World of Warships - Learn to Play: Tier IX American Cruiser USS Buffalo

[@neilwickman]

What a coincidence! I just unlocked this ship about an hour ago on my way to the Des Moines, trying to play something a bit more clan-friendly than BBs. I love being assertive in my North Carolina, even uptiered, using good aim and positioning to make a big impact, but I found the Baltimore to be a real struggle the whole time. Uptiered almost every match, it seemed to demand such a timid temperament, and it almost never felt fun to play. Even though I've only played the one match, Buffalo seems to a bit more fun. It's hard to overstate the value of the heal as a force multiplier, and she's less vulnerable to brainless HE harassment from T10 ships with her T9 fire resist. Great guns and ammunition as they all have, and the extra rear turret makes it easier to punish people who want to chase you down.

[@rextuller3498]

Yeah I’m not the best player so when I play this thing and make a mistake exposing myself I know the outcome, have to be so careful

[@insertpienow]

Top Quality Work.... Cheers

[@gabrielantona]

USN CAs are my favorite line; it's great to find a good content creator who likes talking about them.

[@kano4282]

I LOVE this ship! Citadel dealing queen!! Great radar. Hard hitting AP and HE. I wish she had a little more get up and go, but if she did... she'd probably be OP.

[@matthewyang7893]

Myself, I loved Baltimore with all my heart. The entire line kind of came together there and it really prepares you for what you’re getting the rest of the way it seems. I hope buffalo will provide me with the same experience :)

[@SeaRaptor]

Baltimore is truly the complete package. There are those who feel like Buffalo is a let-down after Baltimore; one of my goals of the video is to try and soften that blow somewhat. Buffalo has a different set of strengths than Baltimore, perhaps, but she is no less excellent.

[@matthewyang7893]

@@SeaRaptor I just skipped to Des Moines, and I must say ripping the turrets off of a petro is a very pleasing experience for me

[@Waveyak]

Another outstanding review and game play explanation. Thank you.

[@jiizzoniit]

I play this game since 23 days and your videos helped a lot! Today i had a 110k game in uptier and with superships...i was at the edge of a cap behind a small but tall island and used only 50% of my of my turrets..the convienient thing was you have at least 2 turrets to shoot from without turning the ship around was a fun expierience to shoot at BBs without getting detected.

[@SeaRaptor]

Glad to be of help! The turret config on Buffalo is highly flexible; it helps make up for her detection radius. =)

[@old_guard2431]

A very thorough job. The only reason I still have Buffalo is that I stopped selling ships that weren’t working for me. I have bought a number of them back, realizing that the ship was not the problem. Power creep is a thing, and you have to adapt. The play style that worked several years ago will not work now. In round terms I have to play a heavy cruiser the way I used to play a light cruiser, and a light cruiser somewhat like a destroyer. There are several suggestions I am going to look at: reload rather than range is one of them. A tough choice, building for a Tier X/Starship game getting that close to be able to shoot is a bit scary. Would have liked to have seen a Tier X game, maybe gotten a few more pointers for that environment, but a tremendously valuable video.

[@SeaRaptor]

Appreciate the kind words. I do have a ton of Buffalo vids on the channel in Tier X games going all the way back to late 2020 when I first sort of re-discovered this ship. In that era, I also played range mod and someone in either Twitch chat or video comments - I forget which - talked me into trying reload. I've never gone back. The lack of range occasionally hurts, no question, but I've not missed it much. www.youtube.com/@SeaRaptor/search?query=buffalo In fact, here's my first game using reload: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r2XMp42sjtZoepo

[@theteacher3148]

Hey bro it's me I tiered up! I watched your video about this ship and I followed your advice, EXCEPT 1 thing, I chose the RANGE upgrade! the lead times are ridiculous but wow, I gotta tell ya, being able to shoot at 18 kilometers away feels amazing!😂She's a beast up close (under 15kilos) away but without proper armor you don't survive for too long.

[@SeaRaptor]

The range upgrade is not a bad way to play the ship. I find the shells quite difficult to lead at max range, but the appeal of having what amounts to an American Hindenburg is real. I've played the ship in this configuration and it absolutely works.

[@curtshelp6170]

Using Buffalo in randoms we got into a brawl and I popped out from behind an island on a distracted GK with his guns pointed where he thought the threat was and I dropped him from near full health to zero before he could get his guns around on me 4-5 salvos dead.

[@SeaRaptor]

Firing AP at broadside battleships - especially at close range - is a good tactic for nearly all heavy cruisers, but especially for the American ones.

[@wildlifeman6365]

With the new buffs that Wargaming has given the Buffalo, are there any changes to the captain's skills or upgrades that you would recommend now?

[@SeaRaptor]

Don't think so, no.

[@revamp2245]

Flags are good for competitive, i dont waste them on randoms rather just let rng roll.. you will barely make any credits if you flag up in randoms in fact will end up in net loss after each round in most instances especially if your doing radar as alot of the time the hull ends up getting stuck if you want the best spotting from the radar... but decent insight.. much appreciated.

[@SeaRaptor]

Depends, of course. There are other sources of flags besides credits.

[@ArchBuck1]

What are you running for UI? Love the setup.

[@SeaRaptor]

I get this question a lot, help me remember and I'll put up a post with a list of the mods I use for my in-game HUD. My crosshairs are Static #10 out of the base game, no mods there.

[@jiizzoniit]

I love this ship, especially if DDs are broadside and full speed, aim for hitting it full speed with one turret and just adjust your aim like you would try hitting a cruiser... For me i aim 15 mark and down to 10 shoot every turret 1 by1.. So if the enemy dd stays at it's speed it could get hit by 3 bullets if it slows down it gets hit by even more depending on how you aimed for each turret.. I say 60% it works especially if you shoot it the first time.. Most start slowing down if they see your first shot..

[@Czar_B]

This is great, you should have more subs. Thx

[@SeaRaptor]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@Depressed_Nightfury]

I'm really hating this thing with a passion...gotta love throwing a full Salvo at a broadside zao at 6km and getting zero citadels and then him killing me. While the shells just don't seem to do anything meaningful. Roon was a way better grind for me. I don't get this thing

[@matthewyingling6490]

She is a beast!

[@Seluecus1]

Raptor, I don't think Spotter Buff/DSM is about range, i think it's about peaking stationary ships better, to maximize damage output. When SP actually spotted ships and it was meta to run dual spotters, Spotter Moines was the ultimate meme ship for enhancing mid/long range support. Now, chances are that SP is used to just get a better visual on hiding ships, especially for those not well versed in reading the Minimap, or doing the Map trick, or even just having an understanding of about how long a ship is, and whether it's moving or not. So, i guess (outside of Meme builds) i would probably hazard that SP is used by newer Buffalo/DSM players who don't feel comfortable getting up in radar range of a cap or don't quite understand how to play either ship against other players.

[@SeaRaptor]

It could be, but if you're really focused on stationary targets, then you're likely configuring the ship for CBs or something. I don't find a ton of stationary play in randoms any more. Subs and CVs punish that hard enough already.

[@NochKlinka]

I absolutely love Buffalo, and actually play her more than both Des Moines and Salem

[@mm1dea]

Really enjoyable video, many thanks. I think overall its a better ship than desmoines. Keep the vids coming nice one

[@Chaser617]

You know, I'll be honest, while Des Moines is a wonderful ship, with clear advantages, I honestly don't know if I like her or Buffalo better, yes, you don't get the pure daka that DM gives you, but for shear alpha on the 8 inch platform, I think I prefer Buffalo