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V. LIGHT CRUISERS
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Unlike their DDs, US CLs are far from lacking variety; rather, they're known for their
specialized roles. While they are indeed a step up from a DD, they're not quite at the
point where you'll be able to take on bigger ships with confidence, or even ships of
your own class. The CL stage of the US can be quite fun, and very few players dislike
this part of their grind.
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Omaha
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The Omaha is the NCL of the US, which were added to give players the choice of a
low-level CL (you don't even have to select it on the ship tree to use it). Due to a
patch that significantly boosted its speed and scout capacity, the Omaha is no longer the
steaming pile of crap that it once was. While deceptively powerful at first glance, this
ship still packs some surprises that can throw off players. This ship is only recommended
for experienced players though, since right out of the box, the Omaha can hurt newbies
more than it can help.
For its level, the Omaha can mount good CL equipment (meaning FCS and Engine); the
advantages it holds over the Atlanta is that it can mount a CL III Engine, which makes
it far faster, and it has much more usable displacement. This makes it faster and more
maneuverable, which make it ideal for using as an AA ship.
At first glance, the weirdest thing about the Omaha is its turret placement. While the
bow and stern mounts have quite a bit of space (more than the Atlanta's, in fact), the
ones closer amidships have considerably less space. Since mixing guns of different
calibers is a no-no, the best method of approaching this problem is to use the same
caliber gun for all of the mounts, but to use dual turrets on the bow and stern mounts
while placing single turrets on the ones closer amidships, then using Simultaneous
firing in battle to keep your salvos even. Using this scheme, you can mount the
equivalent of 10 barrels, though the gun placement is bizarre to the point where firing
in different directions will fire different numbers of barrels.
The Omaha can also make a fearsome AA ship in the right hands, because of its gun
placement and ability to mount a better engine than the Atlanta. The lopsided gun
placement can make it weird to use, but by putting dual turrets on each mount, you
can bring 10 barrels to bear on either side. While this is still less than what the Atlanta
can wield, the advantage is that you can bring them to broadside position in almost any
direction, unlike the Atlanta. Combined with a better speed, maneuverability, and firing
arcs, the Omaha offers a different style of AA-ing than the Atlanta, though because of the
smaller mounts it can't carry as much ammo.
The Omaha is also able to carry scouts; originally it could only carry one, but it was
boosted to 3 in a previous patch. While this gives it an advantage over the Atlanta, if
you AA in the Omaha, you may find yourself accidentally shooting down your own scouts.
However, you can also use it to help your team by scouting for them, or for using the
scout as a lure to bait enemy scouts and fighters into your envelope of fire. This is only
recommended if you know what you're doing, though.
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Atlanta
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The Atlanta has the reputation as the best High-Angle ship in the game, and for good
reason: if you learn to HA properly and your gunners are good enough to minimize
your spread, you can do serious damage to big enemy ships with each salvo. Given the
right circumstances, you can kill other CLs with ease and even scrap CAs! Mastering HA
takes time, practice, and accuracy on the part of your gunners, but if you do it right,
you'll be able to rack up insane amounts of damage! Many veteran players still drive
their Atlantas around despite having access to much higher- leveled ships, which is a
testament to the true power of the Atlanta.
The best way to use an Atlanta is High Angle: mount the 5"54 L's, stock up on APC and
maybe a bind of AA (be warned, however, that the AA for the 5"54 guns is very weak),
set your gun angle to 55 degrees or higher, and shoot at anything that comes into
range; follow acompton's HA guide, and you'll do fine:
http://www.navyfield.com/board/view.asp?Num=23818&Sort=A01
The 5"54's can dish out 300+ damage per shell using high angle, the same level of
damage that CAs cause! The drawback, of course, is that your spread is horrible, but each
shell is doing massive damage, so landing even a third of your shells on target still causes
around 1000 damage.
You'll also be fighting at your maximum range because of this, which gives you a
serious advantage against ships with shorter ranges. Because of this, you may need
to use zoom mode (press F11 then wheelmouse scroll) to see both yourself and where
your shells are falling at the same time.
For the most part, people only use six of the gun mounts, disregarding the two wing
mounts since they take up too much extra weight if you're using the 5"54 L's. However, in
the case of lighter guns like the 5"38 Mk 38's, mounting those extra guns can give you a
noticeable increase in firepower, if you choose to do so. Just remember not to use Auto
FCS on it, since that would cause the wing turrets to malfunction (in fact, you shouldn't
be using Auto FCS on an Atlanta at all).
