Tier XI CA vs BB

The main idea of this section is to compare the differences between a tier XI Heavy Cruiser against a tier XI Battleship to see how they function against one another. This post will not detail specific ships and their playstyles its more of a general comparison of the two classes characteristics at tier XI. As such both ships are assumed to be fully upgraded and the condition would be a 1 vs 1 battle situation.

Heavy Cruiser

Pros:   8 

• 40% smaller than a BB   (great benefit the further the range)
• 15% faster than a BB (great for evading shells at max range)
• Reload 40% faster than a BB ( can easy get two main salvos in against a BB's one )
• Turn rate faster than a BB (great for evading, especially the further the range)
• High Shell accuracy (low spread, even at its max range)
• High defence rating 
• High dps for main guns 
• High Damage Points (comparatively considering its smaller size)

Cons: 2

• Weaker hitting guns 
• Only 3 scouts

Battleship

Pros:    4

• Longest gun range    
• Highest damage guns   
• Has 7 scouts   (providing greater visibility for longer)
• High DP ( Due to their size, BB's should have a clearer advantage in DP, say 20 or 30k, and better damage mitigation [defence rating should be better because its a bigger, slower & less agile ship].)

Cons: 7

• No secondary HE guns 
• Slower gun reload  
• Slower speed  
• Slower turn rate
• Largest ship size 
• Poor accuracy (shell spread) at maximum/long range (rendering it less effective vs smaller & faster targets)
• Fewer total shells ( important in a sustained fight against  smaller and faster CA )

In a 1v1 situation scouting and AA become very important. The BB doesn't need to rush in and get kited. He can sit back and snipe scouts down to increase pressure on the enemy, but to reduce his opponents vision capabilities.

This puts the pressure on CA's to initiate hit and run attacks. Being faster and smaller the CA will try this, but will need to find a balance between getting his damage up while avoiding shells from the BB. Get too close and the BB will be landing full broadsides.

From the BB's perspective he can't run away or rush in close as the CA has greater speed, thus giving him control of the battle's range.

The BB has a few options: 1) he can snipe all 3 scouts down first.  2) he can rush to try get close  3) he can attack at mid range, trading shells  4) he can wait for max range broadside opportunities.

Option 1 is probably the preferred because the BB has impressive AA capability including secondary and tertiary AA gun sets. This means you have more guns to shoot down the fewer scouts a CA has.

Option 2, getting in close is the aggressive way to get more shells to hit the target and is more of a brute force option which can overwhelm the CA. However smart CA's will recognize the rush and kite you.

The best scenario is to play option 1 and 4 being very selective on salvos. Then transition into option 3 or 2 if the CA engages.

CA's know all of this, and will want to be in the most comfortable position at their max gun range.  This allows them to get hits, avoid some shells and AA scouts.

CA's will rely heavily on their speed and agility coupled with it's smaller size to engage and disengage at will.

Because of this, tier 11 CA's are referred to as pocket battleships and have a definitive and important role in a given battle. They are quick and should not be taken lightly.

Current Update

In truth there has been no changes to the game since last week, save for the usual server maintenance (boring). But that's a huge positive, why? because we know the devs are hard at work preparing for the launch of the harbour assault tests.

As mentioned in our previous posts this will be the end-game content for all fleets to get involved in, and a chance for them to use their best ships. And the devs mentioned the test could be within the next month or two, with a release soon after adjustments are made.

Top five Fleets to be looking out for when Harbour Assault are being tested and go live are:

Chinese Fleet  - Chinese flag
Japanese Fleet - Yin/Yang flag
Jedi - Yoda Flag
Icbm - Bio-hazard flag
Australia Fleet - Australian flag

You will notice when playing against other fleets, especially the top 5, they have multiple players who have maximum morale crews which make their ships as fully effective as they can be. Coupled with the players' skills and competency, knowing how to play against skilful players, they are some of the best players in game right now.

