BRITISH T7 PREMIUM BATTLESHIPS ? DIFFERENCE ?

[Ricky_Racer]

Hood, Nelson or Duke of York.

Thinking about getting one.

Curious on what's the difference.

I've read many reviews, and I am not convinced on which one would be the best. 

[awiggin]

Your money, your time. But at 440 battles I'd spend some more time learning the game, higher tier isn't exactly kind to new players....

[Ricky_Racer]

6 minutes ago, awiggin said:

Your money, your time. But at 440 battles I'd spend some more time learning the game, higher tier isn't exactly kind to new players....

I guess your right. Maybe I should spend my money on another game.

 

 

[Jim_Byrnes]

Don't do it! Work up a couple BB lines German and IJN  or USN first get the feel learn the mechanics then reward yourself with a premium captain builder.

[awiggin]

2 minutes ago, Ricky_Racer said:

I guess your right. Maybe I should spend my money on another game.

Like I said, your choice....Nelson is by far the best of the 3, but none of them are very forgiving of players who haven't spent the time learning the mechanics.

Perhaps you're a natural, and can jump right in....but that's not most players experience....

And seriously, with an attitude like that right of of the gate....I'm thinking you won't be missed....

 

 

[Ghostdog1355]

Ricky, not telling you what to ok. I'd been playing about as long as have and had about the same amount of battles and stats. Was tier 4 good/tier 5 starting. The Tirpitz came out and I thought "That's what I need, I'll instantly get better." Bought it and completely embarrassed myself. I wasn't ready. I'd hold off and save your money until get some battle under your belt and are decent at that tier in the tech tree ships. Those ships you want will still be there. If it looks like they'll be removed grab the one you want but play your others until you are ready.

[Ricky_Racer]

38 minutes ago, Jim_Byrnes said:

Don't do it! Work up a couple BB lines German and IJN  or USN first get the feel learn the mechanics then reward yourself with a premium captain builder.

 

32 minutes ago, Ghostdog1355 said:

Ricky, not telling you what to ok. I'd been playing about as long as have and had about the same amount of battles and stats. Was tier 4 good/tier 5 starting. The Tirpitz came out and I thought "That's what I need, I'll instantly get better." Bought it and completely embarrassed myself. I wasn't ready. I'd hold off and save your money until get some battle under your belt and are decent at that tier in the tech tree ships. Those ships you want will still be there. If it looks like they'll be removed grab the one you want but play your others until you are ready.

Thanks. I appreciate your impute.

I already have the Colorado. Not really impressed with it but I'm doing ok with the Alabama in Rank. I think. Be that it may.

Since I joined I have witnessed ships being taken out of the shop. Becoming no longer available. But my idea was, since they are Premiums, I could use those ships from time to time to help with my Capt's.

I have read that the Tier 7's is the safest bet for Match Maker and the ones I asked about are T7's. I don't really believe I am a bad player. Plus, players will never learn about tier play unless they actually play the tier. From my gathering, there a lot of good T8 players, who have progressed to T9's and T10's, only to have a hard time and probably should not have gone onto T10's. But nobody knows unless they play it.

But, I regress. My question was which of those ships would experienced players recommend and why.

I am not angry with @awiggin , but rather, if he has experience with those 3 ships, what would he recommend.

I am here to play. Not complain.

[nina_blain_73]

Nelson is by far the best but since it has to be bought with free xp probably not in your purchase range currently. Hood is next but plays unlike most BBs and is kinda squishy vs any other BB she will face. Great cruiser killer though. . Doy is a tuned down KGV and not a very good one but you can get it for free if you did the campaign. if you didn't do the campaign you have to buy her and she really is not worth the money.

If your heart is set on a UK BB and you really want it now get Nelson if you have the free xp if not go Hood. i'd pass on the DoY

[ReddWolfz]

Honestly..   I don't think there is any easy way to answer your question.    If you have played and are comfortable in the Colorado and Alabama, either of the 3 ships will work for you.

