681 [CLAY] Earl_of_Arland [CLAY] Member 692 posts 3,519 battles Report post #1 Posted January 6 (edited) Hello everyone, The US destroyer line has left me scratching my head. Neither a gunboat due to their floaty shells and average agility, nor torpedo boat with their eh range and fish per minute. Nor a good jack of all trades, when the German and British DDs have more utility and flexibility. I'm currently sitting at T6 Farragut, perhaps not the best example of the line, yet it seemed the line has been disliked now by many i know. Is it true that the line is just eh? What makes them...so mediocre now? Or is there some hidden 300 IQ tricks that i don't know... Edited January 6 by Earl_of_Arland 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3,169 [CLAY] Max_Battle Beta Tester 4,824 posts 21,574 battles Report post #2 Posted January 6 I think they are pretty great already. I mean different people will have different opinions on what makes America or it's DDs great but I have always liked them. Keep American DDs great! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
249 [NZAUS] Tagnbag Beta Tester 361 posts 8,563 battles Report post #3 Posted January 6 I find the US DD's to be meh. The Gearing Torps are OK, her guns are OK .. but the trouble with the US line is they can't decide which way to go. Should they be a torping platform? Should they be a gunbote? -(Benham aside) its a difficult call. Gearing is out-gunned by some and out torped by others. There has definitely been power creep since she was introduced. Doesn't have best detectability/torps/guns/speed/AA but not the worst of any either. Be interesting to hear what other people build this confused little bote to? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3,169 [CLAY] Max_Battle Beta Tester 4,824 posts 21,574 battles Report post #4 Posted January 6 Pretty sure Gearing was my first TX and was definitely my first UU - arguably one of the best UUs you can get - so yeah, pretty great. My personal Top Ten Great Amercian DDs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
783 [LBAS] THAI_THIEF Member 5,100 posts 11,359 battles Report post #5 Posted January 6 22 minutes ago, Earl_of_Arland said: Hello everyone, The US destroyer line has left me scratching my head. Neither a gunboat due to their floaty shells and average agility, nor torpedo boat with their eh range and fish per minute. Nor a good jack of all trades, when the German and British DDs have more utility and flexibility. I'm currently sitting at T6 Farragut, perhaps not the best example of the line, yet it seemed the line has been disliked now by many i know. Is it true that the line is just eh? What makes them...so mediocre now? Or is there some hidden 300 IQ tricks that i don't know... Ask for nerf and raise Hip-hopper? It's can't allow to be wouldn't I? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
681 [CLAY] Earl_of_Arland [CLAY] Member 692 posts 3,519 battles Report post #6 Posted January 6 10 minutes ago, THAI_THIEF said: Ask for nerf and raise Hip-hopper? It's can't allow to be wouldn't I? How many beer you chugged today? For your sentence is nowhere near the level expected of a primate let alone a sane human being. 1 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1 [_HKG_] RX160S_Byarlant_Custom Member 3 posts 2,368 battles Report post #7 Posted January 6 The American DD line is mainly noted for their Smoke Generators, which have an improved action/disperse time. Yes, you can nullify it by popping Hydroacoustic Search or Surveillance Radar, but the sheer longevity of the smoke means people will be sitting there for some time. It's incredibly useful for screening allies or just giving yourself a place for your high RoF to light fires on opponents. Look, I know the guns aren't much cop beyond 7km. At least they are usable and have very good turret rotation speeds, so they are more than welcome in a knife-fight with enemy DDs. You could argue that yes, a few DDs can match or outright exceed your dpm, but the Germans and Soviets has slower reloads, Halland less barrels and Harugumo can't handle. Daring and Kleber could keep up with you in a gunfight (and they have bigger healthpools too), but both have (slightly in Daring's case) worse concealment values and not much of a smoke if any at all. Perhaps the real gift of American DDs is that they have a set of tools to counter/try to match most of the opponents you meet, even if it doesn't look like they're very outstanding in any area. Gearing may adapt to any situation quite well with her smoke-camp (what's that? you want DFAA?) although I'll admit, going through the line makes me feel jealous of the German HS, Halland/Grozovoi box o' gimmicks and Yueyang's radar. American DDs aren't meant to be great, but at least they don't have any glaring weaknesses flying in the face of your DD game. Old ships don't have it easy anymore. Ultimately, Daring is the better Gearing, if you aren't a dirty smoke-camper. (But hey. Flexible.) