World of Warships: General Quarters!

[Yana]

WORLD OF WARSHIPS

(Now in Open Beta!)

Is another PvP game from our friends at Wargaming in the vein of World of Tanks where as the title would suggest, you command a ship with the intention of sinking another ship. The game is currently in closed beta, although you can buy your way into it by purchasing one of the preorder packages which nets you:

1 Month of Premium account status (increased experience and credit generation on all ships)
1,500 gold (Premium currency that can be used to purchase room for additional ships in your port, premium ships, or the ability to retrain your ship captains)
A premium ship of your choice (Either the Tier IV Japanese Cruiser Yubari, the Tier V Soviet Destroyer Gremyashchiy, or the Tier VII American Destroyer Sims)
And a slot in port for the premium ship that you purchased.

Having purchased my way into the closed beta with the USS Sims, I'm more than pleased with how the game is coming along so far. Sure, there's still a lot of unbalanced game mechanics floating around (Carriers are... not fun to play as in a bottom tier match) and map and nationality selections are limited (Only maybe 6 maps thus far and 2 nations with implemented tech trees, the US and Japan respectively), but overall I think this game is a fun simulation of naval combat in the early to mid 20th century.

Some terms/slang that may be useful for the uninitiated that I tend to run across:
BB: Battleship
DD: Destroyer
CA/CL: Cruiser
CV: Carrier
DB: Dive Bomber
Torp: Torpedos and/or torpedo bombers
AA: Anti-aircraft fire

If anyone is currently in the beta, or plans on joining, you can always contact me ingame (NA Server: Raltis).

Obligatory link to website: http://worldofwarships.com/

Very very useful "how to play" Youtube video by The Mighty Jingles: Mighty Jingles' World of Warships - How To Not Suck

Player listing for Giantitp by region (Giantitp username: WoWS Username)

Spoiler: North America

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Yana: Raltis
genmoose: genmoose
AdmiralCheez: AdmiralCheez
Janwin: Janwin
Longvin: Longvin
mangosta71: Thasaidon
rs2excelsior: PvtSnyder
Sayt: Saytael

Spoiler: Europe

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Brother Oni: MarineHK4861
Abemad: Skovzzt
Maelstrom: CaptMaels
Sean Mirrsen: SeanMirrsen

[The Glyphstone]

How does it measure up to Tanks and Planes in the grinding-to-cash-shop ratio?

[Narkis]

I second that question. Also, how big is the typical map compared to the other Worlds? And am I correct in assuming that Carriers work like the artillery of WoT?

[Brother Oni]

I second that question. Also, how big is the typical map compared to the other Worlds? And am I correct in assuming that Carriers work like the artillery of WoT?

There are a couple of videos which demonstrate the game mechanics during the Alpha version and I find this video quite clear and concise: link.

Carriers kinda work like WOT artillery, except their 'shells' can be intercepted (different ship classes have different AA capabilities with cruisers being the best at it - they can also act as forward AA screens for the rest of their fleet) and they also do their own spotting with scout planes.

[Yana]

Thank you, Oni, for posting the link to the Mighty Jingles. His videos were instrumental in teaching me how the game works in addition to being generally amusing. He does a good job of breaking down how each of the classes work in addition to a detailed history for some of the ships that he reviews.

Concerning the grinding: At the moment, the grind is not as terrible as it could be. Wargaming appears to have increased the amount of xp and credits gained per battle by at least 100% in order to get as many people to test the higher tiers as possible. I doubt this will remain the case by the time that the game goes into open beta, but it isn't terrible right now. Honestly, with the exception of the T3 Battleships (Both the Kawachii and the South Carolina), none of the ships are bad enough for me to consider them a grind. What makes this game different compared to WoT is that you can still deal damage despite being a few tiers lower than what you're firing at. Ever since they recently buffed HE damage, it's gotten even easier for lower tier ships and destroyers to take on battleships with guns (if not necessarily winning).

