Which Tier 8 CV is best?

[Capt_Tameichi_Hara]

Hi, I'm trying to decide which tier 8 CV is best or is it just a pref thing? I'm torn on which one to start grinding with.

[devastator5000]

Lexington is a monster in strike, but shokaku is still very good for balance loadouts

[Gavroche_]

Shokaku. Not even a question. At tier VII it's debatable which is better, I personally prefer the Ranger, but at tier VIII, it's no competition.

[MeKanism]

Shokaku probably. More balanced groups. And more fighters.

 

Lexington is a pretty good looking ship tbh...

[devastator5000]

Shokaku. Not even a question. At tier VII it's debatable which is better, I personally prefer the Ranger, but at tier VIII, it's no competition.

 

Funny cause I remember when people used to say lexington was the best T8 CV with her strike package in all

[MeekANTIFUN]

Honestly it really depends. Would you rather have fewer per quad with more efficient squadrons (Shokaku) or have more per squad but slightly less effective squadrons (Lexington)

[Zhoyzu]

you can afk a 90k dmg avg in lex because USN planes are much more durable.  go for both. both lines are great.  It also depends on how many squadrons you can/want to control. shok has 6 and lex has four.

[Numbah18]

Lexington has great AA (mines at either 92 or 94) and has fairly good FT along with DB that should RNG favor you the damage you cause will be fairly good plus US strike loadouts can wreck enemy ships but you have to give up your FT. Shokaku has a better everything else really. Shokaku has better loadouts, better maneuverability, and is harder to detect. The matches I've been in where the enemy Shokaku was good and his team stayed decently close together saw me doing little to no damage while the Shokaku was wrecking my team and getting kills, of course this could also be partly because I run the stock 1/1/1.

[BadlyBrowned]

 

 

Funny cause I remember when people used to say lexington was the best T8 CV with her strike package in all

 

Maybe before the 0.5.3 AA buff.

 

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As for the OP:

 

IJN CVs are more flexible up and down the line.

 

USN CVs are a lot more specialized and limited by the loadout they choose before the battle.

 

I would probably go for the IJN line as a first CV line to go for. 

[HazeGrayUnderway]

Shokaku.  Up and down every tier except Tier VII, IJN CVs dominate their USN counterparts.  Saipan is the only USN CV that's equally competitive.  It is also the only USN CV that experienced IJN CV players have ever complained about.

 

Shokaku's success lies in her specs, as with all IJN CVs.  Take a look at her Fighter or Strike Spec values, then look at Lexington.  It's not even close.  Lexington used to be a bad@ss ship before she got nerfed, her standard spec was 2/1/0.

[Palladia]

If you're good with manual drops the Lexington will perform well.  If you aren't,  the Shokaku will do more damage.  Otherwise the IJN has more flexibility overall.  The only thing USN CV's will win at is DB's and right now that's still kind of a moot victory.

[Gavroche_]

you can afk a 90k dmg avg in lex because USN planes are much more durable.  go for both. both lines are great.  It also depends on how many squadrons you can/want to control. shok has 6 and lex has four.

Yeah, but pure damage starts to mean less at these tiers. I've got a 90k average damage with my Lex for a winrate of 47%. In my Shokaku, I've got 78k average damage with a 67% winrate...

[hiroshi_tea]

I haven't gotten to the lex or played the Shokaku yet, but I think the Shokaku is probably the better of the two due to flexibility.  

[Shoukaku_Kai_Ni]

Wise men/women. As they said, Shoukaku.

Before the def. fire though, it was scary. I'd be happy to see a As Lexington.

I think the IJN line is much better due to flexibility, but it's fun to play both.

[Edgecase]

There is no contest between lines for CVs at Tier 6 and higher. Assuming the player can keep up with the larger number of squadrons, IJN absolutely dominates all equal-tier USN carriers except the premium Saipan.

[RockstepGuy]

Well a couple of days ago a independence tier  VI fighter squadron was in a 1 v 1 with my tier VIII fighter unit..

he killed all the planes and i just getted 1 down (there was no AA there), and i was like: "O____O rofl"..

 

IJN CV's are good for just delivery devastating strikes to the enmy DD's, and also for scout the enemy (we need scout points T-T), from tier V is when the things goes bad, if the enemy know how to use an AA loadout you will be probably get like almost nothing :S

 

but if we are talking what tier VIII is the best, leave me with my shokaku, lex strike loadouts are easy to hunt down with 2 air groups, and the stock loadout is not a great problem, but i dont like it when they bring the AA loadout, with that you are in good problemas.. 

[marcmad]

It depend, do you want damage or win rate?

Lex for damage and shokaku for win rate.