i don't understand North Carolina: Need Advice

[anonym_gxxGX7KaxQVa]

the title says it all. i'm definitely not a BAD battleship player, and i play both IJN and USN lines , so i know how to adapt my playstyle to different ships too....

so i was really looking forward to the North Carolina... such a beauty and the first Next-Gen battleship (post battleship-break) i got to play!

well after about 100 games and finishing the grind for all modules.... let's just say i wasn't impressed, to put it kindly  :

 

Kongo (tier 5): 62% winrate 54K damage 1341 XP per game

Fuso (tier 6): 67% winrate 77K damage 1280 XP per game

Nagato (tier 7): 58% winrate 62K damage 1147 XP per game

Colorado (tier 7): 70% winrate  69K damage 1233 XP per game (!)

North Carolina (tier 8): 52% winrate 57K damage 976 XP per game

 

here are my stats page if you want to see more details: http://worldofwarships.eu/en/community/accounts/531804513-Flash_overlord/!/pvp/ships/?bestShip=fuso

 

no matter what i try, i always fail HARD in the NC... i always seem to get the aim wrong, when i do get the aim right the shot scatter all over the place and none hit, i seem to get caught on fire much easier than other battleships i had before... even the 66000 HP you have will evaporate super quickly...

yet i don't see anybody complain about this ship on the forums... even the Dreaded Colorado that everyone seems to hate so much i was doing totally fine in it and i liked it... but the NC .... NOPE , no way lol, i always fail... so i'll throw away my pride on this one and assume i must be the one doing it wrong and playing badly...

so, if any of you are doing well in the Carolina... any advice or tips please for a frustrated fellow captain ?

[indycar]

welcome to the big boys room

 

 

NC's guns are different than the previous guns on the battleships. they have higher max elevation thus higher shell arc.

the shell velocity of those guns is bad (slow) so combine those two things with shotgun (every 3x16" USN gun) effect

you experience what u described. you have to relearn your aim and you will do better in the ship.

ohhh btw penetration values of the t8+ guns are way higher than t7- so you will get citadelled a lot even if u show just a bit of sides.

[Admiral_noodle]

I hated her and even the Iowa doesn't make me smile. My experience of NC was potato firing mortars. Very frustrating ship - though great armour side bow on.

[BadGene616]

I totally get where op is coming from.

The guns on NC are pretty dire and at t8 you can't push as hard as you could in lower tier to reduce range and mitigate the shotgun effect.

 

Best advice is to forget you have a rear turret unless there is only squishy stuff left, keep the bow more forward than you usually would and fire from the front.

 

There certainly better players of this ship than me that may suggest better ways to play it but that made me survive longer and do more damage over the game.

[JapLance]

North Carolina has taken away my will to play any more battleships for a long time.

[Panocek]

Well, I use mine mostly as somewhat close combat brawler, to negate shotgun and trajectory/shell velocity. Get below 15km, ideally around 10km or so, sail with variable speed and rudder to avoid any torps possible and facetank most of the damage.

 

Although recent cruiser hype doesn't help much, as NC takes extreme HE damage and against 4+ cruisers its hard to not have at least one barbecue party

[Picafort]

Seems there is that one ship you do significantly worse with than most others for everyone, for me it is the Yamato. Whatever I do it ends in disaster

 

[piet11111]

I hated the north carolina only advice i can give you is get as close as you can and forget you have a 3rd turret.

For some reason i get along great with the Iowa compared to this steaming pile of ****

 

Edit:

Its the dispersion of the shells that angered me with the north carolina but with the Iowa and all the modules that upgrade my range and accuracy i can pull off shots that amaze me but with the north carolina i got none of that.

As bad as it sounds i can only say bear with the north carolina because the Iowa makes it worth all the pain.

[HomuraDidNothingWrong]

have you tried aiming before you shoot? XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

[Eternus_Damnatio]

It is not you pal the NC uses shotguns and has some of the worst dispersion in the game only plus side is her AA.

Have to laugh though in reality dispersion on Yamato could be up to 1km while on the Iowa more like 400-500m because of more advanced fire control systems. 

