O

Country
German

Class
Cruiser

MMweight
9.0

Obtain Method
Tech Tree

Arena rating

D

PVP rating

C

O is a battlecruiser project designed before World War II. O is basically an enlarged P with 380 mm guns instead of 283 mm, intended for attacking merchant ships and the cruisers that escort them. In this game, O has both gun caliber options. However, the 283 mm option has lower accuracy than 380 mm and is objectively worse in performance. We’ll only discuss about the 380 mm option.

O has 3×2 380 mm guns. Since it lacks guns, the damage output is low. In exchange, its accuracy is one of the best among cruisers. It has long range, but the air drag is very high. The air drag causes the shells to slow down a lot and makes aiming at long range targets difficult, despite its intended role as a long range fighter. Still, having 380 mm caliber makes O very good at punishing broadsiding enemies compared to other cruisers. It can citadel some battleships with ease. O’s 380 mm AP can overmatch and citadel many cruisers from the front. Interestingly, sometimes O can outperform Brandenburg due to higher accuracy and higher caliber guns.

O is a big cruiser. It has a lot of HP to endure damage. The HP pool is only slightly less than MMweight 8.0 battleships. However, having high HP pool is meaningless because it has bad armor. O can be citadeled by any battleship from the front. The side armor is good, but because of big size O still takes lots of damage. O has bad acceleration, bad maneuverability, and bad concealment. It’s a very easy target to shoot. Fortunately, it has fast speed. It can find a good position and retreat pretty quickly.

Against cruisers, O has higher chance of winning compared to Brandenburg. O’s high caliber guns can overmatch most cruisers. With careful aim, O can citadel enemy cruiser repeatedly. That being said, aiming with O is very difficult due to high air drag. An inexperienced player will just get farmed instead. Not to mention the cruiser can just outspot O and let the battleship kill it.

O has plenty of torpedoes. Six at the bow (2×3 launchers), three on each side. The bow torpedo tubes can only launch forward. O has bad torpedo firing angle. The damage output of those torpedoes may be able to reduce a full HP battleship to low HP. O’s good guns are also an additional damage source. The main problem is O’s bad armor. There’s a high chance that O will get sunk long before it can get close, especially because it can be citadeled from the front. O’s concealment is bad so it can’t do sneak attack. The only time a torpedo ambush can be successful is when the enemy ignores it for a long time.

Just like other German battlecruisers, it has underwater search consumable. It’s a useful consumable to detect ships inside smokescreen and torpedoes from long range. Equip it if you’re not going to fight a CV.

Playstyle

At the start of the battle, sail to a flank. Don’t sail too forward. Don’t get yourself spotted first. 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. Just like all cruisers, you need to find a good island to hide while still being able to lob shells. 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 such island, fight in open water at more than 15 km from enemy battleship. Use AP as your default ammunition unless the enemy is a bowtanking 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. If the enemy is chasing you, drop your torpedoes too. Don’t show broadside and don’t bowtank the enemy. 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.

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. You have fast speed so you can find a good position quickly.

O can be used to ambush an enemy. This move is very risky and requires more practice. Ideally, the enemy is bowtanking, not maneuvering, and is currently taking cover from behind an island. Use the same island to hide yourself as you move closer. Quietly approach the enemy that’s on the other side of the island. If possible, try to not get spotted. The plan is to torpedo the enemy at point blank range. Rush the enemy while keeping your ship angled towards the enemy (remember, don’t point your bow directly ahead). If needed, turn your ship to the left and right regularly to throw off the enemy’s aim. When the enemy is very close (less than 2 km), drop your torpedoes. You might get sunk before you launched your torpedoes, but if successful you might win the battle. It’s a high risk – high reward strategy.

In a CV battle, always stay close to allied ships (especially BBs and CV) so you can protect each other with overlapping AA. You have long range, so you don’t need to get close to the enemy anyway.

Is it worth to buy?

O is a large cruiser with battleship-caliber guns and torpedoes. It fills a strange role among cruisers. The performance is not good, but there are ways to work around it.

O is a tech tree ship. If you want to get it, you just have to grind it. O is not recommended for new players.

Strengths
Big caliber guns, good accuracy, long range, large HP, good torpedoes, fast speed, good side armor.
Weaknesses
Slow reload, bad maneuverability, bad acceleration, big size, bad bow armor, bad concealment, bad AA, no planes
Consumables
Advanced DC (20 secs duration, 20% dmg reduction), elite repair (4 charges), anti-air barrage (3 charges) / underwater search (4 charges)
General playstyle
Sniping, flanking, ambushing, kiting
Role/specialty
Damage dealer
Preferred enemy target
Cruiser, BB

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: large cruiser advanced damage control
Slot 2: elite repair
Slot 3: elite underwater search
Crew Skills (after basic skill)
Captain: artillery warning – boost morale- hull protection
Gun: crack gunner – high speed aiming – burn the ship behind
Engine: quick shift – adv. quick shift – steering master
Damage control: buoyancy reserve – emergency flooding – extinguish
Torpedo: engine maintenance – excess charge – weak point attack

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