Just started playing. I was beyond trash, didnt know how to aim, didnt know how position myself and get blown up within 3 mins of the match. This guide make my life 10 times better. Thank you.
@@lucabollini163 or when you are spotted suddenly all of opponent ships target you even though your ship are not the most vulnerable. I really hates this especcially since BB tend to group together
You say that like ANY ship in the game is going to survive getting focused by a CV. DDs still have it worse. At least most higher tier CAs and CLs have good AA and often a heal. DDs just get nuked half the time.
iChase, I have to say, I was absolutely horrible with Cruisers and I found out how bad I was at aiming. After watching these videos I have gotten much better at Cruisers, and positioning. I thank you for making absolutely awesome guides.
I’d like to add that in IJN open water role, you can help your team by being that flanker who distract your enemies hence less damage towards your team but you also need to be careful not to overextended and beware of the enemy flanker too. Good guide iChase.
Solid tutorial. I've been playing for years and even though most of this was for my entertainment, I still found a few tidbits to help improve my game.
@Deivias So true. I was in one battle where a DD guy called a cruiser guy a "cheater who relies on hacks" because the cruiser used surveillance radar to find the DD in smoke.
Had this happen to me a little while back recently; I had someone call me useless for hiding behind an island (using New Orleans) and waiting for enemies to be spotted before I start firing Then I move out from the island I was hiding behind to hop to the next one, get intercepted by torpedoes mid-travel and get called useless again for not killing the DD even though no one’s spotting it Still new and learning so idk what I’ve done wrong but I’m sure there was something wrong with all of that
I’d always struggled to get the best out of the IJN cruisers. I could get wins and grind the line, but it wasn’t always fun and I wasn’t as effective as I knew the ships should be. Since watching this guide (and the rest of the series) it’s become a favourite line and am now reprinting it and loving it. Thanks.
I tend to be a little more pro-active with respect to torpedoes in IJN cruisers...you never know when when somebody might be coming around that island, and if ya got them, might as well use them. You don't necessarily get a lot of torp hits, but the ones you do get are a nice surprise for your enemies.
Very useful advice, as we have come to expect (and, I hope, don't take for granted). I like the mention of destroyer support, which has become more important as radar and over-powered carriers proliferate. Destroyers cannot be expected to capture the CAP points all on their own. The U.S. cruisers are better at this with radar, decent armor, and good turret arrangement and gun handling - the Japanese, not as much but somebody has to do it to win games. (The number of games where the cruisers sit back with the battleships lobbing at range and clamoring at the destroyers to CAP. . . ) Speaking of gun handling, the style you recommend does minimize the Japanese cruiser weaknesses. Notice on your "push" into the smoked-up Edinburgh you had a proper defensive bow angle until you got close. And, only two turrets on target during the run in. At that point you were essentially an Aoba, although under the circumstances it did not matter. Contrast that to your early-to-mid-game recommended style where you can get set up, undetected, and get all guns bearing. The point about Japanese AP is also well taken. It can be hard to remember that when you are about close enough to jam the barrels into another cruiser's side it does actually work.
Got so excited after watching that video. I thought I'd do good. 2 minutes in and I'm well positioned behind an island standing still. And then the planes started focusing on me. Saw me I'm not moving ... By the time my cruiser got in full speed, it was bellow half the HP. No wonder the dude explaining chose a replay of game without CVs in it...
I'll second your comparison to Brit light cruisers. With low concealment and a smoke to "get out of jail free" you can kite like a mad man. Drop the smoke but keep going and move at an angle to it then hit them in the side when they point their bow at the smoke. Great way to get broadside shots on cruisers.
Thanks iChase. I stopped grinding American cruisers because I couldn't get the hang of them. I don't like to play the game sniping behind islands which I guess is why I became a BB main. And no I do not snipe like that with BBs either. I am usually in the open full speed for 90 % of the game. I did get to T10 with Japanese cruisers using concealment as you showed. I thought it funny watching you play Atago that way, firing, kiting, maneuvering, concealment made me realise that is, to a large degree, how I try play the BB Giulio Cesare due to its soft sides
One thing that I struggle with, particularly at higher tiers, is this: I'll see an island. I'll look at all the approaches, see that vision is blocked to all sensible paths, open up and bam - detected. Who by? Dunno. That shot I fired? I hit trees. Incoming salvo - even from the ship I'm shooting at clears the trees nicely and, yeah, citadel. Sure, it's a skill problem on my part at the end of the day, but I sure wish there was some way I could learn what my mistake was. Here he takes lots of shots with basically only cover to the few ships that are spotted and, as it happens, an Atago isn't lurking around somewhere to see the shot.
Thanks very much for this guide iChase. Was really looking forward to this one. As a somewhat meh IJN cruiser main, I now realise a big problem of mine was being too anxious to shoot all the time, partly to compensate for the slow reload and try to get more damage. From your demonstration, I can see that the basic strategy of taking it slow and sneaky will ultimately stack up decent damage.
Good video and we'll needed! If you have the Atago everything mentioned is excellent, if you're playing tech tree ship like the IJN T8 Mogami though I would caution you about playing as a flank ship, your lack of armor can get you deleted so quickly, maybe it's an exception to the line but I think it' might better to play it more like a USN cruiser until late in game. IBUKI T9 seems to be ok in open water at near range for that "annoying" pest style!
I LOVE that the IFHE Nerf has largely brought IJN Cruisers back to the PINNACLE of Fire Starting, and they have alwyas been the kings of direct HE damage - now that Smolensk has to choose between fires or MEDIOCRE HE pen with IFHE (what, 27mm of pen?) In either case Zao will do FAR more direct damage, and nearly as many fires!
My issue with the long range fire starter type IJN cruiser gameplay is that it does not allow me to exert pressure on a cap or flank. If my DD or BBs rush in and get killed I don't have the ability to go in and contest. The long slow kite away from a flank is great for damage numbers but I find it does not win games unless the opposite flank actually wins and turns towards the middle. Basically my issue is that the playstyle is, to a greater extent than the USN cruiser line, dependent on the skill of random teams. I am sure I am just playing IJN cruisers wrong but I feel like USN cruisers let me effect win rate more consistently.
