Lo Yang (DD-14): The Better Benson

• Spicy Consumables
• Versatile Playstyle
• Hybridized Destroyer

Rating Matrix:

• [BAD, WEAK, AVERAGE, GOOD, GREAT]
• {LOW, MODERATE, HIGH, EXTREME}

Scope:

Ok, first things first, let’s hit this out front. I was at first taken aback by her tier placement given herself and her sister Hughes, but Lo Yang does hold some notable improvements from herself and her sisters a tier lower. Hughes is another C-Hull Benson, which is the exact same iteration as Lo Yang and features the same hull upgrades and differences (minus some numerical differences) from B-Hull Benson which is the version found in Tier 6 of the same name. Lo Yang represents a later version of USS Benson exactly, in her somewhat more final modifications from the United States Navy upon arrival for the Republic of China Navy.

Lo Yang represents a new Tier 7 Premium Destroyer available upon completion of the Element of Choice Campaign, during v 3.7. This is the third and final version of Lo Yang I had to acquire to complete the set across all of my platforms, (PC, Console and Mobile) and represents one of the better benchmark ships for assessing the competitive merits of most destroyers in the onset of high tiers. Lo Yang stands out from the crowd with her access to both 5km Hydro-Acoustic Search and a USN Smoke Generator. Lo Yang’s access to both excellent consumables and her hyper-versatile kit allows her to be a force to be reckoned with. Lo Yang holds a GOOD Rating, with a MODERATE skill floor and a HIGH skill ceiling.

History:

USS Benson (DD-421) was laid down as the lead ship and class namesake in 1938 in the Fore River Shipyard, in Quincy, Massachusetts. Upon commission in 1940, Benson was primarily tasked with convoy escorting in the Atlantic Theatre, notably escorting USS Texas and USS Massachusetts. USS Benson earned 4 battle stars for her contributions during World War 2.

In 1954, USS Benson was then transferred to Republic of China Navy, and renamed Lo Yang (DD-14). Lo Yang served until 1975 when she was then broken up for scrap.

Pros:

• Hydro-Acoustic Search
• Versatile
• Team Player
• US Smoke
• Good DPM
• Good Handling

Cons:

• Mediocre HP
• Speed Boost slot locked
• Mediocre AA
• Average Concealment
• Mediocre Torpedoes

The Basics:

As far as most destroyers go, Lo Yang is easy to use. I won’t go so far as to say that she’s particularly forgiving, but she’s easy to use in the sense that she doesn’t have very many weaknesses and those that there are; then tend to be well polished between her many strengths. While you won’t see Lo Yang running away with any particular (of the many) charts you are about to see in comparison, Lo Yang holds among the better rankings in most of those same lists.

Captains will enjoy and employ a wide variety of tactics learned throughout an entire tech tree’s worth of practice, experience and growth. Make no mistakes here, Lo Yang is undoubtedly a United States Navy Destroyer, fighting under a different National Tree. The United States Military found its way to quite a number of different nations, and influenced quite a number of those same militaries. Despite being locked behind a different national commander, Lo Yang is undoubtedly a contender in this meta and will be a solid destroyer for some time to come.

Best?-No.

Good enough?-Yes.

— Keep in mind, that in most situations, good enough is a win. Victory tends to bound by two key concepts: the first being generalists’, adaptability and versatility complimented by simplicity and efficiency; the second being specialist’s capability and awareness complimented by an ability to force situations into a particular direction. Lo Yang is perhaps as generalist as generally can be, and this allows her to employ a great number of tactics fairly well.

Offense:

• GOOD

First up to the plate is the gunnery. Lo Yang’s primary weapon is undoubtedly her gunnery despite her hybridized and utilitarian focus. There’s a lot to talk about here and with some more in-depth lists than usual, and some better comparison with focus highlighting the differences in the class and tier.

HE DPM of Tier 7 Destroyers

• Friesland: 300,000
• Fletcher: 219,230
• Akizuki: 192,000
• Lo Yang: 162,857
• Lightning: 153,000
• Tashkent: 144,572
• ZF-6: 140,322
• Z-23 12.8cm: 116,129
• Z-23 15cm: 113,793
• Udaloi: 112,131
• Le Fantasque: 104,500
• Yudachi: 97,610
• Paolo Emilio: 87,476
• Kagero: 86,400

This gunnery breakdown is the most comprehensive I’ve done so far and will likely be the norm going forward. The first such noteworthy point to make about Lo Yang lays directly in addressing her above average HE DPM. I’m going to feature several such short burst lists here with quick notes saving the meat and potatoes for context towards the end of the gunnery “sub-section”.

