Iwami - Review - T9 Japanese Premium Battleship | World of Warships

The Iwami is the newest Premium Tier 9 Japanese Battleship. It has 8x 410mm guns. This video shows 2 games, played on Tears of the Desert and The Atlantic, where I showcase myself with my thought process on what happens in the match, and give insight on what I think of the ship.
Do I recommend the Iwami? Yes, if you want another tier 9 battleship. No, if you have other tier 9 battleships that can do the same role, and do the same thing, like Bajie, Hizen, Missouri, Kearsarge, etc.
Release Date: Friday 8th of July 2022
Price: Premium - 19,300 Doubloons
WG did give me this ship for Review Purposes.
I do play this match when I record the video, giving you live commentary and thoughts whilst playing the ship. This is actually a recorded video, and not taken from twitch. :D
I hope you enjoyed the video, and if did, leave a comment, like or sub. Also, if anyone would like to ask me question about the ship, you can join me on twitch/discord/youtube comments, and if anyone wants to know any of the builds I run for T8, T9 and T10 ships, they are available on discord, link below.
Discord: / discord
Twitch: / malteseknight_
Instagram: / adam.mifsud1
Twitter: / maltese_knight
All Social Links: wlo.link/@MalteseKnight
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
00:30 Build
00:58 Camouflage
01:23 Iwami and Hizen Compared
03:17 Game 1
14:03 Score 1
15:05 Game 2
25:23 Score 2
26:27 Build
27:15 Statistics
28:16 Summary and Conclusion

[@MalteseKnight]

I'm not running secondary build on the Iwami, as the range is 10.5km, and I feel like the gun build is way more consistent with it. If you want to play secondary build, Ruprecht is easily the best one at T9, with it's turbo DPM, speed, concealment, torps, etc.

[@frankriley9957]

Yes, Rupprecht can do better than Iwami in close quarter combat. I personally experiencing it better

[@huzarion3814]

Question I have Hizen & Musashi & I have 240k coal is it worth it to get Iwami ? do I miss something ? (ps I have pommeren & all german torps ship) (BTW I have played for some time secondary build on Musashi /Shikishima/ Yamato sam captain 21p Yamamoto and 1.Musashi, 2. Shikishima , 3 Yamato that is order of being best in secondary , I got 63 secondary kills in about 700 battles on Musashi , so about 9-10% games , is that worth it for loosing some dispersion ? , depend what play style you have , in ranked YUP , simply because those secondaries give extra fire power , and with right build you get -10% reload to main gun in enemy is in secondary range , I have secondary build on every my bb that I use in ranked and 10km is minimum secondary range , and in ranked you are often at that distance , for me that work I am now rank 5 at gold ... but in random is less useful)

[@jaysonnunley6602]

is the 10.5 with the secondary flag or is it 11.3 with it?

[@goldenhokie4life]

@@jaysonnunley6602 Believe it's 10.5 with the flag.

[@asdsafasf3]

you get the improved pen on the secondaries though. theres nothing special about the iwami other than the secondaries so if you want to play it as anything else, its better to just play an other ship with better guns

[@Artem_Shepelev]

I like the recent focus of WG on simple 1 or 2 color camouflages. They look really good. Iwami seems boring af though, literally Nagato with better armor and torps

[@MalteseKnight]

Big Fan!

[@i_nameless_i-jgsdf]

This ships saw many buffs from deck armor, main gun accuracy, firing range, secondary accuracy and so on. Since i missed the Hizen and i really wanted it because i thinl it is a beautiful ship so i will definitely get the Iwami esoecially it is a coal ship so it should be easy to get.

[@MalteseKnight]

Good Luck and Have Fun!

[@i_nameless_i-jgsdf]

@@MalteseKnight Thanks.

[@flfar3445]

its really good the secondary as soon as they lock up they are hitting, also very accurate 410s nice and reliable !

[@i_nameless_i-jgsdf]

@@flfar3445 athanks for confirming its capabilities. I'm looking forward to unlock it with the discount coupon waiting to be used!

