The T8 battleships, what are their individual strengths

[FloRead]

As I am currently on T7 on all 3 lines of battleships, I thought I had an idea of each line's traits.

However, I noticed my personal preferences seem to be different from what I see appear in tournaments.

For example, North Carolina seems to appear the most in tournaments but Bismarck does show up quite often.

 

Can someone who has played all 3: Amagi, Bismarck and North Carolina briefly tell me what their individual strengths and weaknesses are? Also, if someone could also tell me why North Carolina is such a favorite in tournaments and yet is statistically the lowest performer in random?

[RUSSIANBlAS]

NC changes the game for USN BB, instead of heavily armoured and slow they become fast and have an un-even armour pattern. NC has the best T8 BB AA without serious specialisation into it. I imagine it's popular in competitive play because it's frontal armour is nearly invincible to other BB shells other than the Yam at T10 and the guns are accurate and powerful within about 13km or less. NC also has a comical stealth rating of under 12km with the right build which is crazy stuff for a T8 large gunned BB.

 

Amagi is fairly lightly armoured, pretty strong if you angle. The guns are great, there are 10 of them and they fire in a fairly wide but accurate spread so you're more likely to do damage to all target types. Has awful AA, don't bother trying to buff it with skills and modules. I've tried and it isn't worth the trade off but it does have one of the best torpedo belts in the game so you can tank the metal fish pretty well.

 

Bismarck, heavily armoured compared to her counter parts. Lower calibre but faster firing guns are very inaccurate. Also has less guns per salvo, 8 vs 9 and 10. Has hydro, even nerfed it makes Bismarck a very good brawling tool. Oh and the secondaries, they can be specced to reach out to about 10.6km and fire pure HE so everything that comes near you can be set on fire. 

 

 

They're all great ships in their own way, give them a try on the Public Test next time if you're at all unsure which one you want to get first. 

[sharpie65]

Amagi: Decent speed, turn rate (due to being a battlecruiser design), and accuracy with Japanese (i.e. lolpen) Armour-Piercing shells. Poor range compared to her predecessors such as Nagato along with weak armour, and terrible to non-existent AA defence. Secondaries are mediocre at best, worse than Bismarck's and North Carolina's due to being mainly AP as opposed to HE. Poor torpedo protection, but turn the rate is enough to counter wide spreads.

 

North Carolina: Decent speed of 28 knots, great artillery due to using the American superheavy shells coupled with decent range, good armour thanks to the American all-or-nothing armour scheme, superior AA rating to both Bismarck and Amagi. Poor accuracy/dispersion because of the superheavy shells (no option to change these). Better torpedo protection than Bismarck or Amagi. Decent all-rounder at mid-range, but she'll suffer more at close range compared to Bismarck.

 

Bismarck: Decent speed of 30 knots similar to Amagi, slow turn rate, poor torpedo protection with Hydroacoustic Search to counter this. Respectable AA defence, great secondaries (that can achieve a maximum range of 10,2km with captain skills, flags, and upgrade modules), "turtleback" armour scheme on the citadel that protects the ship from  in close quarters with other BBs whilst scoring citadel hits thanks to the superior German AP belt penetration.

 

Since I haven't played all three, most of that is observation from battles. It also means that I'm unable to tell you why or what makes the North Carolina so favourable in tournaments. Hope this helped as much as possible.

[Devantejah]

Amagi: Decent speed, turn rate (due to being a battlecruiser design), and accuracy with Japanese (i.e. lolpen) Armour-Piercing shells. Poor range compared to her predecessors such as Nagato along with weak armour, and terrible to non-existent AA defence. Secondaries are mediocre at best, worse than Bismarck's and North Carolina's due to being mainly AP as opposed to HE. Poor torpedo protection, but turn the rate is enough to counter wide spreads.

 

 

 

45% with upgrades isn't poor!

[Exocet6951]

lol at people saying that the Amagi has weak armor and poor AA.

 

Upgraded Amagi has turtleback and plenty of AA to protect it from similar tier CVs, and completely protect it from lower tier ones.

Oh, and it has enough deck armor to protect it from non-IFHE 152mm and lower guns

 

"weak armor"

lol

[sharpie65]

lol at people saying that the Amagi has weak armor and poor AA.

