Pensacola vs Dallas

[wolfkind252]

Is it just me or is the Dallas a better ship than the Pensacola?

 

[UltimateNewbie]

2 minutes ago, wolfkind252 said:

Is it just me or is the Dallas a better ship than the Pensacola?

 

There has long been hate for the cola, even when it was a T7, so Dallas being better is not overly surprising. 

[LunchCutter]

Pepsi is more reliant on RNG luck than Dallas. Both for hits on targets and damage received. I was hit by a full broadside from a Tirpitz at medium range the other day, only lost 6k health. Yet a few minutes later a single hit from a t6 BB on the very tip of my stern citadeled me...

 It's sluggish turrets are it's major annoyance especially dealing with DDs at close range.

[Princess_Daystar]

Just now, LunchCutter said:

Pepsi is more reliant on RNG luck than Dallas. Both for hits on targets and damage received. I was hit by a full broadside from a Tirpitz at medium range the other day, only lost 6k health. Yet a few minutes later a single hit from a t6 BB on the very tip of my stern citadeled me...

 It's sluggish turrets are it's major annoyance especially dealing with DDs at close range.

I always hated that. The New Orleans is the same way. Fuil broadside to a Sinop? ~10k damage. random point on my stern by a Bayern? Citadeled. Gag. Least the Baltimore doesnt suffer like that and its guns are nice.

 

Just got the Dallas, and im not liking it tbh, the guns are bleh, but the HE and speed of reload + turn rate is at least reliable.

[DrHolmes52]

Do you like daka, or knockout punches?

Pepsi is harder to use, but can deliver a devastating alpha for it's tier.

When I ground the Pepsi, I was doing tests to find out what I could citadel.  The answer was most everything.

Neither can really take a punch, but Dallas seems more likely to be overpenned.  

In coop, with the nose in meta of the bots, Dallas is way more enjoyable.

[SeaGladius]

I enjoyed Dallas way more than the Pensacola, but I enjoy light cruisers in general due to the faster reloads and greater maneuverability.

[Tzarevitch]

37 minutes ago, wolfkind252 said:

Is it just me or is the Dallas a better ship than the Pensacola?

 

Better depends on what you are using them for. Dallas is basically a baby Cleveland with no radar. It's a HE spammer with good T6 AA and is a good DD hunter. It's a solid all-around ship but without being particularly outstanding at anything but AA. 

Pensacola hits like an absolute sledgehammer with 10x203mm guns with USN improved autobounce angles and at T6 cruisers and BBs have a hard time angling against her with her improved autobounce angles. She can crush CLs fairly easily and chunk off a lot of health off of T6 BBs with full pens so long as you do not shoot them in the belt. They beefed up her bow armor so she can bow tank 356mm armed BBs that are common on her tier. The turret angles are also VERY good so she can get all her guns firing at steep angles to help her bounce return fire. She also has good agility. Unfortunately she pays for her benefits with a citadel that is fairly high so if you mis-angle even slightly  you eat citadels. She also has a poor detection range, thin armor everywhere but on the bow and stern, and hideously, hideously slow turret traverse. 

Dallas is a good all-arounder that specializes in HE spam. She has a lower skill floor but also a lower skill ceiling. Pensacola  focuses on high-alpha sledgehammer blows with her guns but can be a glass cannon against ships that can go through her bow. It is a much higher risk-reward ship. 

[Skpstr]

46 minutes ago, UltimateNewbie said:

There has long been hate for the cola, even when it was a T7, so Dallas being better is not overly surprising. 

I dunno, in its final T7 iteration, with faster turrets and reasonable concealment, it was a pretty fun ship.

Dallas is that shoot-over-islands playstyle that I dislike, whereas T7 Pensa was more an open-water ship that could really juke.

[MN_Nice]

Both benefit from WASD "hacks", but Pensa and that awful turret traverse REALLY needs it...

I like both of them, but I actually like Pensa just a bit more.

 

[TYPHOON0216]

3 hours ago, wolfkind252 said:

Is it just me or is the Dallas a better ship than the Pensacola?

 

Don't worry too much, you would end up grinding them both anyways, at the end, it is actually question of "Des Moines vs Worchester"

[BitCrushed]

In Operations, Pensacola is much better than Dallas.

[Wolfswetpaws]

3 hours ago, wolfkind252 said:

Is it just me or is the Dallas a better ship than the Pensacola?

