Is the Tirpitz a balanced ship?

[Iceman4193]

In my opinion, I say no. In fact I have actually stopped playing at tier VIII because I am tired of that ship and I will explain why.

First is the armor. The Tirpitz has better armor in almost every category than the other BB's. I know that I am not the only one who says that at most ranges, it is way more difficult to citadel a Tirpitz than any other ship except maybe the Yamato. I have had many instances of hitting almost every shell of a salvo at less that 4km directly to the mags and engine room only to get no cit and maybe 10k damage while they counter battery and get 20 or 30k damage plus torps. 

Second is the speed. It is one thing to have armor, but it is another to have the armor of a BB and the speed of a CL. What is up with this? I had thought the balance that was usually done is one or the other, the speed and turn rate that this thing has is on par with even other CA's in the game and I think people who try to torp Tirpitz's can attest to its maneuverability.

Third is the guns. While they are "Smaller" than the other VIII BB's, they seem to have the same or higher penetration, a flatter trajectory, a faster reload, and less dispersion. Not to mention range on par with the other BB's. Why give it smaller faster reloading guns if they are as good as the 406mm or the 410mm?

Fourth is the torps. Now if you look at IJN cruisers, they have the torp advantage over the USN cruisers. But because of this, they suffer greatly in the armament department. If you want to give the Tirpitz torps thats great, but why are its guns not inferior to the other BB's just like the IJN cruisers are inferior to the USN cruisers?

Fifth is the health. The Tirpitz gets 69k health. This is actually more than the Amagi and the NC which get 66k. This combined with very strong armor makes it much better in terms of survivability than the other BB's.

Last is AA. While originally the Tirpitz AA was not all that, as of the last update it now gets a fighter plane which is more than most other BB's get which is just a scout. The moderate AA combined with good turn rate means that it is not all that vulnerable to air attacks.

 

To me, looking at all of these aspects, it seems like the Tirpitz is not balanced very well. It has almost everything going for it and coming from a person who owns an Iowa and an Amagi I can say that this ship alone has made me not even want to play those anymore. Of course when you say anything about this all the people who own a Tirpitz get all defensive because they don't want it nerfed, but I think it needs some attention now they they sold like a thousand of them.

 

I really hope WG can take another look at this ship and make correction because at this point it has kind of ruined the game for me after working (and not buying) all the way to the high tiers only to play World of Tirpitz every game.

 

What do you all think? And please be honest, not just saying the Tirpitz is fair because you own one.

[Iceman4193]

Check the WoWS Wiki for actual stats you can check for yourselves

[Nuk_]

I don't have a problem with Tirpitzs, I can easily take one in my North Carolina.

[Outlawed87]

 

If it was a bit cheaper i'd buy it.

[Carrier_GrafZeppelin]

I enjoy my Tirpitz far more than other BBs, and that's because the Devs did a great job of making it fairly accurate.

 

German BBs IRL (Bismarck and Tirpitz) did have very very good armor around their citadels, and in combat, English ships could not sink Bismarck via gunfire...

Also, Tirpitz has shorter range guns, with a flatter trajectory... This might be a disadvantage against its tier mates, but it has better speed and turret traverse...

 

Overall, Tirpitz is a wonderful ship, that I find to be very well balanced for it's style of play... Brawling at close range, where it's torpedos and fast turning guns can keep it alive...

 

(PS - OP, if you got to 4Km of a Tirpitz and didn't expect to eat torpedos, shame on you... Would you ever do that to a cruiser?)

[Eisennagel]

 

 

Tirpitz is a ship that is both balanced and fun to use.  You get the feeling that Wargaming hit a bullseye on this battleship.

 

I think the main issue is that there seems to be too much of it, much like the Atagos and Atlantas before.  A player base starved of content is willing to jump and gorge on the premium morsel, especially when you consider this might be a dream ship for many.  If you are in a cruiser and you see lots and lots of Tirpitz, it feels like you're this lone T-34 when everyone seems to have Tigers.

[Lethal61]

Learn how to counter it and stop crying for nurfs because you cant kill it its like please dumb down the game so its playable for you bull crap each ship has its weaknesses and strengths learn how to use them getting sick of all the whiners crying on the forums for nurfs because there butthurt over a match they was just in and want everyone else to pay for it. This is the end of my rant carry on.