Map Sizes: Maps are huge compared to WoT, since combat ranges can extend up to around 20 km for Japanese battleships, the maps are correspondingly larger. I don't have a concrete number for the dimensions of any given map, just know that they're big enough where if you're fast enough, you can successfully run away and hide.

Artillery: Given that shell travel time is a major factor in this game, Carriers do not act as WoT artillery, per se. In my mind, they combine some of the aspects of cruisers (fighters to deal with other planes) and destroyers (torpedo bombers to cripple battleships) with dive bombers to round out their compliment by doling out precision strikes. The carrier interface turns the game effectively into a RTS where you micromanage the squadrons under your command. While it is true that a well placed torpedo bomber strike can take out a battleship, that's true for a destroyer torpedo spread or a broadside to the ship's citadel as well.

What I'm trying to say is that there's no stigma against carriers to the extent that the "sky cancer" of WoT has.

Ships are also wonderfully diverse by class which helps determine how they play. I actually prefer destroyers or cruisers because while their guns don't deal as much damage as a broadside from a battleship, they fire much more frequently and are consequently more likely to start fires. Since battleship turrets usually take a minute to rotate 180 degrees and take 30+ seconds to reload, they're too slow paced for me, especially when they do piddling damage with shots that overpenetrate the target.

It's also worth noting that American and Japanese ships fight significantly different due to their weapon loadouts. Destroyers are where this is most pronounced in my mind. Americans have good gun traverse rates and fire fast, but their torpedo range is abysmal (though they typically fire off more of them in a spread). Japanese destroyers have longer ranged and faster torpedoes which also do more damage, but their gun range is lower than that of American DDs and the traverse rate for their guns is pathetic (though Japanese destroyers are more stealthy, they can get closer to other ships before being spotted).

[Brother Oni]

What I'm trying to say is that there's no stigma against carriers to the extent that the "sky cancer" of WoT has.

At least, not yet. Wait until it gets into Open Beta and all the regular WoT players come in with their pre-conceived prejudices.

[GloatingSwine]

At least, not yet. Wait until it gets into Open Beta and all the regular WoT players come in with their pre-conceived prejudices.

From the videos I've seen, you can see torpedo bombers coming and take evasive action to at least minimise the impact (turning into the spread so it doesn't catch you broadside).

Which largely removes the reason that arty is cancer.

[Narkis]

There are a couple of videos which demonstrate the game mechanics during the Alpha version and I find this video quite clear and concise: link.

Carriers kinda work like WOT artillery, except their 'shells' can be intercepted (different ship classes have different AA capabilities with cruisers being the best at it - they can also act as forward AA screens for the rest of their fleet) and they also do their own spotting with scout planes.

Very interesting. I now want to play the game, but not enough to buy it. When is the Open Beta expected?

[Yana]

That is a very good question. To my knowledge, they've not announced a date, though sometime over the summer seems to be a safe bet.

One of the more cynical possibilities that I've heard offered is that they won't have one and they'll just rely on people buying into it. Make of that what you will.

[Yana]

I'm going to do my best to break down every ship type by nation. Namely, between the USN (US Navy) and the IJN (Imperial Japanese Navy).

Destroyers or DDs: These ships are ostensibly the scouts of any armada. They are the hardest class of ships to spot in the game (which is amplified by their ability to lay smoke screens which conceal any ship within them so long as a plane doesn't fly overhead), they have the fastest top speed, and they have the fastest rudder shift time/turning radius of any ship (which makes them the most maneuverable by far which allows them to dodge fire when they do get attacked). Their guns are small, maxing out at 127mm or 5" guns for the USN at least. Usually, their primary form of offense is the torpedo which in addition to dealing a lot of damage can also cripple critical systems such as the engines or rudder and also flood enemy ships which is a substantial DoT effect.

