Germany · Tier X Battleship
Schlieffen
Secondary-battery brawling battlecruiser (close-range push, Hydro support, torpedo armament)
Battleship Commander Skills — verified — 24 skills
Recommended role
Secondary-battery brawling battlecruiser (close-range push, Hydro support, torpedo armament)
Schlieffen · Tier 10 Battleship · Balanced playstyle
- 1
Consumables Specialist
1 ptEssential5 out of 5One point that shortens the Hydroacoustic Search cooldown — the consumable that makes a brawler safe to push with.
In game: -7.5% cooldown of consumables, except Damage Control Party and Repair Party (and their special variants). · Unlocked from 1 total points.
- 2
Priority Target
2 ptsEssential5 out of 5Schlieffen commits to close range on purpose. The number of ships aiming at you is the information that decides whether the push is survivable.
In game: Shows the number of enemies currently aiming their main battery at your ship. · Unlocked from 3 total points.
- 3
Adrenaline Rush
3 ptsEssential5 out of 5A brawler is damaged from the first exchange onwards, so the main battery reload bonus is effectively always on.
In game: For each 1% of HP lost: -0.2% reload time of all armaments and +0.2% continuous AA damage. · Unlocked from 6 total points.
- 4
Manual Secondary Battery Aiming
4 ptsEssential5 out of 5The defining skill of this ship: Schlieffen's damage comes from its secondaries, and this improves both their reload and their accuracy on your priority target.
In game: Permanent -10% secondary battery reload and -10% secondary dispersion; when firing at a priority target, dispersion improves to -50% over 45 seconds. · Unlocked from 10 total points.
- 5
Fire Prevention Expert
4 ptsEssential5 out of 5Schlieffen has a modest hit point pool for Tier X and attracts HE while pushing; fewer fire zones is its largest survivability gain.
In game: -10% fire risk and one fewer maximum simultaneous fire (to three; the superstructure is limited to one fire zone). · Unlocked from 14 total points.
- 6
Basics of Survivability
3 ptsEssential5 out of 5Faster fire and flooding repair keeps the Damage Control Party available for the next torpedo, which is what kills brawlers.
In game: -15% module restoration, fire extinguishing and flooding recovery time. · Unlocked from 17 total points.
- 7
Close Quarters Combat
4 ptsEssential5 out of 5The final 4 points: a main battery reload bonus that turns on exactly when an enemy is inside secondary range — the range Schlieffen fights at.
In game: -10% main battery reload while an enemy ship is spotted within your secondary battery firing range. · Unlocked from 21 total points.
Class-based recommendation
Slot 1
Main Armaments Modification 1
Protects the main battery that provides most of the ship's damage.
Slot 2
Damage Control System Modification 1
Improves resistance to fires and flooding during sustained fights.
Slot 3
Aiming Systems Modification 1
Makes long reloads more rewarding by improving salvo accuracy.
Alternative: Artillery Plotting Room Modification 1American battleships carry this in place of Aiming Systems Modification 1.
Slot 4
Damage Control System Modification 2
Shortens the time spent taking fire and flooding damage.
Slot 5
Concealment System Modification 1
Helps the ship disengage and reposition between salvos.
Slot 6
Main Battery Modification 3
Improves main-battery reload for more consistent damage.
Build complete — every recommended skill is already unlocked at 21 points.
- This is a no-reset path: every skill taken at an earlier milestone is still in the final 21-point build, so you never pay to redistribute points.
- Unlike the long-range battleships in this app, Schlieffen never takes Concealment Expert — its damage requires enemies inside secondary range.
- Manual Secondary Battery Aiming is the earliest big investment because it is the skill that actually defines this ship's damage output.
- Points are banked from 6 to 10 rather than spent on filler, which is cheaper than buying and redistributing later.
- Survivability comes after the secondary investment but before the last gun skill, so a newer player learns to survive the push before optimising it.
- Pick a flank early and commit; Schlieffen is fast and is wasted sailing back and forth behind the line.
- Angle hard while closing: the bow-in armour is what lets you cross open water into secondary range.
- Set your priority target with the secondary lock so the aiming bonus builds up on the ship you actually want dead.
- Use Hydroacoustic Search before rounding an island or pushing a cap — torpedoes, not shells, are what usually end the push.
- Keep the main guns firing at whatever is closest and least angled; your secondaries handle the rest.
