I don’t think the current situation is any better, I’d argue it’s gotten worse. Top tier balance isn’t any better than it was in 2022, with Scharnhorst dominating for nearly two years next to uncontested due to the ahistorical durability current game mechanics give it. Repair speed and massive crew reserves that can’t be harmed in most cases unless the other player has bad repair management is too big of an advantage in the current meta, and isn’t historical at all. HE spam was more effective than it should’ve been, but it was as bad as it was mainly due to the HE bug. Now the power gap between 6.0 and 7.0 is so bad you may as well not bother spawning in an uptier, which I think is very bad for long term player numbers and retention. Outside events I feel the mode is getting less and less populated as time goes on, I play far too many games with the same people.
As more and more of the crew moves under the armor superstructure hits of any kind have nearly ceased to matter, which I don’t think is historical at all. South Dakota spent about four months in a yard because of about four dozen hits, mainly to the unarmored parts of the ship, with at most three of those hits being 14” but only one being certain. Scharnhorst was doomed in large part by a single 6” shell to a radar. Bismarck and Kirishima were probably doomed regardless, but their upper works being peppered certainly didn’t help matters. As it stands you can take enough hits to effectively raze your superstructure with very little consequence on many ships, as the breach mechanic requires hits near the waterline to begin taking in water as far as I know. The current system just makes turtleback ships massively better than any other scheme while also making lighter ships effectively unable to contribute at all, which I think should change.
My SMS Derfflinger often faces top end cruisers and does very well. Don’t fear anything except Mutsus or other top calibre BBs, their shells are absurdly powerful. Ger BCs are all well made.
I still have yet to figure out how to actually sink this ship.
Just spent several minutes pumping AP rounds from my Baden into the ammo elevators on one from like 3km out. Zero fires.
I tried hitting other areas a couple times but it did nothing.
Some other enemy battleship sailed next to him so i hit him with 6 rounds and he sunk.
Could they at least give the scharnhorst a chance to have an ammo elevator fire? I do not remember ever setting a fire for one on it. Every other battleship has like an 80% chance of it catching fire if hit.
They do, however the problem is that the chance of flooding is too low in game due to the water surface is being simplified as flat in DM. In many cases you punch several holes on Scharnhorst’s armour belt but these breaches don’t take water in as they are located above waterline. IRL the water surface isn’t a flat plane as in the DM of this game, so breaches located over waterline can still take water from bow waves
I remember first times when Scharnhost added to game, you can just press W, rush to enemy spawn and bot ships fire at you with everything included autocannons. Now at least you can kill a Scharnhost.
I suggest SAP or HE when dealing with one. Flooding is much more effective than trying to go for crew kills or magazine detonations. The vast majority of my deaths in a Scharnhorst are from flooding either from SAP/HE or torpedoes.
I’d suggest trying to aim just below the waterline before the first turret and behind the aft turret. If you can hit the very back of the ship at the prop, it also tends to flood more. It definitely isn’t easy, but it’s easier than the alternatives.
Edit: Just forward of the first turret and just behind of the aft turret will also take out the pumps.
Naval mode is currently Scharnhorst mode. Matches should not be predetermined by the team with the most broken ship in the game.
This ship requires so much additional or modified mechanics to simply stop it from being a stomping machine. Waterline needs to be dynamic so that near waterline hits can cause flooding, ricochet check needs to be removed so that shells can pierce her turtleback and large caliber guns needs their dispersion nerf rolled way the hell back so that they can hit the damn thing. This is ridiculous!
When famous ships are added Germany is going to be a wehraboos wet dream. Invincible Bismarks and Scharnhorst going to close range and magazine sniping King Georges, Iowas and Yamatos, all thanks to unrealistic mechanics that favors turtlebacks.