Best Tier II Cruiser

[Avrova1904]

I am now at Tier 8 with IJN  Battleships and at Tier 6 with USN Battleships but I also enjoy low tier games and I want to come back Tier II just to enjoy those WW1 cruisers. Since I have enough free xp and credits, what Tier II cruisers are the best to play with and enjoy the most?

 

Thanks

[Dutch_81]

Diana for me.

[Lert]

Dresden has the speed and HE spam, but doing reliable damage is a bit hard.

[Sinboto]

Hmm, I never thought about it.

[Estimated_Prophet]

In the right hands Chester can be a boss, but I'll admit reluctantly that Dresden and the Russian T2 (Novik?) also do quite well. In a way, they're both T2 St Louis' without the toughness and bigger health pool. My encounters with the IJN T2 (Chikuma?) tend to make me think it's a damage sponge, but I'm not sure about it's firepower. (Skipped over all the IJN cruisers to get Furutaka.)

[HMCS_Devilfish]

Ill admit to Seal clubbing but for the challnge I do it in my Hermi ... Sort a like fighting the bigger boys with one hand tied behind your back ..I still kick there Butt

[_Rumple_]

Emden and Diana, might as well use premiums to train captains while your seal clubbing.

[Stauffenberg44]

Surely it's the Dresden. Even if you lose in it you can irritate the bejeezuz out of enemy ships with your firehose HE.

[HazeGrayUnderway]

I like my special Tier II Cruiser:  Albany.

[Guest]

I do enjoy the Albany for the few battles I play it, if one can get her guns in range, she can be quite potent. 

[Captain_Rownd]

I enjoy sailing Diana, partially because she's Old School, and partially because she was my first ship.  I also have fond memories of chesty Chester, the Manly Man's Cruiser.  I'm not worried about DPS or Meta, just Dashing Good Looks.  ;)

 

[aether_tech]

You don't need a tier 2, when you can just citadel EVERYTHING from the front with an Erie.

[Fog_Battleship_Tosa]

I'd have to agree with aether. Drop a tier and use erie for glory.

[Aduial]

To me all the tier 2 cruisers are basically the same. HE spammers. But i remember i enjoyed the Chikuma, and not the Dresden or the Chester. 

[Fletcher7_1944]

Chester and Diana for me.  I don't own Albany, so I can't say one way or t'other.  Chikuma is in second place.

 

  I still love to play my tier 2's just for some fun.  Even more so tier 1- those gunboats are just so fun!!  It's a welcome break from "the grind".  (tier 7 in USN BB's and CA's; Tier 6 in German and Jap cruisers; tier 5 in russian cruisers)

 

 tier 4 and 5 is for making money and training captains.

[IronMike11B4O]

I have a Hindenburg, but keep my Dresden it easy to fire and adjust onto target and then just hold the left click down and hose away.

[Lovebugjunkie]

Can't answer your question other than when I play a game with a Dresden in it I try to stay away from it.  

 

[crzyhawk]

I preferred the Dresden.  Emden is a good honorable mention, given you can use your higher tier German captains in her.

[Eisennagel]

 

I would go with the Dresden here.  Sheer rain of RoF and DPM tends to govern the low tier meta.  

[U505_Gunner]

 

I would go with the Dresden here.  Sheer rain of RoF and DPM tends to govern the low tier meta.  

 

Fire doesn't govern a "meta." It governs a battlefield -- in this case the Seven Seas.

[Moonrider]

 Since I have enough free xp and credits, what Tier II cruisers are the best to play with and enjoy the most?

 

Thanks

 

The one I win the most in is the Albany.

The one I do the most damage in is the Diana,

 

Both ships are hella fun.

[_Guderian]

If you have them, I am very fond of the Albany and the Emden. Fun to play and good trainers for USN/KM captains. I've never used the DIana so can't talk about her. In the non premiums my favorite two were the Chester and the Dresden. Dresden because of it's rain of fire, Chester because I like the paint job.

[TRevWhite]

I know I'm a little behind time, but I like the Dresden/Emden. I play the lower tiers (II and III) more than anything else these days. I know the topic was based on having the xp and credits, but I'd spend the doubloons and go for the Emden. She has become one of my favorite ships, really good for training your high tier skippers too.

With the Emden, the benefit is raining rounds down on the enemy ships, may not do much real damage, but it can make them feel more pressure than is actually there, and can often turn the tide, especially with newer players. The Dresden does about the same. Good luck and have fun.

[Umikami]

Chikuma, to me, seemed under-gunned and a large and easy target. Novik, Chester, Emden, Dresden, et al; straight shell spammers with high volumes of fire going out. Albany (poor Albany) used to be a really fun little cruiser, but CBT nerfed it to target status. I have heard it has received a few recent buffs, but I haven't played it since they nerfed it and I sold mine out of disgust.

 

My favorite tier 2 ship for seal clubbing (and lets be honest, that's exactly what we're talking about) is a Tachibana. Decent torps (yes, small warheads, but it's tier 2), rapid fire guns (and again, yes, they do little damage because they are 76mm, but they fire like 20 times per minute), great stealth. You might want to consider a DD for your tier 2 clubfest.

[Komrad_B]

I find the Tier 2 cruisers to be little more than meatshields, they have no standout characteristic except being mediocre at just about anything. 

 

Dresden can seem good at first glance, but it has ineffective pop guns. Novik's gun are extremely unaccurate and very hard to aim because of their arc that seems to change depending on the range you shoot them. Chikuma and Chester to me seem very similar, probably better than the first two. In the end they seem to be roughly equivalent to each other however, and I hated my time in each one of them.