Fen Yang Sucks

[sasquatch_research]

Hey

What ever you do do not buy the Fen Yang, this boat is a Hot, Steamy pile of garbage.  Out of 96 hits:  I got 10 pens (without IFHE) and 86 broken shells.  I was bottom tier; but since you can't pen but 17mm, has a 5+ second reload, it's garbage on DD's, cant torp DD's or cruisers, its very sluggish handling.  I would take any other T8 DD into battle over this boat, and even many T7's and even some T6's.  Just a very poorly executed premium ship on Wargaming part; DO NOT BUY.

 

Pete

 

[Sabene]

@sasquatch_research Hey, Pete, don't hold back now.  Tell us what you really think.

 

[Crucis]

1 hour ago, sasquatch_research said:

Hey

What ever you do do not buy the Fen Yang, this boat is a Hot, Steamy pile of garbage.  Out of 96 hits:  I got 10 pens (without IFHE) and 86 broken shells.  I was bottom tier; but since you can't pen but 17mm, has a 5+ second reload, it's garbage on DD's, cant torp DD's or cruisers, its very sluggish handling.  I would take any other T8 DD into battle over this boat, and even many T7's and even some T6's.  Just a very poorly executed premium ship on Wargaming part; DO NOT BUY.

 

Pete

Agree 1000%.

The FY has Asashio BB/CV only torps which means that you can't do squat against enemy cruisers (let alone DDs).  And it has a weak version of the Akizuki's 100mm guns, which pretty much require IFHE.  If the FY's guns were straight copies of the Aki's guns, it wouldn't be a big deal.  But it's like you get stuck with  the worst of both worlds.  Weak guns and bad torps.

[AJTP89]

The HE on Fen Yang is useless, your default should be AP because it has RN AP with improved autbounce angles. I'm not saying FY is great, but you really shouldn't judge until you use it with AP. You are definitely not an Akizuki that can just spam HE at everything.

[sasquatch_research]

34 minutes ago, Sabene said:

@sasquatch_research Hey, Pete, don't hold back now.  Tell us what you really think.

 

Hey

Wouldn't you rather have honesty over some sugar coated nonsense, especially if it can save you possible disappointment in the form of cold cash?  

 

Pete

[sasquatch_research]

17 minutes ago, Crucis said:

Agree 1000%.

The FY has Asashio BB/CV only torps which means that you can't do squat against enemy cruisers (let alone DDs).  And it has a weak version of the Akizuki's 100mm guns, which pretty much require IFHE.  If the FY's guns were straight copies of the Aki's guns, it wouldn't be a big deal.  But it's like you get stuck with  the worst of both worlds.  Weak guns and bad torps.

Hey

Like you said, at least with Asashio you have very good guns, good HE pen, and 2 racks of torps.  If nothing else, like I said, at least give it 25mm of pen base.  Some kind of redeeming value.

 

Pete

[Lord_Zath]

1 hour ago, sasquatch_research said:

Hey

What ever you do do not buy the Fen Yang, this boat is a Hot, Steamy pile of garbage.  Out of 96 hits:  I got 10 pens (without IFHE) and 86 broken shells.  I was bottom tier; but since you can't pen but 17mm, has a 5+ second reload, it's garbage on DD's, cant torp DD's or cruisers, its very sluggish handling.  I would take any other T8 DD into battle over this boat, and even many T7's and even some T6's.  Just a very poorly executed premium ship on Wargaming part; DO NOT BUY.

  

Pete

 

Very hard to pull off when bottom tier. My main suggestion is play her like a British cruiser and NOT like Akizuki. Switch to AP and pen the superstructure. 

[sasquatch_research]

16 minutes ago, AJTP89 said:

The HE on Fen Yang is useless, your default should be AP because it has RN AP with improved autbounce angles. I'm not saying FY is great, but you really shouldn't judge until you use it with AP. You are definitely not an Akizuki that can just spam HE at everything.

Hey

Do you have the Fen Yang?  Can you post a game in it which shows how you average in it.