 

Upgraded Amagi has turtleback and plenty of AA to protect it from similar tier CVs, and completely protect it from lower tier ones.

Oh, and it has enough deck armor to protect it from non-IFHE 152mm and lower guns

 

"weak armor"

lol

 

Fair point. This was me speaking about the A-Hull Amagi I actually have, rather than the B-Hull that I need.

 

I have now rectified that issue.

[ShinGetsu]

NC is my favourite, tho I like my Tirpitz quite a bit too.^^ (Amagi was fine, but I don't find it as fun as the other two/three)

NC's balistic need to get the hang of it, cause the shells have very high arcs and takes forever to hit at longer range, but it is quite accurate, deadly at middle range and close range, is fast, and with the proper captain skill you got a real tank. 

I specced mine with Fire Prevention, AFT, Basic of Survivability, Adrenaline Rush, Superintendent for the main skills, mostly because it's my ship for competition, and in competitive gameplay CV spots you no matter your concealment. I still have a concealment of around 13km and that's already very, very good.

With all the bonus added, you can drop it as low as 11.8km and that's quite brutal in random matches. You just have to drop Fire Prevention for CE.

 

Also your captain can stay with this setup for Iowa. Iowa is even more accurate thanks to the -11% upgrade, is faster, have even stronger AA, and can drop as low as 12.3km of spotting range. Catching a cruiser offguard at this distance basically mean a Devastating Strike. I never did so many citadel hits with any other BB

I think only the Terminator Nikolai can compete.^^

 

And get Adrenaline Rush ASAP. This skill is incredibly strong for bow-tanker like NC, Iowa or Yamato.

[RUSSIANBlAS]

lol at people saying that the Amagi has weak armor and poor AA.

 

Upgraded Amagi has turtleback and plenty of AA to protect it from similar tier CVs, and completely protect it from lower tier ones.

Oh, and it has enough deck armor to protect it from non-IFHE 152mm and lower guns

 

"weak armor"

lol

 

 Well it's debatable, NC has an immunity zone whereas Amagi doesn't.  Yet an NC seems to take more damage when caught with pants down. 

 

Partly concealment can be seen as a layer of armour. Maybe it's different now but Amagi's didn't really used to take CE and would take incoming fire earlier. 

 

I used to prefer Amagi during the grind but that was pre sigma buff NC. 

 

NC AA makes 'sufficient' AA on other BBs look plain bad though!

[Taliesn]

NC is my favourite, tho I like my Tirpitz quite a bit too.^^ (Amagi was fine, but I don't find it as fun as the other two/three)

NC's balistic need to get the hang of it, cause the shells have very high arcs and takes forever to hit at longer range, but it is quite accurate, deadly at middle range and close range, is fast, and with the proper captain skill you got a real tank. 

I specced mine with Fire Prevention, AFT, Basic of Survivability, Adrenaline Rush, Superintendent for the main skills, mostly because it's my ship for competition, and in competitive gameplay CV spots you no matter your concealment. I still have a concealment of around 13km and that's already very, very good.

With all the bonus added, you can drop it as low as 11.8km and that's quite brutal in random matches. You just have to drop Fire Prevention for CE.

 

Also your captain can stay with this setup for Iowa. Iowa is even more accurate thanks to the -11% upgrade, is faster, have even stronger AA, and can drop as low as 12.3km of spotting range. Catching a cruiser offguard at this distance basically mean a Devastating Strike. I never did so many citadel hits with any other BB

I think only the Terminator Nikolai can compete.^^

 

And get Adrenaline Rush ASAP. This skill is incredibly strong for bow-tanker like NC, Iowa or Yamato.

 

What's the advantage of AR exactly on a NC in terms of reload? Say, for half HP. Genuine question, I can't get around the maths involved.

[deadly_if_swallowed]

Amagi is the bastard child of the previous ships Kongou's speed and handling, almost a Fusou amount of guns, and Nagato's caliber. Great ship overall - I regret selling her. And she arguably has the best torpedo protection of all - not only does she have good damage reduction, but her belt also covers a great part of the hull.

 

 

What's the advantage of AR exactly on a NC in terms of reload? Say, for half HP. Genuine question, I can't get around the maths involved.

