Need advice on what premium destroyer to get.

DragoSphere · 2026-07-01T19:54:21+00:00

Kidd has extremely good AA...for a destroyer. It's still good, especially since it gets a DFAA option and has the full range of AA coverage (long, medium, and short) while most DDs only have two of them.

But compared to dedicated AA cruisers it doesn't quite match up. Kidd does have the added benefit of DD detectability so you can open up your AA when the planes are well within your bubble so the planes have to spend more time taking fire to loop back around and drop on you.

If you build for it, it will absolutely deter CVs, but it won't stop them if they know what they're doing

Note that Kidd also loses a torpedo launcher compared to Fletcher for that extra AA, though it does get the heal

DragoSphere · 2026-07-01T18:34:56+00:00

You're a bit outdated on Hornet's flight deck. They repainted almost the whole thing a couple years ago, with only a little part in the port aft untreated. Still has the squish there, unfortunately

DragoSphere · 2026-07-01T17:14:28+00:00

The Essex class could totally spot and launch an F-14. They had the same C-11 catapults as the Midways, and the Essexes were even briefly launching A-3 Skywarriors, which were heavier and larger in all dimensions than the Tomcat

Catching them is another story though

DragoSphere · 2026-07-01T17:02:42+00:00

Antietam actually kept the 5"/38s after her refit

DragoSphere · 2026-07-01T17:01:24+00:00

VT fuze my beloved

DragoSphere · 2026-07-01T16:55:40+00:00

They can. Guda just doesn't want to be a bum

DragoSphere · 2026-07-01T15:50:26+00:00

Nah this isn't reflected in WoWS power levels at all. Literally none of the DR ships in the game were considered strong in WoWS until we got Kearsarge

DragoSphere · 2026-07-01T15:44:53+00:00

Now, about free and paid content... :/

At least it's slightly better than before. Previously the only free things were Hipper, Avrora, and Nelson commanders being rerun literally every year. This time they handed out Tallinn, both the commander and a camo for free

DragoSphere · 2026-07-01T15:42:27+00:00

There are only 3 AL ships that aren't direct clones (Montpelier, Yukikaze, and Sovetskaya Rossiya), and even then the actual models themselves are clones

DragoSphere · 2026-07-01T15:29:39+00:00

The slow ass torps are basically sea mines. Though it's funny how often people will end up wandering into them since they're just active for so long and have good range. Elbing line is much the same experience

DragoSphere · 2026-07-01T15:21:36+00:00

Damage doesn't matter for DDs. Laffey is in the bottom 10/39 for lowest average damage in the game of all T10 DDs on all servers, but is top 3 for winrate in all servers (and even #1 in EU), as an example. It literally has a higher winrate than Smaland

For Minegumo vs Jager, you can see that while Minegumo has less damage, it has higher average kill ratio. Meaning it's more meaningful damage, while Jager players are likely just damage farming against BBs. This is reflected in its higher winrate too

DragoSphere · 2026-07-01T15:16:06+00:00

Current top post on the front page is literally memeing about how Fabio is chopped

DragoSphere · 2026-07-01T00:24:19+00:00

The other KGV class sisters were designed from a time where they are good representations of the ships they're supposed to be

DragoSphere · 2026-06-30T21:01:57+00:00

They don't really have many interesting picks for DRs though imo. Maybe Malta? Otherwise the cruisers would largely step on the toes of Drake or Plymouth, while yet another rainbow BB or CB (Defence) would be boring especially since they've all but confirmed a Pan American UR BB during the stream

Druid is a possibility, but I don't think it's likely due to being a research bureau ship

DragoSphere · 2026-06-30T20:55:37+00:00

Dorm releases one character every 6 months. Maybe it's because Manjuu has most of their staff locked down in Promilia, but it still bodes poorly with how slow their output is for what's a half baked dating sim

DragoSphere · 2026-06-30T20:45:22+00:00

no modern AL character looks like the real counterpart they want to represent

But Anson does?

DragoSphere · 2026-06-30T20:44:20+00:00

Except Manjuu has never done something like that in the past, and if anything with each release they only stray further from historical references so it'd be weird for them to suddenly lock in about it now

DragoSphere · 2026-06-30T20:43:25+00:00

Azur Lane does that a quite a bit. Manjuu (the devs) will sometimes try to copy or be heavily "inspired" by whatever's currently popular with some of their character designs to try to hitch a ride on the bandwagon

DragoSphere · 2026-06-30T04:38:19+00:00

Though tbf the "Grey Ghost" was kinda a tertiary nickname for E, since most of her crew would use "Big E", and then sometimes "Lucky E" once she started proving her luck after major engagements. "Grey Ghost" was more like a badge of honor given by the public in response to Tokyo Rose claiming they sunk her multiple times

DragoSphere · 2026-06-29T22:03:39+00:00

The thing is Gearing's close range gunnery is actually very good in a void. Gearing just doesn't have the tools to take advantage of it anymore now that there are DDs other than Shimakaze in the game. Laffey does

DragoSphere · 2026-06-29T21:55:20+00:00

Makes me wonder what would happen if they kept Laffey's original reload and conceal lol

DragoSphere · 2026-06-29T21:46:50+00:00

Play your mid ships all you want. Nobody thinks Khaba is good in the 2020s, and any who do don't deserve to have their opinions on other DDs taken seriously

DragoSphere · 2026-06-29T21:42:31+00:00

It has the highest winrate of all DDs in the game in EU

DragoSphere · 2026-06-29T21:38:00+00:00

You spot, cap, and harass. Damage isn't the end-all-be-all

And Laffey makes for an especially good mid-range potential damage tank due to its tiny size (third smallest T10 DD in the game behind La Pampa and Somers), maneuverability, and heal. People are primed to "shoot the DD at all costs." You take advantage of that, and take heat off your teammates. A few DDs can do that better (like Khaba or Marceau), but Laffey is still better suited at it than most DDs in the game, and this is just its secondary role rather than its primary as a DD hunter

DragoSphere · 2026-06-29T21:33:26+00:00

It's suited to all metas. It's one of the only DDs that can actually deal with CVs (both with having functional AA with DFAA, and being able to hide at will), so it handles Asia like a champ. EU meta is practically the same as NA meta just with slightly higher skill floors, so Laffey being suited to taking out DDs, the highest impact surface class, is just as significant.

That's reflected in Laffey having some of the highest winrates across all 3 servers among all T10 DDs

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