Guess which ship is more accurate in game now I don't mind things being altered to make for a balanced game but US dispersion just makes them pure RNG boats.

And the Montana is such a huge let down armour that gets penetrated by T7 bb's when angled.

Guns that fail to do any damage through the bow of a Tirpitz while the Tirpitz can do 4k plus each time through yours.

you want good bb's go IJN or wait for the Germans. 

 

[Panocek]

It is not you pal the NC uses shotguns and has some of the worst dispersion in the game only plus side is her AA

 

 

I'd add decent speed and actually amazing agility of the ship, with Vigilance + TASM + Rudder shift upgrades torpedo evasion is almost a breeze.

[Eternus_Damnatio]

 

I'd add decent speed and actually amazing agility of the ship, with Vigilance + TASM + Rudder shift upgrades torpedo evasion is almost a breeze.

 

It comes down to one simple fact do you want to hurt the enemy if so get an Amagi and laugh as you rape NC's

[GulvkluderGuld]

It isnt just you man. I'm in the same situation, but from reading the forums I did know the NC had worse shell-velocity (due to arcs) and worse armor compared to the Colorado. I still keep my colorado in port and after fully upgrading the NC, I still dont aim as well in her as do in the Colorado.

As others have said, forget about the rear turret, unless there is only CA oppostion.

 

Another consequence of only having 6 guns I learned, is never engage >2 CAs unless you want to die. Contrary to the Colo and NM, the NC simply put doesn't have the firepower for that. Most CAs on tier 7-8 have very high %fire and lots of guns (compare cleveland %fire to Mogami %fire!) so inaddition to you having less guns, the CAs you shoot also have increased chance of causing fires.

 

Advantages:  Rudder shift + turning circle + vigilance makes the NC great at pushing vs carpet torps if only you have someone proteting your flank (a CA or DD). I had amazing games where I carried hard in this ship, even vs T10 shimas / khabarovsk and CA opposition (couldnt have done it without CA support to hold my flank!). Also AA was excellent prior to 5.3.

 

The problem for the NC starts when she runs into equal/higher tier BBs.

She can deal with Amagis and any lower tier BBs, but not very much else (and she hates tirpitzes with their damn torps). If I have to fight BBs, I tend to pick IJN opponents, since they have the weakest armor (save T10).

 

I tend to play my NC games very strategically (contrary to my Colorado games), often going Bow-on and using islands to cover one broadside for the first 5-10 mins @ 15 kms and pick off CAs and any BBs that are stupid enough to show a broadside. I find the NC to be more accurate and reliable at landing multiple CitPens than the Colorado, once I got the aim down. Also, penetration is way better.

After 10 mins most enemy CAs in range have been evaporated, which makes it safe to push (if you were outnumbered on this front, you should already have conducted a fighting retreat). But for Gods sake, dont ever push anywhere where you show a broadside > 30 degrees to another BB. Tier 8+ have finger of God penetration. Use her better armor to tie down enemy BBs 1v1 and go bows-on into brawling range and deny citadels while you wait for the enemy to make the first mistake (turn) or your CAs to roast her. If the enemy BBs does the same, dont be shy about raining HE down on her and using (hopefully) your teams numbers advantage (or your superior aim)

[Suicide_balls]

no matter what i try, i always fail HARD in the NC... i always seem to get the aim wrong, when i do get the aim right the shot scatter all over the place and none hit, i seem to get caught on fire much easier than other battleships i had before... even the 66000 HP you have will evaporate super quickly...

yet i don't see anybody complain about this ship on the forums... even the Dreaded Colorado that everyone seems to hate so much i was doing totally fine in it and i liked it... but the NC .... NOPE , no way lol, i always fail... so i'll throw away my pride on this one and assume i must be the one doing it wrong and playing badly...

 

Wait. I complain about my 15% WIN RATE FOR A GOOD GOD MAN and you complain for 50%+ win rate !? WHAT THE !? Are you stupid or? I can't win from start 3 or 4 of my ships go in suicide run (they don't even try to shoot someone ofcourse -.-). Then, i go in group to have cover but anyway enemy's shoot us one by one with high precision.

