Through the Spy Glass: Bayard

October 10, 2022

A hypothetical design that could have been a further development of cruiser De Grasse with the upgrades of the mid-50s, Bayard has as many as 12 guns and the same torpedo armament as her predecessor. The ship was named after Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard, also known as ”le chevalier sans peur et sans reproche”—"the knight without fear and beyond reproach,” who was born in the 15^th century and lived into the first quarter of the 16^th century.

Bayard is what we can refer to as a "glass cannon". This agile HE slinger forgoes armor protection for extremely high speed; excellent handling; strong anti-air capabilities; and, most significantly of all—high damage per second with fast reloading, 6-inch (152 mm) guns in four triple turrets. With this high-octane ship, you'll want to keep your targets in range and use your maneuverability to dictate the terms of engagement while withering enemy ships with unrelenting broadsides of high-explosive shells. Main Battery Reload Booster is a consumable that not a lot of cruisers possess, but Bayard can make use of this tool to swiftly deal with adventurous destroyers, pound the sides of cruisers with quick successions of armor-piercing volleys, or set any battleships that have used their Damage Control Party a bit too hastily ablaze. The Engine Boost and Defensive AA Fire or Sonar consumables complete the array of tools this cruiser starts with. And did we mention the pair of triple-tube torpedo launchers? With all that said though, don't barge into any fights thinking you'll always get the upper hand: Bayard is a (very) fragile ship that will greatly suffer from any sort of return fire, even from destroyers.

André Roux is our recommendation, with his Grenadier base trait increasing the damage of your HE shells. For the rest of his skill tree, we went with:

Ingenious to increase the turret traverse speed; reduce incoming splash damage; and display a warning indicator about how many enemy ships are targeting you—this will come in handy to keep good situation awareness and not get caught off-guard.
Full Speed Ahead to emphasize on the already excellent maneuverability of Bayard, pushing her base speed to 36+ knots.
Go All Out, as this skill is an excellent tool to get out of a sticky situation very fast and sneakily.
Steer Clear or Acoustic Chamber, depending on your choice between the Defensive AA Fire or Sonar consumables.
Fully Packed, as Bayard offers so many useful consumables that it would be a shame to not increase their charges.

For inspirations, we recommend the following Commanders: