Requesting Carrier Attack Strategy

[godonan]

I've been reading guides for carrier gameplay, so I really DO know how to manually drop torpedoes well, dive bomb manually, strafe with fighters, placement of carrier, scouting with planes, and what most guides are all about. Howevor, this question remains unanswered:

 

How should you send your attack?

 

To clarify: Option 1: Do I launch all my bomber planes, send fighters to be attached with them, then focus on the bombers on blowing up the enemy while I leave my fighters alone to combat the enemy fighters when they arrive and ignore the fighters?

 

Option 2: When the fighters arrive I stick my attack planes in standby, and switch to my fighters to strafe and beat the enemy dogfighters for hopes of fighter powers (And risk losing my bomber planes to AA fire)?

 

This is important for the lower tiers, as they do not have much reserve aircraft. If I lose all my fighter planes doing the first option, I have no more escorts for my bombers. If I do my second option, my bombers may get pummeled by AA fire. If not, then the enemy bombers (Who may be doing option 1) can go ahead and blow up my allies.

 

No need to comment about how I should blow up my enemies, I can do that. No need for little guides on how to drop torps close to the enemy. No need for where to put my carrier, or who to attack.

 

EDIT: Also, this is dealing with the lower tier carriers, with few reserve aircraft and friendlies have weak AA.

 

Currently, until I get a recommendation, I will be playing only Co-op, doing suggestion 1 and destroying/damaging as many ships as I can before all my fighters get destroyed and my bombers no longer have escort. I've tried doing Option 1 for Random Battles, but the huge numbers of ships and my pitiful reserve aircraft numbers (And the enemy carrier's knowledge of how to strafe- Me and the enemy carrier captain once did a fighter dance dodging and weaving out of the auto-fighter attack range, both expecting a strafe and trying to execute one) means suggestion 1 allows me to do fewer attacks before losing fighters. I've done Option 2, but my fighter dancing with the enemy lets it blow up my teammates and subjects me to friendly rage (Option 2 works best when its a 2 carrier vs 2 carrier battle).

 

Also, in Co-op Solomon Island maps, bots get stupid when they break through the center. I once had a Bogov-something cruiser come so close and so fast I thought he was going to ram me, I was trying to back up. Then he just stopped moving and firing. I launched my torp bombers, and sent my carrier forward to get on his port side while my torps came in on his starboard side, making him my shield against my own torps.

[snowshrederr]

I typically leave my bombers out of AA range on standby until enemy fighters have left, maybe with a bit of intervention from my fighters if they stay. works for me most of the time.

[Numbah18]

Between option one or option two I would suggest you Keep your attack planes back until you know where the enemy Fighters are and try to head them off with yours. If your Attack Planes have a clear run then use your Fighters to protect your allies. As for problems with AA best I can tell you is stay away from groups of enemy ships and start making a list of what is dangerous and what is safe to attack

[TheBlackWind]

Each carrier is going to have a dif strategy to make it work well. Currently I'm using Ranger. I have 2 bombers 2 fighters.

 

The bombers are ready to launch first so I move them out and use them as scouts for my team asap. I send the fighters up afterword. The bombers usually find a DD making a run at a cap, so they'll mark him, attempt to bomb him, usually get at least one hit, then go back for more bombs. By that time, the fighters are up. I try to keep them moving. I engage enemy fighters 2 to 1 when I can to clear them fast. I'll try to avoid 2 to 2 fights. I'll keep track of their fighters either way, and send my bombers where their fighters are not. I'll find targets with bad AA. Preferably stock Colorado's or pretty much any Japanese BB. I'll make a bomb run with a try at starting a fire. If there is a fire, I'll wait for the player to put it out... usually happens immediately, then I'll send the other bomber in and light him on fire again. 

[godonan]

So, it seems like the first commenters err on the side of caution.

[marcmad]

Launch your fighters first, scout for your team.

Push away and/or defend your team from ennemy fighter and bombers with the help of allied AA. Once this is done, there is a moment where you won't need to protect your team because he is reloading his bombers and he won't have fighters to get your bombers because you just killed it with the help of your allies. So you use that to bomb the ennemy team.

In the case he do not attack, try to find a space where he don't have fighters and bomb ennemy ships while keeping your fighters ready to defend your team.

[godonan]

Launch your fighters first, scout for your team.

Push away and/or defend your team from ennemy fighter and bombers with the help of allied AA. Once this is done, there is a moment where you won't need to protect your team because he is reloading his bombers and he won't have fighters to get your bombers because you just killed it with the help of your allies. So you use that to bomb the ennemy team.

In the case he do not attack, try to find a space where he don't have fighters and bomb ennemy ships while keeping your fighters ready to defend your team.

 

Please be aware that at carrier tiers with low reserve aircraft, friendlies often have poor AA (Except for ships like USS Texas, which REALLY destroys my planes.)

[marcmad]

 

Please be aware that at carrier tiers with low reserve aircraft, friendlies often have poor AA (Except for ships like USS Texas, which REALLY destroys my planes.)