[@bravosierra2447]

You are not missing anything with the Hizen. She is probably one of the worst T9 BB. Iwami for coal is definitely worth it tho.

[@LpDanilo05]

Love the vid , Informational as always

[@MalteseKnight]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Jason-35D]

Thanks for the review. I really appreciate your insight on the brawling and what you think works best for the ship. Maybe someday we’ll have a worth IJN line brawler

[@eaglesix6585]

Legend has it that truck is still reversing since 2 weeks. ALSO BIG PHAN!

[@MalteseKnight]

You heard it in the San Diego video also! Imagine!

[@eaglesix6585]

@@MalteseKnight It got stuck in my head.

[@smh6926]

A way to put it, the ship is a meme build thing, but the 50mm deck shows that it's more compatible to brawling than Hizen is at the situation, so you can probably have slightly more versatility at it than you do with Hizen, owing to how you have Harugumo turrets for secondaries

[@BigD321]

FINALLY, YESSSSSS, IVE BEEN WAITING Hopefully shes good, will see after watching video Edit: not mentioned in the video, Iwami has 2.1 sigma (yamato sigma) vs hizens 1.7 sigma, so the guns are a lot more accurate Overall impression, she looks pretty solid and definitely looking to get it

[@MalteseKnight]

Good Luck!

[@Artem_Shepelev]

Tbh 2.1 sigma is not very impressive on 8 guns that are essentially T7 Nagato's guns with miniscule upgrade to pen and alpha. Nagato gets 2.0 sigma with identical despersion and 1 second longer reload

[@BigD321]

@@Artem_Shepelev its still a massive upgrade from hizen, and its only 1 less gun than the yamato herself, the gun count isnt really that much of a downside, the guns are quite accurate and they have great reload. Nit pick if you want, it doesnt take away from the fact that its a solid battleship, not super amazing, but its definitely not bad

[@Artem_Shepelev]

@@BigD321 As I have said, the guns are Nagato's guns, with 1 second faster reload and slightly better accuracy. That's not good for T9. Iwami's selling point are secondaries and torps. I'm not saying Iwami is bad, but her guns are not the reason to buy her

[@ReDiR20]

Hizem is awesome and better than this one

[@issacfoster1113]

I'll probably get this ship to have a Secondary IJN ship. Big fan BTW!

[@MalteseKnight]

Good Luck and have fun, keep in mind, the range is 10.5km.

[@Frag56v6]

time to scratch this from the get list then, better wait for another dockyard ships if that available in closer time after puerto rico dockyard again later nice review malta bigfan!

[@MalteseKnight]

Good Luck, Big Fan!

[@ddjohnstonbetween2brests639]

Okay Malta, hear me out. The Iwami has the second best secondary hitting DPM just after the Schlieffen. All of your secondaries pen 32 mm with IFHE. They also get Georgia accuracy. Also, even tho they are Harugumo guns (the 100mm ones) they get 500 more alpha damage for some reason. (Shiki and Kii have those as well) So akshually the secondaries on the Iwami should be pretty viable, despite the short range. I mean i play the Kii as a best of both worlds with a secondary build. Its main guns allow me to snipe and dumpster shit early game, and the secondaries are highly helpful for brawling in the late game. And they don't even have the accuracy and they are still decent. I highly believe you can play the Iwami the exact same way. I average 105k dmg on the Kii and im dogshit compared to you. So i highly suggest trying that build despite the low range. If you wanna snipe just play Bajie Big Fan!

[@MalteseKnight]

I’ll give it a try on stream! The range is a very big issue for T9 tho, 10.5km at T9 is pretty limited.

[@sirtogii5216]

While I would have liked to see a game with a secondary build for the memes I guess at the end of the day you would just be a gimped Ruprecht that does everything you do but better. With the Kii you get away with it easier as a tier lower but with no hydro at tier 9....brawling in this....I don't know man.

