Battleship - Pan-Asia Tier IX Yimeng
Captain & Ship Build and Strategy Guide
- Build focus: Custom secondary battleship build
- Playstyle: Close-range Soviet-style brawler
- Main strength: Strong secondaries, long-lasting Repair Party and powerful torpedo protection
- Main battery: 356mm guns with improved AP penetration angles
- Recommended range: Under 11.3 km
- Repair Party: Long-lasting heal reduces the need for Fire Prevention
- Alternative: Replace Improved Repair Party Readiness with Fire Prevention if you prefer additional survivability
- More firepower: Trade Improved Repair Party Readiness and Emergency Repair Specialist for Manual Secondary Battery Aiming
- Torpedo Defense System: Reduces torpedo damage by 70% for 5 seconds
- Key weakness: 356mm guns lack the overmatch needed against heavily angled targets
- Applies to: Yimeng
Yimeng is a Tier IX Pan-Asian battleship built around close-range combat, improved secondary performance and unusually strong resistance to torpedo attacks. Her 356mm main guns are relatively small for the tier, but strong AP penetration angles and a powerful secondary battery give her a distinctive brawler playstyle.
The recommended setup is a custom secondary battleship build designed to balance offensive pressure with Yimeng's long-lasting Repair Party. The extended heal reduces the need to invest heavily into Fire Prevention, allowing more of the build to be dedicated to secondary performance while still retaining strong survivability.
Fire Prevention remains a valid alternative if you prefer a more defensive build. In that case, trade Improved Repair Party Readiness for Fire Prevention. This sacrifices some of the additional healing potential in exchange for greater protection against fires.
For a more aggressive version, Improved Repair Party Readiness and Emergency Repair Specialist can be exchanged for Manual Secondary Battery Aiming. This significantly increases the ship's offensive potential against a selected target, but the trade-off is a noticeable reduction in survivability. The standard version is therefore the better all-around choice.
Yimeng performs best at roughly 11.3 km or closer. This is where her secondary battery becomes a major threat while her 356mm guns remain useful against broadside targets. Avoid relying on the main guns alone at longer ranges, especially when the enemy can easily angle against them.
Her small-caliber main guns cannot overmatch many of the cruiser armor sections found at higher tiers. Against heavily angled targets, this can become a significant limitation. Fortunately, Yimeng's AP has improved penetration angles of approximately 50–65 degrees, similar to Petropavlovsk, allowing it to remain effective against moderately angled targets.
The Torpedo Defense System is another defining feature. It can reduce incoming torpedo damage by 70% for five seconds, providing an excellent safety net when Yimeng is caught in a torpedo attack. However, it is not a replacement for dodging. Even with the reduction active, eight Yugumo torpedoes can still remove roughly 40,000 HP, so avoiding the torpedoes in the first place remains the priority.
Use islands and terrain to approach the enemy while limiting incoming fire, then let the secondaries take over once inside their effective range. The long-lasting Repair Party allows Yimeng to remain in these engagements longer than many battleships, while the Torpedo Defense System gives her an additional layer of protection during aggressive pushes.
The key to Yimeng is controlled aggression. Get close enough for the secondaries to matter, use the Repair Party to sustain your HP and save the Torpedo Defense System for moments when avoiding the torpedoes is no longer possible. Her 356mm guns may struggle against heavily angled targets, but against broadsides, the combination of main battery and secondaries makes Yimeng a serious close-range threat.