Currently the top 5 are among the most active fleets right now given the low population (what I'm calling The Depression) This will change once HA's come in as everyone will jump back into nf2 to get in on the action.

We will see a plethora of fleets who will be eager to form alliances and dominate the high seas together.

Finally, can you guess which fleet I belong to? I'll give you a hint it's one of those mentioned above.

Low Tier Carrier Tactics

In matchmaking the first things you need to know is the map and the enemy composition. If the map is small then its likely you will be rushed by sea & air. Knowing if the opposition has carriers or not is also important.

As you play against the same people, especially other cv's, you will learn to associate their names with plane compositions they tend to use.

Generic Start Up

Initially you want to get 2 or 3 fighters up in the air fast. I prefer 3 as I feel more confident to snipe scouts and counter quick bomber rushes.

From that point you have choices to make depending on the map size and CV count.

Small map - if enemy team has carriers 

Start your generic start up. Depending on what the response is, back that up with one more squad of fighters (anything from 3-5 planes).

Now you have a bit of air superiority follow that up with your bombers.

With this strategy, watch for other ships attempting to rush you.

Small map - if enemy team doesn't have carriers 

You could get 1 or 2 fighters up or forego them entirely and get bombers out fast. Form groups of 3 bombers to keep the pressure on. as these will be quicker to launch.

Prioritise any ships running you down.

Enemy team has superior carrier(s) 

In situations where you are outnumbered or outclassed, try one of the following alternatives:  

1. Start with the generic 2 or 3 fighters. Keep them close to your teams' ships (ready to lower altitude & bait them into ships AAA range) or...
2. Load 5 fighters for the first two groups. Hold the first group back so you don't reveal you're spamming fighters. Keep them together. Poke around to see what resistance you meet.

Option 2 can work because of superior numbers. 10 planes should usually win out over 5 etc etc...

[A few times I've suppressed a tier nine CV in a lower tier one simply because he couldn't rally enough fighters and hence gets outnumbered]

I guess he's thinking "Hey I'm in a higher tier, that small cv will only bomb other ships instead of gaining air superiority".  

If he has loaded bombers and sees your planes mopping things up he may switch to fighters, in which case the race is on to maintain air superiority. Load a third group of fighters and maybe a fourth & fifth.

By group 4 + 5 consider whether it's worth loading bombers or not. And by this point your first group of planes will be needing to refuel.

If your first group of fighters is totally spent (weak or out of fuel) let them crash so you can get a new group ready.

Early tier CV's find it easier using torpedo bombers. I say this as TB can avoid both AA and AAA because there altitude is low to the water.

Despite low tier levels (around 50- 70) you will still be avoiding ships and aa, so the planes don't need to be strong/evasive anyway.

Enemy team has inferior carrier(s) 

If the enemy team has lower tier carriers than you still get fighters up and suppress any FW or BW that you may face.

Don't be lenient or complacent over lower tiers. Some high level players with level 100 officers run around in low tier cv's.

One or Two Months

That was the quote from SDEnternet's development team in this forum post about when harbour assault mode will be tested.

This is fantastic news as many will be eager to get involved with this test. Super hyper buzzing right now!

Coming back to reality, the dev team also revealed that the planning period has finished and they are well under way with the actual development of their plan.

They teased by saying that the first test will be a couple months away. Even more interestingly they revealed that the harbour assaults will be on a "grander scale" than in nf1 previously.

The harbour assaults were a 5x5 grid fashion. Win a battle room to win a grid, work your way to the harbour tile, win the battle and then capture the harbour.

It is anyones guess exactly what they mean by a "grander scale". It could be that more than one fleet is involved. Or maybe there is a new world map and/or grid layout that offers new routes and challenges to get to the harbours.

Also what about rewards? If the same holds true from nf1, obtaining a harbour means you get free repairs on ships of that nation and access to producing unique ships.

