Dalian Build & Guide | WoWs Legends

Playstyle

Overview

Dalian is a Tier VIII Pan-Asian light cruiser with 130mm guns at 14.9 km, 4.4-second reload. Her damage profile is HE fires and sustained DPM rather than picking AP citadels. HE pen sits at the 1/4 caliber ratio instead of the standard 1/6, so HE spam is a real damage option here - pens roughly 1.5x more armor than a same-caliber peer's HE round. Standout traits: best Repair Party charges in T8 CAs (3).

Positioning

Hold 12-15 km with islands tight enough to break vision on demand. The HE pressure rewards a steady firing arc more than rotation play; pick a corner of the map you can hold and work fires from there.

Potato Avoidance

Open-water broadside trading

Her 130mm shells citadel cruisers on the wrong frame, and her 35,000-HP hull does not recover from a punished salvo. Pick rotations and angles deliberately; the chip-damage role pays better than the trade-blow role on a cruiser of this profile.

Signature Traits

Improved HE penetration

HE pen at the 1/4 caliber ratio instead of the standard 1/6. HE-spam is a real damage option here, not just a fire-starter; pens roughly 1.5x more armor than a same-caliber peer's HE, shared by 6/27 T8 CAs.

Extra heal charges

3.0 Repair Party charges, best of T8 CAs. More total HP available across a match.

Sharp rudder

9.0 s rudder shift, top decile of T8 CAs. Snappy weave.

Best-in-class stealth

10.66 km surface detect, top decile of T8 CAs. Stays dark longer.

Short gun range

14.93 km main battery reach, bottom decile of T8 CAs. Outranged by peers; close distance or lean on terrain.

Underpowered engine

80000.0 hp engine, bottom decile of T8 CAs. Less headroom for re-accelerating from a stop and holding speed through turns.

Acquisition

How to get Dalian

Dalian is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition paths: Containers and Campaign. Container chances are shown as the listed odds of receiving this exact ship, dividing grouped ship-pool odds across the resolved ships and including nested container paths when a crate can drop another crate.

ContainersAppears in official container odds below; availability depends on the container being sold or awarded.
CampaignEarnable in the Dragon’s Voyage campaign; campaign ships can later return through other limited methods.

Best listed chance for this ship

Mystic Lantern 0.043478% Tier VIII Premium ship Event containers · Mystic Lantern · 1 of 23 ships

Official WG availability sources

Dragon’s Voyage Campaign Breakdown Campaign Start: 2025-04-07 · End: 2025-05-18 Official campaign breakdown naming this ship as a campaign/reward-context ship; explicit source windows are used when present, otherwise the end date is inferred from the next indexed campaign breakdown when available.
Official WoWS Legends container odds Containers Official container drop rows linked below include direct and nested effective ship odds.
Through the Spy Glass: Dalian Ship feature / release Start: 2025-04-08 · End: open/unknown end Official Through the Spy Glass feature for this ship; useful as a release/availability source, but not a guaranteed current-store listing.

Show direct source rows

Mystic Lantern 0.043478% · Tier VIII Premium ship

Builds Beta

Use a Pan cruiser commander focused on reload, range, agility, and survivability. Inspirations that improve dispersion, rudder/steering, concealment, or damage consistency fit the safe mid-range cruiser plan.

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Cohort position

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Where Dalian sits among Tier VIII CAs (27 ships). Notable standouts are shown first; the rest of the cohort-ranked stats are in the expand below. Acquisition variants (Black Friday, Founders Edition) are counted once with their base ship, not as separate peers.

