Reflecting naval warfare in real life, World of Warships allows players to choose from different warship classes. Among the classes are the cruisers, and these tend to be support ships not suited for direct combat. However, some players call them the most challenging class to use.
If you’re struggling to play cruisers in World of Warships, we have your back. As each nation’s cruisers play differently, we’ll cover information that works across borders. Keep on reading to find out more about navigating the tricky waters of cruiser warfare.
How to Play Cruisers at a Basic Level
All cruisers tend to work well as support ships, which means you’re not the star of the show. That honor goes to the other classes, such as destroyers. When you’re manning cruisers, you’re there to help out your team’s destroyers.
Since you’re not taking the lead, you must be aware of your teammates’ actions. This requires a lot of situational awareness and knowledge of battlefield strategy, along with a quick mind. When your teammates switch strategies, you have to adapt to the change and fight accordingly.
While some cruisers like the heavy cruisers have more armor and can be versatile on the battlefield, dueling other ships isn’t recommended. This goes double to enemy destroyers, who can take you out in a single salvo.
Here are some short points to remember to help you drill the tenets of cruiser gameplay into your brain:
- Support your team’s destroyers against enemy destroyers
- Fend off enemy cruisers
- Fire plenty of High Explosive (HE) shells when your teammates start shooting enemies
- Help the fleet in air defense
The Cruisers’ Combat Purpose
With proper positioning, cunning, and accuracy, cruisers can take out enemy destroyers efficiently. However, since destroyers can also wreck cruisers quickly, it becomes a game of maneuvering and avoiding shells.
On the bright side, cruisers are quite suited to medium-range combat, which helps with avoiding gunfire while dealing damage. This is why they can wipe destroyers out with expert play. The exceptions are the Russian cruisers, which can battle at long range due to their guns and slower movement for balance purposes.
However, battleships are tougher for cruisers to defeat, so cruisers should focus on fighting destroyers instead. High Explosive rounds are decent in these instances, especially when aimed at the superstructure.
As a cruiser player, you’ll also find yourself facing other cruisers. Since some cruisers have less armor, Armor Penetrating (AP) rounds can over-penetrate and cause minor damage. The solution is to calculate the optimal range to hit them that deals the most damage.
Unfortunately, finding the “sweet spot” comes from practice, and skilled cruiser players know how to hit cruiser citadels and how to deal with particular armor.
Finally, due to how fragile cruisers are, presenting your broadsides is ill-advised. You’ll die instantly if the enemy hits you with salvos of fire in that particular spot. That’s why one of the best tactics if you’re using cruisers, is to stay hidden and hit preoccupied targets.
Hit That Destroyer for Me, Please?
Cruisers are excellent support ships that excel at anti-air gunfire and killing destroyers. They might be challenging to learn, but once you master these ships, you can help your team turn the tide. That’s why cruisers demand more game knowledge to be effective.
What’s your favorite cruiser in World of Warships? Do you think Cruisers are a challenge to use? Let us know your thoughts below.
