Any chance the Devs give the base Italian commanders another re-work?
Tl;DR: Spanish/Pan-Am/Dutch cruiser commanders are overtuned when compared to their Italian counterparts. I suggested buffs to both Mimbelli and Sansonetti in the form of another skill for each, tailored for their gimmick, to align more with other gimmick nations which in some cases have 5 special skills to the Italin’s 1.
The base Italian commanders are laughable when compared with the other gimmick-nations cruiser commanders, specifically Spain, Pan-Am and the Dutch.
The Spanish commander has 2 unique skills and a unique legendary skill, all of which are tailored for their gimmick. They provide 3 total buffs for the chambering mechanic: A 10% reload reduction when spotted, 16% faster load time in between burst salvoes, and an entire additional burst in the ready rack.
The Dutch commanders are even more gimmick-intensive than the Spanish, with a special/unique skill in every single row including legendary. Again, each skill specifically offers large buffs to the gimmick alongside the “Agile Seagull” skill which imo is one of the best CA perk in the game. 8% rudder shift reduction AND a 1.6°/sec turret traverse increase is actually kind of broken. I would commit a crime to have that skill added to Russian cruiser commanders.
The Pan-Am commander also has multiple unique skills, which offer large buffs related to their gimmick. I think there are like 5 or maybe 6 different small stat increases from those 2 skills, although I don’t have the commander so I’m unsure. What I can say is that he buffs the Pan-Am cruisers far more than Italian commanders buff their gimmicks.
Now, onto the much alluded to Italian commanders, of which there are 2 base-game commanders, Mimbelli and Sansonetti.
Mimbelli is the defensive commander, and has a phenomenal base trait but other than that is forgettable. He has 1 unique skill offering some slight buffs to their rolling smoke, however one of these is reduced damage while in smoke which is somewhat redundant as the point of smoke is to not get shot at, and as a result is only useful in extremely rare circumstances. For him, I would recommend giving him an additional trait somewhere else, maybe 2nd row, that increases survivability in some form in a more meaningful way, either by flat out damage reduction/
HP boost/something like AL Cheshire’s increase in minimum ricochet angle skill. Sansonetti’s base trait reduces damage by up to 6 percent maxed out, and applies at all times as opposed to only when in smoke, making it far more useful survivability-wise despite Sansonetti being the offensive commander.
Sansonetti, as mentioned previously, has a base trait that reduces incoming damage by up to 6%, which is solid enough but not as good as Mimbelli. His unique skill though, Subtle Manipulations, is far better than Mimbelli’s. It offers 8% more SAP damage and a 4% increase to incoming fire dispersion, both welcome boosts. As SAP is the main Italian gimmick this is a nice buff.
Wait. “SAP is the main Italian gimmick.” SAP is an alternative to HE, replacing it when selected. So why does Sansonetti have a damn HE skill in his second row? It’s useless outside of maybe initial grinding, and if I ever see someone running HE on an Italian CA over T4 I will demand that WG ban their IP for life.
Anyways, I would probably remove that skill or the hitherto-useless torp-acquisition range skill that manages to find a home with the Italians as most lack sonar. In their place I there should be a skill that boosts SAP in some fashion. Maybe a reload boost skill like the Spanish but for SAP-equipped ships, where the bonus is nice but only applies when spotted. Or, give it a stacking bonus like Doorman’s 4th row skill that provides an increasing % buff to damage against each enemy ship as accrue hits on them. This would synergize perfectly with SAP, as it causes saturation so quickly. A skill like Doormans would ease the sharp drop-off in SAP damage after the initial salvo or two on an unsaturated target.
Edit: Switched TLDR to beginning as the post was longer than intended.