Basic Advice on How to Play the New Pan-American Cruisers
Update 12.4 brought us the final release a new branch of researchable Pan-American cruisers, in this post, WG have some basic advice on how to play these beautiful ships.
Read this article to learn more about the new ships, their features, and their optimal tactics.
Ship Features
The Pan-American cruisers are armed with torpedo launchers and 152 mm guns that fire AP shells with improved ricochet angles. The guns have a good reload time and high-arcing ballistics.
The ships have good concealment, average armor protection, and a wide range of consumables at their disposal.
- Starting from Tier II, the Repair Party consumable becomes available, and from Tier VI—the Specialized Repair Teams consumable. These can restore a significant portion of any hit points deducted by damage, including citadel damage.
- The Short-Range Hydroacoustic Search and Defensive AA Fire consumables are available in a single slot.
- Starting from Tier VIII, the Surveillance Radar and Spotting Aircraft consumables become available in the same slot.
The standard cooldown time for all consumables is 3 minutes, except for Damage Control Party, Repair Party, and Spotting Aircraft.
Starting from Tier VI, the ships gain access to Combat Instructions, which significantly reduce the cooldown time of their consumables. The precise bonus applied to the cooldown depends on the ship tier; for Tier X, it reaches as much as 85%. To fill the Combat Instructions progress bar, you need to constantly hit targets with your main battery guns.
The new ships excel at medium ranges, but if needed, the Pan-American cruisers can still effectively engage in close or long-range combat.
Tactics
The primary advantage of the cruisers compared to their counterparts is the wide range of consumables at their disposal and their ability to quickly reuse them thanks to the Combat Instructions. So how can you maximize the newcomers' strengths?
To unlock the full potential of these cruisers, watch the situation on the battlefield carefully. For example, to activate Combat Instructions, you need to constantly hit targets with main battery shells. Even a relatively short pause will result in a rapid loss of progress.
During the opening minutes of a battle, it's advisable to stay close to your allies. This way, you can help your allies with consumables and attract less unwanted attention from enemy artillery. Thanks to the ships' decent concealment, you can assume advantageous positions and spring unpleasant surprises on the opposing team. As far as your shells go, they will deal the most damage when hitting the fore- and aft-ends, superstructures, and armor of light cruisers, or the enemy's broadside.
Firing continuously at targets will fill the Combat Instructions progress bar. Although the Pan-Americans' consumables take longer to cool down compared to their counterparts, we don't recommend activating your Combat Instructions in situations where there is no immediate threat or necessity to do so. Unless the battle situation requires urgent action, it's better to wait for your consumables to cool down on their own.
You can fully unleash the potential of Combat Instructions in close-quarters engagements. It's always better to engage the enemy with your consumables ready and your Combat Instructions progress bar filled.
While you're closing the distance to an enemy for a torpedo attack, for instance, you might lose a lot of hit points as you get pounded by their main or secondary battery guns. This is the right moment to take advantage of your consumables, then activate your Combat Instructions so you can use them again after a very short cooldown. Doing this may help you not only survive but also win the duel! You can also help your allies dominate the flanks by quickly cooling down your Surveillance Radar.
The Pan-American cruisers are even more valuable in the late stages of battle. They can provide cover for their allies, search for stealthy destroyers, and leverage their own concealment to capture Key Areas. Performing these actions can increase your chances of winning.
New Ships
| Nation/Tier/Ship | Class | Research Cost | Dev Status | Ship Page Link |
  X San Martin |
Cruiser |  240 000  20 000 000 |
Released | Ship Page |
 IX Santander |
Cruiser | 170 000 13 000 000 |
Released | Ship Page |
| VIII Ignacio Allende |
Cruiser | 110 000 9 000 000 |
Released | Ship Page |
| VII Coronel Bolognesi |
Cruiser | 72 000 5 700 000 |
Released | Ship Page |
| VI Almirante Cochrane |
Cruiser | 36 000 3 000 000 |
Released | Ship Page |
| V La Argentina |
Cruiser | 11 500 1 350 000 |
Released | Ship Page |
| IV Córdoba |
Cruiser | 5 600 700 000 |
Released | Ship Page |
| III Vicente Guerrero |
Cruiser | 2 200 250 000 |
Released | Ship Page |
| II Almirante Barroso |
Cruiser | 100 75 000 |
Released | Ship Page |
| I Hercules |
Cruiser | 0 0 |
Released | Ship Page |
A large, well-protected light cruiser project that was designed with the experience of the Pacific War in mind. She was armed with powerful AA defenses and dual-purpose main battery guns.
Upgrades
| First Slot | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Second Slot | |
  |
|
| Third Slot | |
 |
|
| Fourth Slot | |
  |
|
| Fifth Slot | |
  |
|
| Sixth Slot | |
  |
|
