The first Japanese BB is (imo) the worst ship in the game

[Noahb26]

I have been using this ship all day and i'm trying desperately to get on to the next ship to end my torture.

 

There is really no upside to using the Kowachi.

 

The main cannons only have a 8.6 KM firing range which is pretty sad for a BB

 

Its max speed is 18 Knots, i understand BB's are supposed to be slow, but almost 80% of my games i dont even fire a shot, and it takes me 10 minutes to find a ship i can shoot at.

 

The only upside to this ship is that it has 6 cannons at such an early stage, even though they take forever to turn and only fire 8 KM.

 

This ship needs a buff

[VTAdmiral]

That's a funny way of spelling... Oh, wait.

 

Yeah, Kawachi is terrible. And for some reason between CBT and OBT Kawachi was nerfed pretty severely, mostly in range-- she was dropped from 10km (12km with upgrade) to 8km (9.5km with upgrade), which gives her shorter range stock than every other ship (including stock configurations) in tier 3, and at top configuration Kawachi only out-ranges the Wakatake (Wickes still out-ranges her). On top of this her speed is abysmal, even fully upgraded, which means in order to get into range you're already being targeted and shot by the enemy.

 

A battleship is supposed to be about range and toughness. Kawachi only has moderate toughness and utterly terrible range.

[dahdah325]

OP, you didn't do horribly with it in PvE, but seem to be suffering in PvP. It looks more like a case where you need to get used to the style and skills necessary to transition to PvP. If you really can't stand the base hull, grind the upgrade out in PvE, then come back and work on playing against humans. 

[Floating_Citadel]

The general consensus is: Grit your teeth and get through it... the Myogi is better, but you'll still want more. Kongo and Fuso will satisfy your hunger for the first good BBs in the IJN line (although save your free XP for the stock hull of Fuso, that thing SUCKS when stock.)

 

[Noahb26]

thanks for the helpful info guys, glad people agree, i was honestly deciding to switch to cruisers but i decided to stick to it and grind through to the Myogi, only 2k xp away now

[Francois424]

@Floating

 

Myogi, for many (myself included) is pure garbage. I far preferred the Kawachi if only these 2 ships are concerned.

 

It's not perfect, and was far better in CBT, agreed !

[J30_Reinhardt]

OP, you didn't do horribly with it in PvE, but seem to be suffering in PvP. It looks more like a case where you need to get used to the style and skills necessary to transition to PvP. If you really can't stand the base hull, grind the upgrade out in PvE, then come back and work on playing against humans. 

 

^this.

Stock hulls in BB are freaking stupid compared to what they used to be in 3.0

[Floating_Citadel]

@Floating

 

Myogi, for many (myself included) is pure garbage. I far preferred the Kawachi if only these 2 ships are concerned.

 

 

It's not perfect, and was far better in CBT, agreed !

 

I found the Myogi to be a very "meh" ship for it's tier. IMO, the range and the speed are a very nice improvement, as well as the AA on the C hull. It's gun turret placement and number sucks though. The Wyoming at the same tier can pen it from most angles, and with better dispersion and 6 guns, it is definitely the better BB. The 14"ers also can't pen a reasonably angled Wyoming.

 

The myogi, however, leads to the Kongo and Fuso, both great ships for their tiers (granted, the NY and NM are also good, but that's a discussion for another thread.)

[MnemonScarlet]

I have been using this ship all day and i'm trying desperately to get on to the next ship to end my torture.

 

There is really no upside to using the Kowachi.

 

Having just ground out enough exp to get my Myogi, I can concur...BUT, you can still affect the battle in the Kawachi. The thing is, your short range even upgraded means most other ships can shoot at you. Be at peace with that. You're gonna get shot no matter what. So step forward and help out your poor light forces (DDs and CLs with torpedoes) and give them covering fire while they do their runs in early game. If you are a decent enough shot you can hit the light forces they'll come up against, and the enemy will have to decide on trying to take you out or your DDs. If your DDs can survive till later game, they'll have a chance to torpedo the straggler BBs who usually hold off and shoot long range at each other.

 

Just don't go fighting the enemy BBs early game unless you can bore in without being ranged, that's when you're at your biggest disadvantage because they're still far back out of your range and have plenty of time to focus you. Once they're committed you can slip out and take shots at them. Just angle sharply approaching them and unmask your side batteries back and forth. If you can take attention from the bigger BBs with closing in like that they might be able to land some good shots, and you'll totally disrupt return fire. The Kawachi sucks but it's still a battleship, so go and do battle when you can survive the engagement phase and force them to shift fire to you. Don't be afraid to die - nothing is more useless than the Kawachi who hid till everyone else was dead.

