World of Warships: Benham and Hill review – Rogue Wave containers
8 min readLadies and gentlemen, today, I propose you to have a look at the new ships coming with the Rogue Wave event as well as the containers linked to it. Let’s first clear the important topic: “Are the containers worth it?”
The Rogue Wave premium containers
These containers have 2 variable drops plus a guaranteed 15 Fuel tokens.
For the other drops, you have:
- One of the following: 50 000 Commander Elite XP; 10 000 Coal; 7 days of Warships Premium Account; 1 000 000 credits; or 5x Type 59 camouflages.
- One of the following: 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage; 400 doubloons; or the special “The Master of the Water World” camouflage for one of the Tier X destroyers.
The “The Master of the Water World camouflage offers the following bonuses:
Except turning your ship in a pile of rust with Mustangs as lifeboats, this skin also changes the sound of the guns to make them sound like shore batteries.
As usual, Wargaming provided Community Contributors with a total of 15 crates. When opening them, except the 225 Fuel tokens, I got these drops:
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 1 000 000 credits
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 7 days of Warships Premium Account
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 50 000 Commander Elite XP
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 50 000 Commander Elite XP
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 50 000 Commander Elite XP
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 1 000 000 credits
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 5x Type 59 camouflages
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 10 000 Coal
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 7 days of Warships Premium Account
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 50 000 Commander Elite XP
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 50 000 Commander Elite XP
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 1 000 000 credits
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 7 days of Warships Premium Account
- 5x expendable “Post-Apocalypse” camouflage and 50 000 Commander Elite XP
- “The Master of the Water World” camouflage – Gearing and 50 000 Commander Elite XP
As you can see, when it comes to the “The Master of the Water World” camouflage and the doubloons, the drop rate is quite low. Overall, unless you want the Benham (that is well worth it) and you are missing Fuel tokens because you don’t have the time to play the game like a Chinese farmer, I guess that they are worth the 4.50€ per crate.
Ship reviews
Tier V U.S. Premium Destroyer Hill: The Hills are alive
Her camouflage gives the standard Tier V Premium camouflages bonuses.
She also gets a post-apocalyptic skin which gives the same bonuses. Like the other post-apocalyptic skins, the gun sound is changed to the one of the batteries on forts.
The Good and the Bad
The Good
- Strong firepower for a tier V destroyer
- Decent HP pool
- U.S. smoke generator
- Good anti-air for this tier
- Good agility
- Defensive AA
The Bad
- Awful firing angles
- U.S. ballistic
- 5.5 km torpedo range
- Bad concealment
My Opinion
Overall, the Hill is a solid destroyer for this tier. Her firepower makes her a very good gunboat and the torps, while they have short range can be useful more often than you would think with the meta on low tier.
Health pool
The health pool of the Hill is quite decent with 12 100 HP which puts her in the middle of the pack.
Main batteries
| 2 × 1 127 mm/38 Mk21 mod. 1 3 x 1 127 mm/38 Mk24 mod. 11 | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 11.350 km |
| 180 Degree Turn Time | 12.0 s |
| Reloading Time | 4.8 s |
| Optimal front firing angle | 60° |
| Optimal rear firing angle | 30° |
| Sigma | 2.00 sigma |
| Maximum Dispersion | 100 m |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | HE |
| Alpha Damage | 1 800 HP |
| Damage | 380 HP |
| HE penetration | 20 mm |
| Explosion Size | 0.38 |
| Chance to Cause Fire | 5 % |
| Projectile Speed | 792 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.347 |
| Projectile Mass | 24.5 |
| Projectile Krupp | 1350 |
| Type of Projectile | AP |
| Alpha Damage | 2 100 HP |
| Chance to Cause Fire | -0.5 % |
| Projectile Speed | 792 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.347 |
| Projectile Mass | 25 |
| Projectile Krupp | 2 598 |
| Projectile Detonator | 0.01 s |
When it comes to her main battery, the Hill boasts a very good firepower with her 5 fast firing 127 mm guns. In a duel against other destroyers, she will be able to hold her ground unless it’s a long-range engagement against destroyers with better ballistic. Let’s not forget, these are U.S. destroyer guns which mean that the ballistic is quite awful. Also, the firing angle of the 3rd gun mount is absolutely awful and will force you to give full broadside to use it.
Torpedo armament
| 3 x 3 533 mm Triple | |
| Reloading Time | 66 s |
| Maximum Distance | 5.5 km |
| Optimal front firing angle | 51° for both torpedo tubes |
| Optimal rear firing angle | 20° for one torpedo tube 56° for both torpedo tubes |
| Damage | 11 733 |
| Speed | 56 kt |
| Surface Detectability | 1.1 km |
Her torpedo armament is overall on the weaker side. While the reload is good and the damage is decent, the range limits them a lot. In general, you will only be able to use them on ships charging you.
