Smolensk

Survivability

Health: 27,225

Citadel Protection: 7.50%

Fire and Flooding Resistance: 15%

Damage Reduction: 6%

Torpedo Damage Reduction: 6%

Armour

Bow: 16 mm

Stern: 16 mm

Deck: 16 mm

Belt: 50 mm

Maneuverability

Top Speed: 34.45 Knots

Time to Full Speed: 14.65 s

Max Traverse Speed: 7.90 deg/s

Turn Time: 8.11 s

Main Guns (130 mm L/58 BL-132 4x4)

Reload Time: 5 s

• Rate of Fire: 192 RPM

Range: 11.67 km

• Flight Time: 5.40 s

  • Initial Velocity: 293.75 m/s

  • Deceleration: 8.01 m/s²

Dispersion Min/Max/Vertical: 72 m / 252 m / 57.60 m

Sigma: 1 σ

HE Damage: 424

• Raw Alpha: 6,784

• Raw DPM: 81,408

Fire Chance: 4.50%

• Raw Alpha: 52.13%

• Raw FPM: 6.26 FPM

AP Damage: 480

• Raw Alpha: 7,744

• Raw DPM: 92,928

Citadel Chance: 0%

Citadel Damage Rate: 150%

• HE Citadel Damage: 636

• AP Citadel Damage: 726

Turret Traverse: 30 deg/s

Torpedo Tubes (533 mm PTA-53-68-bis 2x5)

Reload Time: 56 s

• Salvo Per Minute: 1.07 SPM

Range: 6 km

• Time Expire: 20.73 s

  • Torpedo Speed: 62.52 Knots

  • Reaction Time (at standstill): 11.26 s

Min/Max Torpedo Spread: 2 deg / 4 deg

Torpedo Damage: 2,800

• Raw Alpha: 14,000

• Raw DPM: 15,000

Flood Chance: 12%

• Raw Alpha: 47.23%

Torpedo Concealment: 1.83 km

Torpedo Traverse Speed: 18 deg/s

Anti-Aircraft Armament

Large Caliber AA Damage: 271

Large Caliber AA Range: 3.90 km

Small Caliber AA Damage: 174

Small Caliber AA Range: 1.80 km

Total AA Damage: 445

Concealment

Surface Detection: 8.10 km

After Firing Guns: 11.34 km

RECOMMENDED BUILD

Slot one: Dispersion module (-8% dispersion)

Slot two: Acceleration module (+20% accel)

Slot three: Concealment module (+10% concealment)

Bonus: Advanced HE shell

Smoke Generator II x2

Smoke Activation: 11 s

Smoke Time: 32 s

Cooldown: 90 s

Air Defense Alert II x2

Large Caliber AA damage: +100% for 20 s

Small Caliber AA damage: +100% for 20 s

Before: 271 / 174

After: 542 / 348

Cooldown time: 75 s

Sonar II x1

Detects hostile ships and torpedoes:

4.5 km for 25 s

Cooldown: 90 s

Advanced Turret

Main Battery Traverse Speed: +20%

Before: 30 deg/s

After: 36 deg/s

Advanced HE Shell

Main Battery HE Damage: +2%

Main Battery Fire Chance: +7%

Before: 424 / 4.50%

After: 432 / 4.82%

Review made by Grandad.

Smolensk is a Russian T10 premium light cruiser, armed with 16x 130mm guns and with a different setup to the conventional Russian cruiser. She is notorious in the community for her extremely high damage output and ease of setting fires.

Smolensk is generally best set up for evasion. Slot 2 acceleration is the standard, and slot 3 concealment will help you stay hidden until you're ready to engage. In slot 1, dispersion is a good bet, as the other equipment choices have little effect.

This is a fake ship, but her "historical" camouflage yields the best bonuses for that slot. If you don't have it, other concealment or gun range boost camouflages will work fine as well.

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FIREPOWER

Smolensk’s incredible firepower is immediately apparent. With sixteen guns and a quick 4.5s reload, her DPM is one of the highest in the game. The volume of shells that Smolensk puts downrange, combined with her decent fire chance, also make her an excellent firestarter. Fires are a consistent form of damage for this ship, and by properly exploiting damacons they can be a significant chunk of her total output. Damage output aside, Smolensk also boasts solid range, longer than the average for CLs, but shorter than average for CAs. Her range isn't exceedingly remarkable. But range and DPM alone aren’t what makes her guns so scary. This ship boasts gunnery strengths that set her apart from the other DPM monsters running around at T10.

First is dispersion. Smolensk boasts respectable dispersion stats, notably to her vertical dispersion, which means she will be landing more hits than the likes of Worcester and Minotaur, both of which suffer from wonky vertical spread. At ranges where other CLs will struggle to land big salvos, Smolensk is easily dropping 10-16 hits at a time. Good dispersion also makes it easier for Smolensk to land big hits on destroyers at range, but there’s another stat that further amplifies this:

Smolensk boasts very good ballistics for a fast-firing CL. Minotaur, Worcester, and Colbert are all plagued by slow shells travelling in loopy arcs, which make their gunnery efficiency drop off at long range. Smolensk’s arcs are flatter and her shells are faster, meaning her gunnery is still highly efficient even at the extent of her range. While Worcester and Minotaur become truly dangerous below 10km, Smolensk is dangerous anywhere. A Smolensk kiting around at her maximum range is still a very significant threat that cannot be ignored, as opposed to the other CLs at T10. Her shell ballistics are a pronounced advantage, and arguably the key reason she is so scary.