BestStealth profile10.66 km / 6.4 km (1/27 / 1/27) BestRudder shift9 s (1/27) BestDisplacement7,666 t (1/27) BestRepair charges3 (1 of 2 tied) Top 10%Main battery reload4.4 s (2/27) Top 10%Fires per minute13.64 (3/25) Top 10%HE DPM272,727 (2/25) Top 10%AP velocity950 m/s (2/27) Top 10%HE velocity950 m/s (2/25) Top 10%AP arming threshold22 mm (3/27) Top 10%Power-to-weight10.44 hp/t (2/27) Top 25%Traverse-to-turn ratio13.41 × (6/27) Top 25%AP DPM354,545 (6/27) Top 25%Torpedo reload90 s (4/16) Top 25%Stern armor30 mm (5/27) Bottom 25%Hit points35,000 HP (25/27) Bottom 25%AP fuse timer0.01 s (25/27) Bottom 25%Max armor100 mm (25/27) Bottom 25%Citadel belt100 mm (23/27) Bottom 25%Deck armor50 mm (24/26) Bottom 10%Main battery caliber130 mm (26/27) Bottom 10%Turn-speed retention121.2 hp/m (26/27) WorstMain battery range14.93 km (27/27) WorstNo secondaries (7 of 27 in cohort) WorstEngine power80,000 hp (27/27) WorstBow armor16 mm (1 of 2 tied)

See 13 mid-pack stats

Not standouts for Dalian -- here's where she sits on every other ranked stat in the cohort. Stats tagged NORM are tied across more than half the cohort, so the value is the cohort default rather than a standout.

Max speed33.4 kt(12/27) Sigma2.05(13/27) Main dispersion136 m(16/27) Acceleration10.2 s(10/27) AA DPS410(21/27) AA range5.2 km(11/27) AA threat1,688(17/27) Torpedo range9.99 km(7/16) Torpedo damage15,100(10/16) Torpedo speed60 kt(12/16) NormAP ricochet start45°(21 of 27 tied at this value) NormAP auto-bounce angle60°(20 of 27 tied at this value) NormRepair heal rate0.5 %/s(14 of 27 tied at this value)

Peers in this cohort

Show all 26 peers

Stats & specs

Customize in the Build Tool →Shell ballistics chart More tools in the WoWS Legends Data Lab

All values are ship base stats with modifications and upgrade changes denoted inline.

Repair 3Def-AASmoke

Survivability

Hit Points35,000

Displacement7,666 t

Armor range12–100 mm

Plate armor thicknesses12, 13, 16, 30, 40, 50, 100 mm

Armor material/layer entries52

Fire resistance40%

Fire duration30 s

Torp Reduction19%

Magazine HP

ƒ

The magazine is the module a detonation comes from. Penetrating hits to it raise the detonation chance from 1% toward 30% as its HP is worn down, so a larger magazine pool rides out citadel hits longer before a detonation becomes likely.

13,700

Steering gear HP

ƒ

Durability of the steering gears. As this pool drops, hits are likelier to jam the rudder; unlike most modules the steering can be knocked out and repaired but is never permanently destroyed.

10,500

Main Battery

ModuleArtillery: 130 mm/60 BL-109A

Mounts / barrels5 mounts / 10 barrels

Reload time4.9 s

Firing range14.9 km

Turret traverse20 °/s

Shell Grouping (σ)

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Shell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.

2.05

Max Horiz Disp

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Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (14930/30·(8−1.1)/1000 + 1.1)·30 = 136 m

136 m

Max Vert Disp

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Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 136 × 0.6 = 81.6 m

81.6 m

Med Horiz Disp

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50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 136 × 0.314 (σ=2.05) = 42.7 m

42.7 m

Med Vert Disp

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50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 81.6 × 0.314 (σ=2.05) = 25.6 m

25.6 m

Turret turn time

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180 degrees / 20 deg/s traverse speed = 9 s.

9 s

Base shells/min

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10 broadside guns x 60 / 4.9 s base reload = 122.4.

122.4

HE shells

HE Damage2,000

HE Velocity950 m/s

Fire Chance10%

HE penetration

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In-game data: 26 mm = 130 mm caliber / 5 (non-standard HE penetration ratio).

26 mm

HE full-salvo alpha

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2,000 HE damage x 10 broadside guns = 20,000.

20,000

Base HE DPM

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20,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.9 s base reload = 244,898.

244,898

Installed HE DPM

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20,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.4 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 272,727.

