Cerberus

13.9

Cruiser | Commonwealth | Tier X

Tech Tree Position

Battle Levels

12345678910

X

20,000,000

Cerberus — Commonwealth Tier X cruiser.

A sizable and seaworthy cruiser and an advancement of an Australian design from the early 1920s, this warship featured increased displacement and a more extensive main battery of twelve 203 mm guns. In layout and silhouette, she has much in common with British County-class cruisers.

Modules

	Rate of Fire (shots/min)	180° Turn Time (sec)	Maximum Dispersion (m)	Maximum HE Shell Damage (HP)	Chance of Fire on Target Caused by HE Shell (%)	Maximum AP Shell Damage (HP)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
203 mm/50 BL Mk.VIII on a Mk.III mount	5.7	30	157	2,950	18	4,350		0	2,000,000

	Hit Points (HP)	Armor (mm)	Armor (mm)	Main Turrets (pcs.)	Secondary Gun Turrets (pcs.)	AA Mounts (pcs.)	Torpedo Tubes (pcs.)	Hangar Capacity (pcs.)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Cerberus	47,300	16	203	4	6	16/8/6	2			0	3,000,000

	Rate of Fire (shots/min)	Torpedo Tubes Reload Time (sec)	180° Turn Time (sec)	Maximum Damage (HP)	Torpedo Speed (knot)	Torpedo Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
533 mm Mk VII	0.6	96	7.2	16,766	65	13.5		0	2,000,000

	IDS_SHIP_PARAM_SUO_INCREASE_DIST (%)	Maximum Firing Range (km)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Mk X mod. 1		0		0	2,000,000

	Maximum Speed (knot)		Research price (exp)	Purchase price ()
Propulsion: 115,000 hp	34		0	2,000,000

Compatible Upgrades

Slot 1
Slot 2
Slot 3
Slot 4
Slot 5
Slot 6

Player Opinion

Performance

Warning: The data presented in the AA Defense sidebar section may be incorrect.
Refer to the in-game Port screens for more useful data.

Cerberus is a powerful heavy cruiser. She differs from her predecessors because she has the perfect combination of firepower, maneuverability, armor, and flexibility to be capable of operating independently. While she is significantly larger than her predecessors, she has even better main battery performance, great concealment, long-range torpedoes, and a good selection of consumables.

Main Battery

Like Encounter, Cerberus boasts a potent main battery. She mounts a respectable twelve 203 mm guns in four triple turrets, with two superfiring on the bow and two superfiring astern. Her turrets take a worst-in-class 30 seconds to rotate 180 degrees, which complicates changing targets in a hurry.

Similar to the other tech tree Commonwealth cruisers, most of her damage output will come from her high-explosive (HE) shells. They are identical to Encounter’s HE shells, although she sacrifices a bit of reload in exchange for the three extra guns. She also has a slightly longer range, allowing her to be more effective in larger maps and high-tier gameplay. Cerberus’ HE shells have an excellent 18% fire chance and 2950 hitpoints of damage. These factors make her exceptionally well-suited to accumulating raw damage numbers in addition to starting fires. A base 34 mm of HE penetration means that her captain won’t require the Inertia Fuse for High Explosive skill. Cerberus’ ability to start fires while also racking up large amounts of damage will carry her to victory, especially when it comes to defeating heavily-armored opponents.

Cerberus’ armor-piercing (AP) performance is poor, but should not be underestimated. While they may not be the most lethal AP shells, they are more than capable of crippling or sinking targets (especially enemy cruisers) that show too much broadside. A combination of low damage per shell and a slower reload result in poor overall AP damage per minute. However, her AP shells still pack a punch. Both her HE and AP shells have fairly flat ballistics and short flight times which makes leading targets at range surprisingly comfortable.