Smack dab on average, with 21mm HE base pen, Lo Yang has access to the typical targets that most destroyers do, no less, and no more. It’s more along her reload that Lo Yang tends to shine.

Gun Reload Time of Tier 7 Destroyers

• Paolo Emilio: 10.7
• Kagero: 7.5
• Yudachi: 6.6
• Udaloi: 6.1
• Le Fantasque: 6
• Z-23 15cm: 5.8
• Tashkent: 4.4
• Lightning: 4
• Z-23 12.8cm: 3.1
• ZF-6: 3.1
• Akizuki: 3
• Lo Yang: 2.8
• Fletcher: 2.6
• Friesland: 1.4

This is another important chart. Gun reload directly translates to DPM, and builds into versatility; the gist of this argument rests on that the more stuff you throw the more likely it is to hit something. Lo Yang chalks in the 3rd Place on this list with a reload of 2.8s on my current build…not too shabby.

Fire Chance of Tier 7 Destroyers

• Z-23 15cm: 12
• Tashkent: 10.5
• Le Fantasque: 10
• Yudachi: 9
• Lightning: 9
• Paolo Emilio: 9
• Udaloi: 8
• Friesland: 8
• Lo Yang: 7
• Kagero: 7
• Z:23 12.8cm: 6
• ZF-6: 6
• Fletcher: 5
• Akizuki: 5

This is another important list, especially when you think about DPM and reload. These few new ships definitely add some of the more capable fire starting destroyers, particularly Friesland. Lo Yang is also another noteworthy fire starter.

That was a lot of lists…so let’s recap.

Lo Yang is 4th best DPM, 3rd best reload and just edges in just ahead of Lightning, and is an average fire starter with average penetration values. Lo Yang has excellent turret traverse and relatively good firing angles but is hampered by having a mere 4 rifles. Furthermore, following the USN Gunnery characteristics, Lo Yang has mediocre muzzle velocity resulting in high arcs at long ranges. Lo Yang does not like to engage most destroyers beyond that 7-8km mark as her shells just become too floaty to be reliably accurate on small and fast moving targets. This unlocks the ability to effectively fire from cover, but you’ll still be hampered by shorter gun range and longer shell travel times in longer range gunnery exchanges.

Keeping Lo Yang relevant largely relies on keeping her main battery firing, and landing shots…like most things, this can be easier said than done. The nice thing, is that buy-in-large Lo Yang has good, bordering on great gunnery. However, Lo Yang has mediocre health compared to most strict gunboats meaning prolonged and protracted gunfights are not in her strengths, especially carrying a mere 4 guns.

Next up let’s take a look at the torpedos.

Single Torpedo Alpha of Tier 7 Destroyers

• Paolo Emilio: 23,767
• Yudachi: 22,328
• Kagero: 21,910
• Akizuki: 20,967
• ZF-6: 18,400
• Le Fantasque: 18,400
• Lo Yang: 16,633
• Fletcher: 16,633
• Lightning: 15,533
• Udaloi: 15,100
• Tashkent: 14,400
• Z-23: 14,400
• Friesland: 0

Lo Yang’s Torpedo Alpha strike is somewhat below average but is still quite median. This is a common theme for her torpedo armament and I won’t say it’s disappointing, just below average, with a well below average alpha, reload and DPM values.

Torpedo DPM of Tier 7 Destroyers

• Kagero: 158,385
• Paolo Emilio: 142,602
• Udaloi: 135,900
• Yudachi: 127,789
• Le Fantasque: 115,534
• Tashkent: 112,695
• ZF-6: 98,133
• Lo Yang: 81,801
• Fletcher: 81,801
• Lightning: 79,826
• Z-23: 76,800
• Akizuki: 44,929
• Friesland: 0

Firstly, torpedo DPM in itself is misleading, because larger salvos often come with punishing reloads, which means debilitating DPM. In this instance, it is not so misleading and underpins my thought train for the use of this ship. Lo Yang may have a somewhat punishing broadside, but her DPM is abysmal compared to the likes of even some of the die hard gunboats. While captains you do have enough punch to make something go kabooom, you don’t have enough of it to use it reliably.

