Random Thoughts from Deep R'lyeh: Seal-Potato Goes to London (British Heavy Cruisers Part 2 Directives approach).

[Ensign_Cthulhu]

Thanks to @Kizarvexis, I have the list of directives for British Heavy Cruisers part 2, the prize for which is the premium Tier 6 heavy cruiser London. 

First, the bad news: in order to complete these directives with a minimum of fuss and effort, it is necessary to have at least one battleship, cruiser and destroyer at or above Tier 5, and at least one aircraft carrier at or above Tier 6 (because carriers are even tier only these days). Or as WG themselves put it:

Now the good news: if you have those, this event is a walkover. Four directives each requiring four of the nine missions to finish, and you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be advocating concentration on those tasks that can be done in co-op. 

If you don't, then I will be trying to tailor my advice to help you out... while at the same time suggesting that now is the time to diversify as much as you can and have at least one of each type (yes, even CV) in port at all times for events such as this. I screwed up and fell short because of this before, but if you take my advice and work on your fleet now, you won't have to miss out in future.

, that's Pacific Time (Vancouver, San Francisco, etc.) In reality, for most of us on the NA server, it means when we go to bed on Sunday night, March 8.

So without further ado, here they are. I will be addressing Directive 1 immediately and the others in the fullness of time, so this is a WORK IN PROGRESS.

While I will be sharing my experiences, it's worth bearing in mind that I've been in the game since 2017 and have had time to accumulate a lot of the cool ships that I used to envy others having when I first began. I've put in the time and the hard yards, and that puts me at risk of drifting out of touch with the beginners I'm trying to help. I THINK I remember what it was like for me back then, but I hope you will forgive me if I describe achieving some of these missions with ships that may seem almost out of reach to you now. Some of them I paid for, true, but others were won in-game, and you might be in a position to win some of those too - or others in future that do the same job. 

The key to success is identifying what you have that can do the same job well; and what you need to work towards, if you don't, so that you are ready next time.

Directive I
Complete 4 of the 9 Missions for 100 Royal Tokens

Aircraft Carriers: Fire in the Sky
Get 25 "Set on fire" ribbons
T6+ carriers in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
150,000 credits

Battleships: Built to Last
Earn 3 "Devastating Strike" and/or "Dreadnought" achievements
T5+ battleships in Random and/or Ranked battles
150,000 credits

Cruisers: Critical Damage
Get 15 "Hits to citadel" ribbons
T5+ cruisers in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
150,000 credits

Destroyers: Base Invader
Get 7 "Captured" and/or "Assisted in capture" ribbons
T5+ destroyers in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
150,000 credits

Destroy The Enemy
Destroy 17 ships
T5+ ships in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
3 Juliet Charlie signals

Royal Experience
Earn 65,000 XP
T5+ ships in Random, Co-op, Scenario, Clan, and/or Ranked battles
2,500 Free XP

A King's Ransom
In ONE battle, earn 800,000 credits
T5+ ships in Random and/or Ranked battles
Wyvern signal

The Wager: Fires and Citadels
In ONE battle, get 20 "Set on fire" and/or "Hits to citadel" ribbons
T5+ ships in Random battles
Dragon signal

The Wager: Damage
In ONE battle, cause 150,000 HP of damage to enemy ships
T5+ ships in Random battles
Leviathian signal

STRATEGY: If you do not have at least two out of carriers, cruisers and destroyers, you are going to have a hard time of this. Battleship players will have to take their chances in Randoms, looking for unaware broadside-showing cruisers to destroy, or hoping to survive heavy damage to the end of the battle by judicious use of their repairs/heal. 65,000 XP seems like a lot, but it's actually just 13,000 a night between now and Sunday, over any number of winning or losing battles, and the 17 ship kills can be accomplished in any ship type. Citadel hits in cruisers and base captures in DD's are definitely co-op tasks. Drivers of Japanese tech-tree carriers (and the US premium carrier Enterprise) will need to resort to rocket fighters an awful lot because these ships have armour-piercing bombs that cannot set fires; IJN CV mains who are owners of the Kaga are in a better place as her bombs are HE. 

