Pensacola - HELP!

[Peregrinas]

I just bought my Pensacola, and I was pretty excited about her. Bigger guns with faster shell velocity means a much better shell arc compared to the horrendous shell arc that is on the Cleveland. I've heard all the complaints about the Pensacola, but I thought that I could make her work.

 

But I need help. I excelled in close range brawling with the Phoenix, Omaha, and Cleveland, but so far I've tried to stay out of close range brawling with the Pensacola from what I've heard about her thin armor. It also probably doesn't help the fact that players are much more skilled at tier 7 and I can't get into close brawls without suffering huge damage (whereas I'd be able to multi-citadel enemy cruisers at around tier 5 while they are shooting HE at me).

 

The stock turret rotation is also incredibly slow which sometimes renders me unable to fire at an enemy as I try to turn around so I start running away instead of continuing to close in. Then there's the issue of just how incredibly weak she is. I've never received such tremendous damage with any previous cruiser as often as I have with the Pensacola. Even at 12km, BBs are somehow managing to wreck 1/3 and up to 1/2 of my total health in a single volley. My damage output has been severely cut as a result of trying to stay at range, with a shell flight time of around 9 seconds at 14km, making it difficult to hit enemy cruisers.

 

I really want to make the Pensacola work. I don't like to play overrated ships *cough*Cleveland*cough* and I'm glad to have moved on to the Pensacola. I just want to be able to have fun with her.

[Crucis]

Remember that the Pensacola is a HEAVY cruiser, whereas the Cleveland is only a Light Cruiser.  Also, in reality, the Pensacola was designed and built well before the Cleveland, and is very weakly armored because it was trying to abide by the Washington Naval Treaty's limitations on displacement.  You're going to have to learn to accept the fact that the Pensacola and all heavy cruisers to come (both USN and IJN) have slowish turning turrets.  Not as slow as battleships, but still slower than light cruisers or DD's.  You have to plan your movements with the knowledge of turret facings, and so forth, because you can't expect them to whip around like they do on the Cleveland or Atlanta.

 

For combat, use AP as much as possible against cruisers.  The Pensacola's guns are quite good, and with AP are more than capable of shredding a Cleveland at range.  OTOH, when facing DD's or BB's be prepared to switch to HE.

 

Also, remember that unlike the tier 4 and 5 US cruisers, you have no torpedoes, so be very, very careful when thinking about brawling with IJN cruisers who do have torps.  In general, I prefer to keep my heavy cruisers at range and use their guns' accuracy and ROF to pummel their targets.  As far as trying to go 1v1 against a Cleveland, I suggest holding the range as open as possible.  Why?  Because the Cleveland's slow shell speed and high arc makes them less accurate than the Pensacola's much higher speed, low arc guns that are quite accurate at their long range.  You can shoot and zigzag, making it difficult for a Cleveland to consistently land shells on you, while your Penny's guns should be able to land good volleys time after time.

 

 

[mohawkdriver]

It's my next ship, but I'm not looking forward to it.  After the Omaha, USN cruisers don't get torpedoes anymore.  I'm leaning more toward the IJN and German lines now.

[mohawkdriver]

It's my next ship, but I'm not looking forward to it.  After the Omaha, USN cruisers don't get torpedoes anymore.  I'm leaning more toward the IJN and German lines now.

[Legendary_Typo]

Also, remember to angle, it can help when you're facing a BB, and then you can turn to fire your broadside during the reload time of the BB.

 

Like other CAs, turn your turrets in advance, so you have them when you need them.

[Bobbin]

Try to never present a broadside.  You'll get citadel hit quite a lot, and most tier 7 and 8 cruisers can nearly one-shot you, if not out-right evaporate you in one shot.  BBs doubly so.  Try to keep range and learn to hit citadels.  You won't be shooting as often, so you can make each shot count.  I've one-shot evaporated tier 7 cruisers with mine.  And that's with only taking AA upgrades on my slots.