Torpedo Range of Tier 7 Destroyers

• Kagero: 11.2
• Akizuki: 10
• Lightning: 10
• Z-23: 9.5
• Fletcher: 9.2
• Le Fantasque: 8.3
• Tashkent: 8
• Udaloi: 8
• ZF-6: 8
• Yudachi: 7
• Lo Yang: 6.7
• Paolo Emilio: 6
• Friesland: 0

This is more of the good old numbers doing the talking. I won’t go so far as to call 6.7km range a weakness, but there are certainly some ships with more enticing torpedos. Your 2 minute reload is what kills this particular weapons system as a primary weapon, your DPM is wanting, and with short range is relegated to more defensive rather than offensive tactics. Their one saving grace is an above average 68 knot speed means that these fish have a little pace to them. The faster the torpedo, the less reaction time.

Torpedo Speed of Tier 7 Destroyers

• Yudachi: 80
• ZF-6: 75
• Le Fantasque: 74
• Kagero: 71
• Lo Yang: 68
• Akizuki: 67
• Paolo Emilio: 67
• Lightning: 66
• Z-23: 66
• Udaloi: 65
• Tashkent: 60
• Fletcher: 55
• Friesland: 0

All-in-all, Lo Yang stacks up pretty well offensively; and she holds her GOOD rating quite well. Her torpedoes aren’t quite a strong suit but they aren’t overly lacking either. Lo Yang’s gunnery is quite good and well rounded. I don’t find enough strengths here to warrant a GREAT rating, nor do I see enough glaring and unaccounted for weaknesses pushing her lower. Her torpedo armament may be short ranged, but so is her gunnery in comparison and this doesn’t negate the effect Lo Yang can have on the battle.

Defense:

• GOOD

Lo Yang comes with the choice of and access to the best hydro-acoustic search on a destroyer and a USN smoke generator slotted separately. For a destroyer this is pretty much a hand of pocket Aces, especially for Tier 7. There are currently only 3 other T7 destroyers with hydro-acoustic search: Z-23 with 4.4km reach and Lightning with hers only pushing out to 3.5km. Lo Yang’s sonar punches out to a full 5.4km: meaning most of a cap circle is now covered by that 90s duration consumable. Friesland is the final such ship and has her own review. For a cap contesting destroyer this is a massive advantage and one of the main reasons why Lo Yang has always been heralded as one of the competitive mainstays in her class. Coupled with a juicy 2 full minutes of smoke time, Lo Yang is able to contest and cap out most objectives entirely concealed…while giving herself access to spot most of the area she is contesting.

Destroyer armor is generally nothing special until it is; and even then tends to serve itself as just thick enough to arm large caliber rounds rather than deter them. Destroyers live by the use of concealment and lack of armor to help prevent shells from landing or arming normally. Lo Yang is not an exception to this, and much like the vast majority of her tier is covered in 19mm of plating. This isn’t anything special and is pretty standard for the tier and class.

Next up is the ever famous Base HP chart.

Base HP of Tier 7 Destroyers

• Paolo Emilio: 24,400
• Tashkent: 21,500
• Akizuki: 20,400
• Z-23: 19,500
• Udaloi: 18,800
• Le Fantasque: 18,500
• Friesland: 17,600
• ZF-6: 17,000
• Fletcher: 16,700
• Lo Yang: 16,100
• Lightning: 15,900
• Kagero: 15,100
• Hughes: 14,300
• Yudachi: 13,200

At 16,1k you’re kind of low on the list. Not so low that you’re impossible to work with, but low enough that it needs to be pointed out. Despite having better than average DPM, Lo Yang sports below average base HP. This is a ship which shines excellently with a cautionary, but defensively focused mindset. Opportunities for offense come primarily during opening and closing portions of the match. The majority of the match will find Lo Yang focused much on protecting critical areas, intercepting and dealing with small torpedo focused threats that larger more cumbersome ships just cannot handle.

