YAMATO (MUSASHI)

Country
Japan

Class
Battleship

MMweight
9.0

Obtain Method
Tech Tree

Arena rating

B

PVP rating

C

Everyone who likes WW2 must be familiar with Yamato. The biggest battleship of its time, with monstrous 460 mm guns. In this game, Yamato’s guns are tailored to deal a lot of damage against broadsiding targets. It has average shell velocity but low air drag. At long range, the shells don’t lose a significant amount of velocity and penetration, which makes it good for hitting long range targets. Yamato’s guns can overmatch all cruisers (except Pr66), Soviet Union, and Jean Bart. Yamato’s accuracy is good, but tends to spread horizontally. Against bowtanking targets, only half of its shells will hit.

The main downside of those guns is slow turret rotation speed. Sometimes, the player misses important moments (broadsiding enemy) just because the guns can’t turn fast enough. If you’re inexperienced at predicting enemy’s movement, it’s better to use main battery enhancement module in equipment slot 3. If you have good aim, use aiming system module to increase your damage output.

Aside from the gun caliber, Yamato doesn’t have any strong points. The damage per shell is pretty low for a 460 mm caliber. Yamato’s armor is tough against light cruisers, but other ships can farm it easily. It has weak citadel protection, weak stern armor, it burns easily, and it has very short damage control duration. Yamato will sink quickly if the player is broadsiding. It’s slow, big, and not maneuverable. The surface detectability is bad. The AA is garbage, just like other IJN ships. Yamato needs a good teammate to tank for it, or else it will be sunk quickly. Interestingly, at long range, the belt armor works better.

Playstyle

Yamato’s terrible survivability means it has to stay more than 17 km from the enemy. Anything closer than that, the enemy will farm it instead because hitting it is easy. Use AP and aim at broadsiding targets. Even at maximum range, hitting them is quite easy because of low air drag. Don’t push to the front unless it’s absolutely necessary.

There are two ways of playing Yamato. The first style is bowtanking. This is recommended if you don’t have enough skill for dodging attacks. Point your bow directly towards the enemy (don’t angle). Don’t rush the enemy. Ideally, stay more than 17 km from the enemy. Alter your speed between half speed and reverse to throw off the enemy’s aim. Full reverse if the enemy is coming towards you. You won’t be able to use the third gun with this method, but that’s better than dying in 5 minutes. If possible, ask your teammates to cover you from the side or tank from the front. Yamato can’t survive for long if being focused by the enemy.

Another way to play Yamato is sniping. Only use this method if you’re experienced enough. Stay at the center-back of the map at more than 18 km from the enemy. Show more broadside to fire all of its guns. Try to angle your ship away from the enemy (kiting position) and speed juke to dodge shells. You can try this simple speed juke tactic: sail at 1/4 speed when the enemy isn’t shooting, accelerate to full speed when the enemy shoots at you, reverse if the enemy shoots in front of your ship. Turn your ship to increase its effectiveness.

Remember, sniping is not the same as running away. Because you’re at long range, you can actively find a good position to support your teammates. If your teammate needs help, sometimes you need to step up and be the tank until your teammate finishes repairing and comes back.

Yamato’s high shell velocity and accurate guns makes it a good choice in a CV battle. Yamato has 50% torpedo damage reduction and a lot of HP. It’s very hard for a CV to one shot Yamato. The main problem is usually flood and fire damage. That’s why you must only use damage control when you have multiple fires or a flood. Even though Yamato has terrible AA, it can inflict a lot of damage to the enemy before it sinks. If the enemy CV ignores it, Yamato is much more dangerous than other ships with slow shells.

Is it worth to buy?

Yamato is a tech tree ship, which means you just have to grind it. No need to spend money.

It’s unfortunate that the world’s heaviest armored battleship turns to a sitting duck, badly armored battleship in this game. It can’t tank at all. All of its armor is wasted. But well, at least it’s good for sniping. It battles where sniping is favorable (like arena), Yamato can be good.

Although Yamato is popular among new players, it’s actually not recommended for new players at all. Only more experienced players can do well in it. However, the top tier battleship (Super Yamato) is pretty good. If you have a lot of unused free exp, you can use them to skip Yamato.

The camo of Yamato is called Musashi. You need to spend 36000 coupons to buy it. If you see Musashi in battle, don’t be confused because it’s the same ship as Yamato. There’s also a premium version of Yamato, called Yamato (White). It has the same characteristics as Yamato and Musashi, just has different animation and more battle rewards. Unfortunately, Yamato (White) is sold with real money. Don’t buy it. It’s not worth buying.

Strengths
The highest caliber guns in its MMweight. Low air drag. Good accuracy. Very strong torpedo damage reduction. Long range. Has fighter planes.
Weaknesses
Slow turret rotation speed. Slow speed. Bad concealment. Easily get set on fire. Bad side and stern armor. Bad maneuverability. Bad AA. Short damage control duration.
General playstyle
Sniping
Preferred fighting range
Long range

Recommended Build

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

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