Daniel_Allan_Clark Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 Recently acquired Haarlem and have started trying to learn how to play her. Currently 11 games in, and have won 4. I'm not very experienced with heavy cruiser gameplay...so any tips or advice you can give would be helpful. The following is my current build. https://share.wowssb.com/25xL 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UnrepentantSinner Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 (edited) I don't think it's you or your lack of experience with the class, the Haarlem just isn't a good ship. That said, i'm not sure on your commander build, why take Radio Location, her DPM is bad, wouldn't Top Grade Gunner be better? Also i probably would choose Priority Target over Focus Fire Training, but that's just me, why no Adrenaline Rush? Just curious. Edited May 8 by UnrepentantSinner 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I_cant_Swim_ Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 I just finished grinding the Harlem up to JdW. Couldn't call it a favorite, either, but asymmetric made it manageable. Maybe the only T8 cruiser I've used Blue Boosters on for the whole grind. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueMax1916 Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 (edited) 2 hours ago, UnrepentantSinner said: ... ... over Focus Fire Training ... The Netherland cruisers profit from Focus Fire Training as their Airstrike reload time gets reduced and after all it's their gimmick. It's why you play them. Edited May 8 by BlueMax1916 Typo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfswetpaws Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 6 hours ago, Daniel_Allan_Clark said: Recently acquired Haarlem and have started trying to learn how to play her. Currently 11 games in, and have won 4. I'm not very experienced with heavy cruiser gameplay...so any tips or advice you can give would be helpful. The following is my current build. https://share.wowssb.com/25xL Looks like a decent build, to me. The radio-direction-finding skill is helpful. I like it. Have you visited @ArIskandir's youtube channel? He spent some time in the past highlighting how to wring the best from Dutch cruisers. https://www.youtube.com/@ariskandirr.8606 It was from @ArIskandir that I learned how the Dutch cruisers can troll planes, among other things they can do to sink, or at least be a nuisance to, red-team ships. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaelic_knight Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 (edited) 2 hours ago, UnrepentantSinner said: I don't think it's you or your lack of experience with the class, the Haarlem just isn't a good ship. That said, i'm not sure on your commander build, why take Radio Location, her DPM is bad, wouldn't Top Grade Gunner be better? Also i probably would choose Priority Target over Focus Fire Training, but that's just me, why no Adrenaline Rush? Just curious. isnt a good ship ????? @UnrepentantSinner range is decent for its tier although an extra 1- 1.5km on range would be an improvement . ive used her in a few asymmetrics with decent results . focus with HE mostly for the fires and if a cruiser shows broadside or you notice one going to show broadside then quickly change to AP . shes good in operations if your whole team dont go under at the start of the battle like i had in one of them example below below is my build hope this helps Edited May 8 by Gaelic_knight 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaelic_knight Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 7 hours ago, Daniel_Allan_Clark said: Recently acquired Haarlem and have started trying to learn how to play her. Currently 11 games in, and have won 4. I'm not very experienced with heavy cruiser gameplay...so any tips or advice you can give would be helpful. The following is my current build. https://share.wowssb.com/25xL looking at your build its ok but you really dont need radio location thats better for DD's my next points will be going for adreniline rush and topgrade gunner but thats my preference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArIskandir Posted May 8 Share Posted May 8 (edited) 7 hours ago, Daniel_Allan_Clark said: Recently acquired Haarlem and have started trying to learn how to play her. Currently 11 games in, and have won 4. I'm not very experienced with heavy cruiser gameplay...so any tips or advice you can give would be helpful. The following is my current build. https://share.wowssb.com/25xL First to know is for me this line is all about playing a Support role for the team. When playing Dutch Cruisers I was not set on "carry matches" or "making plays", for me it was about providing support for my team mates to enahnce their performance. To that end, I think the strongest assets of Dutch CAs (starting at Harleem) are their very strong AA suit and their enhanced survivability (compared to other Cruisers). Harleem has a heal at T8, enough armor to bounce some stuff and a potential AA DPS value high enough to put a dent on anything if properly timed and used. So the first thing is environment selection. Contrary to most other surface ships, you want to play them against CVs, and you want the CV to focus you or at least force the CV to go through you. This is a significant change on how you approach the match and your "roadmap to Victory", while most of the time you don't want to be too conspicuos to the enemy CV, with the Dutch CAs you want the CV to focus you instead of your team (at least as long as you can endure the attacks and extract a fair plane price). So as guidelines you'll want to AA screen the juicest, fattest and less AA capable high impact team mate... in a perfect setup you'll be the personal escort of a Musashi. You'll also try to roam near the caps using island cover to block BB crossfires, so you provide some AA cover for your DDs working the cap and c@ckblock planes going for the back line targets. Considering I aim for a support role, my build is 100% focused on AA power and survivability. If given enough skill points, my build includes both AA enhancing skills (6 points), AR (also enhances AA power - 3 points). My standard Cruiser build includes both IFA and PT (because then I can asign situational awareness attention to planning and playing) and CE,SI & SE because there's never too much HP and heals for a Cruiser (13 points for the whole set), if I'm starved for points I could ditch IFA/PT on Dutch cruisers because somethings gotta give. For whatever points I have left, GtG and Gun Feeder are not bad choices. So here's the way I play them This is just a weird match from the time Dutch CAs had no ASW at all... 