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Disclaimer: This review is done by a fist that hasn't played that many subs, so take it with a grain of salt.

Void Samukai's Reviews: the I-1 Class Submarine
"This is why I play subs: I-1 is awesome."

-Void Samukai (Khoi Tran), 2015, after sinking a DD, three BBs and a CA

Introduction

Hello everyone, and welcome to yet another "Void Samukai's Reviews", where I take a ship and see how she, or he (Looking at you Germans), performs in NFL. This time, we will be taking a look at the I-1 class submarine.

And no no no no: this is not my Japanese themed uber fast, small, light I-1 that I use to troll in GC in BSC. I'm refering to the Japanese Lv39 large, not as fast I-1 that I use to troll in Verses in NFL. Moving on now.

The I-1 class is a Lv39 Japanese submarine in NFL (I guess you know that already). It is currently the highest level sub in the Japanese line, until new subs get added. One can unlock it by first getting an Aoba, then grinding until you reach the first Japanese sub at Lv19. From there you go to Lv29 with the L4 class, and then you get the I-1.

Side note

Before I go deeper into this wonderful sub, let's talk about the Aoba and L4. The Aoba is not a bad ship to grind in. Sure, she is a little light in the gun department at first, but if you stick with her some a little longer, you will get something of a pocket heavy cruiser. Her torp firepower is okay, but a little limiting as she can only fire one set each side, as oppose the the Agano with can fire two. Still, a nice ship that anyone will find bearabe, unless you hate cruisers then you are screwed.

The L4 is in my memory one of the better subs I played at that level. It had a respectable speed that was the same as the equivalent US sub and much better than the Type II of Germany, but it carried way more torpedoes and can fire 6 at one attack, as oppose to the US' 4 and the German's 3. The torps themselves were good. A bit on the slow side, and damage is not that great, but the range is excellent and great at long range attacking. This was a sub that I growed to love, and at first I felt that I would miss this sub, because of the frontal power. And I still do.

But I still believe that it was the right choice of me to get the I-1, so that I can get a taste of its power and preach it's praises out to everyone. So, let's do this and go through the sub;

Overal performance


 * This is a sub that can go 21 knots on the surface and 19 knots slightly submerged. This high speed for a sub allows you to quickly close the distance on enemy ships, catch up to some of the slower vessels and run away if you need to get a breath of air. This high speed is one of the reasons that I love the I-1, in the same sense as with my BSC I-1. She still won't catch fast BBs and BCs, but against slow BBs, she is alright. 8/10


 * The I-1 (NFL) can turn actually rather well. This means you will be able to respond to some situations better than other subs on equal size (and make no mistake, the I-1 in NFL is no small sub). And this actually saves my ass quite a bit against DDs and CLs. 8/10


 * For her deck gun, she can mount a 5.5inch gun. This gun has quite a good range and decent RoF, which can help in a battle against other subs on the surface, and even the odd stupid DD (no joke, I've one a surface gun duel against a DD in my I-1. WTF bro!). 7.5/10


 * The torps she can carry is interesting. She has 4 tubes forward and 2 tubes backwards. This balance arrangement allows you to fire a spread at a cluster of enemy ships, while you can fire against DDs at the rear, or the odd BB. Her top torp can to 4900 damage, have a range of more than 400+, but are rather slow, meaning ships can invade them. But at the distance that most subs attack ships away, even slow torps can be hard to miss. And she can carry up to 68 torps! Holy Jingles that is a lot. This means though each torp does less damage each, the total damage the I-1 can dish out is not bad at all. 8.5/10


 * Strong against: Slow BBs, Capital ships close by. Weak against: Fast agile ships, ships armed with depth charges, ASW weapons.

Comparasion

I haven't played that many subs, so take my word lightly. But what I do know is that this sub is much better than the German Lv39 sub (more torps, better overal firepower, higher speed). Against the US Lv39 sub, she plays very similarly: both beeing just as fast and carrying comparable torp firepower. I do find the I-1 slightly better at turning, so the I-1 is slightly better. But don't be discourage: the US V Boat is still not a bad submarine (By my standards anyway: your's may differ).

Final thoughts

Overal, this sub is a great crown jewel of the Japanese sub line, and an excellent reward for those brave enough to endure the struggles of being a sub captain, the extremely long grind, and the constant rages of subs being either OP or just useless. This sub is one I would reccomend to sub captains out there. This is a very versitile sub that can respond to most situations well. To grind for her, grind the Aoba as far as she can go, and quickly get the L4. Enjoy her for as long as you wish, and then get the I-1 once it becomes avaliable. I reccomend doing the second German mission for grinding in the L4 (see review I did on why it is good to prepare it). Just make sure you don't play stupid with her, or mistake her for my I-1 in BSC, and you will do fine.

That's is all for today, or tonight, folks. I hope you find this little review interesting and helpful. Please leave your comments below and if you have anything else to add, please tell so. Until next time, I'm Void Samukai and I will see you in my I-1 (both NFL and BSC).