Remember that you can be accumulating kills and XP while you work on the base capture, citadel hit and firestarting missions. Clear the easiest tasks in co-op first, to get "runs on the board", then settle down to the XP task in Randoms if required. 

REMEMBER ALSO:

1) You only have to finish four of the nine for the next directive to be available as soon as it unlocks. Pick the easiest ones - particularly the ones that can be done over any number of battles, regardless of how well each battle goes - and pace yourself. Take heart with every bit of progress you make. "In one battle" tasks can be brutal for newcomers, and are not recommended. However, because you don't have to select them, it's possible that a very good or lucky game might pick one or more of these up for you. If so, be glad - but don't count on it, and don't drive yourself crazy trying.  

2) For the King's Ransom task (and all other credit earning missions in other directives), credits tasks are calculated BEFORE service costs are deducted. That being said, 800,000 in one battle is a big ask and usually only reliably occurs with a lot of bonus flags in higher-tier ships. On some days (those whose dates end in 8), the Daily Chains give out money prizes and this counts as part of the ship's winnings. Depending on the timing of your effort, you can pick up anything up to an extra 75,000 credits in a single battle.

Directive II
Complete 4 of the 9 Missions for 150 Royal Tokens

Aircraft Carriers: Critical Damage
Get 24 "Hits to citadel" and/or "Caused flooding" ribbons.
T6+ carriers in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
2 Victor Lima signals

Battleships: Potential Damage
Receive 11,500,000 HP of potential damage
T5+ battleships in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
2 India Yankee signals

Cruisers: Death From the Depths
Hit enemy ships 15 times with ship torpedoes
T5+ cruisers in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
2 Sierra Mike signals

Destroyers: Devastating Fire
Get 24 "Set on fire" ribbons
T5+ destroyers in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
2 Juliet Charlie signals

Officer Courses
Earn 130,000 Commander XP
T5+ ships in Random, Co-op, Scenario, Clan, and/or Ranked battles
Union Jack one-use camo

Lord of the Fleet
In 15 battles, join the top 5 in your team by base experience received
T5+ ships in Random and/or Ranked battles
Type 59 one-use camo

Devastating Strike
In ONE battle, earn 3 "Devastating Strike" achievements
T6+ ships in Random battles
Wyvern signal

The Wager: Base Experience
In ONE battle, earn 2,000 base XP
T6+ ships in Random, Scenario, and/or Ranked battles
Red Dragon signal

Lethal Fire
In ONE battle, cause 55,000 HP of damage to ships by setting fires
T6+ ships in Random battles
Scylla signal

STRATEGY: Go to co-op. For the carrier mission, IJN tech-tree carriers and USS Enterprise have AP bombs and can get citadel hits, while all carriers except British Indomitable have torpedoes and, with persistence, can get flooding ribbons (as opposed to just torpedo hits). All destroyers have HE shells, and getting the fires is simply a matter of persistence. All nations with cruisers in their tech tree have at least one tech-tree cruiser at Tier 5 or better with torpedoes (for the Americans this is only the Omaha, but you do have that option - get her back in your port if necessary). The battleship mission is accomplished by getting stuck in and taking damage, in battle after battle.  If you do not have all four ship types (e.g. no carrier), you will have to attempt the 130,000 commander XP task. This involves playing to a total of 18572 earned commander XP per night for a week, and if you aim for at least that much ship XP, the captain XP (which is at least equal and never less) will follow. If you alternate your ship types. If you do not have at least three ship types, you will have to attempt one of the more difficult tasks or admit that this is the point at which you have to stop and work on diversifying your fleet.