[@MalteseKnight]

@@sirtogii5216 Rupprecht is so much better for the secondary role, truly.

[@Ensign_Cthulhu]

@@MalteseKnight But if you specifically want a PREMIUM ship and an IJN premium at that, Rupprecht just can't do that for you.

[@PunzL]

I've been saving up coal but now I'm even more confused on what should be my first coal purchase. I'm torn between the kearsarge, pommern, and this iwami or get a special commander but I haven't grinded far into the soviet or german lines to make use of lutjens or kuznetsov

[@chandlerboyd3386]

Sherman, Pommern, Marceau, Black. (In no specific order) or even Napoli. Izumo will perform better than Iwami, and the Kearsarge has a tumor on it that is very easy to farm.

[@mkgaming990]

Did you use the Secondary Flag ? I mean it can be 11km ish range ?

[@MalteseKnight]

10.5km with secondary flag.

[@sameerkharade7750]

Isn't Iwami a brawling battleship? If yes, why didn't you go for full secondary guns build?

[@MalteseKnight]

If you read the comments, or watch the video, the reason is, the secondary range is really bad. Also, my stats with gun build are 132k avg in these 2 games, you cannot avg higher than that if you play secondaries, by forcing yourself into fighting at 10.5km.

[@ReDiR20]

10.5 range isn't bad. PR only has like 11.4 or a bit more with flag, but its similar and good enough in ranked

[@janasd86]

I love ijn bbs, i think i will get this next, BIGFAN

[@MalteseKnight]

Good Luck and Have Fun!

[@jacawandersmok9043]

Why PM and Brisk? or may be better if ask on stream

[@MalteseKnight]

Same build as Yamato, so I can move it freely. Brisk gives you higher top speed when you're dark, which is very strong, as it has no downsides for a 2 point skill. In terms of preventative maintenance, not really sure what else to take at Tier 1.

[@darkmeta372]

@@MalteseKnight True. For IJN BBs, unless you want that 1% fire chance on secs, take gun feeder or preventive maintenance for torps and guns

[@T.K.9]

Interesting T9 release(s) from WG. Like same 410mm but fewer guns. I don't really know what is the point if you can't differentiate it from existing T9 that is too similar. I got the Hizen but I feel like she is underwhelming. I far more enjoy Missouri, Georgia, Wujing and Bajie, gameplay. I have no Musashi but after facing her on non 460mm ship, Musa is fun too.

[@jacawandersmok9043]

Fianly Iwami in armory BIG FAN!

[@MalteseKnight]

Big Fan!

[@arongyorffy3070]

Bro, I live next to a railway station, where they store the old steam engines, and sometimes they fire those up, during night, so I can imagine living next to the construciton site, it will end sometime, believe in it!

[@MalteseKnight]

Haha, they probably are really loud?

[@arongyorffy3070]

@@MalteseKnight Especially when they are blowing their wistle for 20 minutes nonstop at 2am

[@MalteseKnight]

@@arongyorffy3070 Lmao, sounds really annoying.

[@Fjsorxha]

can we talk about how the enemy udaloi got 3.5k bxp 😮

[@MalteseKnight]

I complimented him I believe.

[@Fjsorxha]

@@MalteseKnight big fan btw :)

[@darkmeta372]

Wasn't Iwami supposed to have improved secondaries as well?

[@therepublic21]

She has Georgia accuracy on secondaries

[@MalteseKnight]

Short range sadly secondaries, sadly.

[@darkmeta372]

@@MalteseKnight Guessed as much.. I'll probably try to play her hybrid, with main gun accuracy and reload, but skilled for seco range and accuracy to use them at 9km situations, like I do with german main line BBs. (those with 9,5 up to 11 of course due to german range) Might be quite fun. Maybe even main gun reload instead of seco accuracy as 4-pointer

[@MalteseKnight]

@@darkmeta372 Good Luck and I hope you have a lot of fun!

