The 5 best ships in World of Warships, ranked

Wargaming’s suite of wargame MMOs has developed quite a competitive scene over the years, and it’s no wonder that is the case with World of Warships as well. Like in most competitive games, players are chasing the meta or the next over-powered tactic. Naturally, that leads toward a more top-end view of the situation, and as such, Tier X ships rule the seas in this game. These ships are simply stronger in every aspect and can easily dominate the battlefield if they face a lower Tier ship. Even among these monstrously strong ships, there has to be some sort of hierarchy, right? For that very situation, we have prepared a list of the five best ships that prowl the seas in World of Warships.

Related: The best mods for World of Warships

5. Petropavlovsk

Navy: USSR
Ship Class: Cruiser

After suffering several recent nerfs, the popular Petro is still going strong, able to garner a position on our list. It is still one of the best Heavy Cruisers in the game, owing in large part to its amazing toughness and survivability. Petropavlovsk is able to anchor positions with ease and serves best as a forward aggressive tank of sorts — taking space and then holding it down for the rest of the fleet. On the offensive front, it boasts an excellent AP score and velocity of both of its projectiles, with decent detection to line up those shots. One area that it lacks is her HE damage output and slow gun maneuverability, but that can be easily rectified with good positioning.

4. Småland

Navy: Europe
Ship Class: Destroyer
Availability: Promo

What do you call a sea wolf designed to hunt other sea wolves? Well, you call it the Småland, of course. The kit of this Swedish destroyer has been turned around from its sister ship, the Halland, swapping the defensive AA ability for Surveillance Radar. With access to the radar, Emergency Engine Power, and Repair Party, it is clear that this ship is meant to counter its own kind. The scariest thing is that it does it remarkably well. You want to play her as an ambush predator, and once you’ve cleared all other Destroyers with Småland’s formidable battery of weapons, you can turn to more of a supportive role to help in taking down other bigger prey.

3. Smolensk

Navy: USSR
Ship Class: Cruiser
Availability: Promo

Another Russian Cruiser graces our list, proving just how strong they currently are in the game. However, Smolensk represents an almost direct opposite to Petro. Being a Light Cruiser, Smolensk not only has a lower health pool — it’s got the lowest one out of all Tier X Cruisers — but, it’s a true “glass cannon” with an offensive battery that would make all other captains cry once hit by her salvos. It’s no idle boast, as it has high RoF, shell volume, ballistics, and velocity, all on a quick battery traverse speed mounting. Couple all of that with two quintuple torpedo racks, and you’ve got yourself a very dangerous weapon that has a chance to demolish any other ship when it gets the first hit on them.

2. Thunderer

Navy: UK
Ship Class: Battleship
Availability: Promo

The British Battleship Thunderer is truly one of the best examples of “Jack-of-all-trades” ships in World of Warships. With a loadout that can be customized to fit almost any role and fill any niche, you can never go wrong by rolling out a Thunderer onto the high seas. It has a respectable health pool and very good concealment capabilities, though the tradeoff is in somewhat weaker armor plating. Meanwhile, on the offensive front, the Thunderer lives up to its name with its large main battery gun that can pierce even 30 mm armor. To top it all off, the HE shells have the highest chance to start a fire in the game. Rounding out the excellent offense characteristics is a reload rate that wouldn’t be out of place on a much lighter vessel.

1. Admiral Nakhimov

Navy: USSR
Ship Class: Aircraft Carrier

Rounding out our list as the top threat on the marine battlefields of World of Warships is the Russian Aircraft Carrier, Admiral Nakhimov. This monstrous vessel is equipped with top-of-the-line damaging capabilities and has one of the highest damage ceilings in the whole game. This is due to the way its aircraft squadrons operate, as they are not quite like most of the others in the game. Admiral Nakhimov can launch Attack Aircraft with devastating HE potential, Torpedo Bombers with torpedoes that can annihilate any ship in the game, and Skip Bombers that have a chance to delete Destroyers and Light Cruisers alike. The trade-off is that you have to be very careful with positioning this carrier, as its hull is well armored, but the ship is slow and cumbersome, and with a citadel that is large and poorly armored. A good captain will master the perfect distance to anchor this beast with optimal range for its air fleet while keeping the ship safe.

Honorable mentions

• Ohio (USA, Battleship)
• Franklin D. Roosevelt (USA, Aircraft Carrier)
• Yamato (Japan, Battleship)
• Hindenburg (Germany, Cruiser)
• Álvaro de Bazán (Spain, Destroyer)