Ship class / skill tree
Battleship Commander Skills
Verified — 24 skills, 6 per row
Main battery
4×2 420 mm
Wiki Ship:Schlieffen
Secondary batteries
150 mm and 105 mm mounts
Core damage source for this build
Consumables
Damage Control Party · Repair Party · Hydroacoustic Search
Wiki consumable slots
Commander skill points
1 – 21
Progression milestones at 1/3/6/10/14/17/21
Final 21-point build
Consumables Specialist 1 · Priority Target 2 · Adrenaline Rush 3 · Manual Secondary Battery Aiming 4 · Fire Prevention Expert 4 · Basics of Survivability 3 · Close Quarters Combat 4
Unverified — Total 21 — curated prototype, not an official recommendation
Only values confirmed from the supplied sources are listed. Unverified numbers such as reload, detection, hit points, radar range/duration and torpedo range are deliberately omitted.
Skill data: Skill names, point costs and effects taken from the current World of Warships Wiki battleship skill list (Aug/Sep 2026).
Build: Ship characteristics: current World of Warships Wiki Ship:Schlieffen page (4×2 420 mm main battery, 150 mm and 105 mm secondary batteries, torpedo armament, high speed, modest hit point pool with few Repair Party charges, and the Damage Control Party / Repair Party / Hydroacoustic Search consumable set). Skill mechanics: the verified Battleship commander skill catalog in this app. Progression: curated beginner-safe no-reset recommendation — not an official Wargaming build.
Concealment Expert
4 ptsAvoid / Inefficient1 out of 5Deliberately skipped: Schlieffen wants enemies inside secondary range, and hiding does not help a ship built to be seen and shot at.
Gun Feeder
1 ptOptional2 out of 5Faster shell switching matters less than usual because the secondaries fire themselves.
Incoming Fire Alert
1 ptOptional2 out of 5Priority Target already tells you what you need at brawling range.
Inertia Fuse for HE Shells
2 ptsOptional2 out of 5Halves fire chance on a ship whose secondary HE fires are a real part of its damage.
Full skill table for Schlieffen
Battleship Commander Skills — 24 skills, 6 per row
Laid out like the in-game tree for this class. Each row is one point cost.
- Gun FeederOptional2 out of 5
- Demolition ExpertSituational3 out of 5
- Consumables SpecialistEssential5 out of 5
- Emergency Repair SpecialistRecommended4 out of 5
- Incoming Fire AlertOptional2 out of 5
- Preventive MaintenanceSituational3 out of 5
- Grease the GearsSituational3 out of 5
- Inertia Fuse for HE ShellsOptional2 out of 5
- BriskSituational3 out of 5
- VigilanceSituational3 out of 5
- Priority TargetEssential5 out of 5
- AA Defense and ASW ExpertSituational3 out of 5
- Super-Heavy AP ShellsSituational3 out of 5
- Long-Range Secondary Battery ShellsRecommended4 out of 5
- Adrenaline RushEssential5 out of 5
- Basics of SurvivabilityEssential5 out of 5
- Improved Repair Party ReadinessSituational3 out of 5
- Focus Fire TrainingSituational3 out of 5
- FuriousRecommended4 out of 5
- Manual Secondary Battery AimingEssential5 out of 5
- Close Quarters CombatEssential5 out of 5
- Emergency Repair ExpertRecommended4 out of 5
- Concealment ExpertAvoid / Inefficient1 out of 5
- Fire Prevention ExpertEssential5 out of 5
Showing 24 of 24 battleship commander skills , rated for Schlieffen.
Consumables Specialist
1 ptEssential5 out of 5-7.5% cooldown of consumables, except Damage Control Party and Repair Party (and their special variants).
One point that shortens the Hydroacoustic Search cooldown — the consumable that makes a brawler safe to push with.
Priority Target
2 ptsEssential5 out of 5Shows the number of enemies currently aiming their main battery at your ship.
Schlieffen commits to close range on purpose. The number of ships aiming at you is the information that decides whether the push is survivable.
Adrenaline Rush
3 ptsEssential5 out of 5For each 1% of HP lost: -0.2% reload time of all armaments and +0.2% continuous AA damage.
A brawler is damaged from the first exchange onwards, so the main battery reload bonus is effectively always on.
Basics of Survivability
3 ptsEssential5 out of 5-15% module restoration, fire extinguishing and flooding recovery time.
Faster fire and flooding repair keeps the Damage Control Party available for the next torpedo, which is what kills brawlers.
Manual Secondary Battery Aiming
4 ptsEssential5 out of 5Permanent -10% secondary battery reload and -10% secondary dispersion; when firing at a priority target, dispersion improves to -50% over 45 seconds.
The defining skill of this ship: Schlieffen's damage comes from its secondaries, and this improves both their reload and their accuracy on your priority target.
