Lightning is OK I guess...

[The_Painted_Target]

After the Acasta and Icarus (admittedly not bad, like the Gallant), and the mixed bag I find the Jervis to be. Needed to share this.

The lightning is finally an RN DD that I could consider OK. How is everyone else's experience with the ship going?

[BlailBlerg]

What's good about it? 

Other than the delicious name

[The_Painted_Target]

2 minutes ago, BlailBlerg said:

What's good about it? 

Other than the delicious name

From the top in what I see that is good about this ship.

120mm guns with a heavier shell. The trajectories aren't nearly as bad as on previous ships. This also gives you a lot more AP pen for citadeling cruisers who try to mess with you close range.
The guns are better than the old ones, shooting a bit faster (get BFT tbh) and 360 degrees with great angles.
Amazing fire chance to pair with...
The excellent torpedoes and firing solution (single fire) on 90s cooldown. The torps are solid. REALLY solid. You can send elaborate torp spreads that will guarantee a hit or give you much higher chances of doing so.
Which, after you land, you can use a disposable smoke to gun stuff down. If something tried to torp you use your crazy accel to leg it (if your hydro isn't up).

Now, it's not FAST at all. Positioning is important. If you can nail those down I'd argue this is the best T8 DD, hands down. I really can't make an argument for ranked, but for randoms, this thing is great.

[Muninn77]

I can confirm it's a monster if you treat it right. I'm somehow pushing 70% WR in it after 16 games.

I repeat: I have an almost 70% win rate in a tier 8 destroyer, with bad shell flight times and only 8 KM range on the torps.

If I can do it, some people are going to do naughty things in it once it becomes more widely avalible.

[Taichunger]

Why is Lightning so good?

It knows how to conduct itself.

[Exciton8964]

Never have a chance to play.

Only played Icarus and Jervis, both of which I consider 'ok'.

Lightening seems to be on the strong side. She has 5.5km concealment + higher HE dpm than Benson. Torpedoes also seem to be decent. 

[BlailBlerg]

Oh man. 8km torps?? What do vs t10 radar? 

[PhosphorusForFun]

Out of, I think, 15 games or so, I’ve only lost once and set a personal record of 200k+ spotting in one game.  My average damage is probably a bit on the low side most likely because I’m not using my smoke aggressively enough but still getting some 100k+ games.

Lightning is an absolute beast even in Tier 10 games and I have never felt outclassed in her even when contesting a mid cap against a gearing and a kagero with a red saint louis sitting about 10km away (most recent example).

My only worry is this just might be the one case where, when I get the T10, i pick the T8 over it due to the way T10s have to occasionally have weird balancing acts.

Anyone who is hating the T5-6 and thinks the tree is a nonstarter for them, I HIGHLY recommend toughing out when the tree goes live and getting the Lightning.

[PhosphorusForFun]

1 hour ago, BlailBlerg said:

Oh man. 8km torps?? What do vs t10 radar? 

The biggest danger is the first cap contest and radar hit.  I’ve had good luck with skimming the cap circle waiting for first radar ping and then just giving it up and hovering right outside until the duration has passed.  This is not a DD that enjoys prolonged contact.

Russian cruisers are probably more dangerous than US, despite the radar duration loss, since their shell velocities are faster making it less likely for you to dodge.

[dad003]

Most fun I had was to division with another lighting and work as DD hunter , they don't stand a chance!

[UltimateNewbie]

4 hours ago, The_Painted_Target said:

After the Acasta and Icarus (admittedly not bad, like the Gallant), and the mixed bag I find the Jervis to be. Needed to share this.

The lightning is finally an RN DD that I could consider OK. How is everyone else's experience with the ship going?
 

Wow, huge battle man! Over 3k base XP - well done!

[Mister_Rawr]

2 hours ago, SmokeHenge said:

The biggest danger is the first cap contest and radar hit.  I’ve had good luck with skimming the cap circle waiting for first radar ping and then just giving it up and hovering right outside until the duration has passed.  This is not a DD that enjoys prolonged contact.

Russian cruisers are probably more dangerous than US, despite the radar duration loss, since their shell velocities are faster making it less likely for you to dodge.

All of this is correct.  

Her gun range ring on the minimap makes a very effective radar-avoidance tool.  Just be ready to bob and weave away at a moment's notice.  Her speed isn't anything to write home about, but Lightning's quick rudder and great speed retention in a turn make for a very slippery target when at range, especially to lower-velocity guns.  

When on the offensive, her 180º turrets and LONG duration sonar make for a very tenacious destroyer hunter/killer.  Even though her torpedoes do not outrange radar they're quite effective.  I've still not mastered the single-launch system, but its versatility is unmatched and I've caught several unsuspecting DDs with them already.  The very short detection range makes them quite potent, even if they're not quite the fastest out there and there's nothing quite as satisfying as watching the torpedo conga line find the side of an unsuspecting battleship one after the other after the other after the other.

I was never really a fan of Tier VIII destroyers, but with the addition of Kazookie and Lightning they're in a very good place these days. 

Now if only Asashio would go away and never come back... 

-R

[AVR_Project]

Couple days ago, I was shocked to see TWO missions come out on my alt account. One for the Lightning, then one for the Icarus a couple games later. Actually bought a Sims and worked it off in Dunkirk ops when I took a break drywalling. I derped a couple co-ops in it and it really works well.. Love those fast guns with the 360 degree rear turret. I'll have more time to play later.

