Krazy Kirov! Tier V russian cruiser review.

[Warlord_Deadeye_Pete]

What can you say about the Kirov that hasn't all ready been said? Darnd if I know, but I'm gonna give it a go anyway.

 

First off...Wow, whadda ship!  I didn't have any issues at all transitioning to this ship this morning when I'd earned sufficient XP on the Svietlana to get her.   She's faster.. much faster at 35 knots or so..though she's not terribly agile before the B hull, she's not bad.. certainly not as bad as my usual BB ride..  She's a bit of a hybrid in feel though... almost battleship like, and those fast firing very accurate long barreled 180's (7.1") are fantastic guns..  They fire nearly as fast as the 6" gun cruisers and hit significantly harder...You HE shell's are sufficiently heavy to cause citadel hits on other cruisers..though the AP is best for that..  Of special note though is her float plane.. that is not a scout/float fighter.. that's a spotter plane!   Launch that puppy and reach and and touch someone with AP... or HE.. or both.. Is Russian cruiser.  Be generous!  And of course once you get the range finder upgrade..oh boy.. long range fire.. and your first salvo will likely go out with you invisible.   Maneuver after that opening salvo though.  Sailing strait is just inviting a 14" air express package to avenge the paint you just scorched..   Long range AP fire on BB's at this tier with this ship can pay off quite nicely so don't be afraid to use, especially if you have the rangefinder upgrade and the spotter plane up.... very steep plunging fire at the far end of her range..Might just citadel your self a BB, and any CA that you drop them on will feel it to their keel!  Also, very very accurate, as with the Bogatyr and the Svietlana, those shells go right where you point them with very little scatter and dispersion at all but the longest range.

 

ROF is excellent, and more the good when dealing with DD's in close, but remember to switch to HE. Those 7.1 over pen like crazy on close targets with their rather flat trajectory and shot flight time.  In one side, out the other. I've over penned Cleveland with AP.  Kinda embarrassing!

 

The torps are nothing to write home about with only a 4k range..but with a 14,400 warhead strength and a speed of 64 knots, when you do fire them you're going to hit all but the most agile of targets..as long as you lead em right.  You only carry 3 tubes per side how ever, and unlike the Svielana at tier IV you have a reload time that is long at 70 seconds.. save em for discouraging DD's or when you have decided that its time to suicide run!

 

Of special note also are the ship secondary DP 100mm guns, in 6 single mounts.  These are pretty serious good AAA with a range of 5km.. as AAA seems to work better then AA (which with B hull is 9 37mm single mounts) when doing the escort thing  They're what knock down torp bombers before they launch.  While some IJN ships may have more AA its just not as good.. the IJN ships run 25mm as AA, this ship runs 37mm.  US ships of course typically a mix of 20mm and 40 mm.  Still, don't let this ships solidly good AA, and AAA leave you complacent.

 

The B hull also radically improve the ships rudder shift time down to 3.2 seconds from an all ready not bad 7.8 seconds.. shes a big hull though, and fast so don't be expecting the ship to respond right away to rudder inputs, but once she does bite, she turns right sharply..So be careful not to over control.  If you need to evade incoming fire you might be a bit smarter reducing speed to 3/4.  She carried a bit of momentum so again, mind over controlling, and plan you maneuvers a few seconds ahead of time.  You'll get the hang of it fairly fast if you pay attention to hit and it'll become second nature in short order.

 

The one thing to remember is Kirov is not a heavy cruiser, but nor is it a light cruiser.. it is simply, a Cruiser, and a good one.   This class of ship gave sterling war time performance for the Soviet navy.  Derived from an Italian design they were the first large ships built by the Soviet regime.  The ships them selves were quite interesting in that the 6 total ships of the class were built in pairs. 2 served in the Baltic, 2 served in the Black Sea, and the final pair were for the far east squadron, and were under construction at the port of Vladivostok and I believe were not finished until after the war.  These ships served long into the cold war with numerous refits to finally be retired from the lists in the early 1970's.

 

Vs DD's:  They don't like you, you don't like them... take em out when you see em. as even though your a cruiser.. having much HP is not your forte.. you don't want to risk sucking many torps.  

 

Vs CA's... Some cruisers may cause you problems, but frankly you out range all of em when you have your spotter up. ('cept another Kirov of course)  The tier is immaterial. They all have more HP then you generally so kill them before they get into good range if you can.. save you much grief later.

 

Vs BB's.  I'm still working it our dealing with BB's. But I will say this.. you do not want to go mano a mano with a BB unless you can get close.. really really close.. stupid suicidal close where you can chuck torps at em too...  Generally don't run from BB's if they're under 10k unless you have some cover to run behind.   If they're shooting at you turn into them and get stupid close,  killing them with torps before they kill you with guns is your single best chance of surviving the encounter.  What ever you do make your decision fast because your not likely to get a second chance.

 

Vs CV's:  Well, well.. you now have a Russian cruiser with some real anti air, especially if you have the B hull.  Its not uber, but its very good with the 6 100mm DP mounts.  Point of fact is that with your good solid AAA you can act as a anti air escort for other ships.  ANd if you can get a CV into gun range which can happen quite easily with this ships main gun range and high speed you can erase them in prett short order.  I expect CV skippers arerapidly learning to not like Kirov's.  Cleves and the like have more and better ainto air, but your not to shabby and the best anti air platform on a cruiser hull for your tier.  Don't get to cocky or you'll end up sunk...  You may find at times dive bombers cause you more grief the torp bombers.. especially American dive bombers.  You do not how ever have an AA consumable, and you do not have a scout fighter float plane...so be aware of the limitations..

 

In Closing.. wow, whadda nice ship!

 

Warlord sends.