One drawback of the Atlanta is that while it can pack some serious firepower, it's still a
vulnerable ship from lack of armor and DP. For this reason, the Atlanta isn't a "ship of
the line", and going solo in the Atlanta is discouraged, since it can't take many more
hits than a DD. The only armor of value that you can mount is bulge, but you can also
depend on your speed and maneuverability to avoid torps. And because it's a distance
fighting ship, getting rushed is a real danger, so don't let it happen to you.
For players that like to spray shells constantly, ammo can also be a problem, especially
with the 5"54 L's, which only allow you to carry a total of 3 binds per gun. As a result,
sometimes you may be forced to aim more carefully or to even hold your fire if you can't
be guaranteed that your salvo will connect successfully with its target. Switching to the
5"38 Mk 38 gun set helps to alleviate this problem somewhat, since you'll get a total of 6
binds per gun, plus you'll get extra usable displacement since the guns weigh less. The
drawback, though, is that they have considerably less range than the 5"54 L's (still
impressive, but not astounding), and their shells do less damage with High Angle, around
150-250 damage per shell. However, they're also much more viable as AA guns, since the
AA
shells for the 5"38 guns do impressive damage against airplanes.
Because the Atlanta can only mount a CL I Engine, you'll need to plan your moves
before you make them, since you'll be cruising and turning more slowly. This is part of
growing into a higher class of fighting: if you don't plan your moves beforehand, then
you'll find yourself in tactical situations that you can't win. Learn to play smart now,
and it'll become a habit in the future.
This brings us to the main drawback of the Atlanta class: the firing arcs. For the player
used to being able to deliver broadsides while running towards or away from a target,
the Atlanta's firing arcs can be a big nuisance, since the forward arcs can't reach all
the way back and vice versa; combined with the Atlanta's slowness, it can take forever
to realign your ship for a full broadside. For this reason, many people say that the
Atlanta's firing arcs suck, but it's not as bad as it seems; with the proper planning
and situational awareness, and you'll never be caught delivering partial broadsides.
Get used to this, and the drawback becomes a minor inconvenience.
The Atlanta also has two very useful remodels, the Juneau II and the Oakland, that
can turn it into a serious AA ship, or a beefed up version of the original Atlanta. Both
have their merits; the Oakland has less DP than the Juneau II but more gun space, while
the Juneau II gives you a touch more durability at the cost of gun space. Beware,
however, that CVs will also take you more seriously, and make the assumption that you're an
AA ship; the Atlanta and its remodels hold reputations as some the most devastating AA
ships in the game, so you'll find yourself far more often the target of enemy bombers.
This is not a ship that you should skip, even if you have to clean out your bank, sell
your DDX, and ask for money from your fleetmates. It can teach you much about using
line tactics, the way that true gunships play when you reach that stage of the ship
tree, since the skills you learn from HA-ing transfer very nicely over to learning how to
shoot in a CA and BB.
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Juneau II
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The Juneau II is an AA-dedicated remodel of the Atlanta. While it removes your T slots
and the two rear wing turrets, it also gives you two extra support slots, so the total
number of sailors on your ship stays constant. The increased gun space lets you carry
an extra bind of ammo (for the 5" guns), which comes in very handy, since many people
tend to run out of ammo in their Atlantas with the 5"54's. Its AAW rating is also higher
than the Atlanta's or the Oakland's, but this isn't a very big advantage. It also has a
bit more DP than the Oakland, which can be helpful, though it can still hold one less bind
than the Oakland. Since the Juneau II can be used as a dedicated AA ship, it's a very
useful asset to have later in your career; however, it can also hold its own as a beefed
up Atlanta, even without the two wing turrets. It also has the ability to carry more armor
or crew than the other two remodels due to its slightly lower base displacement, so if
your crews are getting a bit heavy, the Juneau II can give you a bit more elbow room.
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Oakland
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The Oakland looks just like the Atlanta, but don't mistake it for one; it can hold one
more bind of shells than the Juneau II (with 5" guns), and is tougher. You get your two T
slots back, but again, you won't make much use of them; any AA you need you can use from
the 5"54's (which, again, is pretty crappy, but it's better than nothing). The Oakland is
basically an Atlanta on steroids, since it's essentially the same ship but better in every way
except for the two rear wing turret mounts, which most people don't use anyways. Because
of the increased gun space, you can carry up to 5 binds of shells with the 5"54's, so you can
function as a secondary AA ship while playing as a primary HA ship. Many players use the
Oakland as an AA ship over the Juneau II because of the increased ammo space and higher
durability, so it keeps the reputation as a very deadly AA ship.