[Estimated_Prophet]

6 hours ago, The_Painted_Target said:

After the Acasta and Icarus (admittedly not bad, like the Gallant),

The lightning is finally an RN DD that I could consider OK. How is everyone else's experience with the ship going?

Gallant? That is the destroyer I do well in; Acasta and Icarus are the garbage compared to it.

Lightning? (see below.)

5 hours ago, The_Painted_Target said:

Now, it's not FAST at all. Positioning is important. If you can nail those down I'd argue this is the best T8 DD, hands down. I really can't make an argument for ranked, but for randoms, this thing is great.

...and if I had any positioning sense worth a damn maybe I’d feel differently; not caring for it much at the moment.

[Khafni]

Nice game Op. Looking forward to Lightning.

[Kraayt]

I got the Acasta drop, had a Gallant.   The Acasta has nothing going for it beyond the spam smoke and torp launch feature.  You must adapt or will not have any success playing it like the other nationalities.   As little as I regard it, I prefer it over Gallant and the German DD's.   At least I can maneuver the damn thing.

[WanderingGhost]

Don't have lightning yet, and not going to till either the next set of crates or sometime after the tech tree gets added, but I have Acasta and Gallant. And I will take Gallant every time. I'm not sure if there's something in Dispersion or Sigma but at similar ranges I'm hitting more with Gallant, while I can still stealth torp in Acasta (hit a BB and a cruiser that never say me cause angles and all), Gallant has slightly faster torps, with 2 km more range, even if it has the same stealth. Higher top speed with same turning circle and .1 second slower rudder shift, both have pathetic AA but more importantly - Gallant has speed boost and normal smoke, meaning you actually have time to use those guns and extra speed to get away. 

 

Gallant with it's torps has just enough "comfort" as Wargaming would put it that I'm fine with it, even though a 14 point captain would be better, I don't feel like I need it. With the guns just not being that great and torp range matching stealth, but only if you have CE, Acasta feels like it needs a 14 point captain to really perform. 

[SirMuttonChops]

I have the Acasta from a loot crate and it took a bit to learn it's tricks, but it seems like a decent ship so far.

The torps are nice, having gotten used to single fire on Haida, and having more of them makes picking multiple targets easier. The guns are decent, but I only have a 3 point captain on Acasta, so it's pretty painful trying to hurt even same tier cruisers with HE, though the AP is still capable of getting citadels on them. Just from what I saw on Acasta, it seems like WG wants the RN DDs and Commonwealth DDs to be more comfortable going after other DDs than trying to attack larger ships with anything less than torpedoes.

 

[Erebthoron]

Good alround DD.

Shell arcs are ok, torpedos are ok, speed up fast and turns well, hydro for self defense, the 2nd and 3rd turret can turn 360°, 5.5km stealth with camo, module and CE.

Downside: extrem low hitpoint pool, bit of slow, no speedboost, smoke is made to cover your retreat and not for sitting inside and pewpew

[mofton]

7 hours ago, Exciton8964 said:

Lightening seems to be on the strong side. She has 5.5km concealment + higher HE dpm than Benson. Torpedoes also seem to be decent. 

Significantly lower DPM - 13.3 x 6 x 1,700 = 135,660 for Lightning, 18 x 5 x 1,800 = 162,000 for Benson.

The better stealth should give you the jump, but if you can't exploit it you're in trouble.

8 hours ago, The_Painted_Target said:

Now, it's not FAST at all. Positioning is important.

Ironically at 36kts she's faster than Akizuki, Harugumo, Shiratsuyu, Kitakaze, T-22 and a number of other ships. She's even as fast as the Aigle.

Unfortunately this means she's a 'slow defensive' destroyer so no engine boost... because logic.

[StoptheViolins]

I like her better than the Cossack... 

[Airacobra]

8 hours ago, Taichunger said:

Why is Lightning so good?

It knows how to conduct itself.

Haha,  I see what you did there!  One gold star to you!

[Theokolese]

10 hours ago, The_Painted_Target said:

After the Acasta and Icarus (admittedly not bad, like the Gallant), and the mixed bag I find the Jervis to be. Needed to share this.

The lightning is finally an RN DD that I could consider OK. How is everyone else's experience with the ship going?

Lets be real, you had an absolute monster game and just wanted to share the screenshots. Granted you are a unicum player but if you are putting up this kind of numbers in this specific DD consistently than a nerfing is certainly in order.

[JohnPaul_Jones]

I enjoyed the Tier 7 more. I just cant seem to get it to work. Have had a terrible time landing torps. It feels like they are getting spotted far away. Like other features, the guns feel good, and even though one on one battles with other DD feel like I'm landing every shot, I seem to get out dps'd by everyone I come up against. It's not bad, I just am not doing well with it. That being said, I figured I would just use it for missions and have the xp ready to go to the 9 when it releases so it's not loaded out with modules. I'm sure that makes a difference. 

[Cobraclutch]

10 hours ago, UltimateNewbie said:

Wow, huge battle man! Over 3k base XP - well done!

This right here. 3k+ base xp games have gotten incredibly rare since the capping XP rewards were nerfed.. Which makes this result that much more impressive!