Hello everyone! Today and for the coming days I will be reviewing Tier 4-11 DDs of each nation. This is to give a good idea of how they balance against each other and other ships in there respective classes.
~ To start ~ A brief overview of each nation and what they genreally offer:
USN: Balanced ships in DP, speed, Torp armament and gun layout through out the line.
UK: Fastest, somewhat agile, strong gun dmg and 4 DC make UK the most effective ASW ships. Uk ships get +1 def lvl.
IJN: Overall the worst gunship DDs; Strongest torp dmg, very agile, sometimes frail ships.
KM: Best gunships in game, high DP; No more then 8 torps; Best kiting ships.
Speed** = 4 bulkhead/gold rep/gold boiler. Best armor configuration for all DDs..
So moving right along: Name/# of guns/Shell Dmg/Rld time/Acc/Speed**/torp layout/DP - Numbers are in full research config*
KM Z1934: 2x5/649/3.59/C/42-50/3x2/27,874
UK A class: 2x5/573/4.31/C/44-52/4x2/26,287
USN Fletcher: 2x5/457/3.83/B/42-50/4x2/27,358
IJN Hatsuharu: 2x3/791/4.31/D/42-50/3x2/25,809
Welcome to T4 DDs, the most OP class of Tier 4. From T3 to T4, you get a nice increase in speed, more gun dmg, more torps and DCs to actually hunt Subs. Combine these together and the hate begins! The main reason T4 is OP is because Torp dmg does not scale with tier. Thus, the dmg at T4 is the same at T11 (IJN is the only difference). So T4 CAs, CLs and BBs all have low DP, naturally, which make torps that much more deadly. You can 1 hit the other classes of ships with a few crits and quite frankly, if the ship lives, you can make quick work of it with 10 shells on target (IJN is the only difference)
Lets compare the numbers above real quick: KM is by far the strongest gun ship in rld and dmg. UK 2nd best in dmg, tied with IJN for rld speed. US is 3rd in dmg, 2nd in rld. IJN is worst in overall dmg and rld. Typical...
What does this all mean? Well, in a gunfight vs other T4 DDs, KM will win almost all the time. UK has a chance to beat KM with better speed and def. USN has the DP to go a few rounds, but gun dmg is lacking. IJN ships are torp boats, not gunboats. Do not attempt to be a gunboat with IJN... its simply fustrating.
Vs other classes: KM has strong guns, but the weakest torp broadside. UK and USN both have 8 torps, enough to make any ship bleed. IJN has the highest dmg, fastest torps. Capable of 1 hit any class with crits.
Thus:
T4 DD vs DD
KM - best guns, RLD, highest DP
UK - strong dmg, fast and tanky - can beat km if used right.
USN - avg dmg, good RLD, 2nd highest DP
IJN - Weakest guns, RLD sucks, worst DP
T4 vs other T4 class
UK - Strong dmg, fast, tanky, 8 torps - overall best T4 DD
USN - Avg dmg, good RLD, 8 torps, 2nd highest DP - Edges KM b/c of 2 more torps.
KM - Great dmg and RLD, DP of a champ - 6 torps wont 1 hit any ship. Means you'll take dmg finishing off your target.
IJN - Torps can 1 hit with luck. You'll need all the luck you can get with IJN ships :)
Well, A class is the best overall DD at T4, it has the knockout power, speed, gun dmg and def to live longer then other DDs. Z1934 will beat other DDs of same tier, but stuggles to beat other classes. USN has the knockout power, RLD and DP to make thinks interesting. IJN gameplay is focused on luck and right place right time moments. Get in, lay torps, run for life. Thats the IJN way ~
Next Up, T5 DDs ... who will come out on top?!
~~ My expierance on DD game play: Torpedos are the lifeblood of a DD driver. The most powerful wep in game combined with the fastest ships in the game make for a fun time. Thus, the more Torps a DD has, the better it is vs other ships. When you can 1 hit or cripple a ship, this translates to less dmg from said ship.
~~DP is the next important thing for DDs. Such a low DP ship, any DP loss is huge. If you cant finish a ship off with torps, you must weigh the costs of a torp run. Losing 75% of your DP on a torp run that will leave said ship with 25% of there health left is a bad decision. Since DP rep wont come quickly, you've just sidelined yourself for a good part of the game for marginal Atk on a ship thats still alive and probably angry at you (argo). This is why more torps are generally better. Always try to hit a ship with a good chance of putting him under. If the target ship is full health, let your team wear them down then swoop in and deal the finishing blow. Don't go Rambo style thinking your going to rekt. More often then not, YOUR going to get rekt first. ~
Tips, questions, ego checks? Whsiper me in game, I'll be glad to help/sink you. :)
Thanks for reading,
Talentz