Directive III
Complete 4 of the 9 Missions for 150 Royal Tokens

Aircraft Carriers: Death From the Depths
Get 60 "Torpedo hits" ribbons
T6+ carriers in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
2,500 Free XP

Battleships: Dangerous Enemy
Hit enemy ships 1,200 times with the secondary battery
T5+ battleships in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
2,500 Free XP

Cruisers: Destroying Modules
Get 20 "Incapacitations" ribbons (AA mounts do not count)
T5+ cruisers in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
2,500 Free XP

Destroyers: High Caliber
Hit enemy ships 850 times with the main battery
T5+ destroyers in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
2,500 Free XP

Destroy The Enemy
Destroy 24 enemy ships
T5+ ships in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
500 Coal

Refilling the Royal Treasury
Earn 5,000,000 credits
T5+ ships in Random, Co-op, Scenario, Clan, and/or Ranked battles
150,000 credits

A Treasured Goal
In ONE battle, receive 2,500,000 HP of potential damage
T7+ ships in Random battles
Wyvern signal

The Wager: XP
In ONE battle, earn 6,500 XP
T7+ ships in Random, T7 Scenario, and/or Ranked battles
Basilisk signal

For Outstanding Heroism
In ONE battle, earn 2 heroic achievements
T7+ ships in Random and/or Ranked battles
Hydra signal

 STRATEGY: Let's look at the two we can have in the bag guaranteed, as a paced grind. 5 million credits over 7 nights is actually not a big ask, given that it counts them before your costs are deducted. It's 715K credits a night and you are done, and dates ending in 8 offer credits as the prize for the daily chains (which are counted in ship winnings). Likewise, 24 kills over 7 nights is a matter of 4 kills a night for automatic completion (with interest), and that's easy in co-op. On that basis, I would then advocate going for the cruiser and destroyer missions as being the easiest to complete. Go into co-op and shoot at things until they break. If you finish those two, switch to the battleships and then the carriers as and if you have them. IF YOU HAVE AT LEAST ONE TIER SEVEN SHIP OR BETTER, you should stack the best flags and camos you have and try for the 6500 ship XP. (It looks so easy, it might be a typo; you might want to confirm that one in game.)

In my opinion, this is the easiest directive of the four; it offers the most options for beginner to middling players. Bear in mind also that the first day of this directive offers bonus XP at the completion of the first and fourth dailies, AND THIS COUNTS AS PART OF THE SHIP'S WINNINGS. So you get a leg up on that 6500 XP.

Directive IV
Complete 4 of the 9 Missions for 150 Royal Tokens, the T6 London, a Victorian White perma-camo, a port slot, and a 3 pt Cmdr

Aircraft Carriers: Destroying Modules
Get 45 "Incapacitations" ribboms (AA mounts do not count)
T6+ carriers in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
Equal Speed Charlie London signal

Battleships: Rampant Salvo
Get 60 "Set on fire" and/or "Hits to citadel" ribbons
T5+ battleships in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
Zulu Hotel signal

Cruisers: Conflagration
Get 60 "Set on fire" ribbons
T5+ cruisers in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
Zulu signal

Destroyers: Stealthy Menace
Hit enemy ships 50 times with ship torpedoes
T5+ destroyers in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
Papa Papa signal

Royal Blessing
Receive 30,000,000 HP of potential damage
T5+ ships in Random, Co-op, and/or Ranked battles
Union Jack one-use camo

The Underlying Principle
Earn 30,000 base XP
T5+ ships in Random, Co-op, Scenario, Clan, and/or Ranked battles
1 port slot

A King's Ransom
In ONE battle, earn 1,100,000 credits
T8+ ships in Random and/or Ranked battles
Wyvern signal

March of the Triumphant
Win a battle AND earn 1 "Confederate" achievement
T8+ ships in Random and/or Ranked battles
Ouroboros signal

The Wager: Damage
In ONE battle, cause 180,000 HP of damage to enemy ships
T8+ ships in Random battles
Leviathan signal.

