Captain skills by line

[BurglarOfBanff_ff]

Now that we have a good chance to re-skill our captains, I'd like to know from some of the more experienced player the best skills for each line.  For US DD, US BB... etc.

[Citrusss]

I don't think there is universal good captain build. Pick one to match your style. Also, as captain advances - redistribute skills occasionally as some skills work best with others. 

[Takamachi_Nanoha_sg]

There is no universal skill set for the ships. It is based on each individual ship and your playstyle and preference. If you ask one specific ship of some particular ships, I can give you some suggestion. But I can't say anything if you ask such a broad question

[Skye_Hino]

Well, don't know much about other classes, but I do know a fair bit about DD's.

 

US DD's tend to spend a lot of time knife fighting other DD's to control caps, a job they are well suited for with their fast turret traverse and ROF, so you should spec for that, especially with the lower tier skills, so:

Personal Recomendations:

 

1 Point: BFT. Faster reload = more DPS=enemy dead quicker=you take less dmg.

 

2 Point: LS. Because you will be hit, and your engine/steering will be knocked out.

 

3 Point: Vig. Because those pesky DD's will always try to nail you with torps in a knife fight. You can come back for SI later, if you want it, or use premium consumables.

 

The 4 point skills are where you need to make some really hard choices. If you want to go all-in on the knife fight approach, SE is your best friend, especially at higher tiers. Alternatively, you could diversify a bit, and try to increase your dmg output against larger ships, for which you should take DE. If you plan to take this captain all the way to the higher tier DD's (8+), you could also opt to grab AFT to spec for an AA build. Sounds stupid, but from the Benson up, it's actually quite viable. Gearing can eat whole squadrons for lunch, if built right.

 

A lot of people will say that CE as the 5 point skill is essential. In an IJN DD: yes, absolutely. USN? Still a very good choice, and it will make it easier to get to those knife fight ranges. Or, you could keep with the US DD lines unofficial motto of "maximum versatility" and opt for another 4 point skill (or all three, with an 18 point captain).

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IJN DD's are an entirely different kettle of fish. They are much more invested in their torpedo systems, and excell as mid-to-long range torpedo "snipers", for lack of a better term. With IJN DD's, your primary foci are stealth and your torpedoes, in that order. Guns are a distant third, as you will mostly only use them when the excrement really impacts the rotary air circulation device, or for stealth firing tricks at higher tiers.

 

Personal Recommendations:

 

1 Point: Again, BFT. It's the only one that has any real value. Yes, you won't be using your guns often, but when you need them, you really want them to fire as fast as possible. It could be the difference between life and death.

 

2 Point: TAE. Your torpedoes are your primary weapon. The faster you can fire them, the more dmg you can deal. Some people say LS is essential, but really, literally everything else in the game has worse stealth than you. It may not be much of a window, but you will see the enemy before he sees you (unless it's another IJN DD of course).

 

3 Point: At low lvl, go for SI. The extra charge of smoke can save your neck in sticky situations. At higher tiers (Fubuki) you could respec for TA, since you have access to 15km torpedoes, but that's a personal choice, based on your playstyle.

 

4 Point: Again, some choices to be made here, but only two this time. You could opt for SE to improve your odds of survival if you get ambushed by a sneaky US DD. Alternativly, you could go for AFT. Not for AA, like the US line, but some of the higher tier IJN DD's (Fubuki for sure, don't know about the others) are able to stealth fire with this skill. Combined with the IJN's very effective HE shells, this opens up new avenues to deal dmg.

 

5 Point: CE. No if's and's or but's. For IJN DD's, stealth is literally life. A visibile IJN DD will very rapidly become a dead IJN DD.

 

After CE, you could go back and grab LS if you feel you need it, or whatever cheaper skills you feel are useful to you.

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RU DD's are, once again, a completely different proposition. Ru DD's (I've heard some people call them "VMF", but I have no idea what it stands for) excell as long range snipers, dealling dmg with their guns at extreme range. Again, youy'll want to build to maximise your effectivness in this role.

 

Personal Recomendations:

 

1 point: Once again, BFT (notice a pattern here? ). As with USN, faster ROF = more dmg. Only thing that's changed is the range that you deal that dmg at.

 

2 Point: You have a choice to make here. A lot of people will recommend LS, and it is a decent choice. Personaly, I prefer to go for EM, as some of the RU DD's have absoloutly horrible traverse speeds on their turrets, and I like to get my guns on target faster. I find if I stay at extreme range, my engine/steering rarely get taken out, and if they do, hey, 40s DC.

 

3 Point: SI. Unlike US DD's, you should NOT be getting into knife fights, so should rarely need the extra warning provided by Vigilance. Smoke, on the other hand, is always useful. You can never have too much smoke.

 

4 Point: AFT is a must have for RU. The further from the enemy you can be, the harder it is for them to hit you.

 

If you want, you could go for CE, to improve your atrocious concealment, but honestly, It's not worth it for RU DD's. You'll spend 90% of the game with your guns blazing away at the enemy. Stealth? Never heard of it! Instead, go for DE so you can light up those BB's more often. After that, you can take your pick of skills for the last 4 points. You could opt for SE, or maybe take LS and TAE. Choice is yours.

 

Anyway, hope this helps. Apologies, if I got a little long-winded.