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Blazing Dread is a Tier VII Japanese light cruiser whose 155mm guns farm HE fires and sustained DPM, with Sonar as her vision tool: Hydro lets her contest islands and smoke without exposing the hull. Standout traits: best fires per minute in T7 CAs (15) and best punchy HE secondaries in T7 CAs (2,100).
Sit 12-15 km from a contested cap where an island shadows you from the opposite battleship line. Hydro (4.4 km on ships, 3.1 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. Your guns lose penetration at range, so aim AP at broadsides you can still citadel and put HE into superstructures and upper-hull sections, rather than the bow-in or belt armor your shells bounce and shatter on.
The torps are a threat tool: putting them into a lane forces rotations even when they miss. Drops on probable lanes are worth more than waiting for a guaranteed broadside that never appears.
15.0 fires/min, best of T7 CAs. Keeps DCP on cooldown.
125.0 AA DPS, bottom decile of T7 CAs. Aircraft chew through with impunity; lean on positioning over AA.
1.7 km torpedo detect, bottom decile of T7 CAs. Easy to dodge if targets are looking.
Blazing Dread is a Premium ship and not available to unlock in the Tech Tree. Acquisition path: Containers. 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.
Pair with a commander whose unique skill complements her main armament; check the build tool for current recommendations.
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Where Blazing Dread sits among Tier VII CAs (55 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.
Not standouts for Blazing Dread -- 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.
Damage Control Party∞ charges · 60 s reload · 5 s active
Sonar2 charges · 180 s reload · 96 s active · 4.44 km ship detect 
Defensive AA Fire3 charges · 140 s reload · 25 s active · +100% flak burst boost
Catapult Fighter3 charges · 80 s reload · 90 s active · 5 km patrol radius 
Smoke Generator2 charges · 240 s reload · 20 s emit / 65 s cloud active
Repair Party2 charges · 60 s reload · 28 s active · 5,746 HP (16.8% of max HP) total heal (per charge) All values are ship base stats with modifications and upgrade changes denoted inline.
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.
Horizontal dispersion ellipse width at max range, from the verified WoWS dispersion model: $\sigma_H = \left(\dfrac{R}{30}\cdot\dfrac{\text{idealRadius}-\text{minRadius}}{\text{idealDistance}} + \text{minRadius}\right)\cdot 30$ $= \left(\dfrac{15314}{30}\cdot\dfrac{8-1.1}{1000} + 1.1\right)\cdot 30 = 138.7\,\text{m}$How wide your shells scatter at 10 km, from the same dispersion model as the max-range figure above. Picking a fixed range makes this number directly comparable from ship to ship: max-range dispersion makes a longer-range gun look worse even when it's tighter at any common range. The interactive Dispersion tab on the Charts card plots the full curve from 0 to max range.Vertical dispersion ellipse height at max range: $\sigma_V = \sigma_H \cdot \text{radiusOnMax}$ $= 138.7 \cdot 0.6 = 83.2\,\text{m}$How tall the same scatter ellipse is at 10 km. Comparable from ship to ship for the same reason as the width value above.50%-hit horizontal radius: $\sigma_{H,50} = \sigma_H \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 138.7 \cdot 0.337\;(\sigma = 1.85) = 46.8\,\text{m}$50%-hit vertical radius: $\sigma_{V,50} = \sigma_V \cdot \text{GetHalfHitsRatio}(\sigma)$ $= 83.2 \cdot 0.338\;(\sigma = 1.85) = 28.1\,\text{m}$Canonical community AP formula (jcw780/wows_shell), evaluated at muzzle velocity: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot K \cdot m^{0.69} \cdot d^{-1.07} \cdot v_0^{1.38}$ $= 10^{-7}\cdot 2429 \cdot 55.87^{0.69} \cdot 0.155^{-1.07} \cdot 925^{1.38} = 355.3\,\text{mm}$. Matches the in-game spec card.Same formula at the ship's max firing range (19.1 km), where the shell has slowed to 319.8 m/s: $P = 10^{-7}\cdot 2429 \cdot 55.87^{0.69} \cdot 0.155^{-1.07} \cdot 