272,727

Base fires/min

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10 HE shells x 60 / 4.9 s reload x 10% fire chance = 12.24.

12.24

AP shells

AP Damage2,600

AP Velocity950 m/s

Min Ricochet45 deg

Guaranteed Ricochet60 deg

Fuse Timer0.01 s

Fuse Threshold22 mm

AP overmatch

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floor(130 mm caliber / 14.3) = 9 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).

9 mm

AP Pen Close

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Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: 1e-7 × Krupp × mass^0.69 × caliber_m^-1.07 × v0^1.38 = 1e-7 × 1900 × 33.4^0.69 × 0.13^-1.07 × 950^1.38 = 244 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.

244 mm

AP Pen Far

ƒ

Same formula at the ship's max firing range (18.7 km), where the shell has slowed to 318.8 m/s: 1e-7 × 1900 × 33.4^0.69 × 0.13^-1.07 × 318.8^1.38 = 54.1 mm.

54.1 mm

AP full-salvo alpha

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2,600 AP damage x 10 broadside guns = 26,000.

26,000

Base AP DPM

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26,000 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.9 s base reload = 318,367.

318,367

Installed AP DPM

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26,000 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.4 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 354,545.

354,545

AP AOE Radius

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AP shell over-penetration splash radius; scales with shell mass. Wickes 102mm = 3, standard 152mm CL ~ 20, Iowa 406mm ~ 270, Yamato 460mm = 400, Incomparable 650mm = 550 (max). Larger value = bigger splash damage area when AP over-pens.

12

◇

Torpedoes

ModuleTorpedoes: 533 mm 1-N

Launchers / tubes4 launchers × 3 tubes = 12 tubes

Reload time90 s

Projectile speed60 kt

Range9.99 km

Maximum simulated damage14,000 (est.)

Alpha damage42,000

Torpedo detectability1.2 km

Torpedo launcher traverse25 °/s

Torp Turn7.2 s

Torp Arming185 m

Per-side salvo damage

ƒ

per-side salvo x per-torpedo simulated damage.

84,000

AA Defense

AA mount points14

Close-range AA DPS

ƒ

Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (35×3.5×0.9) + (50×3.5×0.85) + (48×3.5×0.9) = 410. Covers AA-only mounts plus dual-purpose secondaries (Bismarck 105mm, USN 5"/38 cruiser secondaries) and dual-purpose main batteries (Sumner-class 5"/38, Akizuki-line 100mm). Formula validated against in-game captures on California, Sumner, Manfred von Richthofen, Dante Alighieri (exact) and within +/-17% on the remaining verified ships.

410

Maximum AA range

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Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.

5.2 km

57 mm ZIF-31B4×2 57mm

25 mm 110-PM 4M-12010×4 25mm

DPS

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Includes 48 continuous AA damage from dual-purpose main battery firing as AA in this range band.

48

Range5.2 km

DPS35

Range4 km

Total DPS in Aura

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Far 48 + Medium 35 = 83

83

DPS50

Range3.1 km

Total DPS in Aura

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Far 48 + Medium 35 + Near 50 = 133

133

Maneuverability

Engine moduleEngine: 80,000 hp

Engine power80,000 hp

Maximum speed33.4 kt

Turning circle radius660 m

Engine power multiplier speed threshold7 kt

Traverse-to-turn ratio13.4× snappy

Concealment

Detectability by sea10.66 km

Detectability by air6.4 km

Smoke firing penalty4.45 km

Detect after firing main guns10.66 km

Detect Fire Sea12.66 km

Detect Fire Air9.4 km

Guaranteed Detect2 km

✦

Consumables

Damage Control Party∞ charges · 60 s reload · 5 s active

Repair Party3 charges · 80 s reload · 28 s active · 0.5% heal per second · 14% of max HP total heal

Smoke Generator4 charges · 110 s reload · 15 s emit / 70 s cloud active

Defensive AA Fire3 charges · 140 s reload · 25 s active · +100% flak burst boost

Module options (1)

Stats above use the fully-upgraded modules. These are the research-tree alternatives; trade-offs are flagged.