Torpedoes

Cerberus has two quadruple torpedo launchers identical to the ones found aboard Encounter. They have an impressive 13.5 km range, allowing Cerberus to launch them from stealth. Unfortunately, four torpedoes per side mostly limits their usefulness to being area denial weapons. They reload in 96 seconds, have an average speed of 65 knots, and can deal up to 16,767 hitpoints worth of damage. While they may prove occasionally useful, they are not her primary weapon. Although the torpedo launchers are somewhat shrouded, they are still susceptible to being temporarily or permanently disabled.

Survivability

In common with Encounter and the rest of the tech tree Commonwealth cruisers, Cerberus has a large, exposed citadel that extends above the waterline. She is also a larger target than Encounter with significantly more freeboard. Her bow and stern are covered in 25 mm of plating that can be overmatched by 380 mm and larger guns, but her midships is clad in an unusually thick 32 mm of plating. This allows her to ricochet any AP shell smaller than 460 mm when angled properly, greatly enhancing her survivability over many of her peers. Her deck only has 30 mm of plating, overmatchable by 430 mm and larger battleship guns. Cerberus has a below-average 47,300 hitpoint pool and a mediocre 19% torpedo damage reduction, so she must rely on her maneuverability and smokescreen to avoid taking damage when possible. Fortunately, she is equipped with three charges of the Repair Party  consumable that allow her to recover lost hitpoints. Ideally, she should conceal herself behind islands and use her Crawling Smoke Generator  to stay concealed while moving at 1/4 speed (see Consumables section below). Despite having more freeboard than Encounter, Cerberus has an even better base surface detection radius of 12.3 km and lower smoke firing penalty of 7.3 km.

Maneuverability

A 34 knot speed is in line with many other Tier X cruisers, but she is painfully slow to accelerate. An 11 second rudder shift and 790 m turning radius are both average. She is quite flexible and can reposition as necessary to maximize her battle impact. Additionally, she can utilize standard cruiser tactics of using island cover and her crawling smokescreen to avoid detection.

Consumables

Cerberus is equipped with a standard Damage Control Party  consumable and three charges of a Repair Party . To conserve her health for as long as possible, captains should make every effort to dodge incoming shells, torpedoes, and aircraft as they are able. She can choose either the Hydroacoustic Search  or Defensive AA Fire  consumable; the former is useful for spotting torpedoes and enemy vessels, while the latter can temporarily boost her AAA fire by 50% and quadruples her flak damage for 40 seconds.

The signature Commonwealth Crawling Smoke Generator  is Cerberus’ most powerful consumable, enabling her to maintain concealment while moving at 1/4 speed. When this consumable is activated, it provides her with 102 seconds of concealment, giving her ample time to reposition or deal damage without being detected. The addition of the Hydroacoustic Search  consumable offers an extra layer of defense while in smoke, reducing the chances of torpedoes or aggressive enemies approaching unnoticed.

Cerberus is equipped with the Submarine Surveillance  consumable, which can be used to detect enemy submarines at or below periscope depth within a 8 km radius for herself and her allies. The scarcity of this consumable among surface vessels provides added utility that will prove exceptionally useful for supporting allied vessels.

Anti-Aircraft Defenses

Cerberus’s AA armament is very poor. Her medium- and long-range auras deal poor damage and her short-range aura is mediocre. Even worse, she only generates 2 flak bursts with low damage. Equipping the Defensive AA Fire  consumable is highly inadvisable, as giving up the ability to spot torpedoes and enemy vessels for a slight improvement to terrible AA provides no valuable return for the accepted risk.

ASW

Cerberus is one of the few Tier X cruisers equipped with the Submarine Surveillance  consumable. When a submarine strays within 8 km of her, she can activate this consumable to expose the submarine’s location to her teammates. Unlike her counterparts, she can store up to three depth charge airstrikes, with each charge reloading in only 30 seconds. The ability to drop three airstrikes instead of the typical two allows Cerberus to have a better chance of causing damage to enemy submarines. She also benefits from an extended range of 11 km, allowing her to provide excellent coverage. In exchange for all of these strengths, she has slightly lower depth charge damage, blast radius, and fire chance. Each airstrike drops two depth charges, dealing a maximum 3900 hitpoints of damage per charge over a blast radius of 300 m with a 28% chance of fire.

