Final Review: European Tier X Freemium Destroyer Ragnar (2024)

Ladies and Gentlemen, you can stop crying for Småland, her worthy successor just arrived. Ragnar will be available in the Armory for 27 000 Steel starting with update 0.10.7. and I’m telling you, she is hella worth it.

Historical background

The Ragnar is based on a project of flotilla leader from the Swedish Navy. The project was calling for a 170 m long ship (overall) armed with two twin turrets with 152 mm, two twin 57 mm AA mounts and twelve single 40 mm Bofors.

Ragnar herself is more compact, being only 145 m long overall and her general hull design is heavily inspired by the Halland-class. She is equipped with a 7.5 km radar, the same Repair Party consumable as the high tier European destroyers and an Emergency Engine Power consumable. She is also “protected” with a 25 mm middle section.

The Good and the Bad

The Good

• Best dispersion of the game
• Fast-loading 152 mm guns on a destroyer
• Good ballistics
• 30 mm HE penetration
• Turrets able to turn at 360°
• Humongous HP pool
• Repair Party with improved HP regeneration speed
• 7.5 km radar
• Special 30% Engine Boost

The Bad

• Only 2 turrets in a A X placement
• Sometimes too accurate for its own good
• No torpedo armament
• Large target for a destroyer
• Very sluggish without the Engine Boost active
• Poor turning radius
• Poor spotting range (7.5 km with a full concealment build)

The camouflage

The permanent camouflage of the Ragnar provides the classic bonuses for tier X ships:

• -3% to surface detectability range
• +4% to maximum dispersion of shells fired by the enemy at your ship
• -50% to the cost of ship’s post-battle service
• +20% credits earned in the battle.
• +100% to experience earned in the battle

Modules

Hull	Engine	Gun Fire Control System	Main battery
Ragnar	Propulsion: 76 000hp	SUO Mk10 Mod.1	152 mm/53 Bofors M42

General Characteristics and playstyle

Well, what can I say… Ragnar is basically a Småland that has been pumping lead for a while but at the same time lost her torpedoes. When this chonker enters a battle, it’s to slap destroyers cheeks and farm down the rest from range with her pinpoint accurate 152 mm guns.

Thanks to her Surveillance Radar and truckload of HP for a destroyer, the ship has a fun time catching enemy destroyers pants down and blast most of them to shred. Basically, you go near a capture point and the second you get spotted you can pop your radar because it has the same range as your surface spotting range. After that, enjoy hammering the guys down but be careful when it’s things like Marceau or Kléber that start kiting because those are a pain to deal with.
There is one thing to keep in mind though. Ragnar is a large destroyer and is sluggish so every red guy nearby will be happy to target you the moment you get spotted. You have a great HP pool but you aren’t invincible so be careful when going for DD hunting.

Main Battery

2 x 2 152 mm/53 Bofors M42
Maximum Firing Range	13.000 km
Reloading Time	3.0 s
180 Degree Turn Time	7.2 s
Optimal firing angles at the front	23°
Optimal firing angles at the rear	30°
Sigma	2.00 sigma
Maximum Dispersion	61 m
Shells
Type of Projectile	HE – 152 mm HE M1942
Alpha Damage	2 200 HP
Damage	770 HP
Penetration capacity	30 mm
Explosion size	0.57
Fire chance	11 %
Projectile Speed	900 m/s
Air Drag	0.284
Projectile Mass	46 kg
Type of Projectile	AP – 152 mm AP M1942
Alpha Damage	3 000 HP
Projectile Speed	900 m/s
Air Drag	0.288
Projectile Mass	46.7 kg
Projectile Krupp	2 200
Projectile Detonator	0.025 s
Detonator threshold	25 mm
Ricochet Angles	45° – 60°

The main battery of the Ragnar is really strong, combining fast reload, the best dispersion in the game and since she has 152 mm guns, she can naturally penetrate 30 mm armor.

When it comes to accuracy, Ragnar uses the same horizontal dispersion formula as German Spähkreuzer (Elbing and co.) but since the shells are slower, she also has a better vertical dispersion. This means that her guns are pinpoint accurate… to the point where they almost get too accurate for your own good. If you take for example a Kléber or Marceau kiting away from you, it won’t take too much maneuvering for the guy to throw off your aim because the dispersion is so tight. You won’t have the little RNG blessing of a shell being slightly off or anything like that.

The HE damage output is more than satisfying and you will be able to run down most destroyers as well as cruisers thanks to the 30 mm penetration. At worst for destroyers like Marceau, it turns into a slightly bad damage trade for you but since you have the Repair Party to recover, it’s not the end of the world.

The AP is definitely not to be underestimated since you have 152 mm guns. It is, in fact, possible to citadel cruisers giving you broadside as you have pretty much the same penetration as Kléber at all ranges.

Anti-air Armament

The anti-air on Ragnar, despite the lack of Defensive AA Fire is really good… at least the mid-range. The long-range itself is pitiful except for the 6.9 km firing range but the mid-range just melts planes like snowflakes in the desert.

The Armor

The middle section of the Ragnar and her steering gears are protected by 25 mm of armor.

Final Opinion

So Basically, Ragnar is the new Småland. She can T-pose most DDs at will in a 1v1 and even get away with 1v2 engagements because of her truckload of HP and 360° turrets that allow you to get your guns on target very fast.

She is definitely worth the steel if you missed Småland and even if you have her already, I would still tell you to get Ragnar. While Småland has a bit more flexibility when hunting destroyers thanks to her concealment, faster reload and smaller profile, Ragnar can also comfortably deal with everything else because of her great firepower.

Recommended Build

During the testing of the Ragnar, I was running the following build:

• Preventive Maintenance
• Last Stand
• Survivability Expert
• Concealment Expert
• Superintendent
• Fearless Brawler
• Adrenaline Rush
• Grease the Gears

This concludes my review of the Ragnar. Thank you for reading this article!

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Have a good one and see you soon!

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