Kitakami

[Titus_Pullo_13]

First, I have 18 coal ships, all the coal captains, 3 RB ships and 2 steel ships. There's nothing left I want so i don't feel bad for clearing out my stash on the Kitakami.

Thoughts:
God is it boring. Hope there is no CV in the game because once spotted, you're lucky to escape. It must be the weakest tier x and makes the Omaha look like a tank. 
If you live more than a couple minutes, it's not difficult to score 100k just by torp spamming the sea lanes. 
Even without a CV, you have to play 9.5k from the closest ship. Don't bitch at a Kitakami for playing in the mid/back of the map - they have too1
Guns on the Jager seem better. 
I cant imagine using depth charges for fear of being spotted by the sub
Very sluggish

I have to try this boat when drunk cuz maybe driving around is circles and dumping torps will be fun. I suppocse I can use islands better but, with CVs, it doesnt matter. 

I hope no new, amazing ships appear in the armory for a while cuz i wont be able to afford them!

Edited December 27, 2023 by Titus_Pullo_13

[Admiral_Karasu]

Thanks, a very sobering post. I don't have many coal ships myself, nor RB ships, but not that there are that many that I would want. I could, in other words, throw everything at this event and get the four ships, two of them being tier X. However,... I don't really have need for that many new ships, even less so for tier X's in the current meta (if the Asymmetrical Battles become a regular thing this might change)... and Kitakami appears to be very situational. The only problem is that is its a) a historical ship and b) a Japanese ship...

[Frostbow]

5 hours ago, Titus_Pullo_13 said:

I hope no new, amazing ships appear in the armory for a while cuz i wont be able to afford them!

LOL! There's Rhode Island coming soon. Maybe she will be for steel.

I still have around 1,800,000 Coal after getting the Defence. Sometimes I think of spending it for the Kitakami, but I am hesitant mainly for the reasons you cited in your post, chief of them is the boring gameplay.

The salvage event will last until the end of January 2024 (if I recall correctly). There is still enough time for me to think about getting the Kitakami. I shall continue to look at the ship with keen interest.

[Silence_CN]

Kitakami's main problem is that many people think that it reloads the torps very quickly.
This is true : 68" (just like a T-61)...  but it's 68 " PER POD.
Meaning that if you want to send a torp wall, you must wait 5 minutes to have ALL pods reloaded. Not really funny..
Meaning also you must stay in the backyard a long time before being able to do something.
So yes : if you want a torp spammer, the Jäger is much funnier to play.

As for the rest, the first post described it : AA is a joke, yes (and I am polite 😁)
But the ship is not that sluggish, accelarates correctly (I did not say "well" though...) with the engine boost and also has good concealment (7.9km if I am correct) plus a smoke to hide in case of unexpected encounters...
As for me (and I am certainly not a good player) I play her more like a big fat, slow DD. To sum it up : stealth torps as often as possible trying  praying never to be seen...

If some have tips to play her correctly, I am listening. At the moment I have too few battles with the ship to have a pertinent opinion.
thx

[hairoids]

DD guy here, I play it like my Asahio & Benham, I stay undetected and spam torps.

I like the option of switching between standard torps and the deepwater version. If done correctly, you will send different waves into areas and watch them get everything moving from behind the islands they are parked behind.

Guns suck!!! Don't even bother with them, imo.

Horrible AA.

I don't chase subs in it.

Need to be very patient in this ship, mid to late game is when the torps can make a big difference in the game outcome.

DO NOT GET SPOTTED, if you do, smoke up and run like hell.

My thoughts after 20 games or so.

[Justin_Simpleton]

8 minutes ago, hairoids said:

DD guy here, I play it like my Asahio & Benham, I stay undetected and spam torps.

I like the option of switching between standard torps and the deepwater version. If done correctly, you will send different waves into areas and watch them get everything moving from behind the islands they are parked behind.

Guns suck!!! Don't even bother with them, imo.

Horrible AA.

I don't chase subs in it.

Need to be very patient in this ship, mid to late game is when the torps can make a big difference in the game outcome.

DO NOT GET SPOTTED, if you do, smoke up and run like hell.

My thoughts after 20 games or so.

As a BB main, I think you are one of those DD players I don't like.  I prefer you don't say things like this.

[Arcus_Aesopi]

10 hours ago, Titus_Pullo_13 said:

First, I have 18 coal ships, all the coal captains, 3 RB ships and 2 steel ships. There's nothing left I want so i don't feel bad for clearing out my stash on the Kitakami.

Thoughts:
God is it boring. Hope there is no CV in the game because once spotted, you're lucky to escape. It must be the weakest tier x and makes the Omaha look like a tank. 
If you live more than a couple minutes, it's not difficult to score 100k just by torp spamming the sea lanes. 
Even without a CV, you have to play 9.5k from the closest ship. Don't bitch at a Kitakami for playing in the mid/back of the map - they have too1
Guns on the Jager seem better. 
I cant imagine using depth charges for fear of being spotted by the sub
Very sluggish

I have to try this boat when drunk cuz maybe driving around is circles and dumping torps will be fun. I suppocse I can use islands better but, with CVs, it doesnt matter. 

I hope no new, amazing ships appear in the armory for a while cuz i wont be able to afford them!

Wait... the Jager has guns?

🙂

 

[Silence_CN]

Oh yes.
And since I often use my guns on Jäger (the doctor said I will be better soon... 😁)  many other DDs tend to be surprised to receive 150mm.
They are certainly not as bad as the legend says.

[Arcus_Aesopi]

5 hours ago, Admiral_Karasu said:

Thanks, a very sobering post. I don't have many coal ships myself, nor RB ships, but not that there are that many that I would want. I could, in other words, throw everything at this event and get the four ships, two of them being tier X. However,... I don't really have need for that many new ships, even less so for tier X's in the current meta (if the Asymmetrical Battles become a regular thing this might change)... and Kitakami appears to be very situational. The only problem is that is its a) a historical ship and b) a Japanese ship...

I was halfway saving to see if I could get Kitakami, but looking at the resource sink (at least that is clearly what WG says it is :), I can get 2 regular coal/steel T10s with those resources, if not 3.

I dumped my premium days for the first 16% and was considering the Defence and Kitakami, but playing with the resource calculator... the Defense is 456,000 coal (or 40,800 steel... or 57,600 RB points)!   I really can't justify that... I'm missing only 1 coal ship and that one is only 250,000 (U-4501 is the only coal ship I don't have (or want, but... collector...) because it wasn't offered in santa crates!)

So the Defence costs as much as a tier X coal ship AND a unique commander... the event is truly for those with nothing else to spend it on!  But that's what WG said 😄 Good for them.

I'm not going to do the math for the Kitakami... thank goodness the Defence scared me off...

Does anyone think the Defence is worth it if there is ANYTHING else available?  I better go buy the last Unique Commander before someone comes up with something good...

😄

YMMV... Best wishes to all!

Edited December 27, 2023 by Arcusaesopi
spellin' crazy Brits

[Titus_Pullo_13]

7 minutes ago, Arcusaesopi said:

I was halfway saving to see if I could get Kitakami, but looking at the resource sink (at least that is clearly what WG says it is :), I can get 2 regular coal/steel T10s with those resources, if not 3.

I dumped my premium days for the first 16% and was considering the Defence and Kitakami, but playing with the resource calculator... the Defense is 456,000 coal (or 40,800 steel... or 57,600 RB points)!   I really can't justify that... I'm missing only 1 coal ship and that one is only 250,000 (U-4501 is the only coal ship I don't have (or want, but... collector...) because it wasn't offered in santa crates!)

So the Defence costs as much as a tier X coal ship AND a unique commander... the event is truly for those with nothing else to spend it on!  But that's what WG said 😄 Good for them.

I'm not going to do the math for the Kitakami... thank goodness the Defence scared me off...

Does anyone think the Defence is worth it if there is ANYTHING else available?  I better go buy the last Unique Commander before someone comes up with something good...

😄

YMMV... Best wishes to all!

Depends on what you already have! Defence's guns are great, and it moves well. 

[Titus_Pullo_13]

1 hour ago, Silence_CN said:

Kitakami's main problem is that many people think that it reloads the torps very quickly.
This is true : 68" (just like a T-61)...  but it's 68 " PER POD.
Meaning that if you want to send a torp wall, you must wait 5 minutes to have ALL pods reloaded. Not really funny..
Meaning also you must stay in the backyard a long time before being able to do something.
So yes : if you want a torp spammer, the Jäger is much funnier to play.