Battle Performance

To maximize Cerberus's effectiveness, it's best for captains to maintain a position at long to medium range at the beginning of a match. This strategy allows her to support allied destroyers and submarines while staying far enough back to react to incoming fire from enemy battleships. Equipped with a Crawling Smoke Generator 

, Hydroacoustic Search 

or Defensive AA Fire 

, and Submarine Surveillance 

consumables, Cerberus can adapt to a variety of situations and remain a formidable opponent against stronger enemy forces. Her specialty lies in inflicting sustained high-explosive damage and setting fires on larger, slower ships, all while remaining concealed behind islands or within her own crawling smoke. As the conflict intensifies, she can advance to capture points or strategic choke points for a bolder stance, increasing the pressure on the opposing team. Occasionally, seizing the chance to send a volley of torpedoes through a narrow passage or ahead of an enemy advance can contribute incremental damage, edging the team towards triumph.

Pros:

Excellent fire starting potential
Good HE damage output
Long-range torpedoes
Decently maneuverable
Access to Submarine Surveillance  consumable
Three charges of ASW airstrike with extended range

Cons:

Below-average HP pool
Poor armor scheme and exposed citadel
Slow turret traverse
Poor AP damage per minute
Abysmal AAA
Poor acceleration and average agility

Research

As a top-tier ship, Cerberus has no module upgrades to research.

Optimal Configuration

Upgrades

The recommended upgrades are:

Slot 1: Main Armaments Modification 1
Slot 2: Engine Room Protection
Slot 3: Aiming Systems Modification 1
Slot 4: Propulsion Modification 1
Slot 5: Concealment System Modification 1 
Slot 6: Main Battery Modification 3

Commander Skills

Recommended Commander Skills
Cost (points)	Attack				Defense
1	Grease the Gears +15% main battery traverse speed. ★★★	Swift Fish +5% torpedo speed.	Consumables Specialist −7.5% cooldown time of all Consumables except: Damage Control Party  Repair Party . ★	Gun Feeder -40% time to switch shell type. ★★★	Incoming Fire Alert Receive a warning of a salvo fired at your ship from more than 4.5km. ★★	Last Stand The ship remains able to move and maneuver - slowly - while the engine or steering gears are incapacitated. ★
2	Demolition Expert +1% chance of main and secondary HE shells causing a fire. +15% to the fragmentation damage area of HE ordnance fired at submarines. ★	Fill the Tubes -10% torpedo tubes reload time.	Consumables Enhancements +10% action time of Hydroacoustic Search, Surveillance Radar, Smoke Generator, & Engine Boost. ★★★	Eye in the Sky Spotting Aircraft: • +2 charges • -50% cooldown time.	Priority Target The detection indicator will show the number of enemies targeting you with main battery. ★★★	Focus Fire Training In an active priority AA sector: • +1.5% (to 5%) immediate damage. • +25% continuous damage. • +1 flak burst per salvo. −10% aircraft preparation time. −15% reload time of Airstrike armament..
3	Heavy HE and SAP Shells +10% HE and SAP shell damage. +15% ship detectability guns 149mm and up. ★	Pack a Punch +15% torpedo damage. +20% secondary battery range..	Adrenaline Rush -0.2% reload time of all armaments per 1% HP lost +0.2% AA continuous damage per 1% HP lost. ★★★	Heavy AP Shells +5% damage for AP shells 190mm and larger. ★★	Superintendent +1 charge to all consumables. ★★★	Survivability Expert +450 HP per ship tier. ★★
4	Top Grade Gunner -10% reload time of secondary batteries If enemy ship is spotted within detectability range, -8% reload time of main battery. ★★★	Outnumbered If there are fewer allies than visible enemies within the ship's base main caliber firing range: +8% ship speed -10% main battery dispersion.	Radio Location Shows the direction to the nearest enemy ship. The enemy is alerted that a bearing has been taken.. ★★	Inertial Fuse for HE Shells +25% armor penetration of HE shells Base fire chance reduced by half.	Concealment Expert -10% detectability range of the ship. ★★★	AAA & ASW Expert +25% continuous AA and flak damage. +15% damage inflicted by depth charges. While AAA is active: −50% ship consumables reload time..
Key: ★★★ - Extremely Useful ★★ - Frequently Useful ★ - Occasionally Useful No stars - Not Useful

