News and Rumours

**Mobius** · 06-15-2017, 12:07 PM

And teaming with cruisers:)

... Does this guy even play the game? There's barely any teamplay in random battles, and whether a BB can get cruiser support or not is dependent not on the BBs but the cruisers since they can outpace any BB and the AA radius is not long enough to cover the usual distances between ships. And what incensitives do cruisers have to screen for BBs anyway?

And I think this is going to be frustrating for both USN CV players and BB players alike. Annoying for the CV player because it's all RNG, annoying for the BB player because there's no real actions you can take to avoid them (again, because it's RNG based unlike torps).

**Emerald Acid** · 06-15-2017, 01:16 PM

@Mobius It's not really too much RNG if yu've seen the drop reticle. A proper manual drop should easily cluster all hits on BBs the size of T6+.

What will be really frustrating is the influx of the now super cancer training wheels CV loadout of 3/0/1 Saipan.

**DLRevan** · 06-15-2017, 02:38 PM

I am amused by all the salty cruiser captains saying they "finally have justice", with the potential for BBs to eat massive citadels based on _Octavian's comments.

If I get deleted in a cruiser I own my own foul up. Even Pepsicola doesn't really have an excuse anymore.

Not to mention......sure a cruiser may be hard to hit.....but if it is? I think its even more likely to get deleted by these bombs.

**Keyan_TTK** · 06-15-2017, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by Mobius

... Does this guy even play the game? There's barely any teamplay in random battles, and whether a BB can get cruiser support or not is dependent not on the BBs but the cruisers since they can outpace any BB and the AA radius is not long enough to cover the usual distances between ships. And what incensitives do cruisers have to screen for BBs anyway?

And I think this is going to be frustrating for both USN CV players and BB players alike. Annoying for the CV player because it's all RNG, annoying for the BB player because there's no real actions you can take to avoid them (again, because it's RNG based unlike torps).

That may be the case in Randoms, but you could always ask a fellow Clan member if one of them would be willing to escort your precious Hotel/Biscuit/Baguette. I know at least one who has a Baltimore, a Cleveland and an Atlanta kitted for AA work, and who may (or may not) have Des Moines before Hotel (to the shame of some of his weeaboos clanmates). He's also well on his way to get NepNep, too. Just sayin'.

Originally Posted by DLRevan

Not to mention......sure a cruiser may be hard to hit.....but if it is? I think its even more likely to get deleted by these bombs.

It was mentioned that the AP bombs are more likely to overpen destroyers and cruisers (except Moskva, but is it a cruiser still?). Of course, AP overpens on a DD will still mess him badly.

**Mobius** · 06-15-2017, 08:16 PM

@Keyan_TTK Yeah I know, but we don't always play at the same hours

Besides, I don't think "just play in a div" should be an answer to balance concerns.

Anyway, here's a video of AP bombs vs cruisers. Jump at 3:16:

They still seems to take a lot of damage. Those Charles Martel, Edinburgh and Chapayev hits were pretty nasty.

**M.A.Mitscher** · 06-16-2017, 07:20 AM

@Mobius That torpedo drop pattern is so awful, good lord...

**Keyan_TTK** · 06-16-2017, 08:08 AM

Originally Posted by Mobius

@Keyan_TTK Yeah I know, but we don't always play at the same hours

Besides, I don't think "just play in a div" should be an answer to balance concerns.

On the other hand, expecting a modicum of decent teamplay in a multiplayer game shouldn't be that ludicrous either. I mean, back before 0.4, when 2 carriers were common sight and point blank manual torp drops the biggest fear before Shimakaze torp walls, you had people trying to form groups around the highest AA ships like Cleveland or Atlanta.

**hidahos** · 06-16-2017, 09:12 AM

When saw the video I feel the AP dmg is very random. Some ships from BB somehow got only light dmg from 3-4 bomb. Some others (cruisers too) eats massive dmg.
Bomb dispersion is not that bad that expected, bigger hight tiered ships eats many bombs. The dmg might dependant where the ship hit and how low her citadel. Deck and citadel top armor count too. Feels germans BBs IJN BBs suffer most.
If IJN don't get access to this toy Japanese dive bombers feel more inferior. US bombs more heavy and damaging now. IJN bombs pure dmg is tiny now (1,5k / bomb) and no 1000lbs huge bombs. If uncontrollable burn happen when hit that is big dmg (can fully repaired) if not that is a scrach from IJN bombers.
From this view IJN dive bombers just a bait or vaste of planes slots.

**Keyan_TTK** · 06-16-2017, 10:24 AM

AP bombs autobounce at angles of 45, so once again the turtleback may (or may not) save you. And yes, the German BBs have bad horizontal protection (and are massive), so they're gonna be hit bad.

The IJN won't have these toys, they're already the best damage dealers over the USN, their DB are there to deal DoT after a successful TB strike or to prepare one by making the target use their DameCon on fire(s).

**Mobius** · 06-16-2017, 12:40 PM

@M.A.Mitscher Yeah, it's been the biggest complaint about the Enterprise so far.

@Keyan_TTK I agree with you that teamplay should be a bigger part of the game, however there's pretty much nothing in the current gameplay design that encourages it. How many times have you seen a DD smoke a BB who pushed into a cap for instance? And what incentives do cruisers have to serve as AA escort for BBs? Nothing, in fact it's detrimental to them because they essentially have to expose themselves to the enemy team, making them an easy target for enemy BBs. A Baltimore lobbing shells above an island isn't going to leave that position and expose himself to the enemy Yamatos and Iowas to save an Izumo about do be dropped.
I would love to see more teamplay in the game, but again nothing in the game encourages it so expecting cruisers to be one of the counters of AP bombs against BBs is delusional IMO.

@hidahos IJN BBs currently have the best horizontal protection in the game. They're actually going to be the least vulnerable to AP bombs. Here's a reddit post comparing the deck armor values of T8+ BBs. Don't think turtleback is going much of a difference going by iChase's video.
Also, AP bombs can not set fires. The damage they deal from the hits is all you get, and you have to give up the standard DBs if you want the AP bombs, so no fire at all.
As for IJN DB being worse, it's not that big of a problem considering their TBs are better. USN CVs will be focused on DBs and IJN on TBs. Seems fair to me.