Experimental Des Moines Build

[UltimaBasti]

Just recently tried this build. It's been fun so far. Seems effective. Just wondering what you experts think. 

So the build uses the legendary mod, rudder mod 3, propulsion mod 2, aim mod 1, radar upgrade, and damacon upgrade. 

Skills on my captain: Priority Target, Expert Loader, Incoming Fire Alert, Jack Of All Trades, Expert Marksman, Adrenalin Rush, BFT, Superintendent, Concealment Expert.

Consumables: All premium. Hydro and Radar. Sometimes, I switch to DFAA.

I do a lot of island camping (as usual) and quick repositioning thanks to the high mobility of the build. Nothing new there. But the ship has now become a much better open water battler, mostly kiting as you all might imagine. The 15.8 km range of the build is a bit of a limitation, but then again it's much easier to disengage with a 15.8 km gun range. The trade off is my concealment is now at 12.1 km vs 10.6 km with concealment mod. The ship accelerates faster than a DD, with 4.1 sec rudder shift. I'm actually able to dodge shells like a DD from mid range (11km) and up, except of course high velocity vodka fueled Russian shells.

I tried this build because a lot of the new maps have a lot of open water areas and I inevitably have to get out from behind the islands and fight without cover.

Anyway, looking forward to some opinions on the build.

[S4pp3R]

BFT and incoming fire alert I would argue are better spent elsewhere...

Even Radio Location would be better IMO

[UltimaBasti]

1 hour ago, S4pp3R said:

BFT and incoming fire alert I would argue are better spent elsewhere...

Even Radio Location would be better IMO

I kinda need the incoming fire alert so i can dodge shells. BFT for AA. To get radio location, I might give up superintendent and expert loader. I'll play around with it when they implement the free reskill for clan battles. Thanks for the suggestion.

[S4pp3R]

1 hour ago, UltimaBasti said:

I kinda need the incoming fire alert so i can dodge shells. BFT for AA. To get radio location, I might give up superintendent and expert loader. I'll play around with it when they implement the free reskill for clan battles. Thanks for the suggestion.

Incoming fire alert is definitely something you can substitute with skill, knowing where you can be shot from and watching the minimap... *shrugs* up to you.

I generally don't run AA skills, particularly on island campers... CV can usually drop on you if they want anyways and will get some planes through, particularly if they're good and know how to use terrain...

[dejiko_nyo]

I see what you have done. Something similar to my agility built. I still have AFT just because. 

I would drop IFA and EL and use those two points elsewhere. DM reload is already short enough that it is easy to change shells at a whim.

[dieselhead]

31 minutes ago, dejiko_nyo said:

DM reload is already short enough that it is easy to change shells at a whim.

EL with John Doe makes shell change at just over 1 second.

[UltimaBasti]

3 hours ago, S4pp3R said:

Incoming fire alert is definitely something you can substitute with skill, knowing where you can be shot from and watching the minimap... *shrugs* up to you.

I generally don't run AA skills, particularly on island campers... CV can usually drop on you if they want anyways and will get some planes through, particularly if they're good and know how to use terrain...

Yeah. I'm a bit of a noob and my comfort level is with IFA. You have a point with BFT though as AA gameplay now relies more on active maneuvering. Or if I'm that paranoid about CVs, I could always load in DFAA. 

[UltimaBasti]

34 minutes ago, dieselhead said:

EL with John Doe makes shell change at just over 1 second.

It is a nice perk, but yeah, EL is more of a luxury than a necessity. Nice to have, but you probably wouldn't miss it that much if you didn't have it. This is probably one skill I can leave out.