Japanese battleships ratings/help

I’ve finally gotten around to the Japanese bluewater tree after putting it off for so long with the perception that the destroyers and cruisers were tough to grind. I was wrong about that and especially like the heavy cruisers.

I’ve gotten my first battleship, the Hyuga. Now I would like to know how to proceed.

If you had to rank the battleships Settsu, Hyuga, Ise, Fuso, Amagi, Kongo, and Mutsu how would you rank them and why?

I’m about 150k into the Ise at the moment. I don’t really want to grind through the Settsu to get to the Fuso if it’s not worth it, but I’m looking for advice.

Thanks.

Disclaimer:

I dont have first hand experience with any Japanese BBs and only fighting them and I havent played a vast amount vs some of the newer ships like the Amagi of late. So if someone with a lot more experience with Japanese ships comments, listen to them

From what I know, the Amagi and Mutsu are pretty decent at the moment with 24 second reload and 16" guns, gives you a lot of firepower, and the Kongo/Fuso also seems decently tanky to try and fight

1 Like

I have them all (except Ise and Amagi). Here’s a tier list:

S: Amagi, Mutsu. These have the 16 inch guns, fast reload, and decent mobility. These are among the best battleships in the game, period-- not just the best battleships for Japan.
A: Ise, Fuso. Both of these ships have an identical armament of six double 14 inch guns with some decent rounds. They are faster than most typical dreadnoughts but slower than the fast-battleship types. These are both WW2-era refits with heavy AA armament. Well rounded, very capable ships.
B: Kongo. Up until Amagi it was the only true battlecruiser the Japanese had access to. The armor isn’t great but it’s got decent AA armament and very high speed, the only vessels that can compete with your firepower that are faster are Alaska, Scharnhorst, Hood, and Kronshtadt. Proper battleships will shred you.
C: Hyuga. Slower than Ise and Fuso, with the same armament, questionable armor, and nearly zero AA. It is faster than most battleships of its era, however, but it will routinely see more powerful ships.
F: Settsu. Unless you plan on running a 6.3 lineup, don’t bother… and even then, you’ll get dragged up against more powerful ships. It’s not necessarily bad but compression doesn’t treat it kindly when it will always fight more advanced battleships.

4 Likes

I definitely have problems fighting them in anything short of the Scharnhorst. Thank you.

Thank you. It sounds like I’m on the right track finishing the Ise and then the Amagi.

Something very important I forgot to mention: Amagi and Mutsu absolutely are S-tier ships, but they do have a weakness that the other top of the line battleships (like Alaska, Scharnhorst, and Kronshtadt) don’t have: They have essentially no AA and no torpedo defense. So while their firepower is enormous, they’re a bit more of glass cannons than their contemporaries.

1 Like