Prinz Eugen 4th tier commander skill?

[Peregrinas]

I'm currently training a commander specialized for the Prinz Eugen for two reasons: 1) I will have him set up slightly differently than my Hindenburg commander and 2) I just simply like having commanders for my premiums (plus it also gives me more reason to play them too so I can work up to a high level commander).

 

My Hindenburg captain has Superintendent, however, it's not as useful on the Prinz Eugen because there is no Repair Party available, so I have decided to go with Vigilance. But I feel like I have interesting choices for the fourth tier commander skill.

 

• Demolition Expert - I'm disregarding this skill completely (along with Aircraft Servicing Expert), because HE spamming is not my playstyle, nor is it a strength of the Prinz
• Advanced Firing Training - I have this skill for my Hindenburg so I can push my 55mm AA guns out to 6km. However, the Prinz does not have 55mm AA guns and the effect will be mostly on the 40mm and 105mm guns which have base ranges of 3.5km and 4.5km, respectively, so, I have more consideration towards the following skills.
• Survivability Expert - An interesting skill that will give me 3200 health, for a total of 48200 health, which equates to a 7% bonus to health. It's still not equal to even just one Repair Party consumable, but it's something
• Manual Fire Control for AA Armament - This skill will only affect the 12 105mm dual purpose guns which deal 110 average DPS with the BFT skill, so I will gain an additional 110 average DPS on a focused target. I believe focused targets without MFCAA gain a 30% bonus to damage (so 143 average DPS), so at 4.5km I will get an additional 54% average DPS with the skill (220 average DPS), and at 3.5km I get 335 average DPS without the skill and 412 average DPS with the skill, a boost of 23%. However, the 40mm guns are much more easily destroyed than the 105mm guns so as a battle draws out, my boost will approach 54% within 3.5km (assuming I don't lose any secondary armament).

 

So while AFT gives me a 20% boost to AA range, MFCAA provides more than 23% more damage, which seems to be the better choice. However, SE seems like an interesting skill nevertheless.

[VTAdmiral]

I went with DE. Though I fire a mix of AP and HE, my usual tactic is to get a fire going and then farm pens and overpens since battleships rarely extinguish just 1 fire.

 

If DE is off the table though, I would go with AFT and shift my priority to escorting battleships, particularly the German ones that like to get closer. Whether you use Sonar or DF is up to you though AFT is best served with DF in place.

[gurudennis]

AFT is marginally more valuable to me. I take Hydro instead of Defensive Fire, so the extra AA is welcome. I can see why some would choose DE. SE is a waste of skill points on Eugen, in my opinion.

[Peregrinas]

I went with DE. Though I fire a mix of AP and HE, my usual tactic is to get a fire going and then farm pens and overpens since battleships rarely extinguish just 1 fire.

 

If DE is off the table though, I would go with AFT and shift my priority to escorting battleships, particularly the German ones that like to get closer. Whether you use Sonar or DF is up to you though AFT is best served with DF in place.

 

I only run sonar on my German cruisers, so AFT might not be of that great of a benefit.

[Madwolf05]

DE is the way to go. More damage is more always better.

 

AFT won't help you in most cases as ships are either just out of range or there is no CV present.

 

SE is trash for cruisers.

 

Manual fire control - Only relevant 1/10 games for planes. Enemy ships will rarely get close enough to make it a better choice than DE.

[VTAdmiral]

AFT is marginally more valuable to me. I take Hydro instead of Defensive Fire, so the extra AA is welcome. I can see why some would choose DE. SE is a waste of skill points on Eugen, in my opinion.

 

Yeah. Sonar or Defensive Fire is down to preference. AFT is more valuable than manual AA-- manual AA is best when you already have AFT, which is my preferred Atlanta build.

 

I only run sonar on my German cruisers, so AFT might not be of that great of a benefit.

 

To the contrary AFT helps make Prinz a well-rounded cruiser even without DF equipped. Many will argue DE is the best choice in rank 4 though.

[Peregrinas]

Ok, let me analyze DE real quick. Base fire chance value is 13%, so a 3% addition results in a boost of 23%. Roughly 1 extra fire for every 4 fires. I'll consider it, but my playstyle is around shooting AP.

[VTAdmiral]

Ok, let me analyze DE real quick. Base fire chance value is 13%, so a 3% addition results in a boost of 23%. Roughly 1 extra fire for every 4 fires. I'll consider it, but my playstyle is around shooting AP.

 

I suggest you try my tactic-- Open with an HE salvo or two, then switch to AP once the target is on fire. You're not "spamming" HE, you're using all the tools available to you.

[4bRbyHSSzZ6pk]

I run DE on mine as well as on Roon, 16% fire chance is enough to easily punish that angled BB that your AP is not affecting very well. I'd say it works nicely when you're facing World of Battleships battles with barely any broadside BBs, CAs or DDs to shoot at.

 

 

 

[gurudennis]

Ok, let me analyze DE real quick. Base fire chance value is 13%, so a 3% addition results in a boost of 23%. Roughly 1 extra fire for every 4 fires. I'll consider it, but my playstyle is around shooting AP.

