will shoot at the Cruiser, unless the BB is showing a juicy broadside.  My BB shells need a lot of work to take down another healthy BB, but I know one good salvo will end a Cruiser, or at the very least rip a huge amount of HP away.

 

There is a lot of bang for the buck for BBs to prioritize Cruisers.

 

As for Phoenix...

[Shrugs]

Low Tier Cruisers are absolute garbage.

 

Low Tier & High Tier, it is a BB-DD meta.  Cruisers are speed bumps.