Close Quarters Combat
4 ptsEssential5 out of 5-10% main battery reload while an enemy ship is spotted within your secondary battery firing range.
The final 4 points: a main battery reload bonus that turns on exactly when an enemy is inside secondary range — the range Schlieffen fights at.
Fire Prevention Expert
4 ptsEssential5 out of 5-10% fire risk and one fewer maximum simultaneous fire (to three; the superstructure is limited to one fire zone).
Schlieffen has a modest hit point pool for Tier X and attracts HE while pushing; fewer fire zones is its largest survivability gain.
Emergency Repair Specialist
1 ptRecommended4 out of 5-3% cooldown of Damage Control Party and Repair Party.
Cheap Damage Control Party cooldown reduction; valuable when torpedoes and fires arrive together.
Long-Range Secondary Battery Shells
3 ptsRecommended4 out of 5+20% secondary battery firing range.
More secondary range means you start doing your real damage sooner; the strongest swap-in if you already survive your pushes.
Furious
4 ptsRecommended4 out of 5While a fire or flooding is active: -10% main battery reload for the first instance, and a further -5% for each additional instance, up to five.
Schlieffen is usually on fire while brawling, so the reload bonus is often live — a fair alternative to Close Quarters Combat.
Emergency Repair Expert
4 ptsRecommended4 out of 5+1 charge and +10% action time for Damage Control Party and Repair Party (Damage Control Party has unlimited charges on most ships).
Extra Repair Party charges matter because Schlieffen has few of them by design.
Demolition Expert
1 ptSituational3 out of 5+1% chance of setting a fire with main and secondary battery HE shells; +15% explosion radius of munitions, except depth charges used against submarines.
Schlieffen's secondaries and HE do set fires, so a cheap fire chance bonus has some value as filler.
Preventive Maintenance
1 ptSituational3 out of 5-30% risk of module incapacitation; +15% survivability of secondary and AA mounts.
Secondary mounts and turrets get knocked out in a brawl, so a point here is not wasted.
Grease the Gears
2 ptsSituational3 out of 5+20% main battery turret traverse speed.
Turret traverse helps when you turn hard between targets at close range.
Brisk
2 ptsSituational3 out of 5+10% ship speed while your ship is undetected.
Extra speed while undetected helps Schlieffen reach the flank it wants to break, but the bonus disappears in the fight itself.
Vigilance
2 ptsSituational3 out of 5+25% enemy torpedo acquisition range; +7% torpedo protection.
Better torpedo acquisition suits a ship that pushes into destroyers and islands; a reasonable safety pick for newer players.
AA Defense and ASW Expert
2 ptsSituational3 out of 5+15% continuous AA and flak damage; +10% depth charge damage; -40% consumable reload/preparation time while AA is active.
Situational anti-air and anti-submarine value; not part of the brawling plan.
Super-Heavy AP Shells
3 ptsSituational3 out of 5+7.5% AP shell damage; -10% damage received from fires and flooding; +25% fire and flooding duration. Does not increase AP penetration.
More AP damage from the 420 mm guns, but the increased fire and flooding duration is an awkward trade on a ship that lives close to enemies.
Improved Repair Party Readiness
3 ptsSituational3 out of 5-0.8% Repair Party cooldown for each multiple of the ship's base HP in potential damage; once per battle, +1 Repair Party charge after 2,000,000 potential damage.
Good on a damage sponge, but Schlieffen's heal is limited in charges rather than cooldown.
Focus Fire Training
3 ptsSituational3 out of 5+1 flak shell; -15% Airstrike reload; -10% aircraft preparation time where applicable; +1.5% priority sector damage and +25% sector reinforcement speed.
Mostly an AA and airstrike skill; take it only when carriers are common in your games.
Gun Feeder
1 ptOptional2 out of 5-40% minimum main battery shell-type switching time.
Faster shell switching matters less than usual because the secondaries fire themselves.
Incoming Fire Alert
1 ptOptional2 out of 5Warns you about a main battery salvo fired at your ship from more than 4.5 km away.
Priority Target already tells you what you need at brawling range.
Inertia Fuse for HE Shells
2 ptsOptional2 out of 5+25% HE shell armour penetration; base HE fire chance is halved.
Halves fire chance on a ship whose secondary HE fires are a real part of its damage.
Concealment Expert
4 ptsAvoid / Inefficient1 out of 5-10% ship detectability radius.
Deliberately skipped: Schlieffen wants enemies inside secondary range, and hiding does not help a ship built to be seen and shot at.