Orkan

The Ship

Orkan is a sister to the Tier VIII British Lightning, however Orkan trades Lightning's consumable set for the Engine Boost , Repair Party  and Surveillance Radar  consumables. Her weapon and consumable selection mean that Orkan focuses on destroyer hunting with her main gun battery. Although they share a common basis, lack of a smokescreen and hydroacoustic search leads to Orkan having a different play style to Lightning.

Orkan's top speed is one of the lowest for a Tier VIII destroyer, her 35 knots is a handicap when trying to chase down enemy destroyers or escape from danger. This can be offset with the use of the Engine Boost consumable to increase her top speed to 37.9 knots for 2 minutes which can provide a much needed boost in difficult situations. While a 3.7 second rudder shift is slightly above the average this is offset by a 590m turning radius which is amongst the best in her tier. These combine to make Orkan capable of changing direction quickly although her low top speed means dodging incoming fire can be difficult.

The Surveillance Radar is an unusual consumable for a Tier VIII destroyer and allows Orkan to detect enemy ships within 7.5km for 20 seconds, this can be boosted to 26.4 seconds with upgrades and captain skills. Orkan can reduce her detection range to 5.9km with modifications and captains skills, this means anything in a position to spot Orkan will also be well inside her radar detection range.

Her health pool is on the lower end for a Tier VIII destroyer and the lack of smoke screen for cover means players must be careful in engaging ships in combat. Orkan carries a Repair Party consumable which will allow her to heal up to 1570 hit points per charge. Although this is less powerful than the one carried by larger ships it can be enough to provide an important edge in destroyer duels.

Armament

Orkan carries the same guns as Lightning and shares many of her gunnery characteristics including her good short range accuracy. Whilst her guns only have an average rotation speed they are capable of traversing 360°, making them easier to keep on target when engaging moving targets or dodging incoming fire. She has good forward firing angles aided by most of her firepower being forward mounted, however her rearward firing arcs for the front turrets are restricted, this limits her ability to bring all guns to bear when kiting away from enemies. With the majority of her firepower forward, Orkan can also present a narrow target to enemy ships. Although she shares her guns with Lightning, both of her shell types do slightly more damage than her counterpart. Whilst this is a small boost the additional damage can turn a fight in Orkan's favor.

Her HE rounds have limited penetration, with just 20mm standard she can damage destroyers but prove lackluster against larger targets. This low penetration is compensated for by a good fire chance of 9% which allows her to potentially set 7 fires per minute which is among the best in Tier VIII destroyers. Her HE DPM is good, allowing players to quickly chew through an enemy destroyer's HP pool. The relatively small calibre of her main guns also mean that they get little benefit from the Inertial Fuse for HE skill, players will lose much of their fire setting ability in order to be able to directly damage a small number of extra ships. Her AP rounds have good penetration for a destroyer and they can punch through un-angled light cruiser armor at short ranges, but it is some way short of the penetration of French and Russian destroyers. AP rounds are also prone to ricocheting on angled ships which further reduces their usefulness.

Orkan trades one of Lightning's torpedo launchers for a secondary gun and swaps to Pan-European torpedoes with a long range and fast speed but low damage. At 12km, these torpedoes are amongst the longest running and 76 knots is among the fastest speeds at Tier VIII. Individually her torpedoes cause some of the lowest damage and have one of the lowest flood chances at Tier VIII which is compounded by her small number of torpedoes. Her torpedoes reload quickly at 70 seconds which allows almost constant waves of torpedoes to be in the water.

Anti-aircraft defense

Orkan has weak anti-air defence, although she is not alone in this regard amongst Tier VIII destroyers. Players are advised to turn her anti-aircraft batteries off unless absolutely needed as her long range AA fire will do little more than give away her position.

Battle Performance

In battle Orkan is a strong destroyer hunter, her consumables and main battery mean she is well suited to short intense battles with other destroyers. With 360° turret rotation Orkan can keep enemy ships under a constant hail of fire even whilst manoeuvring. Her surveillance radar consumable means destroyers are unable to hide in a smoke screen or easily break contact when under attack. When an enemy destroyer has been driven off or destroyed Orkan can use her repair party to heal and enter the next battle.

Her moderate speed and lack of a smokescreen mean that players will need to keep an exit plan in mind and be aware of their surroundings. A poorly planned attack can leave Orkan in a situation with no easy escape from a determined enemy attack. The short range of her guns can be both a benefit and a drawback depending on the situation, against an overextended destroyer the short range means that even with gun bloom Orkan can go undetected easily. But against larger targets the short range puts players well within easy gunnery range for many cruisers and it is only slightly further than some battleship secondary battery ranges. Her weak torpedo armament means she also lacks a knockout blow against larger ships, the low damage and small numbers mean they are little deterrent to a healthy ship. When forced to fight larger ships Orkan must rely on her fire starting potential to cause serious damage whilst keeping a constant barrage of torpedoes in the water.