 

 

[Pope_Shizzle]

How can you possibly claim that a 15 second reload on a 180mm gun is excellent?  The ROF and the terrible armor are the main weaknesses of the ship.

[giovybez]

Its weird how this ship gets such mixed reviews.

[poeticmotion]

Vs BB's.  I'm still working it our dealing with BB's. But I will say this.. you do not want to go mano a mano with a BB unless you can get close.. really really close.. stupid suicidal close where you can chuck torps at em too...  Generally don't run from BB's if they're under 10k unless you have some cover to run behind.   If they're shooting at you turn into them and get stupid close,  killing them with torps before they kill you with guns is your single best chance of surviving the encounter.  What ever you do make your decision fast because your not likely to get a second chance.

 

I've had some decent success with BBs in Kirov. She's a firestarter, and although she's squishy she's maneuverable and has decent range for a cruiser.  I killed a New Mexico and a New York today with her in same match, simply by hanging back at edge of range and peppering them with HE while dodging most of their fire. I was hurt enough by time I got done with both of them that a Kiev polished me off with ease, but she can do significant dmg to BBs. 

 

I had some help with the second BB and neither BB driver was very good (each was broadside to me, not dodging, not aiming terribly well) so YMMV. But she's probably the best t5 cruiser at fighting with BBs in my experience so far, FWIW. 

[MrDeaf]

Its weird how this ship gets such mixed reviews.

 

If you're used to higher tier cruiser play, 15s reload is pretty standard. You get 9 guns in 3 turrets, so it's not even that bad at T5. However, if you're used to lower tier cruisers, 15s is a huge departure, especially coming off of a ship like Svetlana or St. Louis with many fast firing guns.

The weakness in armor and agility are definitely a huge and massive departure from all of the previous cruisers. If it's just armor, Atlanta would be about par, but it's combined with the agility of Hindenburg, which is just unheard of... until now.

[Warlord_Deadeye_Pete]

yea, funny about all the griping... I personally don't understand it.. I'm afraid if did it'd just make me be pissed off and rage.. a lot.  Mostly at the folks doing it. Ya know, I'd say things like, Man Up, Get a grip, Grow some.. Grow up, get a life.. that sorta thing.. not exactly terribly politic or especially popular..(in spite of what your seeing during the current election cycle. but lets NOT go there..I'm almost ready to Up the Revolution at this point.. well see come election day) And difficult to make it sound positive and encouraging.

 

Ships are tools we use in this game..The game is really about beating the conditions of the game against resistance (friction) from the opposing players in any given match.   All the ships are different...And as I have grown in experience playing the game I've found I am less and less concerned with "tier" of ships, and for more interested in how they play..  That's why I'll do insane crazy thing like take a way low tier ship into a division that'll get 'em selves into a tier X battle.  If you see me in a Umikaze.. better hope you get me before i get you.. and it'll be a slow death too.. those Umikaze torps only pack a 6800 point warhead.  If I were mean I'd go in and damage as many ships as I could with out sinking any of em.. Don't worry, If I'm in a higher tier match its to give you a chance.. low tier.. no chance at all if I'm "on" that day.  If I ever bag a double Kraken it'll most likely be in an Umikaze...

 

I write these review posts for the players that don't take the time to really know the ships.  To give them an idea of what they will really dealing with at an emotional/mental level of play.  Yea I'll toss in some technical bones.  It's expected.  And to give them positive feedback.  To tell them  "you learn this ship and you will do well in it if you use it right"

 

Every ship in the game has some way that its uber, and some way that it stinks, and how its uber or stinks depends entirely upon ones point of view, prejudices, and assumptions. And that is what determines how well a person does or does not do with a ship.  Not the ship.. The Player...  Which is why a cocky as hell, skilled unafraid of condemnation much less anything else Tier II Unikaze driver can go into a tier X match and kill a Yamato, or a Montana, or a Roon, or what ever is there to be sunk. Because in the end... it just a ship, a tool..a hammer to be used to beat out a win.  Some hammers are better then others.. they're still hammers! Git 'er Done!

 

Accepted wisdom is Russian Cruisers are well built but not especially armored..It's a mind set I am comfortable with, that a lot of players are not comfortable with.  The best Russian ship players will have a DD skipper mentality of get in, strike hard, get out. Rinse, repeat! And to know when running is no longer an option.   And to also know that with some ships, once you commit to action, that i!.. Victory or death.. and maybe, because it is a game... Both!

 

Warlord Sends

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BubbleRapper]

The ROF certainly is not fast, but it's definitely sufficient due to the good penetration at range and the number of guns. Granted it's not mind blowing or anything since ships with twice the ROF do almost the same damage, but the ability to reliably pen at range with precision makes up for it.

 

I find that I don't get really high damage games in Kirov, but I always do ok in it, and most importantly I find myself enjoying playing it.

[CommodoreKang]

Sorry if its been mentioned already but does the spotter plain only come with the A hull?  I had it for one match i think but now I don't see the option anymore....

[Goose21891]

Sorry if its been mentioned already but does the spotter plain only come with the A hull?  I had it for one match i think but now I don't see the option anymore....

Loses plane on B hull

[CommodoreKang]

Loses plane on B hull

 

TYVM.  Do you know if theres something on the UI that indicates that?

[Goose21891]

 

TYVM.  Do you know if theres something on the UI that indicates that?

Other than looking at the ship in port, none that I know of

[Gabriel_LXIX]

Does the RU line displace the DE line?

 

Is there any reason to do both lines?

[CommodoreKang]

Does the RU line displace the DE line?

 

Is there any reason to do both lines?

 

Adds a bit o variety imo.  Big ships with big guns and Soviet era craftsmanship and life expectancy.  What's not to like?