Omaha- is it actually that bad or just hard to use?

[CankedTank]

Hello everybody, in my current clan we are debating the merits of different US CLs.  I am an old player and originally played through the omaha back in like 2017.  I am regrinding it now in order to get the Dallas and Helena (I have the Cleveland since I had it before cruiser split.)  I am finding now that I have more experience I play it much better.  Furthermore, I am discovering that even though it's a squishy as heck ship (like all the other tier 5 cruisers) it doesn't feel nearly as bad as people say it is.  I'm not sure it's as good as the Koenigsburg, but it's not a complete slouch.  If you go B-hull you get plenty of torpedoes, a catapult fighter, and hydro for hunting down lolibotes, and you have decent agility and enough guns that you can always have at least 3-4 guns on target no matter what angle you're shooting at.  I'm not using statistics here, (but anybody who wants to should) I'm just sharing my impressions and hoping to have a friendly conversation with fellow players.

I hope whoever reads this has a good day and success in battle. 

[theLaalaa]

Love all of my Omahas (Omaha, Marblehead, and Murmansk)!!! From yesterday:

[DrHolmes52]

It's great.

As long as you don't get shot.

[HamptonRoads]

I agree with the OP.  I think that a lot of the complaints about Omaha are from new players not knowing how to play her.  One of the biggest problems she faces is poor MM.  She faces tier 7 ships twice as often as she sees tier 4 ships.

[dashtardly]

Yes, use of WASD keys is your best advantage. I've seen people play with throttle too to throw off aiming. Try to stay at range, ignore your torps as a weapon (unless it's at last resort) - resist the temptation to charge in and torp someone. Avoid showing broadside to most ships (as you will eat citadels in a hurry).  If you haven't got the ship fully upgraded, then get there as stock ships can be bad and at tier V every advantage helps (so put on a good camouflage and use flags).   Watch the mini-map (expand it if you haven't already) and avoid tunnel vision (from being zoomed in to shoot too long and miss that you have strayed too close to a location which is "bad" for your ship - i.e., close to one or more RED ships).

[Boomer625]

It relies on its speed and maneuverability to not get hit, as it has a very weak citadel, bow can be overmatched by BB guns.

so you have to be very careful when turning around

[Capt_Ahab1776]

Omaha is fun, but can be unforgiving. There are a lot of videos on YouTube on how to play it.  One of the people you can research is Dolphin_Princess of the 07 clan. He’s one of the best players of the USN cruiser line. I think he may have some posted articles on Reddit. Or he did. 
 

I’m a horrible cruiser captain. Never learned the art of positioning good enough to contribute without getting dev struck. I did pick up the Murmansk later and it is the Omaha C hull with MUCH better handling, spotter plane, and 8km torpedos. If you don’t have it, and it ever becomes available again. I’d recommend getting it if you like the Omaha.

[AJTP89]

48 minutes ago, DrHolmes52 said:

It's great.

As long as you don't get shot.

As long as you don't get hit...it's quite nimble.

I haven't played Omaha since the line split, but I remember quite liking her the first time I played her (I probably had not even 100 games at that point). Top tier you're a real pain. You outrange most BBs at that tier (though to be fair my memory of that is 2016 when there were only two BB lines), so you could just sit at range and burn them down and they couldn't do much about it. I still don't understand why Omaha has more range than several higher tier USN cruisers. You're nimble and fast with quick firing guns. You zoom around the map burning things and dodging incoming fire.

Seeing T7 is a bit less fun. The ships are more capable, and more easily able to hit you. And as been previously mentioned, the ship is quite literally made of citadels. The citadel is huge, and the armor gets overmatched by 8" AP and all kinds of HE. You either get really good at dodging or you die, fast. So yeah, it has potential but all it takes is someone getting lucky and your game is over. My experience was that it was a fun but fragile boat. Though again, this was 2016 when the German BBs were just getting introduced, stealth fire was a thing, IJN DDs were good, BBs actually used AP, and AA did something.

Omaha actually taught me to respect Colorado. I had heard the CO was terrible, so wasn't that concerned about it. Was dancing around burning one down, kiting away. Unfortunately he could aim, and I took a few 16" inchers up the stern for most of my health. That was first encounter with an accurate BB, and I respected CO a lot more after that.

[warheart1992]

Look, old Omaha was a free Devstrike for someone. Being overmatched frontally by any 150mm+ caliber really made that ship a pain. 

Now she's more workable but still indifferent compared to ships like Furutaka, Emile Bertin, Konigsberg.

