Mouse's Compilation of Guides & Articles

[LittleWhiteMouse]

I've had a few requests to compile some of the threads I've made.  Here's an index of some of my posts and guides.  I'll be updating and indexing this as I add relevant content.  New articles (within a one-to-two month time) will have their links in bold.

 

Ship Reviews

This is (apparently) what I'm most known for outside of having a distracting avatar.  I really didn't think she'd be distracting but I should have thought about the game's target audience a bit more.  No, I'm not changing her.  Anyway, I have written a large number of these reviews.  Because of the constant changing nature of the game, the stats described in these articles are only as current as of the time they were originally published.  When a ship gets changed or re-released, I try and revisit the ships and review them anew.  This has led to there being repeated reviews of the same ship (two iterations of the Warspite, Atlanta, Fujin, Atago, Mikhail Kutuzov and Anshan).  I have no doubt that I will publish a third or a fourth version of some of these over the next year.  When in doubt, check the date of the original post.  I will try and include the patch version at which the ship was reviewed going forward.

 

•  Mouse's Quick Summary of Premium Ships

This is by far the most important link of the bunch.  It constitutes a second index of the premium ships and I check to update this daily.  It contains a list of not only all of the premium vessels that have been available but it also keeps track of what ships are currently available either through sales, promotions or competitions.

 

I will be listing the reviews I've done in inverse chronological order -- meaning those closest to the top are more relevant to the current in game meta.  Older articles for the same ship are noted below it's entry with an indentation and brief explanation as to why this was done.  I've got so much to catch up on.
 

2016.07.15  Krasny Krym

2016.07.01  Arizona

2016.06.27  Yubari

2015.11.20 Yubari - replaced with updates for 0.5.3 and 0.5.7.

2016.06.23  Sims

2015.12.15 Sims - replaced with updates for 0.5.3 and 0.5.7 and to address meta of Season 4 Ranked Battles.

 

Pre Patch 0.5.7

The reviews below predate the overhaul of the module system that came with patch 0.5.7.  The recommendations for the modules will reference the older system and may not reflect modules that are currently worthwhile in the meta. 

 

2016.06.08  Arpeggio of Blue Steel Kongo-class

2016.01.07  ARP Kongo  - with the inclusion of the Haruna and Kirishima, this older review needed to be updated.

2016.05.31  Smith

2016.05.29  Indianapolis

2016.05.24  Emden

2016.05.20  Tirpitz 2.0

2015.09.27 Tirpitz  - One of the oldest reviews.

2016.05.13  Molotov

2016.04.30  Ishizuchi 2.0

2015.12.06  Ishizuchi  - Redone to account for the buffs to the Ishizuchi in 0.5.5.

2016.04.29  Mikasa

2016.04.25  Texas

2016.04.22  Campbeltown

2016.04.07  Saipan

2016.03.31  Diana

2016.03.27  Murmansk

2016.03.25  Mikhail Kutuzov 2.0

2016.01.13  Mikhail Kutuzov - Ship was changed significantly between its release and patch 0.5.3, especially in regards to how Captain Skills affected her weapons.

2016.03.18 Marblehead

 

Pre Patch 0.5.3...

These reviews predate the overhaul of Captain Skills  and as such often reference synergy between the abilities of Basic Fire Training, Advanced Fire Training and occasionally Expert Marksman which would affect guns of a caliber up to 155mm as opposed to 140mm as they do today.  This can influence the Pros and Cons of a given ship in these reviews significantly.
 

2016.02.23  Lo Yang

2016.02.21  Arkansas
2016.02.18  Atlanta 2.0

2015.07.20  Atlanta - Changes in the game's meta have greatly affected the Atlanta's performance.

2016.02.11  Kamikaze-class 2.0

2015.11.11  Fujin - Redone to include the Kamikaze R as they are the exact same ship with different skins.

2016.02.11  Tachibana

2016.02.10  Anshan 2.0

2016.02.08  Anshan - My first review was made in reaction to the vocal misconception that was being propagated that the Anshan was a tier 6 Gremyashchy.