Hood is fast but seems easy to citadel (speaking from the experience of shooting at them), Nelson has British Super Heal and can basically come back from the dead, Duke (like the King George) is comparable with Colorado in that nothing makes it stand out (IMO).   Nelson and Duke are good fire starters (don't know about the HE on the Hood).  All have slow British turrets and are best in mid to long range (again IMO).   Nelson and Duke melt quickly when focused (takes pen damage from just about any angle).

If you have plans to go to the top of the British BB line I would say the Nelson would be the way to go as it will help you learn to manage/mazimize damage control and heal to keep you in the fight as it is the most like the top tier British BBs in that way.

Other than that, pick the one that looks the coolest to you, or the one that is the most interesting historically to you, or the one that is cheapest.   Bottom line is I don't feel there is anything that make one 'better' than the other.

[Ghostdog1355]

37 minutes ago, Ricky_Racer said:

 

Thanks. I appreciate your impute.

I already have the Colorado. Not really impressed with it but I'm doing ok with the Alabama in Rank. I think. Be that it may.

Since I joined I have witnessed ships being taken out of the shop. Becoming no longer available. But my idea was, since they are Premiums, I could use those ships from time to time to help with my Capt's.

I have read that the Tier 7's is the safest bet for Match Maker and the ones I asked about are T7's. I don't really believe I am a bad player. Plus, players will never learn about tier play unless they actually play the tier. From my gathering, there a lot of good T8 players, who have progressed to T9's and T10's, only to have a hard time and probably should not have gone onto T10's. But nobody knows unless they play it.

But, I regress. My question was which of those ships would experienced players recommend and why.

I am not angry with @awiggin , but rather, if he has experience with those 3 ships, what would he recommend.

I am here to play. Not complain.

I haven't played the Nelson, it just doesn't appeal to me for some reason. Haven't got the DOY yet but I do have the Hood. Someone mentioned it is squishy. It is and the salvo spread takes a little getting used to. They tend to curve a little bit so your lead is a little different than normal. Speed and maneuvering are good with the right modules and captain skill. AA is above average in my opinion. Worth getting. My opinion Yes. Not an "easy" boat though. Some guys love her some hate her. I'm about in the middle.

[Fletcher7_1944]

I have Hood and Duke.   As mentioned by others, both take a lot of pen damage and thus hate being focused.  I have a dedicated captain that I share between the two.   Both are also pretty fun to play, but different.  Hood is more of your "standard"  Big Bote, in that AP is your best choice vs most targets that aren't DD's or angled BB's.  It got left out of the British BB Quirk of good HE/ meh AP.    Duke is defintely more the typical Brit BB- it IS, after all, a reskinned tech tree ship.  The HE  is stupid good vs cruisers and DD's, and will remove HUGE chunks of any BB's AA  with each salvo whilst setting them on fire.   Dev striking CL's with HE is both hillarious, and an RN BB trait.

  Hood, it should be remembered, is a BattleCRUISER, not a battleship.  Thus it is at a distinct disadvantage in a fist fight with an actual BB- you just don't have the armor for that sort of abuse!!   If you like to get in close and brawl other BB's, this is not your choice.  Hood did really well for me in the Narai Operation.

Duke of York is better armored, but still isn't a real tank.  It can be surprisingly tough though.

  Both ships are MASSIVE, and take a long time to turn.  Remember that on those maps with lots of islands (or lots of torp spammers).  I'm sure this also has a lot to do with how much damage you take from normal pens- you're a really big target!

  Both have good AA, but Duke of York's is better.   With both AA range buffs( Advanced firing training and AA upgrade 2), you'll be accumulating impressive plane shoot-down totals in CV matches.  Even more if that player is stubborn and continually sends his planes at or near you, lol.  It has a bunch of dual purpose turrets and ridiculous numbers of 40mm guns.

So,  Hood is the better choice for more standard BB type play, while Duke of York is a better RN BB trainer.   Both ships should put the fear of God into cruiser drivers.   Duke also has slightly better ballistics- a plus for those "buzz off, pipsqueak" moments when a DD strays too close for comfort.   (your HE does ridiculously nasty things to them, lol.)

  Duke can also be had for free if you've got the patience to complete the grind to get it. (I didn't)

[Ivlerlin]

6 hours ago, Ricky_Racer said:

Hood, Nelson or Duke of York.