I always struggled with cruisers. They are fast and decently fun to sail, but they aren’t small or agile enough that if you follow a DD for a torpedo run, you will probably not make it out alive running away. If you follow a BB, you might be a lot safer but without the range or damage to justify hitting the same long range targets.
gonna be that guy and say that island hopping in the pacific is actually about skipping low-priority islands and hopping from high-priority island to high-priority island, and just cut off the other islands that's not very useful to capture. but i get what u mean.
The problem with your Japanese segment of the video mainly comes down to the rare event where two teams of non-noobs get together and play somewhat smart. There were no early DD yolo runs, no light cruisers broadside in open water shooting at 4 enemy ships, no lone wolf BBs running at entrenched positions. You know, every day games :P
It’s easy to control your engagements with Zao. She’s punishing enough to scare most players into leaving her alone once she goes undetected. Starting triple fires on BBs in 2 salvos tends to be a great deterrent.
great vid but still stucked with the peculiar case of RN CAs with abyssmal range, long reload and almost zero utility :(. Waiting for your guide on the Royal Navy Cruisers.
Took me a while to get the hang of British CAs as well, but you need to take advantage of your very low detection range and your super heal. I like to push in aggressively at the start and turn around so that my detection in just inside where the opponent's cap circle starts in domination or in standard battles use where your DDS are to estimate how far up the enemy DDS have pushed up and turn around before you get spotted. Preferably do this near cover so you have a way out. Wait and see what is detected and kite slowly away if there is no ship that overmatches you, if there is stay dark until you can ether fore from cover or until you can put enough distance between you can the ship with the big guns to fire openly. Any HE spam is not an issue as you can heal most of that back.
Just wanted to give a shout out to Wargaming for the upcoming armor buff to the Pensacola, New Orleans and Yorck. And thy have announced matchmaking changes that may help. The big ramp-up of cruiser armor between Tier VII and VIII has always been a problem, only made worse by further proliferation of DakkaBoats, Stalinium armor and paper ships in general. I have been playing the upgraded Yorck on the Public Test Server and it seems to be a vast improvement. (I sold my Pensacola and New Orleans along time ago. May buy them back since I spend most of my time around Tier VI to VIII. Along with many others - about 1/3 of the average team in these games show levels from Tier X ranked battles, so the teams aren't as inexperienced as they used to be.)
So heavy US cruisers allright, but i kinda was hopin for an explanation for the US light cruisers and were they are benefiting compared to the heavy cruisers and espicially how to properly play the atlanta since 11.5 km range feels like nothing at all but concealment of 9.5 makes its quite tough to kite w/o gettin spottet by dd´s. Anyways youre guide series is so amazing, im playin for like 2 weeks now and watched a LOT of guides but youres are by FAR the most helpfull and understandable thanks for that and please keep it up
Interesting. I would have split the cruisers up slightly differently, though to the same effect. Open-water cruisers (ie French, IJN) vs Island-huggers (USN).
love your shows, but I have a question/observation. As a relatively new and inexperienced tier 4/5 player, would it not be more beneficial to show how to get better at the tier 2 or 3 level? Ships at those tiers don't have the capabilities of a tier 9 or 10 ship. Learning positioning and tactics at those levels with those ships would IMO help the new players develop better control and tactics. Then positioning would be more instinctive.
Yeah, and then such Smolensk gets devastated by one yama or kremlin salvo. You never sit in smoke in a smolensk, you take rudder shift mod 1 and dodge LITERALLY EVERYTHING You treat smolensk smoke more as an "Oh shit" button
@@lalxl that is not true, Yama overpens Smolensk so much, that it's just ridiculous. I guess with Kremlin that is not really the case, because of stalinium shells and soviet magic, but still, Smolensks get punished for that smoke camping extremely rarely, while they do a ton of dmg in the meantime. Completely broken UFO-ship.
@@bidzej86 BBs can be melted within a minute or 2 minutes with IFHE, if you land the rounds on the correct portion of the ships, unless you're a UK BB or USSR BB, then it might take longer. of course por shot into the smoke is fine but a 19 km smolensk is almost impossible to get punished by that, shit just go BRRR anyway.
@@bidzej86 It overpens if you can't aim. To dev strike a smolensk you aim below thw waterline and you can devstrike a smolensk even from 2km. It's not hard believe me
Thanks for the video! one question though, i dont see the consealment advantage for the IJN cruisers over USA, the in-game tooltips pretty much have them equal with some small differences depending on ship..Is there something here i dont understand? (new player).
Fresh noob here, first week playing the game. Gone through SO many tutorial vids and youre are definitely my favourite. Was hoping to get some advice on resource management as a brand new player? What should/shouldnt I spend my credits/XP on? How should I efficiently utilise these resources in the tech tree or on modules? Do I just choose a nation and plough my way through their tech tree?
Focus on one line for your first grind, but don't sell off your ships immediately after unlocking the next tier but instead keep at least one low tier ship (tier 4), one mid tier ship (between tiers 5-7) and a Tier 8. Why? Tier 4 - very high return in profit per game, and it's a safe environment for you to practice and solidify the basics. Mid tiers - still has good profit per game, and helps you learn how to deal with tougher opponents (eg tier 6 can face up to tier 8, while tier 7 faces up to tier 9). Tier 8 - can earn profit if you play well enough and this is the most crucial tier because of its battle MM. It teaches you how to lead a team as a top tier (T6-T8 MM), and it's the first time you will see tier 10s in action. Observe well and take note of their positioning, you can use them to your advantage. You keep on cycling between your ship's across different tiers so your mind and body can remember the feeling and develop your reflexes as well as your game sense and situational awareness. Use ship exp to unlock the next tier, and Use free exp that you earn by grinding each ship to unlock their modules. Spare yourself from playing stock ships and unlock all their top modules first. It takes longer, but it gives you a reason to cycle through the other ships as stated earlier. Also make sure to have extra millions to purchase upgrades, and another few million as leftover cash in the bank. But don't be stingy on ship performance. Type 5 camo costs 22.5k credits per game but it pays for itself with its benefits. Premium consumables, especially prem dmg control, smoke, speed boost, DFAA and repair are vital for keeping your ship afloat. For BBs premium spotter plane is also recommended. If you become good enough you will always have profit no matter the tier. Hope this helps.
