Zao was also my first tier 10. She is a true open water gunship. Her armor is trollish even more so that she's able to bounce Yamato shells. She has 20% fire starting capabilities.
Finally finished this line. Much appreciated these SR How To video series... best on YT! I like Zao but believe she could still use some buffs for today's meta
People always knock the IJN heavy cruisers for lack of utility, but those HE guns absolutely slap (I'm including Azuma and Yoshino here as well). I've always enjoyed playing this ship, and I'm super happy to see you play it. Take my like good sir.
@@SeaRaptor some of my favorite ships to play. Almost everything feels it when you reach out and touch someone, especially in Azuma and Yoshi. The extra 5mm over the other super cruisers that pushes them over the pen threshold makes a huge difference. I tend to play them in a bit of a figure 8 pattern, pushing up to a comfortable engagement range, turning out to be prepared to kite/go dark/run, open up on whatever poor sap you want to crush while kiting away, then go dark and turn back in. Rinse and repeat to victory. Zao can work the same, her engagement ranges are just much closer.
Great end to your videos down the IJN CA line; Zao was also my first T10 ship and even though she’s showing her age in the current meta she’s still just a bundle of fun to take out and rake in damage with her. I’m honestly surprised that her dispersion puts her in the middle of the CA pack, but I think I mostly don’t notice it due to using both Aiming Systems Mod 1 and her Unique Upgrade to reduce her dispersion significantly. If there’s anything WG can do to breath some new life to the line, I think a place to start would be putting thicker deck armor on top of the T7-T10 ships of the line to make them similarly resilient like T5, T6, and Atago would be a good place to start.
I think these ships could definitely use a little more love. They have awesome amounts of firepower, but - in general - lower survivability than many other heavy cruisers of comparable tiers (Myoko probably excepted just due to her ridiculous health pool). Honestly, they're amazing division ships; get in a div with someone who knows how to play DD - really knows, someone who will spot and not just get dead in 3 minutes trying for an early cap - and I'll wager you can do horrific things with them.
@@SeaRaptor Definitely in agreement with you on the pairing up with a DD; when I'm lucky enough to have a teammate in Random's that can do a good job of spotting without getting caught flat footed, your an absolute monster as you suddenly pop up and unload a salvo or two of HE into a poor unsuspecting DD inside 12 km.
Likely not, I am not a huge enjoyer of MOST battleship play, and I think the overall player base has more to learn about cruisers and destroyers because they tend to be more fragile (and have more impact on the results of a battle).
Was wondering with the new sub surveillance consumable if you would suggest any changes not just to the IJN cruiser line but all of the lines of cruisers that you have made learn to play series on.
Woof. The IJN light cruisers are a rough go. They're honestly AA and torpedo ships with so-so guns. Not the sort of thing you really want out of a cruiser. I'm not a big fan, I'm not sure I could "sell" them from a grind perspective.
Out of curiosity how will the upcoming new secondary Cruiser skill that is coming affect Zao? Is there any sort of benefit to a secondary build on her?
I haven't looked at the skill so I don't want to say definitely not, but I doubt it. Secondaries reward you for getting in combat and staying in combat. Zao wants to hit and run. She lacks the health pool for a sustained engagement against most targets.
hopefully we can get some learn to play on premium ships? i have the atlanta and im having a tough time because im used to playing US heavy cruisers and german Battleships but not light cruisers
Honestly, for my money the IJN lights were a huge disappointment. What I think everyone wanted was a line of 155 Mogamis. Instead what we got was another line of Pan-Asian cruisers: basically torpedo cruisers with mediocre guns.
Zao was also my first tier 10. She is a true open water gunship. Her armor is trollish even more so that she's able to bounce Yamato shells. She has 20% fire starting capabilities.
Finally finished this line. Much appreciated these SR How To video series... best on YT! I like Zao but believe she could still use some buffs for today's meta
Concur. The guns are AMAZING. But the overall ship just feels pretty meh.
People always knock the IJN heavy cruisers for lack of utility, but those HE guns absolutely slap (I'm including Azuma and Yoshino here as well). I've always enjoyed playing this ship, and I'm super happy to see you play it. Take my like good sir.
