I have more up to date guides on my youtube channel, here is a link to my tutorials-
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLfbjW38JTa9LVA6i9EQkqkIZrCVbF-0sP

You may also find it helpful to check out some of my let's plays.

This guide is accurate as of patch 1.02 live.

1. Individual ship guide
2. General ship building fundamentals
3. Ship roles explanation
4. Task force tactics
5. General tips

In the latest patch the smoke interference and engine efficiency have changed dramatically. Now you are no longer able to have both of them at a peak number.

So with this in mind it means that you will have to choose between gun accuracy, acceleration (and operational range) or speed.

You won't be able to have all 3 anymore.

I will be basing this guide on achieving the best gun accuracy and a high speed, giving every ship a minimum of 30% engine efficiency.

You can lower the speed to increase the acceleration (and operational range) as you please.

I will-
Give the max accuracy possible for each ship with as high a speed Stat as possible without suffering too much of an acceleration penalty.

Suggest what armour values I think the ships belt and deck should be.

Give my opinion on what I think the intended role of the ship should be.

Rate that intended role and give a brief summary of each ship.

The ships will be based off the earliest period they are able to be used at their max displacement.

The armour values will be main/fore/aft.

1890

Battleship 1
$8,011,260
Ideal speed- 18.3kn
Belt- 12/6/3
Deck- 1.6/0.9/0.4
Intended role- all-rounder 10/10
With the new accuracy/speed mechanics the new ships can now actually shoot! Can easily annihilate the AI en masse.

1892

Light cruiser 1
$1,693,724
Ideal speed- 19.8kn
Belt- 6/6/6
Deck- 1.8/0.9/0.4
Intended role- torpedo screen 10/10
Guns everywhere! Like an uzi, terrible aim but so many guns that somethings bound to hit!

1894

Armoured cruiser 1
$3,925,522
Ideal speed- 23.6kn
Belt- 8/4/4
Deck- 1.6/0.9/0.4
Intended role- CQC 10/10
A huge leap in speed from the induced boilers, half the price of battleship 1 and much more versatile.

1895

Battleship 2
$9,754,917
Ideal speed- 26.2kn
Belt- 11/5/5
Deck- 1.6/0.9/0.4
Intended role- anti battleship 10/10
A slight improvement over BB1, not really much difference though.

Battleship 3
$11,805,350
Ideal speed- 26.5kn
Belt- 11/5/5
Deck- 1.6/0.9/0.4
Intended role- anti battleship 8/10
A step in the wrong direction. Worse accuracy, maneuverability, and resistance than the BB2, and it's $2mil more expensive. Hard pass.

1897

Torpedo boat
$711,002
Ideal speed- 33.2kn
Intended role- destroying BB and CA 10/10
Insanely fast and ridiculously cheap. Only the most nimble of opponents will escape their wrath.

1898

Armoured cruiser 3
$6,740,868
Ideal speed- 22.8kn
Belt- 10/5/5
Deck- 1.6/0.9/0.4
Intended role- CQC 9/10
Excellent maneuverability, lots of firepower on a really sturdy base (low pitch/roll). Lots of tonnage to invest in armour or modules. Quite expensive and slow.


1902

Light cruiser 2
$4,291,814
Ideal speed- 24.8kn
Belt- 6/6/6
Deck- 1.6/0.9/0.4
Intended role- screener 10/10
Excellent all-rounder, can perform both screening and torpedo duties simultaneously.

Semi-armoured cruiser 1
Don't bother with any of the semi armoured cruisers, they are all awful.

1905

Destroyer 1
$2,374,631
Ideal speed- 38.6kn
No armour
Intended role- harass with torpedoes 9/10
Much more expensive than TB were but also a lot more deadly. Either save to finish off a stricken ship or screen and blanket fire.

1906

Dreadnought 1
$33,677,910
Ideal speed- 32.8kn
Belt- 12/6/6
Deck- 5/2/2
Intended role- long range sniper 10/10
Absurdly fast with forced boilers and steam turbines. A giant leap from the pre dreadnoughts but very expensive.