2016.01.21  Atago 2.0

2015.07.22  Atago - The Atago underwent significant buffs since the time of her inception.

2016.01.09  Arpeggio Myoko

2015.12.26  Blyskawica

2015.11.27  Imperator Nikolai I

2015.11.26  Warspite 2.0

2015.07.08  Warspite - Further understanding of the Warspite's unique abilities and a change in the meta prompted a revisit to my first review.

2015.11.25  Aurora

2015.11.19  Gremyashchy
 

Guides, Essays and Tutorials

Looking at some of the fundamentals of World of Warships and discussing how they affect game play.

 

• Experience guide -- Mouse takes a look at how experience is earned in World of Warships.
• How to take fun screenshots -- For most of my guides, this takes up as much as half of my 'writing' time.
• How many Battles to Rank One? -- The first of two posts about the math behind ascending in Ranked Battles.
• More Ranked Battle Math -- A second post regarding the fickle fortune of Ranked Battles and why Rank 10 seems filled with poor quality team mates.
• Damage Control Party Guide -- Looking at the most common of consumables for World of Warships and how to make proper use of it.
• The Different Situational Awareness Warnings -- There's two.  Who knew?
• The Colorado is not the Yamato -- Re-examining Battleship roles and play styles and trying to separate them.
• Lemming Trains and Lone Wolves --  A counterpoint to every critical armchair admiral out there.
• Battleship Brawling Basics -- Low tier fundamentals for getting the most out of the durability of your dreadnoughts.
• Know Your Enemy Part One -- Dastardly fiends and foes of World of Warships!
• Know Your Enemy Part Two -- More horrors from the harbour!
• Dispelling Illusions of Aim Assist -- A quick reply to someone believing there's a prevalence of aim-assist users.
• How to Aim at a Distance -- A quick reply providing assistance on long-distance gunnery.
• The Basics of Shell Damage -- A quick replay explaining the numbers your hits generate on enemy targets.
• How to handle a Destroyer attack in a Battleship -- A quick reply providing a quick guide on what steps Battleship players need to take to survive a close range Destroyer attack.
• Being Unladylike in Battleships -- a 'quick' reply for how to get in the proper mindset of playing a Brawler.
• Cowards in Battle -- a reply to Poidachi's thread on getting stuck in.
• Situational Signal Flags -- a review of the situational use of signal flags and why they're advantageous but not game-breaking.
• Captain & Doubloons -- You can spend doubloons & credits to help accelerate some forms of training for your Captain.  Is it worthwhile?
• Reverse Tactics -- Leading the way with your buns of steel.

 

After Action Reports

Occasionally I have a particularly memorable game moment worth sharing.  I should really make a Youtube series for these.  Some are serious, some are simply humorous.

 

• A Perfect Storm -- 216,607 damage done and 3386 base XP in the HMS Warspite in a tier 7 game.
• Beautiful Teamwork -- During the CV-Scourge era in Open Beta, before carriers were divided equally by Matchmaker, our team pulls together a miracle.
• Something Wonderful -- Spontaneous co-operation in a random battle.  Who knew it could happen?
• Sigh -- A closer look at a very unfortunate happening on the western side of the map during the Perfect Storm game.  Don't back up.
• Oh Fudge -- A Clemson nearly owns Mouse.
• High School Dating -- A Tirpitz comes a courtin'.

 

Reviews

Examining various ships, events and the state of the game itself.

 

• Wearing the Witch's Hat -- Playing the Salem Witch during the 2015 Hallowe'en event.
• A Quick Summary of the IJN Battleship line -- From the Kawachi up to the Amagi.  I haven't played the Izumo or Yamato enough to comment (yet).
• Open Beta Review -- A look at the state of the game back before launch in mid summer of 2015. 
• Ranked Battles, the Second Season -- Mouse's experiences in Ranked Battles.  The ups, the downs and the Pirate Flags.

 

[minor_correction]

Thank you! Was hoping to be able find your posts. You write well, make an attempt of objectivity in a gaming environment, and keep a good attitude about it. Very much appreciated.

 

Bookmarking...

[Aivris]

Lovely! Thanks for the guides and for the compilation. Looking forward to more of your content! 

