High caliber AP vs DDs

[gurudennis]

A quick poll to see what you guys think.

[Zhoyzu]

a full AP salvo from a BB will deter most DD esp when they lose half or more of their health.

 

For the cruisers it depends on tier and which DD theyre fighting.

 

The high tier russian DD are pretty much AP only

[INoCU]

Also German 8" AP is going to be a lot more effective than the other 8" AP shells

[gurudennis]

Also German 8" AP is going to be a lot more effective than the other 8" AP shells

 

Why?

[MrDeaf]

Also German 8" AP is going to be a lot more effective than the other 8" AP shells

 

it's not.

It's just the HE is so crap, that it just doesn't make a huge difference.

[INoCU]

 

Why?

Just raw damage numbers. Looking at the tier VIIIs USN 4600(460), IJN 4700(470), and KM 5900(590) damage(overpen damage)

[gurudennis]

Sure. It didn't seem to me like "a lot". As MrDeaf mentioned, it's less impractical to fire KMS AP at DDs because the HE isn't that much more effective, but not because the AP is great or anything. With KMS, I still tend to reload HE in the presence of a DD, just not as aggressively as with IJN for example.

[INoCU]

Not denying AP is a bad choice against destroyers. Just trying to say German AP can skew the 8" poll slightly since it is about 20% more "effective" than the others. Maybe "a lot" was an exaggeration.

[mouth1313]

I've noticed a LOT of what seems to be overpen with BB caliber HE shells. So much so that I just fire AP at DDs.

[Jinxed_Katajainen]

It really depends on the situation too...  normally I keep AP loaded on Cruisers and Battleships

If I'm expecting to shoot at a DD with no other ship types nearby, I'll change to HE if reload time allows. If not, I'll shoot off the AP at the DD and switch to HE on the next salvo.

If I'm shooting a DD with a CA or BB nearby in range because the DD is the only valid target due to bigger ships being hidden by smoke or behind land, I'll keep AP loaded and keep shooting AP