 

50% hp lost = 10% reload buff = 27 seconds reload on main artillery

[Xevious_Red]

NC was my favourite. Take extra AA range, double fighter planes, BFT, AFT and manual AA and make enemy CV cry because of how stupidly good your AA becomes.

 

[RUSSIANBlAS]

 

What's the advantage of AR exactly on a NC in terms of reload? Say, for half HP. Genuine question, I can't get around the maths involved.

 

AR is a go to skill on almost any BB after you've got EM. I don't even take EM for higher tier German BBs as their turrets rotate fast enough. When you're low hp a 30 second reload falls to around 25 or even less. Things like Bismarck/Tirp fall to about 20 and Scharn to somewhere near 15 seconds. Well worth taking. 

[ShinGetsu]

 

AR is a go to skill on almost any BB after you've got EM. I don't even take EM for higher tier German BBs as their turrets rotate fast enough. When you're low hp a 30 second reload falls to around 25 or even less. Things like Bismarck/Tirp fall to about 20 and Scharn to somewhere near 15 seconds. Well worth taking. 

 

It's even better for Izumo/Yamato when you add the reload module. At 20% health you got a 16% bonus DPM, which means from 30 seconds you get 25.2s reload. Add it the module (12%) and you get 22s reload.

 

NC, Iowa and Montana either can't use the reload module or use the 11% accuracy which is arguably even better, but that doesn't change the fact you win a great deal of DPM with AR on ships that have very good survivability.

 

And AR also works for the secondary battery, which is interesting on german and IJN BBs too.

[Taliesn]

Thanks all. Interesting to say the least.

And a shame I got all those german captains with EM. Bit of a wasted skill it would seem.

[Synth_FG]

Hated NC,

Hated Amigi to the point I've given up on the Jap BB grind

Loved Bismark

[FloRead]

Thanks everyone for contributing so far. From what I read, it seems either the Amagi or Bismarck should be what I go for. I'm not a good battleship player and Scharnhorst is really the only battleship that seems to agree with me thus far.

 

For me, speed is important and both Amagi and Bismarck are better in that department. However I also go in deep and do not like hanging around at the back. 

Also, ShinGetsu mentioned something important. The upgrades for North Carolina is different from the Amagi and Bismarck's? I sort of remember Colorado has artillery plotting room or something like that, whereas Gneisenau has aiming systems modifications.

 

Do the different upgrades matter a lot? Does this actually help explain the dominance of North Carolinas in tournaments? Also, why does North Carolina underperform compared to Amagi and Bismarck in random?

 

Personally, as a cruiser player, I find shooting all 3 to be equally difficult when it comes to penetrating them when I'm sailing my Des Moines. So to me, armor-wise, the 3 are equal. Are there any particular examples where 1 of the 3 can perform certain kind of heroics with her armor? 

[RUSSIANBlAS]

Thanks everyone for contributing so far. From what I read, it seems either the Amagi or Bismarck should be what I go for. I'm not a good battleship player and Scharnhorst is really the only battleship that seems to agree with me thus far.

 

For me, speed is important and both Amagi and Bismarck are better in that department. However I also go in deep and do not like hanging around at the back. 

Also, ShinGetsu mentioned something important. The upgrades for North Carolina is different from the Amagi and Bismarck's? I sort of remember Colorado has artillery plotting room or something like that, whereas Gneisenau has aiming systems modifications.

 

Do the different upgrades matter a lot? Does this actually help explain the dominance of North Carolinas in tournaments? Also, why does North Carolina underperform compared to Amagi and Bismarck in random?

 

Personally, as a cruiser player, I find shooting all 3 to be equally difficult when it comes to penetrating them when I'm sailing my Des Moines. So to me, armor-wise, the 3 are equal. Are there any particular examples where 1 of the 3 can perform certain kind of heroics with her armor? 

 

NC doesn't need Artillery Plotting Room, it is inaccurate as hell at longer ranges. Better to save it until you are almost revealed from concealment. Almost everyone takes AA upgrades so the umbrella reaches to 7.2km. 

 

IMO NC underperforms because too many potatoes snipe in it and the shells themselves fly slow compared to other BB. Needs some getting used to. 