Spoiler: USN DDs

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As I alluded to in one of my previous posts, American destroyers are much more reliant upon their cannons than the IJN equivalents. They fire significantly faster (one salvo every 5 seconds seems to be the norm when you get to higher tiers) which can add up in a hurry when you use HE and start setting fires, especially if the person you're shooting at is too busy fighting other ships to pay any attention. Their gun traverse rate is phenomenal, taking maybe 12 seconds on lower tier ships to swap from one side of the ship to the other (and even faster with higher tiers, the Sims and equivalent ships can swivel their guns from one extreme to the other in 6 seconds flat), which is a feat that the IJN DDs can't boast as it takes most of their turrets a good half a minute to turn. The downside to this amazing gun performance is that your torpedoes are... underwhelming. Yes, they still do a lot of damage to anyone they hit and you fire a lot of them in a spread compared to IJN DDs (USN t6 Farragut fires 4 torps in a spread compared to the IJN t6 Mutsuki's 3), but they typically travel at least 10 knots slower than the IJN torps and more importantly, their range is mediocre. It takes until t8 for American DDs to have torpedoes with a range of 10 km, the first time that torpedoes can be launched from outside the range at which your DD can be spotted. Unless you launch an ambush using an island for cover on your approach (and you should do this whenever possible, for obvious reasons), you will be spotted long before you get in torpedo range when you're driving an American DD. Consequently, American DDs are best at counter-destroyer tactics. You spot the enemy destroyer screen and work them over with your guns while dodging their fire as best you can and if possible, launch a spread of torpedoes when it becomes impossible for them to dodge.

Spoiler: IJN DDs

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These ships are the snipers of WoWs. They have the shortest detection range of any class of ship in the game, and starting by t4, they can start launching their torpedoes outside of the range at which they can be spotted, making it difficult for enemy ships to realize that they're in trouble. Combine that with a torpedo speed that is frequently twice the speed of the ships that you're firing at and you've got a menace on your hands. The downside to long-range and swift torpedoes is that your main guns are terrible. They may be the same caliber as the USN DDs, but their rate of fire and gun traverse (not to mention the number of guns as you climb up the tiers) pale in comparison to their Yankee counterparts. This means that IJN DDs are best suited to hunting the Carriers, Battleships, and to a lesser extent, Cruisers because if they get spotted by an American DD, they are close enough where it is difficult to dodge the blistering rate of fire that American DDs can put out.

Cruisers or CA/CL- This is probably my preferred class in the game because of one ship, the USN t6 Cleveland. Cruisers are the middle ground between battleships and destroyers, they are slower and less maneuverable than DDs, but are less armored and undergunned compared to BBs. What makes them stand apart from the rest of the ships in the game is the sheer RoF of their guns and the AA that they can put out. While cruisers can go it alone if necessary, it isn't encouraged. If there is an enemy carrier around and you're a t6 or higher cruiser, it is your job to glue yourself to a battleship's side and provide him with a flak curtain to discourage any inquisitive dive or torpedo bombers.

Spoiler: USN CA/CL

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American cruisers go through two major permutations before reaching their standard form at t6 with the Cleveland. The T2 Chester and T3 St. Louis are effectively modernized men-o-war because of how their guns are situated. While they have a lot of guns (14 in the St. Louis's case), most of them are mounted in the sides of the ship with only a forward and aft cannon that can traverse 180 degrees. Moreover, they are slow and ungainly, being unable to outrun practically anything they'll face. The only saving grace that these ships have is their armor, which is another major departure from the remainder of the USN cruiser line. These ships have the armor to mitigate a lot of the damage from same or lower tier ships that they face, and their guns will dissuade anyone from getting too close.

Not so with the T4 Phoenix and T5 Omaha. These ships have effectively no armor (and are consequently very fragile) but are much faster and more maneuverable as a result. While most of the guns are still mounted on the sides of the ships, these two cruisers have a unique (for American CL/CA at least) ace in the hole, torpedoes. If you're fighting anything within 5.5 km, you can launch a surprise torpedo strike while keeping up a broadside that'll distract your foe long enough for the torpedoes to do their work. Of course, if you're close enough to launch torpedoes, you're also getting torn to shreds in the process because you have no armor. As I said in the American DD description, use whatever island cover you can find to mask your approach if you're making a torpedo run because if anyone with a brain realizes what you're about to do, they can just turn to avoid.

