Need BB advice

[CanofPop]

Hello all, 

This is my first post here and its mainly because I have a few questions and would like some of your opinions. I was an on and off player for a long time and only recently have I been trying to pump out games. My focus lately is BBs, mainly because I love how tanky they are as well as those moments where you 100-0 someone in 1 salvo. But as of late I am having trouble doing good in most games and I find my team just turns and runs when the other team rounds the corner leaving me (and any other BBs) to fend for ourselves. 

So I suppose my question is does it get better for BBs T8+? Do our shots become more accurate? Or does BB play heavily rely on playing with friends to assist you?

 

Thanks in advance for any responses.

Also any tips/tricks for BBs is greatly appreciated!

 

[Cruiser_YahagiKai]

BB dispersion will always be a mixed bag at ranges exceeding 14km or so. Being alone in a BB without any support is pretty much asking to be picked on by destroyers or a horde of cruisers. Generally, my experience as an escort cruiser player has been escorting battleships, only for those same BB turning tail and sitting at the very back of the map for no reason while leaving me high and dry. But in any event, BB of T8+ have a slightly different set of things to deal with. Torpedoes gain extreme ranges, shells do get more accurate with the addition of accuracy modifications for USN and just generally better dispersion for IJN. That is, however, the extent of what I can really tell you as I've been playing almost entirely mid-high tier cruisers as of late, and haven't touched BB's much since CBT.

[CanofPop]

Thanks for the quick reply, Yea I have yet to find a cruiser willing to escort me. I may be playing BBs a little to aggressively but I am not one to sit back and snipe. My main problem is don't know if I should keep going down the tree to t10 (currently 6 for USn and 5 for IJN) or do I switch to cruisers or something .

[Sir_Godz]

Everything sucks after T8. Everyone plays timid because the repair costs are too high.

All the guns are bigger and badder after T8 but the armor isn't, so quick exits are common. BBs tend to just go nose in and reverse letting RNG decide the engagement. CCs can't get out in front because the DPM and range of BBs destroy them fast regardless of angling. DDs throw craptons of torp walls and if you are out front you get criss crossed and focused to death in no time. It's sad and not many enjoy it.

T6-8 is where the fun happens. Plenty of crappy players to hand over HP on a platter and sometimes enough good ones to not TK your team. Plenty of credits and XP to go around as well.

The only high tier (9-10) games I enjoy are on the shatter map and that is because there is enough cover to not get smoked instantly but enough for good maneuvering.

[Sir_Godz]

Kamisamurai does a daily twitch stream mid after noon EST and he plays BBs mostly. Check it out for sure and see what he does.

[CanofPop]

Everything sucks after T8. Everyone plays timid because the repair costs are too high.

Honestly reading this upsets me quite a bit. I mean the dream when you start this is to get into a big bad ship and blow people up. I don't want to finally get to that tier and just sit back and snipe. Is every game like this?

 

Ill check that stream out for sure. thanks

[Ronin_338]

Having a team that understands coordinating fire as well as manuvering without running into anyone is priceless.....and difficult to encounter when jumping in the queue. The only BB I have is the Tirpitz and so I have been climbing a rather steep learning curve to figure out tactics and strategies, having poor teammates make it all the steeper. The ones that fire one salvo before turning hard about and running away suck the most.

 

I have watched many battles, after having been sunk playing various classes, and have determined for myself that it isn't a requirement to fire in salvo mode every time. I fire turret at a time and salvo when I am confident the dispesion factor actually gives me an advantage to hit or I am confident enough on my gunnery to take out my target.

 

Play with your speed to decrease your vulnerability to torpedoes. Steer straight on toward your target presenting minimal target yourself and turn to fire after their shots have landed so you can bring more guns to bear before firi g yourself. Alter course frequently if you suspect torpedoes to be inbound. Know the strengths and weaknesses of your boat and those of your adversaries and exploit them when able. Work on mastering your gunnery skills, they can be the difference when one shot counts.

[Ronin_338]

YouTube can also be a good source for tactics, good and bad, as well as gunnery and such.

[CanofPop]

I have watched quite a few youtube videos and one of the problems I have noticed in them is that many of them give contradicting information and tactics. 

[CanofPop]

Also thank you for the advice, I just tried a few of the things you mentioned it seemed to make an improvement.

[CAPTofLOBakaAlbedachuke]

Ya it ruined my dreams of high tier BB too when I learned in my NC or Amagi sometimes 4 even 5 of 6 matches i was vs an with Yamatos, Montanas etc an could do nothing but look for some aggressive sucker because the BBs at that tier seem to all mostly just snipe at max range an YOU dont wanna go forward an be the low tier target. I really wouldnt see this as fun even if I had a Yamato. Maybe a dd at level 10 would be fun for a bit being invisible an having torps that outrange most guns but thats not even close to a real ship battle like BBs vs BBs. Mainly BBs stay back because of the dread torp wall of the shimikaze and every hit is like thousands of credits. Watch some videos on the shim 20k range torp wall if you want the scoop of T10 and dont listen to these people who say you just have to learn to use A and D lol. The worst part for me was really the grind of being in an 8 vs 10 so much. You can do little vs any of them but cruisers an if a cv decides to target u which they will if your aggressive in the least bye bye. The mid tiers are still fun and thats where you will have your fun. If you must do the grind get to Amagi which has good accuracy at range an can do some damage to any stupid bb driver at any tier an you can judge by that whether its worth it to you.

[alexf24]

BBs are fun, but it gets tougher and not necessarily better at higher tiers.

(disclaimer: I am primarily a DD player at T8/T9)

 

I like BBs, and have a few. To me the sweet spot is T5-T7

 

I have keepers in New Mexico, Fuso, Colorado (like all three), and am about to purchase Nagato in this coming weekend's IJN sale.

 

USN BBs are tanky and are brawlers. Generally played at 12km or so. IJN BBs are fast and have long range but a little more fragile. Certainly not brawlers at close range.

 

I do not know which line you pursue or which one you have tried. Try both lines and see what your style is.

 

Sure, Iowa and Yamato sound great, but they are very expensive to get there and purchase, and very expensive to maintain anything at T9+. A bad game willl make you lose credits aplenty.

[Wowzery]

I feel myself stopping at T8, with the Amagi and North Carolina.  Been dumped into a few T8-10 games, they suck compared to other tiers.

[ValkyrWarframe]

Don't sail in a straight line

[Wowzery]

Don't sail in a straight line

 

This needs to be change to a general don't sail in a straight line.  Can't believe the DD and CA captains who whine over getting their ships blown out of the water by a BB because they were sailing in a straight line.