😕 Edited May 8 by ArIskandir 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel_Allan_Clark Posted May 9 Author Share Posted May 9 4 hours ago, UnrepentantSinner said: I don't think it's you or your lack of experience with the class, the Haarlem just isn't a good ship. That said, i'm not sure on your commander build, why take Radio Location, her DPM is bad, wouldn't Top Grade Gunner be better? Also i probably would choose Priority Target over Focus Fire Training, but that's just me, why no Adrenaline Rush? Just curious. I only have 14 points so far...so my choices are suboptimal. I find I don't need priority target...as my days playing RTS CV have given me the skill of reading the minimap and knowing who is or isn't shooting / aiming at me without having to waste two points of skill on something I know already anyway. I still use RPF because unlike with priority target, I still struggle with predicting where DDs like to go. I agree it's suboptimal and once I get better I might switch out RPF for Top Grade Gunner. I also only have one 21 point captain so I try not to be retraining captains all the time...and RPF was useful on the light cruisers earlier in the line. I haven't taken adrenaline rush yet because I wanted Superintendent for the extra heal. Staying alive is more important to me than a little bit of extra DPM. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaelic_knight Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 11 minutes ago, Daniel_Allan_Clark said: I only have 14 points so far...so my choices are suboptimal. I find I don't need priority target...as my days playing RTS CV have given me the skill of reading the minimap and knowing who is or isn't shooting / aiming at me without having to waste two points of skill on something I know already anyway. I still use RPF because unlike with priority target, I still struggle with predicting where DDs like to go. I agree it's suboptimal and once I get better I might switch out RPF for Top Grade Gunner. I also only have one 21 point captain so I try not to be retraining captains all the time...and RPF was useful on the light cruisers earlier in the line. I haven't taken adrenaline rush yet because I wanted Superintendent for the extra heal. Staying alive is more important to me than a little bit of extra DPM. check above i posted my build for a 12 point commander , i dont think its your game play but i think a bit more taking your time might help it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaelic_knight Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 14 minutes ago, Daniel_Allan_Clark said: I only have 14 points so far...so my choices are suboptimal. I find I don't need priority target...as my days playing RTS CV have given me the skill of reading the minimap and knowing who is or isn't shooting / aiming at me without having to waste two points of skill on something I know already anyway. I still use RPF because unlike with priority target, I still struggle with predicting where DDs like to go. I agree it's suboptimal and once I get better I might switch out RPF for Top Grade Gunner. I also only have one 21 point captain so I try not to be retraining captains all the time...and RPF was useful on the light cruisers earlier in the line. I haven't taken adrenaline rush yet because I wanted Superintendent for the extra heal. Staying alive is more important to me than a little bit of extra DPM. here is a little tip all airdrops can also be used for spotting to help out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel_Allan_Clark Posted May 9 Author Share Posted May 9 2 hours ago, Gaelic_knight said: check above i posted my build for a 12 point commander , i dont think its your game play but i think a bit more taking your time might help it Your twelve point commander doesn't boost the AA power, which is part of why I like the ship. A little bit more fire chance on slow firing guns or on air dropped bombs which might hit less than 10 times per match...doesn't seem to me to be as useful as getting airdrops recharged faster and a bit more AA power. 2 hours ago, Gaelic_knight said: here is a little tip all airdrops can also be used for spotting to help out Sort of. They only spot AA tracers. Useful, but not actually 'spotting'...more like poor mans RPF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel_Allan_Clark Posted May 9 Author Share Posted May 9 Here is a replay for your review that isn't me getting devstruck in the dying moments of an opposing team steamroll. Man, if your team sucks...there just isn't a way to turn things around. I had the same problem with Agir. Both it and Haarlem seem to only shine in the late game...but so many matches these days don't ever get to a late game that isn't just one of the teams cleaning up... 20240508_082839_PHSC108-Haarlem_19_OC_prey.wowsreplay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArIskandir Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 2 hours ago, Gaelic_knight said: here is a little tip all airdrops can also be used for spotting to help out Any good DD player would keep AA disabled by default so the airstrike spot is not a reliable tool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaelic_knight Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 (edited) 1 hour ago, Daniel_Allan_Clark said: Your twelve point commander doesn't boost the AA power, which is part of why I like the ship. A little bit more fire chance on slow firing guns or on air dropped bombs which might hit less than 10 times per match...doesn't seem to me to be as useful as getting airdrops recharged faster and a bit more AA power. Sort of. They only spot AA tracers. Useful, but not actually 'spotting'...more like poor mans RPF. that might be your thinking but it still gives a good indication that something with low detactability is lurking out there and you should throw causion and act accordingly the dutch cruiser line has much more to offer than just AA and ASW and there best suited for a support role . you