1907

Battlecruiser 1
$28,256,400
Ideal speed- 34.1kn
Belt- 12/6/6
Deck- 5/1.6/1.6
Intended role- long range sniper 10/10
Dreadnoughts cheaper little brother. Can fight a BB but it shouldn't make a habit of it. It's less accurate and resistant than the dreadnought.

1909

Semi-armoured cruiser 2
Don't waste your time or cash on this monstrosity.

1912

Dreadnought 2
$63,067,240
Ideal speed- 34.6kn
Belt- 13.6/6.7/6.7
Deck- 6/1.7/1.6
Intended role- long range sniper 10/10
It's obviously awesome, but is it worth the cost of 2 Dreadnought 1s? It is much more survivable so maybe the crew deserve the protection...

Battlecruiser 2
$39,378,220
Ideal speed- 35kn
Belt- 12/6/6
Deck- 6/1.6/1.6
Intended role- long range sniper 10/10
Although 33% Cheaper than dreadnought 2 it is considerably worse. If you're not fighting BB then you should be OK, otherwise dreadnought is worth the extra cash.


Destroyer 2
$5,664,237
Ideal speed- 36.9kn
9x 5" guns
1x3 torps
Intended role- blanket torp attack 10/10
Being paper thin makes them risky to use but they can can be deadly when combined with bigger ships that draw the enemy fire away from them.


1913

Semi-armoured cruiser 3
Just don't even bother!

1914

Dreadnought 3
$99,719,020
Ideal speed- 38kn
Belt- 16/8/8
Deck- 8/3.4/3.1
Intended role- long range flanking 10/10
An absolute beast, 50% more expensive than dreadnought 2 but with a huge increase in armour and speed.

1917

Battlecruiser 3
$50,765,260
Ideal speed- 33kn
Belt- 12/6/6
Deck- 6/1.6/1.6
Intended role- long range sniper 10/10
A bit limited on tonnage but it's half the price of Dreadnought 3! Just avoid enemy BB.

1918

Armoured cruiser 4
$18,804,180
Intended role- torpedo screen 1/10
Dog slow and terrible aim. Hard pass on this one!

1920

Heavy cruiser 1
$41,935,460
Ideal speed- 32.9kn
Belt- 12/6/6
Deck- 6/0.4/0.4
Intended role- torpedo screen 10/10
Best screening ship so far by a country mile, but can get very expensive if you add all of the best components available.

Modern light cruiser
$35,836,150
Ideal speed- 35.4kn
Belt- 6/6/6
Deck- 6/0.8/0.4
Intended role- versatile screen/torp boat 8/10
Far too fragile and expensive. Heavy cruiser is a better choice.

Destroyer 3 + Modern destroyer small
$6,578,726
Speed 37.7kn
Intended role- long range torpedo blankets 10/10
Their only real hope in this era onwards is to spray and pray and hope they get lucky. Keep them as cheap as possible, no/few components.

1921

Modern destroyer standard + Destroyer 4
Same as above

1923

Battlecruiser 5
$102,849,600
Ideal speed- 38kn
Belt- 14/7/7
Deck- 7/3.3/1.9
Intended role- long range sniper 6/10
Twice as expensive as the previous BC and not much better, leave it.

1924

N3/G3 class
$198,412,800
Ideal speed- 35kn
Belt- 16/8/8
Deck- 8/3.1/3.1
Intended role- long range sniper 10/10
Although very expensive this is the cutting edge in new technology. It can perform pretty much anything that you want it to!

Modern destroyer leader
$10,091,100
Speed- 40.5kn
4x 4 Deck torps
Same as earlier destroyers

1927

Modernised Dreadnought
$143,153,500
Ideal speed- 33kn
Belt- 16/8.4/8
Deck- 6/1.6/1.6
Intended role- CQC- 9/10
A budget BB, lacks speed but is incredibly resistant. N3/G3 is more versatile.


1929

Heavy cruiser 3
$94,787,660
Ideal speed- 34.7kn
Belt- 12/6/6
Deck- 6/1.6/1.6
Intended role- torpedo screen 9/10
Yes it's a better gun platform than the heavy cruiser 1 but it is 100% more expensive. If you are rolling in cash then fair enough, otherwise the HC1 is far better value for money.