 

Dallas is a light cruiser.  Pensacola qualifies as a Cruiser or Heavy Cruiser.
Dallas is more "squishy" and more easily sunk.  But it reloads its' main guns quicker.
Neither has torpedoes, but Dallas has depth-charge racks.
So, it would depend upon the role or mission you intend to fulfill.

[Drifter_X]

Pensacola has better armor than it used to and guns that really do a lot of damage per salvo. Placing yourself in a kiting position or behind islands is best for both and will increase your survivability greatly. Pensacola has a very impressive turn radius and rudder shift despite its horrific turret rotation. I use incoming fire and priority target to monitor who is paying attention and when to slam the brakes and turn hard. Incoming fire is very useful when I am using my scope, especially when I am shooting continuously in a rapid fire gun setup and cannot pay attention at that given moment.

[Fel0niusMonk]

If you like dakka, Dallas.  If you like taking massive chunks out of anyone who shows you the slightest hint of a side, Pensacola.  Personally, I prefer the latter.  Honestly, Pensacola's only real weakness is her glacial turret traverse, and that can be worked around most of the time.  She rewards patience and good aim handsomely.

[WanderingGhost]

4 hours ago, LunchCutter said:

Pepsi is more reliant on RNG luck than Dallas. Both for hits on targets and damage received. I was hit by a full broadside from a Tirpitz at medium range the other day, only lost 6k health. Yet a few minutes later a single hit from a t6 BB on the very tip of my stern citadeled me..

That's actually not quite as much luck as you think. There's a heavy Pro/con of both thin armour and large/higher velocity/lower drop off guns. Medium-short range it's very easy for Tirpitz and Yamato/Musahsi to straight up just punch through the target if it's a broadside cruiser instead of obliterate it - especially when it has paper thin armour the chances actually go up it'll zoom through without arming. Most tier 6 BB's start off at a lower velocity, which gives them a better arc as is for citadel hits in most cases, and allows them to not have the shell blow through the other side of the ship as is. While Pensacola is a bit better about not having a flatter stern shape that's easier to pen than many USN cruisers - if i remember correctly Bayern, Warspite, QE, and Mutsu straight up overmatch the stern plating, the others just need an angle that gets enough bite to go through instead of ricochet.

4 hours ago, wolfkind252 said:

Is it just me or is the Dallas a better ship than the Pensacola?

 

Depends on how one defines 'Better' - Dallas is easier to use and work with, they do need to do something about either the reload or the traverse of Pensacola's guns because I think the point where they rotate slower than Graf Spee's battleship guns  by about 18 seconds is a bit ridiculous, Pensacola is a solid ship - more so than when it was a tier 7. But it still tends to see those higher tiers that can make it look bad. 

[Ensign_Cthulhu]

19 hours ago, Skpstr said:

in its final T7 iteration,

That's the catch, though. Much of the hate, from what I can gather, came from its early form - the same "early form" that gave the Izumo, Myogi and some other ships (which I have only recently ground and quite enjoyed doing so) a very bad name. 

I didn't have the T7 Pensa for very long before it dropped to Tier 6 (or, if you prefer, morphed into the T7 New Orleans), but I know I quite liked it.

[wolfkind252]

20 hours ago, Tzarevitch said:

Better depends on what you are using them for. Dallas is basically a baby Cleveland with no radar. It's a HE spammer with good T6 AA and is a good DD hunter. It's a solid all-around ship but without being particularly outstanding at anything but AA. 

Pensacola hits like an absolute sledgehammer with 10x203mm guns with USN improved autobounce angles and at T6 cruisers and BBs have a hard time angling against her with her improved autobounce angles. She can crush CLs fairly easily and chunk off a lot of health off of T6 BBs with full pens so long as you do not shoot them in the belt. They beefed up her bow armor so she can bow tank 356mm armed BBs that are common on her tier. The turret angles are also VERY good so she can get all her guns firing at steep angles to help her bounce return fire. She also has good agility. Unfortunately she pays for her benefits with a citadel that is fairly high so if you mis-angle even slightly  you eat citadels. She also has a poor detection range, thin armor everywhere but on the bow and stern, and hideously, hideously slow turret traverse. 