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1,407 [-CAT-] S0und_Theif Member 2,788 posts 12,360 battles Report post #8 Posted January 6 (edited) 2 hours ago, Earl_of_Arland said: Hello everyone, The US destroyer line has left me scratching my head. Neither a gunboat due to their floaty shells and average agility, nor torpedo boat with their eh range and fish per minute. Nor a good jack of all trades, when the German and British DDs have more utility and flexibility. I'm currently sitting at T6 Farragut, perhaps not the best example of the line, yet it seemed the line has been disliked now by many i know. Is it true that the line is just eh? What makes them...so mediocre now? Or is there some hidden 300 IQ tricks that i don't know... Once you reach T7 Mahan and upgrade the torpedo module, you can fire torpedoes outside detection range. Also, T7 Mahan was once buffed. Her reload used to be 4 sec. Same as T6 Farragut. Sometime ago, WG buffed her reload to 3.3 sec. In par with T8 Benson. Once you reach T8 Benson, the turret traverse is fast. Like really fast. "Fastest gun in the west." T6 Farragut is just, meh~ Use it in ops. T7 Mahan is a better teacher IMO. As you can use some of the "usual play" found in other T6 DD's. Edited January 6 by S0und_Theif Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
783 [LBAS] THAI_THIEF Member 5,100 posts 11,359 battles Report post #9 Posted January 6 2 hours ago, Earl_of_Arland said: How many beer you chugged today? For your sentence is nowhere near the level expected of a primate let alone a sane human being. Sorry I spilled by accident I'm not be bother if you get Hipper in my sight Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
765 [SMOKE] Mechfori Member 2,218 posts 17,119 battles Report post #10 Posted January 6 You know this is the issue with all OLD tech line ships ; their spec are still spec for the days long gone by and never update to reflect their limitation in current state of affair , USS DD are not really that great but they do not suffer that much , not quite like IJN Torpedo Boats 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
15 Hapa_Fodder WG Staff 57 posts Report post #11 Posted January 6 5 hours ago, Earl_of_Arland said: Hello everyone, The US destroyer line has left me scratching my head. Neither a gunboat due to their floaty shells and average agility, nor torpedo boat with their eh range and fish per minute. Nor a good jack of all trades, when the German and British DDs have more utility and flexibility. I'm currently sitting at T6 Farragut, perhaps not the best example of the line, yet it seemed the line has been disliked now by many i know. Is it true that the line is just eh? What makes them...so mediocre now? Or is there some hidden 300 IQ tricks that i don't know... My 2 dubs? The US DD line is more of a stand off/mid game DD line. They are a case of, "Jack of all, master of none" their AA is average, their gun damage is avg, their torp damage is avg (though they are the slowest in most cases), their concealment is avg etc etc. You have to be very careful, their strength? Long lasting, long discharge smoke. So you can lay pretty good long lines for cruisers or yourself to gun from. US 5 inch guns have been, effectively, power crept IMO, but as always we keep an eye on these things and will hopefully adjust them in time. From the Benson on, these DDs are pretty good however, especially in DD to DD knife fights. But as I stated, these DDs should be played somewhat passively at the beginning of a match, and then engage, push flanks or cap mid to late, when you know more the disposition of the enemy team. Hopefully, some of what I said made sense (still trying to caffeinate myself here). Mahalo, -Hapa 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1,853 [151ST] S4pp3R Member 3,003 posts 11,069 battles Report post #12 Posted January 6 Everyone here has pretty much nailed it but I would add one thing I've learned from other generalists in a variety of games over the years... Play to your enemy's weaknesses not to your strengths... A generalist is better than others by having decent traits across the board. So you should be trying to force the enemy into situations where their weaknesses become glaring. e.g. In Gearing you want to engage Shima in gunfights he can't escape. vs Daring or gunboats you want to use concealment and torps... It can be really hard to do but if you can master the art - a generalist is good in all situations, not just ones it's strong in. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1,422 [FORCE] Reinhard_of_Avercland Modder 2,679 posts 12,931 battles Report post #13 Posted January 7 The fun actually starts at Mahan imo because the torps will finally be useful (you can even stealth torp without CE). Although they are indeed rather bland when compared to the specialists like the IJN torpboats & French gunboats. I'm at Benson now, which is okayish, especially in Ranked. Not as good as Akizuki in gunboating, but has better torps than Lightning (8km range is quite suffocating) & Kagero (torps can be seen from moon, literally). Benson's max concealment is also kind of good. Stealthier than Akizuki, but less than Lightning & Kagero. Benson's AA is also on the good side. In Ranked, the only CVs that can bust through her AA are Saipan, Enterprise, and Indomitable. Kidd is actually the biggest brat in Ranked imo because that thing only sacrifices 1 torp launcher for more AA & heal, I don't consider CV's spotting to be a huge issue because it also works against the enemy team. However I've gotten myself too used on playing the British DDs. The American smoke is kind of a deadweight imo because of its lengthy cooldown. And because I also get myself more familiar with the smokeless DDs like Kiev with heal & Marceau; Benson's average speed becomes quite counterproductive when her smoke is in cooldown. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
