Log in

View Full Version : Any tips to one hit kill a ship?


xboxer
07-20-07, 12:30 AM
Need some advice here.

Apparently there are no SH3-style hit boxes in SH4 according to my other thread.

So is there any way to one hit kill a ship in SH4? In SH3 you simply highlight the box to the ammo or fuel bunker.

simonb1612
07-20-07, 12:37 AM
I am afraid it is just experience and the word of other skippers on this forum. below the smoke stack is always a good start, so to is below a gun turret... But I am sure that you already knew this as you played SHIII.

xboxer
07-20-07, 12:46 AM
I am afraid it is just experience and the word of other skippers on this forum. below the smoke stack is always a good start, so to is below a gun turret... But I am sure that you already knew this as you played SHIII.
No I don't. Because I was too dependant on the boxes in SH3....... :cry: :cry:

simonb1612
07-20-07, 01:09 AM
It really is trial and error. I do not believe that there will alway be a certain spot on a certain ship that will give you a one hit one kill result. Targetting is not that accurate (consider sea condition and role of vessels) so while you may think you have scored a hit in the same spot on an identical vessel, the outcome could, and for those who want a lifelike sim, should be different each time.
My knowledge of the game limits my suggestions to smokestacks and gun turrets....

Tobus
07-20-07, 01:39 AM
There are some excellent mods in the mods-forum which completely overhaul the damage-system.

Now ships just seem to have a certain number of hitpoints, as do torpedoes. That makes sinking ships a purely mathematical thing, not the way it should be.

nomdeplume
07-20-07, 03:49 AM
Now ships just seem to have a certain number of hitpoints, as do torpedoes. That makes sinking ships a purely mathematical thing, not the way it should be.

That's definitely not true; hitting ships in different places does result in different damage being applied. I have most luck under the funnel, with a deeper than normal setting. Large tankers I hit near the stern, at the default depth setting.

Not always an instant kill, but good results more often than not. At least for me.

There's certainly enough variety to suggest it isn't a simple hit points model. No doubt it is to an extent, but you do get other results. Probably they just toned down the effectiveness of the "magic spots" to make it more realistic.

STEED
07-20-07, 04:38 AM
Aim for the bow dead on, it's tricky. Best results are destroyers charging at you +20,000 once they get in the 10,000 they could start to zig zag

Tobus
07-20-07, 07:33 AM
That's definitely not true;

Whatever you say, my experience is different, until I started playing around with this mod: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=118005

nomdeplume
07-20-07, 07:34 AM
Aim for the bow dead on, it's tricky. Best results are destroyers charging at you +20,000 once they get in the 10,000 they could start to zig zag
I do this quite a bit (it's reasonably easy when the computer is calculating the torpedo settings for you) and have found that in 1.3 the destroyers seem much tougher. I've had quite a few occassions where bow hits didn't kill them. They do generally change course and circle around, so it does help when they're coming at you for a depth charge run.

In fact, I've had several cases where I've hit them once head-on to the bow, they've circled off, and I've hit them again somewhere along the side and even after that they kept cruising for a bit, their engine died, then they came to a halt and still took several minutes to sink.

I've had one that came to a stop and didn't sink; I chased the rest of the convoy for a while, then finally gave up after a good 10-15 minutes, returned to the location where the destroyer was stuck, then finished him off with a third.

I know it's a waste of torpedos, but the bastard gave me a hard time, so he had it coming.

CptWilkins
07-20-07, 07:52 AM
I sank a Mogami with one torp this evening (Alright, so 4 hit her in the end, but the first one killed her).

The three factors that strike me as being important are:

#1 - Set the torp for contact
#2 - Aim for under the command deck
#3 - Get it as low as possible without going under. The book is quite handy for this.


Not especially technical, but I have been getting pretty stunning results following this simple system :up:

switch.dota
07-20-07, 07:57 AM
#1 - Set the torp for contact
The switch does NOT work. At ALL. Mk14 before mid 43 are the ONLY torpedoes that have influence detonators and you CANNOT switch them off. The C/I switch on the attack pannel doesn't change anything.

Snuffy
07-20-07, 09:31 AM
Make sure you set up for a good perpendicular midship shot.

Last night I was being chased by a DD and damned if when I fired my torp at him, it deflected off the bow and died in the water 200 feet from him. This was a bow on shot, at least at the time time of firing the fish. The DD started zig zagging shortly there after and caused the deflection.