1. I know how to use HE, how AP shells. But i don't have time to shoot we lose with 1 or 2 kills by our team every battle!

2. I know where to hit to make criticals with HE or full penetration with AP shells. And i hit that but i burn after it about 10 sec ago with fire of 6 enemy ships. :O

3. I always move to make my ship harder target. But no matter what i do, enemy team kill my team and then me (if i escape).

Horrible man, and then you complain why you don't have 70% of win! AHAHAHA -.-

[Kuso_Teitoku]

Wait. I complain about my 15% WIN RATE FOR A GOOD GOD MAN and you complain for 50%+ win rate !?

 

Actually this is probably more about the average damage ( and thus XP and credits) than about Winrate

 

Also he has 121 battles in this single ship, and you have 27 in the whole game.

As people told you in your thread, that's too few games to be significant.

Basically you had a bad losing streak, happens to everyone.

If you play more your Winrate will climb up.

[GunnyGreenhill]

North Carolina, indeed a beautiful ship, bought it, played a couple of matches and sold it. To bad that a ship with a history likes hers is screwed up in the game. 

[Seikin]

Hehe. I'm surprised to see this thread but in full agreement. After seeing so many threads here about how bad the Colorado is and how great the NC is, I thought I was always the odd one out for loving the Colorado and hating the NC.

 

I've had exactly the same experience. I persevered enough to fully upgrade my NC - still the same - so I just play Colorado now. I just don't have fun in the NC. Its odd - I've sometimes pulled off great damage numbers on it - but in games where I just havn't felt like I've made much difference. 

 

I struggle to hit stuff at range in it - and it just isn't as good as the Colorado up-close.

 

I also hear that the Tier 9+10 boats are more of the same - so I have absolutely no drive to grind through it to get to those.

[shulzidar]

I play BBs as an extension of my DD gameplay (Know your enemy and such) but after "suffering" the US BB line... I'm enjoying the NC A LOT because it's an agile and fast ship compared to the turttles you have suffered on the past...

 

...The trick about her is the frontal twin battery... You should never be afraid of using it exclusively to avoid exposing your flanks and you are set, the other BBs loose a lot of firepower when forced to face their enemies.

 

...Another pitfall of coming exclusively from a US line is getting blinded by the whooping 27k range... The fact that you can try to shoot this far, doesn't mean your performance will improve over, lets say, a Colorado if you insist on sniping... Lucky hits happen once in a while, but valuable contribution to your team only happens if you get your hands dirty at closer ranges.

 

The slightly slower trayectories are, indeed, a flaw on the citadel game at 15k+ against ships showing their flanks but... At the same time, gives you the edge when facing a Tirpitz and IJN BBs angling correctly... If you are angling them, their flatter trayectories make their AP shots very hard to do any kind of damage... While you still have a chance between 15k-12k to score citadels by bullets that enter the hull through the top.

 

I suppose that if you don't value the extra mobility, the NC can be seen as a weak step in the US BB line... But man, it's so [edited]great to actually been able to move around and provide firepower were your team needs it... That I will not look back at the "turtles" ever again.

[robihr]

I totally get where op is coming from.

The guns on NC are pretty dire and at t8 you can't push as hard as you could in lower tier to reduce range and mitigate the shotgun effect.

 

Best advice is to forget you have a rear turret unless there is only squishy stuff left, keep the bow more forward than you usually would and fire from the front.

 

There certainly better players of this ship than me that may suggest better ways to play it but that made me survive longer and do more damage over the game.

 

NC has rear turret? since when?

[El_Pollo_Locooo]

Worst guns on a bb. I hated the NC

[albinbino]

I like NC, it hits hard. In long range does not matter dispersion when just one hit make big damage, but with the time you will get more then one hit. In closer range NC is awesome, in close range try to forget that you have rear guns, just use 6 front guns it is enough. Also it is important to say that by my experience NC makes more credits then Amagi, for pretty much same damage and achievements NC gets lot more credits then Amagi, which is awesome but not awesome for Amagi players. Also tier 8 battles are different and with any ship you will be doing less damage in those tiers in comparison to tier 6 and 7. It is not the ships fault or yours, simply tier 8+ battles have more cautious players. P.S. I did not buy extra range for my NC, no need since effective combat bellow 21 km, i don't need 24 km range. Like this you just waist expensive ammo and showing your position to enemy, NC has great concealment for BB. 

