Serov...

[mr_glitchy_R]

I'm not sure about y'all but, after I returned to the game for a long hiatus, I've seen this Russian godlike fantasy shit called Serov. Upon seeing her, my first impression was she's insanely powerful for her tier. This thing makes Ranger a laughing stock and a nothing. I thought Ryujo and Furious was already powerful but nope. Her bombers deals more damage than other CVs or is it just me? 

Anyway, should I invest in her?

[ChokeMeHardDaddyBondrewd]

Serov is worse than Ranger and has the same alpha strike as Ryujo whilst only having one drop per squadron that is hit or miss. 

Russian CVs have higher than average alphas (albeit not that much higher) to compensate for the fact that they drop all their ordinance in one go. Torps have on average a longer than Kaga arming distance to compensate for this, whilst also being slower. Skip bombs are unreliable against not broadside targets, and same is said with rockets.

RU CVs are in no way more powerful than their alternative tier equivalent options, in fact they are more balanced than the likes of Ryujo, Lexington, Shokaku, Enterprise, Hakuryu, and Midway at each of those respective tiers. Although, if you were to just farm, the Russian CV line is basically a free alternative to Immelmann and FDR, as all three of these CVs have similar damage output.

tldr: Serov is in no way powerful, and is in fact one of if not the weaker option at T6.

[S4pp3R]

5 hours ago, mr_glitchy_R said:

I'm not sure about y'all but, after I returned to the game for a long hiatus, I've seen this Russian godlike fantasy shit called Serov. Upon seeing her, my first impression was she's insanely powerful for her tier. This thing makes Ranger a laughing stock and a nothing. I thought Ryujo and Furious was already powerful but nope. Her bombers deals more damage than other CVs or is it just me? 

Anyway, should I invest in her?

@Impersonation_Gaming is a pretty great resource in relation to CVs, he's who I often go to for advice or to answer questions but he's pro... 

So I would add a little to what he said.

I'm an average CV player and not a CV main, so keep that in mind.

What I've personally found is that IJN CVs are pretty much top-tier at most tiers but are harder to be consistent with compared to other lines. (It's 100% a skill issue)

Serov and other Soviets aren't hard to play, large alpha strike and just pick on lone capital ships.

But they aren't as good tactically. Serov in particular has really slow planes. But by having only one attack run you spend more time travelling to where you strike, and must choose to strike or spot, meaning your time is more inefficient. Other CVs can do both with their time.

All her attacks are also really easy to mitigate, even for slow BBs.

But I find it easier to get 100k in her than in Ryujo because many players don't know how to play against CVs.

And prepare to lose Karma when you play Serov.

I don't really enjoy playing Serov.

[Reinhard_of_Avercland]

Nah Ryujo still rules the sky at T6. In fact Ryujo is the only T6 CV that I don't mind being the bottom tier. I'd rate Serov at the 3rd place among T6 tech tree CVs, just behind Ranger & Ryujo respectively. I agree with both comments above on Serov. There are too many Youtubers who exaggerate the Soviet CV line, it doesn't help either that they showcase the gameplay against the "paid actors".

Furious is arse, especially when bottom tiered against anything other than Furious on the enemy team. Weser is too overemphasized on bullying static targets, something that the top 3 are much better at.

Ryujo actually holds my damage record at T6.

Serov is not even close to match Ryujo. Heck not even a Kraken. The slow plane speed really balances the strike potential.

[Admiral_Helena]

But Ranger is indeed laughing stock if you look at it from the skill ceiling, which is lower than room temperature, literally.

25 minutes ago, Reinhard_of_Avercland said:

There are too many Youtubers who exaggerate the Soviet CV line, it doesn't help either that they showcase the gameplay against the "paid actors".

If the Youtubers are playing against the paid actors, then folks here are playing against the mercenaries whom are paid by people who hate you for whatever reasons

[mr_glitchy_R]

So Serov is godtier in Ops but can't do jackshit in other modes? Because lately I've rarely seen Ranger in Ops.

 

[Reinhard_of_Avercland]

1 hour ago, mr_glitchy_R said:

So Serov is godtier in Ops but can't do jackshit in other modes? Because lately I've rarely seen Ranger in Ops.

