New Orleans
Beta- Sit 12-15 km from a contested cap where an island shadows you from the opposite battleship line
- Avoid: Open-water broadside trading
New Orleans Community Stats
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New Orleans Community Stats
Playstyle
Overview
New Orleans is a Tier VI American heavy cruiser with Sonar as her vision tool. Hydro lets her contest islands and smoke without exposing the hull to vision cycles, which shapes how she pressures caps. AA (574 AA DPS at 4.2 km, +100% Defensive AA flak burst) is heavy enough to make her the team's air-defense anchor on top of the lead role; CV strikes route around her, not through. Standout traits: best AP always-pen window in T6 CAs (60°).
Positioning
Sit 12-15 km from a contested cap where an island shadows you from the opposite battleship line. Hydro (4.7 km on ships, 3.3 km on torpedoes) lights up DDs and incoming torpedoes inside its bubble, so you can push the cap edge from cover without taking the spotting cycle; prefer cover positions over open-water flanks.
Potato Avoidance
Open-water broadside trading
Her 203mm 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
60.0° AP min ricochet angle, best of T6 CAs. Larger impact-angle window where shells always penetrate.
9.0% best HE fire chance per secondary shell (before target resistance), top decile of T6 CAs. Stacks fires faster than peers in a brawl.
9.0 s rudder shift, top decile of T6 CAs. Snappy weave.
Sigma 2.05, top decile of T6 CAs. More shells land near aim.
574.0 AA DPS, top decile of T6 CAs (median 269.0).
67.5° AP guaranteed ricochet angle, top decile of T6 CAs. Auto-bounce kicks in later than peers'.
How to get New Orleans
New Orleans is available in the Bombarding Heavy Cruisers branch of the U.S. Tech Tree for 9,000,000 credits after researching it in the branch. Known module upgrades cost up to 1,800,000 credits. 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.
Show U.S.A. tech-tree branch diagram
New Orleans sits in the Bombarding Heavy Cruisers branch. The highlighted path shows the local branch context inside the full U.S. tree.
U.S. heavy cruisers are well suited to bombarding enemy ships with powerful, super-heavy armor-piercing shells and high-explosive shells, but they lack torpedoes entirely. Starting from Tier VII, they bring Radar and Sonar together to the battle to detect hidden enemy warships.
- Advantages
- Improved AP shells, Long-duration Radar starting at Tier VII
- Disadvantages
- Low-velocity shells, Poor protection
Best listed chance for this ship
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Spectral Vault 5.0
0.4375%
Tier VI Premium ship
Event containers · Spectral Vault 5.0 · 1 of 40 ships
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Spectral Vault 4.0
0.190625%
Tier VI Premium ship
Event containers · Spectral Vault 4.0 · 2 paths combined · 1 of 40 ships
Show 2 paths
- Spectral Vault 4.00.125%
- Spectral Vault 4.0 → Spectral Vault 5.00.065625%
-
Piñata Chest
0.16%
Tier V or VI Premium ship
Event containers · Piñata Chest · 1 of 25 ships
Show all 8 containers (5 more)
-
Spectral Vault 3.0
0.109094%
Tier VI Premium ship
Event containers · Spectral Vault 3.0 · 4 paths combined · 1 of 40 ships
Show 4 paths
- Spectral Vault 3.00.075%
- Spectral Vault 3.0 → Spectral Vault 4.00.01375%
- Spectral Vault 3.0 → Spectral Vault 5.00.013125%
- Spectral Vault 3.0 → Spectral Vault 4.0 → Spectral Vault 5.00.007219%
-
Mystic Lantern
0.102273%
Tier VI Premium ship
Event containers · Mystic Lantern · 1 of 44 ships
-
Spectral Vault 2.0
0.039722%
Tier VI Premium ship
Event containers · Spectral Vault 2.0 · 7 paths combined · 1 of 40 ships
Show 7 paths
- Spectral Vault 2.00.025%
- Spectral Vault 2.0 → Spectral Vault 3.00.0075%
- Spectral Vault 2.0 → Spectral Vault 4.00.0025%
- Spectral Vault 2.0 → Spectral Vault 3.0 → Spectral Vault 4.00.001375%
- Spectral Vault 2.0 → Spectral Vault 3.0 → Spectral Vault 5.00.001313%
- Spectral Vault 2.0 → Spectral Vault 4.0 → Spectral Vault 5.00.001313%
- Spectral Vault 2.0 → Spectral Vault 3.0 → Spectral Vault 4.0 → Spectral Vault 5.00.000722%
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Spectral Vault 1.0
0.004716%
Tier VI Premium ship
Event containers · Spectral Vault 1.0 · 12 paths combined · 1 of 40 ships
Show 12 paths
- Spectral Vault 1.0 → Spectral Vault 2.00.00225%
- Spectral Vault 1.0 → Spectral Vault 3.00.00075%
- Spectral Vault 1.0 → Spectral Vault 2.0 → Spectral Vault 3.00.000675%
- Spectral Vault 1.0 → Spectral Vault 2.0 → Spectral Vault 4.00.000225%
- Spectral Vault 1.0 → Spectral Vault 3.0 → Spectral Vault 4.00.000138%
- Spectral Vault 1.0 → Spectral Vault 3.0 → Spectral Vault 5.00.000131%
- Spectral Vault 1.0 → Spectral Vault 2.0 → Spectral Vault 3.0 → Spectral Vault 4.00.000124%
- Spectral Vault 1.0 → Spectral Vault 2.0 → Spectral Vault 4.0 → Spectral Vault 5.00.000118%
- Spectral Vault 1.0 → Spectral Vault 2.0 → Spectral Vault 3.0 → Spectral Vault 5.00.000118%
- Spectral Vault 1.0 → Spectral Vault 3.0 → Spectral Vault 4.0 → Spectral Vault 5.00.000072%
- Spectral Vault 1.0 → Spectral Vault 2.0 → Spectral Vault 3.0 → Spectral Vault 4.0 → Spectral Vault 5.00.000065%
- Spectral Vault 1.00.00005%
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Mystic Box
0.002273%
Tier VI Premium ship
Event containers · Mystic Box · 1 of 44 ships
Official WG availability sources
- Official WoWS Legends container odds Containers Official container drop rows linked below include direct and nested effective ship odds.
