Talk:Intrepid/@comment-34778975-20180222065405

I've come to a conclusion here, I'll dub it the Kasuga Maru effect. When I first saw Kasuga, I thought "ugh, another potato". But at least she was a useful ship, so she grew on me and is now my premier ASW carrier, though we'll see how Zuihou KN A shakes things up. Point being, I didn't like Kasuga's looks, but I found her useful and took pity, allowing her to endear herself.

Fast forward to today and Intrepid. I had such high hopes for the first Essex, especially after seeing the flashy and entertaining Gambier Bay. Here we have the first Essex class carrier in the game; badass on wings. She was to carriers what the Iowas were to battleships. This is going to be awesome. Then, Shibafu artwork was released, and I was crushed. I liked her rigging. I liked her voice. But the costume was a huge let-down. Intrepid is basically wearing the same outfit layout as Kaga and Akagi. It's unimaginative as well as clunky with the addition of bits like the life preserver around her neck. Why on earth is she wearing that? It makes her look goofy and out of proportion.

But I don't blame Intrepid for this. Already I can feel the endearing pity coming on. She had the extreme misfortune of having very demanding standards being required of her in all ways; auditorily, visually and mechanics wise. It's undeniable that her stats through Kai are the current best in game for a standard carrier, which makes her invaluable. Intrepid was let down by her artist, but don't let that force you to give up on her. She deserved better than this, but she also isn't at fault for it and doesn't deserve to be sunk and forgotten for it. I'm keeping my Intrepid, and I know she'll be a high value fleet member.