This leads to the T6 Cleveland and all of the ships after her. They are the first ships to have all of their main guns mounted in traversable turrets and consequently have much more flexibility with their engagements in addition to having secondary batteries that are worth a damn. The 4 turrets that the Cleveland sports house 12 152 mm or 6" guns that fire every 8 seconds. If you give your captain the Pyromanic skill that increases the chance for starting fires combined with shooting exclusively HE shells, you'll keep any ship you're aiming at permanently aflame. American CLs and the Cleveland in particular are the bane of any DD due to their high rate of fire, though perhaps less so for the t7-9 as their 203 mm or 8" guns have a noticeably slower RoF. Furthermore, starting with the Cleveland, American CLs become formidable AA ships as well with dozens of guns devoted to that task. From T6 onwards, USN CLs get an ability that increases the effectiveness of AA guns for a set period of time which makes it practically suicide for any plane to go near them. Unfortunately to make up for all of this firepower, they have minimal armor and no torpedoes. But who cares? You can drown the enemy in shells in the meantime!

Spoiler: IJN CA/CL

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Japanese cruisers have a unique trait throughout their line that American cruisers can't match. They always have torpedoes. If you've found yourself in a close in fight with a IJN CL, it's a safe bet that there are torpedoes in the water and that you should probably have started turning to port or starboard 20 seconds ago. This torpedo insanity reaches a peak with the premium t8 CL, the Kitakami, which has 4 quintuple torpedo tubes at two per side. That's right, this abomination can fire off 10 torpedoes in a heartbeat then turn about and do it again. IJN CLs also get 203 mm guns two tiers befor their USN equivalents starting at T5 which makes their guns very effective at dealing with other cruisers. However, their AA is nowhere near as potent as their American counterparts so they cannot escort battleships with the same efficiency. Their armor is also just as terrible as the American cruiser line, especially the Kitakami which is effectively a floating citadel (a citadel penetration= full damage on a shot. It rarely takes more than one broadside from a BB to sink a Kitakami).

Battleships or BBs: The big boys. These are the ships that everyone will pull out all the stops to sink, with good reason. A battleship is the heart of the fleet in any encounter. If your highest tier BB gets taken out in the first few minutes of a match, it's an ill omen for your team. In case it weren't obvious, these ships have the biggest guns in the game, with the T10 IJN Yamoto mounting a truly massive battery of 18" guns (most other ships range from 14" to 16"). The damage that these guns deal to other ships (provided you don't miss or the shells don't just go straight through) is enough to make any unfortunate recipient wish that they'd never crossed your path. The drawback to having such large guns however comes at both the rate of fire and turret traverse. A battleship typically takes at least 30 seconds between salvos to reload, a substantially longer load time than any other class of ship. The reload time isn't so bad compared to how long it takes to train the guns on a target. If you have to switch targets from the port to starboard, you can expect it to take about a minute for these guns to make the trip around. Turning your ship to help the guns bear is also not the most useful exercise as the rudder shift time (and consequently, turn time) on a Battleship is typically upwards of 20 seconds from full port to full starbord. Slightly alleviating this problem is the secondary batteries that BBs have. These automated guns open fire on any ships that come into their range (typically starting at 5.5 km at low tiers and extending as you get higher tier BBs) and can at least wound any DD or CL that was foolish enough to close to such a distance. As these ships are so massive, they're the most easily spotted, usually from at least 18 km out. Unsurprisingly, they have the armor necessary to weather most barrages and the range to respond in kind. Some ships more so than others.