Show direct source rows
- Mystic Box 0.002273% · Tier VI Premium ship
- Mystic Lantern 0.102273% · Tier VI Premium ship
- Piñata Chest 0.16% · Tier V or VI Premium ship
- Spectral Vault 1.0 0.00005% · Tier VI Premium ship
- Spectral Vault 2.0 0.025% · Tier VI Premium ship
Builds Beta
Build for reload, AP performance, turret traverse, concealment, and survivability. Radar/utility timing should support cap control where available.
Have a build you swear by? Open it in the Build Tool and hit Save build to share it here.
Cohort position
Hide
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Where New Orleans sits among Tier VI CAs (32 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.
See 25 mid-pack stats
Not standouts for New Orleans -- here's where she sits on every other ranked stat in the cohort.
Stats & specs
Customize in the Build Tool →Shell ballistics chartMore tools in the WoWS Legends Data LabAll values are ship base stats with modifications and upgrade changes denoted inline.
patched
- baseline13.5In-game data
- 2021-05-1314May Update: Things Are Heating Up! Main battery reload time reduced from 15 to 14 seconds.
ƒ
Shell grouping (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.ƒ
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (13562/30·(8−1.1)/1000 + 1.1)·30 = 126.6 mƒ
Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 126.6 × 0.6 = 75.9 mƒ
50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 126.6 × 0.314 (σ=2.05) = 39.7 mƒ
50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 75.9 × 0.314 (σ=2.05) = 23.8 mƒ
180 degrees / 7 deg/s traverse speed = 25.7 s.ƒ
9 broadside guns x 60 / 14 s base reload = 38.6.HE shells
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34 mm ≈ 203 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).ƒ
2,800 HE damage x 9 broadside guns = 25,200.ƒ
25,200 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 14 s base reload = 108,000.ƒ
9 HE shells x 60 / 14 s reload x 14% fire chance = 5.4.AP shells
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floor(203 mm caliber / 14.3) = 14 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).ƒ
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 × 2846 × 118^0.69 × 0.203^-1.07 × 853^1.38 = 467.2 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.ƒ
Same formula at the ship's max firing range (18.6 km), where the shell has slowed to 364.7 m/s: 1e-7 × 2846 × 118^0.69 × 0.203^-1.07 × 364.7^1.38 = 144.6 mm.ƒ
4,600 AP damage x 9 broadside guns = 41,400.ƒ
41,400 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 14 s base reload = 177,429.ƒ
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.ƒ
Longest-reaching family on the in-game AA card. Decoded AirDefense aura max range is 3.5 km; dual-purpose mount auras extend it.ƒ
Includes 21 continuous AA damage from dual-purpose secondaries firing as AA in this range band.ƒ
Far 21 + Medium 50 = 71ƒ
Far 21 + Medium 50 + Near 86 = 157ƒ
Max dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.ƒ
5 km × 57 + 30 = 315 m.
