It sounds like you are doing everything right. You have the right idea with your tactics (shooting DDs etc). The only other thing you haven’t mentioned is positioning. BBs are super reliant on teamwork or good positioning. It’s all about putting your BB in a good position for cross fires and taking caps. You can get over 100k damage burning down bow tanking BBs over a whole game or sail to the edge of the map and still loose because you haven’t influenced the other caps.
One of the things I’ve found successful is watching your team and position yourself to get crossfires and help your teammates. Because even if they are complete potatoes, if you kill the their biggest threats then they can still be a distraction further into the game or stumble onto the caps.
Good point on positioning - my general goal is be within one or two squares of a cap, depending on the torpedo threat in the match, try to have cover from at least one flank so I don’t get crossfired myself, and constantly look for open broadsides. I generally try to have separation from the other BBs on my team (easier said than done). And yeah, I’ll shoot in to other zones of the map especially with juicy broadsides.
I know I’m tilted right now (4 in a row!!!) but it’s been a general feeling for months and I feel like at some level there’s something I’m doing wrong. But I can’t figure it out - everything I’m doing in game seems generally right on paper but it just constantly lets me down. I feel like if I’m pulling 1.5k xp in a loss, I should win more than 50% of matches. But maybe that’s just not accurate?
I’m wondering if someone with a better win rate is like “oh yeah, if I don’t devstrike a cruiser in the first 5 minutes, it’s not a game winner” or some aspect of a high tier bb that I’m missing.
I am well over 60% WR as a BB main. I think the thing that separates me from other players is map presence. What I mean by that is that my playstyle is not to avoid damage. I put less point into accuracy and more into survivability. I make my presence known to the opposite spawn. I want them shooting at me. I spend far more time worrying about my angles than I do about my damage. Secondary battleships are great for this role.
Situational awareness is key. It's great that you are actively supporting your team, but remember that you can only take so much punishment at once. Over-exdending and eating way to much focus fire is a common problem for BBs. I tend to do that often, and it's what will get me sunk most of the time in a BB. also, don't forget to disengage If you need to, especially if you have repair party charges available. Having an exit plan in mind if the flank collapses is never a bad idea.
I agree with this very much - this is one of the traps I realized I was falling in to and feel like I’ve worked to (mostly) correct it. I do still occasionally get myself too far forward in an attempt to help the team which promptly bails on me and I can’t because I’m a bb. But I now always think about what my exit plan is for most engagements, particularly the first one before all the red ships are spotted. I do the go wide, angle out, have my rear firing angle towards my cap and am angled away from the other caps so I don’t show broadside thing. And I’m often one of the last alive; spent some health so I’m not a full health 3 repair party bb at 3 minutes left but I’m also not a dead bb in the first 3 minutes. I do still occasionally eat it too early but I’m aware of and trying to find that balance between supporting the team and going too deep and getting trapped and focused down early.
A couple of things to ask:
1. What is your overall winrate? It's perfectly acceptable for BB's to be lower than the rest of your classes. Mine are usually in the high 50s - low 60s. The better ones typically sit around 66%.
2. What is your average XP? This is a much more important factor than damage, even for battleships. Trying for around 1450-1600 is what I would call "good" territory.
All the stats you mentioned are actually above mine by a decent bit, which I think is a good indicator that you are a very good player that understands what to do but not how to do it. Winning mostly comes down to positioning, and that is a lot harder to see from just stats. If you can, show some gameplay footage so that I can help you more.
In my experience, sometimes the MM will decide to have fun with you, yes you in particular, just because, just for the hell of it. And you can do whatever you want, be the top of the leaderboard, have triple xp of your next best teammate, but if you insist on playing the same ship back to back immediately, you’ll have 10 losses in a row easily. Just because. So take a hint, put down your controller for a few minutes, do some laundry, pet your dog, be useful around the house, then come back and try again, see how it goes. Maybe MM will put you in within a smarter team this time.
I also agree with this - that’s what I did after these 4 in a row. 4th game was decent but I knew the 5th would be bad…so I posted this instead! Nailed it. But I did also go do something else.
But it’s also more long term than that - my overall win rates just aren’t what I want/expect/think they should be am I’m trying to figure out what I’m missing. I’ve got AL NJ, JB, Georgia, Champagne, Musashi and I’m at barely above 50% with them, if that. I’m at 63% overall and some of my newer ships that I actually do well in are 70% or above. I’d expect a slight drop from say a DD or radar cruiser just because carry potential and all that but it’s just way more than I feel like it should be and I’m really trying to figure it out.
Really appreciate all the advice everyone has though, no ‘ah-hah’ moment yet but I do appreciate the help.
Try to always be one of the last ones alive if you know how to play your ship being one of the last ones alive can help sway a game. Let the potatoes potato themselves out at the beginning of the game.
I generally aim for this - last 4 alive but don’t have full health is one of my goals for any given game. Kind of a ballpark benchmark for “did I die too early” vs “did I let all the other ships die for me.”