Modern battleship 1
$280,109,900
Ideal speed- 35kn
Belt- 16/8/8
Deck- 8/3.7/1.7
Intended role- long range sniper- 10/10
A solid replacement for the N3/G3.

1935

Super Battlecruiser
$361,645,500
Ideal speed- 35kn
Belt- 15/7.3/7.3
Deck- 7/1.6/1.6
Intended role- long range sniper- 8/10
Insanely expensibe but also the first ship to pack 20" guns. It is under armoured and less maneuverable than the modern battleship though. It's a glass cannon.

Modernised Battlecruiser
$195,479,000
Ideal speed- 35kn
Belt- 14/7/7
Deck- 7/1.6/1.6
Intended role- long range sniper- 10/10
Another glass cannon but a lot more affordable.

Large cruiser
$141,071,100
Ideal speed- 35kn
Belt- 14.8/7/7
Deck- 6/1.6/1.6
Intended role- versatile- 10/10 heavy screen
Incredible core stats and maneuverability. Performs like a CA/CL.

1936

Super battleship
$579,396,900
Ideal speed- 36kn
Belt- 17/8.5/8.5
Deck- 8.5/4.5/3.2
Intended role- Death Star 10/10
Queen of the sea, at an epic $579,396,900 you had better protect her from torpedoes!

Modern battleship 2
$439,507,900
Ideal speed- 37.5kn
Belt- 16/8/8
Deck- 8/3.5/2.5
Intended role- long range sniper 10/10
Insanely accurate from long range with impressive speed and maneuverability. Just keep well away from the screen.

Step 1

A very easy one to miss and the best place to start, smoke interference.

First step is to choose the towers which have the highest anti smoke interference modifier. Just place them anywhere for now as you may be changing them.

Once you have done this you will need to equip the best propulsion components. So select the fuel, boiler and engines, the best is usually furthest to the right.

Now scroll the stats page on the right hand side all the way to the bottom and you will see the smoke interference modifier, currently it will show as a negative number because you have only placed your towers.

Now you need to select the correct combinations of funnels which will get that number as close to 0 as possible, making sure you don't go into positive numbers.

Start with selecting the largest funnel and if you are still in negative then select the smallest too. If you go positive then downsize the largest funnel until you go negative again and once you go negative you can up size the smallest funnel to try and get a 0 number.

Once you get to 0 or as close as you can whilst not going positive you now have the ideal amount of funnel per tower ratio.

Positive smoke interference is the biggest factor in having a bad accuracy penalty.

Step 2

Now before adding anything else to the ship you should set your ships speed. This is based off the engine efficiency that your correctly selected funnels have provided.

The Engine efficiency Stat is directly below the smoke interference Stat.

I recommend not going any lower than 30% engine efficiency.

If you are higher then 86% then you might want to downsize your funnels to save on some weight.

Once you have set the speed your only penalties will be to acceleration and operational range. You might want to change this later on but for now you can keep it around 30% engine efficiency.

Step 3

Setting armour. This part can be confusing and is also different depending on what role you want your ship to play.

Firstly you want to check the armour penetration values of the largest gun that your ship can equip.

Look at its max range and it will have 2 pen values, belt/deck.

If the highest deck pen is 5.9" then round this number up to 6" and this is the number that you want your main deck to be. (Maximum main deck of 8.5)

Your fore belt will be the same as your main deck and your main belt will be double that.

Your aft belt will be between 50-100% of your fore belt depending on the role of the ship. If you are building it out for long range then 50% is fine (3") if you are building it for screening/skirmishing duties then you want it closer to 100% (6").

Your fore and aft deck will depend mainly on the amount of tonnage you have to spare at the end, you never want them less than 0.4" though and the max is 50% of your main deck. So set it at 0.4" for now (this will protect you from 3" casemates). 0.9" will protect you from 5" guns (destroyer), 1.6" from 7" guns (CL).

Your conning tower should be at least the same as your main belt, but higher is better.