Spoiler: USN BBs

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American and Japanese battleships have some major differences that dramatically affect how they dictate the flow of battle. Perhaps the most important one is that USN BBs have dramatically shorter ranges (at least in the mid tiers). While the IJN T5 Kongo can spit shells out to a range of 21 or so km, the USN T5 New York can do maybe 16 km if the gods are feeling generous. This is slightly made up for by the fact that the shell velocity for American BBs seems to be higher than those for the IJN (ie, it'll take less time for your shells to reach their target compared to Japanese BBs). If you get spotted by an IJN BB at range, he'll be able to shoot at you well beyond your ability to retaliate in kind. It is fortunate, perhaps, that it is slightly harder to spot American BBs. Mercifully, they will typically only be spotted by the time they're in range to fire. Subjectively, I also think that the American BBs have better armor compared to IJN ships as I've seen more shots bounce off the New York than I ever did with the Kongo. USN BBs also get better AA guns compared to their IJN counterparts, especially once you get the modernized hull upgrades. Finally, American BBs have a much better turning radius compared to IJN BBs. While the rudder shift time is still abysmal, American ships can make much faster turns than their Japanese equivalents, which makes it a lot easier to avoid torpedoes in USN BBs if you're paying close attention. It should be noted though that American battleships are slow. I believe it takes until t9 with the Iowa for any of them to have a faster top speed than 22 knots.

Spoiler: IJN BBs

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Japanese battleships are the kings of long range fire. With the exception of the poor T3 Kawachii (which can be outranged by the T3 St. Louis), Japanese BBs can open fire from ranges of 18 or so km. Accuracy at those ranges is pathetic of course, but if your opponent isn't paying attention and taking evasive action, you can score some surprising hits on occasion. Ensuring that those shots hit, however, is tricky. Since Japanese guns tend to fire at a higher angle than their USN equivalents, the shell travel time for IJN BBs is substantially longer. Until you become proficient at leading your shots 12 seconds or longer in the future, you'll be better served by fighting in closer ranged battles. What helps IJN BBs out most in these close ranged battles is their immense amount of secondary batteries. The first match I played in the T7 Nagato saw me deal a substantial amount of damage with my secondaries when I was ambushed by several cruisers. However, IJN battleships are victims of incredibly poor turret placement in some cases. The T4 Myogi and T9 Izumo are prime examples. The Myogi has three turrets, one forward and two aft. If the front turret gets taken out, you can only ever exchange fire with ships behind you or when you're sailing away from them, which makes leading shots more difficult. The Izumo has the opposite problem with all three turrets in the front of the ship. However, one of the turrets is astoundingly facing towards the rear of the ship, even though it can't fire through the citadel. If you ever find yourself behind an Izumo, stay there and punish him for it. Finally, unlike American BBs, Japanese BB maneuverability is very poor. If you don't spot torpedoes or torpedo planes in advance, you will pay the price by eating a full spread of them as you struggle to bring the ship about. As a rule though, they are faster than their American counterparts, which makes it easier for them to reach the battle in the first place, and escape if things go south.

[Leon]

Bought my way in for a $1 on the E3 Bundle

[Brother Oni]

Bought my way in for a $1 on the E3 Bundle

To clarify a little bit, that's the E3 Digitial Ticket Humble Bundle, which has a little over a day left to run at time of posting.

Edit: and it's for the NA server only.

[AdmiralCheez]

Just so interested parties know, they've gone into Open Beta now, so anyone can join in for free. I've been playing it a little bit today, and I quite like it so far. I've only gotten to the Tier 2 Cruisers, so my experience isn't all that broad. List of thoughts though:

- Torpedoes are a cool mechanic, at least from a dodging standpoint. You can see them coming slowly toward you, and your ship's alarms get louder the closer they are. And yes, you can accidentally torpedo your allies if you aren't careful. I don't have any ships yet that are armed with them, so I don't know how fun it is to launch them.

- There's an autopilot feature that lets you plot a course on the map, and your crew steers that way, while you can focus solely on the guns. Haven't tried it yet, but it seems interesting, assuming it works.

- Based on what I've heard about carriers (haven't seen them yet, as they don't appear until Tier 4), I don't think they're as hated as arty are in WoT. For one thing, you can actually see them coming, and you have an auto-activating defense against it (AI-controlled AA guns).