Thinking about getting one.

Curious on what's the difference.

I've read many reviews, and I am not convinced on which one would be the best. 

If I could only choose 1... I'd pick HMS Hood. 

1. She's probably the most historically notable of the 3. 

2. She's a Battle Cruiser. And she can do Battling and Cruising things. (Strike fear in the hearts of Cruisers and Run Away from Bismarck's trying to Det your Magazines)

3. If you missed out on Belfast, she makes decent RN CL Trainer. Although if you're prime spec'ed for Torpedoes then Campbeltown or Gallant might make a good choice also now. If you're looking to min/max commander skills when retraining.

4. See: 1. Even of it's port decor and you don't play the ship often and you enjoy WW2 Naval History how could you not want to have specific ships sitting in port? 

Hood, Bismarck (Denmark Straight); Atlantic Theatre 

Enterprise, Kaga (Midway); Pacific Theatre 

Of course there's many historical pairings beyond these 2. But heart chords aren't as impactful when you think about them (not that those other battles aren't significant; they are). 

As for Nelson and Duke of York.. If I could have them also I would. But from a gameplay stand point AND IF I could only choose and recommend 1; Hood. 

[Aristotle83]

These are all fun ships. UK BB's rule. 

[Helstrem]

Hood is a battleship, not a battlecruiser.  Don't let historical designations get in the way of what actually was.

Also, if you know basic mechanics Hood is the tankiest and most durable of the three, having better armor for WoWS rules.  Angled you'll bounce everything off of your sides as, unlike Duke of York and Nelson, you have armor all the way up to the deck.

 

Her guns are her weakness.

[KaptainKaybe]

I believe the general consensus (and my own) is: Nelson>Hood>Duke of York

Nelson: VERY easy to citadel when showing broadside, but tanky when angled. Exceptionally powerful heal. Solid guns. Slow speed, although not as slow as Colorado. Requires a free XP grind (375k) so you cannot just buy it outright in the shop.

Hood: Guns can nearly never citadel battleships at longer ranges, although decent damage to upper belts and superstructures. Also poor dispersion. Excellent against cruisers. VERY FAST. Sits low in water so a bit harder to hit than Nelson or DoY. Very very tanky when angled and has great firing angles. Ship designed less for powerful BB alpha strike (really, don't count on this happening), and more for it's ability to flank and tank. AA is gimmicky in that it's very powerful at really really short range with Defensive Fire, but useless otherwise. Really long ship with huge turning circle, but very responsive rudder and fast turret traverse.

Duke of York: Basically, a worse King George V. It has Hydro (useless for a non-brawling ship) and solid AA (but without Defensive Fire), but it loses 4 or 5 seconds reload on main battery as well as having one less Repair Party heal. Totally not worth it IMO, especially since you can just grind up to the KGV for free.

[6thGuards]

Having the Hood and the Duke of York I would have to say I prefer the Hood.  The Hood plays much like one of favorites, the Graf Spee.  Play the Hood more as a cruiser than a battleship and you will enjoy it more.

Duke of York as with the King George V I am not impressed with.

[Rulue]

I have Hood and Duke of York. Although the Duke of York was an inferior version of the King George V, it has a solid AA capability and a hydro. The Hood has more perfect AA defense. The Nelson had all three front main turrets, for instance of only firing forward and broadside, but firing backward is impossible.

[NoCoGaming3645]

Honestly, just buy the Nelson with FreeXP after awhile. It's not that hard to accumulate, and, particularly if you have Premium account time, you learn a lot by the grind. They've made no indication that it's being removed, so maybe 2-3 months of consistent play will get your enough for a Nelson. Heck, if you're really into it, get into a clan and you can grind out 400k FreeXP playing missions over three weekends.

The Hood and the Duke of York don't really bring anything interesting to the table - they're both pretty much the same playstyle and utility that you'd get with the KGV, and the differences are quite minor (gimicky and mostly useless vs the standard KGV features). The Nelson has a fun and unique style (shared with the French Dunkerque), and works really nicely for a trainer for both the RN BB and RN CL lines, as the skills you want in each of those lines are quite useful while playing the Nelson. 

