Hear the wisdom of PCSHOGUN Dodging a torpedo spread is literally, a dance with death. You better know how to dance or you will surely suffer great damage.
Torpedoes are the single, most deadly weapon in the game (with the exception perhaps of Dive bombers). While a Battleships main gun can cause 1000 - 3000 damage in a hit, a single IJN torpedo can sink a destroyer. Different nations have different qualities to their torps but I will speak generally in this guide.
Combing the row: Torpedoes will leave their launcher in a cone and begin to fan out immediately after launch. The further you are from the launching ship, the more distance between the torps there will be, especially if the launcher has been set to WIDE instead of NARROW when fired. If the distance is far enough, you can sail between them, or comb them. Unless you are unlucky enough to be close when they detonate due to range limit, you will emerge unscathed.
Outrun them: If torps are heading for you broadside, you may be able to run past them using overheat, thats what it is for. Hold the F key down and run like a bunny to get around the cone of death. If you realize your not gonna make it, see the next few sections for more help. I have seen many folks just keep on sailing and get whammed by 4 torps. Take evasive action, captain!
Hit the wall: If you don't think you can outrun the cone. Stop the boat! Press the V key and come to a halt as fast as possible. If its gonna be close, press and hold V when your speed is zero and go into reverse to get a little more distance. This WILL leave you vulnerable to any enemy ships in the area as a sitting ship is a sitting duck for other torps or volly's. Use this wisely.
Shake your aft: Torpedoes are not guided, your ship is. If a torp is on a collision course with you, it is not gonna miss unless you do some creative driving. The exception are sub torps which will sometimes miss. If it looks like the torps are gonna hit the back end (aft) of your ship, try turning in the direction the torps came from to get the back half of your ship outta the way. by turning into the torps, you will be moving your aft end away from the torps giving you a precious second to get your butt out of the way. Even if you are hit, you would have had to suck up three or four, now only 1 will hit, perhaps none.
Take one for the team: Sometimes, the enemy shooter is just too good or lucky for you to avoid his torp shot. In this case your best bet is to turn into the torps to reduce the number of hits. A head on shot does less damage than a broadside hit. You may even get lucky if he has fired close to you. Torps have a minimum arming distance, turning into the spread can reduce the range enough to make the torps hit without exploding, this is a TW's worst nightmare. This will NOT work for most airdropped torps as their minimum range is 1/3 that of a ship launched torpedo. Ever wonder why? A torpedo exploding close to your ship will do as much, if not more damage, than a direct hit sometimes will do. Planes, being out of the water (hopefully) do not have this problem.
De Plane! De Plane! When enemy aircraft are approaching you near the water, they are most likely torpedo planes. Air dropped torpedoes are faster and have a much shorter arming range than ship launched torps. When you see the planes coming, try to turn your bow or stern towards the approaching flight. Keep zig zagging, not too fast, to force the planes to re-align their approach to you. If they cannot line you up, they may make a bad drop which means he will miss. The pilot may also be forced to wait longer to drop meaning you may shoot some down, or he will abort and come around to try again giving you more time to shoot them down or take some other action.
Submarines. Death from below. Able to sink a BB with only a few hits. They are vulnerable though. So how do you avoid these killing machines, you ask? You cannot detect a sub if you are using overheat. You cannot detect a sub if you do not have a sonarman on board. You can, however, see them if someone else can see them. KNowing where they are is critical to avoiding them and later killing them.
Subs are not very fast and they do not maneuver well . Keep a sub from pointing his bow at you and he cannot fire. Subs can only fire forward, in a very narrow arc. Some CAN shoot out the stern so be warned. To avoid danger come at them from the side and hug him. He cannot stay down forever due to lack of air. When he surfaces, nail him. If he does fire, use the above rules to avoid the hit. Be aware that subs torps have BIG warheads and will cause considerable damage even if it explodes nearby. Use your own torpedoes to hit a submerged sub, or to force him deep, which will cause him more damage the longer he stays down. When he pops back up, kill him.
Submarines have a special ability to DEEP DIVE which allows torpedoes to pass over them. However, subs cannot move when in deep dive and will take damage while they remain in a deep dive state. Deep Dive is also limited to the amount of air remaining on board.
I know much of this is common sense but I watch a lot of you playing and as you die, find myself wondering, "What was he thinking?". So, common sense or not, here is my guide to the fine art of torp dodging. Hope it helps.
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