- Ramming is a valid tactic, but it often ends with the destruction of both ships. Saw a near full-health cruiser ram a battleship, and both went down to the briny deep.

- No submarines, which is good, because I don't think there's any way to make them fun in this type of game. I mean, it would probably be fun for the sub player, but the surface ships would get annoyed and we'd have a repeat of the arty arguments. Plus, you already have a stealth-based, torpedo-launching ship class (the Destroyers).

- There's a coop mode, which is a team of humans against a team of AI. Doesn't count for stats, and it gives you something like half the experience of a random battle, but it's really good for learning a new ship, or just general messing around without worrying about screwing up yours or someone else's stats.

- No crew (at least not yet) like WoT. I think there's a commander you get at a higher level, but I haven't gotten there yet.

[Narkis]

Awesome, downloading now. I'll be in the EU server if anyone needs me.

[Gnoman]

I've played a bit of it (have tier II destroyers) since open beta hits, and I'm not yet sure about it. Unlike World Of Warplanes, the concept isn't fatally flawed from the get-go, but the HP system still doesn't work that well, and I'm expecting that War Thunder's naval expansion will do a better job unless World OF Warships gets better after tier II.

More importantly, the focus on USN and IJN seems very incomplete - they should have included a basic Royal Navy (AFAIK, they only have a premium ship or two) tree from the beginning.

[Brother Oni]

Awesome, downloading now. I'll be in the EU server if anyone needs me.

Same here. User name is the same as my World of Tanks one - MarineHK4861.

[AdmiralCheez]

I've played a bit of it (have tier II destroyers) since open beta hits, and I'm not yet sure about it. Unlike World Of Warplanes, the concept isn't fatally flawed from the get-go, but the HP system still doesn't work that well, and I'm expecting that War Thunder's naval expansion will do a better job unless World OF Warships gets better after tier II.

More importantly, the focus on USN and IJN seems very incomplete - they should have included a basic Royal Navy (AFAIK, they only have a premium ship or two) tree from the beginning.

Yeah, it does have its flaws, but it is still open beta, so any suggestions might still make it in. I'd personally rather have a compartment based health system, where if you take too many hits to your bow, you lose maneuverability and start sinking, and eventually it falls off. Or if you take a direct critical hit to the bridge, you're kinda screwed, much like how your tank crew can get incapacitated without the tank being destroyed.

As for the other navies, I'm sure they'll add those in as it progresses through the beta. I'm sure it takes a while to model each ship.

[Leon]

I havent been playing much due to internet problems every time i tried and since the patch ive had very little data to spare for it, although the last time i did play i scored a Ram kill on a DD that i didn't even know i was heading toward until after i'd hit it (Thats how bad the lag was)

From what ive read the RN looks to be a long way off and the Soviet Navy will arrive before it does (which is damm stupid)

[GloatingSwine]

To be fair, the USN and IJN did fight most of the major naval surface engagements of the war, so it kinda makes more sense.

And of course they're going to put the Russian navy in. Despite the fact that they barely had one during the period of the game.

[Gnoman]

To be fair, the USN and IJN did fight most of the major naval surface engagements of the war, so it kinda makes more sense.

And of course they're going to put the Russian navy in. Despite the fact that they barely had one during the period of the game.

The lower tier ships are pre-WWI - the South Carolina class battleship (The US Tier III BB) was the first American Dreadnought class and served from 1910-1922. Both the WWI Royal Navy and the German High Seas Fleet would fit in just fine.

[Narkis]

They did the same thing for World of Tanks. They started with the German and Soviet tanks, since the major tank battles of the war happened in the eastern front. But the lowest tiers were populated with really early tanks, will the top tiers were almost exclusively post-war tanks, or tanks that were never produced. They don't have much of a choice, there wasn't all that much variety in actual tanks (or ships) that fought in the war.

As for the game itself, I just got a Tier 2 ship and so far it seems almost the same as World of Tanks, just with less cover, more mobile battles, and different firing arcs.