Hopefully there will be a few more surprises in store for the rewards you get when owning a harbour.

The final note was that screenshots will be coming soon so that we all get a taster of what the new mode and interface will look like in readiness for the live server test.

Exciting times? Yes. We can't wait!

Tier XI Battleships

Having spent enough time & effort along with boat loads of experience & credits you have proudly bought your first BB XI. Either the long range Iowa, the accurate H39, the devastating Yamato, or the speedy and sleek Vanguard

All tier 11 battleships do not have secondary he guns. This means your DPS is limited to your main guns reload time.

However they have the longest range and most powerful guns on the sea. Tier XI's also have the highest amounts of DP in the game so far most sport a formidable AA complement with long range and damage capability. High tier BB's are quicker than previous ones.

But being in a top tier ship whilst every other players is in a tier 10 or less means you are public enemy number one. Every ship will be itching to shoot every form of high explosive destruction they can at you under the sun.

Congratulations, you will now become the biggest electro-magnet of shells and torpedoes ever, good luck.

Gameplay Changes

Play to your strengths: range, high damage, speed and accuracy.
Be aware of weaknesses: slow turn rate, long reload times, easy to hit and bomb.

I've underlined range, because you will definitely want to use it. Once you are in the range of other battleships and heavy cruisers they will target you and that is exactly what you want to avoid: being in the range of several enemy ships at once.

Your speed will allow you to dictate the flow of battle. Push other battleships back by pinging them with a salvo or two. Then watch for support ships rushing in to attack you. If you stray too close to a few enemies, speed away back to the safety of your team.

Stay within the safety net of your team. Going it alone gives your enemy an invitation to attack you whether they can successfully destroy you or just strip your armour and be a nuisance.

Also make it a habit of targeting ships you are designed to hit. Prioritize other battleships and Heavy cruisers that stray too close. It's pointless to attack distant apa's & dd's as most shells will miss and you will be wasting your shells and overall battle effectiveness in the process.

Initially It's far better to land more shells on an enemy battleship dealing upwards of 30k damage rather than missing the majority of shells on a ship who is far away and never going to harm you.

Learn to focus fire and prioritize weakened ships. If you see a half damaged ship that will bug-out try to sink it. Sinking it results in one less enemy firing at you and makes your life that bit easier.

I've seen this many many times where players will target the nearest ship to them, when a ship a little farther away is close to being sunk. In certain circumstances (maybe a crippled BB 9-11) you may want to pursue it to remove its effectiveness from the battle.

Evaluate targets worth shooting. Some targets may be so crippled that you could be wasting your shells on them, while other nearby ships can take them out. Target a new ship and leave the crippled one to your allies. If there are no allies around you finish him off yourself, but switch firing to gradual mode and only use what ammo is necessary to sink them.

High damage is only as good as your accuracy, spread and personal aiming skills are. If you are constantly missing shells your damage output will be reduced and your overall contribution to the team effort will be low.

Items

The best items for tier XI's are the boiler enhancement, and a reload item.
You want to be fast, and reload more quickly in general matchmaking battles. You will probably want some armour. How much is up to you.

In Harbour Assaults you will definitely want to repair more quickly to keep your ships from sinking. Equipping an advance repair crew will increase your battle endurance.

Armour is good for matchmaking. Speed is just as valuable for tier XI than taking a few extra hits. Maybe 1/1 Belt/Deck is sufficient. Don't over estimate the value of armour:  it's helpful yes but it doesn't make you invincible.

Think of armour as a limited buffer of dp. It never lasts forever. And it will slow you down the more you have. It really depends on your play style and the battle situation. In matchmaking you may want a bit or a lot. In fleet battles, speed might be more crucial to attack and withraw instead of having that dp buffer. Time will tell.

Bear in mind that tier XI's won't be the top of the tree for long, as tier XII's have already been leaked by the devs. And will probably be slightly quicker, tougher, dealing more damage and having even more range.