STRATEGY: If you have carriers, you can do the whole thing with the four combat-related tasks in co-op... but incapacitation ribbons are a fickle thing to earn with CVs and you may choose to set that aside and recognise that 30,000 base XP spread over seven days is actually not that much of an ask on a per-day basis (you will get it if you finish both daily chains every day, for example). For the destroyers, the best thing to do is go into co-op, charge the enemy over and over again, and try for the most hits possible. Try to go for battleships, as they can absorb the most hits before dying (at which point the hits stop counting). If you can get two close together, put one rack into each. You get the idea. Ships like the Nicholas, with two racks of three on both sides, might be most useful for this. Cruisers here means anything except the Italians and the British light cruisers. You can technically start fires with your secondaries, but getting sixty fire ribbons that way is going to be a very laborious "ask". A light cruiser with the longest range and the most barrels is what's needed here; something like the Konigsberg or Nurnberg is ideal, but by no means the only choice. For the battleships, remember that secondary armament can also start fires. Go into co-op, load HE ammunition for the main guns at a distance and switch to AP when you get closer. If you do go for carriers, try to attack light cruisers and destroyers; your armament, particularly rockets, stands a better chance of breaking a main gun or rudder, or something like that.

Thirty million potential damage seems quite a bit, but it's only about 4.3 million a day (rounding up) over the week, and a hard-fought game in a battleship can easily net you a million, even in co-op. Given that the rest of my strategy involves getting in close, taking chances and fighting hard, you might be surprised at the rate with which you get this done each night. Just don't expect to do the whole lot in a couple of days, unless you have a LOT of playing time up your sleeve.

This is the home stretch. It's grindy-looking, but not impossible. It breaks down to a nightly haul of seven CV incapacitation ribbons, seven DD torpedo hits, nine fires started in cruisers, and nine fires started or citadel hits in battleships. Co-op is the ideal place for it. Space it out, work on it diligently, and that shiny new premium cruiser will be yours.

[Kizarvexis]

NOTE:

IJN tech tree CVs are AP bombs, so you will have to use the rockets for the fire chance mission in Dir I.

US and UK tech tree CVs are HE bombs, so you will need to use torps for that mission in Dir II as getting citadels with HE will not be easy.

The incapacitations CV mission sound difficult either way.

 

The Wager: XP Mission in Dir III is T7+, but all the current Scenarios are T6. So unless WG adds a T7 Scenario back before the end of the patch (Dir III starts Mon, Feb 24th), you won't be able to use Scenarios for that mission.

 

[Ace_04]

@Ensign_Cthulhu I'm honestly surprised none of those directives are London-ship exclusive.

[Kizarvexis]

1 minute ago, Ace_04 said:

@Ensign_Cthulhu I'm honestly surprised none of those directives are London-ship exclusive.

WG went with battle mode restrictions and ship type restrictions instead.

[warheart1992]

What I really appreciate are the somewhat more difficult tasks like getting 2k base XP and the sort. Opens up a faster route that rewards skilled play instead of more grinding.

[Ensign_Cthulhu]

3 minutes ago, Kizarvexis said:

The Wager: XP Mission in Dir III is T7+, but all the current Scenarios are T6. So unless WG adds a T7 Scenario back before the end of the patch (Dir III starts Mon, Feb 24th), you won't be able to use Scenarios for that mission.

In fairness, it tells me they wrote the restrictions before they decided to pull Narai and they weren't able to change them in time. It may not be as simple as it seems. I have no problems with PvP, but even I will be staying well clear of the "In One Battle" missions. If I get them, I get them. If not, I have better things to do with my time.

The other thing is that I'm writing for people who might not even have a Tier 6 ship, let alone a T7.  This is why I'm not recommending scenarios at any tier.

Now that we mention it, I'm also recommending that newer players not try to get Andrew Cunningham. He's a valuable prize, but you need an Albemarle or London to significantly improve your chances and part of my intended audience is people who aren't allowed/can't afford to spend IRL money on gaming. I'm trying to help them get the ship for free; telling them to spend money on it would be counterproductive to what I'm setting out to achieve.

