If you're considering going up the Ital BB line...

[TheArc]

I can not recommend strongly enough that it is worth doing before they pull Dead Eye. The accuracy of the guns are so insanely random, that Dead Eye really helps. Anyway, just wanted to put that out there.

And if you know how to use the SAP the line gets very effective at high tier, VERY effective. 

[warheart1992]

Unpopular conspiracy theory #45:

It was done on purpose for the changes to be implemented in 0.10.4, so that people would rush the line to C.Colombo (which seems pretty strong).

[grorg]

   Unpopular opinion 

  I love this line, love the SAP love that killer AP.

   If keep whining they'll make them even better 😁

   Just like RM cruisers these are not your average BBS.

[Ironshroud]

As I only have up to the tier 7 ship (no exhaust smoke, no experience with it on a BB) what is everyone's take on how useful it is for the Italian BBs?

[MnemonScarlet]

22 minutes ago, grorg said:

Just like RM cruisers these are not your average BBS.

You're right, they're not. They're below average BBs.

Aside from the T10 which is what it is to get people to grind up the line or pay to get to it.

[alexf24]

I sold them all except D. Alighieri (works well), and Lepanto (my highest tier). SAP does little to DDs. Found ships underwhelming. Any other nation at the same tier is better.

[grorg]

3 minutes ago, MnemonScarlet said:

You're right, they're not. They're below average BBs.

Aside from the T10 which is what it is to get people to grind up the line or pay to get to it.

 I will politely disagree with you, trying to play these like any other countries BBS will get you back to port in a hurry.

     T4 t5 are underwhelming but still useable Doria is wonderful and caraculi (sic) is beautiful 

      Play them like cruisers I know NOONE wants to hear that.

[MnemonScarlet]

8 minutes ago, grorg said:

 I will politely disagree with you, trying to play these like any other countries BBS will get you back to port in a hurry.

     T4 t5 are underwhelming but still useable Doria is wonderful and caraculi (sic) is beautiful 

      Play them like cruisers I know NOONE wants to hear that.

You can do that, but usually cruiser like damage farming in a BB will cause you to lose games more, because your opposite number BB will make plays you don't. You still have to play those ships like BBs if you want to impact matches for wins. That's the case even with infamous passive damage farmers like Thunderer.

[grorg]

These BBS rely on their mobility and speed.

    As you may have noticed long range accuracy is not their strong suit nor is taking a punch to the jaw. 

    Going full steam ahead is a no-no but so is sniping. 

   The maneuver and kite is much more useful, And support is a great plan ( hey just like cruisers are a support class!) 

 

[Blitzkrieger]

1 hour ago, MnemonScarlet said:

You're right, they're not. They're below average BBs.

Aside from the T10 which is what it is to get people to grind up the line or pay to get to it.

and then they nerf said tier 10 lol

[_KlRlTO_]

Unpopular opinion: I lose respect and stop following any CC I find running Dead Eye on Italian Battleships. It's a sign that they have been encouraging the bad habits that have been ruining the game since 0.10.1, especially since the ideal range of Italian Battleships is too close for Dead Eye to be active. This is exactly why the skill couldn't be fixed. The power of the skill doesn't matter. The fact it exists at all is the problem, because people use it as an enabler to do bad things, regardless of the actual enhancement it offers.

[ditka_Fatdog]

1 hour ago, grorg said:

 

     T4 t5 are underwhelming but still useable Doria is wonderful and caraculi (sic) is beautiful 

     

Agree with this. Admittedly only played doria in co-op but the random games I’ve run in the Francesco have been fun and the ship has performed well for me. Even managed a 6 kill 130k damage game that was particularly enjoyable

[TheArc]

2 hours ago, grorg said:

   Unpopular opinion 

  I love this line, love the SAP love that killer AP.

   If keep whining they'll make them even better 😁

   Just like RM cruisers these are not your average BBS.

I have played the 4,7-9. I thought 4 was fine, but low tier is pretty much all seal clubbing no matter what. I found the 7 underwhelming, but not terribad. I thought the 8 was decent, but had some real awful luck with teams to finish her out (like repeatedly seeing my team down 3,4,5 kills to 0 at the start.) I got 9 and tried her in ranked w/o luck, but she's been a MONSTER in randoms.