 

[LittleWhiteMouse]

Updated with a lot of articles, including:

 

• Premium Ship Reviews for Aurora, Imperator Nikolai I and a redone version of the HMS Warspite.
• Two essays on Ranked Battles.
• A guide on how to take fun screenshots and use the free camera options during replays.

[Nofiller]

Thanks Mouse ! Great content as usual !

[LittleWhiteMouse]

Well, it's been a while. Here's a list of added articles since December:

 

• Premium Ship Reviews for the USN Sims, ORP Blyskawica and the Fog Kongo.
• A Review of my experiences during the second season of Ranked Battles.
• How Reversing in a Battleship can sometimes be a viable tactic.

[PyriteHunter]

LWM, thanks much for taking the time to compile all this

[bogorairne]

Yes, thank you!  I found your guides very useful in the recent past and was looking for more of your insight.

[DaRukus660]

Thanks soooooo much. This helps me so much. Answered all of my questions.

[Crispy_Colonel]

Hey Mouse! Love the guides. They're very useful and well written. Thanks for putting them up. While I'm here, I have to point out there's a slight typo in the title of this thread. No big deal anyway. Cheers!

[LittleWhiteMouse]

Thank you all.  Sorry this is so horribly out of date.  I'll spend some time on Saturday cleaning this up.

[Guest]

Thank you all.  Sorry this is so horribly out of date.  I'll spend some time on Saturday cleaning this up.

 

Sounds good Mouse, I hope this collection is cleaned up thoroughly, and the thread can once again be used as a hub of your amazingly well built threads~!  

[RenamedUser_1016493851]

Where do you view a replay?

[LittleWhiteMouse]

Where do you view a replay?

 

To watch a replay, you drag and drop the replay file onto your WorldofWarships.exe file.  NOT the launcher.

[Frank_Ye]

I find that a lot of enemies can blind fire at me hiding in the smoke and be pretty accurate even when I'm not firing back. Do you happen to know how they achieve this? I want to learn the skill myself!

 

Let us assume there's no issue with the Situation Awareness captain skill.

[LittleWhiteMouse]

I find that a lot of enemies can blind fire at me hiding in the smoke and be pretty accurate even when I'm not firing back. Do you happen to know how they achieve this? I want to learn the skill myself!

 

Let us assume there's no issue with the Situation Awareness captain skill.

 

It's pretty easy to pull off and I pride myself on being able to bulls-eye ships that hide in smoke.  Here's how I do it, from hardest to easiest.

 

1. I watch for changes in direction when smoke pops.

   Often when players drop smoke, they cut their engines or make a sudden (but only one) course change -- not taking into account that if they were moving at speed, odds are they will outstrip the first "puff" of their smoke discharge and get spotted one last time.  By using their vector when they popped smoke and where they appear the second time before disappearing completely, I can create a fire solution and lead towards where they will be if they don't change course or speed again.

2. When players shoot in smoke, their tracers give away their position.

   Even if a player is moving slowly forward or backward, it's easy to nail their position when they're firing in smoke and bulls-eye them.  This is especially true of rapid fire guns like USN 127mm and VMF 130mm rifles.

3. I shoot the moment i see smoke popping.

   Shells take time to reach a target -- usually 5-10s easily.  So you may be hidden but shells launched when you were still visible can still be landing after you disappear.  As you're unlikely to be able to track all of the incoming fire from more than 2 ships, gauging when someone shot at you is difficult.

 

Simply put:  Don't be predictable.

[Frank_Ye]

 

It's pretty easy to pull off and I pride myself on being able to bulls-eye ships that hide in smoke.  Here's how I do it, from hardest to easiest.

 

1. I watch for changes in direction when smoke pops.

   Often when players drop smoke, they cut their engines or make a sudden (but only one) course change -- not taking into account that if they were moving at speed, odds are they will outstrip the first "puff" of their smoke discharge and get spotted one last time.  By using their vector when they popped smoke and where they appear the second time before disappearing completely, I can create a fire solution and lead towards where they will be if they don't change course or speed again.

2. When players shoot in smoke, their tracers give away their position.

   Even if a player is moving slowly forward or backward, it's easy to nail their position when they're firing in smoke and bulls-eye them.  This is especially true of rapid fire guns like USN 127mm and VMF 130mm rifles.