[Darmokattenagra]

2 hours ago, CankedTank said:

Hello everybody, in my current clan we are debating the merits of different US CLs.  I am an old player and originally played through the omaha back in like 2017.  I am regrinding it now in order to get the Dallas and Helena (I have the Cleveland since I had it before cruiser split.)  I am finding now that I have more experience I play it much better.  Furthermore, I am discovering that even though it's a squishy as heck ship (like all the other tier 5 cruisers) it doesn't feel nearly as bad as people say it is.  I'm not sure it's as good as the Koenigsburg, but it's not a complete slouch.  If you go B-hull you get plenty of torpedoes, a catapult fighter, and hydro for hunting down lolibotes, and you have decent agility and enough guns that you can always have at least 3-4 guns on target no matter what angle you're shooting at.  I'm not using statistics here, (but anybody who wants to should) I'm just sharing my impressions and hoping to have a friendly conversation with fellow players.

I hope whoever reads this has a good day and success in battle. 

I hated it the first time around when I was new. Seemed too fragile. When I reset the line and replayed her I loved her. Mostly because I'm a lot better now. My advice is dont install the C hull. You loose a gun on each side and a pack of torps all for a little more aa which doesn't add much. Angle and move fast. It's only 33.5k xp till the next ship so use camo and move up quick if you have trouble.

[Fletcher7_1944]

Omaha  WAS a pain in the tuccus the first time around- because I sucked at playing it, lol.    Like others, the story was quite different when I came back to it, and I enjoyed it when grinding for Dallas, and even more when I reset the line.

  It's a ship I keep around for  tier 5 fun when the high tier games are stinkin the joint out.    Enjoy it- it's the last time you'll see a cruiser this maneuverable in the US line- or with torpedoes.  (Anchorage excepted)   I have it, and both Marbleheads and they share a captain.

  And, if all else fails- you get Dallas as the light at the end of the tunnel.  THAT ship is ridiculously fun!   Freaking thing ATE 3 enemy cruisers with AP in under 3 minutes last night, lol.   Then HE bombed an Iron Duke into bits for dessert.  And this is with an 8 pt captain in her, so no IFHE.

  And they keep on getting better from there!

[CorvetteKaptain67]

Basically when I played it, it was a shell magnet. You have to weave like a madman to get anywhere. I eventually got rid of it. Pensacola doesn't seem much better. At least with the Dallas I can get a few shots off. 

[red_crested_ibis]

She's good, but things can go bad quickly.

As mentioned before, she's the nimblest and fastest cruiser in the US line.  What hasn't been mentioned is that, bow-on, she's also the narrowest US cruiser.  In addition, due to her gun layout, her bow-on firepower is 6 guns vs the broadside of 8 guns (or 7 with hull c) so you're not giving up much by going to hull C if you choose to do so.  She works better when you can minimize the number of ships firing at you.  In the second line or on the flanks she's golden.

In addition, she has faster shells (by a significant amount) and her AP and HE shells have the same velocity and mass so you don't need to learn two separate shell travel times.  It makes it easier to land shots on all targets, especially at long range, as travel time is reduced.  It makes her ideal for hunting down destroyers in the late game when battleships have been eliminated from portions of the map as she has the speed and firepower to chase them down.

Her gunnery is completely different from all succeeding US warships so she's pretty unique in the entire line.  It makes it a pity that there is no Super T6 Omaha to take into Scenarios.  Dallas just doesn't quite have the same feel.  (oh, the old days of T5s in scenarios...)

[Shoggoth_pinup]

She's a skill check through and through. If you can make her work, you can make any cruiser work, and she becomes evil.

[Danhvn]

As long as you don't get sneeze at, she's very strong with her DPM and nimbleness.

[MrSparkle]

I'm grinding Omaha too right now so I can go down both cruiser lines.

Do experienced Omaha captains prefer AP or HE ? I'm finding I rarely start fires, but don't have DE yet. Soon though. It should help just a bit.

Since I much prefer staying at long range and weaving (I mean who doesn't in this floating citadel?) AP doesn't do much at all. It's great at closer range vs other cruisers and some BBs but those times are few and far between.

Do people use the Omaha as a HE spammer? Am I doing it right?

[HazeGrayUnderway]

Firepower isn't Omaha's problem.  It's that she's very squishy, a gigantic glass jaw.

 

Her squishiness is so well known that people drop whatever it is they're doing to take pot shots at her, hoping for a Grand Slam Home Run.

[SeaGladius]

15 hours ago, MrSparkle said:

I'm grinding Omaha too right now so I can go down both cruiser lines.

Do experienced Omaha captains prefer AP or HE ? I'm finding I rarely start fires, but don't have DE yet. Soon though. It should help just a bit.

Since I much prefer staying at long range and weaving (I mean who doesn't in this floating citadel?) AP doesn't do much at all. It's great at closer range vs other cruisers and some BBs but those times are few and far between.

Do people use the Omaha as a HE spammer? Am I doing it right?

Yes, you’re going to use HE more than AP.  Of course, when the opportunity presents itself, you switch.  She’s going to play a lot like any other cruiser in this regard.