wowcoop

I want to start a discussion about carriers.

I had them years ago on my first account. They were difficult to control, and you almost always were on the bottom of the score board. It was, and still is, tough to get any damage inflicted with them.

I stayed away from them on this account for over a year. Then I noticed the clan was missing points with the carriers in the Naval Battles. I said something in clan chat and Chuckwagoneer stepped up and has consistently added points for us in the carrier part of the battles. Thank you very much Chuck!

I finally broke down and bought a Hosho. Learning curve all over again. I found I do like the carriers a bit more than I thought I would. I’m still struggling with mastering the different aircraft attack patterns. Especially the torpedo planes.

I also didn’t figure out I could directly control the carrier’s path instead of autopilot, until it was too late. I had one battle where I attempted to ram a battleship, because I got myself into that situation, and trying to do tat with the autopilot was very hard. I just missed, and the BB was going to hit me instead, but the battle ended seconds before impact. I wish I had known about direct control of the ship before this, I would have connected with my ramming attempt.

I’m hoping we can all share tips and pointers on how to operate carriers.

The problem with torpedo planes is the same as it was before the update.  The bots know that your targeting them and they change course accordingly. 
It also depends on the carrier.  The Kaga has a good torpedo spread, like 3 up front and 2 behind.  Midway will have two groups of two.  In those situations you'll get 1 hit at least.
However the bots cannot dodge two groups of torpedoes at once.  So if you see that a DD or CA has launch torpedoes first, the bot will be actively dodging those and will be unable to dodge yours if you come in at the right angle.  Situational Awareness is key in this situation.

As for dive bombers leading is important as well as angle of attack.  If you drop to early your bombs will travel down with forward momentum, which isn't always a bad thing if your targeting a destroyer and have a decent lead. 
Also notice the shape of the bombing reticle, some will be a circle but most will be long or wide ellipse.  Much like the torpedo spread, the height and dive angle of each CV will be different.