Captian's Log - Episode 2

After a second week of gaming, I have predominantly been using the KM Moltke with auto aim.

The auto aim is ideal when in games with no light, when you need to react fast to DD rushes and nearby targets.

The Moltke is fun to drive beacuse it is fast and is still a fairly reasonable (medium) size. When all the shells land on a target they cause good damage, able to sink another battleships in a few salvos.

The auto aim function is ideal as it allows rapid fire of all primary and secondary guns with ease. Which is helpful to deter Destroyers from straying too close.

The most frustrating thing at Teir V is the fact that you still dont have a scout. In navyfield 1 you have a scout at around level 40 in your Light/Heavy cruiser long before you have your first battleship.

This lack of a scout causes a few problems when everyone on your team is Teir 5 or below without scouts. Making for a relatively poor game experience compared to navyfield 1.

You could end up getting rushed by multiple DD's, unknowingly run right into the enemy team. Finally you could be in a BB battle and have to drive close to fire at the enemy beacuse there is simply no other choice.

All of the above are extremely poor options for BB players. Who invariably get attacked by every ship in range due to their size.

I live in hope that the next tier (VII) battleship, the Mackensen, which has a scout, will be a better experience.

Now the main grind begins. I am currently earning around 1200 exp and 800-1000 credits per match. Which is ok. This means I need to play around 100 matches before I can afford the next ship. Why mention this? To give you an idea of how long it will take you to get your ships.

Credits are becoming less of an issue due to the credit rewards obtained from sinking different classes of ships. In one match I got 6 rewards from sinking 8 ships. And yes I had a smile on my face after destroying 8 ships on my own, winning the round and receiving some 5000+ credits.

Things I need to bear in mind:

• The game is still new and in its infancy, things will always be changing.


• I don't have a scout yet, but that issue will be remedied with my next ship.


• Credits are becoming easier to obtain by sinking more ships.


• I am always conscious of conserving credits by not taking lots of damage and getting sunk.

• Buying upgrades for a ship is costly and a waste of time if you want to level up fast/first. The alternative here is to 'master' the ship upgrades later once you are ready

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I usually check the teams at the beginning of the round. Some 'match-ups' can be obvious to determine a loss from checking the teams. Where ship classes above tier 5 usually can scout. Sometimes the number of crucial types of ships aren't balanced and one team is the clear favorite. Changes to the matchmaking system are coming soon.

The experience and upgrade system is akin to world of tanks. Upgrades cost experience to unlock. But you also have free experience, which is a little bit of exp earned that can be used on any ship not just the one ship you earned it with.

First Battle Gameplay Tips

The initial battle screen can be a little daunting but relax it isn't so bad.

 Across the top is your ships' HP/DP bar (health), damage points you have dished out. Along the bottom is you ship direction (compass) and speed gauge. Available weapons and ammos.

 TIP: Always travel fast. A fast moving ship is harder to hit. DD's are small fast ships and should always be moving.

 At first you will want to engage with your guns, but don't rush in and bring too much attention to yourself.

 TIP: If you are getting shot at too much, retreat behind your team mates.

 TIP: Lead your target the further away your target is. Shells travel slowly, you will miss unless you aim in front of your target.

 TIP: Don't travel in straight lines. Keep spinning and turning. Make yourself a hard target to hit.

 TIP: When firing, bring all guns to bear on the target by turning to your broadside (or partly broadside). When the enemy are reloading turn your ship away form them. Give them the smallest target to shoot at.

Use auto aiming (clicking on the target) until you get into later Battleships. This is especially helpful as manual aiming in small ships is extremely tricky because of such fast-moving ships.

Target ships of similar level and line up a torpedo run. Torpedoes are your strongest weapon in early ships. But remember, they are slow and easy to avoid unless your target is very close. Always watch for torpedoes and listen out for torpedo warnings.

Be smart: learn to run away from, dodge, or steer between incoming waves of torpedoes. If you cant avoid being hit by torpedoes, take as few direct impacts as possible.

Surviving until the end, doing damage, sinking ships and capturing islands yield better result.

All of these tips are the key components of becoming a strong DD player. Many of the skills translate to almost all other ship types.

Destroyer Gameplay

Here  is a nice vid for you to get an idea of what it's all about at the start of the game.