 

Bismarck armour rules over the other two at close range due to the turtleback layout, that's the sloped shell over the top of the citadel. However Bismarck can take massive long range damage from AP sniping. 

 

 

[ShinGetsu]

A broadside Bismarck at close or middle range against a North Carolina will eat around 15-25k damage with a well aimed salvo. Without citadel hits. And that's only with the two forward turrets.

 

NC is favored in tournament because :

- It got very, very strong 406mm rifles. You need to learn to use the weird balistic, but that's the only downside of them really.

- It is more accurate than Bismarck/Tirpitz.

- It is very good at bow-tanking and even angled it can tank quite easily. With a properly specced captain you really can last a while alive even with some spamming on you.

- It is fast enough. (27knots)

- It got very good concealment (it's more a gimmick for FFA tho)

- It got very, very strong AA even without being particularly specced in it.

- It's the only one at this tier that got 2 out of 3 turrets at the bow. Bismarck/Tirpitz got 50% of them, and Amagi got 2/5 turrets.

 

Bismarck 380 are good guns, but they really lack accuracy and penetration when you have to deal with a properly angled BB. While the 406 with a bit of luck can drop some shells on the deck, and they have very good penetration power. 

IJN 410 are also very strong tho. Amagi is quite equal to NC in that regard.

 

As Negativv said, it's underperforming in FFA because it's not a ship for potato players, unlike Bismarck which is very easy to play. Yet when you understood how to uses it, it's rather overwhelming... 

[RAMJB]

Amagi:
The surgeon. Able to quickly go to the area that needs a fix, and surgically apply said fix.

Amagi is IMO the best of the three. Is the best all rounder in BB vs BB fights, the one that can mostly dominate any same-tier battleship from any position, from long range shooting to close range fighting...in each style she has to be managed with smarts, though, because being engaged in close range fighting doesn't mean going nose on to the enemy...in an Amagi you want to be pointed AWAY, keeping or enlarging said range!

out of the three is by far and large the most accurate BB. She has 410mms too, which can seem stupid, but they sometimes allow you to overmach some stuff 406s (so NC) don't, which is critical in the "nose first" BB meta, where the 406s can't go through some stuff the 410s can. Having the most guns of them all doesn't hurt either, out of the three is the only one that can take a shot at 18+km and guarantee that, if it has been properly aimed (And the target has not maneouvered) at least one round will impact on the target -EVERYTIME-. Something the NC's guns can't (by far) guarantee, and I won't mention anything about German long range dispersion, as it's a common topic. Again, I know it sounds ridiculous that 4mm can do that difference, but I've been able to overmatch bown-on Bismarcks , and citadel them, from a straight up nose position when they were coming directly for me, in an Amagi...and I've never had it happening with a NC. So, there's that.

So the Amagi shines at long range. But she also shines at midrange. All said and done, people seem to think NC is the best one in that turf (10-15km) because she can put her nose your way and just let go with the forward 406s. Well, the Amagi needs some maneouvering, but she can answer with 10. Because the turret angles are so ridiculously good, if you time things to maneouver when the enemy's reloading (easily done in a ship that has a big turning circle, but also is very responsive to rudder commands at slow speeds), you can wait for him to shoot you in your un-overmatchable bows with 6 guns, turn a bit to unmask your rear guns...and answer with 10, to then reverse and reduce the angle again waiting for his next shot. All the time. The NC can't, at least not as easily, because her rear turret has a much more limited traverse, so he's putting himself at risk of a badly timed maneouver. Also, if the engagement happens with the NC presenting the nose and Amagi presenting her butt...it's even easier for the japanese ship.

If the NC holds fire, swap for HE. No, seriously. Japanese 410mm HE is demonic and the best of the tier. Couple of salvoes like that and you're guaranteeing the guy will start wondering about how smart it is to keep staring at you while you cook him alive XD.

Lots have been said about the "bad armor" of the Amagi. Begs my comprehension. We're speaking of 32mm of bow armor, even stronger rear armor, and a MUCH stronger belt than NC's. NC has 12 inches of somewhat vertically angled armor. Amagi has 25mm (torpedo bulkhead) + 254mm (armored belt) + 95 (machinery areas) or 110mm (turret areas) angled internal turtledeck. That's 280mm plus an extra angled 95 or 110mm - resulting MUCH stronger than North Carolina's at medium and short ranges. Amagi's worst protection comes at long range (19km+), her decks aren't as thick as in the NC, and the turtledeck there is a liability, not an asset. But given that most BB engagements happen at at least medium range, that's almost no issue.

