Through the Spy Glass: Brisbane

Brisbane is based on the Royal Navy Minotaur-class cruisers that were designed in 1947, and she was intended for service in the Royal Australian Navy. Her increased size and hull were specifically designed for long-range escort duties in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. However, no ships were actually built to this design—the Royal Navy ordered six but quickly canceled them in 1947. Brisbane is a hypothetical ship, but had Australia been interested in new cruisers following World War II, this design would have been among the first options for consideration.

Brisbane arrives as the highlight of this update’s “United Strength” campaign. Ten 6-inch (152 mm) main-battery guns mounted on a Minotaur-class hull is nothing to turn your nose up at, especially when this rapid-firing vessel comes loaded with both HE and AP shells! Accompanying this versatile main battery armament is a consumable loadout of Repair Party, a choice between Sonar and Defensive AA fire, and Radar.

This ship’s playstyle is all about area denial and continuous damage—securing a “no-fun zone” for the opposition and sinking them with a “death by a thousand cuts.” Her rapid-firing HE allows you to continuously set larger ships who are bold enough to sail within your borders on fire, and her AP is potent enough to quickly deplete the health bars of any ships that get too comfortable and sail broadside to you.

Be sure to make use of the environment and also use islands to your advantage—it's essential to protect Brisbane’s fragile hull from incoming fire. It's also important to adjust your aim and take a longer lead on your target to accommodate Brisbane's slow and floaty shells. Once in position, use her Radar and fast main-battery turret traverse to support your team by detecting any opposing destroyers pushing toward objectives within your zone of control and suppressing them with a barrage of shells.

We recommend the following build: Harold B. Farncomb with his base trait Careful—improving both your cruiser's detectability range and time when firing your main battery from within a smoke screen (note that your ship does not come equipped with smoke), and improving your main battery reload time by up to 2%. For skill selection, we recommend the following:

• Beyond Range, increasing your cruiser's main battery range by up to 10%.
• Igniter, increasing the chances of your cruiser's HE shells causing fire by up to 3%.
• Punch Through, improving your cruiser's main battery AP shell damage by up to 10% and your AP shell penetration multiplier by up to 6%.
• Fixated, improving both your cruiser's main battery shell grouping and dispersion by up to 5%.
• Fully Packed, reducing your consumable cooldown time and giving you an additional charge for all consumables.

Regarding Inspirations, you should try:

• Gunichi Mikawa, improving your cruiser’s detectability by 6%.
• Francesco Mimbelli, improving your cruiser's main battery reload time by up to 5.5%.

Turn the tide with Brisbane!