Heck, you can get the Duke of York for free if you just complete the North Cape campaign, which shouldn't take more than two or three weeks of playing T5-7 ships.

The better buys for premium BBs would be the Guilo Ceasar (it's fairly overpowered, and a decent money-maker), the Scharnhorst (probably the best T7 premium of any kind still available), and the Tirptiz (which is a Grade A+ brawler). 

[X15]

I own all of them and say: Nelson > Hood > Duke

The comments above cover it very well, Nelson is a harder to get super sponge with incredibly good HE. Hood is a battlecruiser, and note that its optimal captain skills may differ from traditional Royal Navy skills. Duke of York is pretty much garbage.

I recommend looking up little white mouse reviews on them, an then buying Scharnhorst instead if you can't get Nelson.

[fierymountain]

On 1/9/2018 at 12:16 PM, Ricky_Racer said:

 

Thanks. I appreciate your impute.

I already have the Colorado. Not really impressed with it but I'm doing ok with the Alabama in Rank. I think. Be that it may.

Since I joined I have witnessed ships being taken out of the shop. Becoming no longer available. But my idea was, since they are Premiums, I could use those ships from time to time to help with my Capt's.

I have read that the Tier 7's is the safest bet for Match Maker and the ones I asked about are T7's. I don't really believe I am a bad player. Plus, players will never learn about tier play unless they actually play the tier. From my gathering, there a lot of good T8 players, who have progressed to T9's and T10's, only to have a hard time and probably should not have gone onto T10's. But nobody knows unless they play it.

But, I regress. My question was which of those ships would experienced players recommend and why.

I am not angry with @awiggin , but rather, if he has experience with those 3 ships, what would he recommend.

I am here to play. Not complain.

Colorado has 16 inch guns.  It will pen most ships.  If you like that, DoY can't give you that with AP.  At close range, expect bounces, and plenty of them against heavy cruisers and battleships.  But it will give you insane HE, and countless fires.  Burning someone down to the waterline is almost a cake walk.  It's also sluggish just like the Colorado.  But it has sonar, so you can sort of spot the torpedoes sooner. Crowning trait is starting fires.

Colorado has decent armor, Hood has it too. And it also has a very fast speed.  The down side is the rear gun turret arcs are terrible and you almost have to show your side before you can open fire with the rear guns.  The ship is also very long.  It also has only 8 guns, but you are used to that in the Colorado.  It's never going to come close to starting the amount of fires as the DoY, but the guns has better penetration power.  Crowning trait is speed.

Of all the ships mentioned, Nelson is probably by far, the most sluggish and runs like 22 knots or so.  All 3 gun turrets are at the front, so you are pretty much mostly pointing your nose forward at an angle so your third turret can get some action too.  The angle won't stop a lot of the other battleship guns from damaging you. It helps some but not that pronounceble.  They are also slow shells.  Also not much of penetration power.  But very decent HE.  Again, never come close to DoY on starting fires, but better than most.  As another commentator stated, the heal is awesome.  You can be at 1k health, hit the heal key and watch yourself back to half or more within 20 seconds.  You literally gets to laugh at the 3 cruisers that has been spamming you with HE for the past 3 minutes as their work gets undone by your heal.  But do know this, it only comes with 2 uses of the heal.  So unless you use premium heal and have the captain skill to give you an extra use of the consumables, because of your slow speed, sluggish handling, and weak armor, your ability to last to the end of the game will be severely hampered.  Crowning trait is the heal and all 9 guns at the front.  Just don't get caught with someone behind you.

 

With all said, it's up to you to decide your play style.  I am a brawler and have found that with the DoY, using HE and sonar, I have a pretty good rate at rushing smokes and killing the DDs in them.  And also loving the ability to stand back and burn others to the waterline.  Hood to me felt undergunned.  And most of the time when I need the "dreadnaught" achievement, Nelson is my prefer choice, else Nelson rarely see playtime.

[Midnitewolf]

They are all vastly different from each other and aside from the Duke of York play completely different than anything in the tech tree.  I will start with Duke of York.

