BELFAST

Country
United Kingdom (UK)

Class
Cruiser

MMweight
7.5

Obtain Method
Tech Tree

Arena rating

B

PVP rating

C

Belfast is a very stealthy cruiser in its MMweight. Its surface detectability is so good that sometimes it becomes the top pick for capturing bases in battles without destroyers. The main downside is its low firepower. Without someone else to deal damage, Belfast can’t do anything.

Playstyle

Belfast has fast reload but short range and terrible accuracy. The damage output is low, even against broadsiding battleships, because more than half of the shells fired will miss. The HE performance is terrible so it’s better to just use AP all the time. Belfast is not suitable for kiting or sniping. The best position for Belfast is around capture bases and islands. To farm damage, hide behind an island or smoke then lob shells to broadsiding enemies. Flanking with the help of smokescreen is also good. With a good smokescreen usage, it can farm the enemy’s broadside without getting shot in return. Smokescreen can also help conceal badly damaged allies so they can hide, retreat, and repair.

Belfast has bad armor, typical of British light cruisers. It’s hard to directly fight cruisers, not to mention battleships. Just a single salvo can severely damage this ship or even destroy it. Staying undetected is the prime method of staying alive. If you get shot, quickly retreat and hide. Stop shooting when retreating. Belfast has good maneuverability and small size which makes dodging shells easier. Use repair consumable when the HP is 60% or below. Saving repair consumable is not a wise decision.

Belfast has excellent surface detectability. This makes Belfast the top pick to capture bases and spot enemies. Unfortunately, it’s not good at shooting DDs because of low accuracy. Belfast has long range torpedoes, but only 3 per side so they’re useless. Belfast’s AA is good and it has smokescreen to protect teammates and itself. In a CV battle, always stay close to allied ships (especially BBs and CV) so you can react quickly and protect them from enemy planes. Belfast has slow speed, so positioning is important.

Belfast is a light cruiser that can cosplay as a destroyer if there are no enemy destroyer around. It offers great utility and is generally very team-oriented. Low damage output and low survivability means it needs good teammates that can deal damage and tank the enemies that it spots. If the team is bad Belfast can’t do anything. Unfortunately, at such a low tier we can’t expect any teamwork, or even any strategy. Even in arena, there are more influx of bad players than good players. This often makes Belfast’s utility wasted.

Is it worth to buy?

Belfast’s playstyle is similar to the top tier cruiser in the British tech tree line, Minotaur. Since it’s low tier, you can buy Belfast cheaply and try it for several battles. If you enjoy using Belfast, you should consider grinding up to get Minotaur.

Strengths
Good AP penetration, fast reload, great concealment, small size, great maneuverability, good AA, has torpedoes
Weaknesses
Bad HE, bad accuracy, bad range, slow speed, bad armor, no planes
Consumables
Elite DC, elite repair (3 charges), smokescreen (3 charges)
General playstyle
Flanking, lobbing shells from behind island
Role/specialty
Spotter, site capturer, wide AA protection, ally smoke protection
Preferred enemy target
BB, plane

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 smokescreen
Crew Skills (after basic skill)
Captain: artillery warning – boost morale- hull protection
Gun: crack gunner – ADA enhancement – burn the ship behind
Engine: noise reduction – quick shift – adv. quick shift
Damage control: buoyancy reserve – emergency flooding – extinguish
Torpedo: engine maintenance – excess charge – weak point attack

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