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INTRODUCTION
Cruiser is a support class with various utilities. Learn what they’re capable of so you can help your team win the battle.
IMPORTANT NOTES
Each ship has different characteristics which influences its playstyle. In this review we only mention the general playstyle of each ship. It doesn’t mean you must play it strictly like that. Battle situation and your skill have more influence on how you should play your ship. Ship’s ratings may constantly changing due to fact there’s a silent nerfs or buffs implemented each updates.
Ratings are based on overall performance in an averaged battle setting, compared to ships on its own MMweight. Remember that you’re not alone in battle. You will team up with other players and fight multiple ships with different types. Cruiser performance can change a lot depending on battle situation. For example, some cruisers might perform well against other cruisers, but becomes bad if the battle is full of BBs. Readers are advised not to blindly choose a ship based on the rating alone, but instead use this document to enhance your knowledge on each ship’s abilities.
| Ratings are as follows: S-A-B-C-D from the best to worse performance. S rating is only given to ships that are very easy to use, excel in many situations that are often found in current meta, and have huge impact on battle. A is very strong or have many utilities that makes the team win easier. B is balanced. C is bad (but still tolerable). D is only for ships that are really bad and requires a lot of effort just to achieve an average performance. |
Arena and PVP ratings are different because the meta is different. Arena consists of 7v7 players, which means more potential incoming damage and battles are often conducted at long range. Ships with good long range and team support abilities usually rank higher in arena. On the other hand, ships with good short range firepower usually rank higher in PVP.
Reviews and ratings are highly subjective. Your skill and understanding have more impact on battle performance. If you play well, even with D-rated ship you can sink a clueless S-rated ship player and top the scoreboard.
DEFINITIONS
General playstyle means the preferred way a ship engages enemy ships. The cruiser can perform really well if played according to its preferred playstyle. However, battle situation may not always be in your favor, and that’s when the player’s skill and judgement come into play. Whether disengaging to choose better position or hold the position to help the team, a good player must decide it carefully.
- Sniping: shoots at long range targets.
- Angling: a defensive position by making the ship sails at an angle to the enemy ship.
- Kiting: fighting by showing the stern to the opponent and angle it in a way that still allows the ship to fire a full salvo. A position as if going to run away but actually for delaying enemy’s push.
- Pushing: advancing towards the enemy’s formation.
- Bowtanking: pointing the bow of the ship towards the enemy.
- Flanking: position the ship to attack the enemy from their side.
- Ambushing: approaches the enemy ship undetected (using concealment or island), then when the enemy shows broadside immediately attack for maximum damage.
- Torpedoplane attack: using torpedoplanes to attack enemies.
- Lobbing shells from behind island: using island as cover to make own ship not detected or cannot be attacked, but still able to shoot towards enemies because the shells travel above the island.
- Torpedo spread: launching torpedoes to a wide area to maximize the chance of hitting the enemy or delay the push of enemies.
- Broadsiding: the position that shows most of the side of the ship so it’s easy for the opponent to aim for the citadel or inflict a lot of damage.
Role/specialty means the function of a ship in a battle. Unlike battleships, cruiser’s worth is not always about damage. Some cruisers may have low damage output but have crucial tools/abilities that can make the team win easier. In arena this is especially important to recognize, because the player can see team composition before battle and therefore can choose a cruiser with abilities that the team most likely will need. For example, if it’s going to be a CV battle it’s usually preferable to bring cruisers that have good AA to defend the allies from air attacks, even though by doing so you might not get high damage.
- Spotter: the role to move forward and detect enemies, preferably without getting detected in return (some ships can use controllable planes to detect enemies).
- Damage dealer: using guns or torpedoes to inflict big damage to enemies. All ships can deal damage, but ships with damage dealer specialty can inflict bigger damage more consistently than those without this specialty.
- Site capturer: move to a capture site and stay inside to capture it, preferably without getting detected or hit.
- Area denial: using long range torpedoes to create a wall of torpedoes, threatening to hit multiple enemies and therefore makes enemies afraid to move to an area. Controllable planes sometimes can be used for area denial against DDs and light cruisers because they rely on stealth to survive.
- Wide AA protection: using long range and powerful AA to cover multiple allies in a group from enemy plane strikes.
- Offtank: move forward and defend against enemy attacks for a while when ally BBs cannot perform as the main tank.
- Ally smoke protection: using smoke consumable to conceal allies so they can hide, retreat, and/or repair.
JAPAN
Japanese cruisers have high shell velocity and good torpedoes.
Premium
Shirane (9.0)
-Gem-
Maya (9.0)
-Prism-
Chikuma (8.0)
-Prism
Kitakami (8.0)
-Prism-
Mogami (7.5)
-Gem-
Akitsushima (7.0)
-Rank Point/Prism-
FRANCE
The French cruiser has high gun performance, bad turret firing angle, and unique consumables.
Premium
Algerie (7.5)
-Prism-
SOVIET
Soviet cruisers have high shell velocity and long range.
UNITED KINGDOM (BRITAIN)
British cruisers have bad armor but can activate smokescreen.
Premium
Gloucester (9.6)
-Rank Point-
Black Prince (9.0)
-Prism-
Edinburgh (7.6)
-Prism-
Tiger C20 (7.0)
-Gem-
London (6.5)
-Gem-
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
US cruisers have fast reload and decent armor.
Premium
Albany (9.0)
-Prism-
Vallejo (9.0)
-Free Exp-
Guam (9.0)
-Prism-
Alaska (8.5)
-Prism-
Cheyenne (8.5)
-Rank Point-
Norfolk (7.5)
-Gem-
Wichita (7.5)
-Gem-
Helena (7.5)
-Gem-
GERMAN
German battlecruisers have big size and large caliber guns. German cruisers have fast shell velocity and hard hitting guns. All of them have bad concealment and maneuverability.
ITALIA
Italian cruisers have fast shell velocity, small size, and high maneuverability.
CHINA
The Chinese cruiser has short range but fast reloading destroyer-caliber guns.
Premium
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