Your superstructure is very heavy so I only usually add this to BB and then set it to the same as your aft belt at most.

Finally you want your largest gun to be heavily protected, it should be at least the same as your main belt on the side and the same as your main deck top.

Example build-
1912
Battlecruiser 2

Top main gun deck pen stat- 5.3" (round up)
Main Belt 12"
Fore belt 6"
Aft belt 6"
Main deck 6"
Fore deck 1.6"
Aft deck 1.6"
Conning tower 14"
Superstructure 0.9"
Main turret side 14"
Main turret top 7"

Step 4

Before you start adding guns to your ship you want to first add the remainder of your component upgrades to make sure you have the best tech equipped before you start balancing your ship.

Before you can change the weapons components you first need to have weapons on your ship, so attach a torpedo launcher and 1 gun to your ship so you can do this.

Now selecting the components can be personal preference and can also depend on the role of a ship.

I always go for the best maneuverability mods (apart from auxiliary engine because of its cost), being out of position or failing to dodge torpedoes can ruin even the best of ships.

I always choose max citadel for every ship higher than DD.

If I have spare tonnage at the end I will get barbettes and bulkheads.

I never bother with torpedoes defense, bottom hull or flooding. The best torpedo defense is to improve at the game and avoid them entirely. Relying on the above just encourages bad habits.

Shells description is misleading, anything that adds range gives a bigger accuracy boost than the alternative that adds accuracy. So heavy shells are actually more accurate than light shells. But they come at the cost of being more vulnerable to flash fires.

I usually choose reduced ammo because I like to finish engagements as fast as possible and so the ammo is rarely needed.

On large ships I choose increased torpedo ammo and set it to aggressive and just let it fire off potshots.

For propellant I always choose the one with the least chance of flash fires. Making your ship as resistant to flash fires as possible is your best option.

Shell charges I choose the least volatile (lowest flash fire chance) for CA and bigger, the most volatile for CL and smaller.

I don't bother with turret traversal as it's so heavy, I'd rather invest that tonnage in armour.

I always choose the best reloading mod as speed is the key to not sustaining much damage and lowers your chance of getting hit by a lucky shot.

Fast is the best torpedo option because the AI is so good at dodging that you need the speed.

In later years you can choose electric or oxygen and use your DD as long range potshots if you are facing a massive fleet (this doesn't currently apply to campaign as the battles are always small but in naval academy this can be a good option).

Obviously bigger is better for torpedo size.

Step 5

This step needs to be constantly looked at while adding guns to your ship. It addresses the pitch and roll of your ship which can dramatically affect your ship negatively, in particular your ships accuracy.

Everytime you add something to your ship it will increase your pitch and roll, adding penalties, so adding more guns is not necessarily a good thing as it will make the average accuracy of the rest of your guns worse.

Try to keep all of your guns as far from the edge of your ship as possibly, the centreline guns as close to the towers and the side/casemate as close to the centreline (preferably on top of towers or turrets).

Each time you add a gun, watch how much it increases your pitch and roll, then weigh up whether adding that gun is worth reducing the accuracy of all of your other guns.

Personally I prefer to focus solely on main centreline guns for BB and BC, and then just add a handful 2" or 3" guns for protection from TB/DD.

CA should have a balanced mix of small and large guns.

CL and DD should focus solely on small guns (2-5") and torpedoes.

Bigger guns are not necessarily better, always check the guns accuracy before choosing which to go for, and look to see what mark it is (mark 1/2/3)

Try to keep your guns as uniformed as possible (the same). Guns that aren't uniformed don't share ammo so if that gun gets destroyed and you don't have another of the same type then that ammo can't be used

Step 6

Once you have chosen your minimum amount of guns you want you will likely be over your tonnage limit.

At this point you should reduce the size of one of your funnels and then reduce your speed accordingly.

If this isn't enough then you can reduce one of your towers size.

Keep doing this until you reach the tonnage limit.

If you can't get an acceptable speed by doing this then you either have too many guns on your ship or your ship isn't capable of supporting the equipped modules/armour.