[Smurf_O_pax]

In my opinion, I say no. In fact I have actually stopped playing at tier VIII because I am tired of that ship and I will explain why.

First is the armor. The Tirpitz has better armor in almost every category than the other BB's. I know that I am not the only one who says that at most ranges, it is way more difficult to citadel a Tirpitz than any other ship except maybe the Yamato. I have had many instances of hitting almost every shell of a salvo at less that 4km directly to the mags and engine room only to get no cit and maybe 10k damage while they counter battery and get 20 or 30k damage plus torps. 

That's connected to the internal Armour Layout. Looks like WG uses this, so the Citadel Armor gets stronger with less distance. Try to use plunging fire from distance, her deck armor just sucks.

 

 

Second is the speed. It is one thing to have armor, but it is another to have the armor of a BB and the speed of a CL. What is up with this? I had thought the balance that was usually done is one or the other, the speed and turn rate that this thing has is on par with even other CA's in the game and I think people who try to torp Tirpitz's can attest to its maneuverability.

It was designed as commerce raider, one requirement was speed. I think in reality only Iowa was faster, not sure about this.

 

Third is the guns. While they are "Smaller" than the other VIII BB's, they seem to have the same or higher penetration, a flatter trajectory, a faster reload, and less dispersion. Not to mention range on par with the other BB's. Why give it smaller faster reloading guns if they are as good as the 406mm or the 410mm?

They don't do as much damage. Look at the damage numbers, they are lower on Tirpitz. Penetration is as good as the others because she has a higher muzzle velocity.

 

Fourth is the torps. Now if you look at IJN cruisers, they have the torp advantage over the USN cruisers. But because of this, they suffer greatly in the armament department. If you want to give the Tirpitz torps thats great, but why are its guns not inferior to the other BB's just like the IJN cruisers are inferior to the USN cruisers?

They are. They do less dmg, with less guns (8 to 9 or 10). But she has a little bit better firing rate, but don't try to hit on distance the spread is just awful..

 

Fifth is the health. The Tirpitz gets 69k health. This is actually more than the Amagi and the NC which get 66k. This combined with very strong armor makes it much better in terms of survivability than the other BB's.

WG makes HP dependend on size, and Bismarck/Tirpitz was huge.

 

North Carolina

Displacment loaded: 40,258 t

Length: 222m

Beam: 33m

Draft: 10m

 

Tirpitz

Displacment loaded: 52,600 t

length: 251m

Beam: 36m

Draft: 9,6m

 

Last is AA. While originally the Tirpitz AA was not all that, as of the last update it now gets a fighter plane which is more than most other BB's get which is just a scout. The moderate AA combined with good turn rate means that it is not all that vulnerable to air attacks.

Ähem you can have the fighter with every High-Tier BB. And because of her weak AA Tirpitz is a primary target for CV's

 

To me, looking at all of these aspects, it seems like the Tirpitz is not balanced very well. It has almost everything going for it and coming from a person who owns an Iowa and an Amagi I can say that this ship alone has made me not even want to play those anymore. Of course when you say anything about this all the people who own a Tirpitz get all defensive because they don't want it nerfed, but I think it needs some attention now they they sold like a thousand of them.

 

I really hope WG can take another look at this ship and make correction because at this point it has kind of ruined the game for me after working (and not buying) all the way to the high tiers only to play World of Tirpitz every game.

 

What do you all think? And please be honest, not just saying the Tirpitz is fair because you own one.

I own one and i like her more then my North Carolina. But on long distances Tirpitz just sucks, be happy that most Tirpitz players don't brawl with her. There she is the real Beast. On long distance shooting matches you should always go out as winner, because her deck armor really sucks

 

[Taichunger]

WG nailed the Tirpitz, it's one of their best works (I own Tirp, Amagi, and N Caro). First, check out the stats at warshipstats.com

 

Name	Win %	XP	Dmg
Amagi	50.30%	2,117	61,726
North Carolina	47.70%	2,088	54,708
Tirpitz	50.50%	2,181	54,082

 

These are three very close ships, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. Tirpitz is fast, so are the other two. All three have good guns. Note that Tirpitz does less average damage than other two, even though it packs torps. Thus its guns aren't as OP as you might think. Conclusion from this comparison is clear: Tirpitz is not OP; indeed, it's the worst performer in that tier. 

