Destroyer - Pan-Asia Tier VIII Loyang - Captain & Gunboat Build
- Build focus: A conventional gunboat build for Loyang, emphasizing destroyer hunting, concealment, rapid-firing guns and consumable utility.
- Playstyle: Loyang is a close-range destroyer hunter that combines American-style guns with Smoke Generator and optional Hydroacoustic Search.
- Main battery: Four 127 mm guns reload in 3.3 seconds, providing strong sustained firepower despite the relatively small number of guns.
- Hydro: Hydroacoustic Search provides a major advantage when fighting around capture points, islands and smoke screens.
- Smoke: Smoke Generator gives Loyang a reliable way to disengage, farm larger ships or create firing opportunities after a close-range destroyer engagement.
- Captain build: The build combines gun-focused skills such as Adrenaline Rush, Heavy AP Shells and Top Grade Gunner with Concealment Expert and consumable improvements.
- Upgrades: Hydroacoustic Search Modification 1 is recommended when using Hydro, while Main Battery Modification 3 improves the ship's already fast-firing guns.
- Torpedoes: Loyang uses standard torpedoes rather than the deepwater torpedoes normally associated with Pan-Asian destroyers, allowing them to threaten enemy destroyers as well as larger ships.
- Applies to: VIII Loyang and VIII Loyang B.
Loyang is one of the more distinctive Tier VIII destroyers because she combines the familiar gun handling of an American destroyer with a particularly strong consumable package. Her ability to combine Smoke Generator with Hydroacoustic Search makes her especially dangerous in close-range engagements and gives her a natural role as an aggressive destroyer hunter.
The ship is based on the Benson-class destroyer USS Benson, which was transferred to the Republic of China in 1954 and renamed Loyang. That heritage is reflected in her main battery: four single 127 mm guns with a very fast 3.3-second reload. The guns do not have the shell velocity of many other destroyers, but their high rate of fire makes them effective once the engagement distance is reduced.
The most important advantage of the standard Loyang setup is the interaction between Hydroacoustic Search and Smoke Generator. Hydro can detect ships and torpedoes through smoke and around islands, while Smoke allows Loyang to remain concealed while firing. This combination makes close-range cap fights particularly dangerous for an opponent that cannot match Loyang's detection tools.
Capture points should therefore be approached with a clear plan rather than simply rushing into them. Loyang is at her strongest when she can force an enemy destroyer into a confined engagement where Hydro limits torpedo threats and Smoke removes the opponent's ability to return accurate fire. Once the opposing destroyer is detected, the rapid-firing guns can maintain constant pressure.
The captain build reinforces this role without turning Loyang into a pure long-range damage farmer. Concealment Expert helps the ship reach favorable engagement distances, while Adrenaline Rush improves gun performance as Loyang takes damage. Heavy AP Shells also provide an additional option when firing at suitable cruiser or destroyer targets where AP can produce more reliable damage than HE.
Top Grade Gunner complements the close-range nature of the ship by rewarding aggressive positioning around nearby enemies. Combined with Loyang's rapid reload, this helps the ship maintain high gun uptime during the short engagements where her shell arcs are least problematic.
Loyang's torpedoes are also an important distinction from most Pan-Asian destroyers. Unlike the deepwater torpedoes carried by most Pan-Asian destroyers, Loyang's torpedoes can hit enemy destroyers. This gives the ship another tool for close-range engagements and makes torpedo launches useful when an opponent attempts to rush, disengage or turn around an island.
The main weakness of Loyang is that her guns become considerably harder to use effectively at longer distances because of their relatively slow shell velocity. Rather than trying to imitate a long-range gunboat, use concealment, islands, Smoke and Hydro to bring engagements into the ranges where the guns become much easier to land consistently.
Loyang also has relatively low HP for a Tier VIII destroyer, so the goal is not to absorb damage unnecessarily. The combination of concealment, Smoke and Hydro allows the ship to choose when to engage and when to disengage. Proper consumable management is therefore more important than simply maximizing theoretical gun damage.
The result is a destroyer that excels at contesting objectives, hunting enemy destroyers and controlling confined areas. Loyang is most effective when played aggressively but deliberately: use concealment to establish the engagement, Hydro to control the immediate area, Smoke to deny return fire and the rapid-firing guns to finish the fight.