*Zao and Atago are my Waifu's FOR LYFE BABY!!* IJN Burninations are love, IJN Burninations are life - and IJN Torp kills are the Promised land of plenty!
How do you deal with the CV threat as a IJN cruiser? In principle- stealthy, yes, but the planes will spot you - and if you're on your own on a flank at that point you're probably screwed.
First lesson: do not fear damage. Imagine your HP bar like an hourglass that reaches Zero once timer is up. That way you can divide your HP into segments so you know how much you can sacrifice as the game goes on. Every attack run on your ship is an attack run not used on your teammates. Just accept the fact that you will take damage from planes with every wave, but if you maximize the usage of your DFAA and sectors, and careful maneuvering you can reduce the amount of damage you take while depleting the CV's plane reserves even by a bit. DO NOT use your DFAA on the first strike, because good CV players immediately recall the whole squad in the first strike to waste your DFAA. Instead, check the planes if either they recall or continue attacking you. Only activate DFAA for option 2. You should have enough time to retreat to friendly ships and share AA if you do it properly. Although it would be best if you do not stay in a flank alone Unless you are the first responder/defender against an incoming enemy push. Don't be alone unless you have no choice. I'm our clan's instructor for learning how to play cruisers, and this is what I tell my apprentices about damage control not just against CV but against all other ships. 10500 games with cruisers total, 7000+ games in IJN CAs. Hope this helps.
Try stick with BB or DD, you can either: be the bait while your teammates overwhelm the opponents, or spam the crap out of the enemies with shells. Be remember though, don't overextend yourself, if you are overwhelmed haul your ass out of there quickly.
15:31 70% of the times when I go solo with a Japanese cruiser, I got bombed the crap out by enemy CV, how do I counter that? Do I return to my teammates? Thank you who responds!
I have really enjoyed your series of videos. Could you do a video on the signals we should run because no one has done a video on that that I can find? I wish I understood and be able to retain the game mechanics as you do. Something I wish you would do is put your recommended builds on the screen, modules, captain skills, signals, how to use the mini map properly, etc.
i play as a brit heavy cruisers tier6 my commander in at level 10 ,, i am staying in this cruiser an going to get better ,, i use islands an i let the battleships to go ahead of me ,, i loos alot ,, but my comp it old an lagging to ,, i watch your vids an my game play has picked up ,, still doing dum things ,, but asking lots of questions ,, ty for all the vids an keep it up ,, i cant wait for more ,,
Amazing tips dude, thanks to you I'm not longer a clueless potato, keep up ur hard work. P.S: I'm still wondering why we didn't get an IJN CLs line yet, when they actually, u know, *EXISTED*
I've been looking forward to this episode. I've really struggled with T9-10 IJN cruisers. Always drawing too much attention to myself & eating massive damage instead of hanging back & dropping off detection.
What get people killed in IJN cruisers is showing broadside (usually trying to drop torps). Keep your torps for close range engagements. You can take BBs with them. And NEVER show broadside. I suggest learning enemy reload rates and only swing for extra gun angles between enemy salvos. Not easy but it pays off.
@@Mithguar frustratingly, angling isn't much defence when being focused by Kremlins, Republiqes, Thunderers etc. I've found some success in learning to hang back early on & holding my fire when I'm the obvious target. Though this does make pulling my weight a challenge.
@@jordanreeseyre Angling works great if you do it right. Sure if you are in the open in crossfire, it won't do you much. you still need to position well on the map. But if we talk Zao vs BBs, only Kremlin and Yamato can do serious dmg if you angle right.
The Republique, Georgia, Ohio, Thunderer, Kremlin, Musashi & Yamato can all overmatch the Zao's 30mm of belt & deck armour, nevermind the 25mm bow/stern plating. Huge men damage, and usually citadel damage quickly follows.
Hey ichase i know you enjoy your free time at the moment. But at least for EU i think its time For an "How to contest a cap in a DD " Video. Its so frustrating to see DDs die like in no time because they did not know how to cap
All this really has helped for me in no CV games. I have improved quite a bit. But then yesterday i had 6 games in a row with 2 CV's. All 6 went in same pattern: I find a good cover and start shooting there and here, then CV spots me constantly, it even does not attack me - just spot. Then all bbs from range 17 - 21 km starts focusing me, if i try hide behind an island CV immediately torps forcing me to back off from island and then bbs shoot me. And it takes 2 well aimed shoots to get me from full HP to 0. Any strategy against this ? Also I still don't understand what is strength of cc. I mean, why i should play cc instead of bb or dd ? I dont feel any advantage on concealment, firepover or durability. I mean what can for example York do better than Gneissenau ?
The tricks work as long as you doesn't drawn with egoistical jerks who only cares 1 vs 1 battle or charging like a madman then got turned into swiss cheese by the opponents. The egoistical jerks really got into my nerves when you are retreating to use DCP or repair party and didn't provides covering fire. Or when you are drawn with nice guys, but once you spotted you got obliterated even though there is more vulnerable teammates
I consider myself a decent Zao player - my favorite ship. I don't remember how bad Atago was but if it's play-style is anything near Zao's you show a game where you were way cautious! Why you left that first lane? "too much heat" ? :) you left full hp! I may play to aggressive but it pays of most of the time. And you have to be aggressive to get in line with the other cruisers in terms of dpm
excellent lesson, thanks iChase. Not sure of you're still playing fake botes, but they've just Buffed the Buffalo, yes. a big rudder buff and small DPM rate. Hope you're designing real ships and enjoying Doners? Cheers!
Hi chase! Really aprreciating all these amzing guides you are putting out. I was wondering, in this video and many others! I see players aiming at targets behind islands. How do you acquire a lock on those? Whenever I target them like that, I just end up shooting the isand. Is there something I am missing?
I appreciate your videos! I see why I was not as successful in my use of US and IJN cruisers as I could have been. Tutorial knowledge does really help! By the way, are you a vet?
Great Video! Be interesting to see and hear how the Soviets play? I'm coming from the WoW:Legends on the console, and your vids have been very informative.
Sorta similar to the Japanese ships. Just NEVER show your broadside. But I found it works to hit the flanks, once you become noticed, kite away swinging and firing until youre out of your detection range . Get back into range and repeat. If the opportunity presents itself, use islands to ambush with torps or fire from while undetected if you cant find a light flank to annoy.