[bushwacker001]

Wait. I complain about my 15% WIN RATE FOR A GOOD GOD MAN and you complain for 50%+ win rate !? WHAT THE !? Are you stupid or? I can't win from start 3 or 4 of my ships go in suicide run (they don't even try to shoot someone ofcourse -.-). Then, i go in group to have cover but anyway enemy's shoot us one by one with high precision.

1. I know how to use HE, how AP shells. But i don't have time to shoot we lose with 1 or 2 kills by our team every battle!

2. I know where to hit to make criticals with HE or full penetration with AP shells. And i hit that but i burn after it about 10 sec ago with fire of 6 enemy ships. :O

3. I always move to make my ship harder target. But no matter what i do, enemy team kill my team and then me (if i escape).

Horrible man, and then you complain why you don't have 70% of win! AHAHAHA -.-

 

A reroll that can't win, oh the shame of it. 

[anonym_gxxGX7KaxQVa]

thanks for the replies everyone.

i had a few games yesterday evening and it seems i'm doing a bit better overall...

 

i didn't noticed the shell Ark was EVEN higher than the tier 7 406mm. that's why aiming was so bizarre for me imo: because the shell fall more vertical, it's a lot less forgiving if you shoot a tiny bit too far, which is something i have a habit of doing, on purpose: when i'm not 100% sure i can citadel i'd rather aim at the ship side rather than the waterline most times, so at least i can get some guarenteed damage, and maybe have the shortfalls citadel, rather than possibly see everything fall short and do 0 damage.

 

i also noticed the shell velocity was strange, but i wasn't sure if it was higher or lower, given the shell speed increased with tier 7's 406mm i expected tier 8 to be even higher, hence i was also aiming wrong since it's actually lower.

(Kudos to WG for getting that right!  the NC and South Dakota class in real life had a very slow muzzle velocity firing the mark8 super heavy shells out of their short barreled 16inch45, which was designed to fire a shell 300kg lighter originally. only the Iowa's long barrel 16inch50 could fire the mark8 super heavy without suffering reduced muzzle velocity... i knew that, i just didn't expect they'd actually model it in game)

the NC's combined vertical shells + bad accuracy + only 6 guns + low shell velocity is what made aiming weird, but i'm getting a bit better at it since last evening, thanks for the advice guys!

 

 

PS: does WG ever explained why the US Battleships are the ONLY ships in the entire game (All nations and All classes) that can't get the Accuracy increase upgrade ?? even tough they are Obviously the ones that Need it the most ?? i'm curious is there any logical reasonning behind this or is it just because of REASONS^tm

 

[Panocek]

PS: does WG ever explained why the US Battleships are the ONLY ships in the entire game (All nations and All classes) that can't get the Accuracy increase upgrade ?? even tough they are Obviously the ones that Need it the most ?? i'm curious is there any logical reasonning behind this or is it just because of REASONS^tm

 

They get it, from tier 9 onwards as slot 3 upgrade, worth 3mil credits.

[Suicide_balls]

 

Actually this is probably more about the average damage ( and thus XP and credits) than about Winrate

 

Also he has 121 battles in this single ship, and you have 27 in the whole game.

As people told you in your thread, that's too few games to be significant.

Basically you had a bad losing streak, happens to everyone.

If you play more your Winrate will climb up.

Yes it is about average damage but in winning game you can make more damage then in already losed game at start with score 0:4.

BUT for now you are right man, maybe i have unlucky streak and thats improve in another day (i play 2 days this and its very fun to play but i am not happy when i lose every battle).

.

THANK YOU for the answer i hope my win rate improve to 50% i dont need more than that. Good luck and fair seas.