As for the rest, the first post described it : AA is a joke, yes (and I am polite 😁)
But the ship is not that sluggish, accelarates correctly (I did not say "well" though...) with the engine boost and also has good concealment (7.9km if I am correct) plus a smoke to hide in case of unexpected encounters...
As for me (and I am certainly not a good player) I play her more like a big fat, slow DD. To sum it up : stealth torps as often as possible trying  praying never to be seen...

If some have tips to play her correctly, I am listening. At the moment I have too few battles with the ship to have a pertinent opinion.
thx

Plus, to use all the torps, you have to pivot to the other side which can either take you too close or away from the battle. 

[Silence_CN]

4 minutes ago, Titus_Pullo_13 said:

Depends on what you already have! Defence's guns are great, and it moves well.

Was about to write the same : the Defence has been a rather good surprise.
After all, it's a cruiser fitted with with 356mm guns and 15" reload : it must always be treated with respect... especially when you're on the wrong side of the guns.   😋

[BCGrog]

I got the Defense and stopped there because I couldn't see the Kitakami being any fun to play.

Thanks for the honest appraisal of the ship Titus!

[YouSatInGum]

I'll second his post.

I didn't get a lot of play time with Kita but I didn't need to.  It's bad ship to point of being very unbalanced to the negative.

There's no way WG didn't realize this.... but forged ahead anyway while also making it the most expensive ship in the game's history.

So why would WG make the worst performing T10 cruiser the most expensive ship ever?  Hhmmm....   I'll let you all answer the question yourself.

 

Kitakami could be make to perform better but that would require a more normal torp reload for all 40 torps... and then you have the problem of kita divisions where game engine will literally struggle to keep up with 120+ additional objects to track....and heaven help us if there two two kita divs on the same or opposing sides.

In that case, on top of subs, Jinan, and Yodo it's just yet more elements that punish pushing and promote stagnant and boring sniper play.

[YouSatInGum]

1 hour ago, Arcusaesopi said:

Does anyone think the Defence is worth it if there is ANYTHING else available?  I better go buy the last Unique Commander before someone comes up with something good...

 

Yes and No....  the difference between the two answers being your particular situation.

If you still have don't have all commanders or still have various desirable coal/steel/RB reward ships to get.... then No.  I'd rather have Druid, Lutgens, or Marceau than Defence.  But if you already have all of those things, then Yes.  It's a unique ship thats not great or anything, but it's competitive in random or ranked and fun to play.  It's far too expensive for what it is, but I'm at the point where Steel and such don't mean much to me since there's nothing of value for me to buy.

[SureBridge]

As someone who tested this thing, it can be made to work. Because of the way the torp reload cycle works, a Shima has about the same sustained torp DPS, better torp engagement ability and more overall utility. It also doesn't need to worry about dodging pan-asian deepwater torps.

About half the time I took it out I would receive a message saying that it was OP. More than half the time I would receive a message (generally from my own team) asking why I was bringing such a terrible ship to the game, because every time there had been one on their side they lost. These messages were often in the same game!

If you don't have at least a 14 point commander (you NEED RPF on this ship) then you will die. Contrary to a previous poster recommending being a "lone wolf", it's often useful to team up with a cruiser (or DD) who has good AA - your deepwater torps can be fired UNDER a cruiser to engage BB's and CV's, so that the cruiser can spot and kill planes for you. Being in Div / coordinating with Smaland or Haaland can be entertaining (but not for the enemy team) - although a Haaland / Yueyang div is much stealthier, and has vastly higher torp slinging ability (with the Torp reload booster you get the same "burst" of 20 torps every ~3 minutes, while YY's deepwater torps can also hit cruisers AND your guns don't suck)

I have the resources to get a Kitikami, and don't have a lot of ships that I'm interested in (steel and coal) but my general strategy was to not fire for the first 3 minutes while the first 3 racks of torps loaded (on each side) and then I would go hunting BB's across the map. If the CP player was one of the ones who didn't leave spawn, they would get the first 3 racks (with staggered launches to saturate the area). If the CV is having to worry about torps, it degrades their overall utility (including hunting you down). The guns are terrible, but I won a gunfight with a F. Sherman (who was at half health) largely because they were a terrible shot, so the guns (all 4 of them) can do work.