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Brooklyn
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Ah, the Brooklyn. Beware DDs, do not get anywhere near this thing if you don't want to
sink early and fast. When outfitted with five triple 6" guns, the Brooklyn can dish out
pure DD doom in each salvo. With the right armor, it can laugh off any DD's futile
attempts to damage it. And with a CL III Engine, it can chase down fleeing DDs at will.
Truly, this ship has earned its reputation as the best DD killing cruiser in the game.
Right out of the box, the Brooklyn has often been likened to an oversized DD, and for
good reason. The first caveat about using the Brooklyn is that 6" shells don't have
enough power to damage CAs effectively. The reason you could do so much damage in
the Atlanta was because the 5"54's could HA, something you can't do with the triple
6"s, which have a max angle of 40 degrees. The triple 6"s also lack range, so
sometimes you'll find yourself under fire from enemy ships and not being able to reply.
As such, with the triple 6"s, the Brooklyn is not a ship of the line, so don't try to play it
like one. They do excel at sinking DDs though, since DDs can't mount enough armor to
stop 6" shells, and the Brooklyn spits out 15 of them per salvo. Since they lack range,
you'll have to use a luring tactic to destroy targets: let your target get close and start
shooting at you, and then pounce; this gives you a better opportunity to close in on
them, since by the time they realize their mistake they're well within your firing
envelope, and you can continually close the distance.
The armor on the Brooklyn is more than what you can mount on the Atlantas, but it's
still not enough to let you compete with other CLs. While you're unarguably tougher
than an Atlanta, it's not tough to the point where you can survive being bum-rushed by
DDs, which CAN and WILL happen if you're not careful, since DDs will always want a
piece of the bigger ships around. Since your main opponent will be DDs, the best armor
that you can mount is belt and bulge; with enough belt you can shrug off the DDs'
attempts to damage you (as long as it's a reasonably small number of DDs attacking
you), and with enough bulge you can stop most of the damage done by torps.
Bulkhead is too heavy, and the Brooklyn can't mount enough deck armor to make a
difference.
Most people prefer not to use the T slots on the Brooklyn, since there isn't enough
space to mount proper AA weapons on it. Using torpedo launchers instead isn't
encouraged either, even if you're sorely tempted to; it just takes away displacement
that you can use for armor or speed instead. Besides which, we've already gone over
how torps are bad for your gunners, and your gunners are the most important sailors
you will own.
The Brooklyn is also the first US ship on this side of the ship tree that you can fly
scouts from (the Omaha can launch scouts as well, but it has a smaller capacity, and
it's not on the ship tree). Obst has a handy guide on how to use scouts on NF-Guides,
go there to learn how to use scouts. In the Brooklyn, you'll mostly be using your scouts
to pinpoint the locations of enemy ships, and to spot for friendly BBs. In this way, your
scouts will contribute more for your team than your guns, since BBs can do far more
damage than you, and can sink ships far more efficiently if they can see where they're
aiming.
If you want to use the dual 8" D's on your Brooklyn, you'll need high level gunners and
your BO will need to grow several levels to mark your shells. If you pull it off though,
you'll have a Brooklyn that packs a lot of raw long-range firepower and can outgun
most other CLs in the game. It's recommended that you only use the dual 8" D's if you
know what you're doing though, since it takes a while to get used to them, you can't
carry a lot of ammo, the dual 8"s can take a long time to get a good spread, and the
Brooklyn is still a fragile ship compared to the Cleveland. While you still can't exactly
play as a ship of the line, a Brooklyn with dual 8"s is far more dangerous than one with
triple 6"s.
Some players opt to use their Brooklyn as an AA ship, since it can take advantage of the
dual 6"47 DP guns, which are the longest ranged and most powerful AA guns in the USN's
arsenal. While you can't put as many barrels in the air as an Atlanta (10 as opposed to
12), you have the advantage of higher durability, more armor, more speed, better firing
arcs, and more ammo. However, the Brooklyn is also a larger target, and will often be
targetted over an Atlanta because it's a CL2.
