World of Warships Final Review: Japanese Tier IX Premium Battleship Daisen

With Update 12.3 will begin a new Dockyard event. This event will have us grinding for the construction of a new Japanese battleship (although in action it is a battlecruiser), the Daisen.

The dockyard will last for seven weeks with 34 stages in total with the combat missions allowing you to clear 29 stages. Otherwise, one stage can be skipped by spending 1 500 doubloons and you also have two starter packs. The first costs 5 500 doubloons for five stages and the second costs 10 000 doubloons for 11 phases. It is also possible to obtain tokens to clear three stages thanks to the Premium Battle Pass.

Is Daisen worth grinding for? Does she bring anything new to the crowded family of Japanese tier IX battleships? Here is my opinion.

Historical background

Daisen is based on a series of battlecruiser design studies by Yuzuru Hiraga from 1916. The point of these studies was to determine the kind of hull that would be required to reach a top speed of 35 knots on a capital ship. The four designs all had a main battery of eight 410 mm guns in four twin turrets, completed by a large number of casemate-mounted 140 mm secondary batteries. In all cases, the high top speed of 34.5 to 35 knots was achieved by powerful engines driving six shafts.

Design I and II were the smallest with an overall length of 284 m and a 229 mm main belt. The design I could reach 35 knots with 205 000 HP and had a standard displacement of 40 850 tons. Design II could only reach 34.5 knots with 186 000 HP and had a standard displacement of 40 430 tons.
As for Design III and IV, they were much bigger with an overall length of 294 m and a main armor belt of 305 mm. Design III could reach 35 knots with 215 000 HP and had a standard displacement of 44 500 tons. Design IV could only reach 34.5 knots with 195 000 HP and had a standard displacement of 43 950 tons.

When it comes to Daisen, she would logically be based on the Design III as she has the same size, armor protection, and speed. In the Wargaming cinematic universe, the ship underwent an extensive rebuild, giving it a modern superstructure, stronger deck armor protection, but also stronger anti-air, and the addition of four quadruple torpedo launchers mounted above water. To maintain the speed of 35 knots, the engine power was greatly increased to reach a whooping 305 000 HP, the second highest engine power after Ushakov with 320 000 HP.

With her enormous size, she dwarfs all the other Japanese battleships at tier IX.

Ship’s preview

Ship’s commemorative flag

The camouflages

The permanent camouflage of Daisen comes with the standard permanent tier IX economic bonuses:

• +10% Credits
• +100% XP
• +100% Commander XP
• +100% Free XP

By completing the dockyard, you will also get access to a special commemorative camouflage.

The Good and the Bad

The Good

• Great AP penetration
• Good AP shells ballistics
• Good main battery dispersion
• Good firing angles
• Good turret traverse
• Extensive secondary battery
• Same improved secondary battery dispersion as German battleships
• Eight torpedoes per side
• Torpedoes with high damage and very high flooding chances
• Fastest battleship in the game
• Access to a special Spotting Aircraft with very long duration and short cooldown

The Bad

• Poor HE shells ballistics
• Only an eight guns broadside
• Relatively low HP pool
• Thin main belt armor protection
• 32 mm casemate armor protection
• Incredibly long ship
• Third worse listed turning radius of all battleships
• Only three charges of Repair Party

Modules

Hull	Engine	Gun Fire Control System	Main battery	Torpedoes
Daisen	Propulsion: 305 000 HP	‎Type9 mod. 1	410 mm/50 10th Year Type Mod.A in a twin turret	‎Type93 mod. 3

General Characteristics and Playstyle

Consumables
Slot 1	Slot 2	Slot 3
Damage Control Party Work time: 10 s Cooldown: 80 s	Repair Party Number of charges: 3 Work time: 28 s Cooldown: 80 s HP regeneration speed: +0.5%/s Casemate damage regeneration: 50% Citadel damage regeneration: 10%	Spotting Aircraft Number of charges: 3 Work time: 240 s Cooldown: 90 s Maximum firing range: +20%
		Fighter Number of charges: 3 Work time: 60 s Cooldown: 90 s Number of planes in a squadron: 4 Patrol radius: 3.0 km

Daisen is quite an interesting ship among Japanese high-tier battleships as, compared to the others which have relatively limited mobility, she can blaze around the back lane with her high speed. Combined with her powerful AP shells and good main battery dispersion, this speed makes of Daisen an effective flanking ship, able to quickly create crossfire and punish the broadside of ships that wouldn’t expect her here. If you also use Brisk, she can reach up to 40 knots, making her one of the fastest battleships in the game, even when taking into account those with Engine boost.

However, this speed will also be invaluable to escape from unfavorable engagements as, due to her nature as a battlecruiser, Daisen isn’t anything that can be considered tanky. Between her limited number of Repair Party, poor armor protection, and enormous size, she can easily be farmed down. The 32 mm casemate also makes her vulnerable against tier X battleships or super-battleships with 460 mm guns or bigger.

With all of this in mind, you really want to stay at long to medium range (anything between the maximum firing range and… let’s say 14 km) and always be on the hunt for positions from which you can slap enemies on their broadside.

I apologize but there will not be a video this time as I’m currently recovering from COVID and I basically can’t line up two sentences without coughing my lungs out. Not exactly a pleasant experience.