When (not if) you get spotted by a DD it's useful to keep them behind you and on one flank, and run for help with your exhaust smoke active. If you have support, you want to use the RPF to run *towards* them (again with exhaust smoke running) and try for proximity spot (and fire from supporting ships). This is NOT RECOMMENDED) against DD's that have Hydro, but can work against RADAR DD's (because they have such short duration). Expect to lose half your health every time you push a DD this way, and you will likely die if you don't have smoke up. Even Shima has more than double your gun firepower, and gunboat DD's will shred your hull in under 30 seconds.

Late game (assuming that you still have some consumables) this ship does well. Does it do as well as, say a DM or a Petro? Probably not, but A DM or Petro will be pretty banged up by late game, or they haven't been doing their job.

 

2 hours ago, Arcusaesopi said:

Wait... the Jager has guns?

I'm with @Silence_CN on this one - my favorite memory with the Jager was killing a CV - with guns. It ate a few torps first, but Jagers "fluffy bunny kiss" torps aren't good at actually killing capital ships. Say what you will, if Kitakami hits a capital ship with 4+ torps it's likely going back to port.

[WES_HoundDog]

For a port queen.

Spoiler

 

[Ensign Cthulhu]

2 hours ago, Arcusaesopi said:

Does anyone think the Defence is worth it if there is ANYTHING else available?  I better go buy the last Unique Commander before someone comes up with something good...

I had enough resources to get up to the Defence, but still nowhere near enough for Kitakami. My rationale is that the first three ships are too expensive for what you have to spend unless you have so much of each resource it doesn't matter, and there are other things I want to get with those resources (to say nothing of keeping myself in premium time for another almost two years).

In the end, I decided that one either has to be able to go all the way for the meme (WITHOUT dipping into one's pocket for extra premium time or to convert FXP for RB resets), or don't even start. 

I spent my steel on the Z-42, which I am having great fun inflicting on the bots. I'm keeping my Research Bureau points for when I've got enough FXP for another back to back double reset, and then I will probably grab the Colbert unless WG brings in something new and weird for me to play with. The coal I will keep accumulating, and maybe we will see what happens when Elli/Ferrucio/Defence come back in not less than a year and Kitakami in not less than two. 

[SureBridge]

@Ensign Cthulhu I just bought the Z-42 as well. It's a challenging boat to use in PvP, but will really chew up enemy DD's if you get it right. I also picked up the Sevestapol, because it's a different play experience. The Bazan is also a fun boat (coal) with her long ranged but sloooooow torps, and the ability to (triple) burst fire her guns. Many of the other coal / steel / RB ships are "variations" on tech tree ships, and if I want to play "dakka dakka" I have Marceau which can "just dodge" better than colbert 🙂

[Arcus_Aesopi]

13 minutes ago, Ensign Cthulhu said:

I had enough resources to get up to the Defence, but still nowhere near enough for Kitakami. My rationale is that the first three ships are too expensive for what you have to spend unless you have so much of each resource it doesn't matter, and there are other things I want to get with those resources (to say nothing of keeping myself in premium time for another almost two years).

In the end, I decided that one either has to be able to go all the way for the meme (WITHOUT dipping into one's pocket for extra premium time or to convert FXP for RB resets), or don't even start. 

I spent my steel on the Z-42, which I am having great fun inflicting on the bots. I'm keeping my Research Bureau points for when I've got enough FXP for another back to back double reset, and then I will probably grab the Colbert unless WG brings in something new and weird for me to play with. The coal I will keep accumulating, and maybe we will see what happens when Elli/Ferrucio/Defence come back in not less than a year and Kitakami in not less than two. 

That's where I ended up mostly, but I did burn the Premium Days for the first 2 boats.  I'm feeling a little stressed after 2 such events... only 200+ days left!  I notice the crates are stingy with the premium time this go-around.  I was up over 1700 days for a while...

Got Philippe Auboyneau (last unique commander for me) to make sure I didn't fall prey to FOMO... Santa Crates 2024-5 for the other boats if I still care enough.  Another long break may be in the offing if WG keeps going down the ridiculous (to me) path they're on.

