LYON

Country
France

Class
Battleship

MMweight
7.0

Obtain Method
Tech Tree

Arena rating

B

PVP rating

B

Lyon shares a lot of similarity to previous French battleships like Bretagne and Normandie. Lyon is basically a floating gun platform. It has a lot of guns (4×4 340 mm guns) that fills most of its deck. But because it’s an old World War 1 design, some aspects of this ship is unsatisfactory.

The AP shells has low penetration. It’s almost impossible to citadel BBs, but it can still delete cruisers. The shell velocity and penetration at long range falls a lot due to high air resistance. The accuracy is bad, but it has 16 guns so some shells will still hit. The caliber is insufficient to overmatch BBs, but sufficient to overmatch cruisers except Wichita. Lyon has good HE that can be useful if AP isn’t effective (for example, against bowtanking targets). The HE is good simply because it has a lot of guns. More areas in the enemy ship will be hit, which increases the chance of setting fires in multiple locations.

Lyon has decent armor, but it has to show a lot of broadside to fire all guns. The performance falls when pushing and bowtanking because it only has ¼ of its total firepower at the front. The bad firing angle makes it risky when engaging the enemy. Fortunately, it has engine overload consumable which can be used to dodge incoming attacks and pick a good position. Lyon is also decently stealthy, so it can control when to approach or retreat from the enemy.

Playstyle

Lyon is best played at medium range, 9-14 km from the enemy. At closer range it has to angle all the time, which makes most of its guns can’t fire at the enemy. At longer range, Lyon’s bad accuracy and penetration makes its damage output very low. If you’re forced to play at long range (for example in arena), just use HE.

It’s not recommended to attack the enemy before you reach a good position. Utilize its stealth well. There’s no reason to randomly shoot the enemy when you’re not yet detected, unless there’s a very high chance you can citadel or sink an enemy. Lyon is very good as an ambusher. It can get closer to an enemy battleship or cruiser and then fire a salvo of 16 guns when they turn broadside. Lyon is also good against destroyers because of the sheer amount of shells that it can shoot.

At the start of the battle, sail to a flank. Use engine overload consumable if needed. You can sail more forward than your teammates. When there’s an enemy detected broadsiding within 14 km, shoot it. Speed juke to dodge incoming shells. Continue shooting if the enemy is still broadsiding. Kite away if there are too many enemies at that flank. Lyon players often achieve first blood medal because of this tactic.

Is it worth to buy?

Lyon is a fun low tier battleship. The damage output is low, but the sheer amount of guns makes up for it. However, it still needs a good teammate to push and capture bases, because Lyon is terrible at bowtanking.

Lyon is a tech tree ship. In order to get it you just need several days of grinding. No need to spend money. Overall, French battleship tech tree is pretty good and newbie friendly. It’s worth to buy and grind it.

Strengths
Large number of guns, high initial shell velocity, good concealment, good speed, has engine booster
Weaknesses
Low caliber, bad penetration, bad accuracy, high air resistance, bad turret firing angle, bad AA, no fighter plane.
General playstyle
Ambushing, kiting, flanking
Preferred fighting range
Medium range

Recommended Build

Equipment
Slot 1: adv. disaster retardant module
Slot 2: engine enhancement module
Slot 3: aiming system module
Consumables
Slot 1: elite damage control
Slot 2: elite repair
Slot 3: elite engine overload
Crew Skills (after basic skill)
Captain: artillery warning – boost morale – hull protection
Gun: crack gunner – high speed aiming – burn the ship behind
Engine: quick shift – adv. quick shift – steering master
Damage control: emergency flooding – buoyancy reserve – extinguish

Back to battleship reviews