The fine art of playing for the team and playing for the win.

[Warlord_Deadeye_Pete]

Been noticing a few threads about such things so...  lets get some advice going...

 

If you damaged a ship with fires of torps and they use their damage control to stop the damage ticks..  Lets folks know!  (My typical: player x in the Fuso has used his DC, BURN 'EM)

 

If your not going to follow the lemming train tell people.  "This CA/BB/DD/Division going to x" is all thats needed to be said.  Be aware that  If you head where no one else is going don't complain about not getting any support.  You make your call, you live or die with the consequences.  I've had more then a few time where I didn't even qualify as a speed bump for the other team, and had other momenst where I delayed the a goodly portion of the enemy team for several critical minutes while the rest of my team was grabbing caps.  Remember Jingles saying.. "If it stupid and it works it wasn't stupid"

 

There stupid, and there's risk taking.. know the difference.   Your drive a warship.  Risk is what you do.  Go Boldly!  It might surprise you how far well played bluff can carry you.. Ask any DD player that ever held off 3 to 6 or more ships by taking advantage of the fact folks HATE being torped!  Works with Cruiser and Battle ships too, but you gotta do it a little differently.  It takes time to learn how  (hint, it starts with being a really really good shot, and learning how to tank off damage!)

 

If you lay smoke for friendly then stay outside the smoke and spot targets for them!

 

Most DD's pop smoke when they don't actually need to.  And be aware that the smoke you popped while calling for help is now blocking line of sight for the ships behind you and they are now unable to shoot at the ships that are a threat to you.. because they cant see them!  (oops, and you wonder why no one helped!)

 

Most important hint.. SLOW DOWN!  In ranked battle you see this all the time.. player run at half to 3/4 speed and only going to flank when they actually come under fire.. to generate a miss by the enemy! Or they move at top speed only to move into position, and then reduce speed quickly.   Stopping is a bad idea.. if the person shooting at you notices you've stopped, they're going to start landing full salvo's right on your head.. this is what we call "Having a bad day!"

 

Use cover to protect your self, but be aware.. if no one can shoot at you while your behind an island, odds are real good you can't shoot anyone either.. a player not shooting at the bad guys is a player likely NOT contributing to the team effort.  (there are acceptions, but they are very very rare!)

 

Some times there no avoiding the fact your at the wrong place at the wrong time... your getting focused etc.. when all else fails, ATTACK!  you might not be able to do much about the biggest threat your facing.. but you might just be able to take out a DD or a Cruiser, or even get the bad guys to change course and expose their broad sides to the rest of your team!  And if your particularly difficult to kill, you could give your team the opportunity to snag mission objectives and all of sudden yer you got sunk, but the folks chasing you are now out gunned, out numberd, out of luck, and out of time.  You won't know until you try.  And of such little things as dying well are team wins made.

 

DON'T BE A BACK SEAT CAPTAIN!  Player have to learn the right way, and the wrong way on their own...  in the middle of a fight is NOT the place to be giving instruction for most players.. and calling your team mates noob, loosers, fail team.. yea you'll make a list all right.. the ignore list.. I got about a dozen or so folks I never see chat from any more because well.. in the words of George Takai.. they were being douch bags.

 

If you want to help your team after your sunk.. be an angel on someone shoulder.. let em know about incoming torps, or the DD, BB, or CA that pops up at "oh CRAP" range where they aren't looking.

Don't be critical.. just be there.. It might lead to your team snatching victory from the jaw defeat.  Being on the winning team beats being on the loosing team every time.

 

Chase Victory conditions not ships trying to run away and hide.  I've seen too many matches where the team should have won, but some one just insisted on hunting down the enemy carrier or the last BB, or the last DD or cruiser.. and got sunk doing it.. or left a cap in enemy control and the enemy eventually ran the clock and won by having the most point when the clack ran out, when they could have just capped and won the match.  Nothing irritates veteran players quite so much as someone giving away what should have been a win.  (Maybe I should mention that capping with get you more silver and XP then killing, and being on the winning team substantially increases your take home pay!)

 

Chasing the shiney never pays off in the long run.  Chase Victory.. It pay better.

 

To parapharase the Red Baron.  Patrol your assigned zone, force the enemy from it, and take your objectives. All else is rubbish!