3. I shoot the moment i see smoke popping.

   Shells take time to reach a target -- usually 5-10s easily.  So you may be hidden but shells launched when you were still visible can still be landing after you disappear.  As you're unlikely to be able to track all of the incoming fire from more than 2 ships, gauging when someone shot at you is difficult.

 

Simply put:  Don't be predictable.

 

Many thanks, but actually I think 2 is easier than 3, since it can give out the position of the target rather more continuously.

[Berry_Tiger]

GJ

Хорошо оформленная тема.

[051197]

I've had a few requests to compile some of the threads I've made.  Here's an index of some of my posts and guides.  I'll be updating and indexing this as I add relevant content.  New articles (within a one-to-two month time) will have their links in bold.

 

Ship Reviews

This is (apparently) what I'm most known for outside of having a distracting avatar.  I really didn't think she'd be distracting but I should have thought about the game's target audience a bit more.  No, I'm not changing her.  Anyway, I have written a large number of these reviews.  Because of the constant changing nature of the game, the stats described in these articles are only as current as of the time they were originally published.  When a ship gets changed or re-released, I try and revisit the ships and review them anew.  This has led to there being repeated reviews of the same ship (two iterations of the Warspite, Atlanta, Fujin, Atago, Mikhail Kutuzov and Anshan).  I have no doubt that I will publish a third or a fourth version of some of these over the next year.  When in doubt, check the date of the original post.  I will try and include the patch version at which the ship was reviewed going forward.

 

•  Mouse's Quick Summary of Premium Ships

This is by far the most important link of the bunch.  It constitutes a second index of the premium ships and I check to update this daily.  It contains a list of not only all of the premium vessels that have been available but it also keeps track of what ships are currently available either through sales, promotions or competitions.

 

I will be listing the reviews I've done in inverse chronological order -- meaning those closest to the top are more relevant to the current in game meta.  Older articles for the same ship are noted below it's entry with an indentation and brief explanation as to why this was done.  I've got so much to catch up on.

 

2016.06.23  Sims

2015.12.15 Sims - replaced with updates for 0.5.3 and 0.5.7 and to address meta of Season 4 Ranked Battles.

2016.06.08  Arpeggio of Blue Steel Kongo-class

2016.01.07  ARP Kongo  - with the inclusion of the Haruna and Kirishima, this older review needed to be updated.

2016.05.31  Smith

2016.05.29  Indianapolis

2016.05.24  Emden

2016.05.20  Tirpitz 2.0

2015.09.27 Tirpitz  - One of the oldest reviews.

2016.05.13  Molotov

2016.04.30  Ishizuchi 2.0

2015.12.06  Ishizuchi  - Redone to account for the buffs to the Ishizuchi in 0.5.5.

2016.04.29  Mikasa

2016.04.25  Texas

2016.04.22  Campbeltown

2016.04.07  Saipan

2016.03.31  Diana

2016.03.27  Murmansk

2016.03.25  Mikhail Kutuzov 2.0

2016.01.13  Mikhail Kutuzov - Ship was changed significantly between its release and patch 0.5.3, especially in regards to how Captain Skills affected her weapons.

2016.03.18 Marblehead

 

Pre Patch 0.5.3...

These reviews predate the overhaul of Captain Skills  and as such often reference synergy between the abilities of Basic Fire Training, Advanced Fire Training and occasionally Expert Marksman which would affect guns of a caliber up to 155mm as opposed to 140mm as they do today.  This can influence the Pros and Cons of a given ship in these reviews significantly.

 

2016.02.23  Lo Yang

2016.02.21  Arkansas
2016.02.18  Atlanta 2.0

2015.07.20  Atlanta - Changes in the game's meta have greatly affected the Atlanta's performance.

2016.02.11  Kamikaze-class 2.0

2015.11.11  Fujin - Redone to include the Kamikaze R as they are the exact same ship with different skins.

2016.02.11  Tachibana

2016.02.10  Anshan 2.0

2016.02.08  Anshan - My first review was made in reaction to the vocal misconception that was being propagated that the Anshan was a tier 6 Gremyashchy.

