Captain skills for American CA's?

[Vaidency]

I've played the IJN cruiser line up to tier 9 and I'm now starting the USN line but I'm not sure what to do with my captain's skills. 

 

The nature of the IJN cruisers makes some captain skill choices fairly obvious.  The Ibuki has fairly high concealment, slow turret traverse speed, good fire-starting chance and only mediocre AA, so you go with Situational Awareness, Expert Marksman, High Alert, Demolition Expert, Concealment Expert.  You get a ship that's good at starting fires with HE spam and can fire on targets at long range without being detected by them.

 

Is it a good idea to do the same thing with a USN CA, though?  They've got better AA, so BFT and AFT are more tempting than they are for the IJN ships (I guess they've technically got better secondaries too, but cruiser secondaries are a total nonfactor right now.)  They've got faster turret traverse, so Expert Marksman, while still useful, isn't as essential.  Will the new 2-point Last Stand be good or is losing engine and rudder not an issue for USN CA's?

 

How about Demolition Expert?  I know that the USN CA's have lower fire-starting chance and better ricochet angles than the IJN CA's, so that would naturally encourage you to use more AP and less HE, but do you still end up using HE enough that DE seems like a good skill?  Or should I just go AFT with my level 4 skill to take advantage of my superior AA (and, very rarely, superior secondaries) when applicable?

 

How about 5-point skills?  Is it worth it to get Concealment Expert?  It seems modestly worth it for the IJN CA's, but they have a bit longer range than the USN CA's, so their stealth-fire window is more forgiving.  In fact, can USN CA's stealth-fire at all?  I've heard lower shell velocity and higher arcs is a big issue for USN CA's, so maybe you build for stealth just so you can close to medium range before opening fire on a target?  Or would it be a better idea to forego a 5-point skill and just get both AFT and DE?

 

At any rate, I'd like to hear thoughts from some USN CA players with high-level captains on what skills seem more worthwhile for this particular line of ships.  I know they can be a real challenge to play, so I want to set myself up to succeed as much as possible.

[clowlock]

You don't.

Just grind the KM line, USN CAs are great at low tiers but from tier 6+ they are essentially a floating turd.

[El_Judarino]

As I was first introduced to the game in CBT when carriers were the scourge of the oceans and not an endangered species, I still build everything for AA. Its actually kinda funny to see what an AA Atago or Ibuki does to unsuspecting incoming planes on those rare matches when a CV is present. I have fallen in love with concealment expert ever since I put it on Ibuki and, if I can force myself from 'cola to Des Moines, I'm salivating at the prospects of stealthing my way in relatively close and just unleashing a torrent of 8" AP into some poor sod. 

 

Really, until the carriers come back (if they ever do) I'm unsure how "worth it" BFT and AFT will be

[Captain_Dorja]

I hate to say it, but I agree with theclowlock. I'm on the Baltimore. If you want to play a gunboat cruiser, don't play what WG intended as the end all be all of gun cruisers. Just play German instead. For that matter, play IJN instead. Except for turret placement, they are better gunfighters than USN also lol.

[Lieutenant_Horn]

I'd go Situation Awareness, Expert Marksman, Superintendent, Demolition Expert or Advanced Firing Training, and Concealment Expert.  I find Concealment Expert to be extremely useful for T9+ cruisers especially when there are no DDs nearby. I use it to get in close and ambush enemies with easy citadels; however, you can invisi-fire with the Baltimore and the Des Moines (although it is much harder to do in the Des Moines.) It even helps act as a great DD warning when used with Situation Awareness because you will know when a DD is within 10km of you. DE or AFT are situational. You can still have solid AA even without AFT. AFT on the Des Moines will make the Des Moines the ultimate AA platform after this patch. Pair that with AA modifications and you've got a ship that no carrier will ever want to touch, although you will definitely want the range modification for your primary armament. Expert Marksman is self evident, but Superintendent is preferential. I usually use up all of my heals during a long match so I enjoy having extra survivability. Otherwise, you should run Vigilance.

[DelroyMonjo]

Expert Marksman nerfbat is gonna ruin the CL lines.  Might as well stick with what you got.

[clowlock]

I hate to say it, but I agree with theclowlock. I'm on the Baltimore. If you want to play a gunboat cruiser, don't play what WG intended as the end all be all of gun cruisers. Just play German instead. For that matter, play IJN instead. Except for turret placement, they are better gunfighters than USN also lol.

 

I am sad puppy.

WG seems to hate the USN ships for some reason, except for the USN BBs, i think the USN BBs are great and very well balanced(except for T9-10) , but everything else is .

1 out of 4 lines, Perfect score according to WG.

[Captain_Dorja]

 

I am sad puppy.

WG seems to hate the USN ships for some reason, except for the USN BBs, i think the USN BBs are great and very well balanced(except for T9-10) , but everything else is .

1 out of 4 lines, Perfect score according to WG.

 

USN DDs are really competative these days too. Oh my god the Benson and Fletcher are a terror to behold and I think post buff the Mahan and Farrrafut are good now too.