World of Warship: The Lion of the Sea

I know I haven't really said much about battleships in WoWs yet, but I felt like the Tirpitz was a big enough problem that I should address it. For those that are new here (and this blog is mostly aimed at you guys), the Tirpitz is a tier 8 German battleship, based on the Bismark class of BB. It's a premium ship, so you can only access it using real money, which sucks for those who don't want to spend money, but is great for those that don't want to sink time into the game, grinding for the top tier ships. This blog will be a basic introduction into BBs, but also a caution for you new players about why you should save your money, and start out at tier one like everyone else. There are a lot of great ways to spend a little green in this game to improve the experience, and a few really bad ones. The Tirpitz is what I'd call one of the worst.

Why so bad? Well, the problem really isn't with the ship, but with you as the new player. Back in my earlier WoWs blogs, I strongly suggested that new players get started in cruisers over other ship classes. The reasons still stand: cruisers are flexible, tactically forgiving when you make mistakes, and still super enjoyable, especially when they are breaking destroyers over their knee. I also practically threw myself on the mercy of new players, begging them not to use ships armed with torpedoes, at least until they learned how the bastards worked, and stopped randomly firing them off at nothing. I didn't really weigh in much on battleships, mostly because BBs are a little too complicated for the average newby, but not such a hazard to their own team that new players should avoid them entirely. Frankly, BBs are a bit of a boring ship compared to others. For new players, BBs kind of speak for themselves when it comes to why you should avoid them. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed the shit out of the ones that I've played, and had a few monster games, but they're frankly a total bore compared to some of the games I've had in cruisers and DDs. As for the Tirpitz, it is a bit of a complicated ship, and it only fights at high tiers, where gameplay gets pretty advanced, and teamwork becomes essential, particularly for BBs. Add to that the fact that the Tirpitz is especially complicated, and has torpedoes (holy shit, run, a new player with torpedo launchers!), and you've got a ship that won't be very interesting to play, will risk a lot of friendly fire, and is actually exceptionally vulnerable when not played exactly right at top tier.

And yet, the Tirpitz has become a popular ship. Swarms of new players, spurred on by YouTube videos, and promises of how fun the game is, have bought the Tirpitz on mass, and are so bloody awful at the game that the Tirpitz has now earned a reputation as a terrible ship. These ships, despite actually being quite competitive, have terrible win ratings, and have led to the high tier community declaring that, "the team with the most Tirpitz is the one most likely to lose." Again, non of this is the fault of the ship, but those who are captaining them. New players, especially ones that are fresh off other games where acting independently is encouraged, are the worst people to captain BBs in high tiers. The Tirpitz in particular has stats that support it best when it acts as part of a fleet. Its anti-aircraft rating is a bit low for its tier, which means that it either needs dedicated AA support from cruisers and carriers, or it needs to stick very close together with other BBs. So peeling off from the pack, and lone-wolfing like an MLG pro is basically the worst thing imaginable for this ship. This problem of new players, acting alone, and completely not understanding their expensive ship has also earned the Tirpitz names like, "The Derpitz", or most appropriately, "The Löwe of the Sea". The Löwe (Lion) was a high tier premium tank from World of Tanks, and it had a near identical reputation. It was a paid vehicle that gave a new player, with literally no games under their belt, the ability to jump straight into top tier matches, and pretty much fuck their team's chances of victory. The mere sight of Löwes on a WoT team indicated the presence of players that simply could not be trusted to fight effectively, let alone know the button that makes the tank go forward (it's W, for you Löwe drivers out there). And the same pretty justified thinking applies to the sight of Tirpitz in WoWs.

If you are a seasoned player, or a new one, know this: the Tirpitz is a damn fine ship when it is captained well. Its strengths are its high volume of fire, its excellent armour, and good mobility. The AA isn't up to much scratch, so stick with your friends, and its torpedoes should be left in their tupes until you've actually mastered difficult concepts, such as firing them at the enemy instead of your friends. It is a ship that rewards advanced tactics, and patient strategic plays over brisk, impulsive ones. When fighting enemy BBs, you'll fire faster, meaning that you can test your accuracy, and not feel so cheated by missed shots. It relies above all else on understanding the place of BBs in a fleet, which is why next time, I'll be weighing in a little on how to get started in BBs and what you need to know as a new player.

I'd beg new players not to get this ship, but to be completely frank, they are doing the high-tier carrier and DD players a great service by steaming away from their fleets and acting as great big damage pinatas. I think high-level carrier masters, like iChaseGaming, would probably feel very sad if new players didn't dump money on the game just to be slaughtered by the dozen at the end of an air-dropped torpedo. If you want to spend some good money at the high-tiers, I'd suggest you get your butt into the Atago, or maybe the Atlanta. Those ships are far more flexible, and forgiving to new players. For those of you who can't say no to those beautiful battleship guns, wear them proudly, but don't be surprised when your team automatically assumes the worst of you, and learn your craft so you can prove them wrong.