[2021] You want to know why low tiers are dead? I'll tell you why.

This is not correct :\

1) AP Rockets merely Pen or shatter on Battleships. They are implemented in the game to be a citadel threat against same or lower tier Cruisers. While they can pen a DD if they strike armor at an angle, they are likely to Overpen a DD for minor damage, or merely pen a Battleship for minor damage (to a Battleship)

2) You are saying you "instantly killed" by "four passes" from a Soviet CV? As Soviet CVs only attack once per strike (it's their gimmick), the CV would have had to fly back to you 3 additional times to strike 3 additional times. That isn't instant.

Furthermore, why would you not have used heal in that time? or off-angled by 10-20 degrees to mitigate incoming damage? It's not about full turning against a Soviet rocket strike, a 10-20 degree offset can be quite significant.

Further again is the knowledge that Soviet CVs carry HE ammunition. After dealing damage and saturating the target, the damage would be reduced in half while striking damaged areas on the ship.

3) Whether you have interest in CV play or not, understanding your enemy is extremely important. If you don't understand how something works, then it's easy to assume it's omnipotent. Playing it will disabuse you of that notion. While there are excellent CV players that exist in the game, Tier 4 CVs were nerfed considerably quite a while ago. They are no longer the unholy terrors that they were.

It's not a policy response, it's an Ahskance response. This is how I dissect and talk about mechanics/situations, and how I try to parce out things to avoid hyperbole. While I did join WG, I'm still me, and this is how I teach/inform.

In my years of explaining CV, I've found that many folks really haven't tried or experienced them. This is ok... people don't need to play and do everything in the game. However, it can leave folks with warped views on situations where folks remember the bad/outliers and then extropolate off of them.

---

Firstly, knowing you had a run-in with a Tier 6 CV and not a Tier 4 CV is helpful, because that's a different engagement entirely. Tier 4 CVs are weak as they're intended as training vehicles that won't last a player very long before they graduate to Tier 6.

So I went into a training room and tested Serov rocket strikes on a Texas. The highest strike I got was the first (unsaturated hull) which resulted in 9.5k. The following strikes were more in the 6-6.5k range.

After testing broadside and then 20 degree off-set strikes, I reloaded the Training room with two New Mexicos that had AA enabled. I explained that against a enemy gun-threat, you have about 30-60 degrees of freedom. Using that, you should be able to alter your broadside enough to lessen the impact of the strike.

With each strike against a non-priority sector bot, I lost 1 of 6 planes during the attack, which reduces the potential damage output by 16.5%. While I got a decent hit with the first strike, the following strikes were disappointing and resulted in multiple planes lost post strike.

You were in an Ohklahoma which has poor AA as a specific weakness in compensation for its excellent secondary pressure, so you aren't expected to have T6 AA. Still, you were uptiered which is a valid disadvantage and worthy of note.

Ultimately, Serov is strong at dealing damage, but she's not an insurmountable enemy. Also, most CV players aren't amazing... so while you had a rough experience with one, it's unlikely the next one you see will have anywhere near the same impact. The same can be said when experiencing high-end, capable players that are ringing the most out of their ships.

While you said you have no interest in CVs, I really do encourage you to try one. To put it mildly, you're very likely to be disappointed. It looks easy, but you'll be amazed at how little they actually do when not helmed by some purple stat guy. It's hours and hours of repetition and mastery to have consistent impact like what you're describing.

---

The video of me in a training room just now:

Raw Link: https://youtu.be/nR8D8hjB6HU

High as an individual number? Sure, it's a big number. However, matches are wildly more complex than just being able to do X amount of damage. As you say, Battleships can do the kind of damage even when against a bow-in target. Broadside, it can outright kill a ship in a single strike.

Battleships can also fire every 30 seconds, which a CV might not be able to do. Some CV drivers live dangerously and go as far forward as possible so they can strike quickly, but it's very risky and depends on their flank holding.

Ultimately, it's easy to fall into that trap of "That sounds bad" without having the context or experience to put it in reference. This is why I suggest, even if only in Co-Op, for you to try a Tier 4 CV just to see what it can even do. Some folks, like @ArIskandirwere able to grasp the concepts innately and perform at an above-average level. Most, however, find the controls jarring.

In an example above you spoke of dealing 10k damage and a kill as an accomplishment... but that was likely inconsequential to the outcome of the match (which was the poster's point).