HullUpgrade

Turret traverse20 → 12 °/s

See all derived stats

Show ▾

Numbers the spec table cannot show directly: alpha-strike math, DPM, dispersion, AP penetration. Click the formula chip on any row to reveal how it is calculated.

Main battery formulas

Shell Grouping (σ)2.05

Shell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.

Max Horiz Disp136 m

Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (14930/30·(8−1.1)/1000 + 1.1)·30 = 136 m

Max Vert Disp81.6 m

Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 136 × 0.6 = 81.6 m

Med Horiz Disp42.7 m

50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 136 × 0.314 (σ=2.05) = 42.7 m

Med Vert Disp25.6 m

50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 81.6 × 0.314 (σ=2.05) = 25.6 m

AP Pen Close244 mm

Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: 1e-7 × Krupp × mass^0.69 × caliber_m^-1.07 × v0^1.38 = 1e-7 × 1900 × 33.4^0.69 × 0.13^-1.07 × 950^1.38 = 244 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.

AP Pen Far54.1 mm

Same formula at the ship's max firing range (18.7 km), where the shell has slowed to 318.8 m/s: 1e-7 × 1900 × 33.4^0.69 × 0.13^-1.07 × 318.8^1.38 = 54.1 mm.

HE penetration26 mm

In-game data: 26 mm = 130 mm caliber / 5 (non-standard HE penetration ratio).

Improved HE PenYes

This ship's HE shells use a 1/4 (~0.25) caliber-to-pen ratio instead of the standard 1/6 (~0.167) - 0.2 in this case. Lets HE pen ~32mm armor instead of ~21mm. Hits every German cruiser (150mm CL, 203mm CA) and BB (350mm+), British heavy cruisers / Lion / Nelson, a handful of other premiums.

AP overmatch9 mm

floor(130 mm caliber / 14.3) = 9 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).

AP AOE Radius12

AP shell over-penetration splash radius; scales with shell mass. Wickes 102mm = 3, standard 152mm CL ~ 20, Iowa 406mm ~ 270, Yamato 460mm = 400, Incomparable 650mm = 550 (max). Larger value = bigger splash damage area when AP over-pens.

Broadside guns used for alpha10

All 10 barrels bear on the broadside.

Turret turn time9 s

180 degrees / 20 deg/s traverse speed = 9 s.

HE full-salvo alpha20,000

2,000 HE damage x 10 broadside guns = 20,000.

AP full-salvo alpha26,000

2,600 AP damage x 10 broadside guns = 26,000.

Base HE DPM244,898

20,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.9 s base reload = 244,898.

Base AP DPM318,367

26,000 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.9 s base reload = 318,367.

Installed HE DPM272,727

20,000 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.4 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 272,727.

Installed AP DPM354,545

26,000 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 4.4 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 354,545.

Base shells/min122.4

10 broadside guns x 60 / 4.9 s base reload = 122.4.

Installed shells/min136.4

10 broadside guns x 60 / 4.4 s installed Artillery reload = 136.4.

Base fires/min12.24

10 HE shells x 60 / 4.9 s reload x 10% fire chance = 12.24.

Installed fires/min13.64

10 HE shells x 60 / 4.4 s installed reload x 10% fire chance = 13.64.

Torpedoes

Torpedo detectability1.2 km

Estimated torpedo reaction time7.7 s

detectability / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).

Torpedo speed60 kt

Travel time to max range64 s

range / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).

Tube count12

4 launchers x 3 tubes.

Per-side salvo6 torpedoes

tube count / 2 (symmetric port/starboard launcher layout; common on cruisers and battleships with deck torpedoes).

Full-salvo damage168,000

tube count x per-torpedo simulated damage (all torpedoes hitting).

Per-side salvo damage84,000

per-side salvo x per-torpedo simulated damage.

AA defense

Close-range AA DPS410

Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (35×3.5×0.9) + (50×3.5×0.85) + (48×3.5×0.9) = 410. Covers AA-only mounts plus dual-purpose secondaries (Bismarck 105mm, USN 5"/38 cruiser secondaries) and dual-purpose main batteries (Sumner-class 5"/38, Akizuki-line 100mm). Formula validated against in-game captures on California, Sumner, Manfred von Richthofen, Dante Alighieri (exact) and within +/-17% on the remaining verified ships.

Maximum AA range5.2 km

Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.

AA threat index1688

SUM over AA auras of (aura DPS x aura range km). A plane crossing the AA bubble is exposed to each aura for a time proportional to that aura's range, so long-reach DPS is worth more than the same DPS in a short bubble. Units: DPS*km; used to rank overall AA threat across the cohort.

Near aura range3.1 km

Armor

Hull HP 35,000, distributed across 5 hull zones, each with its own plate thicknesses, saturation cap, and pen thresholds. HP caps are the exact in-game values, not estimated.

Section	Plates	HP cap	Threats	Tactic
Bow	16 mm primary (range 16–40 mm)	2,700 (8% of HP)	Overmatched by 283mm+ (Scharnhorst '43, Schill)Angle bounces 203mm16 mm: HE pens from 127mm+	Bow-tank fits behind this exterior plate. Saturation is FAST here; the cap is often only a few thousand HP.
Hull (midship)	16 mm primary (range 16–100 mm)	26,300 (75% of HP)	Overmatched by 283mm+ (Scharnhorst '43, Schill)Angle bounces 203mm16 mm: HE pens from 127mm+	Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest.
Stern	30 mm primary (range 16–50 mm)	2,400 (7% of HP)	Overmatched by 460mm+ (Aki, Musashi)Angle bounces 410mm30 mm: HE pens from 203mm+	Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation.
Citadel	100 mm primary (range 13–100 mm)	≈ 165,500 (effectively no cap)	Citadel pen ×0.50 damageOver-pen: ×0.10 damage	Effectively no cap; citadel pool sits at ~165k HP on every ship. Damage is gated by pen/over-pen multipliers instead (×0.50 direct pen, ×0.10 over-pen).
Superstructure	12 mm primary (range 12–50 mm)	1,200 (3% of HP)	Any HE ≥16 mm pens at full damage	Any HE ≥16 mm pens at full damage. HE-spam target, and the section saturates fast (often only a few thousand HP).
Turret (module, per magazine)	separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP	13,700 magazine HP	Magazine detonation1–30% chance · below ~75% HP	Per-turret powder-magazine HP. Detonation chance scales from 1% (no mag damage) to 30% (full mag damage); this range is the in-game value. Detonation can't roll while the ship is above ~75% HP (the standard detonation-protection threshold, not a per-ship stat). Smaller magazines saturate to the 30% ceiling faster.
AA mount (57 mm mount)	separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP	200 per-mount HP	Destroyed at 0 HP	Per-mount HP for the heaviest AA on this ship. An AA mount destroyed at 0 HP stops shooting down planes for the rest of the battle; DCP does not repair destroyed mounts. HE shells specifically target AA mounts since the small-caliber HP pool falls fast.
Rudder (module)	separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP	10,500 module HP	Incapacitated at 0 HP	When module HP reaches 0 the rudder locks at its current angle until DCP repairs it. Repair via Damage Control Party.

Saturation cap = HP a section can absorb before further damage to it is reduced (the "bow-tank" effect). Citadel pool is ~165k on every ship (effectively no cap); damage is gated by pen/over-pen multipliers instead. Superstructure saturates fast but HE always pens regardless of the plate thickness. Rudder (and other module HPs) are a separate pool from ship HP: damaging a module doesn't drain ship HP. Incapacitated modules like the rudder and engine are restored by DCP, but secondary and AA mounts destroyed at 0 HP stay out for the rest of the battle.

Shell ballistics chart

AP penetration, impact velocity, flight time and impact angle vs range. Click to load the interactive chart.

Exteriors

Skins & permanent camouflages

Every custom exterior Dalian can equip, from in-game data.

DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior

Dalian

Dalian Community Stats