Prinz Eugen: First Impressions (I like her)

[Peregrinas]

Last night I played my first ten games with the Prinz, and although MM put me on a six-loss streak, I've been able to sleep on it and gather my thoughts. tldr: I like her.

 

And I remember grinding through the Hipper thinking that she was average at best.

 

She's accurate. I added the mod for -7% to max dispersion since the other three aren't suitable. I literally gasped when on my first salvo, I hit seven out of eight shells on a Dunkerque 13km out. The grouping on the shells is very tight. I ended my ten games with about a 47% hit rate (iirc). It can still change but this is just a first impression. For comparison, my DDs have about 50% hit rates and my other cruisers are somewhere between 35% and low 40%. However, you need to be accurate yourself, so if you're not an accurate player and rely on a bit more on dispersion to hit your target, I can see how the Prinz is not for you.

 

Her +50% bonus to commander xp is very welcoming. I'm currently training my 13 point Gneisenau captain towards getting the manual secondaries skill. When I first started the German BB line, I told myself that I won't start playing tier 7+ without manual secondaries. I haven't played a single game with the Gneisenau yet. With ALL other xp bonuses (minus +50% ship xp), I was averaging 13k-18k commander xp on a win (note: dragon flags ARE equipped and there is also a nifty challenge for +100% captain xp per win).

 

Yes she's fragile. A Bismarck's secondaries easily strip over 10k hp within a small timeframe at 9km. However, it feels like I'm taking more penetration hits than I would citadels compared to another glass ship, the Chapayev, which I recently played through. The few times I wasn't careful with the Prinz, twice I got punished by a BB salvo into my side, but not for more than 20k damage.

 

Some random thoughts. German hydro is still best hydro. And her AA is decent at shooting down tier 7 aircraft. Additionally, I can use the premium damage control party (due to Prinz being a premium ship with higher profit gains) which helps survivability a fair amount, compared to the Hipper where you are more likely to break even or run a deficit running a premium consumable. I do wish I had a repair party sometimes, but that's probably just me from playing a ton of BBs and tier 9/10 cruisers recently.

 

I'll say it again: I disliked Hipper, but I like the Prinz.

[thegamefilmguruman]

I'm having a similar experience, though my MBH is garbage.  I honestly don't know how I'm averaging 28% in it, though I expect that will go up given my hipper MBH is 39%.  Heck, even my Yorck I do 33% in.  But I digress.  I also found myself liking it a bit better than Hipper, though I'm not sure why...unless it was my yorck captain with CE that did it.  I found the one Des Moine in game that likes to go broadside and fire HE the whole time in one of my games.

 

[Peregrinas]

I'm having a similar experience, though my MBH is garbage.  I honestly don't know how I'm averaging 28% in it, though I expect that will go up given my hipper MBH is 39%.  Heck, even my Yorck I do 33% in.  But I digress.  I also found myself liking it a bit better than Hipper, though I'm not sure why...unless it was my yorck captain with CE that did it.  I found the one Des Moine in game that likes to go broadside and fire HE the whole time in one of my games.

 

Glad I'm not the only one to like the Prinz more than the Hipper 

 

Funny, you found a broadside Des Moines and I found a Hindenburg too busy shooting at someone else, exposing his broadside to me and I easily scored 46k damage before killing him.

[behindurback]

I like the ship too but I am not purple so my opinion doesn't count 

[Peregrinas]

I like the ship too but I am not purple so my opinion doesn't count 

 

If you like her and are having fun, it doesn't matter if you aren't purple.

[Stauffenberg44]

Same here (sold the Hipper to finally get the Roon).

I attach the Prinz to a local Bismarck which feels good for some reason. ;)

[VTAdmiral]

I like my Prinz and now no longer have to suffer Nurnburg and Yorck to get the cruiser I wanted.

 

And I only wanted Hipper due to her proxy relationship with Prinz Eugen anyway. So this is a win-win for me.

 

That she's comfortable to captain and feels more tanky and better armed than Atago (despite having fewer guns) is a plus. The biggest reason: Her guns turn as fast as she does. Unlike Atago, I can keep my aim on target while maneuvering to avoid incoming fire. This is a massively important thing for any cruiser to feel comfortable.

[Estimated_Prophet]

Liked Prinz as I ran it through my minimum number of games (5 each PvE and PvP,) then parked it just like all my other T8-10s.

 

My win rate doesn't reflect such, but compared to Atago; the Blue-Barge Port Decoration; I like PE more.

[thegamefilmguruman]

I'm having a similar experience, though my MBH is garbage.  I honestly don't know how I'm averaging 28% in it, though I expect that will go up given my hipper MBH is 39%.

 

I was right.  Averaging 51% hit rate today.  Guess I shouldn't play while tired.

[SandraSmiles]

I like the ship too but I am not purple so my opinion doesn't count 

 

Yes, your opinion matters most here

[Padoru_]

I think you like more the Prinz eugen than hipper due to the fact that you paid for it.

I mean, people always feel better having the more expensive goods rather than the cheaper or free.

In my case I feel the Eugen just like the Hipper, exactly the same. The only difference is the income to me, wich is nice, but I can say that Atago can do the same in that regard, maybe a little worse in terms of credits, but more fun instead.

 

Nothing special.