Update on my Essex Journey

[_KlRlTO_]

I am now at the halfway point to 80 battles, the minimum to appear on the NA leader board of warship stats and numbers. My goal is to be the NA leader in plane kills per battle in Essex. after 40 battles, I only have a 50% WR, but I am averaging 32.4 plane kills per battle. In comparison, the current NA leader of record is averaging about 16, and the EU and ASIA leaders are averaging about 20, although there is at least one other NA player, who like me doesn't have 80 battles yet, who is also averaging about 20. I am still trying to improve my striking ability, which is getting better.

On a side note, I have also had a few enemy CV players rage quit on me before their ships were sunk. I think I may be a bit toxic.

Also, trying to play air supremacy against Well Done from WD in his Richthofen is like trying to ride a wild bull. I still got an AA defense expert, but that was a really painful loss, and he STILL was top of the enemy team!

Edited April 16 by _KlRlTO_

[Daniel_Allan_Clark]

1 hour ago, _KlRlTO_ said:

I am now at the halfway point to 80 battles, the minimum to appear on the NA leader board of warship stats and numbers. My goal is to be the NA leader in plane kills per battle in Essex. after 40 battles, I only have a 50% WR, but I am averaging 32.4 plane kills per battle. In comparison, the current NA leader of record is averaging about 16, and the EU and ASIA leaders are averaging about 20, although there is at least one other NA player, who like me doesn't have 80 battles yet, who is also averaging about 20. I am still trying to improve my striking ability, which is getting better.

On a side note, I have also had a few enemy CV players rage quit on me before their ships were sunk. I think I may be a bit toxic.

Also, trying to play air supremacy against Well Done from WD in his Richthofen is like trying to ride a wild bull. I still got an AA defense expert, but that was a really painful loss, and he STILL was top of the enemy team!

I'm averaging 25 planes shot down in my Yorktown with only 12 captain points...and not a full fighter build yet.

I can't imagine that the plane kill average record for Essex is going to stay at 16 forever...

[Ensign Cthulhu]

11 hours ago, _KlRlTO_ said:

On a side note, I have also had a few enemy CV players rage quit on me before their ships were sunk. I think I may be a bit toxic.

If they can't accept defeat graciously and realize that they need to try to learn how they went wrong, that's their issue. Not yours.

[Wolfswetpaws]

58 minutes ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

12 hours ago, _KlRlTO_ said:

On a side note, I have also had a few enemy CV players rage quit on me before their ships were sunk. I think I may be a bit toxic.

If they can't accept defeat graciously and realize that they need to try to learn how they went wrong, that's their issue. Not yours.

One might go so far as to say they were exhibiting "potato quality" sportsmanship?  😉 

[Aethervox]

I played an Essex when it was RTS. The only interest I have about reworked CVs is seeing them all get sunk (in battle) as fast as possible 😁.

Edited April 17 by Aethervox

[_KlRlTO_]

3 hours ago, Aethervox said:

I played an Essex when it was RTS. The only interest I have about reworked CVs is seeing them all get sunk (in battle) as fast as possible 😁.

Honestly, having played RTS, if I had come to hate the rework CVs, I would have just stopped playing entirely. That said, the rework CVs have always had something missing, and the Essex line has given back that missing thing. Functionally, with the reaction time of the Essex fighters, it feels like a form of strafing has returned to the game, and I like it!

[Ensign Cthulhu]

5 hours ago, _KlRlTO_ said:

Functionally, with the reaction time of the Essex fighters, it feels like a form of strafing has returned to the game, and I like it!

Is this with an all-in interceptor build, or just straight out of the box?

Yorktown doesn't feel particularly fast in this regard; is Essex significantly faster? 

I used to hate being strafed in the RTS era, mostly because I was only up to the Bogue and couldn't strafe back (I FXP'd to the old Independence just before the end so I'd have at least once CV that could do missions), but a very fast snap-to by CAP interceptors feels fairer in some ways.

[_KlRlTO_]

18 hours ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

Is this with an all-in interceptor build, or just straight out of the box?

Yorktown doesn't feel particularly fast in this regard; is Essex significantly faster? 

I used to hate being strafed in the RTS era, mostly because I was only up to the Bogue and couldn't strafe back (I FXP'd to the old Independence just before the end so I'd have at least once CV that could do missions), but a very fast snap-to by CAP interceptors feels fairer in some ways.

It works straight out of the box, although they can just hit F to recall their planes, which turns it into a tempo play, but it still slows them down. You definitely need the larger patrol radius. Interceptors are nice in that it's easier to get them to lock on to strike aircraft, but you become helpless to well placed spotting. Also, with Yorktown and Essex, you do NOT want the 4 point captain skill. The delay in arrival time actually makes the fighter response time worse overall. If you are doing preventative drops, the increase to duration can be good, plus the slow arrival is less relevant, but if you are playing to trap their planes, the slow arrival makes it easier for them to escape.

[Wolfswetpaws]

🙂🍿