[Elysion]

12km is basically the sweetspot for battleships to citadel you. When engaging battleships try to be at your absolute max range. Stay highly angled, dont worry if you can only use your front or rear guns, in almost all situations its better to cut your firepower in half but be angled than to show your side. Only do that to distracted enemies, or try it against clevelands, but immediately turn back to see if they took the bait and started firing AP at you, if they keep up the HE spam feel free to use all guns.

 

Remember you can citadel other cruisers through the bow if you are close enough and get a good solid hit.

 

And from your max range, if a BB fires at you, immediately cut engines and turn hard, then straighten out and go back to full speed on your new course.

 

this will slow your speed down doubly, one from the engine cut, and another from the turning speed loss. This will put you optimally as far off course as you can be in the time it takes for their shell travel time. This will work against enemy cruisers as well, important when fighting other CAs. I killed a zao with a nearly dead mogami this way, just dodging all the shots.

 

[AegisFCS]

I couldn't wait to get to the Pen. First thing you need to do is throw out the HE spam mentality. From 10km in the Pen's AP can penetrate BBs of the same tier. At range and vs dds use HE, closer AP is your friend. If shot right you will be able to get 4-7 citadels in one salvo, especially against cruisers. As long as you remember, you are a cruiser and dd fighter that ship and the rest of the line are amazing. The AA is just extra for you. If you don't like the Pen then I would suggest trying other ship lines out. IJN cruisers get the same size guns as Pen to start with torps to help at the closer ranges. They just lack the AA but if you switch to the AA buff they are pretty efficient.  The above poster is giving excellent advice on driving. Never stay straight. Turn only to unmask turrets to shoot. Use your maneuverability to your advantage. 

[Wolff_Punisher]

If you use all the suggestions above you'll have a great time in the Pensacola. Also remember, stock it's a rough ship, she really shines once fully upgraded.

[Joe7Six]

One thing that usually gets me shredded so fast with the Penny is being first in range or getting surprised by several ships on the other side of an island. I think I do better if I support BB's. In a way I operate it similar to a BB because of the slower turret rotation. I try to stay back from the front line a little. I just got the Penny this week and I'm still learning it as well.

 

And like everyone else said, stay angled! Heavy cruiser my [edited]!

[Peregrinas]

Thanks everyone! It's a brand new day and with your advice, I have renewed enthusiasm for the Pensacola! I spent 9k free xp to get the hull upgrade just before I called it a night, so hopefully I'll see some improvement from that.

 

What do you guys use for your third and fourth ship upgrade slots? For one of them, I'm tempted to get the +20% faster acceleration to top speed.

[Joe7Six]

Thanks everyone! It's a brand new day and with your advice, I have renewed enthusiasm for the Pensacola! I spent 9k free xp to get the hull upgrade just before I called it a night, so hopefully I'll see some improvement from that.

 

What do you guys use for your third and fourth ship upgrade slots? For one of them, I'm tempted to get the +20% faster acceleration to top speed.

 

I went with the faster rudder shift time. Easier to dodge incoming fire and bring all turrets to bear on the target. I think the acceleration upgrade is more intended for DD's and possibly BB's.

[DarkLanceAR]

Just a few thoughts:

You can help your team more by putting you guns to good use than just assuming a sailing AA role.

Map awareness, scan the minimap as often as possible.
Scan your surroundings for enemy ships you may have enter their firing range.

Always pre-aim your guns when you decide to change your heading

Always show the smaller section possible to the enemy and at the same time try to keep all your guns pointed.
If need to disengage time your turning when the enemy is reloading because at some point you'll show your whole broadside.
Try not to keep course even if not engaging, just tiny changes in heading.
When things get fubar, keep track of the largest guns pointing at you so you can avoid incoming shells.
APs are your dearest friends against other CLs/CAs, don't go full auto, sometimes you need to hold your shots a bit to wait for the enemy to make a move showing a better target. A good AP punch is always better than slowly burning down enemy cruisers.

Play with other players overconfidence (after all you're sailing the crappiest tier 7 CA according to the public opinion).
Never be the tip of the spear.

[Xenomancers]

Stay at max range and wiggle. I even used the turret rotation module when I was on her because she is basically always turning. I found that I actually did more damage with better turret rotation as opposed to ROF. It also makes your decisions easy. Need to fall back and retreat? NP - I can have my guns turned around in 20 seconds.

