World of Warships - Basics and Tips for Early Tiers

Tips and tricks for less experienced players or lower tier battles.

Other World of Warships Guides:

What Nation to Choose

All credit goes to CMGentry!

In World of Warships there are several nations, and they all have different perks. You should pick one based on your play style. I would recommend USN or IJN in early tiers, and return to Germany or Russia later. Below I have made a brief description of each nation.

US Navy:

Powerful guns, and Anti-Aircraft firepower later on. Has a large selection of ships with different roles. Early ships such as Saint Louis and South Carolina are slower than their counterparts, but make up for it in armor and guns. Later cruisers have exposed citadels, less hp, torpedoes, and a higher top speed. Has OP premiums like Atlanta, and a carrier, Langley, at about tier IV.

Tactics: Tank damage for your allies with cruisers and battleships. Use speed and torpedoes to out play inferior models with destroyers / IV + cruisers. Hide behind islands in dire situations. Kiting / sailing away while dodging shells. Avoid showing the broadside / citadel of your ship. Conduct air strikes from long range in Langley.

Imperial Japanese Navy:

Have lighter cruisers, which can carry torpedoes and travel faster. These also have reduced hp, so don’t go too crazy. Battleships have more armor, and a low top speed. Japanese ships tend to be very powerful in higher tiers. Destroyers can be used to flank enemies and spam torpedoes / HE shells at them, depending on your ships specialization. This nation also has a carrier in tier IV.

Tactics: Use speed and torpedoes to destroy enemy ships with destroyers and cruisers. Enemies often don’t expect a cruiser to carry torpedoes until it’s too late. Tank damage with battleships and use their more powerful guns to take out cruisers. Avoid showing broadside to enemies. Hide behind cover if you have low hp. Use the carrier to strike targets, and the IJN carrier is much faster than Langley so you can escape bad situations.

What Class to Pick

There are 4 ship types. Each has its own role. You should pick what fits your play style most. Below is a brief list and description.

Cruiser: A jack of all trades, which can escort allies, provide AA support, and spot / kill enemies. Their lower hp and weaker armor make cruisers dependent on support from battleships, and slower speed make them harder to use for scouting compared to destroyers. Each can be different though. Some are more specialized, and are often sub divided into light cruisers (similar to DDs) and heavy cruisers (similar to BBs). Every cruiser has a slightly different play style and different stats, too.

Destroyer (DD): A smaller, faster, and more concealed class of ship. Destroyers go ahead of the fleet to scout the map and spot enemies. Increased speed and torpedoes make destroyers hard to hit and even harder to counter. Their low hp can cause them serious issues though, because lower tier DDs can be completely crippled or killed with one airstrike. Stealth is a massive part of playing DDs, or at least it was before CVs could perma-spot you. (War Gaming pls fix)

Battleship (BB): Battleships are very large and slow, but can absolutely destroy cruisers and other battleships. Their large guns and massive health pools make them quite difficult to kill. They also tend to have stronger AA, so crowding around them can sometimes be the only counter to CV strikes. Battleships should angle their armor to bounce shells and avoid exposing the broadside of their ship. Sailing head on to the enemy reduces your profile several times over.

Carrier (CV): The most broken class in the game. With unlimited squadrons of planes, you can just camp at the edge of the map and kill anything you see. As long as you are not spotted, you are invincible. If you play as a carrier you have most likely made several people rage quit the game. The planes are like flying DDs with 100 km / h speeds and unlimited respawns. Heck, even if they can survive the first 5 minutes without being permanently spotted and shot at by 5 cruisers at once, there is no effective way to kill you because you can run away from them and destroy them with torpedoes. AA guns are run entirely by RNG, so they just have to watch themselves explode every game.

How to Survive in Battle

Angle Your Armor: For this i will use my team mate in a random battle as an example. Not trying to call him out, he did well in the battle.

Sail like this:

And avoid sailing like this:

The enemy cant hit the citadel if they can’t see it. They will also have to shoot through all your bow armor to hit it. It’s a lot harder to land a shot on a target with a narrow profile.

Positioning:

Avoid situations like the guy in the picture above. He can not turn to his right because an island is in the way. His mobility is now restricted, which is a disaster waiting to happen. This situation should only happen if you are hiding from an enemy on the other side of the island, and you are not going to get fired at from the left.

Pay Attention To The Map:

The mini map reveals all ship and plane locations. Plan your route ahead, and always have a detour. Avoid skirting around islands too closely unless it is safe to do so. You never know when torpedoes will be on the other side, and it restricts mobility.

Countering Planes: There is no way to avoid the flying destroyers of doom. You just die. Try sailing into the aircraft to narrow your profile and doge torpedoes. You can delay the inevitable by staying close to ships with good AA, but if they go down, you will go with them to the ocean floor. : /

Tiers I and II are our only safe haven…