[@donnybrook23]

BIG FAN btw. sooo, you give up 4 guns for the torps and slightly better deck armour vs Hizen - WOW amazing - Malta managing to hit exactly zero torps in 2 games - THOUGHTS? ps. I will be passing up the opportunity to acquire this fine vessel

[@MalteseKnight]

Lmao, Big Fan!

[@bustermorley8318]

I currently have 300000 in coal and still trying to work out what to buy. Sounds like this is a regulation battleship.

[@shunyuanliang4397]

Think Iwami having 8 of 460mm yamato/musashi guns would have been better to differentiate it from Hizen. The quality vs quantity.

[@flfar3445]

very accurate 410s mate

[@MalteseKnight]

Definitely.

[@saiyajinog7424]

Why would I play this over Mushashi? I would not, it can't compete with it. I don't want to play it like an AP Yoshino, so I'm gonna try out the secondary build, even though range is kinda limited, they still have great pen and accurazy. I'm still getting her because I'm a ship collector ;)

[@MalteseKnight]

Big Fan and God Luck!

[@ozgaming3757]

Big Fan!

[@MalteseKnight]

Big Fan!

[@AjaxPKama]

sadge thing about this is WG still give her a Hizen guns-shell-ballistics, with 8 guns i think she deserve a better guns than this. (Izumo guns mat be?) but i'll get her anyway, thanks for a vids mate,

[@MalteseKnight]

Big Fan!

[@AggrarFarmer]

Not Izumo guns nor shells. Iwami have poor penetration.

[@akane.sakurada]

Didn't WG market this ship as close quarters secondary brawler? I guess she does fine as a mid to long range sniper though. This was a good showcase of that.

[@MalteseKnight]

WG didn't market it as anything, as this is the first time this ship has been shown to the public. Prior to this is was NDA.

[@romcr3630]

Good mic, we don't hear the construction site noises dw

[@MalteseKnight]

Big Fan!

[@rexatimperator]

What are these construction workers building outside your home?

[@MalteseKnight]

I can't say :P

[@faynk.6247]

How 10.5 km secondary is short ?

[@MalteseKnight]

Rupprecht and FDG have 12.5km, that's 2km extra. Keep in mind, T9s have to fight super ships and T10s, 10.5km secondary range against T10, is pretty difficult to make use of, and the main guns on this ship are really good.

[@tonyennis1787]

It's really hard to get that close without being terribly punished by tier 10 and 11 boats. The CAs will melt you down starting at 14 km.

[@rowinglove4ever]

I believe this ship shouldn't have torps, but have yamatos 8 460mm main guns,the balance is still there when Yamato have 6guns at nose and you have to show your broad for more than. 4, and don't forget the musashi bring 9 460mm@t9

[@M3dwin]

Tbh that wd be op af unless it has a 38s reload or smth

[@M3dwin]

We have too much 32 overmatch, 30mm overmatch wd make it the 2nd strongest tier 9 alrdy

[@rowinglove4ever]

@@M3dwin how do you consider ''balanced'' the musashi at t9? that i never had a chance to get with 750.000 free xp (no thx i dont pay wow a ton of cash to get it from an event)

[@skultvlad]

I go full secondaries build.

[@MalteseKnight]

Have Fun!

[@amadeokomnenus1414]

I was kinda expecting more from this ship. That is would have great secondaries at least. When the torps got nerfed to the 20km ones, i was like ''Damn, the secondaries must be good''

[@MalteseKnight]

Short range secondaries, sadly.

[@amadeokomnenus1414]

​@@MalteseKnight Sad. I'm a sad Big Fan!

[@giwrgos19802]

If somebody has Musashi and Missouri, they don't need Hizen or Iwami

[@MalteseKnight]

It's in the description, and in the summary part at the end. I agree.

[@lex0266]

try secondairy build on this

[@MalteseKnight]

I tried it in ranked, it was ok, not really a good randoms build to be honest with you.

[@donaldwrightson]

I want this ship,she's beautiful!!!!

[@MalteseKnight]

Good Luck and Have Fun!