 

Survivability? Tirpitz has the poorest survival rate of these ships -- 39%. Although its armor makes it hard to citadel, its armor also sets off every shell that hits it, meaning that AP does excellent damage to it. 

Tirpitz has significantly improved higher tier games, which have a lot more action. Very happy WG made it available on the N Amer server. 

Now, about that Warspite...

 

Taichunger

[LittleWhiteMouse]

There's a lot of balancing factors for the Tirpitz.  From my review:

 

PROs

• Good range on primary armament at over 20km.
• Quick turret rotation for a Battleship.
• Odd armour layout, makes her very tough at medium to short ranges.
• Very strong (if short ranged) torpedo armament -- unique so far on Battleships.
• Excellent secondary armament.
• Fast @ 30.9kts.
• Decent rudder shift.

 

CONs

• Alpha strike & DPM from 15" guns is the lowest for Battleships of her tier.
• Terrible HE performance on main armament, comparable to a tier 3 Battleship.
• Her armour scheme isn't quite as good as some would advertise.  She is still vulnerable at extreme ranges and up close.
• Short ranged anti-aircraft armament.
• Large turning circle @ 890m.

 

In short summary?  The Tirpitz is a very strange Battleship, designed to be optimized at dueling at very short ranges against other Battleships and Cruisers.  She is exceedingly vulnerable to Destroyers and even moreso against enemy Carriers.  He High Explosive shell performance is terrible.  Even the Kawachi at tier 3 hits harder with HE than she does.  Her alpha strike is worse than every other tier 6 Battleship and her DPM is worse than the other tier 8 Battleships. Though she can get her rudder hard over rather quickly for a Battleship, she doesn't answer her rudder very well -- certainly not like an American BB.  Her AAA is mostly concentrated at the 2.1km range, meaning she's only likely to shoot down planes with it after they've dropped their ordnance. 

 

You want to beat a Tirpitz?  Engage her at range in a Cruiser or Battleship.  Keep her at about 12km to 15km.  In anything else?  Business as usual.  Feast.

 

[Fleet_Admiral_Kolchak]

Being a TIrpitz player, it takes a skill game to maximize its potential although I guess that can be said with any ship. However half of the folks these days preform a "Yolo Tirpitz" and it leads to an easy kill. Just because you have torps doesn't mean you should use them.  

 

On the flip side Tirpitz can be such a great kiting ship because of the way the armor is dispersed. Fire a couple shots, angle. Fire a couple shots and angle again. These are the players you should fear. But again its how the player uses said ship.

[Taichunger]

Is anyone regularly getting cit hits at extreme ranges on Tirpitz? I've hit them many times in Amagi, Nagato, N Carolina at extreme range yet never citadeled one at that range. At close and medium ranges, I can cit them. 

[Savage_Bunny]

I can only give BB aspect to this as my DDs are not high enough and I have not been playing my cruisers for awhile.

 

My Nagato can rumble with a Tirpitz and my Amagi as well.  I have only ever gotten a citadel on a Tirpitz from using my Tirpitz and from my Amagi but I hit them for average basic shots 8-17k damage.  Since I am still putting lots of hurt on them I really do not see an issue with the Tirpitz.  Even my Amagi (Battlecruiser)  can take them on close range and come out the victor almost every time.  The only frustrating thing about the Tirpitz are that,  when I see those ships in game,  I know it will be a bashem battle because I cannot citadel them often enough.

[Hagbar]

its not op and something is def wrong because I got eaten by the Tier 10 Russian destroyer. Cant hit what u cant see, and he was hitting fast n furious at a range where all I saw, where shells coming in faster than the Atlanta and spotter a/c didn't see it either. if they just plan to make all rhese Russian ships then its gonna be Russian super duper battleship killing destroyers and cruisers and the holy grail of battleship with sheklls the size of Ireland that kill the entire other side in one shot

 

[Jerkster]

i think its nicely balanced the one thing that i have to say is for wg to stop messing with thoes secondaries

[Bacl]

Tirpitz is the only BB currently in game that is designed to be a close range murderer, se armor deflect everything flat, fast turret turn rate to allow maneuvers and well, TORPZ!

