CHEYENNE

Country
United States of America (USA)

Class
Cruiser

MMweight
8.5

Obtain Method
Rank Point

Arena rating

D

PVP rating

D

Cheyenne is a US navy project ship. The design was based on a scaled-down Worcester hull with 6×2 127 mm guns arranged in a similar fashion to Worcester. The main guns are taken from Montana’s secondary guns. They can attack surface and air targets. This theoretically makes Cheyenne’s anti-air capability extremely high.

Cheyenne’s main guns have the same caliber as destroyers. This makes the penetration and range very low for a cruiser. Heck, there are some destroyers with higher caliber and penetration than this ship. The HE is only useful against some cruisers and destroyers. The AP can’t even citadel broadsiding cruisers at short range. The low accuracy and slow shell velocity makes aiming really hard. Cheyenne’s firepower is the lowest in its tier. Cheyenne has four torpedoes per side with good range to help it fight in close combat.

Cheyenne is a small cruiser with excellent concealment. Cheyenne’s surface detectability is the best in its tier, comparable to Minotaur. However, just like Minotaur, Cheyenne’s armor is trash. Battleships can citadel it from any angle. Cheyenne also has slow speed which makes it hard to disengage if situation gets worse. At least the maneuverability is good.

In battle, Cheyenne’s role is as an AA cruiser. Cheyenne’s AA is very good. It has the best AA in its MMweight. Combined with anti-air barrage consumable, Cheyenne can be a deterrent to CV strikes. However, Cheyenne’s AA is only strong against lower tier CVs. Against high tier CVs (MMweight 9.2 – 10.5) Cheyenne gets bodied. Unfortunately, Cheyenne doesn’t have radar consumable.

Playstyle

At the start of the battle, check the team list to see if there’s a CV in play. Cheyenne’s playstyle in a CV battle is very different from regular battle. The way to play Cheyenne (and other AA-focused cruisers) in a CV battle is to move to a position where it can protect many allies, creating overlapping AA bubbles, and make the enemy CV afraid to attack. No need to shoot your guns. Your job is to catch the enemy CV off guard.

Observe the flying direction of the enemy planes and anticipate where the planes will attack. Once you make a prediction, quickly move to protect the ally. Ideally, when the enemy planes are still 10 km away from their target, Cheyenne is also already at less than 10 km moving closer to the target. If the planes are within 5 km of your ship, activate the anti-air barrage consumable. Next is just hope that the CV is dumb so their planes get wrecked. A competent CV player can still bypass its AA. A strong CV player will kill Cheyenne instead. Keep in mind that Cheyenne can be deleted by BB salvos while it’s being detected by planes. Every time you’re detected, angle your ship away from the enemy. Careful positioning is very important. Your damage output will be low but you can be useful by staying alive and protecting your allies.

In a regular battle without CV and DD, sail to a base. Your job is to capture the base and spot the enemy. If you’re not detected, don’t shoot until you capture the base. Remember, shooting will increase your detectability range so don’t do that unless you absolutely need to. If the enemy is spotted, let your battleships shoot the enemy first. You stay inside the base until it’s captured. After you capture the base, sail to another base.

Always observe the position of enemy ships. If there’s an enemy that’s sailing to your position, sail away before you get detected. Abandon the base if the enemy is too close. If there are no bases that can be captured due to safety reasons, you can farm damage in the meantime.

Before farming damage, first you have to find a big island to hide behind. Shoot only after you get a good position. Ideally, you want to be able to lob shells to the enemy but the enemy can’t see or shoot you back. If you’re getting shot, just move closer to the island to hide or run away.

If there’s no island to hide, stay at more than 13 km from enemy battleship. Angle your ship away from the enemy (kiting position). 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 away to increase its effectiveness. Don’t show broadside. Drop torpedoes if possible, but don’t sacrifice your health just for it. If your HP is low, just run away and stop shooting. Once you get out of your basic detection range, you won’t be spotted anymore. Because in open water you need to fight at long range, your damage output will be low. But at least you can live longer.

To maximize your effectiveness, try to create a crossfire with your teammates. If your teammate is tanking, you sail to the side of the enemy ship and shoot at their broadside.

In a battle with destroyers, sail together with your ally destroyer. If the enemy destroyer is spotted, focus fire on that destroyer. Don’t shoot another enemy. If the enemy destroyer gets sunk, your team’s chance of victory will increase significantly. Remember, when shooting, the enemy can shoot you back. Always pay attention to all enemies and speed juke to dodge incoming attacks.

Is it worth to buy?

Cheyenne’s gimmick is strong AA. However, Cheyenne’s AA is only effective against MMweight 8.1 CVs and below. But if the CV player is good with manual control, Cheyenne’s AA can be bypassed. The CV player can also choose not to enter its AA range and simply attack another target. Cheyenne is slow and won’t be able to catch up.

In most battles, Cheyenne’s role is reduced to a scout. This is an important role, but Cheyenne is not that good for it either. Cheyenne’s bad armor and slow speed makes it vulnerable to get deleted anytime it’s detected.

Cheyenne is a rank point ship. Rank point is a rare currency. It’s obtainable from ranking up in arena or limited sale in the shop. It’s not worth to buy.

Strengths
Very fast reload, great AA, small size, great concealment, has torpedoes
Weaknesses
Slow shell velocity, bad accuracy, low caliber guns, short range, slow speed, bad armor, no planes
Consumables
Elite DC, elite repair (3 charges), centralized AA (unlimited charges)
General playstyle
Kiting, flanking, lobbing shells from behind island
Role/specialty
Wide AA protection, site capturer
Preferred enemy target
Plane

Recommended Build

Equipment
Slot 1: adv. disaster retardant module
Slot 2: engine enhancement module
Slot 3: AA-guns enhancement module or cruiser aiming system module
Consumables
Slot 1: elite damage control
Slot 2: elite repair
Slot 3: elite anti-air barrage
Crew Skills (after basic skill)
Captain: artillery warning – boost morale – hull protection
Gun: ADA enhancement – crack gunner – high speed aiming
Engine: quick shift – noise reduction – adv. quick shift – steering master
Damage control: buoyancy reserve – emergency flooding – extinguish
Torpedo: engine maintenance – excess charge – weak point attack

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