400 SD in a colo isnt actually that bad...

Give UK a shot. They hit like hammers, elite boosted (v/e if you could pull it off) gunners on a county in blitz would be scary. for your reps you should be fine rolling but you want the high rep stat to hit the cap as quickly as possible, restore really doesnt matter because by bb4-bb5 you will have hit the SD cap (900) anyways. Engis are always better elite just because of the earlier speed cap and you get more OH faster. 

Oh really? I'd asked about it several months back and was told it was fairly low. I tried my SoDak again last night and got one shotted by one of those fast bug ships (don't remember name), landed his whole salvo on me. Was interesting.

Alright, perhaps I will give it a try. Thanks for the info.

 

for Colo, @level supports and crews will give you around 400SD when hopping to SoDak you'll gain a huge amount of SD cause of increase of Support slot and problem the level of your supports and crews...

vets and experts also helps with your SD, I still only have around 560SD on my ciao premod and around 650SD on my cara with supports of lvl 77-81 =.= full experts, 100 vets and boosted

Hmmm, so maybe I'm not as in bad of shape as it feels like I'm in.

Here is what I'm working with:

LVL 80 BO - SoDak LVL 43 BO - Northampton
LVL 81 Acc Huge Gunners - Approx 500 Experts and 70 Vets each (x2)
LVL 66-67 Rld Huge Gunners - Approx 290 Experts and 20 Vets each (x2)
LVL 74 1st Engy - Approx 330 Experts and 30-40 Vets each (x3)
LVL 73-74 1st Repair - Approx 360-430 Experts and 30-40 Vets each (x3)
LVL 33 2nd Repair - playing catchup
LVL 77 Scout

Also I have a friend's:
LVL 84 1st Restorer - 515 Experts and 40 Vets

With my crew (without restore and Rld Gunners for AA) I pull 408 SD on my SoDak, and obviously with the restorer I pull more with 554 SD.

Do I just need to buy boosts for these guys? Or is there really something wrong here and I need to part ways or fix something? 

The standard is pretty much 100-109 vets.  I think most people can crunch your numbers when you hit that.  The repair playing catch-up needs to be leveled on another ship.  Look for events for conversion increases and items to increase your vets.  Generally I would use increased conversion during events  to get to 70-90 vets, then use vet items to get to 109.  Even with a conversion event, I suggest at least getting 3 day premium to increase your chances as it does make a big difference.  I tend not to boost my gunners so I suggest starting with your supports.

Ok, so after reading this...it sounds like I'm just being a cry baby and need to get some vets all around. Would boosting my supports be more than worth my trouble as well? I've read boosting can be done at any time.

Also, on the Sevastapol...I have tried my absolute hardest with this crew to play the line (even though I found the Alaska and Guam to be unbearable). But I guess I will keep that option in mind. The SoDak has its moments, I just always seem to get crippled trying to get out of range after I jumped in to get a shot off.

I'd get 1 more engineer as well, 3 is not enough.
To fix your SD problem, vets are the answer. Boosting will help some, but not as much as bringing vets to about 100.
A shame you didn't sacrifice all your experts in the 300% vet boost event from 2 weeks ago.

Also don't fall for the temptation of using that restorer.
1. it will soak up xp you need on your own supports.
2. your repair rate sucks. So while you might survive 1 more shell with that 100 more SD, it just means you'll burn down or will be crippled forever, still effectively knocking you out of action instead of directly sinking you.

Elite acc/reload gunners are a waste of cash tbh. For most gunner roles any rolled gunner with 9/10 or better repair is more cost effective. For supports elite repairs are a good buy, but don't get elite engineers. 900SD will always come eventually, while a good/great repair rate needs a lot more work, so better focus on that instead of SD.

Alright so 4 reps and 4 engies. I guess I did my math wrong twice with this crew.

Yeah I noticed you guys had a pretty cool event there, I always seem to get bored and take a break just before an event is announced. I logged in for the first time in about five months last week.

The only reason why I have the restorer was because at the time I was short a support (my first math error) and my sd was poor. So essentialy once my other repairer gets close enough to start receiving decent exp the restorer is going to get put in storage. But seeing as I need another engy maybe I'll do some shopping and replace the restorer with that.

Ok, so I've read that it is worth getting Elite Repairs and Elite Engineers now. And both times the person has said not to get both.  So which one is actually correct?