 

Pete

[sasquatch_research]

Hey 

Make no mistake; I will try the AP on the next several games to see if that is an answer.  It's just for the average player, there are so many better DD's to grab and this one just doesn't bring anything fun to the table at this point.

 

Pete

[AJTP89]

7 minutes ago, sasquatch_research said:

Hey

Do you have the Fen Yang?  Can you post a game in it which shows how you average in it.

 

Pete

I don't have anything I can show, sorry.

4 minutes ago, sasquatch_research said:

It's just for the average player, there are so many better DD's to grab

I think you're right here, Akizuki is a hard act to follow. Since you have the ship already you should try AP for sure. Don't rant until you've thoroughly tried the ship out. But you're not alone, a lot of other people seem to be underwhelmed by Fen Yang. That's why you research before you buy...

[Nevermore135]

1 hour ago, Crucis said:

Agree 1000%.

The FY has Asashio BB/CV only torps which means that you can't do squat against enemy cruisers (let alone DDs).  And it has a weak version of the Akizuki's 100mm guns, which pretty much require IFHE.  If the FY's guns were straight copies of the Aki's guns, it wouldn't be a big deal.  But it's like you get stuck with  the worst of both worlds.  Weak guns and bad torps.

She’s also a slow DD without speed boost and her concealment is also not great, so she can’t run away from cruisers either.

[sasquatch_research]

28 minutes ago, AJTP89 said:

I don't have anything I can show, sorry.

I think you're right here, Akizuki is a hard act to follow. Since you have the ship already you should try AP for sure. Don't rant until you've thoroughly tried the ship out. But you're not alone, a lot of other people seem to be underwhelmed by Fen Yang. That's why you research before you buy...

Hey

Did you buy the Fen Yang?   

 

Pete

[Crucis]

48 minutes ago, sasquatch_research said:

Hey

Like you said, at least with Asashio you have very good guns, good HE pen, and 2 racks of torps.  If nothing else, like I said, at least give it 25mm of pen base.  Some kind of redeeming value.

 

Pete

I didn't actually outright say that the Asashio has good guns, but I w as thinking it and never typed it out.  But you're right.  I'm not sure that I'd say that the Kagero/Asashio's guns are truly good (particularly since the turrets are slow and the reload's not the best), but they're decent and usable, particularly when you're laying down supporting fire onto larger ships.  I'd rather avoid getting into 1v1 duels with those guns against better gunboats.  OTOH, if you have no choice and have to gunboat better gunboat DDs, at least your guns hit pretty hard.

[sasquatch_research]

5 minutes ago, Crucis said:

I didn't actually outright say that the Asashio has good guns, but I w as thinking it and never typed it out.  But you're right.  I'm not sure that I'd say that the Kagero/Asashio's guns are truly good (particularly since the turrets are slow and the reload's not the best), but they're decent and usable, particularly when you're laying down supporting fire onto larger ships.  I'd rather avoid getting into 1v1 duels with those guns against better gunboats.  OTOH, if you have no choice and have to gunboat better gunboat DDs, at least your guns hit pretty hard.

Hey

They at least have good punch and fire but they are the Japanese 127mm guns and can hold their own in a gun battle somewhat, but not the 100mm on the Fen Yang.  Seems IFHE is required for HE and I will certainly try the AP and see if its any better.  

 

Pete

[Skuggsja]

1 hour ago, sasquatch_research said:

Hey

Do you have the Fen Yang?  Can you post a game in it which shows how you average in it.

 

Pete

I've only played 10 games but those are my max stats.

[sasquatch_research]

5 hours ago, Skuggsja said:

I've only played 10 games but those are my max stats.

Hey

Certainly better than anything I can get done with it this far.  I just find no viable reason to play this DD over every other T8 DD I have.  

 

Pete

[Camo68]

It's a solid DD but you have to set it up with IFHE.

The key to getting meaningful damage is to 1) get in good positions to utilise the torps and 2) effectively using smokes

I got mine from a crate and have enjoyed playing it so far, especially punishing T6 & T8 CV's as it's AA is strong enough to fight them off.