Anti-air armament
| 2 × 1 127 mm/38 Mk21 mod. 1 3 x 1 127 mm/38 Mk24 mod. 11 | |
| Sector range | 1.8 km – 5.8 km |
| Hit chance | 88 % |
| Sector’s damage | 15 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 0.29 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 53 |
| Flak clouds number | 1 |
| Flak cloud damage | 560 |
| 2 x 4 28 mm/75 Mk2 mod. 2 2 x 1 12.7 mm Browning M2 mod. 2 | |
| Sector range | 0.1 km – 1.8 km |
| Hit chance | 83 % |
| Sector’s damage | 10 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 0.29 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 35 |
| Sector reinforcement | |
| Sector reinforcement bonus | +50% |
| Sector reinforcement time | 5 s |
| Sector reinforcement shift time | 5 s |
The anti-air of the Hill is surprisingly strong for her tier with her long-range which extends from 5.8 km to 1.8 km.
Maneuverability and Concealment
| Maximum speed | 37.5 kt |
| Turning Circle Radius | 560 m |
| Rudder Shift Time | 3.1 s |
| Surface Detectability | 7.38 km |
| Air Detectability | 2.85 km |
| Detectability After Firing Main Gus in Smoke | 2.75 km |
When it comes to her maneuverability, the Hill is doing very well with her good top speed and tight turning radius.
As for the concealment… well it’s a different story. If you use Concealment Expert and the camouflage, she can only reach a 6.4 km detection range by sea and 2.6 km detection by air. Most of the enemy destroyers will be able to outspot her and she will rarely have the element of surprise against them.
Consumables
Slot 1 | Slot 2 | Slot 3 |
 Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s |  Consumable charges: 2 Work time: 30 s Cooldown: 240 s Smoke radius: 450 m Smoke duration: 115 s |
Consumable charges: 2 Work time: 120 s Cooldown: 180 s Boost: +8% speed |
 Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 40 s |  Consumable charges: 3 Work time: 30 s Cooldown: 160 s Smoke radius: 450 m Smoke duration: 115 s |
Consumable charges: 3 Work time: 120 s Cooldown: 120 s Boost: +8% speed |
Conclusion
Overall, the Hill is, in my opinion, a good tier V gunboat destroyer. With her firepower as long as it’s not for long-range engagements, she will be able to handle pretty much any tier V destroyer and to hold her ground against higher tier ships.
Her only real downside is the lack of concealment wish can sometimes be frustrating due to all the destroyers that can outspot you.
Recommended build
During the testing of the Hill, I used the following captain build and upgrades:
Captain build:
- Priority Target
- Preventive Maintenance
- Last Stand
- Adrenaline Rush
- Superintendent
- Basic Firing Training
- Survivability Expert
- Concealment Expert
Alternatively, you can swap Preventive Maintenace and Basic Firing Training for Radio Location.
Upgrades:
Main Armaments Modification 1
Propulsion Modification 1
Aiming Systems Modification 1
Tier IX U.S. Premium Destroyer Benham: The torpedo soup is real
Strangely, her camouflage doesn’t give the standard tier IX premium camouflage bonuses but instead gives Tier VIII camouflage bonuses. I don’t know if it’s a bug or not.
She has an alternative post-apocalyptic skin like the Hill that changes the gun sounds into those of the fort batteries.
The Good and the Bad
The Good
- Good concealment
- 16 torpedoes in total
- Fast reloading torpedoes
- Very strong torpedoes
The Bad
- Low HP pool
- Below average firepower
My Opinion
Health pool
Her health pool is (without counting the stock ships) the lowest at tier IX with 14 500 HP. This forces the ship to carefully pick her engagements against enemy ships and mixes well with her more torpedo focused gameplay.
Main batteries
| 2 × 1 127 mm/38 Mk30 mod. 0 2 x 1 127 mm/38 Mk30 | |
| Maximum Firing Range | 12.600 km |
| 180 Degree Turn Time | 6.0 s |
| Reloading Time | 3.3 s |
| Optimal front firing angle | 36° |
| Optimal rear firing angle | 30° |
| Sigma | 2.00 sigma |
| Maximum Dispersion | 110 m |
| Shells | |
| Type of Projectile | HE |
| Alpha Damage | 1 800 HP |
| Damage | 380 HP |
| HE penetration | 20 mm |
| Explosion Size | 0.38 |
| Chance to Cause Fire | 5 % |
| Projectile Speed | 792 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.347 |
| Projectile Mass | 24.5 |
| Projectile Krupp | 1350 |
| Type of Projectile | AP |
| Alpha Damage | 2 100 HP |
| Chance to Cause Fire | -0.5 % |
| Projectile Speed | 792 m/s |
| Air Drag | 0.347 |
| Projectile Mass | 25 |
| Projectile Krupp | 2 598 |
| Projectile Detonator | 0.01 s |
Unlike the Hill, the firepower of the Benham is quite underwhelming. With her 4 guns, any DD of the same tier will outgun her. Against lower-tier destroyers, she can be fine but long story short, this ship is not about the guns.