Main Armament

4 x 2 410 mm/50 10th Year Type in a triple turret
Maximum Firing Range	19.708 km
Reloading Time	27.0 s
180 Degree Turn Time	35.0 s
Optimal firing angles at the front	30°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	30°
Sigma	2.1 sigma
Maximum Dispersion	232 m
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 410 mm HE Type0
Alpha Damage	6 500
Penetration capacity	68 mm
Explosion size	35.1 m
Fire chance	30 %
Projectile Speed	869 m/s
Air Drag	0.505
Projectile Mass	938.5 kg
Type of Projectile	AP – 410 mm AP/APC Type91*
Alpha Damage	12 900
Projectile Speed	870 m/s
Air Drag	0.3
Projectile Mass	1 020.0 kg
Projectile Krupp	2 711
Projectile Detonator	0.033 s
Detonator threshold	68 mm
Ricochet Angles	45° – 60°

The firepower of Daizen is very similar to that of Izumo as these are the same guns, shells and dispersion formula. While she has one less barrel than Izumo, Daisen gets a faster reload time which, combined with her faster turret traverse, will allow her to capitalize more easily on broadside ships that might present themselves. She also has a higher sigma value, making it more likely for the shells to actually hit their target. On top of that, Daisen has far better firing angles, reducing the damage she will take while bringing all guns to bear.

This main battery proved itself to be particularly reliable at medium to long range thanks to the Japanese battleship dispersion, combined with the 2.1 sigma. Coupled with the great performances of the 410 mm AP shells, Daisen will be particularly good at punishing broadside enemy ships. The ballistics also gives the target little time to react and angle to limit the damage they might take.

Also, Daisen gets access to a special Spotting Aircraft consumable that lasts for 240s on each charge and has a fairly short cooldown. With the Spotting Aircraft upgrade, you almost have it active the entire game.

Secondary Armament

10 x 2 127 mm/40 Type 89 on a Model A1 mount
Maximum Firing Range	6.950 km
Reloading Time	5.0 s
Sigma	1.0 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 127 mm HE Type0
Alpha Damage	2 100
HE penetration	21 mm
Explosion Size	6.15 m
Chance to Cause Fire	8 %
Projectile Speed	725 m/s
Air Drag	0.34
Projectile Mass	23.45 kg
16 x 1 140 mm/50 3rd Year Type on a casemate mount
Maximum Firing Range	6.950 km
Reloading Time	6.0 s
Sigma	1.0 sigma
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 140 mm HE Type0
Alpha Damage	2 400
HE penetration	23 mm
Explosion Size	7.2 m
Chance to Cause Fire	10 %
Projectile Speed	850 m/s
Air Drag	0.34
Projectile Mass	38.0 kg

The secondary battery of Daisen is actually pretty good. In total, she can bring 18 guns to bear with the same dispersion as on German battleships (Preussen line) but she doesn’t get an improved firing range.
Would I recommend running a secondary build on her? Definitely not. Between the huge size of the ship, her lack of armor, and her lack of secondary firing range, it would get really ugly really fast. She would basically get mawed down in short order. However, they will definitely come in handy in a scenario where a destroyer would manage to sneak up on you.

Torpedo Armament

4 x 4 610 mm Quad Type93 mod. 2
Reloading Time	150 s
Maximum Distance	10.000 km
Optimal firing angles at the front	38° for one launcher 74° for two launcher
Optimal firing angles at the rear	38° for one launcher 74° for two launcher
Damage	20 967
Flooding Chance	355%
Speed	66 knots
Surface Detectability	1.7 km

Because of her general design, the torpedoes of Daisen play a relatively limited role in battle. However, whenever you find yourself in a brawling situation, the high damage of these torpedoes is a particularly high asset. You will, however, need to time it right as bringing these torpedoes to bear greatly exposes the ship’s broadside which is thinly armored.

Otherwise, these torpedoes can be useful when kiting but it will be limited to the rear launchers as also using the front launchers would require you to be flat broadside.

Anti-air Armament

The anti-air of Daisen isn’t anything impressive. The DPS on all three auras isn’t going to make enemy carriers run in fear and the flak barrage, while deploying a decent number of flak, doesn’t have noteworthy damage.

ASW Airstrike

Kawanishi H6K – Depth charge airstrike Experimental 45 kg
Reloading Time	30 s
Number of charges	2
HP per plane	2 000
Attack range	0.5 km – 10.0 km
Number of planes in the squadron	1
Number of bombs in payload	2
Damage	4 200
Detonation timer	3.5 s – 4.5 s
Sink speed	7.5-11.3 m/s
Explosion radius	375 m
Fire chances	24%
Flooding chances	300%

The Armor

The armor protection of Daisen is quite lackluster compared to other battleships. With her enormous proportions, large turning radius, and thin main belt, she might be a bit challenging to handle for some people as turning at the wrong time might lead you back to port.

Other than that, the 32 mm casemate also makes her quite vulnerable against HE shells from cruisers.

External armor protection:

Citadel armor protection:

Turrets armor protection:

Main armor deck protection:

Turtleback:

Hidden armor protection inside the stern:

Final Opinion

Daisen, with her ludicrous speed and reliable main battery, ended up being a very pleasant experience. She is a welcome change in the big family of the tier IX Japanese battleship and honestly a nice reward ship for a Dockyard. She will obviously not outclass Musashi in terms of power because… well, you know… it’s basically a tier X in disguise. Other than that, the grind will be worth it in my opinion.

Recommended Build

For the Daisen, I recommend the following commander build and upgrades:

This concludes my review of Daisen. Thank you for reading this article!

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Also if you are new to the game or want to get back to it, feel free to use my Recruiting Station code for free goodies such as Premium ships, premium time, and more: https://warships.net/yuzorah

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Yuzorah

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