108 [PYK] Whitebuster Beta Testers 209 posts 2,419 battles Report post #1 Posted November 5, 2020 I got the Alaska after seeing many good reviews about it. I expected it to be a slightly more agile Missouri with slightly less armor. However, I found its armor to be atrocious and unable to effectively bounce shells at any angle. As a BB main, I tend to play it like a USN BB and am consistently getting bad performance. I also tried to use its bow armor for bow tanking like the Petro, but that doesn't work well either. Is there a specific way that Alaska is meant to be played except island camping? Thanks for your advice! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
497 [TIMT] shinytrashcan Members 955 posts 4,172 battles Report post #2 Posted November 5, 2020 Alaska is still fundamentally a cruiser, which means she has "cruiser armor". This means, 27mm bow (can bounce 380mm, but gets overmatched by 406+). The exeptions here really are the likes of Petropavlosk, which are more BB than cruiser. So bowtanking etc. is not a thing. However, Alaska has very good armor against cruisers and can bounce some BB AP, but her upper belt and bow/stern can be overmatched. However, her health pool and low citadel make her hard to devastate. But she is NOT a BB. I would suggest playing her as literally large CA. Keeping a bit more distance, don't try to tank like you are in a BB and go hunt the enemy CA/CLs. Her AP has excellent pen angles and is deadly to everything cruiser-like. HE is decent and always an option. It takes a bit to get used to her, but she is really strong. Have a look at these, maybe they give you an idea where the strengths (and weaknesses) of Alaska lie: 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1,533 [PSA] KaptainKaybe Members 5,111 posts 3,732 battles Report post #3 Posted November 5, 2020 Basically, play it like an especially gutsy Des Moines. She's not a battleship, but her armor, by cruiser standards (that are not Russian), is exceptional. Her bow and stern can bounce 15 inch shells, and her deck can bounce Yamato shells. Do note, though, that her upper belt is only 28mm and cannot bounce 16 inch or higher shells. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1,713 [RKLES] dEsTurbed1 [RKLES] Beta Testers, In AlfaTesters 6,257 posts 21,677 battles Report post #4 Posted November 6, 2020 Just like battleships, don't show a broadside. Unlike battleships, Alaska's citadel is under water and very small She does take full pens and loves to burn. Angled she is a very tough cruiser. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
348 [PVE] Jim_Byrnes [PVE] Members 1,322 posts 7,756 battles Report post #5 Posted November 6, 2020 Play her as a mid range dd and cruiser hunter...avoid BBs in a direct fight kite kite kite then kite some more....AP is ammo of choice the HE isn't bad either Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1,684 1SneakyDevil Members 3,792 posts 23,987 battles Report post #6 Posted November 6, 2020 Why would you get a heavy cruiser and expect it to play like a BB? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
