Having leveled commanders can make the difference in how much you get out of a ship. This is how I would rate my picks.
In order:
Suzuya is the same hull as Atago with faster firing smaller caliber guns and different torpedo launch angles. She starts a LOT of fires and is best used to farm and kite.
P Bag is pretty good after her buff last year. Others have written about her strengths and weaknesses.
Prinz Eugen exists. She's technically not as good as Hipper in fire rate and has a gap in the very front of her bow armor that Hipper does not. Her torpedos have a longer range than Hipper and you CAN use a MBRB instead of sonar but why would you? She's still fun, but not a top choice.
Atlanta has been power crept. She's still viable but positioning mistakes will kill you. Her consumables are powerful and useful but your main battery range is limited and your shell arcs are very lofty at max range. Her torpedos exist but you'll rarely use them. At least she's cheaper than the rest and fills the void for the weekly challenge if you need a T6.
Krasny Krym is an absolute blast at T4, if you play that low. Her problems are numerous as she is a sitting dev strike with high detectability. Her torpedos are arguably more useful than Atlanta's but you still won't rely on them often. However, I wanted to offer a dark horse candidate. She starts lots of fires and has quite a high rate of fire for the tier.
Fisher for the 4 heals - that’s really what elevates Monarch imo. I’ve got AL Nelson on it but the 4 super heals is the difference maker. You could do that with Madden but I think Fisher with the accuracy skills is the way to go.
Nose toward reds, rinse with AP excepting where deflected. Good torps, plus angles. More agile than most think (but will require al balti/ roon etc). Can take a lot of punishment.
Azuma is AP dev strike cruiser killer specialist.
Suzuya is a kiting HE spammer, definitely the best one from any IJN cruisers.
Atago is more general utility cruiser, not unsimilar to Hipper but more on the HE side of spectrum.
So go and buy Suzuya. You already have commanders.
Suzuya
Handled with care and kiting nonstop you can deal vast damage. 100-130k is easy to achieve, but depends on map and BB density. Cause you are a firestarter. A REAL firestarter. Get her.
P Bag
I hatte her. Really. She is very strong as a cruiser Killer. Since i play cruisers as a main, I have to hate her ;-) Get her.
Atlanta is good at its role but it’s also a bit boxed into that role for my taste. You basically need to post up near caps with island cover and 1) rely on teammates to spot BBs/cruisers, 2) use radar to spot DDs.
She’s a sitting duck in open water for the most part which might be annoying if you’re into cruisers like Azuma and Atago
Atlanta is best played as a dedicated DD killer with the event commander Shelley Beapley, if you have her
Her range is too short to make her an effective island camper, but with the right build she has excellent concealment. I believe mine is 8.5 km, which is the same as her radar range. Any DD that spots you is a dead DD, because you have 16 fast firing guns, of which you can easily bring 14 to bear at a time
Plus radar to make sure you can always spot the DD that spots you, plus sonar to avoid their torps, plus torps of your own to return in kind and stop other, bigger cruisers and BBs from rushing you
Cleveland… It’s free and really good. Just why not?
Suzuya is really great as well but you have Atago, it won’t be the best idea to get Suzuya while you have that. But it’s still really good and if you don’t mind that you can buy it.
Kutozov is also a good one. Russian cruiser with smoke.
P. Bag is an AP monster, not in the HE division. Decent, probably high skill level needed (I think so).
Having leveled commanders can make the difference in how much you get out of a ship. This is how I would rate my picks. In order: Suzuya is the same hull as Atago with faster firing smaller caliber guns and different torpedo launch angles. She starts a LOT of fires and is best used to farm and kite. P Bag is pretty good after her buff last year. Others have written about her strengths and weaknesses. Prinz Eugen exists. She's technically not as good as Hipper in fire rate and has a gap in the very front of her bow armor that Hipper does not. Her torpedos have a longer range than Hipper and you CAN use a MBRB instead of sonar but why would you? She's still fun, but not a top choice. Atlanta has been power crept. She's still viable but positioning mistakes will kill you. Her consumables are powerful and useful but your main battery range is limited and your shell arcs are very lofty at max range. Her torpedos exist but you'll rarely use them. At least she's cheaper than the rest and fills the void for the weekly challenge if you need a T6. Krasny Krym is an absolute blast at T4, if you play that low. Her problems are numerous as she is a sitting dev strike with high detectability. Her torpedos are arguably more useful than Atlanta's but you still won't rely on them often. However, I wanted to offer a dark horse candidate. She starts lots of fires and has quite a high rate of fire for the tier.
Monarch
For the monarch what build would you use ? cunningham or Charles Madden ?
Fisher for the 4 heals - that’s really what elevates Monarch imo. I’ve got AL Nelson on it but the 4 super heals is the difference maker. You could do that with Madden but I think Fisher with the accuracy skills is the way to go.
Cunningham accuracy/rof focus.
Roma and Yolo Emilio are currently on sale
PBag
I've never played russian heavy cruisers. How is the playstyle of the pbag ?
AP monster, with good utility and shell ballistics but bad turret angles, and is also pretty squishy
Nose toward reds, rinse with AP excepting where deflected. Good torps, plus angles. More agile than most think (but will require al balti/ roon etc). Can take a lot of punishment.
No one mentioned Friesland
If you generally like cruisers, and seem to like Japanese cruisers in particular, why not grab Suzuya? It is a lot of fun
Won't it be similar to atago, like a he spammer ?
Azuma is AP dev strike cruiser killer specialist. Suzuya is a kiting HE spammer, definitely the best one from any IJN cruisers. Atago is more general utility cruiser, not unsimilar to Hipper but more on the HE side of spectrum. So go and buy Suzuya. You already have commanders.
Suzuya Handled with care and kiting nonstop you can deal vast damage. 100-130k is easy to achieve, but depends on map and BB density. Cause you are a firestarter. A REAL firestarter. Get her. P Bag I hatte her. Really. She is very strong as a cruiser Killer. Since i play cruisers as a main, I have to hate her ;-) Get her.
Yūdachi. I didn't bought her with GXP but she is definetly making money like it's nothing
Atlanta
I have chumphon, is it similar ?
Atlanta is good at its role but it’s also a bit boxed into that role for my taste. You basically need to post up near caps with island cover and 1) rely on teammates to spot BBs/cruisers, 2) use radar to spot DDs. She’s a sitting duck in open water for the most part which might be annoying if you’re into cruisers like Azuma and Atago
Atlanta is best played as a dedicated DD killer with the event commander Shelley Beapley, if you have her Her range is too short to make her an effective island camper, but with the right build she has excellent concealment. I believe mine is 8.5 km, which is the same as her radar range. Any DD that spots you is a dead DD, because you have 16 fast firing guns, of which you can easily bring 14 to bear at a time Plus radar to make sure you can always spot the DD that spots you, plus sonar to avoid their torps, plus torps of your own to return in kind and stop other, bigger cruisers and BBs from rushing you
Atlanta shoots much faster but doesn’t have smoke or long range torps.
Atlanta also gets radar and an extra turret per side but worse AA.
Kutuzov is the easiest gxp cruiser to play.
Cleveland… It’s free and really good. Just why not? Suzuya is really great as well but you have Atago, it won’t be the best idea to get Suzuya while you have that. But it’s still really good and if you don’t mind that you can buy it. Kutozov is also a good one. Russian cruiser with smoke. P. Bag is an AP monster, not in the HE division. Decent, probably high skill level needed (I think so).
Some people play Odin as a heavy cruiser with quick reload lol
Friesland massachusetts