The 4 primary roles of ships are-

Torpedo striker
Screener/skirmisher
Close quarters combat
Long range sniper

Torpedo striker

Is used differently depending on the era. In the first 15-20 years of the game (1905-1910) you will use these as throwaway ships as you try to hunt big game prizes. You will be getting as close as you can to your target before you shoot your torpedoes to almost guarantee a hit.

After this time period their role will change to long range blanket fire role, with a dual screening purpose. I recommend 3 Deck launchers in this role, 1 pointing forward, the other 2 will be side by side so that they can only shoot left or right. You will accompany these with 3-4 main guns to target enemy screening ships.

Screener/skirmisher

Initial stages of combat where torpedoes are usually fired at long range, fought between the light ships. If one side has no screening ships then the opposite side will be able to threaten their opponents big slow ships with their torpedoes. This makes screening ships a key element to a perfect task force, both offensively and defensively.

Close quarters combat

These engagements are fought at short range and usually broadside or from behind the target if the are sailing away from you. You shouldn't try to fight like this if the enemy has torpedoes remaining as you will likely get hit by them as you are too close to evade. This role is performed by super heavy ships like BB/BC.

Long range sniper

Main role played by BB/BC. Your ship will be at a safe distance from enemy torpedo attacks. The role for this type of ship is to harass enemy big ships, trying to cripple them ready for smaller ships to deal a torpedo killing blow. Alternatively it can help to snipe the enemy torpedo threats so your close quarters ships can close the distance and bully their big ships.

Identifying your ships ideal role

So now you have built your ship to its maximum core stats potential in terms of accuracy and speed, you will have a good idea of which role it will fit best into.

If your ship has a very high speed then it will be suited to either the long range sniper role or the torpedo striker role, depending on how big or agile the ship is. If it is a big ship it will likely be best at the sniper role. If it is small and agile then it will be best at the torpedo attack role.

If your ship ended up with a much slower top speed than your other ships then it will fit into the other 2 roles better, screening or CQC. If it is a big ship it will be a CQC ship which stay just outside of enemy torpedo range, if it is a small agile ship then it will be in very short range encounters trying to destroy enemy torpedo threats whilst dodging the enemy long range torpedoes.

Just because a ship is perfect at long range sniping that doesn't mean that you can't use it as a CQC ship, it just means you can potentially do both. On the other hand if a ship can only reach lower top speed then it won't perform the long range duties very well as it won't be able to keep up with the wider "orbit" of the engagement.

When creating a task force (in custom battle but also hopefully in future campaigns if they encorporate this) you will want to create 4 different types of ships so that you can cover the 4 key roles.

For example-
1927 (custom battle)

Modernised Dreadnought (CQC)
N3/G3 (long range sniper)
Heavy cruiser 3 (screen)
Modern light cruiser (torpedo striker)

If you wanted you could add the alternate torpedo striker in as well so you can do a combination of blanket fire and killer blow.

Modern destroyer (blanket torps)

Now you have a multi purpose task force which can handle any situation that it finds itself in. It requires more micro management as you won't just be in a single battle line with all of your ships doing the same thing, but it is the better strategic option if you can handle juggling everything at once.

To make life easy while you are practicing, you can send all of your ships in a "battle line" at a safe distance in 1 direction whilst you are performing screening duties with 1 screening ship in the opposite direction to draw the torpedo fire away from your main battle line.

As your screening ship starts to break apart the enemy formation then you can send in your own torpedo hunters to pick off any stragglers that get separated from their pack.

Send in your blanket fire torp force first to get your potshots off while you are still micro managing your screening ship, then when their torpedo threats get nullified you can send in your torpedo close range Hunter to finish off the crippled big ships that your own big ships have been bombarding throughout the fight.

If your torpedo strikes fail to finish the job then now you can send in your CQC battleship to end the show.

When ship building if you hold Ctrl you can place things pretty much anywhere, you aren't restricted by the placement slots.

Pressing R/T rotates pieces.

Clicking the middle mouse button on a piece duplicates it.

In battle if you hold Ctrl and right click on a friendly ship it will set your selected ship to follow the target ship.

Manually setting a battle line with individual ships set to follow the one in front is a much more dynamic and easier to use system than the AI battle line formation.