have to understand that every ship in every line including premiums play differently with some variations with builds . you cant always build equipment and commander skills the same with every type of ship . there are some new skills to learn for each one and change equipment and skills as you play each ship till you get a better working model Edited May 9 by Gaelic_knight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaelic_knight Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 6 minutes ago, ArIskandir said: Any good DD player would keep AA disabled by default so the airstrike spot is not a reliable tool but it is still possable to detect ships close by Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArIskandir Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 8 minutes ago, Gaelic_knight said: but it is still possable to detect ships close by Yeah, it's better than nothing and I agree it can be useful to gain intel on Big ships, just not really useful to locate DDs as a cheap RPF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel_Allan_Clark Posted May 9 Author Share Posted May 9 (edited) 19 minutes ago, Gaelic_knight said: you have to understand that every ship in every line including premiums play differently with some variations with builds . you can always build equipment and commander skills the same with every type of ship . there are some new skills to learn for each one and change equipment and skills as you play each ship till you get a better working model I'm completely free2play. It is prohibitively expensive to change captain skills for every ship in a line. I'm not that wealthy in game. Edited May 9 by Daniel_Allan_Clark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaelic_knight Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Daniel_Allan_Clark said: I'm completely free2play. It is prohibitively expensive to change captain skills for every ship in a line. I'm not that wealthy in game. neither am i but i would expect most players to ask about builds from other known players and sumerise all the different types of builds ive been playing for 8 yrs and am a 5yr clan commander but i still ask Edited May 9 by Gaelic_knight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBTHEBALL Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 12 hours ago, Daniel_Allan_Clark said: Recently acquired Haarlem and have started trying to learn how to play her. Currently 11 games in, and have won 4. I'm not very experienced with heavy cruiser gameplay...so any tips or advice you can give would be helpful. The following is my current build. https://share.wowssb.com/25xL Ok so first for your build, ehh it's not the best but not the worst. I'd say something like this is better: As for the final 4p skill you can go TGG or the AA skill imo. I feel the extra DPM would help when bombs aren't sufficient. And now on to Haarlem herself, she's quite a bad ship. Nothing really going for her besides above average survivability. Her guns barely do anything, her airstrikes are ok. But otherwise not an enjoyable or good ship to play at all. What I can say is probably just try your very best to stay alive and maybe play around islands where you can drop your strikes and get 2/3rds of your guns on target without receiving much damage in return. She is a very hard and bad ship that is worth using fxp on as the later tiers get better. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBTHEBALL Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 8 hours ago, UnrepentantSinner said: I don't think it's you or your lack of experience with the class, the Haarlem just isn't a good ship. Yep you're 100% correct here, she isn't 1. very fun to play or 2. a very good ship which is quite a pain. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBTHEBALL Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 5 hours ago, Gaelic_knight said: isnt a good ship ????? @UnrepentantSinner range is decent for its tier although an extra 1- 1.5km on range would be an improvement . ive used her in a few asymmetrics with decent results . focus with HE mostly for the fires and if a cruiser shows broadside or you notice one going to show broadside then quickly change to AP . shes good in operations if your whole team dont go under at the start of the battle like i had in one of them example below below is my build hope this helps Yeah she isn't a very good ship at all. Also I'd advise changing up that build. It can be improved quite a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBTHEBALL Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 3 hours ago, Gaelic_knight said: check above i posted my build for a 12 point commander , i dont think its your game play but i think a bit more taking your time might help it Your build isn't good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBTHEBALL Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 56 minutes ago, Daniel_Allan_Clark said: Here is a replay for your review that isn't me getting devstruck in the dying moments of an opposing team steamroll. Man, if your team sucks...there just isn't a way to turn things around. I had the same problem with Agir. Both it and Haarlem seem to only shine in the late game...but so many matches these days don't ever get to a late game that isn't just one of the teams cleaning up... 20240508_082839_PHSC108-Haarlem_19_OC_prey.wowsreplay 2.85 MB · 0 downloads Yeah Haarlem requires on your team staying alive and not inting into the enemy instantly. She needs people to spot for her if she wants to be safe. Even though her armour is good she can still eat lots of damage from enemy BBs. And she suffers from 60s fires which isn't great at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BOBTHEBALL Posted May 9 Share Posted May 9 51 minutes ago, Gaelic_knight said: you have to understand that every ship in every line including premiums play differently with some variations with builds . you can always build equipment and commander skills the same with every type of ship . there are some new skills to learn for each one and change equipment and skills as you play each ship till you get a better working model The tier 8, 9 and 10 can all use the same build, the only difference is in tier 10 you use the UU which buffs the airstrikes power immensely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now