Consumables

Cerberus equips the following consumables:

Slot 1: Damage Control Party 
Slot 2: Defensive AA Fire  – 3 charges or Hydroacoustic Search  – 3 charges
Slot 3: Crawling Smoke Generator  – 3 charges
Slot 4: Submarine Surveillance  – 3 charges
Slot 5: Repair Party  – 3 charges

Signals

Recommended Signal Flags
Combat
Juliet Charlie -100% to the risk of magazine detonation. ★★★	Juliet Yankee Bissotwo -20% to flooding duration.	India Yankee -20% to fire duration.	Hotel Yankee -20% to damage received when ramming the enemy. +50% to damage dealt when ramming the enemy. ★	Victor Lima +1% chance for HE bombs and shells with a caliber above 160mm causing a fire. +0.5% chance for bombs and smaller shells causing a fire. +4% chance of torpedoes causing flooding. ★★	India X-Ray +1% chance for HE bombs and shells with a caliber above 160mm causing a fire. +0.5% chance for bombs and smaller shells causing a fire. +5% to the risk of your ship's magazine detonating. ★★
Juliet Whiskey Unaone +15% chance of causing flooding. +5% to the risk of your ship's magazine detonating. ★	Mike Yankee Soxisix +5% to secondary battery maximum firing range. -5% to maximum dispersion of secondary battery shells. -5% to secondary battery loading time.	November Echo Setteseven +5% continuous AA damage at all ranges. +5% damage from flak bursts. ★	Sierra Mike +5% to the ship's maximum speed. ★★	November Foxtrot -5% reload time on all consumables. ★★	India Delta +20% to the amount of HP recovered when Repair Party  is used. ★★★
X-Ray Papa Unaone +10% action time of a Smoke Generator . ★★	Sierra Bravo +10% action time of Hydroacoustic Search  -10% reload time of Defensive AA Fire . ★★

Note: Use of the Juliet Charlie signal makes detonation impossible.

Gallery

References

Ships of Commonwealth

Destroyers	III Vampire • VII Haida • VII Huron • X Vampire II
Cruisers	I Sutlej • II Port Jackson • III Caradoc • IV Dunedin • V Delhi • VI Hobart • VI Perth • VI Mysore • VII Uganda • VIII Auckland • IX Encounter • IX Hector • X Cerberus • X Brisbane
Battleships	VII Yukon
Aircraft Carriers

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Italy	I Eritrea • II Nino Bixio • III Taranto • IV Alberto di Giussano • V Raimondo Montecuccoli • V Genova • VI Trento • VI Duca d'Aosta • VII Zara • VII Duca degli Abruzzi • VII Francesco Ferruccio • VII Gorizia • VIII Amalfi • IX Brindisi • IX Michelangelo • X Venezia • X Napoli • X Napoli B • X Ravenna • ★ Piemonte
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Commonwealth	I Sutlej • II Port Jackson • III Caradoc • IV Dunedin • V Delhi • VI Hobart • VI Perth • VI Mysore • VII Uganda • VIII Auckland • IX Encounter • IX Hector • X Cerberus • X Brisbane

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Cerberus

Modules

Compatible Upgrades