 

In Ops, Serov is indeed strong due to the "all out drop" gimmick, and the bot's movements are predictable enough to maximize the strike potential. And of course in Ops, you can afford to push the carrier to be close enough to the enemy in order to make ramp up the frequency of your strikes. So the slow plane speed is not a big drawback.

However doing the same in Random is a death sentence, even at the slightest mistake. Because the ship itself is prone to overmatch from any guns bigger than Scharnhorst/Graf Spee's 283mm. So Serov ends up being played like other CVs, staying away from the frontline until you get enough opening to push forward. And because of that, Serov fails to achieve the #1 spot for Random. It doesn't help either when all of Serov's squadrons are designed to hit perfect broadside. If the target angles away or towards the squadron, the potential damage drops significantly.

As for Ranger, it is not that surprising. Ranger's selling point is consistency with low alpha. Since the bots in Ops are literally braindead, Ranger's consistency is practically useless. The last time I took my Ranger into Ops, the dive bombers are practically useless against the T2-4 ships. Because the drafts on those low tier ships are too shallow that HE bombs overpen through them, resulting in only engine incapacitations without damage to the ship hp. And the enemy AA in Ops are not strong enough to make Ranger's "slightly beefy" planes matter, even stock Serov planes can blast through them with little to no losses.

[Reinhard_of_Avercland]

2 hours ago, Admiral_Helena said:

But Ranger is indeed laughing stock if you look at it from the skill ceiling, which is lower than room temperature, literally.

Yup, my Ranger's damage record is just 88k, it is literally half of my Ryujo's record. The only good thing about Ranger is to bully DDs with HE bombs, which is also the only form of teamplay that Ranger can pull off. Ryujo on the other hand, you can brute force your way through in a damage race faster than the enemies kill your teammates. Which is a typical flavor of Japanese ships after all.

[Andy_Siau]

Pretty obvious...
Ryujo highest - 145k
Ranger - 121k
Shitrov - 94k

[Andy_Siau]

9 minutes ago, Andy_Siau said:

Pretty obvious...
Ryujo highest - 145k
Ranger - 121k
Shitrov - 94k

Even Furious and Weser (my highest Tier 6 CV) is better than Shitrov

[ChokeMeHardDaddyBondrewd]

You guys do realise using your own stats to prove something is liable to many variables that make your conclusions, even if correct, inaccurate, right?

[Reinhard_of_Avercland]

9 hours ago, Impersonation_Gaming said:

You guys do realise using your own stats to prove something is liable to many variables that make your conclusions, even if correct, inaccurate, right?

That is true if our overall stats are unicum. For a 50% scrub like me, my stats straddle perfectly between the scrubs & the unicums.

Put me in Ryujo, and I can do some carry. Because Ryujo is no brainer at dishing out damage. But put me in Weser or Furious, and I'd consider myself lucky if I win.

In the end, if a ship is capable of making scrubs look godlike, then the ship is obviously too strong/unbalanced.

And of course not everyone in this game is a unicum. I think the median WR is somewhere between 48-50%, so my stats & Andy's stats represent the majority of the playerbase, than those of unicums'. Last I checked, a lot of things outside this game is gauged by the median values, not the extremes. So...

The only reason to gauge the ship's performance by the top extremes is to find out the ship's skill ceiling, which is something that only unicums' can achieve.

[mashed68]

On 5/14/2022 at 9:05 AM, mr_glitchy_R said:

 

Anyway, should I invest in her?

Wait, so you complain about how shi*ty the ship is for everyone in the game to deal with, and then ask if you should continue showing wargaming they were right by making her and play it yourself? Wow.

[mr_glitchy_R]

On 5/17/2022 at 6:46 AM, mashed68 said:

Wait, so you complain about how shi*ty the ship is for everyone in the game to deal with, and then ask if you should continue showing wargaming they were right by making her and play it yourself? Wow.

I'm just asking wether She is viable in Ops or not. Besides, it was my first impression anyway. None in my arguments that I defended WG or showing them that they are right.

[Puggsley]

2 hours ago, mr_glitchy_R said:

I'm just asking wether She is viable in Ops or not. Besides, it was my first impression anyway. None in my arguments that I defended WG or showing them that they are right.

Actions speak louder than words.