You can easily convert this formation into 2 separate battle lines by breaking off the second ship in a different direction and then clicking follow from the 3rd to the 1st ship and from the 4th to the 2nd and so on.

When using torpedo boats or destroyers to torpedo a ship you should attack with 2 separate lines of approach, left and right. The first ship should approach from the far side of the ship (opposite side to the direction the target is turning) giving the second ship time to approach on the near side. The first ship can aim at the rudder as it's passing behind the ship, the second ship can then mimic the targets movements and release their load when the time seems right.

At the top of the screen next to the speed button are the enemy ship icons. On these icons is a little arrow. If you click this arrow it will expand the icon, showing you the enemies current speed.

Turning your torpedoes off, if you have a deck torpedo, will stop it from tracking the target, so when you turn it back on it might not be facing the correct way and will need to rotate. A good way to mitigate this is to have your deck torpedo launcher placed directly behind your front tower so that it can't shoot forward. This way you can turn on the launcher as you are approaching the target to get the turret turned towards the target without it shooting prematurely. Once it has turned to face you can turn it back off as you move into position and then turn it back on when you are ready to shoot. This will orient the launcher leaving it less time needed to rotate.

For underwater torpedoes I recommend turning them on when you are between 200-500m away from the target. I also recommend reducing your speed to match the opponents speed when you get within 1km, this will reduce your turning circle making follow up torpedo shots more likely to hit and gives you more time to react to enemy movements. Try to aim the first torpedo (front) at their rudder, this will drastically impede their ability to dodge subsequent torpedoes. Once you have fired your first torpedo you should turn your rudder hard to the side, preferably the same direction that the enemy is turning. Leave your rudder on full until you have done a full 360 degree rotation, this will hopefully have released all 4 of your underwater torpedoes.

If your target is sailing away from you at a really sharp angle then your ricochet chance will be as high as 90%. In this situation you are better off using HE shells instead of AP, even against battleships. HE shells have a much lower chance to ricochet, so although they do less damage to big ships than AP does they will hit much more often. HE can cause fires and flooding which will help a lot in long chases.

HE shells also cause damage to further parts of the ship than AP does, so if a ship is completely destroyed at the rear and you are still shooting it in the rear, then the AP shells won't do anything. In this case you can switch to HE and still damage the front of the ship instead.

The way the battle system works currently is the battles are based on individual ports.

So if you put all of your ships in 1 port then you will have much bigger battles, preferably in the port closest to the enemy (Yarmouth for brits).

Unfortunately when your ships take damage in battle they retreat to a different port (Danzig for Germany and scapa flo, for brits) which means you have to constantly keep resending them to the front line after they have repaired.

It's a real pain in the bum but I'm assuming that this campaign style is only a temporary system and it will be completely overhauled before full release.

With regards to the ships cutting their engines off, this happens not only when using AI controlled formations but also the Collision avoidance system causes this too.

So if you are manually controlling your ships then make sure you don't sail them too close too each other as one of them will slow down to try and get behind the other.

And if you keep changing your ships course then you can keep causing a different one of them to slow down, resulting in them both slowing down indefinitely until you manually send them in different directions to each other to break the cycle.

Also the Collision avoidance system sometimes prevents your ships from turning if it thinks you are getting too close to colliding. To override this you need to manually turn with the rudder and then disable the rudder again once your turn is complete.

If you are struggling with power projection then you can easily solve this by building cheap ships with high tonnage. The 3 largest factors for increasing a ships cost per tonnage are- speed, components, armour quality.

So to make a cheap ship with huge power projection just keep the speed at 20kn, don't add any components, select the worst armour type. Use your tonnage on guns and armour.

This ship will not perform well in combat so I recommend trying to avoid combat at all costs with these power projection ships. Having a navy which is half power projection and half high tech combat effective seems to be a nice balance, although this may change with further patch releases.

Thank you for reading, please let me know if there's anything you disagree with or if you have any questions.

Please check out this crazy battle if you're interested in huge fleet battles.
https://youtu.be/QCN1q4f7ufU