Defensively speaking, Lo Yang is good, not great. Solid consumable load out and DPM wont save Lo Yang from falling down to GOOD. Lackluster HP and average Anti-Air suites relegate handcuff this ship in the sense that she can carry, but only for limited durations, especially against carriers. It’s important to note while Lo Yang is strong, she has too many weaknesses that are not so well blended they warrant nudging her up. Her weaknesses may be quite well polished over by her strengths, but they are still there.

Anti-Air Suite:

• WEAK

For most destroyers, this section will be the bane of their existence. Simply put, airplanes were created to specifically find and spot you for everyone to see and sink you. Though carriers do tend to be rarer these days, they care still very much a threat Lo Yang is ill-equipped to deal with. Though Lo Yang will down the occasional plane, you will leave most squads untouched and they will both spot, and strike you mostly unopposed.

Average AA DPS of Tier 7 Destroyers

• Friesland: 286
• Akizuki: 218
• Fletcher: 135
• ZF-6: 110
• Udaloi: 102
• Tashkent: 86
• Lo Yang: 80
• Lightning: 79
• Z-23: 73
• Le Fantasque: 68
• Paolo Emilio: 63
• Kagero: 36
• Yudachi: 11

Like most destroyers, you simply just don’t have the capacity to put enough munitions in the sky to matter to most carriers; and for this Lo Yang holds a weak Anti-Air. There are exceptions, and with the magic number typically north of the 250-300 DPS mark you start seeing enough planes dropping to matter. There are a lot of factors to consider with Anti-Air Suites from efficacy to range, to damage, concealment and resilience.

Aki-Mains… this is the argument you’re wanting to hear.

Look at that above chart. Akizuki has Anti-Air worth building into and results in shooting down enough planes; something most destroyers tend to envy. Akizuki lacks both long term smoke and has the lowest top speed and among the worst turning radius in her class. To bluntly compare this to Lo Yang, Akizuki lacks the handling to effectively dodge Carrier strikes, but does have the Anti Air to defend against them. It’s smarter to stand and fight here, especially since Akizuki also has near 200k stock HE DPM. Buffing your reload may give you superb DPM rather than just good DPM, but it will lock your AA into more mediocre ranges considering the class, tier and your opposing aircraft. Bluntly, Akizuki has the capacity to become an unappealing target to most carriers, which is atypical for the class.

Maneuverability:

• GOOD

Lo Yang is deceiving here, in the sense that while she has access to the very average run of the mill speed boost that every destroyer has--except Le Fantasque. This choice is locked behind hydro-acoustic search, which is practically the cardinal calling card of this destroyer. This means two things, Lo Yang is outpaced by just about anything with a speed boost, and that she’s stuck topped out at 40.1 on the board. Not to make this anymore confusing, you’ll outpace most things most of the time, and out turn most things most of the time.

Effective Base Speed of Tier 7 Destroyers

• Tashkent: 46.8
• Le Fantasque: 46.6
• Paolo Emilio: 44.8
• Lo Yang: 39.9
• Lightning: 39.3
• Yudachi: 38.2
• Z-23: 38.1
• Udaloi: 38
• Fletcher: 37.6
• Kagero: 37.1
• Friesland: 37.1
• ZF-6: 36
• Akizuki: 35.3

Just like the rest of the high tier USN Destroyer Tree, Lo Yang handles marvelously with a mediocre top speed.

Rudder Shift of Tier 7 Destroyers

• Paolo Emilio: 5.8
• Tashkent: 5.1
• Z-23: 4.9
• Udaloi: 4.8
• Friesland: 4.5
• Le Fantasque: 4.3
• ZF-6: 4.3
• Akizuki: 3.7
• Fletcher: 3.3
• Lightning: 3
• Kagero: 2.7
• Lo Yang: 2.7
• Yudachi: 2.6

This is another instance of the numbers doing the talking. Lo Yang has an excellent rudder shift.