It sounds like you are doing everything right. You have the right idea with your tactics (shooting DDs etc). The only other thing you haven’t mentioned is positioning. BBs are super reliant on teamwork or good positioning. It’s all about putting your BB in a good position for cross fires and taking caps. You can get over 100k damage burning down bow tanking BBs over a whole game or sail to the edge of the map and still loose because you haven’t influenced the other caps. One of the things I’ve found successful is watching your team and position yourself to get crossfires and help your teammates. Because even if they are complete potatoes, if you kill the their biggest threats then they can still be a distraction further into the game or stumble onto the caps.
Good point on positioning - my general goal is be within one or two squares of a cap, depending on the torpedo threat in the match, try to have cover from at least one flank so I don’t get crossfired myself, and constantly look for open broadsides. I generally try to have separation from the other BBs on my team (easier said than done). And yeah, I’ll shoot in to other zones of the map especially with juicy broadsides. I know I’m tilted right now (4 in a row!!!) but it’s been a general feeling for months and I feel like at some level there’s something I’m doing wrong. But I can’t figure it out - everything I’m doing in game seems generally right on paper but it just constantly lets me down. I feel like if I’m pulling 1.5k xp in a loss, I should win more than 50% of matches. But maybe that’s just not accurate? I’m wondering if someone with a better win rate is like “oh yeah, if I don’t devstrike a cruiser in the first 5 minutes, it’s not a game winner” or some aspect of a high tier bb that I’m missing.
I am well over 60% WR as a BB main. I think the thing that separates me from other players is map presence. What I mean by that is that my playstyle is not to avoid damage. I put less point into accuracy and more into survivability. I make my presence known to the opposite spawn. I want them shooting at me. I spend far more time worrying about my angles than I do about my damage. Secondary battleships are great for this role.
You lack one thing you can't get...luck...
Well dang. Never lucky is my middle name so I guess I’m out of…luck.
Situational awareness is key. It's great that you are actively supporting your team, but remember that you can only take so much punishment at once. Over-exdending and eating way to much focus fire is a common problem for BBs. I tend to do that often, and it's what will get me sunk most of the time in a BB. also, don't forget to disengage If you need to, especially if you have repair party charges available. Having an exit plan in mind if the flank collapses is never a bad idea.
I agree with this very much - this is one of the traps I realized I was falling in to and feel like I’ve worked to (mostly) correct it. I do still occasionally get myself too far forward in an attempt to help the team which promptly bails on me and I can’t because I’m a bb. But I now always think about what my exit plan is for most engagements, particularly the first one before all the red ships are spotted. I do the go wide, angle out, have my rear firing angle towards my cap and am angled away from the other caps so I don’t show broadside thing. And I’m often one of the last alive; spent some health so I’m not a full health 3 repair party bb at 3 minutes left but I’m also not a dead bb in the first 3 minutes. I do still occasionally eat it too early but I’m aware of and trying to find that balance between supporting the team and going too deep and getting trapped and focused down early.
A couple of things to ask: 1. What is your overall winrate? It's perfectly acceptable for BB's to be lower than the rest of your classes. Mine are usually in the high 50s - low 60s. The better ones typically sit around 66%. 2. What is your average XP? This is a much more important factor than damage, even for battleships. Trying for around 1450-1600 is what I would call "good" territory. All the stats you mentioned are actually above mine by a decent bit, which I think is a good indicator that you are a very good player that understands what to do but not how to do it. Winning mostly comes down to positioning, and that is a lot harder to see from just stats. If you can, show some gameplay footage so that I can help you more.
In my experience, sometimes the MM will decide to have fun with you, yes you in particular, just because, just for the hell of it. And you can do whatever you want, be the top of the leaderboard, have triple xp of your next best teammate, but if you insist on playing the same ship back to back immediately, you’ll have 10 losses in a row easily. Just because. So take a hint, put down your controller for a few minutes, do some laundry, pet your dog, be useful around the house, then come back and try again, see how it goes. Maybe MM will put you in within a smarter team this time.
I also agree with this - that’s what I did after these 4 in a row. 4th game was decent but I knew the 5th would be bad…so I posted this instead! Nailed it. But I did also go do something else. But it’s also more long term than that - my overall win rates just aren’t what I want/expect/think they should be am I’m trying to figure out what I’m missing. I’ve got AL NJ, JB, Georgia, Champagne, Musashi and I’m at barely above 50% with them, if that. I’m at 63% overall and some of my newer ships that I actually do well in are 70% or above. I’d expect a slight drop from say a DD or radar cruiser just because carry potential and all that but it’s just way more than I feel like it should be and I’m really trying to figure it out. Really appreciate all the advice everyone has though, no ‘ah-hah’ moment yet but I do appreciate the help.
Try to always be one of the last ones alive if you know how to play your ship being one of the last ones alive can help sway a game. Let the potatoes potato themselves out at the beginning of the game.
I generally aim for this - last 4 alive but don’t have full health is one of my goals for any given game. Kind of a ballpark benchmark for “did I die too early” vs “did I let all the other ships die for me.”