Well done. I have been following since the "Captain's Academy" series and I think this format works a bit better - a lot less to remember. There may be others out there with my particular mental disorder: My I.Q. drops in half when I hit the "Battle!" button in port, then half again when I get dropped into a game. My biggest problem is when my team's destroyers are hesitant to push toward the CAPs. It is hard to remain patient, but even a smoke cruiser is not a destroyer. They may find Jingles' "Man Pants" later and actually put them on. If you are stuck with a defensive team you just have to readjust your tactics appropriately. (With radar and carriers destroyer drivers have a certain fight to be cautious.
Your videos are absolutely amazing but unfortunately my biggest problem in this game is having just straight trash teamates that all die within the first few minutes of the game then I'm left alone to get ganged up by the enemy.
@@soderstadion77 you loose only 20% with DE, flags and IFHE combined (and btw base 10% is still pretty trash imo). Cleveland loose more for example. But without IFHE you forced to rely on random fires when fighting VIII+ BB. Its ok on something like Worcester with its 4 sec reload, but Mogami has 10 sec one...
Hey iChaseGaming! When your series is done, have you thought about doing replay analyses? I think your insight would be fun and constructive for such a thing
I think you had a really bad sync issue in the first match. Shells were passing through you and targets harmlessly several times. I hear its a WG problem they deny of course.
well, u have been lucky a BB was with you. Very often I'm on the same position but no support .... BBs give up and run away. Had for example a BB t9 premium who was just 10km behind me and sniping ...
Question is, what if both teams start camping islands and no one peeks out or even bothers to cap. Had plenty of those games until one team just gives up and charge in and gets farmed in return.
Thank man! woow I really appreciate the videos. It helped me sooooooo much you have no idea. Didn't know how to play the cleveland at all despite watching alot of videos. You brought up something that just opened my eyes ( just had my best game almost 100k damage) and that is ROLE. What is your role and how can you accomplish that role. Mix that with your video about map position and my play improved greatly. Thx again!
Thanks again for another great video. I noticed you were not using a reticle, at least it appeared you were not using one. I did not see a horizontal line. How in the bloody world is you aim that damn good without a reticle? Latter, Panda 2 Guns
Seeing a Japanese cruiser player is like seeing a dog walking on two legs. Most Japanese cruiser players just spam HE until they’re in torp range and then give full broadside to launch a set of suicide torps.
You can basically play the Moskva as a BB. Ether position yourself up close if your spotted it's fine because your 50mm armour is OP, but try and minimise the fire you take by protecting one of your flanks with island cover. Or you can sit in open water near max range and play with your throttle to avoid the enemy targeting your 25mm nose armour (but be careful of American bbs as their plunging fire can citadel you through you deck at range. The last way I like to play is stay dark until you are on the edge of the map and then push up as far as you can while staying undetected then just open fire on enemies broadsides. Those are a few go to strategies to start the game after that play it as you see it.
Just started playing. I was beyond trash, didnt know how to aim, didnt know how position myself and get blown up within 3 mins of the match. This guide make my life 10 times better. Thank you.
Also. If I had to summarize this tutorial into one word it would be “patience”. Something I continually struggle with and get punished for.
@@lucabollini163 or when you are spotted suddenly all of opponent ships target you even though your ship are not the most vulnerable. I really hates this especcially since BB tend to group together
@@muhammadrafi4723 i feel like I just get shot cause im a Jap CA and everyone just thinks Squishy
2 years later, and this information is still helping me and I'm still learning.
IJN cruisers are super reliant on their stealth, so ur advantage goes out the window the moment the cv starts focusing u down.
You say that like ANY ship in the game is going to survive getting focused by a CV.
DDs still have it worse. At least most higher tier CAs and CLs have good AA and often a heal. DDs just get nuked half the time.
@@Spectacular_Insanity good AA doesnt exist in against high tier cv
@@Xefender7 Cruisers are still better than DDs. There's a reason DDs don't ever bother even using their AA.
@@Spectacular_Insanity European DDs are an exception.
Holland: *Pops Defensive AA ability*
iChase, I have to say, I was absolutely horrible with Cruisers and I found out how bad I was at aiming. After watching these videos I have gotten much better at Cruisers, and positioning. I thank you for making absolutely awesome guides.
New player here, thanks for the “how to” videos.
So after watching this I jump in my Des Moines and end up on the Ocean map ...
btw, is ocean a X only map? because i have played up to Tier IX so far and never were on ocean
@@TheChiog No. Once I was playing Hipper and got into it. I think it's just super super rare. Might be only for the higher tiers (above 8 or so?)
there all ocean maps
@@chadofchads4390 you’re an absolute genius!
I’d like to add that in IJN open water role, you can help your team by being that flanker who distract your enemies hence less damage towards your team but you also need to be careful not to overextended and beware of the enemy flanker too.
Good guide iChase.
Solid tutorial. I've been playing for years and even though most of this was for my entertainment, I still found a few tidbits to help improve my game.
Really come to rely on this series. Advice is clear, simple and makes sense. Thank you iChase. This has really made the difference in my gameplay.
Somebody literally called me an idiot because I was positioning correctly :(
@Deivias So true. I was in one battle where a DD guy called a cruiser guy a "cheater who relies on hacks" because the cruiser used surveillance radar to find the DD in smoke.
Had this happen to me a little while back recently; I had someone call me useless for hiding behind an island (using New Orleans) and waiting for enemies to be spotted before I start firing
Then I move out from the island I was hiding behind to hop to the next one, get intercepted by torpedoes mid-travel and get called useless again for not killing the DD even though no one’s spotting it
Still new and learning so idk what I’ve done wrong but I’m sure there was something wrong with all of that
I’d always struggled to get the best out of the IJN cruisers. I could get wins and grind the line, but it wasn’t always fun and I wasn’t as effective as I knew the ships should be. Since watching this guide (and the rest of the series) it’s become a favourite line and am now reprinting it and loving it. Thanks.
Staying behind BBs in open water.. nice theory, when your BBs are all camping at 15-18Km and you only got 15.6Km range in your CA
I play blitz alot but sometimes i play on my laptop and i have to say... never play blitz as a DD or CA because BB's camp and never move.
