Vanguard Laughs at T10

[SoshiSone]

[OT2_2]

You are really good, because most Vanguards I've seen in battle so far didn't reach notable results. Sometime ago I toyed with the idea of purchasing her, but that what I had seen and many so la la reviews made me refrain from doing so. 

Edited January 31 by OT2_2

[Ensign Cthulhu]

Soshi, I respect your achievements immensely, but please for the love of God don't do anything that would get this ship nerfed. 🤣

[Admiral_Karasu]

Vanguard is an absolute stinker. Much in need of several urgent buffs. Lots of several urgent buffs, just to get it playable in the current meta. Sort of. Barely.

[SoshiSone]

Like several other ships (e.g., Tiger 59), Vanguard has to be played in a certain style to maximize what it can do.  I believe WG did this for a reason.  It is designed for veteran players.  New players will not do well.

If you're thinking about picking up Vanguard, one thing to look at (and maximize) is its heal.  At first glance it's kinda ho hum (isn't super heal), but it has a relatively short cool down and you have five charges...a possible six with Cunningham.  Hence, it's a SURVIVOR!  But you gotta play it that way, especially at T10.  I maximize the heal and heal times and also go with a stealth build.  Played properly, you can soak up a lot of damage...go silent if needed...heal up...and re-engage.

It's actually a bit harder to play when top tier.  Becuase when you're alpha dog you often don't have the luxury to play the long game like you do at T10.  At least not early game.  So you gotta push up and make a difference early without getting focused and unable to heal up.

It's a kiter, and can pretty much outplay any other T8 BB mano mano when engaged in that mode, and can do a respectable job agaisnt many T9 and T10 BBs in that mode. 

Gotta know how to angle, and gotta know how to unmask the backside turrets; the fast rudder shift really helps when doing this.  Broadside is death.  

Speaking of maximizing survival, when you play the long attrition game the liklkhood of getting at least two kills goes up, and therefore the liklkhood of Cunningham's extra heal getting triggered goes up.  Symbiotic.  Suriive..kill...get another heal...suvive longer.  I often print a new ship over the course of a game.  140K+ damage.

Don't get me wrong. It's not OP by any stretch.  But when played to strength, I have no issues matching up one on one with any other T8 BB in the game.

The one bad point are those games where the style that can beat any other T8 BB isn't the style needed in the moment.  Or, in larger terms, when the style isn't the one needed to win the game.  Unlike the Bismarck (which I also like a lot) where you can bully your way to victory, Vanguard ins't a brawler and often needs the long game.  It's an attrition ship...designed to wear the reds down over time.  If you run out of time...well...you often lose the game even if you do well otherwise.

Speakig of Bismarck.  It has a vastly differnt play style than Vanguard.  Since I play both ships, I often have to remind myself of wihch ship I'm playing and get into the proper mindset. Play Van like Biz, and vice versa, and you don't fair well.

[CaliburxZero]

6 hours ago, SoshiSone said:

Like several other ships (e.g., Tiger 59), Vanguard has to be played in a certain style to maximize what it can do.  I believe WG did this for a reason.  It is designed for veteran players.  New players will not do well.

I think Vanguard's reputation as a bad ship is a bit overexaggerated, the main point of contention with this ship is its relative fragility with an easy to hit citadel, combined with the thin plating that allows her to be farmed out.  This along with the poor firing angles which forces you to expose that citadel means its not an easy ship to use, and overall average at best.  I think this statement is a reasonably accurate conclusion to come to about the ship.

That being said, I think this game more speaks to the skill you have versus what you fought more than the ship.  If you truly love this ship for its strengths, then Thunderer (which in the current powercreep I would consider just good, not OP anymore so...) would serve you better for an overall experience.  Of course, this assumes you were searching for this in general and not specifically at T8.

Nice game though.  And this is definitely a ship that could stand to be buffed some imho.