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Commander Skills!
Hey Captains,
The next topic we will cover in the guide is the all important Commander Skills! Players have questions everyday regarding captain skills and this is a good thing! This is a great topic that we can all have some input on and give suggestions to our fellow players that might help them improve their choices in commander skills. We will also cover Elite captain XP and what it is used for. We will also cover re-training of commanders and what is the best method to use when you are moving captains to a different ship. We also put a "cross" across skills that are not recommended for that ship class.
We will cover only the skills that are relevant to surface ships in this guide. A Separate CV guide will be coming in the future.
We will go over commander skills and rank them by importance for ship class. The correct commander skills on the correct ships will go a long way in helping you have a successful match. Picking the correct commander skills is sometimes trial and error, so hopefully this guide can help you avoid some of that. The wiki also provides details on commander skills as well so make sure you check that page out: http://wiki.wargaming.net/en/Ship:Commander
Commander Skill Basics: You have the ability to earn up to 19 points total on a single commander. This of course is not enough commander skill points to take all the skills on the tree. You will have to pick skills that best fit the ship you are playing to get the best use of the commander skills. You also have to pick a tier 1 skill before a tier 2 skill and so forth. This does not mean you have to advance down the tree but better skills are further down and they cost more points. You earn commander XP in the same way that you earn ship XP (can be modified with signal flags and camo). You can equip the economic signal flags and camo (that specifically say +% commander XP) to get large chunks of commander XP quickly.
This tool can come in handy as you look at commander builds: https://worldofwarships.com/en/content/captains-skills/?skills=&ship=Battleship
You can also change you commander skills at any point but there is a cost to this: 25 doubloons per point or 10K elite commander XP.
Re-training your commander to a different ship is different than redistributing commander skill points:
500 doubloons will re-train your captain instantly and all skills that have been selected will work 100%
200k credits will re-train your captain 1/2 the way, you can then use elite commander XP to finish the training or earn the XP needed. Remember this will affect commander skills and some will not work without being 100% re-trained.
nothing is the third option and this will require you to completely re-train the commander from scratch (will not lose earned skill points).
Please also remember a commander can be assigned to a premium ship of the same nation without having to re-train. The commander skills learnt will continue to work at full strength and the XP earned will go toward re-training of the commander for the specialized ship. This is a good way to re-train commanders for other ships without spending doubloons or Elite commander XP.
Example: Commander is assigned to Fuso but needs re-training, you can put this commander on Mutsu and earn the XP needed.
Elite Commander XP: Once a commander gets to 19 points you will stop earning regular commander XP and start earning Elite Commander XP. This XP will all go into a pool that you can use for various different things.
Use Elite Commander XP on any commander that needs additional points.
Re-train commanders moved to another non-premium ship.
Can be used instead of doubloons to redistribute points (instead of doubloons).
Converted into Free XP for doubloons.
Example of how to use Elite Commander XP to accelerate training.
Commander skills are broken down into 4 categories: Endurance, Attack, Support and Versatility.
We will cover only the skills that are relevant to surface ships in this guide. A Separate CV guide will be coming in the future.
Brief Overview of Skills by Tier.
Tier 1 Skills:
Priority Target: This is one of the most important skills on any ship save for CV imo. The skill itself lets you know how many ships are targeting you but this is more important for the information that it garners. The information that you gain is some of the most important, if you are ship on the flank and you are spotted this can alert you to ships that are aiming torpedoes at you or ships from concealment. This is just a great skill to spend 1 point on.
Preventive Maintenance: This skill is used to help you keep your ship in working order. I honestly do not use this skill on very many ships because I choose Priority Target. I invite you captains to help explain this skill better and give some examples of ships this helps.
Expert Loader: This is the skill I use more on cruisers than I do on other ships. This is also the typical second tier 1 skill I take if I need to. This is a good skill and can really help you take advantage of enemy ships that you need to switch ammo for. I can see the argument for taking this on a BB but still remember that the reload will still be longer than other ships.
Incoming Fire Alert: This is another skill that I have not used much. Maybe you can help me explain if this skill is useful because I am not sure it is. Any captains use this skill well?
Tier 2 Skills:
High Alert: This skill is good if you are trying to make a tank build and want to be able to use your DCP as quickly as possible. You pair this with Basic of Survivability (tier 3 skill) and Fire Prevention (tier 4 skill) and you become quite the tank. I see this skill as primarily a BB skill or maybe a large cruiser that is played like a BB.
Jack of All Trades (JOAT): This is a skill that you use when you are trying to use consumables at a faster rate. I typically have found the return on this skill to not meet the cost. Maybe you have had a different experience?
Expert Marksman: This skill is an automatic choice for me on most ships. There are very few ships that do not benefit from this skill. Making sure your turrets can stay on target is one key to being able to do damage. There is not another tier 2 skill that is more important save for Last Stand for DDs.