[Sabot_100]

Don't have one but I know I breath a sigh of relief when I encounter one in  another DD. Knowing he can't torp me means I can get away with things that would get me killed by any other DD while I try to torp him. No major risk of MAD (mutually assured destruction) on a driveby.

 

[Meta_Man]

On 2/17/2021 at 4:04 PM, sasquatch_research said:

Hey

Did you buy the Fen Yang?   

 

Pete

Hey Pete , I just bought the Fenyang yesterday  . I played about 10/15 games in her . She is a very unique ship. Like you pointed out , the average DD player will be better off in many other lolibotes but I think if you learn to exploit her torps and BIGGG bag of gimmicks there can be a winner in there....She isn't a ship you want to play if you like straight forward simple play . From the games I've played I used mostly AP  but HE to start fires after floods  . I got a clear skies the first game in ,lol . Her bag of gimmicks nice , her guns are not . 6 smokes , 5 DFAA , torp reload booster and 1000 shell velocity is nice....I try to flood a BB then switch to HE to start fires...I see she's second to last behind z35 . My z35 is still at 65% . I think of the Fenyang as a race car you have to get everything right to get the most out of her....I will win in her , I'm a game or 2 under 50% in her but I've seen multiple 90,000 damage,  multiple 20+ plane kill games....good luck Pete. 

[Sammy_Small]

The largest drawback of a Fen Yang,  aka "Lo Pen", it is "over specialized".

What I mean by that:
Against DDs it needs IFHE to do damage to same or higher tier DDs ( can only pen superstructure on DDs with out IFHE )
Against CLs even the IFHE won't help you unless you are aiming for superstructure (same tier or higher ) and torpedoes are useless against all cruisers
Against BBs guns are mostly for starting fires and maybe superstructure pens with IFHE, torpedoes are are actually good, but if the BB has a DD/CL "screen" good luck getting those torp hits
Against CVs it actually has "good AA"( relatively speaking ) and plenty of smoke to hide in.

As far as having "good AP performance" that is dependent on "incompetence" of your enemies.

The best way to think about a Fen Yang is like a less "flexible" Asashio with better AA

It has been suggested that the ship would be given 1/5th HE pen...
OR
"Normal Deep Water Torpedoes" ( like the rest of Pan Asian DDs ) so that can also hit cruisers....
BUT we all know how "player feedback" is "handled".

[Count_pott]

I have Fenyang but haven't played it outside of Co-op yet. I found its specs underwhelming, and its stock HE pen makes it so that minimum requirements on captain skills are higher than other boats.

 

That being said... likely with its most recent buff, Fenyang doesn't seem all that bad. She has improved AP pen angles which, while they don't fully make up for HE issues, greatly do improve her fighting potential.

I compared a typical FY build vs. a Lightning build (I LOVED Lightning, and that's the extent of the reason why I picked the two for comparison: they are NOT comparable DDs...):

FY: https://wowsft.com/ship?index=PZSD518&modules=11111&upgrades=143220&commander=PCW001&skills=4381216&ar=100&consumables=11111&pos=0 (or if you're REALLY confident using AP vs. destroyers, or staying out of DD fights: https://wowsft.com/ship?index=PZSD518&modules=11111&upgrades=145220&commander=PCW001&skills=4348528&ar=100&consumables=11111&pos=0)

Lightning: https://wowsft.com/ship?index=PBSD108&modules=12121&upgrades=135220&commander=PCW001&skills=4413728&ar=100&consumables=111&pos=0

 

FY has a decent DPM advantage: 154/210 vs. 143/185 HE/AP respectively. I didn't expect that. She gives-up concealment and 3kn of speed but that's fine, she's an Akizuki hull, they're not comparable: she does get better AA and added HP for it, completing the balancing act.

 

I don't enjoy T8 anymore. The ships are great, but the matchmaking is not (seriously... FenYang in a T10 game? Nope). But I'm starting to see how she could be a decent team player, with ok gun power, good torps (though it's seriously disappointing that they can't hit Cruisers...), good AA, and great smoke.

The main issue is she has to give-up to be decent (not good: merely decent). Which for a Premium, is hard to swallow.