Smith Pre-Review

Made by Cr.
Smith.

How it should look like gameplay-wise. I’ll keep this updated when I’ll get more information and comparisons.
Hull:
It is VERY fragile, with the second worst HP (7300) of the whole game, right after the Tachibana (7000). However, thanks to its small size and its good agility, it will be a difficult target to hit.
Primary armament:
It is equipped with five 76mm: the smallest caliber available in the whole game, which also means the weakest alpha and a poor 4% fire chance.
Buuuuuuuuut… It can fire four of them at the same time, with an impressive 17.1 rpm.
Cherry on the cake, shells have a 8.43km range and a good shell velocity. That’s a lot. Only the  Storov… Storog.. Damnit. Storozhevoi can shoot farther (9.7km).
Bring your captain with AFT skill and spam 68 shots per minute at 10.11km.
Torpedoes:
The Smith’s torpedoes are weird. It’s the only ship in the game to carry single torp tubes (one on each side plus another one able to cover both sides). These only have 16.4k alpha, 4.5km range and 2 torps max per volley. It sounds inconsistent.
However, missing isn’t a big problem, as the reload is only of 11 seconds. So instead of powerful torp salvos, this DD will rely on launching single torpedoes in every direction (like one every 5.5s), to annoy the ennemy or in knife fights. They also have a decent speed and a low detection range (0.9km).

/!\ This high reload also means constantly switching between guns and torps or simply not using the guns at all, which isn’t the most convenient thing in a fight.
AA:
Two machineguns shooting at 0.9km. Lousy. But none cares, as the Smith will never meet a single plane (Seb: unlike the Arkansas).
Maneuverability:
28 knots is the lowest speed among the DDs. But it’s still faster than any ship of the other classes.
Concealment:
The Smith has almost the same concealment as the Storozhevoi.
5.74km isn’t the best among Tier 2 DDs, but its a good average and still makes the ship stealthy.
The detectability increase when shooting is very small due to the small gun caliber: only 2.28km when shooting (=>8.02km). Compare it to the max shooting range with AFT skill:
A 2,09 kilometers margin where you can spam shells hard without being spotted.
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Probable Gameplay:
Just get AFT. Don’t scout, always try to stay at 8.5-10km of your targets instead, in open waters, and leftclick like mad. It is even better if you can bring two others Smith in a division and focus targets. It should generate some hack accusations from people that doesn’t appreciate to be spammed without being able to reply at all. 😉
The only problem you could have would be others DDs spotting you. Try to rekt them as soon as possible with guns and torps.
Worth it?
If you like trollish gunboats and have a decent USN DD captain, definitely yes. If you don’t have/plan to have the AFT skill or prefer torpedo DDs, this one isn’t for you.
1050 gold for a Tier 2 is still expensive compared to tanks, but it sounds a lot more honest than the price of Tier 3 premium ships.