 

Even if the setup places you out of position to do much of that, you can still do stuff like help protect objectives if you think light forces might be moving in to sneak a cap. I was totally out of position in an Ocean game, but I snuffed a DD trying to cap (took torpedoes, but not enough) then chased away a Phoenix (think it was). They didn't try to cap again that game. DDs may be the natural predators of BBs at low tiers, but you have to have no fear of them in the Kawachi. Show them your bow and bait their torpedoes out early if you get mixed up with them. You can totally win as long as you deal with the torpedoes right and luck is with you. That doesn't mean take stupid risks, but your value is in killing as much of the enemy's good stuff as possible while making them waste time on you and open themselves to your team.

[AdmiralPiett]

I kept mine, and play it regularly. It is decent when you get reasonable MM, which is almost never. 

 

[YamatoA150]

Kawachi is bad, but if you want to get to the strongest battleship in the current meta, you're going to have to grind through several punishing hulls.  Recall that these cost XP and Credits.

 

Myogi [A] and

Fuso [A]

Izumo [A] and

 

With that said, you get a respite with the Kongou ( of course being better, but stock is tolerable) and Fuso as your general moneymaker as far as BBs go, followed by, Nagato, Amagi, and the Yamato herself.

[goggles]

 

 

That's a funny way of spelling... Oh, wait.

 

Yeah, Kawachi is terrible. And for some reason between CBT and OBT Kawachi was nerfed pretty severely, mostly in range-- she was dropped from 10km (12km with upgrade) to 8km (9.5km with upgrade), which gives her shorter range stock than every other ship (including stock configurations) in tier 3, and at top configuration Kawachi only out-ranges the Wakatake (Wickes still out-ranges her). On top of this her speed is abysmal, even fully upgraded, which means in order to get into range you're already being targeted and shot by the enemy.

 

A battleship is supposed to be about range and toughness. Kawachi only has moderate toughness and utterly terrible range.

 

kawachi needs its old range back why they ever nerfed it is beyond me...

 

i didnt mind it at all in cbt but in obt its an absolute grind to get through

[Admiral_Ice]

Get the Colorado, you have no idea about a "terrible" ship until you've done that one....

[Mainerd]

Get the Colorado, you have no idea about a "terrible" ship until you've done that one....

 

Yes the Kawachi beats the Colorado in each category. Mouse over one while your waiting for your match to load. You'll think "My God I'm lucky I'm not in that.".

 

[supershutze]

That's a funny way of spelling "Farragut" or "Mahan".

 

Don't get me wrong; The Kawachi is genuinely terrible, but as bad as it is, it's not "Mid-tier USN DD terrible"

[StormAlchemist155]

Hmmm... the Furutaka has a longer traverse and reload time than my Kawachi... I kinda ditched the Kawachi, but holy crap I felt better playing that BB than I did the Furutaka. The Furutaka... just needs quite a buff, agreed?

[Hunter_Steel]

The grind is worth it. Eventually you get to the gem that is Kongou (B hull of course) this is then followed by Nagato, Amagi and Yamato. (I personally found the Fusou to be one hell of a crappy ship to play back in CBT. But that's because it's deck armor is worse and it's accuracy is horrific along with its spray and pray style shooting.)

 

At tier 5, Kongou comes as the strongest ship for her tier, and is the true highlight of the entire line. 

 

~Hunter

[J30_Reinhardt]

Kawachi is bad, but if you want to get to the strongest battleship in the current meta, you're going to have to grind through several punishing hulls.  Recall that these cost XP and Credits.

 

Myogi [A] and

Fuso [A]

Izumo [A] and

 

With that said, you get a respite with the Kongou ( of course being better, but stock is tolerable) and Fuso as your general moneymaker as far as BBs go, followed by, Nagato, Amagi, and the Yamato herself.

 

Dont forget the Nag and the CO.

[Old_Crow51]

Yeah I asked the same thing when I got it. Your just going to have to grin and deal with it, because that lack of range means you're boned if somebody knows what they're doing.

 

Just stick with your team or get into a division and try to find a choke point to fire those guns, its about the only way you'll get kills in the thing. The next BB is much better, has a 19km range and its a bit more accurate.

[Savage_Bunny]

The Myogi is decent with upgrades but I still hate that beast.  I would take the Kawachi over her anytime.  Now that is not saying much because,  did I say,  I hate that beast?  The Kongo I kept and I am still on the Fuso.  Though I have a hard time getting Citadels in her unless I am close range   

 

Just push through it.  They are at least low level so the exp is not so bad to get through if you just grind grind grind.  If your team keeps losing that because more frustrating though.

[triptrippen]

 

III Kawachi		7	7	1,279
Overall Results Battles 7 Victories 7 (100%) Battles survived 5 Damage caused 200,085 Warships destroyed 11 Aircraft destroyed 0 Base capture 53 Base defense 91

Look into angling, citadels he vs ap.

Personally I think the bogue is the worst ship

[J30_Reinhardt]

In most first-tier BB matches... pick a flank and stick to it. Otherwise you're relegated to the middle and then trying to turn around with one of the slowest turning and slowest turret rotations in the game.

Food for thought. Speaking of food....