Turn Radius of Tier 7 Destroyers

• Paolo Emilio: 810
• Akizuki: 730
• Tashkent: 730
• Le Fantasque: 690
• Z-23: 680
• ZF-6: 670
• Kagero: 640
• Friesland: 620
• Udaloi: 610
• Lightning: 590
• Yudachi: 570
• Lo Yang: 570
• Fletcher: 560

Par for par, Lo Yang turns into her slightly wider tiny circle about a half second faster than Fletcher turns into her slightly smaller circle. They both more or less run away with the competition to a slight degree. Nimble and agile destroyer handling makes provocative torpedo knife fighting that much less anxiety inducing, especially since you come with excellent sonar. If you’re taking speed boost on Lo Yang, you’re doing it wrong.

It’s honestly ok to eat this good rating here by giving up access to her speed boost. Could you hit 45? Sure. But you’re not going to be outrunning the likes of Tashkent, Le Fantasque or Paolo Emilio, so don’t bother trying. Considering Lo Yang sits nearer the top of her class here in most of these categories, I’d argue she verges on great but is just not quite there; she just doesn’t have the lap times and this is not a problem that new tyres will fix.

Is this worth giving up the second best hydro in the game second only to the Hipper Sisters?

Absolutely not.

Concealment:

• GOOD

Another mainstay of destroyer reviews is this chart below, the max concealment chart. In this iteration, Lo Yang has pretty good concealment considering most things, but is sitting fairly in the middle. Not bad, not great. We’ll call 5.1 average, leaning on GOOD just hard enough to say she probably breaks the line into that rating. 5.0 is good. 5.1 is good enough.

Max Concealment of Tier 7 Destroyers

• Tashkent: 5.6
• Udaloi: 5.6
• Paolo Emilio: 5.5
• Le Fanta Cool: 5.5
• Friesland: 5.3
• Fletcher: 5.2
• Le Fanta Normal: 5.1
• Lo Yang: 5.1
• Lightning: 5.1
• Z-23: 5.0
• ZF-6: 5.0
• Akizuki: 5.0
• Kagero: 4.8
• Yudachi: 4.8
• Le Fanta Speed: 4.4

Consumables:

• GREAT

By now it should be pretty clear to captains what Lo Yang’s consumable load out is, as I practically haven’t shut up about that hydro. Her Damage Control Party is very average. Rather than re-arguing all that stuff I wrote out before, I’ll leave this short and sweet and very to the point.

• Damage Control Party:

1. Standard in almost every sense of the imagination.

• Hydro-Acoustic Search:

1. This is the second best hydro currently found in the game. The best belongs to the Hipper Sisters. Lo Yang’s Hydro will spot torpedoes 3.8km out and ships 5.4km out. The consumable lasts for 90s with a reload of 180s and a pair of charges.

• Smoke Generator:

1. USN Smoke Generator, identical to the one found on Fletcher, just with a slightly longer reload. Deploys over 28s, with a very healthy 122s of smoke time. Reloads in 240s, as opposed to 228s on Fletcher. Comes stock with 2 charges.

See? Short and sweet.

Commanders:

• AVERAGE

Ding Ruchang

There’s currently only one choice for the newly released Pan Asian Tree. Ruchang’s base inspiration of Gunslinger reduces main battery reload by up to 4%. As far as skill choices go, this generic commander will work well for most Pan-Asian Ships, but is not specifically suited for destroyers. This is why this category holds an average rating: you have only one choice and it is what it is, with that being said is neither great, nor terrible.

1. Skill choice 1 is focused on Burn it Down. The obvious choice being to increase that fire chance. The Anti Air Skill could work but again, you’re kind of a day late and a dollar short of the Anti Air values you’d want to see. Contact is imminent will add 4 knots to your torp speed, but you’re still limited by 6.7km and hitting 72 knots is nice, but you’re going to be using your guns far more than your torpedoes.
2. The second skill choice is Look At Me Now. Anything to help nudge that concealment down, is worth looking at. I’m not sure I’d take fragile threat (which is not one of the choices here) on a ship like Lo Yang, but I’d certainly still take this skill. Crisscross is not a good choice because Lo Yang already has great turret traverse. Before Its Too Late will help while your hydro is on cooldown but will cost you an additional 5% of concealment.
3. Thirdly, I took Velocious. After losing out of the speed boost in favor of that super spicy hydro, I needed to feel the speed. Well, maybe just a little. This skill helps take the edge off that skill that literally everyone else, except Lightning, has. It allows Lo Yang to stay competitive in terms of her speed. Back in Stock will help cut that reload down a bit, but won’t save your from the awful reload time you have. On Second Thought is a useless skill as Lo Yang reload is so quick you don’t need it.
4. Smoke on the Water was the skill I took in the fourth slot. Normally I advocate against this sort of nonsense, but it was the best choice offered. Increasing your gun range doesn’t cure the floatiness long range gun operations will give you. Steer Clear is also another useless skill in the face of Unstoppable, and Lo Yang has excellent traverse.
5. Finally the Legendary Skill is Unstoppable. Ideally, any of these skills would work marvelously. For most destroyers, the worst possible situation is being spotted and still with your engine knocked out. I chose Unstoppable as this skill prevents that, which is critically important to run on most destroyers and prevents Sitting Duck Syndrome. Will to Rebuild is enticing. So is adding another charge of those wonderful consumables. Sometimes, the hard choice is resisting the tempting while sticking to the necessary. How does that one really famous line go again…you can’t always get what you want? I’m sure you know the rest.