9 minutes ago, Ace_04 said:

@Ensign_Cthulhu I'm honestly surprised none of those directives are London-ship exclusive.

It helps WG avoid accusations of pay-to-complete. Whether or not that's the reason, I approve.

2 minutes ago, warheart1992 said:

What I really appreciate are the somewhat more difficult tasks like getting 2k base XP and the sort. Opens up a faster route that rewards skilled play instead of more grinding.

If you're good enough to get them, yes. But co-op combat grinds are not that difficult; I find that the faster pace and the astronomical win rate keep me in the game longer and make it not such a chore. And XP and cash grinds can be parcelled out to be not so imposing, plus they do advance while you are doing other things.

[Kizarvexis]

6 minutes ago, Ensign_Cthulhu said:

In fairness, it tells me they wrote the restrictions before they decided to pull Narai and they weren't able to change them in time. It may not be as simple as it seems. I have no problems with PvP, but even I will be staying well clear of the "In One Battle" missions. If I get them, I get them. If not, I have better things to do with my time.

The other thing is that I'm writing for people who might not even have a Tier 6 ship, let alone a T7.  This is why I'm not recommending scenarios at any tier.

Now that we mention it, I'm also recommending that newer players not try to get Andrew Cunningham. He's a valuable prize, but you need an Albemarle or London to significantly improve your chances and part of my intended audience is people who aren't allowed/can't afford to spend IRL money on gaming. I'm trying to help them get the ship for free; telling them to spend money on it would be counterproductive to what I'm setting out to achieve.

 

From my 9.1 PSA thread.

8 minutes ago, Femennenly said:

1 hour ago, Kizarvexis said:

@Femennenly and @Hapa_Fodder will we be getting a T7 Scenario by Mon, Feb 24th? As of right now, the only active scenarios are all T6 and the Mission in Dir III requires T7.

The Wager: XP
In ONE battle, earn 6,500 XP
T7+ ships in Random, T7 Scenario, and/or Ranked battles
Basilisk signal

I believe the scenario inclusion in this is was pre-decision to pull Narai for fixes. Given that you can complete this in randoms, I doubt we will make any changes to this at this time.

Fem,

 

Quote

It helps WG avoid accusations of pay-to-complete. Whether or not that's the reason, I approve.

If you're good enough to get them, yes. But co-op combat grinds are not that difficult; I find that the faster pace and the astronomical win rate keep me in the game longer and make it not such a chore. And XP and cash grinds can be parcelled out to be not so imposing, plus they do advance while you are doing other things.

Some of the co-op missions will be long. Like the 130k Cmdr XP or the 11.5M potential damage.

 

 

 

[Ace_04]

33 minutes ago, Kizarvexis said:

WG went with battle mode restrictions and ship type restrictions instead.

I'm fully supportive of this.

27 minutes ago, warheart1992 said:

What I really appreciate are the somewhat more difficult tasks like getting 2k base XP and the sort. Opens up a faster route that rewards skilled play instead of more grinding.

Absolutely.  There's not enough rewards for good play these days (here's looking at you, save a star ranked mechanics).

24 minutes ago, Ensign_Cthulhu said:

It helps WG avoid accusations of pay-to-complete. Whether or not that's the reason, I approve.

It's a surprising change, but I'm not against it.

[Khafni]

@Ensign_Cthulhu I believe you can effectively remove "Scenario" from any battle mode list now. They will be back when fixed...

[Kizarvexis]

3 minutes ago, Khafni said:

@Ensign_Cthulhu I believe you can effectively remove "Scenario" from any battle mode list now. They will be back when fixed...

Raptor was there this morning and then it was removed. Don't know if the other T6 scenarios will come back or not or if we will get a T7 one before Feb 24th.

