World of Warships Best Destroyers For Every Tier

Updated:

20 May 2021

When you see a destroyer next to a battleship it’s a dwarfing site. An average mid-century destroyer displaces a meager 5000 tons of water, a battleship’s average displacement during WW2 was over 20000 tons. That simply means you could fit more guns, armor, and potential for aggression on a battleship.

Admiring this discrepancy as a child I remember thinking, why even bother with the small ships? And I wasn’t the only one, that’s what many gruff sailers thought in the early 19th century. That’s roughly when torpedoes came into their own...

World of warships passionately emulates the potential of a 2000lb tube of doom swimming at 60knots. The game’s destroyers, the best examples of which made our list, show the many avenues of attack available to the brave captains in the dark days that peppered our 19th century. Sure, it’s a game and falls short of realism often, but tactically it emulates a destroyer’s role well.

So let’s release a crafty spread of exploding fish and avoid heavy counterfire while we’re at it.

II Umikaze IJN

Tier II Umikaze, A torpedo that can launch torpedos, WOWS, 2021

You’ll be stuck facing mostly bots in this tier II so a boat with fast reloading torpedoes is a no-brainer. Does that mean less fun? Absolutely not! The bots are hilariously aggressive and the few players who are in the match get to jostle for the king of the bot crown. If you have a Umikaze in all this confusion then you simply laugh in torpedo.

What Makes the Umikaze Great?

Great fish: sure, a 24 second reload may seem like a long time, but not for the enemy dodging your torpedoes. This boat rewards misses with mulligans and has the best reach in class (8km)
Spread Trainer: Umikazes well-rounded nature makes it the perfect boat for torpedo trainees

II Umikaze

Survivability: 12
Artillery: 9
Torpedoes: 7
AA Defence: 6
Maneuverability: 61
Concealment: 92

World of Warships - Umikaze Redeems

III Derzki VMF

Tier III Derzki, derpzki, WOWS, 2021

Proof derpy-looking boats can be deadly, the Derzki is a damage-per-second machine. You’ll light fire after fire with her guns plus she has close range, beltfed torpedoes for face-to-face altercations.

What Makes the Derzki Great?

10x Torps: ten torpedoes for Tier III ain’t a bad deal! When someones in torpedo range you can safely forget about your guns and focus on flooding the foe
Torpedo Reload: the absurd reload makes it the best island ambusher in tier, they have low damage but the sheer volume you can disperse is devastating

III Derzki

Survivability: 13
Artillery: 13
Torpedoes: 12
AA Defence: 2
Maneuverability: 54
Concealment: 90

Lower Tier Guides: Derzki

IV Clemson USN

Tier IV Clemson, clubber, WOWS, 2021

Coming in at Tier IV we have the Clemson. A lot of the ships in this list are as fun as they are competitive. The Clemson’s no exception, it has 12 torpedoes ready for yolo adventures in the chaotic seas. Along with the sneaky fish, it has guns that melt down boats in its class down for scrap.

What Makes the Clemson Great?

Clubson: the damage from its cannons outclass every DD in Tier IV
Yolo Torps: with this boat, you can charge in first, pop smoke, and torpedo anything that tries to invade your smoke
Small Profile: the Clemson is harder to hit than most ships in its tier thanks to its small but strange profile

IV Clemson

Survivability: 13
Artillery: 10
Torpedoes: 22
AA Defence: 3
Maneuverability: 65
Concealment: 86

Clemson - The Original Sealclubber

V Minekaze IJN

Tier V Minekaze, the dependable narwal, WOWS, 2021

This boat feels like a sword that fires daggers. The Minekaze really dominates its tier. Like a katana, it cuts deep but the liquid rushes inward post slice. If you like harmony try this balanced beast.

What Makes the Minekaze Great?

Speed: at 39 knots with far-reaching torpedoes, the Minekaze can get in and get out faster than any ship in the tier let alone a destroyer
Range: 7 Kilmoter torpedoes make your life much easier, research concealment and you can detonate battleships without them even knowing you were there

V Minekaze

Survivability: 16
Artillery: 14
Torpedoes: 14
AA Defence: 2
Maneuverability: 73
Concealment: 89

World of Warships - Minekaze Class Destroyer

VI Fubuki IJN

Tier VI Fubuki, early pizza delivery, WOWS, 2021

Aww the Fubuki, it was one of the first destroyers I understood. With far-reaching torpedoes, great IJN guns, and a respectable profile there is nothing to complain about. The Fubuki is one of the best torpedo boats in the game. Its sole purpose is to deliver the fish better than all the rest. Delivers it does...