[Brother Oni]

As for the game itself, I just got a Tier 2 ship and so far it seems almost the same as World of Tanks, just with less cover, more mobile battles, and different firing arcs.

Depends on your playstyle. I see plenty of people playing as if it was world of tanks, ie stationary behind 'cover', bombarding stuff.


My experiences:

Unless you do the equivalent of suicide scouting into a bunch of torpedo armed destroyers, the slow rate of gameplay gives you more time to think, at least at the lower levels.

One important difference is your attack range and leading your target - I've tracked a target then fired while he was out of range, only for him to move into my shots as he wasn't paying attention. Depending on the height of the terrain and your angle, you can also fire over cover.

Since you can also make a good attempt at evading long range fire, with careful piloting, you can avoid all their shots while landing your own - I've beaten another cruiser while he was chasing me through slewing my ship at odd angles so I could avoid his incoming fire while getting the odd broadside off, while he was limited to just his front arc gun.

I've only just run into ships with torpedos and they change the general gameplay noticeably - I can only imagine what aircraft will add to the mix.

Another important difference is the ability to set waypoints through the map - you can set your ship to navigate through island channels automatically while you concentrate on landing shots or scouting. I've seen an gameplay video where somebody did this with their aircraft carrier so they never remained stationary but didn't have to bother with avoiding obstacles while scouting/attacking other ships.

The free consumables are vital as fires and flooding will not stop dealing damage until your ship is destroyed as far as I can tell - I once lost ~5,000 hp from a pair of fires before my damage control crews came off cool down and stopped it at 628hp out of 17,300 (now that was nerve racking).

[MCerberus]

My problem with WoWS is the same as in WoT: Lemming trains. Now they're lemming fleets. Cruisers and destroyers camping one corner of the map in a swarm while the reds take all the good terrain.

[GloatingSwine]

The free consumables are vital as fires and flooding will not stop dealing damage until your ship is destroyed as far as I can tell - I once lost ~5,000 hp from a pair of fires before my damage control crews came off cool down and stopped it at 628hp out of 17,300 (now that was nerve racking).

Fires go out eventually, but their time is long, almost as long as the cooldown of the repair crew.

There is a commander skill to make the timer shorter.

[Brother Oni]

My problem with WoWS is the same as in WoT: Lemming trains. Now they're lemming fleets. Cruisers and destroyers camping one corner of the map in a swarm while the reds take all the good terrain.

Tunnel vision and complete lack of map awareness is also just the same. The problem is now that oblivious players can pilot their ships into friendly torpedoes and you get blamed and fined. If I'm in front with a destroyer/Japanese cruiser and suddenly make a 90 degree turn, don't cut in front of me.

There is a commander skill to make the timer shorter.

I've noticed that now that I've unlocked commanders.

Edit: A question on AP vs HE - in what situations would you use which?

I'm finding conflicting information based on which point of the beta. Generally it depends on whether your cannon can penetrate the ship you're firing at - DDs would use HE against anything except for other destroyers, BBs would use AP except for DDs and CVs, CVs would use HE.
Cruisers come in two flavours depending on the size of their main cannon; sub-155mms would use HE on everything except for other CAs and sub tier 4 BBs, 203+mm would use HE vs DDs, CVs and 155mm CAs and AP against BBs and bigger CAs.

However the most recent posts indicate HE against everything except in very select cases since potential burn damage is too significant to pass up.

I have noticed that BB armour is significant enough to warrant consideration of angling though (I was bearing down on a Chikuma or a Tenryu CA with a Kawachi BB and they did very little damage to me with AP as I didn't expose my broadside to them).

[Calen]

Edit: A question on AP vs HE - in what situations would you use which?

Wargaming has tweaked the HE and SP mechanics so make sure the information that you are checking is date relevant. Generally I use HE at longer range when my shells are plunging (falling onto the decks and weaker spots) At shorter ranges I will usually switch to AP but I won't if one of the following is true.

