Lexington Strategy Help

[MeetTheBadger]

I'd like to ask for some help refining my carrier gameplay from the carrier captains out there.

 

Some background: I played carriers in CBT and managed to grind up to the Lexington, which I've just recently unlocked again.  Of course, the carrier landscape has changed considerably since CBT, so my memories of how the Lexington worked are totally out-of-date.  I'm also not a dedicated carrier driver, or an amazing carrier virtuoso.  I'm okay at best.

 

My first game in the Lex after unlocking it (and fully upgrading it, since I don't like taking out stock ships), I got unlucky in the MM and ended up going against an enemy Lex and a Midway, and they focused and stomped me.  Okay, it happens.  I'd gone strike in that one, so I decided to switch and go air superiority to have a chance of defending myself.  The next match, there were again two carriers on each side -- the enemy had a Lexington and a Shokaku.  My fighters did all right... but they ran out of ammunition very, very quickly.  And didn't seem to make a dent in the number of groups in the air, despite shooting down 33 planes before I, again, got focused and destroyed.  (The first time I had a cruiser giving AA support, the second I didn't -- they'd all gone forward -- if that information helps.)

 

So now I'm not sure how to handle the Lexington.  The current high-tier carrier meta appears to have swung back in favor of alpha strikes on enemy carriers, and the Lexington's F4Us, while good, don't seem to have the ammunition to deal with that, but going full strike obviously offers no protection at all, and the stock flight control module only offers three groups.  Any suggestions and advice for how to handle situations like that would help.

 

Thanks.

[BelgaraththeSorcerer]

Strike seems to be the only real working possibility, your fighters just dont have enough ammunition to make a good dent in the enemy planes. I decided to AA spec my Lexington and then just go strike and it seems to work really well.... my only problem I've been having is teams who don't understand the concept of not lemming training....

[HBZK100]

Yeah the Fighters on the Lex are meh, however remember to use strafing, it is almost a necessity.

 

Strike is indeed the best, you will LOVE strike on the Lexington.  It's easier than AS (most of the time), and you are far more beneficial to your team.

[tremor3258]

The Lexi DBs are much better than CBT with bigger bombs - try and stay near your team, especially at the start if they try for a carrier strike as cruisers can swing back and help.