[2019] Continuous AA DPS Explained

Thanks, Mouse, this is an excellent article. I've just addressed a somewhat similar (not about this exact component, but about DPS AA consistency) write up on Reddit here, and I think my response will make sense here as well:

Also, it's worth mentioning @LittleWhiteMouse (apologies if I missed that) that the DPS application timer is not being reset. For example, if AA group applies DPS once per 5 seconds, and a plane squadron dips in for 4 seconds, next time any target enters this range, it will take damage in 1 second, not in 5. It is a nuance of the mechanic, which is rather important. But, as I said, we will strongly consider tweaking it, to make DPS AA more consistent.

Cheers.

She is spread and popular enough to judge her on stats. If she falls behind, we will gladly buff her, as any other ship

Mouse is calling it a bug, because my team member told her it's a bug. He was not entirely correct, nor her was wrong. And I'm sorry for miscommunication that happened. It is how mechanic works (guns start not loaded) and it was not considered a problem (because as I said above, DPS timer does not reset, so it basically matters only for the 1st damage tick).

However, as we strongly consider tweaking the DPS mechanics to be give more consistent results, it may be treated as a bug in some of the possible tweaks. But, for example (it IS just an example) if we introduce faster tick rates for all AA guns across the board, the fact they have to load first will not matter at all.

So in the end, the real question will not be in this exact nuance, but in the result. We do want to make AA results more consistent, and there are several potential ways to achieve it.

Cheers.

The question is definition of "gain". If stats-wise Hak makes considerable battle contribution by absolute and relative damage and spotting, and has good WR in the groupr, why plane losses matter? Kaga has a lot of plane losses, too, but she is still strong, because she can send many waves. It's just a feature of a ship - weaker planes, but more of them. Still gets the job done. On the contrary, Saipan has fewer planes, but they are stronger individually. Gets the job done as well.