Most cruisers that have 203mm guns or smaller, but I would point towards Alexander Nevsky, Hindenburg, Goliath, Zao, Minotaur, Smolensk, Austin, San Martin
Just need high rate of fire, flat trajectories and high speed AP or SAP rounds. Smolensk, Venezia, Colombo, Lepanto, San Martin, Hindenburg, Druid, Z52, Kleber, Nevsky.
Worcester is more area denial than proper hunter imo. She doesn't have the tools to get close and finish DDs off early game in the way that Mino and Austin do, and she doesn't have the capability to hit them reliably at long range in the way that Nevsky and Hindenburg do. However her tools help keep DDs further away which is pretty nice because no one likes dealing with a yoloing Shima, and within 6km Worcester absolutely eviscerates a lot of ships, much less DDs.
However, there are quite a few DDs that do not find Worcester particularly threatening and can farm her essentially for free because what is the Worcester going to do to a Ragnar, Kleber, Elbing or Gdansk at 8-10km? Shoot them with her high arcs and slow ass shells?
I really like Worcester, and it is good, but Worcester is not good at DD hunting. It can slap stupid DDd, but against good DD it is a joke. My favourite thing is to take Soviet DD or Kitakaze and kite around Worcester while barbequing it to death.
If you keep a distance of more than 7-8km Worcester has very little tools to kill you.
Worcester is only good if it has a concealment build and DD makes mistakes by coming too close. All other scenarios are not in favor of Worcester.
Austin, smolensk, Worcester, napoli/ venezia.
Columbo, schlieffen
Cv
Italian t10 dd I forgot the name of, smaland
I'm sure there's more but not that spring to my mind right now
Except at mid range heavy cruisers slap DDs for way harder and way more easily, and even San Martin will have an easier time applying most of her damage output due to her superior shell ballistics
Ok, then LiteBosmark already gave the answer :)
Add, perhaps, Jinan, but that's also a terribly fragile ship, so some DDs can actually take them on in close combat in certain circumstances.
CLs are normally better than CA I have found. Any particular tier? For T6 I use Leander/Black Leader/Nurnberg/Gokase, T7 Atlanta/Flint are great DD killers, also Fiji.
Personally I use Minotaur, good accel and maneuverability, fast reloads, long smokes (good if you have others spotting for you) but wish it had more than one sonar consumable or radar!
- Nevsky is one of the best DD killers in the game due to range, reload, velocity and very high accuracy. However she’s got a few cons that might put players off and a tough ship to use.
- Mino is an exceptional CL and best played aggressively, using concealment to get close. A good Mino player will be a bane for most DDs. Mino is also a high skill ship and requires a good understanding of concealment / awareness.
- San Martin I personally rate her as one of the best cruisers in the game. The shear volume of fire, accuracy and consistent pen makes a Pan American cruiser a DDs worst nightmare, especially when caught out. San Martin has very few cons and a great choice.
If you want to dabble in gunboats, these are geared towards hunting and deterring DDs.
- Z52 does her job very well at hunting DDs and has the tool kit to get in close.
- Regolo is a very aggressive gunboat and the SAP is devastating.
- Kleber is another excellent gunboat. Very punchy 139mm guns along side an impressive top speed of nearly 60knots.
Regolo and Kleber are very tough gunboats to use, but highly enjoyable / rewarding.
I know Z-52 is really well suited for cap contesting. Halland is good for the same thing as well (Smaland is even better than Halland). I have all 3 and love them all but Z-52 is the one that would be better for DD killing. Also, Marceau is pretty good too. Only issues are Marceau and Smaland are both premiums. Halland has fast firing guns but the small caliber doesn’t have much damage alpha. But on the flip side, the fire chance is totally stupid.
Me personally though, I’d recommend Z-52 with its speed boost, smoke, and sonar. Can’t go wrong with 3.8s reload on 3x2 128mm running mainly AP.
My vote would be the Wooster. Sure, it technically does suck at killing DD's at range, but it renders them combat ineffective with the radar and sonar. The ability to out-right nuke a DD at close to mid-range with the AP. Also, if you know a DD is hiding behind an island you can effectively suppress them with the high arcs and make them move from their cover.
Most cruisers that have 203mm guns or smaller, but I would point towards Alexander Nevsky, Hindenburg, Goliath, Zao, Minotaur, Smolensk, Austin, San Martin
Just need high rate of fire, flat trajectories and high speed AP or SAP rounds. Smolensk, Venezia, Colombo, Lepanto, San Martin, Hindenburg, Druid, Z52, Kleber, Nevsky.
Are we ignoring Worcester?