[Crokodone]

5 hours ago, Silence_CN said:

Kitakami's main problem is that many people think that it reloads the torps very quickly.
This is true : 68" (just like a T-61)...  but it's 68 " PER POD.
Meaning that if you want to send a torp wall, you must wait 5 minutes to have ALL pods reloaded. Not really funny..
Meaning also you must stay in the backyard a long time before being able to do something.
So yes : if you want a torp spammer, the Jäger is much funnier to play.

As for the rest, the first post described it : AA is a joke, yes (and I am polite 😁)
But the ship is not that sluggish, accelarates correctly (I did not say "well" though...) with the engine boost and also has good concealment (7.9km if I am correct) plus a smoke to hide in case of unexpected encounters...
As for me (and I am certainly not a good player) I play her more like a big fat, slow DD. To sum it up : stealth torps as often as possible trying  praying never to be seen...

If some have tips to play her correctly, I am listening. At the moment I have too few battles with the ship to have a pertinent opinion.
thx

Since you have the Kitakami, does she share the same hull plating values as her t4 sister? Or did WG buff her plating to ~25mm?

[Helstrem]

58 minutes ago, Crokodone said:

Since you have the Kitakami, does she share the same hull plating values as her t4 sister? Or did WG buff her plating to ~25mm?

Kuma:

 

Kitakami:

 

I will add that I bought it as a rare ship to own and fully expect a port queen.  I've only done a single battle in it to knock its snowflake off, but had substantially more fun in that one battle, a loss, than I expected to get out of it.  Because of how its torpedoes load it always seems to have at least a rack or two ready to launch.

Edited December 27, 2023 by Helstrem

[Crokodone]

2 hours ago, Helstrem said:

Kuma:

 

Kitakami:

 

I will add that I bought it as a rare ship to own and fully expect a port queen.  I've only done a single battle in it to knock its snowflake off, but had substantially more fun in that one battle, a loss, than I expected to get out of it.  Because of how its torpedoes load it always seems to have at least a rack or two ready to launch.

The res on the bottom photo is terrible on my phone, but if I'm reading correctly Kitakami literally has the exact same hull plating at T10 as Kuma at t4: 13mm? That's 180mm overmatch. But as with @SureBridgepost, 7.9km concealment and Fuel Smoke, this thing is literally a DD with a citadel. That's almost equal stealth to the I-56 and worse stealth than a fully stealth Khabarovsk. I tried running one down in my Azuma to test it's armor to no avail, that stealth explains why. Meanwhile, it's much appreciated for posting Kitakami's armor scheme. As someone who doesn't use mods, and no way in several years will have that 1.8 billion (?) Coal discipline, I thank you for the view. Kitakami is going to remain a very rare and obnoxiously annoying ship for most likely a pretty long time.

[Helstrem]

43 minutes ago, Crokodone said:

The res on the bottom photo is terrible on my phone, but if I'm reading correctly Kitakami literally has the exact same hull plating at T10 as Kuma at t4: 13mm? That's 180mm overmatch. But as with @SureBridgepost, 7.9km concealment and Fuel Smoke, this thing is literally a DD with a citadel. That's almost equal stealth to the I-56 and worse stealth than a fully stealth Khabarovsk. I tried running one down in my Azuma to test it's armor to no avail, that stealth explains why. Meanwhile, it's much appreciated for posting Kitakami's armor scheme. As someone who doesn't use mods, and no way in several years will have that 1.8 billion (?) Coal discipline, I thank you for the view. Kitakami is going to remain a very rare and obnoxiously annoying ship for most likely a pretty long time.

It has Tier X ultra light cruiser plating, 16mm.  You can see the color of the plating isn't as green as on Kuma.  In all other aspects Kitakami's armor is the same as Kuma's, including the exposed 30mm citadel deck that can be overmatched by 430+mm AP, all CA HE, CL HE using IFHE and IJN 100mm guns using HE.  Any of the mentioned HE landing on the 30mm deck will result in a citadel hit.  The 430mm or larger AP might result in a citadel, but also might result in an overpenetration.

 

As a side not/question, why the heck do ultra light cruisers have thinner plating than DDs?  They are still bigger, heavier ships than DDs...

Edited December 28, 2023 by Helstrem

[Northern Nightowl]

I'm sometimes using my Kitakami in Ranked. It's not bad and you can pull off some funny things. I also made some observations that I wrote down here, TL:DR: use it as large torpedo DD with a workable stealth and you're good.

Regards, Nightowl