 

Another thing to bear in mind.  With the maintenance costs being now a fixed amount (no matter if you took damage or not!) you've no excuse to avoid combat.  Get in there and mix it up.

 

Always at least initially move to engage the enemy team.. Get into range..Don't out run your heavy hitters  or your'll end up isolated and alone.. and shorty sunk..unless that's your plan.

 

Watch where you shoot..very irritating to get shot at or torped by team mates..ONLY shoot at what you have a chance of hitting.

 

Story; Was in a ranked battle the other day when the Tirpitz slightly behind be fired his torps.  (2k away) The closest enemy was 15k away.  There was nothing he could have hit other then a friendly.  My chappy survived the hits from an enemy Tirpitz, it did not survive the friendly torp hits.   And yea, the team I was on lost . No doubt getting their anti DD cruiser erased by friendly fire very early in the match was a contributing factor.   It was a rank 12 match.  

 

Pay attention to where the friendlies are FIRST, then pay attention to where the enemy is.

 

If your stealthy, go spot the bad guys.. You don't need to shoot 'em till they notice you.. Spot 'em for the BB's/  They're big guns generally our range cruisers and DD guns significantly..  They may have a slow rate of fire. but getting your ship punched early on by 14" to 18" will significantly change ones head space.  If you can kill some one at long to extreme ranges great.. but simply hitting them will more often then not throw them off their game for the entire match.

 

The smaller the ship, the more the damage to it pays out in XP and silver..Take out the DD's and CA's first if at all possible.. There a  reason why they payouts work that way  It's also one less ship shooting at you or your team!  50k of Damage to a Battle ship might not sink it.. that same 50k of damage will kill 4-5 DD's..50k to a BB will net you 600-800 XP.. the same amount of damage to 4 or 5 DD's will net you around 1800 to 3000 XP depending on the tier.  Cash payouts also scale accordingly.  If you cant play smart, at least play for the best payout!

 

And thats it for today's wall of text, feel free to add a nugget or two of your own hard earned lessons!

 

 

[Reymu]

Focus on your playing style. I've had to learn to be less aggressive in my Ognevoi because I have stealth problems compared to her US/IJN counterparts.

 

If you bring hydro, you're better able to see torps and dodge. DF when there's no CV makes you more susceptible to torps. Especially after T8, DF is not usually worth it when hydro means easier torp spotting--and once in a while, a chance to punish the DD that got cocky.

 

If there's a CV in the match, stay with a teammate for AA. Even an undertiered BB is better than nothing, and be content just dodging the TB so you're not 1-shotted.

[Estimated_Prophet]

Some times there no avoiding the fact your at the wrong place at the wrong time... your getting focused etc.. when all else fails, ATTACK!  you might not be able to do much about the biggest threat your facing.. but you might just be able to take out a DD or a Cruiser, or even get the bad guys to change course and expose their broad sides to the rest of your team!  And if your particularly difficult to kill, you could give your team the opportunity to snag mission objectives and all of sudden yer you got sunk, but the folks chasing you are now out gunned, out numberd, out of luck, and out of time.  You won't know until you try.  And of such little things as dying well are team wins made.

 

Everthing you've written is something I've seen done, and also have done myself; and also NOT done myself.

 

The last bold/highlighted bit tends to only happen for me unconciously... Afterwards it's kind of; 'I did what?"

 

If your stealthy, go spot the bad guys.. You don't need to shoot 'em till they notice you.. Spot 'em for the BB's/  They're big guns generally our range cruisers and DD guns significantly..  They may have a slow rate of fire. but getting your ship punched early on by 14" to 18" will significantly change ones head space.  If you can kill some one at long to extreme ranges great.. but simply hitting them will more often then not throw them off their game for the entire match.

 

One thing I like to do in my Mutsuki. As much as that DD seems to be hated, I like it, and think I do well in it.

 

If you bring hydro, you're better able to see torps and dodge. DF when there's no CV makes you more susceptible to torps. Especially after T8, DF is not usually worth it when hydro means easier torp spotting--and once in a while, a chance to punish the DD that got cocky.

 

Used to think hydro was the most worthless piece of equipment in the game...

 

Things have happened recently which are changing that negative perception.

[Seraphil]

I have but only one +1 to give.  This is unfortunate and must be remedied.

 

Excellent advice all around!