 

That was my train of thought as well. When you know what parts of enemy ships to target, HE becomes a weapon of last resort. Maybe 10% of all ordnance I put downrange with Hipper/Eugen is HE. With that in mind, the extra 23% of 10% turns into a 2.3% net increase in damage output from running DE with my playstyle, i.e. not worth it, at least at face value.

[VTAdmiral]

Honestly DE just lessens the time I spend loading HE, since the first salvo doesn't always start a fire, or the fire doesn't always stick if they're DC-happy. Eugen's biggest damage source is her AP so firing HE exclusively is counterproductive anyway, you just want that fire to stack damage.

 

Do whatever you like.

[Dodgy_Cookies]

DE>AFT?>Manual AA

[4bRbyHSSzZ6pk]

Honestly DE just lessens the time I spend loading HE, since the first salvo doesn't always start a fire, or the fire doesn't always stick if they're DC-happy. Eugen's biggest damage source is her AP so firing HE exclusively is counterproductive anyway, you just want that fire to stack damage.

 

Do whatever you like.

 

My strategy is the same. Fire HE until target is on fire, swap to AP and try to pen the superstructure. The combination of both is a great way to play.

[Skeem689]

DE on my Prinz

[ckupf]

On my then Hipster and now Hindy I doubled up on the T4 skill. DE and AFT.

[Roadrider7021]

   After going back and forth, I've settled on AFT, which allows me to run hydro. Enemy CV's can still kill you but all around this choice makes you more defensible, a better team player and DD hunter. DE definitely helps your damage output as mentioned, but if you mostly only use it on angled ships and sometimes your shells land on zones of a ship that are already burning, it's utility is not exactly a 23% increase in fire chance. Gotta say it's close to 50/50 though between AFT and DE; the other skills I would not use.

[The_GoDDfather]

I took DE (mostly because he's my Hindenburg captain), it helps set fires when ships don't want to show you a good shot. 

[madmikey77]

I'd use DE if I was running a dedicated cruiser captain. That's what I use on my Hindenberg.

 

You don't want to spam HE, but on angled targets you're still going to be using it, so DE will help. I don't think CVs are common enough to justify going with AFT or Manual AA. SE seems like a bit of a waste on a cruiser.

 

However, I'm training up German BB captains at the moment and all of them have AFT.

[Peregrinas]

Thanks for the responses thus far. I will allow them to ferment in my mind while I continue working towards my fourth commander skill (which shouldn't take more than a few games since I'm running so many xp bonuses). Some very good points on DE though. I have so far generally looked for other targets to shoot at that aren't angled which is why I haven't really considered DE, since I rarely shoot HE in the first place. I'll try the HE tactics you've mentioned while I continue playing this beautiful ship 

 

[HazeGrayUnderway]

DE, because it helps give a bit more teeth to a weak spot in Adm.Hipper / P.Eugen.

 

AFT isn't as useful for CAs unless you're running a hardcore AA Build.  SE is meaningless for Crusiers when their HP gets insta-deleted.  Manual AA?  That goes in hand-in-hand with AFT for a hardcore AA Build... 2 Tier 4 traits is a bit expensive for a threat in the game, CVs, that are almost nonexistent in high tiers.

 

Another nice thing with going with DE is when it's time to take the captain to Tier IX Roon.  Roon, like Adm.Hipper / P.Eugen, has mediocre Fire%.  But DE improves that nicely.  Roon also has +1 more gun and can be built to have an 8.8 second reload.  With DE, she can set fires when you need to very well, which is a good compliment to her strong AP.  If you have the 2 signal flags to give an additional 2%, it gets even better.

[Peregrinas]

DE, because it helps give a bit more teeth to a weak spot in Adm.Hipper / P.Eugen.

 

AFT isn't as useful for CAs unless you're running a hardcore AA Build.  SE is meaningless for Crusiers when their HP gets insta-deleted.  Manual AA?  That goes in hand-in-hand with AFT for a hardcore AA Build... 2 Tier 4 traits is a bit expensive for a threat in the game, CVs, that are almost nonexistent in high tiers.

 

Another nice thing with going with DE is when it's time to take the captain to Tier IX Roon.  Roon, like Adm.Hipper / P.Eugen, has mediocre Fire%.  But DE improves that nicely.  Roon also has +1 more gun and can be built to have an 8.8 second reload.  With DE, she can set fires when you need to very well, which is a good compliment to her strong AP.  If you have the 2 signal flags to give an additional 2%, it gets even better.

 

My Prinz Eugen captain will remain on the Prinz Eugen.

[HazeGrayUnderway]

 

My Prinz Eugen captain will remain on the Prinz Eugen.

 

Then I'd still go for DE unless you're intent on a hardcore AA Build.  DE simply gives you better main battery performance so your HE can supplement your AP usage better.  If going hardcore AA then you want AFT+BFT+Manual AA.

[vak_]

I personally think Prinz might benefit a lot from DE, due to low fire %. Especially since the other three choices are also meh. AP is good and all, but anyone who played Hipper knows that AP just doesn't cut it in a lot of cases.

[Padoru_]

AFT

 

I've tried DE but is a waste of the good AA that Prinz Eugen can offer, she has a very good AA without needing to equip the Defensive AA consumable. 

 

I am quite suprised that almost every game I played in this ship were with CVs, maybe the numbers of CV players are increasing.