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Cleveland
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Widely considered to be one of the most versatile CLs in the game, to call the
Cleveland a light cruiser is a travesty: with the right guns, proper crew, and a good
armor setup, the Cleveland becomes a pocket heavy cruiser. You can wield heavy CL
weapons (the dual 8"s) that no other CL (and even most CAs) can withstand, mount enough
armor to last a long time, and with the CL III Engine you can run around like you're in a
Timmerman. While the firing range still doesn't allow you to use the Cleveland to its full
potential when you first get it, you can achieve far better penetration with the 8" shells,
which, for the first time since the Atlanta, lets you actively compete against CLs and CAs,
though you'll be far more durable this time around. Because it's so versatile, the Cleveland
should never be underestimated.
Even though the dual 8" D's don't sport a comparatively impressive range, they're the
first guns you'll use that let you range other ships of your class. Mounting the triple
6"s on this ship is a downgrade; if you want to use triple 6"s, stick with the Brooklyn,
since it has 5 mounts instead of 4. With the dual 8"s, it's time to put those basics you
learned in the Atlanta to good use: set the guns to max angle, engage enemies at the
farthest range possible, and back away whenever an enemy rushes. The 8"s are
designed to fight at range, since your target might not be able to reply at that range,
and your slower reload time is a disadvantage at close range.
Your main problem is that right out of the box, you may not be able to use the
Cleveland proficiently because your spread is horrible. While your spread will,
unfortunately, take time to tighten up, the thing to consider here is that even landing
one or two shells per salvo on a target will cause considerable amounts of damage;
each shell can do 300+ damage to most targets (with AP, you can penetrate the armor of
armored BBs and cause around 200 damage), so hitting with even half your shells can cause
1200+ damage, which is considerable for a CL. However, this also means that CAs will start
taking you as a serious threat, and will target you among a group of ships if you're not near
bigger friends.
One problem is that since your spread is so wide at first, you'll have trouble hitting
small ships (which gives you an idea of just how frustrated all those BBs and CAs felt
about shooting at you when you were in your DD). The solution, sadly, is to close the
gap enough to tighten your spread. Since DDs can't withstand 8" shells at all, you have
a good chance of crippling the DD before it can get too close to you if your aim is good,
or at the minimum force it to turn away if you engage it far enough away.
The Cleveland used to only be able to mount a CL I FCS, but the OpenNF patch increased its
FCS space slightly so it can now carry a CL II FCS, which helps your spread slightly. However,
the spread can still be very hard to use at first; therefore, most players will be forced to use
the dual 8" D's with HHE, which limits their range. It will, unfortunately, take time to be able
to use the Cleveland to its maximum potential, but once you do reach that potential, you'll be
taken as a serious threat in every room you enter.
The Cleveland can mount considerable amounts of armor, but you still can't mount enough
deck to protect against 8" shells or higher. For that reason, the only realistic armor you
can carry is bulge. Some people play their Clevelands unarmored and run around like
jackrabbits, others put all the armor they can on it and play RN-style; either way is
fine, it just depends on your own preference.
The Cleveland also sports some T mounts that actually have usable gun space. This
means that you can carry useful AA weapons on your Cleveland, which is invaluable
for your team. The main problem with mounting AA is that they take up a lot of weight
that could be used instead for more armor or speed, but learning to AA and use your
heavy guns at the same time is an important skill to learn for when you get a capital
ship.
Like the Brooklyn, some players use the Cleveland as an AA ship. While the Cleveland has
one less R mount than the Brooklyn, it also has very useful T mounts, which allows you to
put up to 16 barrels in the air, something that's worth considering. The problem here though
is that it takes good micromanagement on your part to switch between the R and T guns,
point them in the same directions, and keeping the angles right. If you can pull it off though,
the Cleveland can make a fearsome AA platform, though it suffers from the same
drawback of being a bigger target than an Atlanta.
Penguin0123 suggests the following:
"With 6/47 DP guns, the Cleveland becomes the epitome of an AA CL. Although the
6-inch has a slow reload time and a shallow angle, it has the longest reach of
all USN AA guns; and at 147 damage per shell, even one hit is capable of downing
a scout. The L version of this gun is recommended since it fires so slow. At
level, you will not get a second salvo off before the planes cross your golden
angle even if it is the D version. This is where your T slots come in. With
either 5/38s or 3/70s, you can still throw up a wall of flak up-close. Since
your guns will hit planes you cannot spot, you should scout (as you should have
been doing since you hit the Brooklyn). Lastly, the 6-inch AA will not become
effective until your gunners hit low 70s, but once they do, you can snipe scouts
from afar while still maintaining an awesome flak wall up close. The trick is to
know when to switch between R and T guns. Once you have mastered this, nothing
in the sky is safe."