I do wish SAP did a bit more against DDs, at least as much as AP does (not % wise but actual dmg,) but overall I think the LePanto is a VERY strong ship. I am however quite glad to be playing her with Dead Eye, because the randomness of the guns can be quite frustrating sometimes. 

[xHeavy]

2 hours ago, Ironshroud said:

As I only have up to the tier 7 ship (no exhaust smoke, no experience with it on a BB) what is everyone's take on how useful it is for the Italian BBs?

Its different.

But you fire one time with that horrible bloom that is the sunrise of a new era in pax roma... the smoke is erased.

The smoke is something I have not had in BB's before and introduces interesting situations where it's POSSIBLE to get clear rather than just focused as you normally would when caught in open water.

Ive learned to find a target, shoot then throw smoke and add a extreme rudder input. The enemy Red team rounds are probably on the way already and that smoke will buy you maybe two salvos worth before they find the targeting necessary to sink you.

I found the lower BB Italian tree to be pretty bad. However Ive kept several of the top BB's and good comanders etc. They actually are fun in battle against other humans now. I spend a awful lot of time considering who can see me and contemplate each one and their firing status. If I catch one broadside and turrets facing away and even better heeled in a full rudder I'll shoot. By the time that cycle is complete they would have had some hits and depending on what they do next decides if I shoot at them again. If they continue to be stubborn and prosecute a teammate, I'll continue to shoot. Sometimes people get hit often enough to face you and shoot back. That buys your teammate a chance to get clear. But you are in it now. So good luck.

 

[Ensign_Cthulhu]

1 hour ago, Shannon_Lindsey said:

The power of the skill doesn't matter. The fact it exists at all is the problem, because people use it as an enabler to do bad things, regardless of the actual enhancement it offers.

The people who misuse it as an excuse to play poorly are IMHO the real problem.

That being said, there's no way in hell I have the energy to grind the XP it will take to get to the Colombo before 10.4 drops. Yes, it could be done, but it's not worth that many flags and camos. If I've got to live without Deadeye on Pasta-BB's in the long run, I might as well start learning to live without it now. 

[arch4random]

cls will have to make up a lot of new excuses when the dead eye skill is removed.....

[HazeGrayUnderway]

2 hours ago, MnemonScarlet said:

You're right, they're not. They're below average BBs.

Aside from the T10 which is what it is to get people to grind up the line or pay to get to it.

Calling them below average is being excessively generous and an insult to the other Battleship Lines.

[Estimated_Prophet]

4 hours ago, TheArc said:

And if you know how to use the SAP the line gets very effective at high tier, VERY effective. 

Hooray?

All I know so far is I’ve tended to use the AP more than the SAP.

The AP at least works, the SAP has been as much of a joke as it was on the cruisers.

6 minutes ago, Ensign_Cthulhu said:

That being said, there's no way in hell I have the energy to grind the XP it will take to get to the Colombo before 10.4 drops. Yes, it could be done, but it's not worth that many flags and camos. If I've got to live without Deadeye on Pasta-BB's in the long run, I might as well start learning to live without it now. 

Pretty much.

Dead Eye? Oh; that skill that’s completely worthless to me because I can’t hit anything at those ridiculously long ranges anyway?

[Ensign_Cthulhu]

8 minutes ago, arch4random said:

cls will have to make up a lot of new excuses when the dead eye skill is removed.....

So will a lot of extremely cowardly battleships, I have noticed.

[MnemonScarlet]

34 minutes ago, HazeGrayUnderway said:

Calling them below average is being excessively generous and an insult to the other Battleship Lines.

That's with Deadeye around to give them more utility in this campy-[edited]meta. Once it leaves they'll be quite bad unless their ideal situations pop up in matches.

[AdmiralThunder]

Put me on the side of those who think the ITL BB's are just terrible, awful, floating stink barges, suck monkey butt, etc... Have them all T4-T10 and IMO it is the worst BB line in the game and maybe the worst line period. 

• T4 - bad
• T5 - bad
• T6 - probably the best of the line not that it says much calling it that but it at least doesn't totally suck
• T7 - OMG it is SO BAD - worst ship of the line top to bottom. Think I would rather take a Kawachi out than this thing.
• T8 - it's a worse Roma (how can a ship be worse than Roma???)
• T9 - it's a bigger worse Roma
• T10 - meh 16 small caliber guns for a T10 BB that take forever and a day to reload and that fly off in all directions like a flock of scared pigeons scattering into flight when you shoot. IF you shoot at a ship the shells all hit the water or fly off into another game on a different map. Just bad.