Duke of York is a somewhat nerfed King George IV.  It has a 4.5 second slower rate of fire, loses a heal and gets hydro instead of a spotter plane.  On the flip side it has better AP performance and better AA.  Other than that the DoY is 100% a KGV so if you are looking for a premium that plays similar to Tier 7 and up RN BBs, this is the ship to own.  Nothing else special to really talk about on this one to be honest but despite the reviews, she is not a bad ship, not in the slightest.  She is just overshadowed by the tech tree KGV in raw performance so the DoY gets a bad rap. 

Hood is a one of a kind oddity of a ship.  She is race horse fast, near the fastest BB at her tier and able to near keep pace with the cruisers. It also accelerates well  however it is very long and has a large turn radius though is still surprisingly responsive to her rudder with a decent rudder shift time.  Her guns fire very average AP but are surprising accurate and she has good turret traverse.  She does not have the special RN HE however so is going to be mostly having to rely on AP for damage.  The Hood also plays nothing like any other BB in the game in my opinion.  The pro and con here is that if your looking for a unique ship with its own playstyle to change things up she is a great choice however you have to learn a new playstyle to play her, especially if your use to playing the Tech Tree RN BBs will which may trip you up if your new.

Nelson is the best choice in my opinon but she has some downsides.  First she requires 375k Free XP.  That is about $64 if your going to convert 375k Elite XP to Free XP to buy here which is roughly 33% more than a comparable Tier 7 premium.  Also you have to have 375K Elite XP in the first place which if your a newer player may make her unobtainable at least in the short term.  Of all the ships, she has the most unique play style and shares nothing of that play style with virtually any other ship in the game save the Dunkerque and Izumo.  With this ship you also run the risk of never understanding how to play it effectively just because you won't really ever be playing another ship like her.  She is also the most vulnerable of the 3 ships with a massively vulnerable citadel, vulnerable enough that you could easily find yourself deleted if you position poorly.  Citadel sits very high above the water line so you must never give broadside in this ship.  Guns in my opinion are great and being 16 inch guns, very punchy for a Tier 7.  The AP performance is above average in my opinion as well. She also has the Special RN HE and can pump out some massive HE damage with it including firing big enough rounds to citadel some cruisers with HE.  Also due to the way those guns are mounted, she can have some extremely tight dispersion at times which can severally rock the world of any ship she hits.  Lastly she has the very high Tier RN Navy SuperHeal which can replenish like half her HPs in a single go.

I will also add Warspite here.  She is a Tier 6 so not what you specifically asked about but is a good enough ship that she should be considered.  She is pretty much a lock, stock and barrel Queen Elizabeth.  If you have played the Queen Elizabeth, you have played the Warspite.  If you did well in the Queen Elizabeth, you will do well in the Warspite.  Also Warspite has been a favorite of many since pretty much the day the game launched.  Overall a very solid performing ship and one to consider buying.

 

 

[Xlap]

Nelson is the best of the three, but is also the hardest one. Nelson requires a lot of good positioning and angling because of the huge citadel. Nelson also reward good ammo choice.

 

Hood is a standard BB. Can one of the most tank BB of T7 If you know how to angle.

 

DoY is the most noob friendly of the three. Underwater citadel, spam HE and hydro to avoid torps. 

[Aristotle83]

On 1/10/2018 at 3:27 PM, Helstrem said:

Hood is a battleship, not a battlecruiser.  Don't let historical designations get in the way of what actually was.

Also, if you know basic mechanics Hood is the tankiest and most durable of the three, having better armor for WoWS rules.  Angled you'll bounce everything off of your sides as, unlike Duke of York and Nelson, you have armor all the way up to the deck.

 

Her guns are her weakness.

The difference between BB's and BC's, is speed. Hood is a battlecruiser and all battlecruiser's were really only separated from BB's by speed. Their size was largely the same and their guns were largely the same(most ships in T7 came out well after the Hood). That definition began to shift later on when the treaty's removed the incentive to make ships with bigger guns and more armor resulting in most battleships of the WWII era being battlecruisers by the WWI definition as building faster BB's was not restrcited.