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 60 s reload · 5 s active
Sonar2 charges · 180 s reload · 94 s active · 4.67 km ship detect · 3.3 km torpedo detect
Defensive AA Fire3 charges · 140 s reload · 25 s active · +100% flak burst boost
Catapult Fighter4 charges · 70 s reload · 55 s active · 5.56 km patrol radius · 1 squadron size
See all derived stats
Show
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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 (sigma); shown in-game as Shell Grouping.Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range. (R/30·(idealRadius−minRadius)/idealDistance + minRadius)·30 = (13562/30·(8−1.1)/1000 + 1.1)·30 = 126.6 mVertical dispersion ellipse height at max range = max horizontal × radiusOnMax = 126.6 × 0.6 = 75.9 m50%-hit horizontal radius = max horizontal × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 126.6 × 0.314 (σ=2.05) = 39.7 m50%-hit vertical radius = max vertical × GetHalfHitsRatio(σ) = 75.9 × 0.314 (σ=2.05) = 23.8 mStandard cruiser dispersion baseline.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 × 2846 × 118^0.69 × 0.203^-1.07 × 853^1.38 = 467.2 mm. Matches the in-game spec card.Same formula at the ship's max firing range (18.6 km), where the shell has slowed to 364.7 m/s: 1e-7 × 2846 × 118^0.69 × 0.203^-1.07 × 364.7^1.38 = 144.6 mm.34 mm ≈ 203 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).floor(203 mm caliber / 14.3) = 14 mm (AP auto-penetrates plating this thick or less).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.All 9 barrels bear on the broadside.180 degrees / 7 deg/s traverse speed = 25.7 s.2,800 HE damage x 9 broadside guns = 25,200.4,600 AP damage x 9 broadside guns = 41,400.25,200 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 14 s base reload = 108,000.41,400 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 14 s base reload = 177,429.9 broadside guns x 60 / 14 s base reload = 38.6.9 HE shells x 60 / 14 s reload x 14% fire chance = 5.4.AA defense
Only families that reach 4.2 km contribute at the outer edge of the AA bubble. In-game families: 20mm 17x2 -> 167 DPS @ 2.4 km; 40mm 6x4 -> 157 DPS @ 4.2 km; 127mm 8x1 -> 66 DPS @ 4.2 km; 20mm Oerlikon Mk4 (?) -> 184 DPS @ 2 km.Longest-reaching family on the in-game AA card. Decoded AirDefense aura max range is 3.5 km; dual-purpose mount auras extend it.Cumulative AA DPS at each family range threshold. Inner ranges stack the outer families, so a target closing the distance hits stronger AA bubbles as it crosses each band.Sum of every family's average DPS, achievable only inside the closest-range family (2 km).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.Secondary battery dispersion
Max dispersion = range (km) × 57 + 30. Each dispersion type sets its own slope; this is not a percentage applied to a standard baseline.5 km × 57 + 30 = 315 m.Secondary battery firepower
Sum across all secondary families of (per-side barrels × 60 / reload_s × alpha), where per-side barrels = mounts × barrels-per-mount / 2 (the guns that bear on one broadside target). Per-family: 8×1 127 mm (4/side) × 60/4.5 × 1800 = 96,000. Assumes every shell hits (real hit rate is lower; the Brawl matchup tool on the Compare page folds in dispersion + target armor).Maximum HE damage per shell across secondary HE families. Best on this ship: 1800 from the 127 mm family.Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 9% from the 127 mm family.Maximum HE armor penetration across secondary HE families (caliber × 1/6 for most nations; 1/4 for German/UK BBs). Shells whose pen falls under a plate's armor thickness shatter for 0 hull damage though fire chance still applies. Best on this ship: 21 mm from the 127 mm family.Armor
Hull HP 29,700 → 35,000 with hull upgrade, 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 | 25 mm primary (range 16–76 mm) | 2,200 (6% of HP) | Overmatched by 380mm+ (Bayern, Richelieu)Angle bounces 356mm25 mm: HE pens from 150mm+ | Bow-tank fits behind this exterior plate. Saturation is FAST here; the cap is often only a few thousand HP. |
| Hull (midship) | 76 mm primary (range 6–76 mm) | 26,300 (75% of HP) | No common caliber overmatches76 mm: most HE shatters, standard pen from 460mm+ | Largest HP pool. Citadel sits behind these plates; thinner deck and side plating absorb the rest. |
| Stern | 25 mm primary (range 6–63 mm) | 1,800 (5% of HP) | Overmatched by 380mm+ (Bayern, Richelieu)Angle bounces 356mm25 mm: HE pens from 150mm+ | Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation. |
| Citadel | 127 mm primary (range 6–127 mm) | ≈ 165,500 (effectively no cap) | Citadel pen ×0.10 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 (×0.10 direct pen, ×0.10 over-pen). |
| Superstructure | 6 mm primary (range 6–127 mm) | 1,800 (5% 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 | 17,500 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. |
| Secondary mount (127 mm mount) | separate HP pool, does not drain ship HP | 800 per-mount HP | Destroyed at 0 HP | Per-mount HP for the heaviest secondary on this ship. A mount destroyed at 0 HP is out for the rest of the battle; DCP does not repair destroyed mounts. Smaller (lighter-caliber) secondaries typically share the same HP value. |
| AA mount (40 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.
Balance History
Balance updates affecting New Orleans. Cards are condensed; use each source link for full context.
Ministry of Balance: Italian Concerto
- Stock Main Battery reload speed reduced from 14 to 13.5 s.
- Upgraded Main Battery reload speed reduced from 13 to 12 s.
- Hull plating improved from 16mm/19mm to 25mm.
May Update: Things Are Heating Up!
- Main battery accuracy improved by about 3%.
- Main battery reload time reduced from 15 to 14 seconds.
- Main battery turret traverse speed increased from 6,5°/s to 7°/s.
Skins & permanent camouflages
Every custom exterior New Orleans can equip, from in-game data.
DefaultThe ship’s standard exterior
Primary official WG sources
Filtered to official World of Warships: Legends pages where this ship is a focus, reward, line member, or high-context variant mention.