[@donaldwrightson]

@@MalteseKnight Thank you!!!!

[@scousersuk]

Look up nvidia rtx voice it will fix those noises in your audio nd u dont need a rtx card for it

[@MalteseKnight]

Wait what noises? The reversing noise? XD

[@scousersuk]

@@MalteseKnight yeah so basically it uses a bit of your gpu to filter out all that noise for you there are a lot of youtube videos on it the program is free and honestly fantastic.

[@johnday6739]

why are you saying "gamer turn" instead of just turn

[@Ensign_Cthulhu]

25:48 "Our Zorkiy Supership got top of the team; it is what it is." Irrelevant. The other team was topped by their tech-tree T9 Udaloi with a stupidly high base XP, over a thousand higher than their second place. That being said, thanks for the look at the ship. The key is going to lie in proper use of those 20km torpedoes, and I suspect that in PvP they will mostly be an area denial tool or trap for the unwary.

[@MalteseKnight]

Big Fan!

[@jimk8592]

So many ships being released it's ridiculous....

[@danh7411]

so more content is bad?

[@MalteseKnight]

Lmao

[@jimk8592]

Depends on the perspective my little whale, besides, what I stated doesn't relate into what you seem to have understood

[@pronouncedseven652]

I dont hear any noise in the background.. only way I know its there is you complaining about it 😂 which as we all know is the major side effect of playing Wows..

[@MalteseKnight]

Haha, maybe I should stop pointing it out :P

[@jacawandersmok9043]

japanise secondary 100mm meme trio kii Iwami Shikishima ;]

[@MalteseKnight]

The Range is too limited

[@jacawandersmok9043]

@@MalteseKnight thats why it is a meme ;]

[@NickGonsalves]

@nd game watching that USS Black player made me cringe. He must have payed some serious coal for it because he didn't know how to play it, to be broadside to torps on those occasions is ridiculous at T9 considering the excellent gun angles of a fletch class ship.

[@MalteseKnight]

[@gothia6515]

Nobrainer skip for me. I dont need a Nagato two tiers higher just because she got some torps.

[@MalteseKnight]

GigaChad

[@poseidon9916]

Iwami have significantly better AA than Hizen

[@MalteseKnight]

Too bad it doesn't matter too much in a real situation.

[@jlo8863]

Hizen - Hai Zen but Iwami - EE Wa Mi Bruhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh what the hack with Letter "I" European?

[@MalteseKnight]

Yes, I am european, correct.

[@frankriley9957]

This ship can't even hit (shit)adel on broadside Izumo. Bro, honestly I prefer Iowa or Missouri better. Every time i see you shoot a broadside target, it always goes either just pen or overpen. I think this ship just decent. Plus, it probably will shine if there is a cyclone and no CV.

[@MalteseKnight]

Description of the video. :P

[@frankriley9957]

@@MalteseKnight 🤣

[@rendevc4414]

this makes me think the T9 coal bbs are like this if use sniping as the context Iwami = you want to snipe with a gun and a torpedo Kearsarge = you want to snipe with gun and send Kearsage's guided HE shell Pommern = you want a better chance at sniping with T9 German BB because Pommern has 4 more guns Marco Polo = you want to snipe with SAP and expect more pen with it XD

[@Popmycherryyo]

!raffle

[@MalteseKnight]

Lmao

[@Popmycherryyo]

@@MalteseKnight Did I win?

[@AggrarFarmer]

Kii is better and you dont see superships.

[@Mooncricketstinks]

Trash ship it seems. Georgia and JB much better. BTW sec builds on both are alot better to.

[@tibchy144]

this boat is well balanced garbage, just like Hizen

[@sfcsabo1319]

If you’re just gonna sit and talk shit about a ship you brought the wrong build…you should quit making videos…just play the same 10 ships you’re good at and never play anything else.

[@tpaktop2_1na]

For your commander skills, I wish you start with the first skill, then second , and so forth until the last skill in order.

[@MalteseKnight]

Alright I’ll try to implement this in the future