When we throw all these stats together, it’s understandable why this ship is so dangerous. It is a high-DPM flamethrower, who can comfortably engage targets at her maximum range and maintain high effective damage output. While other CLs somewhat rely on getting closer, Smolensk’s firepower is consistently good at all ranges, meaning less risky plays are needed to make it work. Her gunnery is comfortable, easy, and rewarding, and that’s why people hate it so much.

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PROTECTION

Smolensk had to sacrifice something for her firepower, and protection was that sacrifice. Smolensk’s protection values are the worst at her tier, including exceedingly thin armour plating, very low HP pool, and elevated citadel risk on her deck armour. Smolensk’s belt hitbox increases the citadel chance of an enemy AP shell that strikes it, a feature other T10 CLs do not have. In addition, Smolensk has 0% overpen risk on her belt hitbox, meaning even the largest shells will not overpen this at point-blank range. This contrasts the PC version, where a Smolensk can show flat broadside and get away with reduced damage. Doing so here is a ticket back to port.

Players used to the fragility of ships like Minotaur will still be shocked by Smolensk’s survivability. She does not repel incoming fire, nor does she absorb it. Her armour modifiers are designed to maximise the amount of damage she takes, and this is what keeps her in check. The presence of a wary battleship or cruiser can entirely dictate how a Smolensk plays her game- a single well-placed salvo is enough to take this ship out of the match.

If you are playing Smolensk, your goal is to survive with evasion. Choosing when to engage, when to use cover, and when to disengage from combat is the key to staying alive. To the enemies fighting against Smolensk, your best bet at a quick kill is to try catching her off guard, getting a shot into her broadside before she reacts. Against a more skilled Smolensk player, prolonged focus fire will ultimately be enough. If the Smolensk can’t peep out of cover without taking fire from multiple ships, she will be forced to play more cautiously and reduce her damage output. All it takes is one good hit to ruin her match.

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EVASION

Smolensk’s evasion stats are decisively anti-Russian, because they are among the best-in-tier. As a small cruiser, Smolensk is very agile and accelerates quickly. Avoiding torpedoes is no trouble to her, and she has a quick response time that’s reminiscent of a British CL. Smolensk is very adept at kiting, which is one of the reasons she can be so annoying to fight. A Smolensk who knows you’re gunning for her can comfortably juke at her maximum range to present minimal profile while returning fire. She is also quite fast for a CL, with 34 knots of speed. Her agility stats are collectively top-notch, which help alleviate the poor armour. Her concealment is better still, being the second best at the tier behind Colbert. A concealment build Smolensk will drop her detection range close to 7km flat, which is low enough to surprise DDs while giving them minimal reaction time. The excellent concealment value is also helpful for disengaging from trouble, and the ship has two charges of of smoke to boost it further. A well-played Smolensk can pick and choose her engagements, which is a pronounced advantage.

Smolensk is arguably at her most vulnerable when sitting inside smoke. Most players try to use this as a tool for easy damage farming, so they tend to stop moving while concealed within. To those fighting a smoke camping Smolensk, watch for the source of the tracers and fire back. More often than not, this will be your best opportunity to catch her broadside for a big salvo. If you are the smoke-camping Smolensk, play with your rudder and throttle while in your smoke- trying to throw off the enemy’s aim will be rather helpful.

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ANTI-AIR

Smolensk is hopeless against carriers. Like any cruisers, any CV player with half a brain can easily and consistently land their torps. Generally speaking, a competent Hakuryu will delete her in 2 strikes, whereas with Malta and Midway you can expect to live through 3 strikes, depending on their bomb and DoT RNG. Treat yourself like a Khabarovsk or Shimakaze when facing good enemy CV players. I don’t recommend smoking up to defend against CV unless absolutely necessary; instead, use throttle and turn unpredictably to throw off the torpedo drops.

Smolensk is not among the short list of ships with relevant DFAA, meaning that any planes it does shoot down will be after they have already dropped. Don’t build into AA hoping to deter CV players, because it won’t help, and means sacrificing more valuable equipment. Note that Smolesk’s pitiful health pool means even planes not actively targeting you are still a threat. Spotting from carriers can entirely negate Smolensk’s concealment advantage, and being spotted by planes before reaching a good position can be disastrous. Generally, try not to be the first ship spotted under any circumstance. A majority of CV players will drop on the first target they see, so make sure it's not you that gets dumpstered 30 seconds in. Remember that even the most braindead Midway can chunk a third of your health with dive bombers alone, so it is IMPERATIVE that you don’t be focused. Smolensk is exceedingly vulnerable to carrier aircraft. The single easiest way to take Smolensk out of a battle is to throw planes at it. She cannot repel them, she cannot tank them. Her only defence is to hide and pray the CV targets somebody else.