Dallas is a good all-arounder that specializes in HE spam. She has a lower skill floor but also a lower skill ceiling. Pensacola  focuses on high-alpha sledgehammer blows with her guns but can be a glass cannon against ships that can go through her bow. It is a much higher risk-reward ship. 

I'll remember that

[Fletcher7_1944]

  Also like it's big brother Clevelend,  Dallas can punish the CRAP out of enemy ships with AP that show it broadside.    Don't get in the rut of thinking it just an HE spammer- use both types of ammo when appropriate.    US 6" AP is nothing to sneeze at.  As a CL, switching ammo isn't much of a problem.

 Particularly as a tier 6, where it sees quite a wide selection of very flimsy cruisers.   Good positioning or timing can net you a bunch of citadels- and kills rather quickly.   That high rate of fire gives you even more chances to give them a paddling before they turn or sail behind that island.

  For that reason, I find Dallas a heck of a fun ride.   It's on my favorite cruisers list.

[Singularity_invader]

Pensacola's 25mm bow armor can bounce off 356mm AP shells if sufficiently angled, making her virtually the tankiest cruiser at tier 6 (no other tier 6 cruiser has 25mm bow). The extra ricochet angle of her AP shells gives her the ability to citadel even some battleships. To me, she's the perfect ship for scenario Aegis. I remember getting 23 citadel ribbons and dealing 177k damage in just one game before. I think many players hate her because they haven't found where her usefulness lies.

[dimzzy]

On 11/21/2020 at 7:05 PM, wolfkind252 said:

Is it just me or is the Dallas a better ship than the Pensacola?

 

Dallas is awesome (my WR after two grinds is ~70%) while Pensacola is a struggle (I'm working hard to get 50% WR).

[dimzzy]

9 hours ago, Singularity_invader said:

making her virtually the tankiest cruiser at tier 6

The issue with tier 6 is that you often play on small maps and people play quite unpredictably. Which results in situations when you can't angle perfectly, which results in pretty devastating hits, which Pensacola does not handle well. Those random BB AP volleys across the map... that's what I hate.

[MizzenMast]

On 11/21/2020 at 8:01 PM, Tzarevitch said:

Pensacola hits like an absolute sledgehammer with 10x203mm guns with USN improved autobounce angles and at T6 cruisers and BBs have a hard time angling against her with her improved autobounce angles. She can crush CLs fairly easily and chunk off a lot of health off of T6 BBs with full pens so long as you do not shoot them in the belt. They beefed up her bow armor so she can bow tank 356mm armed BBs that are common on her tier. The turret angles are also VERY good so she can get all her guns firing at steep angles to help her bounce return fire. She also has good agility. Unfortunately she pays for her benefits with a citadel that is fairly high so if you mis-angle even slightly  you eat citadels. She also has a poor detection range, thin armor everywhere but on the bow and stern, and hideously, hideously slow turret traverse. 

Dallas is a good all-arounder that specializes in HE spam. She has a lower skill floor but also a lower skill ceiling. Pensacola  focuses on high-alpha sledgehammer blows with her guns but can be a glass cannon against ships that can go through her bow. It is a much higher risk-reward ship. 

This is exactly right. 

On 11/21/2020 at 10:44 PM, TYPHOON0216 said:

Don't worry too much, you would end up grinding them both anyways, at the end, it is actually question of "Des Moines vs Worchester"

And this is what it boils down to. If you prefer one playstyle versus another Dallas & Pensi display them admirably. If you dislike one of them now is the time to stop because as you go up the tiers each only shows more of the same. I was convinced I needed Worcester even though my playstyle is more open water so I ground to Seattle. While I can play it fairly well I just dont care for that type of playstyle so gave it up. I should have stopped at the Dallas when I realized I didnt like it instead of continuing to grind. 

[MizzenMast]

9 hours ago, Singularity_invader said:

I think many players hate her because they haven't found where her usefulness lies.

Players hate her because they get a paddling for going broadside to someone. I'm not really sure why people are surprised when that happens. 

[contag10n]

Those were some of my earliest ships and the Pepsi did not like the way I played her. It was ugly.

Now that I have developed into an "average" player I am enjoying Pepsi a lot more. Our Ovenchicken and the traverse mid on and she just barely out turns her guns now.

I don't care for island camping so Dallas is a DOG (snowflake only)

[Ensign_Pulver_2016]

I like Pensa better for ops. I haven't played either enough to say in randoms