Like the Brooklyn, the Cleveland can carry and launch scouts. Unlike the Brooklyn
though, you'll be using the scout to spot for your own fire, since the dual 8"s can
actually fire outside of your sight-range. It's not by much, but it's an important step
towards learning how to use scouts to help yourself; this is how BBs conduct business,
and it's a good time to start learning how to do that. By this time, you may be using
tier-2 or -3 scouts, which is rarely a bad thing.
Depending on your fighting style, you can choose to mount dual 8" N's or D's, with the
respective guns affecting how much ammo you can store. The D's let you carry 5 binds
and weigh less, but you'll sometimes find yourself wishing that you had better range.
The N's sacrifice armor and/or speed, you'll need really good gunners and a top-notch
BO to hit targets and see your shells land, and you'll only be able to carry two binds
(80 rounds per gun, 40 salvos total), but you'll be laughing at how much range you
have. With LHE, the range with the N's is quite insane, and you may even find yourself
ranging some CAs.
If you've been learning real line tactics up to this point, the Cleveland will be one of your
favorite ships. While it's still a CL, it comes really close to being a ship of the line; with its
heavy armament, good durability, formidable secondary battery, and high speed, the
Cleveland can perform multiple support roles and becomes an independent combat platform
at higher levels. Best of all, these skills transfer directly and well into your next ship, the
Baltimore, and well beyond.
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Texas
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The Texas is a Premium CL, a national CL that can only be bought with real money
(though you can also buy them from players in-game). This ship can kick a lot of ass,
depending on circumstances. While it has the smallest displacement out of all the US
CLs, its gun space lets you mount triple 8"s (if you have the gunners for it, that is),
making it a mini-BB, quite literally. What makes this even more pronounced is its small
size; it's the same size as a FF!
Because it's so small, no real armor is needed, since it's very hard to hit anyways; the
best armor you can mount is bulge, but not so much that your speed decreases
dramatically. You need all the speed you can get, since you're supposed to use it to
dodge the enemy shells as best as you can, and the Texas isn't a very fast boat by
itself without the right engine to mount on it.
One of the main problems you'll face is rushing DDs; because the Texas only has two
gun mounts, you might find yourself wishing you had more turrets to fire, but that's
why you have the triple 8"s: to nail enemies at a distance. In this way, the Texas is
similar to the Atlanta, best suited for distance fighting. Not to mention, the reload time
for the triple 8"s can seem horribly slow at times, so rushing DDs are most definitely
your enemy.
Zig-zagging becomes a very important trick to learn in the Texas. You're relying on your
small size and evasiveness to avoid being hit by shells, rather than mounting armor to
defend against it, so zig-zagging is essential. Ledan suggests the following:
"When engaging enemy ships at maximum range, a good tactic would be to zigzag.
Fire, press 'G' to go back to your ship, steer towards your target. Press G to watch
where your shells land. Adjust angles and fire, press 'G' to go back to your ship again,
steer away from the target and press 'G' to observe the shell."
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Randall
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The Randall APA is a unique ship. To select it, you have to select it on the ship tree
directly after the Fletcher, at the same branch as the Somers and Gearing, only 11-13
levels later. It also has no more ships after it on the ship tree.
As a fighting ship, it sucks; it's weaker than a Fletcher, can only mount a DD I FCS, has
weak gun space and few guns, and costs almost as much as an Atlanta. However, its
purpose isn't to fight other ships; its purpose is to land soldiers on an enemy harbor in
the Harbor Assault special game mode; as such, this ship is really a fleet asset rather
than a fighting ship. If you're not in a fleet, then you won't need this ship at all; but if
you want to help your fleet by using this ship, make sure that:
1. You already have a BO that's well beyond this line
2. The BO that you're planning to give the Randall is expendable
3. Your fleet master has a Level 80 Radioman, a C.N.O.
4. Your fleet is strong enough to compete for a harbor
If you fill all of the above requirements, then go ahead and get this ship, then ask your
fleetmates how it works.
Also, because of their gun placement, some players use the APAs as AA platforms.
While their gun space isn't as good as an Atlanta's, it isn't limited in its firing arcs like
the Atlanta, and it has a large number of support slots that can be used to level
sailors.