Hello and welcome once again to my ongoing review of each nations T4-11 class of DD.

Today we will be looking at T6 class of DDs. First, a brief overview of T6 class:

As with T5 class, DDs continue to lose there OP feeling. Other classes scale better in gun dmg and DP/Def lvl, yet DDs are not included in this. Plus, at this stage, the grinds start to become longer and your team and MM in general starts to have higher expectations. All this can lead to feeling helpless when a BB gets lucky and smacks you with a crit salvo. Dispair not though, DDs are multirole warships. Back off, repair that dmg and help your team AA, screen ships or lay torps to force an advance from the enemy back. As gung-ho as DDs are capable of, going out with guns blazing and torps splashing is not always the best way. Playing smarter is needed now more then ever. The DD captains who can balance escort duties and dmg output will be able to control the flow of a game later on.                 

Moving on though, T6 DDs have lower DP, same speed, more sight range, better sonar, some more gun dmg and others less alpha...  While on the T6 class in general, BBs become a bit weaker. All T6 BBs are rather slow, have bad acc and are large (lexi = torp magnet). CAs still pose the greatest threat, high DP along with good def lvl and most are much smaller then BBs. The one CA that seems to have a DDs number is USN Tenn. This ship has a brutal secondary battery. Use extreme caution when engaging one.

With that said, lets look at the stats:

Speed** = 4 bulkhead/gold rep/gold boiler. Best armor configuration for all DDs..

Name/# of guns/Shell Dmg/Rld time/Acc/Speed*/torp layout/DP - Numbers are in full research config

KM Z1936A/2x4/816/4.07/C/38-46/4x2/36,569

UK J Class/3x2/856/4.31/D/40-49/4x2/35,605

IJN Asahio/2x3/820/4.31/D/38-46/3x2/35,904

USN Porter/2x4/812/4.31/C/38-46/3x2/35,239

Digesting all the info above. Lets discuss each DD:

KM: The Z takes a werid turn in stats. It has lower DP, slower Rld, less alpha dmg (4x2).. but comes with more torps and is far more agile then T5. This makes KM DDs more multirole and not pew pew, gunship only. 8 torps (4x2) finally comes to KM. The extra salvo dmg is long overdue. While KM has a hair more gun alpha then USN, the trade off is mussel velocity vs rld. KM has better RLD at the expense of mussel velocity. Overall, I consider KM and USN both well balanced gun platforms. Agile, 8 torps and best alpha gun dmg make KM DD fun. Also, KM has the 2nd longest sight range of all the T6 classes. This allows great use of the kiting tactic.

UK: J class leaves alot to be desired. The drop from 10 guns in A class to 6 guns in J class is shocking. However, J class does return with 8 torps (4x2). Which is much needed. Lower DP, J class retains its class leading speed and def lvl. The biggest problem with J class is agility. This ship is like driving a sofa. By far the worst agility in class. I almost feel like its a bug..  but who knows. UK sonar is better then other classes. Combine that with 4 depth charges, makes J class excellent at ASW. Though, it has the lowest sight range of T6 DDs... Seems like more negitives then positives... if your a gung-ho DD style of play...

IJN: Asashio continues what the Yugumo started. More DP, gun DMG, better torps and retains best agility. Only thing that holds it back from being OP is the crappy gun lay out (3x2). However, now that UK has fallen into this crappy set up.. doesnt seem so bad now...  The final set of Torps for IJN are the best in game. Highest dmg output plus fastest. Cant go wrong with them. Asashio is a nice little DD. It has the 3rd best sight range, above UK only. Quite fun to play with.

USN: Porter back in the day (before the new ships came out) was a horrible DD compared to Mahan. It shared the same guns, had less torps and was less agile... Fast forward to present day, Porter had a slient buff. It now has more gun dmg and is on par with Mahan on agility. The biggest thing that sets apart Mahan and Porter are torpedos. Carrying 33% less torps equates to a class low alpha torpedo salvo. As you should know by now, Torpedos are the life line of a DD. If you can't retire your target with a full broadside, how effective can you truly be? That said, USN boosts the best sight range. Making Kiting all the more important. 

So... how do they rank.. you say? :)

T6 DD vs Other DD:

KM=USN: As I mentoned above, USN has higher velocity vs KMs quicker RLD. Both do almost the same gun dmg, this makes them pretty much even as an anti-dd gunship. USN is more agile vs KMs heavier torpedo broadside. Before you quote me about the lifeline of DDs... You should know now that Torps are ineffective vs fast ships. Thus, there useless in most fights. DD vs DD action comes down to being a gun duel. With speed having more of an effect then torps.

UK: Even though J class is horrible in the agility department, lets not carried away. Its still the fastest and tanks better then the rest. Not to mention out damaging IJN guns. It might not dodge your salvos... but maybe it wont have too..

IJN: Asahio is not as helpless as Yugumo. It can put out some dmg... if you let it ;)

T6 DD vs Other T6 Class

IJN: Class leading torpedo alpha and agility make Asashio fun and quite deadly. Its guns can creep up on ya if you dont pay attention...

KM: Decent fast firing guns and 8 torps make KM finally able to roll into a battle and be more then just an annoying gunship.

USN: Those 3 torps... Porter is a tough ship to use when you realize how important 3 torps really are. Good guns and class leading sight should improve your Kiting skills.

UK: There will be a time when UK DDs move to the top. Today is not one of them. Look, fast and tanky with 8 torps is still something not to be looked down upon. May not be "offensive minded" as the ships above, but being the best at ASW has its untold benefits.

So that wraps up T6. Next is T7... and some surprises are in store. Stay tuned!

My experiance playing DD: At the start of this review I stated the best DD captains are able to control the flow of a game. Theres more to DDs then torpedoing the biggest ship on the high seas. As mentioned in the T5 review, DDs are tasked with alot to do. Being able to balance everything were asked is part of being a great DD captain. Sometimes, not having the best offsensive tools leads to learning other aspects of the game. Those aspects become vital later down the DD line. Ships will only get tougher to sink as you increase in tier. Those games you win now being rambo DD jr will meet a cruel fate soon enough. Learning to direct your offensive pushes to where and when needed, will win you more games then going down with guns and torpedos blazing as you watch your team throw a game away. Its tough to change the outcome of a game when your sunk ;)

Thanks for reading,

Talentz