Gearing

Overview

The Tier X Destroyer Gearing is the penultimate ship of the American destroyer line, and the successor to Fletcher. With further upgrades to her torpedo battery, she represents the final step in the shifting role of American destroyers from gunboats to torpedo boats. Despite her torpedo-focused role, Gearing is a versatile ship that can play around with her artillery when the situation favorably calls for it. The excellent area denial and team utility provided by her presence makes her a solid ship for both casual and competitive play.

Hull

Gearing possesses a hull that is wider and longer than Fletcher, which allows her to fit more armament on her deck, at the cost of maneuverability. With Survivability Expert, Gearing has 2,650 more hit-points than her predecessor, for a maximum hit-point value of 22,900, which is relatively low compared to other Tier X destroyers. Gearing is one of the few destroyers at Tier X that has armored plating, which can be considered as both a blessing and a curse. The sides of her midsection have 21 mm of plating, compared to the 19 mm of plating that is found everywhere else on the ship. This causes HE shells that do not have the ability to penetrate 21mm of armor to shatter on the plating, dealing no damage to the ship. However, the presence of 21mm plating makes Gearing more susceptible to taking increased damage from AP shells and rockets, due to them having an easier time arming on her plating and causing full penetrations. Her additional plating is an overall negative addition, as it only helps her when fighting a few destroyers at her tier, at the cost of potentially taking more damage than usual from half of the destroyers found at the same tier.

Her 36-knot base top speed is half a knot slower than her predecessor, and is relatively slow compared to her peers. Still, the inclusion of her Engine Boost  consumable gives her an edge, when comparing her speed to destroyers that lack it. Gearing’s hull is a clear downgrade from her predecessor when it comes to her maneuverability, as her rudder shift time is 0.3 seconds slower, and her turning radius increases to 640 m. Despite this, she has above average handling when compared to the majority of destroyers that are at her tier. The combination of Gearing’s larger hull with her worse handling makes her a clumsier ship to sail, and captains will need to be aware of that fact when engaging other ships in battle.

With standard concealment upgrades and captain skills, Gearing has a surface concealment of 5.9 km, giving her above average concealment when compared to her peers. She already has the ability to comfortably outspot most of the destroyers at her tier, but she can be built to have even better concealment. As a Tier X tech tree ship, Gearing has access to an unique upgrade, which provides her with an alternate playstyle. Improved Hull Concealment () goes into slot 5 in lieu of the traditional Concealment System Modification 1 , decreasing her surface detectability to 5.6 km, at the cost of reducing her main battery reload by 15% and torpedo reload by 5%. This upgrade allows Gearing to match the concealment of Shimakaze, allowing them to be tied for the stealthiest destroyers at Tier X. Depending on their playstyle, captains have the flexibility to choose between having improved damage output or better stealth, with the addition of the unique upgrade.

Overall, Gearing’s hull appears to be a downgrade from Fletcher; slower, clumsier, and easier to hit. However, these sacrifices are made in order to accommodate her improved armament, which are well worth the trade-offs.

Firepower

After three predecessors with essentially the same main battery, Gearing finally gets an incremental improvement in her main battery firepower. She adds another gun, for a total of six guns housed in three twin turrets, with two turrets at the bow and one turret at the stern. Her turrets have a fast 180° turn time of 7.2 seconds, making it easy to bring her guns to bear. Her main battery reload drops from 3.3 seconds to 3 seconds, giving her an overall noticeable improvement in raw damage output. Still, Gearing’s damage per minute values are just average for a Tier X destroyer, and the improvements she receives are not enough to make her main battery worth building into. All of the shortcomings regarding the main batteries of American destroyers are present, as she has the worst ballistics and high explosive fire chance for a Tier X destroyer. Her floaty shells are a significant disadvantage when taking fights with other ships, as it makes it easy for ships to dodge and mitigate damage, while potentially taking more damage in return due to the enemy simply missing less shells. A 5% HE firechance is not as big of a deal when facing low-to-mid tier ships, as their innate Fire Resistance Coefficient (FRC) is relatively low. However, ships at Tier X have an FRC value of 0.5, meaning that the effective fire chance for an HE shell gets cut in half. This means that tier for tier, Gearing has a harder time setting fires on equal tier enemy ships, when compared to her predecessors, who have the same HE shells and only marginally slower rates of fire. To add insult to injury, Gearing’s main battery range is reduced to 11.1 km from the 12.9 km range of the Fletcher, which gives her less coverage for her artillery, and pressures her to play in riskier positions to be able to utilize it.

In contrast, Gearing’s torpedoes are the star of the show, and are the standout feature of the ship. Captains start out with the Mk16 mod. 1 torpedoes found on the Fletcher, and have the option to research and equip the Mk17 torpedoes. Both torpedo options are excellent depending on the use case, and have their own sets of strengths and weaknesses. The Mk16 torpedoes have an excellent alpha of 19,033 damage per torpedo, range of 10.5 km, 323% flooding chance per torpedo, and reload every 103 seconds per tube. The Mk17 torpedoes have a lower alpha of 17,900 damage per torpedo, an excellent 16.5 km of range, a lower flooding chance of 301%, and a longer reload at 116 seconds. Both torpedoes share the same speed of 66 kt and detectability at 1.4 km. The Mk16 torpedoes have better raw damage output than the Mk17s, due to their greater alpha and faster reload, but have a limited 10.5 km range, which limits overall torpedo coverage and places the player in riskier situations in order to utilize them effectively. While the Mk17 torpedoes have slightly less damage output and take longer to reload than the Mk16s, having 16.5 km torpedoes allows captains to deny vast amounts of area, and are a better tool to hinder pushes. The extended range allows Gearing to launch outside the radius of 12 km radars without being detected, which realistically cannot be done with the Mk16 torpedoes. Both torpedo choices are excellent options to use in battle, but to get the most out of Gearing, captains should use the Mk17 torpedoes, as they are unique to her. Players that enjoy using the shorter-ranged but higher-damage Mk16 torpedoes are better off playing Fletcher instead, as there is basically no difference between stock Gearing and upgraded Fletcher in terms of torpedo prowess. In exchange for three seconds of torpedo tube reload, Fletcher tier-for-tier has a superior hull when compared to Gearing, and has a more forgiving matchmaking spread being a Tier IX ship. When compared to other destroyers at Tier X, Gearing with her Mk17 torpedoes has formidable torpedo prowess that has no crippling weaknesses in any area. They have average damage, reload, speed, and stealth for her tier, while having the 2nd longest torpedo range in the entire game. Other torpedo boats may have better parameters in a specific area, but they pay by falling short in other areas.