2016.01.21  Atago 2.0

2015.07.22  Atago - The Atago underwent significant buffs since the time of her inception.

2016.01.09  Arpeggio Myoko

2015.12.26  Blyskawica

2015.11.27  Imperator Nikolai I

2015.11.26  Warspite 2.0

2015.07.08  Warspite - Further understanding of the Warspite's unique abilities and a change in the meta prompted a revisit to my first review.

2015.11.25  Aurora

2015.11.20  Yubari

2015.11.19  Gremyashchy

 

Guides, Essays and Tutorials

Looking at some of the fundamentals of World of Warships and discussing how they affect game play.

 

• Experience guide -- Mouse takes a look at how experience is earned in World of Warships.
• How to take fun screenshots -- For most of my guides, this takes up as much as half of my 'writing' time.
• How many Battles to Rank One? -- The first of two posts about the math behind ascending in Ranked Battles.
• More Ranked Battle Math -- A second post regarding the fickle fortune of Ranked Battles and why Rank 10 seems filled with poor quality team mates.
• Damage Control Party Guide -- Looking at the most common of consumables for World of Warships and how to make proper use of it.
• The Different Situational Awareness Warnings -- There's two.  Who knew?
• The Colorado is not the Yamato -- Re-examining Battleship roles and play styles and trying to separate them.
• Lemming Trains and Lone Wolves --  A counterpoint to every critical armchair admiral out there.
• Battleship Brawling Basics -- Low tier fundamentals for getting the most out of the durability of your dreadnoughts.
• Know Your Enemy Part One -- Dastardly fiends and foes of World of Warships!
• Know Your Enemy Part Two -- More horrors from the harbour!
• Dispelling Illusions of Aim Assist -- A quick reply to someone believing there's a prevalence of aim-assist users.
• How to Aim at a Distance -- A quick reply providing assistance on long-distance gunnery.
• The Basics of Shell Damage -- A quick replay explaining the numbers your hits generate on enemy targets.
• How to handle a Destroyer attack in a Battleship -- A quick reply providing a quick guide on what steps Battleship players need to take to survive a close range Destroyer attack.
• Being Unladylike in Battleships -- a 'quick' reply for how to get in the proper mindset of playing a Brawler.
• Cowards in Battle -- a reply to Poidachi's thread on getting stuck in.
• Situational Signal Flags -- a review of the situational use of signal flags and why they're advantageous but not game-breaking.
• Captain & Doubloons -- You can spend doubloons & credits to help accelerate some forms of training for your Captain.  Is it worthwhile?
• Reverse Tactics -- Leading the way with your buns of steel.

 

After Action Reports

Occasionally I have a particularly memorable game moment worth sharing.  I should really make a Youtube series for these.  Some are serious, some are simply humorous.

 

• A Perfect Storm -- 216,607 damage done and 3386 base XP in the HMS Warspite in a tier 7 game.
• Beautiful Teamwork -- During the CV-Scourge era in Open Beta, before carriers were divided equally by Matchmaker, our team pulls together a miracle.
• Something Wonderful -- Spontaneous co-operation in a random battle.  Who knew it could happen?
• Sigh -- A closer look at a very unfortunate happening on the western side of the map during the Perfect Storm game.  Don't back up.
• Oh Fudge -- A Clemson nearly owns Mouse.
• High School Dating -- A Tirpitz comes a courtin'.

 

Reviews

Examining various ships, events and the state of the game itself.

 

• Wearing the Witch's Hat -- Playing the Salem Witch during the 2015 Hallowe'en event.
• A Quick Summary of the IJN Battleship line -- From the Kawachi up to the Amagi.  I haven't played the Izumo or Yamato enough to comment (yet).
• Open Beta Review -- A look at the state of the game back before launch in mid summer of 2015. 
• Ranked Battles, the Second Season -- Mouse's experiences in Ranked Battles.  The ups, the downs and the Pirate Flags.

 

AWESOME GUID THANKS MUCHMAKE MANY MORE !!! WHAT IN THE HELL IS THAT BIZZARE ANIME PICTURE THING !!!!!! EPICLY DONE MAN .......epic

[Valas1]

Bump for new players, this needs to be pinned to the top as well as a few others' guides.