I tend to be a little more pro-active with respect to torpedoes in IJN cruisers...you never know when when somebody might be coming around that island, and if ya got them, might as well use them. You don't necessarily get a lot of torp hits, but the ones you do get are a nice surprise for your enemies.
Best damn series on TH-cam. Thanks for your educational attitude...makes my game play better for sure!
Very useful advice, as we have come to expect (and, I hope, don't take for granted).
I like the mention of destroyer support, which has become more important as radar and over-powered carriers proliferate. Destroyers cannot be expected to capture the CAP points all on their own. The U.S. cruisers are better at this with radar, decent armor, and good turret arrangement and gun handling - the Japanese, not as much but somebody has to do it to win games. (The number of games where the cruisers sit back with the battleships lobbing at range and clamoring at the destroyers to CAP. . . )
Speaking of gun handling, the style you recommend does minimize the Japanese cruiser weaknesses. Notice on your "push" into the smoked-up Edinburgh you had a proper defensive bow angle until you got close. And, only two turrets on target during the run in. At that point you were essentially an Aoba, although under the circumstances it did not matter. Contrast that to your early-to-mid-game recommended style where you can get set up, undetected, and get all guns bearing.
The point about Japanese AP is also well taken. It can be hard to remember that when you are about close enough to jam the barrels into another cruiser's side it does actually work.
Got so excited after watching that video. I thought I'd do good.
2 minutes in and I'm well positioned behind an island standing still. And then the planes started focusing on me. Saw me I'm not moving ...
By the time my cruiser got in full speed, it was bellow half the HP.
No wonder the dude explaining chose a replay of game without CVs in it...
The stealth aspect is helpful thanks, might also help me understand DD gunboats better.
I'll second your comparison to Brit light cruisers. With low concealment and a smoke to "get out of jail free" you can kite like a mad man. Drop the smoke but keep going and move at an angle to it then hit them in the side when they point their bow at the smoke. Great way to get broadside shots on cruisers.
Thanks iChase. I stopped grinding American cruisers because I couldn't get the hang of them. I don't like to play the game sniping behind islands which I guess is why I became a BB main. And no I do not snipe like that with BBs either. I am usually in the open full speed for 90 % of the game. I did get to T10 with Japanese cruisers using concealment as you showed. I thought it funny watching you play Atago that way, firing, kiting, maneuvering, concealment made me realise that is, to a large degree, how I try play the BB Giulio Cesare due to its soft sides
best tutorial series. Beginner-ish, still learning. This is so super helpful.
Thanks! Hope this improves the play quality. This quarantine is starting to feel like the longest weekend ever.
One thing that I struggle with, particularly at higher tiers, is this: I'll see an island. I'll look at all the approaches, see that vision is blocked to all sensible paths, open up and bam - detected. Who by? Dunno. That shot I fired? I hit trees. Incoming salvo - even from the ship I'm shooting at clears the trees nicely and, yeah, citadel. Sure, it's a skill problem on my part at the end of the day, but I sure wish there was some way I could learn what my mistake was. Here he takes lots of shots with basically only cover to the few ships that are spotted and, as it happens, an Atago isn't lurking around somewhere to see the shot.
Thank you. I've had some issues with the Mogami, but this will be a big plus. GL and GG moving forwards.
Thanks very much for this guide iChase. Was really looking forward to this one.
As a somewhat meh IJN cruiser main, I now realise a big problem of mine was being too anxious to shoot all the time, partly to compensate for the slow reload and try to get more damage. From your demonstration, I can see that the basic strategy of taking it slow and sneaky will ultimately stack up decent damage.
This helped me for playing usn cruisers
Good video and we'll needed! If you have the Atago everything mentioned is excellent, if you're playing tech tree ship like the IJN T8 Mogami though I would caution you about playing as a flank ship, your lack of armor can get you deleted so quickly, maybe it's an exception to the line but I think it' might better to play it more like a USN cruiser until late in game. IBUKI T9 seems to be ok in open water at near range for that "annoying" pest style!
I LOVE that the IFHE Nerf has largely brought IJN Cruisers back to the PINNACLE of Fire Starting, and they have alwyas been the kings of direct HE damage - now that Smolensk has to choose between fires or MEDIOCRE HE pen with IFHE (what, 27mm of pen?) In either case Zao will do FAR more direct damage, and nearly as many fires!
My issue with the long range fire starter type IJN cruiser gameplay is that it does not allow me to exert pressure on a cap or flank. If my DD or BBs rush in and get killed I don't have the ability to go in and contest. The long slow kite away from a flank is great for damage numbers but I find it does not win games unless the opposite flank actually wins and turns towards the middle. Basically my issue is that the playstyle is, to a greater extent than the USN cruiser line, dependent on the skill of random teams. I am sure I am just playing IJN cruisers wrong but I feel like USN cruisers let me effect win rate more consistently.
I always struggled with cruisers. They are fast and decently fun to sail, but they aren’t small or agile enough that if you follow a DD for a torpedo run, you will probably not make it out alive running away. If you follow a BB, you might be a lot safer but without the range or damage to justify hitting the same long range targets.
"Start with IJN & USN Cruiser line"
Got Atlanta on free container 1st week playing wows
- *Proceed Using It*
New player, cheers this video has completely fixed my cruiser game
gonna be that guy and say that island hopping in the pacific is actually about skipping low-priority islands and hopping from high-priority island to high-priority island, and just cut off the other islands that's not very useful to capture. but i get what u mean.
After watching this, I FINALLY figured out how to play Omaha.
The problem with your Japanese segment of the video mainly comes down to the rare event where two teams of non-noobs get together and play somewhat smart. There were no early DD yolo runs, no light cruisers broadside in open water shooting at 4 enemy ships, no lone wolf BBs running at entrenched positions. You know, every day games :P
I noticed that. I wonder how many battles in that ship did he play before he had got one.
gives me FPS tac shooter vibes, hold angles, don't expose yourself and punish enemies errors
This video is very much needed for me I m stuck on buffalo for last 3 month lol
sierra 117 MasterChief Almost there brother. Des Moines is more than worth the grind. She’s an absolute terror when played properly.
