Possible Smoke Glitch

[AspiringCodger]

So, last night there was a DD about 5-6km away from me while I was in my Atlanta.  He wasn't moving.  He popped smoke once spotted, but continued to remain stationary.  I knew this because he kept shooting and his shells were coming from the same spot every time.  I fired several shots to where he was before he popped smoke and got no hits.  I ended up firing all around where the shots were coming from and landed zero out of what was likely 50+ shots before I died.  I asked him about it in game but he didn't respond.  I messaged him after the game and very politely asked him if I was at least close to hitting him as I may need to file a bug report or something.  He didn't answer that either.  So, I'm wondering if anyone else has come across this?

[Legendary_Typo]

Did he keep shooting? Because it's entirely possible he left the smoke while you were still shooting, and you just missed your earlier shots.

[AspiringCodger]

No, he kept shooting the entire time and ended up killing me.  His shells came from the exact same spot every time.

[Pope_Shizzle]

Your problem is that the game assists you when shooting a visible target.  When said target goes dark, the game no longer auto corrects your shots for range, which means you need to aim a little bit lower than normal to manually compensate.  Also, AP shell work wonderfully on dark targets in smoke because of their ability to continue their trajectory even when hitting water.  

[IceSerpen7]

Step 1: pop smoke

Step 2: go to 1/4 throttle and turn until you present the smallest profile (that allows you to keep all guns on target) to the cruiser

Step 3. stop turning and begin to alternate between 1/4 forward and reverse

[AspiringCodger]

Your problem is that the game assists you when shooting a visible target.  When said target goes dark, the game no longer auto corrects your shots for range, which means you need to aim a little bit lower than normal to manually compensate.  Also, AP shell work wonderfully on dark targets in smoke because of their ability to continue their trajectory even when hitting water.  

 

My shots were landing where he was shooting from though and I shot all around the area.  I never thought about the whole AP thing though.  Sounds like it would have been a good idea.

[AspiringCodger]

Step 1: pop smoke

Step 2: go to 1/4 throttle and turn until you present the smallest profile (that allows you to keep all guns on target) to the cruiser

Step 3. stop turning and begin to alternate between 1/4 forward and reverse

 

I have done that before, but that's not what happened here.  You could see by the shells being fired that he was still full broadside to me.

[steelreserv27]

No, he kept shooting the entire time and ended up killing me.  His shells came from the exact same spot every time.

 

Without the DD being targetted, its hard for the game to fogure out what you are shooting at.  Ive hit DDs in smoke before and you dont want to aim directly at where the shell tracers start, but quite a bit below and in between them (depending on your range).  If you shoot at the shells origination point your reticule is actually on a spot of water 100's of meters on the other side of the DD.

 

 

[AspiringCodger]

 

Without the DD being targetted, its hard for the game to fogure out what you are shooting at.  Ive hit DDs in smoke before and you dont want to aim directly at where the shell tracers start, but quite a bit below and in between them (depending on your range).  If you shoot at the shells origination point your reticule is actually on a spot of water 100's of meters on the other side of the DD.

 

 

 

Huh.  Sounds reasonable.  Still odd though given the flat trajectory the shells were coming in from at that range.

[Pope_Shizzle]

 

My shots were landing where he was shooting from though and I shot all around the area.  I never thought about the whole AP thing though.  Sounds like it would have been a good idea.

 

The graphics engine doesn't create the shells exactly from where they come out of the gun.  There is generally a brief period where shells are invisible.  This leads to people shooting too high.  Your shells will often go well above the target.  This is easy to see if you take a DD into a match and pop smoke.  90% of the incoming shots sail well over your head.  The problem with your shots is their depth.  Next match, when 2 ships are close together, target 1 of them and then shoot at the other.  It's very very very hard to hit a ship that hasn't been target locked because of the help the game gives you in terms of ranging your guns.  Smoke magnifies that effect because you can't correct your shot because you don't know where they are landing in relation to the smoked ship.

 

 

[DeeZee8]

1/4 speed forwards for 5 seconds.... all stop....reverse for 10 seconds... all stop. Firing the entire time. This example that is me in a DD in smoke. I will appear to you to be in the exact same spot. I make a slight movement. In smoke you will never see me. 

Defense for this in Atlanta, is offense. Close the distance. Bow towards smoke, using 1/2 speed... A and D slightly to zig zag in case torps come. The DD will be spotted even in smoke. Atlanta has no need to fire sideways i.e. 5 guns forwards. Your diligence will pay off for this by deleting DD's. 

Hopefully you are not under a barrage from other vessels.

Good luck with this.

 

[AspiringCodger]

Thanks for the help everybody.  I'll try to shoot lower if it happens again 

 

[DeeZee8]

Thanks for the help everybody.  I'll try to shoot lower if it happens again 

 

No. Close the distance. Your ship is very very very OP in this situation. You cannot "TRY" to even hit him, unless you see him. The worst scenario is she torpedoing you driving straight.

Attack.   Attack. Do not sit back.

[Takamachi_Nanoha_sg]

You need to aim way below the shell tracer. The reasons are:

1. You may see the shells from same location, but it can trick you. You can't lock your guns and your own ship is moving, so your viewpoint is constantly changing. Seeing it come from 'same' location does not mean its actual coordinate remains the same, your view can trick you.

2. The shell does not come right from their ship but from the turrets on top. And due to viewing point different, you actually see the tracer even higher than the actual gun position. So your shells can pass on top of the ship and land few kms away.

3. There is a rendering delay for the shell tracer. So the starting point of the tracer is further than the actual muzzle position

4. Enemy ship can be moving front and back in very slow speed. Combination of the above point, they tricked your aiming

[AspiringCodger]

 

No. Close the distance. Your ship is very very very OP in this situation. You cannot "TRY" to even hit him, unless you see him. The worst scenario is she torpedoing you driving straight.

Attack.   Attack. Do not sit back.

 

I was closing the distance, but died first.

[Kuckoo]

Thanks for the help everybody.  I'll try to shoot lower if it happens again 

 

Firing at an unspotted DD hiding in smoke is not terribly effective unless there are several ships firing at him.  You spend too much time missing and not knowing his exact position.  When that situation happens you're better off just switching to a target you can actually see.

 

The only consistently effective way of dealing with DDs parking in smoke and firing is to charge straight at the smoke, but then turn at such an angle so all your guns are ready to go when you do spot him.  Turn on Acoustics or Radar if you have it.

 

Torps, if you have those, are excellent for dealing with smoke squatters.  You see where they're fring from?  Send a spread at that location.  He'll likely still be there when your torps arrive.  I've lost count on how many DDs I've torped while they were parked in smoke.  Enormously satisfying.

 

Otherwise, don't waste time shooting at ghosts when you can do damage to someone else that you can actually see.

[BrushWolf]

I am going to bet on desync or you forgot to sacrifice a virgin, I know - try to find one these days, to the RNGesus.