Torpedo Acceleration: Simple and easy skill, shorter torpedo range for faster torpedoes. This is a great skill on Shimakaze torpedoes or any other DD that has long range torpedoes.
Smoke Screen Expert: This is a good skill to use on a support DD like a Gearing if you want to make a giant cloud of smoke for a teammate. I feel there are other skills that are more important but this is a good skill that teammates can take advantage of.
Adrenaline Rush: Simply put - Take damage and the faster your reload is. This is my typical second tier 2 skill on most ships that I play.
Last Stand: DD players please make sure you take this skill! This is a DD skill mainly and should be on all DDs you play. You cannot maneuver without your steering or engine!
Tier 3 Skills:
Basics of Survivability: For tank builds this is a great skill to have because it just helps you survive longer. Pairing this with the other survivability skills and you will soon have a ship that lives longer.
Survivability Expert: Captains this is a DD skill mainly. Please if you are a BB player this is not a skill for you because it does not maximize the value of your skill points.
Torpedo Armament Expertise: This is a skill that I usually use on DDs to cut the time reload time of torpedoes reloading. This is a skill that you might need to do some math ship by ship to make sure it is a skill that is worth it.
Basic Fire Training: This is a skill that has 2 purposes: Making your AA more effective and decreasing reload time on gun up to 139mm. This is a good all around skill and can be chosen if you like.
Superintendent: This is a great skill for ships that you are going to be using a lot of consumables per match. i.e. BBs for heal or cruisers with radar.
Demolition Expert: This skill helps you start more fires. Use it on cruisers and gunboat DDs (if you have points).
Vigilance: This is a skill that I never use because most torpedoes give you at least some time to dodge and there are better skills to use points on. Maybe if you are seeing a lot of Pan-Asian DDs with the DW torpedoes that this can be used.
Tier 4 Skills:
Manual Fire Control for Secondaries: This skill is great on ships that are secondary based, KMS BBs and the Massachusetts are the main ones I see you using this skill on.
Fire Prevention: This is a great BB skill and I recommend this one to all BB players (large player cruisers as well). This skill will decrease the chance of you catching on fires and you will only be able to catch on fire in 3 spots instead of 4.
IFHE: Great skill for ships that need help on penetration to do damage. For example: 152mm and 155mm guns are great for this skill. Many players on the forums have broken down the gun size that you need to make this skill effective.
Advanced Fire Training: This skill has 2 purposes, extending range on guns with 139mm or less and increases DPS for medium and long range AA. This also increase range of secondaries.
Manual Fire Control for AA Armament: Honestly in its current state I am not sure the value of this skill. Maybe you can help but I think there are better skills than this to use 4 points on.
Radio Location: This is skill that is great on DDs and some cruisers. This skill gives you a general location to the closest enemy ship. Does not work on CVs.
Concealment Expert: Simply put this is a skill needed on most ships.
Typical BB Build that I use: https://worldofwarships.com/en/content/captains-skills/?skills=2,3,12,14,17,23,28&ship=Battleship
Typical Cruiser build I use: https://worldofwarships.com/en/content/captains-skills/?skills=3,8,12,17,23,28,33&ship=Cruiser
Typical DD build I use: https://worldofwarships.com/en/content/captains-skills/?skills=4,12,20,23,25,28,34&ship=Destroyer
Now these are just run of the mill builds that I use on most ships. There will of course be times you want to try something new or use different skills to match the strengths of the ships. There are also ships that will need you to spec to different skills like KMS BBs take advantage of secondaries (Massachusetts as well).
Tips:
Last Stand is a MUST on DDs only IMO. Please do not be the DD that gets caught and unable to move because you didn't take this skill. This is a skill for you DD players!
Survivability Expert on BBs is a big NO-NO. There are many other skills you can take those points and use them on. For example BOS or Superintendent if you didn't take that. Remember even at tier X you only gain 350 HP per level so that is a maximum of 3500 XP. That is a penetrating hit from Yamato and all that HP is gone. That is a typical salvo from most high tier cruisers. This is a skill that is made for lower HP ships like DDs, to help them survive longer.
Fire Prevention is a must on BBs to help you live longer. This is a skill that I recommend to all BB players.
Concealment Expert is a must as well on all ships. This is a skill that allows you to stay undetected longer and to go undetected at a closer range. The real question becomes which 4 point skill do you take first?
Example 19 point commander Skill Order for BB:
Priority Target (1 point)
Expert Marksman (2 points)
Superintendent (3 points)
Concealment Expert (4 points)
Fire Prevention (4 points)
Basics of Survivability (3 points)
Adrenaline Rush (2 points)
Note: There are also special commanders that give you bonuses and make certain skills better so make sure you take that into consideration when choosing ships+commanders.
If you want to check out the other parts of the guide please check this thread: