Destroyer - U.K. Tier VIII Eskimo - Captain & Gunboat Build
- Build focus: A gunboat build designed around Eskimo's unusually powerful 120 mm HE shells and high damage output.
- Playstyle: Use Eskimo as an aggressive close-to-mid-range gunboat, hunting enemy destroyers before farming larger ships with high-penetration HE.
- Main battery: Eight 120 mm guns have a 12.1 km range and 7-second reload, giving Eskimo strong salvo damage despite her relatively slow reload.
- HE shells: Eskimo's HE deals up to 2,100 damage, has a 12% fire chance and penetrates 30 mm of armor, allowing her to damage many cruiser and battleship sections directly.
- Gunboat role: The large number of guns and strong HE make Eskimo particularly effective at quickly removing HP from destroyers and then farming larger targets.
- Smoke: Smoke Generator provides the concealment needed to create firing opportunities and disengage after aggressive gunboat encounters.
- Target priority: Enemy destroyers should be a priority early in the battle, after which Eskimo can use her high-damage HE against cruisers and battleships.
- Weakness: The 7-second reload limits sustained DPM compared with many gunboat destroyers, so positioning and making each salvo count are important.
- Applies to: VIII Eskimo.
Eskimo is a highly specialized British destroyer that takes the Tribal-class concept and gives it an unusually powerful main battery. Her eight 120 mm guns do not reload particularly quickly, but the shells hit much harder than their caliber would normally suggest. This gives Eskimo a distinctive combination of destroyer concealment, strong salvo damage and high HE penetration.
HMS Eskimo was a Tribal-class destroyer commissioned in 1938. Her wartime service included the Second Battle of Narvik, operations in North Africa and Sicily, and later operations in the English Channel and Far East. The ship was repeatedly damaged during the war but survived and returned to combat.
The main battery is what makes Eskimo stand out. She carries four twin 120 mm turrets, giving her eight barrels capable of firing a surprisingly heavy salvo. The 7-second reload is slow compared with many modern destroyer gunboats, but the large number of guns and high shell damage compensate by allowing Eskimo to remove significant amounts of HP whenever a salvo connects.
Her HE ammunition is particularly unusual for a destroyer. The shells deal up to 2,100 damage, have a 12% fire chance and penetrate 30 mm of armor. That penetration gives Eskimo a much broader range of viable targets than a typical destroyer-caliber HE shell, allowing her to damage many cruiser and battleship sections directly instead of relying entirely on fires.
This makes enemy destroyers the natural first priority. Eskimo can use her concealment to get into a favorable position, then unleash a large salvo when the opponent is exposed. The ability to remove a substantial amount of HP in a single salvo is particularly valuable against destroyers that are already damaged or have committed to a capture-point engagement.
The relatively slow reload changes how the guns should be used. Eskimo should not be played as a ship that constantly fires at every target regardless of the tactical situation. Instead, look for high-value shots where several shells can connect. Missing an entire salvo represents a much larger loss of potential damage than it would on a destroyer with a two- or three-second reload.
Once the enemy destroyers have been weakened or removed, Eskimo becomes an effective HE damage farmer. The 30 mm HE penetration allows the ship to attack suitable sections of cruisers and battleships directly, while the 12% fire chance provides another source of sustained damage during longer engagements.
Smoke Generator is important because Eskimo's strongest gun performance comes from maintaining a controlled engagement distance. Smoke can create a temporary firing position against larger ships, allow Eskimo to disengage after attacking an enemy destroyer and reduce the amount of incoming fire while the guns are reloading.
However, Smoke should not encourage completely passive play. Eskimo's value is highest when she actively removes enemy destroyers and then transitions into damage farming. Using every Smoke charge simply to sit stationary and farm a battleship can leave the team without the destroyer pressure that makes Eskimo particularly valuable.
The ship's maneuverability also supports this aggressive role. Eskimo has a fast rudder shift, allowing her to make use of movement and dodging rather than depending exclusively on Smoke for protection. Against enemy gunboats, constantly changing speed and direction can make the slow reload less problematic by reducing the amount of return fire received between Eskimo's own salvos.
Against cruisers and battleships, prioritize sections where the 30 mm HE penetration can produce reliable direct damage. The combination of high shell damage and a large number of guns means that even without exceptional theoretical DPM, Eskimo can generate substantial damage whenever she finds a suitable target and maintains consistent hits.
The result is a specialized British gunboat that trades reload speed for unusually powerful individual salvos. Eskimo is at her best when she can exploit concealment to choose engagements, punish enemy destroyers with heavy 120 mm salvos and then use her high-penetration HE to farm larger ships. Make every salvo count, manage Smoke carefully and avoid turning the ship into a passive damage farmer.