@@Bigweave74 I have Salem so I know but can't play them properly I can do shit ton dmg using zao or Henri but not this ships lol
It’s easy to control your engagements with Zao. She’s punishing enough to scare most players into leaving her alone once she goes undetected. Starting triple fires on BBs in 2 salvos tends to be a great deterrent.
great vid but still stucked with the peculiar case of RN CAs with abyssmal range, long reload and almost zero utility :(. Waiting for your guide on the Royal Navy Cruisers.
ReignTheTempest you have smoke and very good torpedos with better than average firing arcs. You’re basically a DD with a citadel.
@@Bigweave74 he is talking about heavy cruiser, they don't have smoke.
Took me a while to get the hang of British CAs as well, but you need to take advantage of your very low detection range and your super heal. I like to push in aggressively at the start and turn around so that my detection in just inside where the opponent's cap circle starts in domination or in standard battles use where your DDS are to estimate how far up the enemy DDS have pushed up and turn around before you get spotted. Preferably do this near cover so you have a way out. Wait and see what is detected and kite slowly away if there is no ship that overmatches you, if there is stay dark until you can ether fore from cover or until you can put enough distance between you can the ship with the big guns to fire openly. Any HE spam is not an issue as you can heal most of that back.
I see you play atago san aka the love cave
Just wanted to give a shout out to Wargaming for the upcoming armor buff to the Pensacola, New Orleans and Yorck. And thy have announced matchmaking changes that may help. The big ramp-up of cruiser armor between Tier VII and VIII has always been a problem, only made worse by further proliferation of DakkaBoats, Stalinium armor and paper ships in general. I have been playing the upgraded Yorck on the Public Test Server and it seems to be a vast improvement.
(I sold my Pensacola and New Orleans along time ago. May buy them back since I spend most of my time around Tier VI to VIII. Along with many others - about 1/3 of the average team in these games show levels from Tier X ranked battles, so the teams aren't as inexperienced as they used to be.)
So heavy US cruisers allright, but i kinda was hopin for an explanation for the US light cruisers and were they are benefiting compared to the heavy cruisers and espicially how to properly play the atlanta since 11.5 km range feels like nothing at all but concealment of 9.5 makes its quite tough to kite w/o gettin spottet by dd´s. Anyways youre guide series is so amazing, im playin for like 2 weeks now and watched a LOT of guides but youres are by FAR the most helpfull and understandable thanks for that and please keep it up
Interesting. I would have split the cruisers up slightly differently, though to the same effect. Open-water cruisers (ie French, IJN) vs Island-huggers (USN).
love your shows, but I have a question/observation. As a relatively new and inexperienced tier 4/5 player, would it not be more beneficial to show how to get better at the tier 2 or 3 level? Ships at those tiers don't have the capabilities of a tier 9 or 10 ship. Learning positioning and tactics at those levels with those ships would IMO help the new players develop better control and tactics. Then positioning would be more instinctive.
Also this two nation CA/CL lines: YOU CAN'T JUST SMOKE AND RAIN ROUNDS!!!
Smolensk: haha, minigun goes BRRRRR
Yeah, and then such Smolensk gets devastated by one yama or kremlin salvo. You never sit in smoke in a smolensk, you take rudder shift mod 1 and dodge LITERALLY EVERYTHING
You treat smolensk smoke more as an "Oh shit" button
@@lalxl that is not true, Yama overpens Smolensk so much, that it's just ridiculous. I guess with Kremlin that is not really the case, because of stalinium shells and soviet magic, but still, Smolensks get punished for that smoke camping extremely rarely, while they do a ton of dmg in the meantime. Completely broken UFO-ship.
@@bidzej86 BBs can be melted within a minute or 2 minutes with IFHE, if you land the rounds on the correct portion of the ships, unless you're a UK BB or USSR BB, then it might take longer. of course por shot into the smoke is fine but a 19 km smolensk is almost impossible to get punished by that, shit just go BRRR anyway.
@@bidzej86 It overpens if you can't aim. To dev strike a smolensk you aim below thw waterline and you can devstrike a smolensk even from 2km. It's not hard believe me
@@lalxl I didn't say it's impossible, it just happens extremely rarely
Bruh three minutes into battle and that Kitakaze just gets sunk
Island hugging is fine if there are useful islands which is not always the case.
Crazy. I watch this and I try to maneuver my mouse to look around -- as if it were in the game.
Thanks for the video! one question though, i dont see the consealment advantage for the IJN cruisers over USA, the in-game tooltips pretty much have them equal with some small differences depending on ship..Is there something here i dont understand? (new player).
Fresh noob here, first week playing the game. Gone through SO many tutorial vids and youre are definitely my favourite.
Was hoping to get some advice on resource management as a brand new player? What should/shouldnt I spend my credits/XP on? How should I efficiently utilise these resources in the tech tree or on modules? Do I just choose a nation and plough my way through their tech tree?
Focus on one line for your first grind, but don't sell off your ships immediately after unlocking the next tier but instead keep at least one low tier ship (tier 4), one mid tier ship (between tiers 5-7) and a Tier 8.
Why?
Tier 4 - very high return in profit per game, and it's a safe environment for you to practice and solidify the basics.
Mid tiers - still has good profit per game, and helps you learn how to deal with tougher opponents (eg tier 6 can face up to tier 8, while tier 7 faces up to tier 9).
Tier 8 - can earn profit if you play well enough and this is the most crucial tier because of its battle MM. It teaches you how to lead a team as a top tier (T6-T8 MM), and it's the first time you will see tier 10s in action. Observe well and take note of their positioning, you can use them to your advantage.
You keep on cycling between your ship's across different tiers so your mind and body can remember the feeling and develop your reflexes as well as your game sense and situational awareness.
Use ship exp to unlock the next tier, and Use free exp that you earn by grinding each ship to unlock their modules. Spare yourself from playing stock ships and unlock all their top modules first. It takes longer, but it gives you a reason to cycle through the other ships as stated earlier.
Also make sure to have extra millions to purchase upgrades, and another few million as leftover cash in the bank.