Upgrades:

Lo Yang has a choice in torpedo armament, with her (stock) torpedoes being equivalent to Fletcher's upgraded torpedoes. Typically, it is better to run the shorter range, faster torpedoes. This review reflects those numbers, and Captain's can use Fletcher's numbers for a closer comparison on these stock torpedoes.

Modifications:

• AVERAGE

There’s no surprises here. This section is all straight forward and most Destroyer Mains could probably make this build in their sleep.

• Slot 1: Aiming Systems Mod

1. From traverse to dispersion, this is the best choice. Lo Yang just doesn’t put the lead needed up into the sky to warrant AA mods, and already has snappy enough turret traverse.

• Slot 2: Propulsion Mod

1. Again, this leans heavily in choice between Propulsion Mod and Steering Gears. I’ll argue the best choice for Lo Yang is buffing her 0-20 speed instead of her already quite spicy handling.

• Slot 3: Concealment Mod

1. To get to 5.1 concealment you need this mod. Not only is it the only choice, it’s the smart one too.

• Slot 4: Main Battery Mod

1. Anything else just doesn’t really work towards Lo Yang. Buffing the Anti Air will put you closer to 100 DPS, not the 300 you need. Captains, improving your reload time will allow to nudge out those closer gun spats between other destroyers. 5% isn’t much off 3s, but adding 5% to your DPM actually does help you out a bit and translates to something like a full extra salvo and a half.

Research:

Look, now I’m sure at some point this ship will find itself attached to some bureau project. It is however so new, it has not had the chance…or we haven’t been yet told how she will be used.

I’d almost expect it.

Summary:

• GOOD

Lo Yang represents one of the more competitive benchmark ships and she is definitely one of the most familiar. Coming from any sense or stretch of the imagination to do with competitive play; captains you must be aware of this ship. As with her counterparts on both Mobile and PC, Lo Yang delivers a touch more modernized tools while takes on the classic and ethereal play-style of the United States Destroyers. This recipe makes for one of the most contentious hybridized destroyers with a penchant for cap possession and the utility to make this endeavor possible.

Considering all of the above factors allows Lo Yang to impart a wide array of tactics and strategy. Captains will find success in area control, escorting and team work. Lo Yang is excellent for controlling specific areas in conjunction with her team’s assistance and will often suffer if not properly adapted for solo engagements. Lo Yang’s hyper versatility and excellent consumable load out add to her prowess and allow her to take charge of most situations.

Are there ways with dealing with this ship? Yes, absolutely. Lo Yang is far from impervious. She’s delightfully balanced in the sense of her fragility. Carriers and Radar are definitely among your allergies. This nation does not have access to the likes of the American Vincent Mordoff and his Turtleback Trait which means that most captains will feel the stark difference after being punched in Lo Yang. Furthermore, Lo Yang has 1 less rifle than same tier and successive class, Fletcher, with worse survival ratings for minimal trade offs without considering the consumable load. Pound for Pound, Fletcher is better than Lo Yang in the absence of their consumables.

Does access to this consumable, particularly the hydro-acoustic search warrant a stronger rating that Fletcher?

I’d say yes.

There’s something to be said for having your ears to the ground…or water…or whatever medium works for this particular idiom…I think you get what I mean. Being able to hide from and see your enemies at the same time is invaluable.