[BrushWolf]

Battleships: Built to Last should be easy enough to do in middle tiers where randoms are their best.

[Ensign_Cthulhu]

58 minutes ago, Khafni said:

@Ensign_Cthulhu I believe you can effectively remove "Scenario" from any battle mode list now. They will be back when fixed...

The announcement in that regard is such a general thing that there seems little point in making an edit. They could have it back tomorrow, next week or whenever.

I have to admit, useless teams of hopeless strangers have poisoned me against operations so badly that I personally don't care if they never return. I stopped taking heaps of flags and good camos into ops because I was just as likely to end up with a zero star loss as a five star win. The last time I tried Aegis was the most sickening and disheartening experience I've had in any mode for quite some time.

[Estimated_Prophet]

1 hour ago, Khafni said:

@Ensign_Cthulhu I believe you can effectively remove "Scenario" from any battle mode list now. They will be back when fixed...

Probably never; too many peeps staying out of Randoms for WG’s liking; PvE ‘bug’ next?

[_RC1138]

For Stage 1:

Aircraft Carriers: Fire in the Sky Piss easy in CoOp; load out one of the RN CV's, Ark Royal if possible, and spam 'Dive' Bombers.

Cruisers: Critical Damage Minotaur in CoOp can do this in a single match, easily in a single match, especially if you are against your mirror

A King's Ransom Piss easy with Missouri + a few flags; even a loss can meet this requirement

The Wager: Damage Likewise simple; Minotaur in PvP or Conq or Thunderer will net this easily on a win or loss.

Stage 2:

Cruisers: Death From the Depths: CoOp at T5, super easy: charge enemy BB and unload, turn sideways for second rack if needed.

Lethal Fire This is like a joke at T10; Conq or Zao can net this with ease.

Destroyers: Devastating Fire Break out that Hag

Aircraft Carriers: Critical Damage  Ark Royal, Piss easy

Stage 3:

Battleships: Dangerous Enemy  GK and/or Jean Bart

Destroyers: High Caliber  Hag or Daring in CoOp, easy.

The Wager: XP  *SUPER* easy with flags+Camo

Refilling the Royal Treasury Likely acquired while getting the others and the spare picked up (if needed) by 1 or 2 Missouri matches

Stage 4:

Cruisers: Conflagration Zao or HIV or even Hinde in CoOp as a joke

A King's Ransom Missouri makes this a joke again

The Wager: Damage Conq or Thunderer with ease

Battleships: Rampant Salvo Shamefully with Conq, but easy over a few matches

That's my strategy. Without much concern.

 

 

[Ensign_Cthulhu]

1 hour ago, Estimated_Prophet said:

Probably never; too many peeps staying out of Randoms for WG’s liking; PvE ‘bug’ next?

You want to talk about that, make your own post. This one is about how-to suggestions and tracking one's progress for this particular event.

1 hour ago, _RC1138 said:

That's my strategy. Without much concern.

Workable, and more than appropriate for the veterans, but not for the poor bastards who've just plopped themselves into their first handful of T5 ships. Anyone who has the range of ships you have doesn't need MY advice; they're almost all doing it in their sleep! 

[KilljoyCutter]

I hate these missions.

Jerks who hold their fire to grab kills on ships that others have worked down.

Jerks who can't wait literally 3 extra seconds to let two or three other players get an assisted cap ribbon.

Etc.

 

[Kizarvexis]

1 minute ago, KilljoyCutter said:

I hate these missions.

Jerks who hold their fire to grab kills on ships that others have worked down.

Jerks who can't wait literally 3 extra seconds to let two or three other players get an assisted cap ribbon.

Etc.

 

How do you know they are holding their fire? Especially if they have a long reload?

 

As for the capping, once you start it, there is no way to slow down the count. And with as fast a co-op games usually run, I'm not leaving the cap, once I started the process.

