User blog comment:FlammeumDraco333/Tales From the Not so Blocky Seas/@comment-27822411-20150824105535

Void Samukai Review: Deutschland class "Cruiser"
''Meh, not bad. Not great, but not bad: Void Samukai 2015''

The Deutschland class (1935) is the Lv 27 cruiser in the German navy. She is a rival for the Russian Chapayer and Italian Zara class. Both the these ships are well balanced vessels. The Zara has a great secondary firepower and the Chapayer can get 12inch guns, though with such a short range for mediocre firepower, you really shouldn't use them.

The Deutschland class has earned the nickname from me: Derp-land. Why? Because it can mount 15 inch guns, but only 4 of them. They have good range and great damage, but also a slow reload time of 16 seconds. The guns that work best (for me at least) the Lv34 11 inch guns. But that is a long grind.

But first, comparisons against her peers and the other German cruiser: the Admiral Hipper. I will also make comparisons to pre dreadnoughts, for reasons I will tell.

She is slow at 23 knots when fully loaded, though the other cruisers struggle to get 30 knots, which makes me question them compare to the Mogami and Baltimore. But she is faster than most pre dreadnought.

She is not really well armoured, but can take some punishment, compare to the Admiral Hipper.

Her main guns are like those on pre dreadnoughts: few, but powerful. Especially the 11inch and 15 inch guns. This firepower is not as good as those on the Baltimore, but the 11 inch guns have respectable damage and RoF. It is indeed comparable to many pre dreadnoughts. The 11 inch guns also have a long range, which is very helpful.

Unlike the Admiral Hipper, the secondaries are really good and can support your mains. I recommend you use your secondaries as they can really help you against destroyers due to the main guns' long reload and few number of shots.

The torpedoes have a very good arc of fire at the rear, and can help you against bigger enemies if used properly. Don't overload them, but keep a good number.

Overall, this ship should be played like a pre dreadnought, but keep in mind you will not have the same armour as a proper one, but also you are faster. The grind for it is an easy one, due to the Emden class which is a good grinding ship.

To grind it, I recommend sticking with the Emden until you reach Lv34 and accumulate around 20000 REXP. If you are fine with the idea of the 15 inch guns, then grind until Lv30.

In short: not the best cruiser, but better than the Admiral Hipper and can compete well against pre dreadnoughts.