GLOUCESTER

Country
United Kingdom (UK)

Class
Cruiser

MMweight
9.6

Obtain Method
Rank Point

Arena rating

C

PVP rating

D

Gloucester has unique main guns: they have smaller caliber, very lightweight shells, very fast reload, and very fast shell velocity. At long range the air drag is not that much, so it can still hit targets reliably. The main downside is the penetration. Even if it hits the target, most shells will not penetrate and the damage is very small. It can’t even citadel a broadsiding cruiser at short range. Don’t even mention HE, because that ammunition does nothing.

Gloucester is the only British cruiser that doesn’t have smokescreen. In exchange, it has better armor than most light cruisers (second only to Pr84). The deck and side armor is good, but the bow and stern armor is bad. Of course it will get deleted when broadsiding or bowtanking, but when angled it can bounce battleship shells quite well. The maneuverability is also great so it can dodge shells nicely. Gloucester has excellent concealment, only slightly less than Minotaur. Gloucester can be used to capture bases and spot targets, although it’s pretty risky because it doesn’t have smokescreen. If you want to play it for this purpose, you should equip radar consumable.

Gloucester has the strongest AA among top tier ships and it has anti-air barrage consumable. It can also swap the anti-air barrage consumable with radar so it can be used to hunt DDs.

Playstyle

Gloucester has two playstyles. The first playstyle is capturing bases and spotting targets. It has great surface detectability like Minotaur, so it can be a scout pretty well. It has good long range torpedoes to deny enemy’s advance and protect a base. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have smokescreen so playing aggressive is not safe. Equipping radar consumable is better for this job because it can prevent Gloucester from getting ambushed. Activate the radar before you enter a base to make sure the situation is safe. The radar duration is short so use it wisely. After capturing a base, the Gloucester player can move back and do the second playstyle.

The second playstyle is as a long range sniper that fights at the flanks, dealing damage to broadsiding enemies. Gloucester’s low penetration makes it terrible at fighting bowtanking enemies. If the enemy is bowtanking, don’t bother shooting. Just drop torpedoes and change position to find broadsiding targets. Against broadsiding enemies, even though the low penetration makes it impossible to citadel enemies, the blistering fast reload will make the enemy’s life miserable. Staying at long range helps it dodge incoming attacks. With high accuracy and shell velocity, hitting targets at long range is easy. Gloucester should not stay behind island because it has low shell arc. The island will block its shells instead.

Gloucester has very strong AA power and can equip anti-air barrage consumable in a CV battle. The AA is so strong, that the second strongest AA cruiser in the game (Worcester) only has half of Gloucester’s AA power. Unfortunately, a top tier CV like Midway, Shinano, and Malta can still kill it in one or two strikes the moment its anti-air barrage consumable is on cooldown. It also doesn’t have smokescreen, so it must rely on AA and maneuverability to dodge. 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.

Gloucester is a light cruiser that can cosplay as a destroyer and also a sniper. It fills a unique role in the game. Unfortunately, the lack of damage output and smokescreen makes it confusing for new players and very reliant on teammates.

Is it worth to buy?

Gloucester is a rank point cruiser that requires a lot of skill and experience. You should only buy it if you have too much rank points and you already bought better ships.

Strengths
Very fast reload, very fast shell velocity, fast turret rotation speed, great concealment, great maneuverability, good armor, great AA, good torpedoes.
Weaknesses
Bad AP and HE penetration, no smokescreen, no planes.
Consumables
Elite DC, super repair (3 charges), anti-air barrage (unlimited)/12 km radar (4 charges)
General playstyle
Flanking, torpedo spread
Role/specialty
Spotter, site capturer, damage dealer, area denial, wide AA protection
Preferred enemy target
BB, DD, plane

Recommended Build

Equipment
Slot 1: adv. disaster retardant module
Slot 2: engine enhancement module
Slot 3: cruiser aiming system module
Consumables
Slot 1: elite damage control
Slot 2: super repair
Slot 3: elite radar or elite anti-air barrage
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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