Alexander Nevsky

Topping off the Russian light cruiser line, Alexander Nevsky is the pinnacle of the longer range play style players have become accustomed to with the lower tiers. Nevsky is primarily a DPS cruiser that prefers being at range or on flanks, much like the heavy cruisers X Venezia, X Hindenburg, and X Henri IV.

Nevsky is armed with eight (8) 180mm guns in four (4) twin turrets. Featuring one of the highest shell velocities in the game, her excellent ballistics mean she can comfortably engage targets at any range. Further emphasizing the strength of her guns, Nevsky also has one of the longest firing ranges among Tier X cruisers. While she shares Dmitri Donskoi’s gun caliber and similar shell stats, Nevsky returns to the faster reload speeds of the mid tier light cruisers. Like many light cruisers, her High Explosive shells have a respectable fire chance but lack the penetration to directly damage most battleship plating. However, where most light cruisers tend to favor HE as their primary shell type, players should look to use Nevsky’s Armor Piercing shells whenever possible. Her AP penetration is unusually high for light cruiser caliber guns, making it surprisingly effective against even battleship upper belts at range.

Nevsky’s torpedoes are nearly identical to those on Donskoi, sacrificing a little bit of reload for slightly faster speed. While they’re not as in-your-face as the 4km torpedoes found on the mid tier cruisers, their 8km range compared to Nevsky’s high detection range mean they’re still primarily defensive or ambush weapons.

Like the other Tier VIII+ tech tree Russian cruisers, Nevsky has access to the Surveillance Radar  consumable. With a 12km range and good duration, Nevsky is a potent threat to destroyers. But captains should remember she is still a light cruiser, and shouldn’t be played too aggressively just to be able to use her radar.

While her anti-aircraft defenses aren’t quite at the level of Petropavlovsk, it is still more than enough to cover her allies and deter aircraft strikes. Her dual-purpose main guns give her a slight range advantage over Petropavlovsk but her heavy cruiser counterpart deals more continuous and flak damage. Captains that wish to strengthen her anti-air suite further can swap her Hydroacoustic Search  for the Defensive AA Fire  consumable.

Nevsky’s handling should be familiar to captains that have played the preceding ships. She has a high top speed, but her rudder shift is on the slow side and her turning circle is huge — one of the largest among all Tier X cruisers. She also loses speed rather quickly when turning. Although her acceleration is decent, the same can’t be said for her braking; when sailing in a straight line, it takes her a while to slow down from top speed.

Nevsky’s health pool is decidedly average for a Tier X cruiser. Although it’s higher than her light cruiser counterparts, almost all heavy cruisers still outclass her. Likewise, her armor provides little protection against battleships and cruiser caliber HE. Her bow does have a 50mm section along the waterline that can bounce the occasional shell, but her stern is especially vulnerable to battleship AP when kiting. She can’t withstand focused fire, and her large size makes her a juicy target for enemy ships. As with the rest of the Russian light cruiser line, Nevsky’s range and speed are her “armor.”