319.8^{1.38} = 82\,\text{mm}$.26 mm ≈ 155 mm caliber / 6 (standard HE penetration ratio).floor(155 mm caliber / 14.3) = 10 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 15 barrels bear on the broadside.180 degrees / 7 deg/s traverse speed = 25.7 s.2,300 HE damage x 15 broadside guns = 34,500.3,300 AP damage x 15 broadside guns = 49,500.34,500 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 10 s base reload = 207,000.49,500 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 10 s base reload = 297,000.34,500 HE full-salvo alpha x 60 / 9 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 230,000.49,500 AP full-salvo alpha x 60 / 9 s installed reload (Main Battery Mod. 3 = -10%) = 330,000.15 broadside guns x 60 / 10 s base reload = 90.15 broadside guns x 60 / 9 s installed Artillery reload = 100.90 shells/min x 15% fire chance = 13.5.100 shells/min x 15% fire chance = 15.detectability / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).range / (speed kt x 2.6 community game-speed factor).4 launchers x 4 tubes.tube count / 2 (symmetric port/starboard launcher layout; common on cruisers and battleships with deck torpedoes).All tubes hitting one target: tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 16 x 15,933 = 254,928.One side firing, all torpedoes hitting: per-side tubes x per-torpedo simulated damage = 8 x 15,933 = 127,464.Sum across every AA aura on this ship of (aura.continuous_damage x 3.5 x aura.hit_probability). Here: (14×3.5×0.9) + (6×3.5×0.85) + (20×3.5×0.9) = 125. 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.Longest-reaching aura across AA-only + dual-purpose auras.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.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.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: 4×2 127 mm (4/side) × 60/5 × 2100 = 100,800. 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: 2100 from the 127 mm family.Maximum per-shell fire chance across secondary HE families (before target fire resistance is applied). Best on this ship: 8% 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.Hull HP 34,200, distributed across 5 hull zones, each with its own plate thicknesses, saturation cap, and pen thresholds. HP caps are estimated from the standard WoWs damage-allocation model.
Overmatched by 100+ guns across the bracket. Can’t reliably bow-tank; gets bow-citadelled and overpenned.
AP can citadel a flat broadside even at range. Stay angled and avoid showing the full side.
Superstructure and extremities take HE pens and AP overpens from nearly any gun: steady chip damage. Fire resistance 37%, fires burn 30s. Range-by-range in the ballistics tool →
| Section | Plates | HP cap | Threats | Tactic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bow | 25 mm primary (range 25–40 mm) | ≈ 1,710 (~5% of HP) | Overmatched by 380mm+ (Gneisenau, 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) | 16 mm primary (range 16–100 mm) | ≈ 25,650 (~75% of HP) | Overmatched by 283mm+ (Scharnhorst, Scharnhorst '43)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 | 25 mm primary (range 25–100 mm) | ≈ 1,710 (~5% of HP) | Overmatched by 380mm+ (Gneisenau, Richelieu)Angle bounces 356mm25 mm: HE pens from 150mm+ | Mirror of bow. Same fast saturation. |
| Citadel | 140 mm primary (range 12–140 mm) | no cap | Citadel pen: full damageOver-pen: ×0.10 damage | Effectively no cap; citadel pool sits at ~165k HP on every ship. An AP citadel penetration deals the shell's full damage, the biggest single hit available; only over-penetrations are damped, to ×0.10. |
| Superstructure | 6 mm primary (range 6–100 mm) | no cap | 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). |
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.
Every custom exterior Blazing Dread can equip, from in-game data.
GamingDiver has indexed official WG mentions for this ship, but none are focused enough to show as a primary source card here. Low-context list, crate, comparison, or passing mentions are intentionally filtered out.