Venezia

Venezia sits atop the Italian Heavy Cruiser tree as the pinnacle of the gameplay style developed throughout the line. Not only does she feature an extra three barrels over Brindisi before her, but also significantly improved armor and unique penetration angles for her SAP shells. Captains who have made it to the end of the Italian Cruiser line will find Venezia to be an absolute upgrade over previous ships in the line.

The gameplay of Venezia very much revolves around her offensive abilities. Captains who may have been put-off or disappointed in the performance of the Italian SAP shells in previous tiers should be happy to hear that Venezia has improved, albeit slightly, penetration angles compared to all previous vessels in the line; 75-80 degrees instead of 70-80 (See the Ammo page for details). While not a huge difference, the increased range of angles in which she can deal damage, combined with the extra three guns, allows her to do some noticeably larger chunks of damage with each salvo. Seeing damage numbers as high as 12-15,000 on angled cruisers and some battleships is quite common, and against lightly armored ships, numbers as high as 20,000 are completely possible. Captains shouldn't discredit her AP shells either; while lacking in penetration, a flat broadside of an enemy cruiser will always be susceptible to the monstrous weight of Venezia's broadside firepower.

Given the nature of high-tier armor schemes (namely the "all-or-nothing" scheme), the SAP shells actually end up performing quite a bit better against battleships than they would at lower tiers. Battleships with extensive 32 mm plating will take massive damage from SAP; German and Russian battleships, however, require more precise aim due to their better armored extremities. When facing the Tier VIII-X battleships of either nation, captains should either aim for the superstructure and high on bow/stern sections, or simply switch to AP if the enemy present flat enough side. While her 15-gun broadside is certainly impressive, her second forward-facing turret has rather poor forward angles. Captains should be wary of trying to use all three forward turrets in engagements where enemy AP is of concern.

Venezia also features some very noticeable improvements to her armor. Unlike previous ships in the line, Venezia features an internal belt and spaced armor, much like that of Henri IV. Her citadel deck is also quite a bit thicker, and her upper deck is increased from the 25 mm of Amalfi and Brindisi to a unified 30 mm over her mid-section. Her aft and stern deck and side plating remain 25 mm, but Venezia features an extended belt armor of 40 mm all the way to her bow and most of the stern. Unlike the 50 mm sections of the two previous ships, Venezia's lower-thickness plate actually extends above the waterline enough to make brawling a possibility. Venezia also enjoys a small increase to her torpedo protection compared to previous vessels.

Captains should take advantage of her increased survival and smoke to make riskier hit-and-run attacks against unsuspecting enemies. Her high speed allows her to rapidly adjust position to make better use of her SAP or to put a well-placed AP salvo into an enemy broadside. In a pinch, her above-average armor and torpedoes can even allow her to brawl enemy battleships, though this certainly isn't an ideal scenario.