[DarkLanceAR]

And your reload goes up to 16s. No way

[PepperMill]

The Pensacola almost killed the game for me.  I was playing it way too aggressively.  Now that I'm almost done with it I like it.   All the advice above covers the issues and how to address them really well.

 

Against other cruisers the Pensacola is a citadel monster.   I have been very successful working just behind a couple of BBs adding to their fire and protecting them from DPM cruisers and, to a lesser degree, destroyers.

 

 

[enderland07]

Phoenix/Omaha/Clevelands that brawl with me in the New Mexico suffer the same fate you are describing.

 

I think what you are suffering from is better BB (and cruiser) captains in the higher tiers who are more patient and able to take advantage of weaknesses in cruisers brawling with bb.

[Captain_Chaos_NA]

The game mechanics aren't great for any heavy CA really, even more so for the US line which lack torps.  What you find yourself doing is making the best of what you have to work with.  I finished the Pens I had some good games but it was a buzz kill for CA's.  Still working on getting the Mogami but that will be the end of the line of IJN CA's for me.  I would like to see light CA go to tier X though.

[RightYouAreKen]

As primarily a BB driver (who also is up to the Pensacola and have it fully upgraded), I lick my chops when I see a Pensacola sailing parallel to me at 15km or less.  It's sweet citadel time.  

 

In reality, the Pensacola has one of the best gun firing angles I can think of.  You can be VERY strongly angled at your target (either head on or retreating) and still have all turrets brought to bear on them.  There's really no reason to expose your broadside unless you need to turn around and run for the hills.  And when I do that I often get smacked with a citadel or two for my trouble.

[Crucis]

The game mechanics aren't great for any heavy CA really, even more so for the US line which lack torps.  What you find yourself doing is making the best of what you have to work with.  I finished the Pens I had some good games but it was a buzz kill for CA's.  Still working on getting the Mogami but that will be the end of the line of IJN CA's for me.  I would like to see light CA go to tier X though.

 

Just and FYI.  There's no such thing as a "heavy CA" or a "light CA".  Heavy cruisers are CA's, and Light cruisers are CL's. 

[KurganSPK]

It's the one-shot wonder, and not in a good way - I got one shot by an Amagi today as aggressively angled as I could be..... hit-and-run tactics from range seem to be the order of the day in this ship. I don't fear clevelands at all in it though, it eats them. 

 

[Faerkhan]

The one playstyle change that helped me a lot in the Pepsi was never showing broadside to anything that had guns pointed in my direction. The steering gears mod in slot 4 helps a lot too, dodging return fire is probably the most important skill in Pensacola compared to CLs like Cleveland. That and knowing where enemy citadels are located are my three pieces of advice. HE is still your best option for dealing with BBs though, unless you can manage to get really close while thier main guns are pointed another way or hit them from max range and get lucky. 

[KurganSPK]

The one playstyle change that helped me a lot in the Pepsi was never showing broadside to anything that had guns pointed in my direction. The steering gears mod in slot 4 helps a lot too, dodging return fire is probably the most important skill in Pensacola compared to CLs like Cleveland. That and knowing where enemy citadels are located are my three pieces of advice. HE is still your best option for dealing with BBs though, unless you can manage to get really close while thier main guns are pointed another way or hit them from max range and get lucky. 

 

this is the common advice and nearly impossible to do at all times, and the instant you fail - even for a second -- "poof" dead. (and everyone focuses this ship lately for the LOLs). Plus, as I mentioned right above, I got one shot while angled through the front by a t8 bb earlier today. Great guns on this ship but not much else. 

 

[Summon3r]

Pens is one of my favorite ships thus far, granted unupgraded it is almost intollerable... BUT..........

 

once upgraded and you add in rudder shift module and have a commander with good skills (AA efficiency and range) this thing is an absolute beast, remember to always fire then turn in or away from your target or anyone shooting at you. if you get caught broadside your gonna get hurt BADLY. HE on bb's and DD's and [edited] face with AP on any other cruiser BB's any tier lower inside 8km go with AP as well and citadel them all day long