SAP totally under delivers and is totally useless vs DD's. SAP on the Cruisers works pretty good but it is terrible on the BB's WG neutered it so bad. IT is also an ammo that requires good shot placement to be effective and these things couldn't hit a barn if the ship was inside the barn while shooting at said barn.

AP = see Roma. Mostly overpens or shatters IF you hit of course which is never a given no matter how close the red ship is with the occasional salvo that gives cit's and a big damage roll. Better than the SAP however.

AA = 

Secondary's = decent range with lots of fast firing guns but most of them are 90MM that are 99.9% useless (only good for a fire now and then) due to such low base pen (even IFHE doesn't help).

Armor = most can bow tank like a champ but that is about it. Show any amount of side and you go POOF.

I mean when do we get to something good on these BB's? You don't is the answer. Their best features are just complimentary with decent concealment and speed on most and decent turret traverse on some. That is about it. 

I think these are even worse than the new KM DD "Cruiser Killers". 

It is such a shame that a line the player base waited so long for and was so excited about (not me personally but many players) was released in such a terrible state and that are so bad. Bad just doesn't do justice to how terrible they are actually.  

And what speaks even greater volumes as to how bad they are is I only play Co-op where almost any ship can do well. These are even bad in Co-op! I don't play PVP much but when I do I would never take one of these out. OMG it would be a nightmare.

[Morpheous]

As an Italian main, I have been mildly disappointed in the Italians.  The same flaws on the Roma are in the line, the secondaries need a buff, the armor should be better and the dispersion...sheesh.  The strong points of the higher velocity of Roma, the conceal, the handling and speed outweigh the deficiencies for the Roma, but not for the main line so far for me (T7)  The highlight has been the Dante, which I would take over any other T4 BB.  The Cavour is just too slow, combined with the poor range to make her the bottom dweller of T5.  Doria is decent and would put her in the middle of the T6 BBs.  The FC which I have now, seems fine also, her kiting ability is best of the T7 BB, her handling and speed and turrets are very good, but again you can't brawl much so don't try unless your at a good HP position.  Yeah play the faster BBs like CAs, I play my Roma like that, just think of her as a super CA, when uptiered. (that can pen almost any T10 BB from almost any angle at times)  In her Tier Roma rocks.  So hopefully the VV will be about the same.

[Morpheous]

11 minutes ago, AdmiralThunder said:

Put me on the side of those who think the ITL BB's are just terrible, awful, floating stink barges, suck monkey butt, etc... Have them all T4-T10 and IMO it is the worst BB line in the game and maybe the worst line period. 

• T4 - bad
•  

Wow, I think the DA is the best BB at this tier... she's fast, good armor, and her guns do very well.  I feel very confident that I can best any other T4 BB with the Orion possibly the only other ship that is better. (non prem) She is third in damage and second in XP over all for that tier...though her win rate is low.

[HazeGrayUnderway]

German Battleships are factually more accurate than these ships.

1.  German BBs are mostly 1.8 Sigma Battleships.  All these new ITA BBs are 1.6, except for CC in Tier X who has 1.5, but she has 16 guns to make up for it.

2.  German BBs use the okay USN / RN Battleship Dispersion Model.

3.  French and Italian Battleships use the worse BB Dispersion Model.  German BBs used to be here also, but WG buffed the entire German Battleship Line to the USN / RN style.

 

And the last bit of comedy:  A lot of the German BBs have pretty good reload speeds.  Example is the ever popular Bismarck, one of the most played ships in the entire game.

380mm x8, 21.2km gun range, 26 seconds reload.

 

Vittorio Veneto?  381mm x9, 18.1km gun range, 34 seconds reload.

 

North Carolina?  406mm x9, 23.2km gun range, 30 seconds reload, 2.0 Sigma.

 

WG treating the Italians like...

[Zaydin]

5 hours ago, Ironshroud said:

As I only have up to the tier 7 ship (no exhaust smoke, no experience with it on a BB) what is everyone's take on how useful it is for the Italian BBs?

Exhaust smoke on the Italian BBs is really only good for covering your retreat or concealing yourself if you have to expose your broadside while turning. You can't shoot within it due to your massive smoke detection range.