1. My shells are low caliber compared to the armor I am shooting at. (Bouncing)
2. My shells are a very high caliber compared to the armor I am shooting at. (Over penetration)
3. Against targets that I would really like to knock out ship components (Say a St. Louis or Atlanta)

[MCerberus]

I like destroyers, because even when you go down, this happens

Spoiler

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ENEMY CRUISER SUNK

[Brother Oni]

Wargaming has tweaked the HE and SP mechanics so make sure the information that you are checking is date relevant. Generally I use HE at longer range when my shells are plunging (falling onto the decks and weaker spots) At shorter ranges I will usually switch to AP but I won't if one of the following is true.

1. My shells are low caliber compared to the armor I am shooting at. (Bouncing)
2. My shells are a very high caliber compared to the armor I am shooting at. (Over penetration)
3. Against targets that I would really like to knock out ship components (Say a St. Louis or Atlanta)

Other suggestions I've seen is AP when under 5km or when the enemy ship is facing directly away or towards you (aim to hit them lengthways so that over penetration isn't an issue).
In both cases, aim for the citadel and hope for a penetration.

I like destroyers, because even when you go down, this happens

Spoiler

Show

ENEMY CRUISER SUNK

Wargaming recognise this as there's an achievement ('Tis But a Flesh Wound, I think) and reward (flags) to go with it.

[Yana]

Concerning HE vs AP:

It actually isn't as difficult as you'd think.

Vs. DDs: Use HE at all times, their armor is so thin that HE goes through more often than not and consequently ruins modules. Using AP of any caliber runs the risk over penetrating the destroyer altogether and consequently does minimal damage. While this is more prevalent with BB guns firing AP (though you shouldn't be firing at a DD in a BB unless you have no choice), CLs are better served firing HE at them as well.

Vs. CVs: HE HE HE HE. It sets them on fire which prevents them from recovering or launching planes. A CV that's on fire is a worthless CV. Combine this with worthless armor means that using AP against a CV is a waste of time.

Vs. BB: This is where it gets tricky. BBs should always fire AP against other BBs no matter the range. While you do run the risk of dealing a glancing blow, you can't get a citadel pen on another BB using HE. This is doubly true when you close to secondary gun range thanks to the change in trajectory for your shells. At this range, you can just aim under the guns for a citadel penetration. For CLs with 203mm guns, this is the range at which you should consider firing AP at the sides of a BB provided the ship is completely broadside to you. Outside of this range, and for CLs with 155 mm guns (and dds for this matter), use HE.

Vs. CL: Trial-and-error. I'll have to get back to you guys on what works best.

[Razgriez]

Some additional advice

-CTRL+ LMB is used to designate priority targets for your AI controlled AA guns and Secondary battery guns. Basically, if you have multiple targets in range of them, CTRL let's your mouse cursor appear. just hold it over the air squadron, or ship you want to designate (or both, one after the other) click the LMB, and your guns will prioritize them, if they are in range.

-Much like World of tanks, get the idea of yelling at people for "Kill stealing" and the like out of your head. You are rewarded for what damage you deal, and objectives you accomplish. An enemy ship with even 1 HP, and working turrets, is a dangerous ships.

-Once a torpedo is in the water, it isn't anyone's friend, not even the controlling player's, with a carrier's torpedo bombers. If any ally is in your arc of fire, presume there's a chance he'll cross in front of your torpedoes' path. Failure to responsibly launch Torpedoes is a great way to get fined heavily, gain the ire of your allies, and will lead to you being marked as a TK'er/damager.

-Carrier captains. learn to use Alt key + LMB to designate a manual launch of torpedoes. Targeting by ship is very ineffective vs. DDs. Cruisers often have enough time to even dodge when you go by ship targeting. Only the most ponderous of ships will be reliably hit this way. Manual drop designations, gives you a better chance to set up proper torpedo runs to maximize damage and hits. Just make you give a little extra distance from the start of the green arc of fire, otherwise, your torpedoes won't have time to arm before impacting