In Modern Warships, the Legendary and Epic missiles at tier III are some of the most powerful weapons in the game. So, what are the advantages and downsides of each missile? And which one should you choose to equip on your ship? Let’s find out.
SCALP Naval
Also known as Storm Shadow, the SCALP Naval is a collaborative project between French and English defense industries. While not quite hypersonic, it has decent top speed and most importantly, high initial speed. This means the missile avoids the issues DF-17 has at close-to-medium range. However, DF-17 still beats it at long range because it has a higher top speed and range. SCALP Naval has higher damage and only a slightly longer reload than DF-17. SCALP has high HP which makes it difficult to counter with AA.
To sum it up, SCALP Naval is a strong missile that is very comfortable to use since it works pretty well in almost any situation. It’s also not gated in any way like some of the Hero status or battle pass missiles. You can buy it in the in-game store as long as you are over level 25. One could easily argue that SCALP is one of the best missiles in the game.
DF-17
This Chinese hypersonic missile has the fastest top speed in the game. This means enemy CIWS has very little time to shoot it down at full speed. However, it has one weakness, which is its very slow start speed. While it does start very slow, it accelerates very quickly. This, combined with extensive range makes it very effective at destroying long-range targets. Destroying short-to-medium range targets is more challenging though because the missile can be easily shot down by enemy anti-air systems while it’s still accelerating. DF-17’s low health makes it more vulnerable to enemy air defenses than some of the other missiles listed here.
While the damage of an individual missile is not the highest, the quick reload makes the missile easily spammable. Despite the slow initial speed, DF-17 is a strong contender for the best missile in the game. It’s also easy to acquire since it’s available in the shop for all level 20 players.
Zircon
This is a highly coveted missile since it can be only acquired by obtaining the hero status or buying the RF Admiral Gorshkov frigate which features one of these missiles in a locked slot. Note that the Russian frigate can only be obtained through the battle pass or the Artcoin market.
What makes Zircon special is its hypersonic top speed compared with high start speed. This means that, unlike the DF-17 which needs a lot of time to accelerate after firing, the Zircon is very fast from the start. This makes it very good in the short and medium ranges where DF-17 struggles because the slow speed makes it vulnerable to anti-air defenses. The only major downside of Zircon is that it takes quite a while to lock on to the enemy target. To put it short, Zircon is very powerful and if you have hero status, there’s no reason not to use it.
X-51 Waverider
The American Waverider missile is definitely the most unique in this list because it’s laser-guided. You will need to guide it to its target by hand. This means the enemy can’t counter the missile using flares, only with AA defenses. The high speed of the missile can make this a difficult job to achieve.
While using the weapon requires some skill to pull off and it leaves your ship vulnerable for the duration of the attack, some players cough… Stone Ocean cough… swear by this missile. While X-51 can be somewhat easy to shoot down due to its predictable trajectory, veteran X-51 users can employ various tricks and advanced maneuvers that make the missile harder to counter.
X-51 used to be even more powerful before, but its speed was nerfed by the developers. In short, this missile is definitely a high-risk, high-reward option that can be devastating in the right hands. Some might say it’s the best missile in the game. This missile is available in the shop for level 20 players.
BrahMos-II
The Indian BrahMos-II missile plays very similarly to DF-17 but it fires two missiles at the same time. This means it shares the same downsides as DF-17 too. Most of its stats, except the burst damage, have been downgraded from DF-17. What’s especially noticeable is the very slow acceleration, lock time and the delay between missile shots, which prolongs the reload time.
BrahMos-II does have one advantage though since a single missile does almost as much damage as DF-17 and BrahMos-II fires two of them at a time. This means higher burst damage than DF-17 and even if the enemy AA manages to destroy one of the missiles, the second one will still hit and deal damage.
The BrahMos-II is an interesting alternative to DF-17, but keep in mind that this is a battle pass exclusive missile so the only way you can acquire it is through the battle pass or by buying one on the Artcoin market.
S-500 Prometheus
This Russian missile fires two missiles at a time and can target both surface and air targets. It also features very fast acceleration. This missile is good for one thing and that is shooting down enemy planes and helicopters. Its damage output against ships is pretty poor. The only cases where this missile is useful is when you want to complete a specific mission that requires shooting down aircraft or in a loadout where you have multiple powerful anti-ship missiles and one Prometheus for destroying any incoming bombers.
Keep in mind that enemy planes can counter the missile using flares and sometimes the missile may miss completely if the aircraft makes sharp maneuvers. You can buy this missile in the shop if you are a level 20 player.
YJ-21
This Chinese missile was a beast in the alpha version of the game since it could shoot both surface and air targets. However, when it was finally released, the ability to destroy aircraft was removed, which severely limits the missile’s usability. Unfortunately, this means that this missile doesn’t really have anything special that would make it stand out over the other missiles on this list.
YJ-21 shares the same downsides as DF-17 with its slow start speed but its top speed is not impressive either. This, combined with the low range makes it just DF-17, but worse. The only good thing about this missile is that it’s quick to reload so it has some spamming potential. This missile can be bought in the shop as long as you meet the level 20 requirement.
RIM-174 (SM-6)
This upgraded version of American RIM-161 (SM-3) is better than its predecessor in almost every way. This missile has a very fast speed and is capable of destroying aircraft in addition to ships. It’s also superior to S-500 Prometheus in many ways. The unique firing arc of the missile makes it possible to destroy targets behind islands or structures where other missiles would just hit the obstacle in question. Well, as long as you can get a missile lock on the target. However, the downside of this trajectory is that the missile might completely miss targets at close range.
RIM-174’s high damage means it is able to destroy almost any plane with one shot. But the damage output is fairly low against ships. Like the S-500, you’ll only want to use this missile in special circumstances, for example for completing missions that require destroying aircraft or as a dedicated “destroy bomber” button. This missile is available in the shop for level 25 players and can be purchased in exchange for gold.