 

The other are designed to bombard from long range with heavier caliber guns. The Yankees and Niacs deck armor is much better than the Fritz in that regard because they are designed to snipe and to withstand incoming long range fire.

 

So moral of the story is, if a BB is designed to fight in close quarter combat because most of its assets are focused in that regard, well run from it lol, keep the distance. You can still kill it in CQC with other ships but get ready for a fight because this one wont crack easily.

 

 

 

 

[PcolaTy_1]

Unfortunately, I'd have to vote no on the Tirpitz being balanced seeing as she can get into Tier 6 and 7 games with the rare tier 5 BB as well. Not sure why, but the Colorado has a heck of a time attempting to penetrate her citadel armor at close range. I've done everything that I could think of by aiming below the funnels, turrets, off to the side to attempt to hit the magazine and nothing works. Truth be told though, I would know how to balance her other than either:

 

a) Giving the Colorado more penetration kick

b) Lowering the Citadel armor on the Tirpitz so that Tier 7 BB's can cit her.

c) Give the Colorado more HP pool so that she isn't as bad against other tier 7 BB's.

[Xenomancers]

Don't try to hit tirpiz in the citadel. Aim for it's bow. It does take a lot of damage there - I'm talking like 15-20k salvos without getting a citadel.

[PcolaTy_1]

Don't try to hit tirpiz in the citadel. Aim for it's bow. It does take a lot of damage there - I'm talking like 15-20k salvos without getting a citadel.

 

Pretty much what I do anyways, though after a while you'll have to start switching areas of the ship to shot at considering that once a hull section gets under a certain percentage, it doesn't take that much damage anymore. Of course, it also help when you have ships focusing on one Terpitz as it is so much easier to kill him than as their health tends to vanish pretty quickly. 

[Germanwarrior2]

 

 I really regret buying the Tirpitz, the guns are so horribly inaccurate even with the upgrade and if you get close to enemies, your armor doesn't last long, I'm actually doing way better in battles with my New York.

[c00per]

I do not own one but it seems balanced just stay 10+ km away from it. If your in a slow BB such as 1-7 American, and it gets close with its superior speed then no it is not balanced. Stay at range and eat it up

[c00per]

I do not own one but it seems balanced just stay 10+ km away from it. If your in a slow BB such as 1-7 American, and it gets close with its superior speed then no it is not balanced. Stay at range and eat it up

[Thomas_Kinkaid]

It's the Lowe of the High Seas. People buy it, think it's crap when they really just suck. Case in point;

[HazeGrayUnderway]

For Tier VIII, Tirpitz is competitive enough.  Her armor is her main saving grace and the faster reloads are appreciated.  Both Amagi & North Carolina's guns must be respected:  16" guns are no joke.  However, Amagi has great handling but inferior armor so I feel very confident facing an Amagi with my Tirpitz.  North Carolina is a tougher fight.  She is the "middle of the road" of the Tier VIII BBs.  Good guns and sufficient protection.  NC will not simply go down quickly like Amagi would so if I face NC with my Tirpitz, I have to settle in for a slugging match and hope for an opening to Citadel.

 

In facing Tier IX, I felt no problem against Izumo.  Iowa however is a very different story and she's a very nasty one to face with Tirpitz.  Iowa's armor and 16"/50 guns are a lot for Tirpitz to handle.

 

Tier X?  Haven't squared off with Montana with Tirpitz so I cannot judge too well.  Yamato however is dangerous business but she's like that against everyone.

 

I dare not go into a medium or long range gunfight with the Iowa, Yamato, not unless I got others with me.  Not sure about Montana.

 

The equalizer for Tirpitz, regardless of her guns, is if you can get into close range with the other BBs, you got Torps and they don't, in addition to your excellent handling characteristics.  Like any ship, you have to know their limitations.

[TallGiraffe]

I think your just suffering from "New Tank Syndrome" Plus you don't own it. Trust me it is not as good as you believe it is.