All three Tier V Battleships stink. The Kongo isn’t even an actual Battleship and is lacking in main gun firepower and armor. New York is slow and has terrible AA. And Texas has no secondaries, forcing you to always load HE in your 14” or be a preposterously easy meal for Destroyers.
All that being said, I’d still choose NewYork over the other two. Better to be slow and hit hard while taking a beating than suffer the weaknesses of Kongo or Texas.
Kongō is absolutly amazing and is far and away the best tier V BB. She is a battlecruiser, her agility and speed make her the best , HE in her 14” guns lets you annihilate DD’s. You have the speed to get around the map and go where you’re most needed. No contest.
And Kongo only has eight 14” guns. So if you actually understand how to aim the pay off is much lower than with New York or Texas.
But... She has great secondaries that her higher speed allow you to use at will. If you are competent enough and your opponent is one of those dim witted straight line BB drivers you might even be able to get ahead of their main gun turrets while blasting away with those secondaries.
Post by betterholdfast on May 10, 2018 4:18:52 GMT
Her speed and agility MORE than make up for having 8 instead of 10 14” guns. Play her like a cruiser and not a battleship, she’s not like an American “Mind The Cap” BB. In fact, you can literally circle of death American BB’s. I ground her to the Fuso with a 78.46 WR, almost entirely solo. If you’re a decent-good player you’ll be amazed at what she can do. Load HE from the start, hunt DD’s and work your way up the food chain, only switching to AP when you run into HEAVY cruisers or another BB. Plus her secondaries are 6” guns, not 5” like American BB’s. Her guns seem WAY more accurate than American BB’s. I’ll put this way... I refuse to sell her and I only wish that I could get historical camo for her. She’s definitely one of my pets. I run turret rotation and both steering mods on her for maximum agility.
Post by AbyssalKageryu on May 10, 2018 8:04:31 GMT
Agreed. That extra speed gives the Kongo a stratigical edge over the New York. A ship that is fast and can bring heavy cruiser is going to be valuable in a team match. My experiences have shown the best protection against enemy attacks is not marginally better armour protection but rather teammates to either help you kill the enemy or act as shields for you. And with the high speed of Kongo you can keep up with your allies much easier compare to New York. Plus, 8 14inch guns is not that much lighter, esspecially considering that Kongo actually has slightly better reload. It is not anything that major but an extra second can help you snatch that kill from your allies
I haven't seen the Texas nor know how it can function at its best but from what I can see, it is just a New York but with worse secondaries. And in a meta where DDs are a plenty, secondary guns on a battleship are quite important. Maybe not so much if the guns reload fast like 14-16 seconds or so but with 23 second reload, having some meaningful secondaries is quite the important thing to have
Good discussion, thanks for everybody's contribution. So I spent some XP and got her yesterday. Good win rate, but small battle count so I'm not sure that counts for much yet.
I found her speed is useful in controlling the map, but I also find myself getting into trouble with it.
Her guns seem to require less lead time, significantly less, then the New York. She also seems to hit Citadels more frequently than the New York.
I do find myself missing the sheer stopping power of the New York however. I drove them back to back, put them in harms way both times, and The New York sure takes a punch better.
Last Edit: May 11, 2018 17:39:42 GMT by socalsailor
So I spent some XP and got her yesterday. Good win rate, but small battle count so I'm not sure that counts for much yet.