But don't be stingy on ship performance. Type 5 camo costs 22.5k credits per game but it pays for itself with its benefits. Premium consumables, especially prem dmg control, smoke, speed boost, DFAA and repair are vital for keeping your ship afloat. For BBs premium spotter plane is also recommended. If you become good enough you will always have profit no matter the tier.
Hope this helps.
Thank you so much!
*Zao and Atago are my Waifu's FOR LYFE BABY!!*
IJN Burninations are love, IJN Burninations are life - and IJN Torp kills are the Promised land of plenty!
Indeed, IJN cruiser line master race
The main issue with IJN cruiser is their weak AA , it seems CV Love to go after you first even you are in a group with teammate...
if you use sector priority it should help a bit with the AA.
short answer learn the ship your playing , learn to read the map and know that going on , Pray your team does not suck
Thanks for all you do. Love this series. Keep it up.
How do you deal with the CV threat as a IJN cruiser? In principle- stealthy, yes, but the planes will spot you - and if you're on your own on a flank at that point you're probably screwed.
First lesson: do not fear damage.
Imagine your HP bar like an hourglass that reaches Zero once timer is up. That way you can divide your HP into segments so you know how much you can sacrifice as the game goes on.
Every attack run on your ship is an attack run not used on your teammates. Just accept the fact that you will take damage from planes with every wave, but if you maximize the usage of your DFAA and sectors, and careful maneuvering you can reduce the amount of damage you take while depleting the CV's plane reserves even by a bit.
DO NOT use your DFAA on the first strike, because good CV players immediately recall the whole squad in the first strike to waste your DFAA. Instead, check the planes if either they recall or continue attacking you. Only activate DFAA for option 2.
You should have enough time to retreat to friendly ships and share AA if you do it properly. Although it would be best if you do not stay in a flank alone Unless you are the first responder/defender against an incoming enemy push. Don't be alone unless you have no choice.
I'm our clan's instructor for learning how to play cruisers, and this is what I tell my apprentices about damage control not just against CV but against all other ships.
10500 games with cruisers total, 7000+ games in IJN CAs.
Hope this helps.
@@archwaldo These are some really nice tips... Thanks!
Can you make a tutorial video for what to do in these cruisers when you are on a map with very few islands?
Try stick with BB or DD, you can either: be the bait while your teammates overwhelm the opponents, or spam the crap out of the enemies with shells. Be remember though, don't overextend yourself, if you are overwhelmed haul your ass out of there quickly.
Fantastic series of videos Chase...thanks!
15:31 70% of the times when I go solo with a Japanese cruiser, I got bombed the crap out by enemy CV, how do I counter that? Do I return to my teammates? Thank you who responds!
I have really enjoyed your series of videos. Could you do a video on the signals we should run because no one has done a video on that that I can find? I wish I understood and be able to retain the game mechanics as you do. Something I wish you would do is put your recommended builds on the screen, modules, captain skills, signals, how to use the mini map properly, etc.
i play as a brit heavy cruisers tier6 my commander in at level 10 ,, i am staying in this cruiser an going to get better ,, i use islands an i let the battleships to go ahead of me ,, i loos alot ,, but my comp it old an lagging to ,, i watch your vids an my game play has picked up ,, still doing dum things ,, but asking lots of questions ,, ty for all the vids an keep it up ,, i cant wait for more ,,
Amazing tips dude, thanks to you I'm not longer a clueless potato, keep up ur hard work.
P.S: I'm still wondering why we didn't get an IJN CLs line yet, when they actually, u know, *EXISTED*
I've been looking forward to this episode. I've really struggled with T9-10 IJN cruisers.
Always drawing too much attention to myself & eating massive damage instead of hanging back & dropping off detection.
they are not DDs, don't try to use torps at all costs ... that will get you killed quickly ...
What get people killed in IJN cruisers is showing broadside (usually trying to drop torps). Keep your torps for close range engagements. You can take BBs with them. And NEVER show broadside. I suggest learning enemy reload rates and only swing for extra gun angles between enemy salvos. Not easy but it pays off.
@@Mithguar frustratingly, angling isn't much defence when being focused by Kremlins, Republiqes, Thunderers etc.
I've found some success in learning to hang back early on & holding my fire when I'm the obvious target. Though this does make pulling my weight a challenge.
@@jordanreeseyre Angling works great if you do it right. Sure if you are in the open in crossfire, it won't do you much. you still need to position well on the map. But if we talk Zao vs BBs, only Kremlin and Yamato can do serious dmg if you angle right.
The Republique, Georgia, Ohio, Thunderer, Kremlin, Musashi & Yamato can all overmatch the Zao's 30mm of belt & deck armour, nevermind the 25mm bow/stern plating.
Huge men damage, and usually citadel damage quickly follows.
Thanks for all the great tips and info.. Love your videos. Stay safe and keep those great vids going...
excellent educational video. Clearly presented the important ideas. Kudos
Thank you, iChase! These are very useful.
Hey ichase i know you enjoy your free time at the moment. But at least for EU i think its time For an "How to contest a cap in a DD " Video. Its so frustrating to see DDs die like in no time because they did not know how to cap
Good refresher for 2022.
All this really has helped for me in no CV games. I have improved quite a bit. But then yesterday i had 6 games in a row with 2 CV's. All 6 went in same pattern: I find a good cover and start shooting there and here, then CV spots me constantly, it even does not attack me - just spot. Then all bbs from range 17 - 21 km starts focusing me, if i try hide behind an island CV immediately torps forcing me to back off from island and then bbs shoot me. And it takes 2 well aimed shoots to get me from full HP to 0. Any strategy against this ?
Also I still don't understand what is strength of cc. I mean, why i should play cc instead of bb or dd ? I dont feel any advantage on concealment, firepover or durability. I mean what can for example York do better than Gneissenau ?
The tricks work as long as you doesn't drawn with egoistical jerks who only cares 1 vs 1 battle or charging like a madman then got turned into swiss cheese by the opponents. The egoistical jerks really got into my nerves when you are retreating to use DCP or repair party and didn't provides covering fire. Or when you are drawn with nice guys, but once you spotted you got obliterated even though there is more vulnerable teammates
I consider myself a decent Zao player - my favorite ship. I don't remember how bad Atago was but if it's play-style is anything near Zao's you show a game where you were way cautious! Why you left that first lane? "too much heat" ? :) you left full hp! I may play to aggressive but it pays of most of the time. And you have to be aggressive to get in line with the other cruisers in terms of dpm
If you can read this, congrats on increasing your knowledge of the game.
