RICHELIEU

Country
France

Class
Battleship

MMweight
8.0

Obtain Method
Prism

Arena rating

A

PVP rating

A

Richelieu is the successor of Dunkerque-class battleship. It has similar gun layout, but higher caliber (2×4 380 mm all at the front). Unlike Dunkerque, Richelieu’s caliber is competitive in its tier. Richelieu’s gun performance is similar to Toulouse and Gascogne. However, the all-frontal gun configuration means Richelieu doesn’t have to show broadside to shoot all guns. Bowtanking in other ships usually makes them lose 1/3 – 1/2 of their firepower, but Richelieu is still at full power. Richelieu can just sit bowtanking and outgun the enemy. But if the enemies are at the rear Richelieu will struggle to fight them.

Even though Richelieu only has 8 guns, it has fast reload which makes the DPM pretty high. The HE is also good. Richelieu’s penetration at long range is lower than Gascogne, but it’s still quite capable at sniping due to fast shell velocity and good accuracy. Richelieu can equip main gun fast reloading consumable in the third consumable slot. It helps mitigate its low damage in important situations and can turn the tide of the battle if timed right.

Richelieu has strong armor, even stronger than its higher tier sister ship, Jean Bart. The bow armor can tank 480 mm guns, meanwhile Jean Bart can be citadeled from the front with 457 mm guns. Ironically, Richelieu has better chance of survival when fighting top tier battleships compared to Jean Bart. Richelieu is often picked in tier 9 arena when Yamato is not banned, simply because it can tank Yamato’s guns unlike Jean Bart. However, Richelieu’s freeboard is higher than Jean Bart. It’s also slower. Hitting Richelieu is easier than Jean Bart.

Even though Richelieu is slower than Jean Bart, it’s still a fast battleship. Richelieu has 31.5 knots speed. It can equip engine overload consumable in the third consumable slot. When activated, it will reach 37.2 knots speed. This speed makes Richelieu maneuverable and can control the engagement. The AA is good, but Graf Zeppelin can kill it in just one strike.

Playstyle

The best position for Richelieu is sitting beside a big island and lob shells against enemies directly ahead of it. The island acts as a cover so only one or two enemies can shoot back at it. There’s no reason to let your ship get focused by multiple enemies. You just need to fight one at a time. Because most islands are located near capture sites, this automatically makes Richelieu an aggressive attacker and a good team support. This is beneficial for Richelieu too, because it enjoys fighting at medium range. If the situation turns bad, just reverse and hide behind the island.

Richelieu can also be positioned at the far right or far left of the flank. Use engine overload consumable to reach this position quickly. In this position, Richelieu can make crossfires with its slower teammates that are at the back.

If there are enemies that has MAP ammunition (for example King George V) or there’s a CV, Richelieu must not stay bowtanking. MAP can penetrate Richelieu from the front. CV can farm it to death. Keep maneuvering, speed juke to dodge shells, use engine overload if needed. Angle your ship all the time. Richelieu’s playstyle is very similar to Jean Bart. If you use Jean Bart often, you will adapt to Richelieu very quickly.

Is it worth to buy?

Richelieu is very similar to Jean Bart. It has less gun performance but stronger bow armor. Because Richelieu is not a high tier battleship, the opponents that it has to fight is less dangerous than Jean Bart.

Richelieu is a prism ship. If you want to buy it, you need to spend money. Among all prism ships, Richelieu is one the best choices. It’s easy to use by new players and scales well with skill. It’s also not that expensive.

Keep in mind that this is not a pay-to-win game. Having a good ship doesn’t guarantee victory. If you play badly, even a lower tier ship can kill you in 1 minute. This also means that you’re not obligated to buy this ship. It’s ok if you don’t have money or don’t want to spend money for this game. Staying as an F2P player is completely fine. You can reach the highest rank in arena and have >80% win rate in PVP without spending any money.

Strengths
All guns at the front, high initial shell velocity, good accuracy, fast reload, can choose between reload booster or engine booster, good AA.
Weaknesses
Bad penetration, no rear guns, no fighter plane
General playstyle
Pushing, bowtanking, flanking
Preferred fighting range
Medium range

Recommended Build

Equipment
Slot 1: adv. disaster retardant module
Slot 2: engine enhancement module or disaster control module
Slot 3: aiming system module
Consumables
Slot 1: elite damage control
Slot 2: elite repair
Slot 3: elite quick-load battery or elite engine overload
Crew Skills (after basic skill)
Captain: boost morale – hull protection – artillery warning
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