World of Warships: Yoshino and Yudachi testing
5 min readHere we go for another testing review of ships currently in development. Today, I will be covering the Japanese Tier X cruiser Yoshino and Tier VII destroyer Yudachi (also called the poi boat).
As usual, work in progress, these ships will change (and already changed technically) so:
Japanese Tier X Cruiser Yoshino: What Azuma should have always been
The conditions of testing
During the testing of the Yoshino, I used the following captain build and upgrades:
Captain build:
Upgrades:
- Main Armaments Modification 1
- Damage Control System Modification 1
- AA Gun Modification 1
- Damage Control System Modification 2
- Concealment System Modification 1
- Main Battery Modification 3
The Good and the Bad
The Good
- Very accurate guns
- Strong HE and strong-ish AP shells
- Good firing angles
- 8 torpedoes per sides with good firing angles
- Armor that actually allows you to bounce battleship shells
- Decent anti-air
- Good concealment
- Good speed
The Bad
- Large target
- Vulnerable broadside
- It makes Azuma obsolete (like completely)
- Low HP for a super-cruiser/ large cruiser/ battlecruiser
- Large turning radius
- 45 seconds fire duration
My opinion
This ship… is great. Feels like the perfect child between Zao and Stalingrad.
Let’s start with the guns. These 9 310 mm guns on 3 triple turrets are just fantastic. They are accurate, the HE hits very hard and has high fire chance and for the AP… Well, it does the job. If a cruiser gives you broadside, the guy will really regret his life choice. It’s not the big OOF AP of the Stalingrad but don’t think that this ship is just about spamming HE and that’s it.
Her torpedoes… well… let’s just say that you don’t want to use the 20 km torpedoes. These 20 km torpedoes are just good at giving you a teamkiller penalty. A friendly destroyer passing by without paying attention and BAM! You are pink.
Now, she freshly received 12 km torpedoes but I didn’t yet have the occasion to use them sadly. The good thing with these torpedoes is that they have very good firing angles at the front unlike things like Zao so you will be able to use them without showing your big and flat broadside.
Talking about the 12 km torpedoes, here is the devblog about them.
Japanese cruiser Yoshino, tier X
Rudder Shift Time reduced from 15 to 13.9 sec;
New torpedoes added:
Reload time: 171 s;
Maximum damage: 23 767;
Speed: 67 knots;
Range: 12 km;
Detectability range: 1.7 km.
Rudder Shift Time is now aligned with cruiser Azuma.
The possibility of having two types of torpedoes available is being considered for the cruiser, and in the upcoming iteration, we’re going to test a new variant: These torpedoes feature medium range, high damage, and speed, as well as an improved detectability.
As you can see, her rudder shift time was also buffed which will improve a bit the overall comfort of the ship.
The anti-air is decent but it has a major issue. It relies a lot on flak damage to do well. Technically, one could say that the anti-air of the Azuma is better since the long-range AA has a bigger aura and the short range behind is stronger.
As for the armor, basically, take the Azuma’s armor but give her 30 mm deck and sides allowing the ship to bounce battleship shells. It’s a small change but, boy, it makes it so much more comfortable to play. The citadel’s sides are still quite vulnerable so don’t give broadside to any battleship passing by.
Her maneuverability is decent. The speed is good with a top speed of 34 knots but the big downside is the 920 m turning radius, it’s still fine with her good rudder shift time but the ship isn’t the best for torpedo beats.
Finally, her concealment is pretty good with, once fully specced for it, 11.9 km spotting range by sea and 8.7 km spotting range by air.
Conclusion:
Personally, I think that this ship is just right. Strong hitting guns on a ship made to be very mobile with actual armor to defend itself and extra torpedoes. This ship simply gets my seal of approval. (Too bad that it makes the Azuma completely obsolete).
Japanese Tier VII Destroyer Yudachi: Not the poi people wanted
The conditions of testing
During the testing of the Yudachi, I used the following captain build and upgrades:
Captain build:
- Priority Target
- Preventive Maintenance
- Expert Marksman (Can be swapped for torpedo acceleration)
- Adrenaline Rush
- Last Stand
- Survivability Expert
- Concealment Expert
- Radio Location
Upgrades:
- Main Armaments Modification 1
- Propulsion Modification 1
- Aiming System Modification 1
- Propulsion Modification 2
The Good and The Bad
The Good
- 15 km range torpedoes
- Very good concealment
- Good maneuverability
- Good alpha damage for the HE shells
The Bad
- Low HP pool
- Quite slow with only 34 knots top speed
- Slow reload for the main batteries
- Laughable AA
- Slow torpedoes with a high spotting range
My opinion
If this ship is good at anything, it is at catching dumdums with her torpedoes right now.
Her firepower will certainly not win any prize with her 5 127 mm guns and their 9 seconds reload but at least, they allow her to defend herself decently. Also, as I was saying, the current torpedoes are only good at catching guys not paying attention and sailing full broadside. They are slow with only 57 knots of speed and have a spotting range of 2.5 km. This gives the enemy plenty of time to avoid them.
Thankfully, they already got buffed to make them a bit more relevant as you can see here:
Torpedo detectability range reduced from 2.5 to 1.9 km;
Torpedo reload time reduced from 101 to 91 seconds.
Despite the fact that torpedoes with a range of 15 km are a definite plus, their high visibility did not allow Yudachi to fully realize this potential. Along with a reduced reload time, Yudachi will become a more dangerous opponent.
Now, the question is if it will be enough to make the ship interesting. Personally, I’m not that sure.
Her survivability is also lacking with only 13 200 HP. However, Yudachi is winning hands down a prize in one department and it’s the stealth. Once fully specced for it, she reaches 5.7 km detection by sea and 2.5 km detection by air. This allows her to easily sneak in and to outspot all destroyers at Tier VII (even though for Haida, it’s by 10 m).
I won’t even talk about the anti-air because it’s… well it might as well not exist since it’s just 27 DPS at 2 km.
Another bad point is the speed of the ship that only reaches 34 knots. With the Sierra Mike flag and the Engine Boost, she can do a bit more than 38.5 knots but that’s about it.
The turning radius is good with 570 m and the Rudder shift time as well with 3.2 seconds.
Conclusion
Right now, the ship doesn’t bring anything special on the table except for the 15 km range of her torpedoes. Her firepower is underwhelming, her survivability too and overall, her only real shining point is the concealment.
Now, if Wargaming really want her to be all about her torpedoes, I would say that they need to buff the speed as well because enemy ships still have a fair amount of time to dodge them with 1.9 km detection range.
I never understood that pun. Why the “poi boat”?