206 [LGND] Gesterbein Member 543 posts 13,027 battles Report post #14 Posted January 7 USN DD Start Shining in Fletcher and Gearing.... from T5 to T7 USN DD not so Good in current META especially in CV.... Benson probably can shoot down more planes if her Hull C still there (but WG remove it "bEcAuSe uNpOpUlAr") Gearing Torp Speed can reach 74 Knots in with range 13 Km, if im not wrong USN DD had Best concealment Trops... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
712 [BLESS] Rina_Pon Member 1,309 posts 11,704 battles Report post #15 Posted January 7 Farragut as a surprising amount of gunpower for a T6, and the small maps at low tier mitigate the famously lousy ballistics. Most of all, low tier BBs don't have the dispersion to hit you reliably, so you can open water gunboat quite a bit more than you can at high tiers. Farragut is my third favorite T6 DD, after Hatsuharu and T-61. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3 [DDF] Darkofsword Member 29 posts 5,714 battles Report post #16 Posted January 7 cv is the biggest problem 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
82 [151ST] Davey77 Member 120 posts 3,137 battles Report post #17 Posted January 7 5 hours ago, Darkofsword said: cv is the biggest problem yes, yes it is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
765 [SMOKE] Mechfori Member 2,218 posts 17,119 battles Report post #18 Posted January 8 13 hours ago, Darkofsword said: cv is the biggest problem LoL and WG aim for them to be the AA destroyers ... What an irony Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3,169 [CLAY] Max_Battle Beta Tester 4,824 posts 21,574 battles Report post #19 Posted January 8 (edited) Well, Hipper got powercrept and they are reducing her reload time. Mahan got the same thing as Hipper. Maybe the other US DDs could get the Hipper treatment? I know I would like to be treated by Hipper. Hipper. Edited January 8 by Max_Battle 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
681 [CLAY] Earl_of_Arland [CLAY] Member 692 posts 3,519 battles Report post #20 Posted January 8 1 minute ago, Max_Battle said: Well, Hipper got powercrept and they are reducing her reload time. Mahan got the same thing as Hipper. Maybe the other US DDs could get the Hipper treatment? I know I would like to be treated by Hipper. Hipper. Sorry sir, but this is an Eugenian thread. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3,169 [CLAY] Max_Battle Beta Tester 4,824 posts 21,574 battles Report post #21 Posted January 8 Just now, Earl_of_Arland said: Sorry sir, but this is an Eugenian thread. Well Bouncy also needs attention, just like the US DDs. Oh. Prinz Eugen. DDs. That concept linking. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1 [_HKG_] RX160S_Byarlant_Custom Member 3 posts 2,368 battles Report post #22 Posted January 8 I think what WG has done here to "justify" their all-rounder character, can be seen if you look to the other destroyers. Shimakaze? You know the drill... Daring has slightly worse concealment and her Smoke doesn't last for very long. Yueyang can equip radar, but DT torps are useless in DD gunfights. Kleber is faster and healthier with the reload booster, otherwise she can't keep up with your RoF. And she has no smoke. Z-52 has Hydroacoustic Search, and is probably Gearing's greatest nightmare. Your gunnery still beats hers though. Harugumo and Grozovoi don't turn well, so are probably suspect to torpedoes in knife fights. Khabarovsk is detected from the moon, and suffers from the aforementioned bad rudder shift. Halland has no smoke. And 4 guns only. Gearing doesn't have any particular bad spots a DD can target, enemies can only deal with her if they beat her in certain aspects. (For example, Harugumos enjoy spitting shells on Gearing where she can't reliably fight back.) Even then it's possible to adapt and whack your opponents back...if you don't die. See? Balance. And yes. H I P P E R. (where are we going with this?) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1,422 [FORCE] Reinhard_of_Avercland Modder 2,679 posts 12,931 battles Report post #23 Posted January 8 1 hour ago, Earl_of_Arland said: Sorry sir, but this is an Eugenian thread. Huh? How is Eugen related to this thread? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3,169 [CLAY] Max_Battle Beta Tester 4,824 posts 21,574 battles Report post #24 Posted January 8 Speaking of Making America(n DDs) Great Again... When do we get the new models? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
783 [LBAS] THAI_THIEF Member 5,100 posts 11,359 battles Report post #25 Posted January 8 32 minutes ago, Max_Battle said: Speaking of Making America(n DDs) Great Again... When do we get the new models? About All-nothings? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