Usually the more ship you have to hit the better your chances are. :doh:

CptWilkins
07-20-07, 10:00 AM
#1 - Set the torp for contact The switch does NOT work. At ALL. Mk14 before mid 43 are the ONLY torpedoes that have influence detonators and you CANNOT switch them off. The C/I switch on the attack pannel doesn't change anything.

Be that as it may, I have been getting better kills with it switched on.

SteamWake
07-20-07, 10:26 AM
I sank a carrier at anchor with one torpedo once.

I had planned to fire 4 I fired two from the front tubes and was makeing the turn to get the hell out of there and planned to fire two more from the stern tubes.

About halfway through the turn the first torpedo struck and KABOOM she went up in a ball of flames. The second did strike also but the first one had tore her up.

So there is a certain 'luck' factor. These shots were fanned accross from stern to bow and the first one hit a little ways ahead of the screws.

This was prior to 1.3 though. From what I understand you can no longer pull this off. (sink ships at anchor)

edjcox
07-21-07, 12:11 AM
Decide if you want a fast run or a slow run....

If your in the thick of things Fastr is better

Go to the Topedoe setting and go to tube 1 click fast and hit "w" and repeat till you've set all your speeds as desired.

Go back to one and click on the depth setting, leave the default for destroyers but run super shallow for Subchasers.

Run around 3 for BB, CC, and CV's. Vary slighly up and down. A deep torp using a magnetic detonator will cripple most ships if you run right at or under keel. You'll have ot be very accurate in depth setting...

Remember to lock your TDC setting for the first shot and then lead a bit "unlocked" and lag sligtly for a dispersed hit pattern on larger vessels.

If a DD is attacking bear in mind that she'll likely move faster than your setting so a slight lead is good.

In order to Shoot quickly remember to preset your Torps open the doors using the "q" command and "W" to switc to the next tube. You pre-open and "w" to the next tube before firing.

Don't leve the tube open to long or the torp may not fire or will do say and do something erratic...

Most of all enjoy the game..

:smug:

STEED
07-21-07, 06:22 AM
found that in 1.3 the destroyers seem much tougher. I've had quite a few occassions where bow hits didn't kill them.

It will not kill them out right but it will cause mass flooding and the faster they come at you the more water they take on. It will render them less of a problem while you focus on any other destroyers out there.

Follow the golden rule while they are pinging they are not hearing you so that's the time to move, no pinging they can hear you so do nothing.

SteamWake
07-21-07, 08:28 AM
found that in 1.3 the destroyers seem much tougher. I've had quite a few occassions where bow hits didn't kill them.

It will not kill them out right but it will cause mass flooding and the faster they come at you the more water they take on. It will render them less of a problem while you focus on any other destroyers out there.

Follow the golden rule while they are pinging they are not hearing you so that's the time to move, no pinging they can hear you so do nothing.

Carefull with this advice. Somtimes the destroyers will work in pairs. One will thrash about pinging and dropping charges while the other sits and listens.

don1reed
07-22-07, 01:20 PM
Using TMaru or RFB I've hit merchants a lil forward of the pilot house and MOT with more than 1 torp and they burn forever and their bows sink below the gunnel with green water up to the portholes on the wheelhouse, but they butts stay afloat and rejoin the convoy; however, I've accidentally hit merchants abaft the wheel house with one torp and they DO become dead in the water and slowly sink. The large tankers seem to slip under with one torp when hit in the abaft superstructure at the stack.

FAdmiral
07-22-07, 04:08 PM
Need some advice here.

Apparently there are no SH3-style hit boxes in SH4 according to my other thread.

So is there any way to one hit kill a ship in SH4? In SH3 you simply highlight the box to the ammo or fuel bunker.

I use the torpedo explosive power 2X mod, does wonders for 1 shot kills....

JIM

Excalibur Bane
07-22-07, 06:31 PM
It's good to remember that each torpedo has a certain random element to it as well, not every torpedo does the exact same damage each time, there is a small variation in exact damage. I don't recall how much it varied by though.

Personally, I found bow shots woefully inadequate in 1.2. I had engaged a Large Modern Composite Freighter and hit him in the bow with 5 torpedoes and it didn't effect him at all. No damage was visible, no speed reduction, no fire, no flooding. Perhaps that's been fixed in 1.3, I don't tend to play chicken all that often, in the case above I was just getting rid of all my torpedoes before I returned to base and ended the patrol. That was with the mod that increased torpedo damage by 25%. :-?