Torpedo armament
| 4 x 4 533 mm Quad | |
| Reloading Time | 85 s |
| Maximum Distance | 10.5 km |
| Optimal front firing angle | 35° for both torpedo tubes |
| Optimal rear firing angle | 29° for both torpedo tubes |
| Damage | 15 200 |
| Speed | 65 kt |
| Surface Detectability | 1.4 km |
The torpedoes are the bread and butter of the Benham. That’s what this ship is basically made for. Spamming torpedoes all day along and terrorizing enemy ships with the torpedo soup you generate. If you go for a full torpedo build spec, you can get the reload down to 65 seconds.
They have basically everything. The speed, the reload time, the spotting range and kinda the damage.
Anti-air armament
| 2 × 1 127 mm/38 Mk30 mod. 0 2 x 1 127 mm/38 Mk30 | |
| Sector range | 0.9 km – 5.8 km |
| Hit chance | 97 % |
| Sector’s damage | 20 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 0.29 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 70 |
| Flak clouds number | 2 |
| Flak cloud damage | 1470 |
| 4 x 1 12.7 mm Browning M2 mod. 2 | |
| Sector range | 0.1 km – 0.9 km |
| Hit chance | 93 % |
| Sector’s damage | 20 |
| Sector’s damage frequency | 0.29 s |
| Sector’s damage per second | 70 |
| Sector reinforcement | |
| Sector reinforcement bonus | +50% |
| Sector reinforcement time | 5 s |
| Sector reinforcement shift time | 5 s |
While the Hill does fine with pretty much only her long-range anti-air, the Benham, even with defensive AA, will struggle to shoot down planes. She just doesn’t have the DPS. Personally, I would advise sticking to the Engine Boost because, while the Defensive AA triples the DPS, it’s still isn’t great.
Maneuverability and Concealment
| Maximum speed | 36.5 kt |
| Turning Circle Radius | 560 m |
| Rudder Shift Time | 3.4 s |
| Surface Detectability | 7.56 km |
| Air Detectability | 2.86 km |
| Detectability After Firing Main Gus in Smoke | 2.83 km |
Both for the maneuverability and the concealment are decent. The speed isn’t great at 36.5 knots but the maneuverability allows her to turn on a dice.
For the concealment… well it’s a bit awkward. It is able to reach 5.9 km detection by sea and 2.3 km detection by air but… a certain Kitakaze reaches the same concealment and I can tell you that you don’t want to be face to face with one of them.
Consumables
Slot 1 | Slot 2 | Slot 3 |
Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 60 s | Consumable charges: 2 Work time: 30 s Cooldown: 240 s Smoke radius: 450 m Smoke duration: 127 s |  Consumable charges: 2 Work time: 120 s Cooldown: 180 s Boost: +8% speed |
Work time: 5 s Cooldown: 40 s | Consumable charges: 3 Work time: 30 s Cooldown: 160 s Smoke radius: 450 m Smoke duration: 127 s |  Consumable charges: 3 Work time: 120 s Cooldown: 120 s Boost: +8% speed |
 Consumable charges: 2 Work time: 30 s Cooldown: 120 s | ||
 Consumable charges: 3 Work time: 30 s Cooldown: 80 s |
Conclusion
While the Benham as a low HP pool and underwhelming firepower, her torpedo armament makes of her an absolute monster that will flood the sea with torpedoes. For random battles, unless she meets an enemy that guns her down, she will represent a big threat.
Recommended build
During the testing of the Benham, I used the following captain build and upgrades:
Captain build:
- Priority Target
- Preventive Maintenance
- Last Stand
- Adrenaline Rush
- Superintendent
- Torpedo Armament Expertise
- Survivability Expert
- Concealment Expert
Alternatively, you can swap Superintendent and Preventive Maintenance for Radio Location.
Upgrades:
- Main Armaments Modification 1
- Propulsion Modification 1
- Aiming Systems Modification 1
Propulsion Modification 2
Concealment System Modification 1
Torpedo Tubes Modification 3
Last words
This time, the Hill will be available for giveaway starting from this evening (Because yes, this review is coming terribly late. IRL life is a bit of a bitch these days as I’m trying to find a job now that my studies are over).
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