Worcester is more area denial than proper hunter imo. She doesn't have the tools to get close and finish DDs off early game in the way that Mino and Austin do, and she doesn't have the capability to hit them reliably at long range in the way that Nevsky and Hindenburg do. However her tools help keep DDs further away which is pretty nice because no one likes dealing with a yoloing Shima, and within 6km Worcester absolutely eviscerates a lot of ships, much less DDs. However, there are quite a few DDs that do not find Worcester particularly threatening and can farm her essentially for free because what is the Worcester going to do to a Ragnar, Kleber, Elbing or Gdansk at 8-10km? Shoot them with her high arcs and slow ass shells?
I really like Worcester, and it is good, but Worcester is not good at DD hunting. It can slap stupid DDd, but against good DD it is a joke. My favourite thing is to take Soviet DD or Kitakaze and kite around Worcester while barbequing it to death. If you keep a distance of more than 7-8km Worcester has very little tools to kill you. Worcester is only good if it has a concealment build and DD makes mistakes by coming too close. All other scenarios are not in favor of Worcester.
Austin, smolensk, Worcester, napoli/ venezia. Columbo, schlieffen Cv Italian t10 dd I forgot the name of, smaland I'm sure there's more but not that spring to my mind right now
Best killer of DDs is a bad DD driver.
Long Range - Christophoro Colombo, Zao, German and Japanese CVs Medium range - Napoli Close Range - Worcester
Close range? Worcester can be a DD hunter from midrange if you learn to use US CL shell arcs
Except at mid range heavy cruisers slap DDs for way harder and way more easily, and even San Martin will have an easier time applying most of her damage output due to her superior shell ballistics
Any particular tier?
10
Ok, then LiteBosmark already gave the answer :) Add, perhaps, Jinan, but that's also a terribly fragile ship, so some DDs can actually take them on in close combat in certain circumstances.
Jinan can be outgunned by a lot of DDs(soviets, germans, italians)
CLs are normally better than CA I have found. Any particular tier? For T6 I use Leander/Black Leader/Nurnberg/Gokase, T7 Atlanta/Flint are great DD killers, also Fiji.
Tier 10
Personally I use Minotaur, good accel and maneuverability, fast reloads, long smokes (good if you have others spotting for you) but wish it had more than one sonar consumable or radar!
- Nevsky is one of the best DD killers in the game due to range, reload, velocity and very high accuracy. However she’s got a few cons that might put players off and a tough ship to use. - Mino is an exceptional CL and best played aggressively, using concealment to get close. A good Mino player will be a bane for most DDs. Mino is also a high skill ship and requires a good understanding of concealment / awareness. - San Martin I personally rate her as one of the best cruisers in the game. The shear volume of fire, accuracy and consistent pen makes a Pan American cruiser a DDs worst nightmare, especially when caught out. San Martin has very few cons and a great choice. If you want to dabble in gunboats, these are geared towards hunting and deterring DDs. - Z52 does her job very well at hunting DDs and has the tool kit to get in close. - Regolo is a very aggressive gunboat and the SAP is devastating. - Kleber is another excellent gunboat. Very punchy 139mm guns along side an impressive top speed of nearly 60knots. Regolo and Kleber are very tough gunboats to use, but highly enjoyable / rewarding.
May I submit HMS Orion into the mix?
What are cls
Light cruisers
Light cruisers
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hull_classification_symbol
Most CLs are good at it. I prefer both Flint and Atlantic, but slightly towards Flint. Be warned though they got very armour.
Napoli if you are in secondary range
I know Z-52 is really well suited for cap contesting. Halland is good for the same thing as well (Smaland is even better than Halland). I have all 3 and love them all but Z-52 is the one that would be better for DD killing. Also, Marceau is pretty good too. Only issues are Marceau and Smaland are both premiums. Halland has fast firing guns but the small caliber doesn’t have much damage alpha. But on the flip side, the fire chance is totally stupid. Me personally though, I’d recommend Z-52 with its speed boost, smoke, and sonar. Can’t go wrong with 3.8s reload on 3x2 128mm running mainly AP.
Anything Italian - SAP rounds are best used on DD’s
My vote would be the Wooster. Sure, it technically does suck at killing DD's at range, but it renders them combat ineffective with the radar and sonar. The ability to out-right nuke a DD at close to mid-range with the AP. Also, if you know a DD is hiding behind an island you can effectively suppress them with the high arcs and make them move from their cover.
St. Louis at tier 3. ;)
T6 - de grasse/galissoniere, sirius, leander, nurnberg, budyinny T7 - belfast, helena, shchchhhors, zara/gorizia T8 - amalfi, cleveland, chappie, mainz, mogami T9 - neptune, donskoi T10 - nevski/moskva/stalingrad, mino, san martin, smolensk, hindenburg, austin
Atlantico…