What Makes the Fubuki Great?

Range: range = safety and Fubuki has the best torpedo range in class at 10 kms
Fire Starter: IJN cannons are great, Fubukis are no exception. Use them to kite enemy ships who ambush you and retreat back to your team for support

VI Fubuki

Survivability: 21
Artillery: 25
Torpedoes: 30
AA Defence: 16
Maneuverability: 65
Concealment: 85

World of WarShips | Fubuki | 8 KILLS | 130K Damage - Replay Gameplay 4K 60 fps

VII Jervis RN

Tier VII Jervis, mobile guns, WOWS, 2021

The Jervis is the first real gunboat on our list. It combines lofty but stubborn ballistics with great smoke to deliver a firey experience to the user and a horrible one for any enemy battleship within 12.1kms of you.

What Makes the Jervis Great?

Cannons: the Jervis’s cannons can arc over mountains and land smack dab on enemy decks
Creeper Smoke: short burst smoke generators last for less time but reload quicker, that trade-off can be exploited perfectly by a gunboat like the Jervis and it keeps you concealed from carrier attention
Single Fire Torps: the torpedoes can be fired individually allowing you to create unique patterns serpentine masters can’t evade

VII Jervis

Survivability: 24
Artillery: 25
Torpedoes: 21
AA Defence: 13
Maneuverability: 67
Concealment: 84

Jervis - How To Ranked

VIII Kiev VMF

Tier VIII Kiev, T8 clubber, WOWS, 2021

The Kiev, if you want to kill some destroyers you hop in a Kiev. This thing just riddles competition. If you’re worried about the concealment range, don’t be, most destroyers detect you when closing the distance. So that means you need to keep going straight and you’ll detect them shortly. At which time you simply blast them with your soviet rail guns and are home in time for borscht.

What Makes the Kiev Great?

The GUNS: the Ognevois 2x130mm guns are awesome, Kiev gets an extra mount making a total of 6 B-2-U tubes that deliver un-paralleled fire
Agility: the Kiev handles like a spear with its great top speed of 42 knots

VIII Kiev

Survivability: 26
Artillery: 29
Torpedoes: 18
AA Defence: 18
Maneuverability: 77
Concealment: 75

Kiev - The Lone Wolf Returns

IX Fletcher USN

Tier IX Fletcher, a BBs best bud, WOWS, 2021

Supporting friendly battleships is crucial these days. They can get into some trouble without spotting, AA, or fire support. That’s why we should give them a hand every now and again with the crowd-pleasing Fletcher.

What Makes the Fletcher Great?

Balance: the Fletcher is a jack of all trades and master of some
AA: the fletchers AA is a welcome sight for battleships being torpedo bombed, use this ship if you like being complimented after matches
Island Archer: you can lob your rounds over islands from safety with its lofty USN ballistics

IX Fletcher

Survivability: 27
Artillery: 28
Torpedoes: 23
AA Defence: 53
Maneuverability: 67
Concealment: 83

Fletcher - What Makes It So Damn Good? [202k damage]

X Daring RN

Tier X Daring, an apex predator, WOWS, 2021

The Daring just angles into the competition. It can do many things. It can hunt with hydroacoustic, harass with deadly cannons, and give CVs the slip with short-burst smoke. It’s one of my favorite ships in the game let alone destroyer. If you like killing cruisers I recommend this ship.

What Makes the Daring Great?

Deadly Singles: the single fire torpedoes allow for unique torpedo spreads that consistently wreck island-camping cruisers
Angle Fire: most destroyers are designed to kite; the daring is designed to lurk and when engaged close and kill. The back turret will face your way even if you’ve turn past center allowing you to steam straight at enemies
Hydro: when the enemy destroyer pops smoke use your hydro to finish the kill

X Daring

Survivability: 36
Artillery: 21
Torpedoes: 30
AA Defence: 52
Maneuverability: 63
Concealment: 89

Daring - Who Needs Torps Anyway?

Just like what Flamu says in the video above, top tier players can dodge torps pretty easily that's why we picked destroyers that can still slug or escape. Just remember what your up against and what can be lurking behind the mountains and you should do great with the agitated seabass listed above.