 

Some AA is better than no AA. it is good to always try to engage his fighters in an advantageous position, otherwise RNG might decide you will be the one to lose your squad which hurt a lot in a low planes situation. Obviously, you want to engage only when you got a good situation. Strafe is your ally there but use it wisely.

Ships like cleveland, texas or bogue can provide good AA. Otherwise Kongo, wyoming and new york could also provide some backup AA if you engage the ennemy fighter right in front of the ship. This is not enough to turn the table on a IJN vs USN fighter but will give you more chance to win an equal battle.

[berwatchey]

so you have touched on the exact problem with playing a CV. The multi tasking. I have the IJN carriers through T7 so I am pretty experienced. You need to manage the enemy fighters first, while also bombing. In the early game I tend to spend more time manually controlling my fighters, to get good engagements/strafe effectively, while mostly auto dropping my bombers/torp planes, unless your fighters are not bust then go ahead, but keep in mind at tiers 5 and below AA is really not a threat to you. and most of the AA is all close in, so your torp planes usually wont die to an auto drop on T5 ships. Also using ALL your bombers in a single strike can help with losses, but reduces overall damage because they can repair fires flooding.  in the early game while microing fighters I still think that's the better strategy,

 

Pay attention in the loading screen to AA ratings of enemy ships, and pick out the high threat low AA defense targets to bomb. once you start learning the AA rating numbers you will be able to see who has AA upgrades VS accuracy upgrades and AA captain skills, and can avoid them in favor of easier prey.

 

In the mid to late game after you have a fighter advantage you wont need to micro them as much, you can just right click his fighters to tie them up right before a strike and then manual drop bombers more. I also don't tend to strike CVs in low tiers, as you don't get a lot of replacements, and if you lose the strike its 50% of your planes gone for nothing. and its easier and safer to kill bombers with your fighters. 1-2 good strafes and CV lost all his bombers in a couple seconds, and all you risk is fighter ammo. that's a high reward to risk ratio.

 

also i would avoid playing VS bots, they behave poorly and wont condition you for how real players play. essentially teaching you really bad habits.

[tremor3258]

I would seriously consider playing random after you get used to manual dropping in co-op.  The way squadrons will react with a human opponent is very different.

 

Strategy depends somewhat on what carrier and flight controller.  I usually run IJN's strike-heavy balanced configuration

 

I like to send fighters out first, and then let the bombers get deployed and form up.  Fighters deploy as far forward as possible, based on where the allied fleet is going.  I'm going to say this again:

 

Push fighters forward until you spot enemy ships.  Pull back slightly if they are enemy cruisers or battleships.  Hang over destroyers to make their lives miserable as your ships start shooting them.  If the enemy fighter squadrons are also forward deployed - two methods:

 

One, do I have more fighters or stronger fighters than the enemy squadron, or alternatively, is the enemy fighter moving in a way that makes a strafe viable (immobile or away) - then engage with every available fighter, or use strafe.  Removing enemy fighters allows you to advance bombers to take over the scouting role - and causing damage, while sending fighters to make enemy CV bombers have miserable, short lives.

 

Two: If I'm out-fightered, pull back, but at an angle- try to lead them towards AA fire, but preferably ,the cruisers and battleships in the second line.  If you engage or are engaged over friendly destroyers, then the other team can rip them apart at long-range.  Keep your DDs secret!

 

Even if I have less fighters, engaging in friendly AA increases the risks of their destruction, helping even the odds.  Also, if their fighters are tied up with your fighters, go send your bombers to cause havoc.

 

If I'm running a more 'pure' strike configuration - avoid fighters.  Dance around, keep your bombers out of visibility, and bomb where the other CV's fighters are not - nibble at the enemy team's edges.

[aethervox]

OP you stated your thread is about low tier CVs so I assume tier 4 & 5 only?

Since the plane loadouts are limited numberwise and one does not see many good AA ships I suggest playing strike planes.

As to Co-op, why bother? Low exp & credit gain.

Just jump in Randoms and play with the big boys.

Co-op is nothing but kindergarten and for false stat padders.

By your post you don't sound ignorant so why play Co-op at all (or are real players too good for you?).

[godonan]

First off, I don't think that co-op affects stats (I may be wrong though)

 

I used to play Random, but the problem is that while I do a good job of bashing the enemy fighter planes and bombies/torpies  with strafing runs, and I do manage to sink/flood enemy ships, my team sadly still loses lots of ships (I believe it is due to destroyers, and I try my best to spot the torps they launched). And sadly, my carrier, of course, is with the main group force, and with fewer ships in between, DDs start moving in and I have to switch to normal carrier view to better see and  dodge the torps.

 

And then my planes run up against a USS Texas and get my torpies butchered beyond torpedo launching range. And worse, when I get paired up with a higher tiered carrier, the higher tier has generally only strike planes, while the enemy higher tiered has air supremacy. So it's like three higher tiered fighters against my lone squadron.

 

I play Co-op just to slowly gain xp while practicing bombings (SInce AIs can fire at my allied ships and dodge torpedos at the same time) and am hoping to grind out of the Tier 4 and 5s to get planes with more hitpoints.

 

And yes I know what dogfighting expert is, but I decided to pass that in favor of faster moving torpedoes.