Looks like WoWs is coming out on Steam tomrrow. I think I might finally break down and give it a try. Any suggestions for a newb? What is worth spending a wee bit 'o cash on, and what is a total waste? Any ships particularly broken at the low end at the moment?
A lot depends on what you are looking for so I'll give some general thoughts.
A few notes first.
Because of the rarity of CVs but the abundance of smoke screens and torpedoes I prefer using hydro accoustic search over defensive fire.
IJN= Japanese, KM=German, MN=French, RM=Italy rest should be pretty obvious.
I absolutely refuse to play the Russian line.
I am also rather disinclined to recommend people pay the huge amounts of money for premium ships unless it is a ship you really want and on special bundled with some interesting stuff. Some other things that might be worth picking up are the premium account time, especially if you know you'll be playing a lot. Maybe getting some gold for some of the permanent camos to keep resupply costs down(only premium ships and tier 6 up so far). Do not waste gold converting to credits unless you get some from a super container but even then there is probably better stuff to use the gold on.
Now my thoughts on the lines I play.
US DDs
What I have in this line: Farragut and Benson
In general: Pretty reliant on their guns, which kind of becomes more difficult the higher up the tier you go, but the biggest fairly early stand out is the Clemson at tier 4. But if you can learn how to use islands and your smoke the lack of radar means you can have some really good games just hammering on people.
US CL/CAs
What I have in this line: Cleveland and New Orleans
In general: This line is eventually getting split but that won't be coming for a while and won't really effect anything until tier 6. St. Louis is a very nice but slow CL at tier 3 that is as Jingles puts it "made out of guns". Phoenix is the first time you get torpedoes and it has the mobility to use them.
US BBs
What I have in this line: Arkansas Beta, New Mexico, and North Carolina
In general: Well they are pretty rough at low tier. Not the worst but the inaccuracy will be maddening all too often but if you can get through it from New York on they actually get pretty strong. I should warn the change in play style from New Mexico(pretty good brawler) to Colorado(more a long ranged fighter) is a bit rough.
US CVs
What I have in this line: Independence(2 Fighters 1 Dive Bomber is my preferred setup)
In general: I do not recommend with the pending changes. Especially with how rough life is at tier 4 and 5 without manual attacks you don't get a lot of training for how to fight against higher tier CVs that do have manual attacks and the more experienced CV players that have been using manual attacks for a long time. If you really feel inclined I can actually almost recommend Saipan if it is on special. Probably the most forgiving CV to just jump straight into.
IJN DDs
What I have in this line: Tachibana, Minekaze, Akizuki, Kagero, and Yugumo
In general: Never get really good guns but getting a sense of when to go ahead and use them does keep them from being completely useless. Their torpedoes though... Well people seem to be a lot better at dodging mine these days but they are pretty solid.
IJN CL/CAs
What I have in this line: tier 3 I got from an event that I can't remember the name of, Kuma, Yubari, Aoba, ARP Myoko, ARP, Haguro, ARP Nachi, ARP Ashigara, ARP Takao, and Mogami(203mm configuration but with some of the changes I'm really thinking about changing back to 152mm)
In general: These however do eventually get some really good guns and get torpedoes as early as tier 3. They get 203mm guns starting at tier 5 with the Furataka. While it doesn't get very many of them they do hit fairly hard and if you use HE start fires pretty reliably.
IJN BBs
What I have in this line: ARP Kongo, ARP Haruna, ARP Kirishima, ARP Hiei, Fuso, and Amagi
In general: Probably have worse accuracy issues than US BBs early one but once you get to Myogi and beyond you out range and out run your competition until tier 8.
IJN CVs
What I have in this line: Ryujo(1 Fighter, 2 torpedo, 2 dive bomer), Hiryu(3 fighter setup)
In general: With the changes for US CVs coming up these are the only ones really worth considering right now.
KM DDs
What I have in this line: Daede and Z-52
In general: A bit like US DDS in that they are also more gun oriented and the shorter duration of their smoke can make them a bit tougher to get to grips with but they can be very rewarding. Torpedoes early on are really slow but the party trick of the V-170 can help a bit with that.
KM CL/CA/CB
What I have in this line: Nurnburg and Graf Spee
In general: I haven't gone beyond Nurnberg but I do also have the Graf Spee. Kolberg is actually pretty durable.
KM BBs
What I have in this line:Bismark
In general: I skipped straight to the Bismark thanks to an event so I can't really say much about them.
UK CLs
What I have in this line: Emerald, Leander, and Edinburough
In general: These ships are in a bit of a rough state right now because of the smoke nerfs but can be very powerful despite that. They never get defensive fire so protecting yourself from air strikes can be tricky but their ability to keep speed in a turn and how generally agile they are does make dodging a lot easier. Emerald is really hard to come to grips with but if you can it really is good practice for UK CL operation.
UK BBs
What I have in this line: Queen Elizabeth, King George V, Hood, Nelson
In general: I skipped straight to Iron Duke and it felt a bit squishy to me to be honest. So does Queen Elizabeth. But Nelson, Hood, and King George V all have been surprisingly durable and are pretty nice. Yeah I shelled out for Hood. I hate myself for it at times but it is a good ship in game that eats enemy dive bombers.
MN CL/CAs
What I have in this line: Emile Bertin, the glassy one as I call it because I can't spell it for a damn, and Algerie
In general: These ones are hard for me to describe. A bit thin on armor early on they do become a bit better later on. Emile Bertin is faster than most DDs.
RM isn't really in yet but I did decide to drop some cash on the Duke and they have a BB available too. The main thing I like about the Duke is that I don't have to choose between hydro and defensive fire. It gets them both and a spotter plane. Makes it actually really well rounded. Torpedoes are slow and don't hit super hard but have a nice range. Guns are fairly accurate and have decent rate of fire but it doesn't have too many of them.
And egads do I have a lot of ships.
