The Art of the High Tier IJN Destroyer"The warmth of summer
an arrow floats on the breeze
bringing with it death." I've noticed a lot of folks have concluded that the Minekaze is the pinnacle of the IJN line and that the upper tiers are complete tripe. While I also initially found the change after Tier V to be jarring I decided to embrace the suck and eventually found the upper tier IJN DDs to be my most enjoyable and statistically some of my most potent platforms. Instead of the Minekaze being the pinnacle of the line I see it as the culmination of a certain play style. That of the stealthy shinobi, adept at assassinating the lone and unwary. From Mutsuki onward I feel the line instead represents the mounted skirmisher, astride a swift pony whittling down the enemy battle line with deadly arrows and throwing it into disarray. In this way high tier IJN Destroyers can be used to telling effect.
This is not, for the most part, going to be a tutorial on basic destroyer skills but a discussion of what I find to be the best tactical employment of high tier IJN Cans. If you want to learn about torpedo ranges, use of concealment, best equipment and so on I would recommend checking out Mr_Jc's informative video on the subject:
It is true that Minekaze offers a very generous blend of speed, concealment, number of launchers and rate of fire. These attributes make her very forgiving of mistakes and supremely suited to stalking lone OpFor, getting in close and sliding a blade in between their ribs. In short she is a Seal Clubber's dream capable of brutally punishing opponents making mistakes. Subsequent tiers see those swift reloads disappear, with fewer launchers(with the exception of Fubuki and Shimakaze) and a slight downgrade in concealment and speed. In place of these attributes we get long range torpedoes with powerful warheads. As a result attempting to prison shank OpFor like you are apt to do in Minekaze generally becomes very hazardous and less productive. That said a continuation of the close action strike style, even with the attributes of Minekaze would not necessarily be as successful at higher tiers. As you up tier heavy capital ships gain ever larger health pools, better armor, more potent secondaries and ideally more adept skippers. Ships like Nagato can often absorb most of a spread, remain afloat while its secondaries shred your fragile Can. Even optimal ambushes can result in a loss of your HP, and doing so repeatedly will steadily degrade your destroyer. Additionally because of the increasing costs to rearm and repair the results required to still turn a profit or even break even demand a more measured approach. Ideally you should aim for matches roughly averaging 8-11 torpedo strikes and 80-100K in damage. To achieve this means staying alive and delivering as much damage as possible.
Thus we come to the skirmish style of play. You want to do everything to maximize the IJN DD's defining traits: concealment and powerful long range torpedoes. Instead of culling the loners I prefer to ply the waters were the main battle lines are engaging. This deployment renders five important benefits.
- First the greater concentration of enemies means torpedoes have a better chance of hitting one or many opponents. Type 93s especially have a splendid tendency of striking targets you didn't even now were present.
- Second these targets are the most likely to be focused on engaging their opposites rather than maintaining situational awareness. Given some of the issues with long range strikes that I will cover later, leveraging distraction becomes very important.
- Third, your fish will force OpFor to make hard evasive maneuvers, disrupting their ability to engage your battle line. While you might not get xp and credits for it, improving your team's odds for winning is never a bad investment.
- Fourth, by operating close enough to your own fleet units they can capitalize on your strikes and finish the wounded and provide covering fire if you stumble upon enemies(especially USN DDs) during your reloads.
- Finally by operating in "no man's land" between the lines you do not need to worry so much about the backstop for your torpedoes. Longer range torpedoes require more careful usage to avoid friendly fire and opportunities to fire without consequence should be capitalized.
Now let's discuss the use of fish themselves. The long range strike offers the highest risk of failure and requires the most finesse to pull off. Often maneuvers OpFor executes while oblivious to your launch can spoil your spread. It is also true that current spotting mechanics and the increased maneuverability in the latest patch do torp runs no favors. Still I often find a good spread, barring dramatic enemy maneuver before hand, stands a pretty good chance of connecting 1-2 strikes even with the current mechanics. First off you want to select the best target and have good positioning. Look for tight enemy concentrations and select the least maneuverable ships to start with. This typically means BBs in close formation, preferably wider turning IJN ones before the dime turning USN types. As for position try to avoid chase shots, fish coming in roughly broadside or ahead have the best closure rate and least opportunity to be outrun. I like to operate similar to the Cantabrian circle of old, launching on an arc closest to the opponent while putting distance between us during the reload. Unless your initial target appears to be particularly inept it's often beneficial to select a new unsuspecting target for the next spread. For the actual launch itself the key for me is to try and make a trap, casting as wide a net as possible but retaining a mesh fine enough to not let them slip through. This is why, for distance launches I always employ the tight spread setting, launching the first spread a little ahead and a few seconds after the second a little behind. Ideally this means that the target will first detect the torps ahead of them and slow thus placing them in sweet spot were the spreads overlap for the highest concentration. While sometimes you get a big multi hit, more often only one or two will connect. While that is not as satisfying as laying out a target with a single blow, you are playing the long game. Instead of risking it all on close attack you are accumulating strikes and whittling down the opponent. Furthermore its directly contributing to the main engagement and increasing your battle line's chance of success.
As the match progresses the other benefit of the skirmish style comes into play, specifically that you have husbanded you hp pool for the late game. Now you can utilize the concealment and ability to flex native to the destroyer class to pick off the remaining wounded enemies. This is the time you can make those HP trades in close action for telling effect. By staying alive most of the match I've often found I've racked up 8-11 torpedo hits by the end. With 80K to 100K damage even when losing your ship you can still turn a tidy profit.
A few side notes before we wrap up. I personally reserve smoke specifically for concealment upon detection, close action on aware enemies, or if a friendly really needs the cover. When using long range torpedoes I want OpFor to have no forewarning of the likely approach vector. A big old fog bank states your intentions pretty clearly. IJN DD Guns are not the best, especially compared with the superlative Mark 12 5"/38s mounted on US DDs. Still high tier IJN DDs mount a strong battery of six 127mm barrels, while they traverse and reload a little slow its still a powerful salvo. If the opportunity to presents itself and you are not opening yourself up to return fire don't be afraid to use them. They hit hard enough to finish a cripple and a otherwise engaged enemy can do little to stop you. USN Tin Cans present one of the most difficult challenges you can face. They are fast, powerful platforms mounting the deadly Mark 12 mentioned above. You can't often win a DPS game with a US DD but aside from Gearing you do outgun him, getting the first shot off and connecting can swing the duel in your favor. Whats more from Fubuki on upward you have a two turret rear battery. That means even in retreat, displaying your tiniest profile you can still shoot with more barrels then they can often present. Whats more is getting gunnery kills, especially on US DDs, are always an absolute hoot.
I can't say this will work for everyone and other members may have developed superior tactics, but so far this methodology has served me well. You will still have matches that are complete duds. Your fish just can't seem to connect, you run into a USN DD or CA and get gunned down, heck your team can be so good they wipe the floor with OpFor while you are still reloading your tubes. Still, achieving good matches in high tier IJN Cans are some of the most exhilarating and satisfying experiences I've had in World of Warships. When utilized effectively, high tier IJN DDs like the Group I Special Type Destroyer Fubuki and Type A Destroyer Kagerō can achieve feats Minekaze can only dream of.
You are the Samurai of old, with a good horse beneath you, a fine yumi in hand and a quiver of deadly arrows ready to fell your foe.
Make
Hara Sensei proud.