Oh man, when you can slap a DD with Yoshino/Azuma guns, they know they've been touched in a bad place. =D
@@SeaRaptor some of my favorite ships to play. Almost everything feels it when you reach out and touch someone, especially in Azuma and Yoshi. The extra 5mm over the other super cruisers that pushes them over the pen threshold makes a huge difference. I tend to play them in a bit of a figure 8 pattern, pushing up to a comfortable engagement range, turning out to be prepared to kite/go dark/run, open up on whatever poor sap you want to crush while kiting away, then go dark and turn back in. Rinse and repeat to victory. Zao can work the same, her engagement ranges are just much closer.
Great end to your videos down the IJN CA line; Zao was also my first T10 ship and even though she’s showing her age in the current meta she’s still just a bundle of fun to take out and rake in damage with her. I’m honestly surprised that her dispersion puts her in the middle of the CA pack, but I think I mostly don’t notice it due to using both Aiming Systems Mod 1 and her Unique Upgrade to reduce her dispersion significantly.
If there’s anything WG can do to breath some new life to the line, I think a place to start would be putting thicker deck armor on top of the T7-T10 ships of the line to make them similarly resilient like T5, T6, and Atago would be a good place to start.
I think these ships could definitely use a little more love. They have awesome amounts of firepower, but - in general - lower survivability than many other heavy cruisers of comparable tiers (Myoko probably excepted just due to her ridiculous health pool). Honestly, they're amazing division ships; get in a div with someone who knows how to play DD - really knows, someone who will spot and not just get dead in 3 minutes trying for an early cap - and I'll wager you can do horrific things with them.
@@SeaRaptor Definitely in agreement with you on the pairing up with a DD; when I'm lucky enough to have a teammate in Random's that can do a good job of spotting without getting caught flat footed, your an absolute monster as you suddenly pop up and unload a salvo or two of HE into a poor unsuspecting DD inside 12 km.
Finished watching every video in this playlist. I can't wait to see what line you decide to do next. I hope its a BB line.
Likely not, I am not a huge enjoyer of MOST battleship play, and I think the overall player base has more to learn about cruisers and destroyers because they tend to be more fragile (and have more impact on the results of a battle).
@SeaRaptor No worries! Still excited for any line!
Great video! I love Zao, I wish she'd have better gun turret angles but regardless, I still love to play her.
Was wondering with the new sub surveillance consumable if you would suggest any changes not just to the IJN cruiser line but all of the lines of cruisers that you have made learn to play series on.
So far, no. The sub surveillance consumable is being added to the IJN light cruisers, and I haven't done vids for those yet.
Can we get one on yodo? I am grinding that out and am wondering if I should’ve done zao
Woof. The IJN light cruisers are a rough go. They're honestly AA and torpedo ships with so-so guns. Not the sort of thing you really want out of a cruiser. I'm not a big fan, I'm not sure I could "sell" them from a grind perspective.
Out of curiosity how will the upcoming new secondary Cruiser skill that is coming affect Zao? Is there any sort of benefit to a secondary build on her?
I haven't looked at the skill so I don't want to say definitely not, but I doubt it. Secondaries reward you for getting in combat and staying in combat. Zao wants to hit and run. She lacks the health pool for a sustained engagement against most targets.
Zao have Kitekazes 100s, but its metters only when hunting DDs from time to time.
hopefully we can get some learn to play on premium ships? i have the atlanta and im having a tough time because im used to playing US heavy cruisers and german Battleships but not light cruisers
I may do a few premium ships eventually, but I am mainly focused on tech tree lines right now.
Thank you, really good series. After the German, American and Japanese, what is the next line? I can't wait to see it.
Probably going to do Italian destroyers.
Impeccable video as alwatys
Japanese CL line after this? I've heard... Mixed opinions about those.
I'll likely do the American lights before the IJN lights. More interested and better botes. =D
Ouch. Well, that still tells me if I should grind up that tree, and I feel like the answer is 'no'@@SeaRaptor
Honestly, for my money the IJN lights were a huge disappointment. What I think everyone wanted was a line of 155 Mogamis. Instead what we got was another line of Pan-Asian cruisers: basically torpedo cruisers with mediocre guns.
What is the next line for these kind of videos ? It's amazing
I am thinking I will likely do Italian destroyers.
why does your wows looks different? the UI looks much better
I use a fair number of mods to spruce up my UI.