Fubuki: T6 IJN AA DD Build?

[Verytis]

Disclaimer: This is partially theory crafting in addition to my experience since I lack the resources to test everything (Captains, other ships, etc). I have some experience of Fubuki and CVs but more opinions and corrections from experienced players are welcome.

 

To start off, there are 2 notable aspects that should be mentioned 1st:

DD's AA usage

• 1 of the suggested tactics atm is to only turn on AA when the CV can see you, this makes you harder to track and reduces dmg taken. Your primary concern is having some level of self-defense. This means that long range and mid range AA are less valuable to DDs as you often avoid using it.

IJN's AA

• IJN's mid-range AA is nonexistent on most ships. Instead they are divided into only short and long range AA. The result is a stronger short range and/or long range, depending on how it swings.

 

Main topic: So what's the deal?

Fubuki's feature:

• Fubuki is armed with only short range AA, all of which consists of pure continuous dmg. At 1.9km range, this only activates when a CV tries to pass over you. There is no flak involved, all CVs attempting drops will have to eat this dmg. Among the IJN DDs, this short range AA is only slightly surpassed by Akizuki, a T8 DD. You also save some micromanagement but you do have a small gap where CVs take no dmg while spotting you.
• With DD's fast, innate 50% sector switching, and the MFCAA skill on top, this can result in you bearing very high continuous dmg on any planes that try to drop you.

 

Short range AA comparison to some IJN BBs:

• Fubuki's base short range AA is 256
• Nagato's base short range AA is 619
• Yamato's base short range AA is 955

With sector switching, it is possible to bear 180% AA against planes, resulting in 460 short range AA. You could still add BFT if you want.

Your AA should now be strong enough to inflict significant dmg to planes. A good CV player will probably still get dmg on you if you're caught alone, but even then he'll likely suffer some losses. At least against T6s, I don't have enough T8 experience to judge that yet. Note that the idea is focused on self-defense, you have to be really close to someone if you want to protect them.

Torping can still be quite rough since you don't wanna get shot by ships tho.

Thoughts?

[Mechfori]

Funny you mention Fubuki, now go check what Kagero had as far as AA goes, and then Shiratsuyu ... this is what's really wrong with AA on almost all the DD and CL / CA they are still specified to the same as pre rework days and was not updated  , the only thing change is now they are RNG and sector instead ; reducing AA effectiveness from one that is already under-performing  ;  but in particular to IJN DD line , this disparate is rather hard to rationalize, and add on top the question how can a T6 ship of the same line and same nation easily out do everyone up tier it ...

Yes you can spec for AA on Fubuki, and likely it could be beneficial, but also with that you lost all the skill points to invest into what made a DD ( 4 points , it might be used for say SE or Vigilance and still give you 1 spare ) especially for a torpedo boat which would need to better its chance in a Torp run , as such this apply to others ships too , having to forced to spec for AA simply just so its needed for survival really mean the game is broke on this , note that Fubuki got 3KM aerial detection so one must be aware that skillful positioning here is involved .. between that 3KM and 1.9KM you really want the least amount of time presented to the planes 

Is this spec for AA going to work, I am not sure , its not that the theory do not hold , by all measure it do, but the actual close range RNG part , we all know how inconsistent it is , even heavy AA cruiser is finding it unable to defend itself when planes close in .. so in the end its a question not whether this build work or not, but whether RNG at close range work or not, and right now that is questionable at best

[Rina_Pon]

The flaw with your logic here is that the damage done to planes is (AA damage) X (time the squadron stays within range of the guns). So relying on short range AA to do anything more than slightly annoy a CV is a losing bet in my opinion. Hatsuharu, on the other hand, can needle planes from long distances, so the AA is overall much more effective. Not that I'd ever consist going with an "AA build" of either of those ships however.

If I want to get CVs really steamed I'll take Sims for a spins.

[Blast_Radius1]

31 minutes ago, Rina_Pon said:

The flaw with your logic here is that the damage done to planes is (AA damage) X (time the squadron stays within range of the guns). So relying on short range AA to do anything more than slightly annoy a CV is a losing bet in my opinion. Hatsuharu, on the other hand, can needle planes from long distances, so the AA is overall much more effective. Not that I'd ever consist going with an "AA build" of either of those ships however.

If I want to get CVs really steamed I'll take Sims for a spins.

Yeah, agree totally, USN DDs can really ruin a CVs day; I tend to leave them alone.