Gearing is an excellent torpedo-focused destroyer that happens to have adequate main battery firepower to bolster her damage output. Her artillery objectively isn’t terrible by Tier X destroyer standards, and it can still do meaningful amounts of damage in the right situations. However, her main battery firepower is simply not good enough to invest into, as there are too many compromises to outweigh the small benefits of building into her guns. It is simply too risky to use them outside of close range or from cover, due to their low range and horrible shell ballistics. Her torpedoes, on the other hand, are the crux of the ship’s gameplay, and have basically every desirable trait one could ask for. With this in mind, it would be more effective for her gameplay and battle impact to invest into her torpedo battery.

Anti-Aircraft

Gearing’s AA battery is average for a Tier X destroyer. She has a 5.8 km long-range aura, 3.5 km medium-range aura, and 2 km short-range aura. She puts up three flak clouds, and deals average damage on all three auras. When compared to Fletcher, Gearing essentially has no meaningful improvement in terms of her AA performance, which really isn’t a big concern anyways, as Gearing is able to see the same aircraft carriers in her matchmaking spread as her predecessor. Gearing has the option to boost her AA defenses by taking Defensive AA Fire , which gives an increased bonus to the continuous damage of tech tree American destroyers. Even with DFAA equipped, Gearing’s AA still cannot compete with the AA batteries of some of her peers, as her damage, range, and flak count is just not good enough to shut down enemy strikes. While she is able to inflict some losses on enemy squadrons, competent carrier players are easily able to get strikes through with minimal losses.

Anti-Submarine

Gearing has very good damage output against enemy submarines, but without the assistance of allied spotting, she can only capitalize on the enemy’s mistakes. Her depth charges are among the best of all Tier X destroyers, boasting an excellent alpha of 5,100 damage, excellent flooding and fire chance, and a consistent drop pattern that makes it easy to hit submarines. Due to her great speed and maneuverability, it is easy for her to chase down spotted submarines and not get outmaneuvered by them. However, she is reliant on external spotting, whether through Hydroacoustic Search , Submarine Surveillance , or the sub exposing itself in detection range, as she has no tools to directly spot them herself.

Consumables

In a similar fashion to other American destroyers, Gearing has a smoke screen that has a 30-second action time, producing puffs with a 130-second dispersion time. This means that Gearing is able to make massive smoke screens that stay on the water for a long period of time. She can effectively use her excellent smokes to create cover for herself to fire at enemies with her guns, or to provide cover for allied ships. Captains can further extend the action time of their smoke screens by equipping Smoke Generator Modification 1 in the third module slot. Just like other American destroyers from Tiers V through X, Gearing can choose between Engine Boost  and an improved Defensive AA Fire  with higher bonuses to continuous damage. Using the DFAA consumable allows her to stand a better chance at repelling aircraft, while her Engine Boost consumable increases her acceleration and top speed, allowing captains to quickly reposition around the map. It is a better choice for captains to take Engine Boost over DFAA, as Gearing’s AA batteries are simply not good enough to justify the loss in general utility and survivability that having an Engine Boost can bring to a destroyer. In fact, having the improved acceleration and speed of an engine boost can help her mitigate damage done by carrier strikes, in addition to the damage mitigation it can provide in a surface engagement.

Gameplay

Gearing is a destroyer that brings excellent damage potential and unparalleled team utility to the table when it comes to both casual and competitive play. Gearing’s torpedoes offer unparalleled versatility that make them usable in almost every situation imaginable. They have the damage output to be an immediate threat to enemy ships nearby, while also having the stealth and range to be a threat to ships far away. Gearing’s artillery is a welcome addition to her arsenal, but should not be used if it leads to unfavorable trades, or to her death. In battle, Gearing should be played as a frontline destroyer that supports her teammates in order to secure victory. Gearing’s stealth, especially with the Unique Upgrade, allows her to play directly for objectives, and gives her unparalleled spotting capacity. The inclusion of the Unique Upgrade gives captains great flexibility to min-max their damage output or their stealth. Her excellent smoke screen can be used to provide cover for herself where she can directly capitalize on enemy mistakes, or better yet, give allies insanely valuable cover to help them disengage from enemy fire, or to bolster their own damage output. It is for all these reasons that Gearing can be seen in competitive level play, as there is no ship with the same level of stealth, utility, and damage output. Players usually take Gearing with the Unique Upgrade and pair them up with a radar cruiser such as Alexander Nevsky, Des Moines, and Minotaur on a flank. The destroyer’s role is to smoke up the cruiser, launch torpedoes at enemy positions, and to play for the objective once it is safe to do so. The cruiser’s role is to dish out damage to enemy ships and prevent captured objectives from being retaken, with the help of their radar. This kind of symbiotic relationship is often seen in competitive play, and is a role that Gearing is well suited towards.