[tfcas119]

8 hours ago, Kizarvexis said:

The Wager: XP Mission in Dir III is T7+, but all the current Scenarios are T6. So unless WG adds a T7 Scenario back before the end of the patch (Dir III starts Mon, Feb 24th), you won't be able to use Scenarios for that mission

wouldn't of mattered because Narai wouldn't of been in rotation this patch anyway.

[Kizarvexis]

4 minutes ago, tfcas119 said:

wouldn't of mattered because Narai wouldn't of been in rotation this patch anyway.

There were other T7 Scenarios. But with the Scenario problem removing all of them while they put in a fix, we probably won't be able to use the Scenarios anyway.

[Ensign_Cthulhu]

Citadels done (Fiji is a God, but Salem helped. I confirmed that a Salem will citadel a Monarch flat-broadside in a close-range YOLO drive-by attack, and that broadside bot Moskvas are citadel farms for Salem).

Kills done (mostly while trying to secure cap ribbons, of which I managed two).

Nearly 18K out of 65K done (all in co-op).

Tomorrow I do my nightly quota of Russian cruiser XP, then I go all-out with carriers.

[Shoggoth_pinup]

6 hours ago, Kizarvexis said:

There were other T7 Scenarios. But with the Scenario problem removing all of them while they put in a fix, we probably won't be able to use the Scenarios anyway.

One thing worth noting, the directives don't mention Scenarios. But mention ranked, which is coming like half way into the patch.

I have a feeling this will not be the patch they return in based on this.

[kgh52]

12 hours ago, Ensign_Cthulhu said:

The announcement in that regard is such a general thing that there seems little point in making an edit. They could have it back tomorrow, next week or whenever.

I have to admit, useless teams of hopeless strangers have poisoned me against operations so badly that I personally don't care if they never return. I stopped taking heaps of flags and good camos into ops because I was just as likely to end up with a zero star loss as a five star win. The last time I tried Aegis was the most sickening and disheartening experience I've had in any mode for quite some time.

If you read the forums many are saying " useless teams of hopeless strangers have poisoned me against randoms".

They may not use those exact words but the meaning is the same.  This is by far the most common type of thread in the forum. Yes, calls for skill based MM is a cry to reduce the poisoning.

Players have announced they are quitting because of how poor play is in randoms. 

I run operation with a group on Discord from time to time. This is operations at its best. Pick up groups created by MM, regardless the mode of battle, leave a whole lot to be desired when it comes to team work almost all of the time.

I like running operation. I don't flag up when I run with pugs but I do when I run with a discord group.

[Kizarvexis]

4 hours ago, Shoggoth_pinup said:

One thing worth noting, the directives don't mention Scenarios. But mention ranked, which is coming like half way into the patch.

I have a feeling this will not be the patch they return in based on this.

There is at least one mission each Directive that has Scenario as an option.

[StoptheViolins]

One way to help speed along the fire chance is to simply sail the GZ up the pipe in COOP and let the secondaries contribute.

[RainbowFartingUnicorn]

15 hours ago, tfcas119 said:

wouldn't of mattered because Narai wouldn't of been in rotation this patch anyway.

A lot of us would have divisioned to do it in Narai anyway. 65,000 Commander XP would have been two Narai matches with flags.

14 hours ago, Ensign_Cthulhu said:

Citadels done (Fiji is a God, but Salem helped. I confirmed that a Salem will citadel a Monarch flat-broadside in a close-range YOLO drive-by attack, and that broadside bot Moskvas are citadel farms for Salem).

Kills done (mostly while trying to secure cap ribbons, of which I managed two).

Nearly 18K out of 65K done (all in co-op).

Tomorrow I do my nightly quota of Russian cruiser XP, then I go all-out with carriers.

I had a highly satisfying co-op the other day in Puerto Rico where I blapped a broadside Moskva for six citadels, then swung around to the other side, blapped a broadside Zao for three citadels, then a couple minutes later did the same to a Des Moines, and was finally sunk after putting a full broadside and two citadels into a Montana at point blank range.