CVs: HE or AP?

[Taichunger]

There I am, a fat BB with a CV under my guns. Should I be hitting it with AP or HE? Since such moments pass quickly, which gives me better odds of one-shotting it, especially with plunging fire at long range with spotting plane? I've done that with AP, and citadeled CVs with AP, but I usually have AP up when I see a CV.... 

 

Which is better?

[Wo_9]

AP cause citadels :3

[Sinboto]

HE, sent the guy on fire and he can't use his planes, and you'll knock out other important bits like the rudder.

[Noshiro_]

AP cause citadels :3

 

But HE does the same on CVs

[Vincinzerei]

But HE does the same on CVs 

 Only on Low tier ones till Tier6..

[Lert]

I like to open with HE and finish him with AP, depending on the situation and tier.

[richie_macrophage]

Citadel that carrier and bring him down with ap quicker than he can reload his planes. Sunk a full hp ranger in a stock new mexico with ap in 1 salvo

[burning_gl0w]

I usually don't change ammo for a CV unless I really need to stop him launching planes.  Most of the time, AP just kills them faster and it doesn't matter if they launched or not.

[Wo_9]

 

But HE does the same on CVs

 

doesent work on midway/haku

[Noshiro_]

 

doesent work on midway/haku

 

I guess, but OP didn't really specify which tier. So for tier 8 and below, HE is the best.

[HALLO_1997]

HE first to set his deck on fire, then AP

[EliZacharias]

HE, sent the guy on fire and he can't use his planes, and you'll knock out other important bits like the rudder.

 

Fire whatever you have loaded at the time but set to reload HE(click HE once before you fire so if you have AP loaded it will reload for HE after you fire)  You can citadel a CV with HE as a BB but you also want the HE fire chance to keep his planes from launching.

[ComradeHX]

Is CA far and not on fire?

If so, HE.

 

Otherwise, if you know where citadel is, shoot AP and kill it fast.

[Taichunger]

Thanks guys!

[Savage_Bunny]

For me is depends on the angle and if you know that carrier still had air assets and your health.  AP can be nice but lately I have gone back to using more HE.  Just do not fire all your turrets at one time.  Fire a few to get your ranging correct and if luck enough to set it on fire let that carrier panic and use repair then fire the rest of your barrels to hopefully set it on fire again.  AP may give you Citadels more often but one good HE round can blast the heck out of the ship just as well.

[donaldEpott]

AP. Even with a Cruiser I use AP versus a CV the faster I sink it the better and with a Cruiser its really easy to citadel one. BB takes a little more but like I said its better to dispatch of the enemy cv as fast as one can.

[BrakeF]

This came up for me in game once and a guy said shoot HE I said no shoot AP at CV's you will kill them faster. I then hit the CV in question with a salvo of AP and took him for more then half his remaining HP he died seconds later and the other guy on my team said "damn you were right" lol Always use AP on CV's to ensure a quick kill

[Sathari3l]

HE ALWAYS On Cvs, no matter what your playing.

• It does more damage
• Fires
• It still citadels just as often as AP

[favrepeoria]

HE ALWAYS On Cvs, no matter what your playing.

• It does more damage
• Fires
• It still citadels just as often as AP

Maybe at low tier. Some high tiers are armored fairly heavily. They can stop heavy cruiser armaments at high tier

[Leganie]

HE all day on CV's fire keeps them from launching and HE can get cit hits on them easy anyway due to thin armor. Hell my Pensacola was getting cit hits on a Ranger just a few min ago in a match. I am sure a BB will easily pen with HE. The Midway could be a problem as it is supposed to be a fully armored CV but I have yet to fight a T10 CV. I have done it so far with just 203MM guns on T8 on down. Some may say AP but Its a CV just burn the thing with fire. It will save your life anyway from a squad suddenly being launched and they can't land either.

[Mesrith]

HE ALWAYS On Cvs, no matter what your playing.

• It does more damage
• Fires
• It still citadels just as often as AP

 

Higher tier carriers are armored pretty well.  Even their flight decks can be pretty trollish against AP plunging fire, let alone trying to citadel them with HE.

 

HE all day on CV's fire keeps them from launching and HE can get cit hits on them easy anyway due to thin armor. Hell my Pensacola was getting cit hits on a Ranger just a few min ago in a match. I am sure a BB will easily pen with HE. The Midway could be a problem as it is supposed to be a fully armored CV but I have yet to fight a T10 CV. I have done it so far with just 203MM guns on T8 on down. Some may say AP but Its a CV just burn the thing with fire. It will save your life anyway from a squad suddenly being launched and they can't land either.

 

Having a reload of 30 seconds or more means that if your HE doesn't set the carrier on fire, or if they extinguish it immediately, it's another 30 seconds before you get to try again.  Using AP is the better bet.  If you're close enough to a high-tier carrier to be penetrating their citadel with HE, you're probably in secondary range anyway, and secondaries will probably light the carrier on fire.

[ButtonsPushed]

HE all the way. If the CV starts launching torpedo bombers you are screwed.

[CaptainEdwardTeague]

HE until you set his decks on fire.. then AP... fire out.. HE again... this way he cant fly his planes...

[QuicksilverJPR]

 

But HE does the same on CVs

 

Yes it can, but the difference between AP citadel dmg and HE citadel dmg is a ton of dmg (it's 4700 dmg difference in the Fuso).

 

I shoot AP exclusively in my BBs.

 

 

[Vagitron]

Honestly it depends on the CV in question. I HE lower tier CVs and AP higher tier CVs. Some of the ones in between are kind of questionable as to which is better. You really can't go wrong with HE against any of the CVs though if you're looking for a generalized blanket statement.