 

But yeah Battlecruisers could be tanky, I feel like the word cruiser in there makes it seem like their supposed to be smaller and less tanky, no they are only supposed to be considerably faster than your typical battleship and in 1920 this was accurate of the Hood. That doesn't seem to be portrayed well at T7 because almost all of her peers were built in the 1930s and 1940s when battleships were generally faster. Hood being a battlecruiser is because of her speed relative to ships like the QE and Bayern not because of her speed relative to the KGV's and Scharnhorsts.   

[Ivlerlin]

12 minutes ago, Aristotle83 said:

The difference between BB's and BC's, is speed. Hood is a battlecruiser and all battlecruiser's were really only separated from BB's by speed. Their size was largely the same and their guns were largely the same(most ships in T7 came out well after the Hood). That definition began to shift later on when the treaty's removed the incentive to make ships with bigger guns and more armor resulting in most battleships of the WWII era being battlecruisers by the WWI definition as building faster BB's was not restrcited.

 

But yeah Battlecruisers could be tanky, I feel like the word cruiser in there makes it seem like their supposed to be smaller and less tanky, no they are only supposed to be considerably faster than your typical battleship and in 1920 this was accurate of the Hood. That doesn't seem to be portrayed well at T7 because almost all of her peers were built in the 1930s and 1940s when battleships were generally faster. Hood being a battlecruiser is because of her speed relative to ships like the QE and Bayern not because of her speed relative to the KGV's and Scharnhorsts.   

^ from the stand point of the QE at Tier 6 you can see the design and development of ALL the T7 RN BB/BC. 

HMS Nelson -  designed for holding a position in a Battle Line from the Jutland era. Deliberate choice of movements and positioning. It's fast enough to keep pace with other ships from and designed for the same era. 

HMS Hood -  designed for keeping up with the Cruisers and providing BB class weaponry. Like for some tank metrics the triangle is Mobility-Firepower-Protection, Hood had to sacrifice something for its speed. Hence it's Battle Cruiser status. 

HMS KGV (DoY) - design points more towards a balanced approach, needed to be faster than the traditional Main Battle Line with the Navies of the time changing operations away from Jutland styles of engagements. But better protected than what was sacrificed to construct BCs of the previous era. Hence the birth of the fast-BB, the end of the Battle Line BBs, and the death of the Battle Cruiser. 

---

Going back to the OP. Look at their M-F-P breakdowns are and the style of player you play the BB class. 

If you can deal with low mobility but enjoy good Firepower and Protection, pick Nelson. MFP 1-5-4 / 10

If you favour Mobility and Firepower for lesser Protection, pick Hood. MFP 4-4-2 / 10

If you prefer a Balanced Blend, pick Duke of York (KGV-Class). MFP 2-5-3 / 10

Previously I mentioned "pick Hood" but I play a fair amount of Cruisers. So as a player I value the Mobility Factor greater to my playstyle. 

[Helstrem]

6 minutes ago, Aristotle83 said:

The difference between BB's and BC's, is speed. Hood is a battlecruiser and all battlecruiser's were really only separated from BB's by speed. Their size was largely the same and their guns were largely the same(most ships in T7 came out well after the Hood). That definition began to shift later on when the treaty's removed the incentive to make ships with bigger guns and more armor resulting in most battleships of the WWII era being battlecruisers by the WWI definition as building faster BB's was not restrcited.

 

But yeah Battlecruisers could be tanky, I feel like the word cruiser in there makes it seem like their supposed to be smaller and less tanky, no they are only supposed to be considerably faster than your typical battleship and in 1920 this was accurate of the Hood. That doesn't seem to be portrayed well at T7 because almost all of her peers were built in the 1930s and 1940s when battleships were generally faster. Hood being a battlecruiser is because of her speed relative to ships like the QE and Bayern not because of her speed relative to the KGV's and Scharnhorsts.   

Prior to Hood battlecruisers either had substantially reduced armor (British) compared to battleships or smaller guns (German).  Hood was the first with battlecruiser speed, battleship armor and battleship guns, hence the first fast battleship.

Yes, by British doctrine she was a battlecruiser, but in practicality she was the first fast battleship, there just wasn't such a thing yet.