Now go wash your hands.
excellent lesson, thanks iChase. Not sure of you're still playing fake botes, but they've just Buffed the Buffalo, yes. a big rudder buff and small DPM rate. Hope you're designing real ships and enjoying Doners? Cheers!
Hi chase! Really aprreciating all these amzing guides you are putting out. I was wondering, in this video and many others! I see players aiming at targets behind islands. How do you acquire a lock on those? Whenever I target them like that, I just end up shooting the isand. Is there something I am missing?
thanks, after getting killed most of the time. I've learned the real way.
I appreciate your videos! I see why I was not as successful in my use of US and IJN cruisers as I could have been. Tutorial knowledge does really help! By the way, are you a vet?
I found the video super helpful, thankyou!
Unless your teams decides to bunch up in a corner and do nothing and there are hardly any islands nearby
nice one komrad!
Great Video!
Be interesting to see and hear how the Soviets play? I'm coming from the WoW:Legends on the console, and your vids have been very informative.
Sorta similar to the Japanese ships. Just NEVER show your broadside. But I found it works to hit the flanks, once you become noticed, kite away swinging and firing until youre out of your detection range . Get back into range and repeat. If the opportunity presents itself, use islands to ambush with torps or fire from while undetected if you cant find a light flank to annoy.
Well done. I have been following since the "Captain's Academy" series and I think this format works a bit better - a lot less to remember. There may be others out there with my particular mental disorder: My I.Q. drops in half when I hit the "Battle!" button in port, then half again when I get dropped into a game.
My biggest problem is when my team's destroyers are hesitant to push toward the CAPs. It is hard to remain patient, but even a smoke cruiser is not a destroyer. They may find Jingles' "Man Pants" later and actually put them on. If you are stuck with a defensive team you just have to readjust your tactics appropriately. (With radar and carriers destroyer drivers have a certain fight to be cautious.
can you do another video with Japanese light CAs please
Your videos are absolutely amazing but unfortunately my biggest problem in this game is having just straight trash teamates that all die within the first few minutes of the game then I'm left alone to get ganged up by the enemy.
Mogami post IFHE rework question. Do you go for ifhe and/or the 155 or 203 guns?
155 yes, 203 no.
155 with IFHE. You can pen 38 mm plating, so its in fact buff.
@@stallfighter But you lose fire chance. Pen is quite okay without IFHE, 30mm+, in T8 that is quite okay. Still worth it?
@@soderstadion77 you loose only 20% with DE, flags and IFHE combined (and btw base 10% is still pretty trash imo). Cleveland loose more for example.
But without IFHE you forced to rely on random fires when fighting VIII+ BB. Its ok on something like Worcester with its 4 sec reload, but Mogami has 10 sec one...
@@stallfighter Good thinking, thanks.
Thank you. Your videos are very informative.
Hey iChaseGaming! When your series is done, have you thought about doing replay analyses? I think your insight would be fun and constructive for such a thing
Shrek
I think you had a really bad sync issue in the first match. Shells were passing through you and targets harmlessly several times. I hear its a WG problem they deny of course.
I no longer regret buying Atago seeing what she really is capable of.
well, u have been lucky a BB was with you. Very often I'm on the same position but no support .... BBs give up and run away. Had for example a BB t9 premium who was just 10km behind me and sniping ...
yeah happened to me too, but when I see that now I will also run away with the bb.
Question is, what if both teams start camping islands and no one peeks out or even bothers to cap.
Had plenty of those games until one team just gives up and charge in and gets farmed in return.
There is your answer wait till the other team loses patience
25:22
:PEPEGA: :MEGA: RADAR THE EDIN PENGUIN GUY
Thank man! woow I really appreciate the videos. It helped me sooooooo much you have no idea. Didn't know how to play the cleveland at all despite watching alot of videos. You brought up something that just opened my eyes ( just had my best game almost 100k damage) and that is ROLE. What is your role and how can you accomplish that role. Mix that with your video about map position and my play improved greatly. Thx again!
IJN cruisers : Use concealment unless DD harass you.
DDs: -_-
Corona virus (CV) : Huh! Whut concealment?!
USN CA: Hug island and stay undetected.
Sky Cancer (CV) : No camping bro. :3
An other crybaby about cvs😂😂☺️☺️
Thanks again for another great video. I noticed you were not using a reticle, at least it appeared you were not using one. I did not see a horizontal line. How in the bloody world is you aim that damn good without a reticle? Latter, Panda 2 Guns
The recorded replay in WOWS sometimes bugs out and shows the recticle empty. It's just not recorded but he uses it ingame.
@@PortalWombatYT Thanks big time! I was starting to think Chase was some kind of WOW Wizard.
well atleast now i understand where im going wrong with most of my cruiser games im usually the one leadig the charge lol
What’s a good IJN captain build?
Seeing a Japanese cruiser player is like seeing a dog walking on two legs. Most Japanese cruiser players just spam HE until they’re in torp range and then give full broadside to launch a set of suicide torps.
Ah the ARP turn!
back when wow was fun and made sense.
I just love the buffalo
How do you get that countdown timer on the “detected” warning on the HUD?
It's a mod. (Available in the ModStation)
He went over it and mods in Episode 2 of this series.
hello iChase, please can you make this kind of tutorial for Moskva, I am really struggling. cant find the right way to play it. thanks in advance.
You can basically play the Moskva as a BB. Ether position yourself up close if your spotted it's fine because your 50mm armour is OP, but try and minimise the fire you take by protecting one of your flanks with island cover. Or you can sit in open water near max range and play with your throttle to avoid the enemy targeting your 25mm nose armour (but be careful of American bbs as their plunging fire can citadel you through you deck at range. The last way I like to play is stay dark until you are on the edge of the map and then push up as far as you can while staying undetected then just open fire on enemies broadsides. Those are a few go to strategies to start the game after that play it as you see it.
I only use bbs but no one can beat me ;)
@@noahjones7986 I love it when they give me their broadside
Hi can you tell me a program to record mi batels pls .
Sry mi nike name is swan ty .