Repulse Review

Firepower

Repulse’s firepower is consistent and comfortable. The shells hit hard enough, the dispersion is good, and her reload means you put shells out very quickly. In addition, Repulse can make great use of her RR2 using a certain setup. By taking main battery reload equipment and the master reloader (level 10) commander skill, Repulse can fire three shots with reduced reload during the consumable’s duration, rather than the usual 2. This can be handy for dealing high burst damage quickly.

There’s one thing holding these back, which is broadside weight. With only 6 guns, Repulse does not have the same raw DPM as other T6 ships. In unsupported duels against other battleships, this ship will struggle to keep up. You’ll need to abuse her other strengths to deal with capital ships. Overall, Repulse’s gunnery is consistently good. But you won’t be seeing insane potential damage numbers like some other ships.

Protection

This is where things get very tricky. Simply put, Repulse does not have armour. She gets punished exceptionally hard for making mistakes and being focused. These stats will single-handedly turn some people away, because Repulse cannot tank to any reasonable extent.

Repulse has a large HP pool, but don’t let this deceive you into dueling battleships unsupported. Enemy capital ships will consistently do full damage to you, and your low broadside weight means you WILL be out-traded by any of them in a fair fight. Against capital ships, Repulse needs heavy use of her evasion, to avoid taking fire when possible.

Evasion

Evasion is your ticket to not being obliterated instantly. And Repulse tops the T6 charts in most of these aspects. She is fast, agile, and most importantly, stealthy. Repulse should use her concealment to stay hidden until enemy BBs pick targets, and only then should she open fire. Once you’ve fired, begin turning around to kite. With high speed and a good rudder, Repulse is excellent at kiting enemies. Ideally, you’ll be pushing forward undetected, then breaking cover to fire a salvo before kiting away. Repeating this process multiple times over the course of a battle has worked well in my experience.

It’s worth noting that Repulse’s speed and concealment are very handy for disengaging. If your flank is collapsing, you can quickly stealth up and reposition before being deleted. The speed also means that she doesn’t get screwed over by lemming trains on big maps, being able to keep up with the team and choose flanks at will. This is a significant advantage that no other T6 battleship can match.

Anti-Air

Is there a rating worse than "garbage"? That's how bad it is.

Repulse is a conventional T6 ship, in that she cannot do anything about aircraft. Her AA battery is essentially decorative, with some of the lowest damage and range values at the tier. She is a prime target for CVs, with a large profile and weak resistance values- historically accurate, I suppose. Repulse's best defence against CVs is to lay low and hope they attack something else.

Overall Thoughts

Repulse is the best-designed premium we’ve had in a long time. It’s a historical ship. She’s fun, unique, and interesting. She has a skill requirement and risk factor. This is a ship that is fun to play, but you don’t hate fighting against it either. She represents peak ship balancing, and I applaud WG for that.

As someone who gravitates toward high-risk, high-reward ships, Repulse offered a new but familiar playstyle. She boasts plenty of advantages which make her fun and comfortable to use, as well as downsides which force a player to use their brains and play smart.

The ship does have a substantial skill requirement, so players less versed in evasion will likely have trouble in Repulse. She is not easy to play, so this won’t be a ship that everyone can pick up and find success in. If you aren’t great with evasion and concealment abuse, look for a more conventional BB instead.