At any rate, whatever the range, an angled Amagi is at least as much a problem protection wise as an angled NC. And that's about it., really. The ony thing here is that you can't simply put your ship nose on and let it loose - you need to maneouver, and time those maneouvers, to unmask the rear turrets when the enemy has already fired, and return to an autobounce angle before he's ready to fire again. Requires more skill - but is better at it.

To complement it, Amagi's secondaries aren't Yamato's - but they still pack a whallop under 7.2km when proper skills are in play. Not by far as terrifying as the bismarck's, but certainly much more of a factor than in North Carolina. And is another reason why Amagi is a better close quarters fighter than NC (doesn't come close to Bismarck, tho). And again, she has by far the best HE shell of any BB up to that tier - another way to deal with obnoxious nosecampers and soon rattle them into showing you their broadside while trying to flee in terror.

The only thing Amagi is not is a brawler. IT's a great close quarters ship as in that she doesn't mind being close to the enemy.  But that is as long as you DON'T brawl with her. There's a difference between having an engagement at maybe 5km, and do the "dance of death" close quarter BB scenarios usually end up being like. That - she can't do.
She has the turning radius of the CERN, for one, while the other two can turn much tighter (specially NC), so it's inevitable that sooner or later your broadside will be exposed, while the other guy's isn't, and then it's over. A brawling Amagi is a dumb amagi. At close quarters, point your greatly armored [edited]towards the enemy, and let loose while you keep or increase the range. The other guy will gnash in dissapointment because not even a Bismarck can close in fast enough before the gun superiority of Amagi starts showing.

So - best guns of the tier, most numbers of guns, exceptionally tough when properly angled, almost as fast as the fastest (Bismarck) of the three. For me hands down is the best of them three for BB vs BB encounters.

Disadvantages are...torpedoes and AAA. She's got decent AAA but not enough to deter TB attacks. She's the size of Manhattan, and we already discussed the kind of turn radius she enjoys. You won't be dodging many torpedoes, aerial or destroyer's, unless you have FAR preemptive warning and you can see them coming from a LONG before they actually are on top of you. Yes, she's got amazing Torpedo protection but she damn needs it, because she's going to eat every fish sent her way...


North Carolina:
The bully. Puts his face in front of you and dares you to puch it. When you try, he answers....with irons on his gloves.

I've talked a lot about how Amagi is superior to NC. But that is, in the hands of someone who knows wtf he's doing. Most players don't (and the proof is the sheer ammount of potatoes that infectate high tier play). NC is simpler. Easier. Less effective than a well driven Amagi, but requires much less skill, thinking and tactics.

NC shines in two things Amagi doesn't. For one, she has rape-level AAA, and that without even speccing for it. Add just the advanced mastery skill and this thing is a terror for planes. Might not be so important in the current meta with so few high tier carriers ,but when said carriers are at play oh boy you can enjoy the show (the CVs don't, that's for sure).
The other...obviously is the agility. The North Carolina has a sublime (in comparison) turning circle of 760m vs the 860 of Amagi. Bismarck is not much better with 850m. 760m is as tight as many cruisers get - that's how good it is, and this is ultra-handy to pull last ditch torpedo evasion maneouvers. Not that you're guaranteed to avoid torpedoes with ease (no BB can, maybe with the exception of warspite), but it'll mean you'll be eating maybe one torpedo...when the other two would be eating 3 or 4. That's pretty huge.

That also comes at play when in restricted waters. Might seem like an oversight, but a NC can negotiate narrow straits at full speed that would mean a beached Amagi or Bismarck (with all the implications). So the NC excels at fighting near cover while the other two simply don't, adding to her defensive traits, and situationally, her offensive capabilities (in a 1v1 against another BB in an area tightly packed with islands, that turn radius is a godsend, and will allow you to get the upper hand in no time)

NC has, however, the worst armor of the three by and large (all or nothing setup designed for long range gunnery scenarios that never happen in WoWS). She has no turtleback layout, and her belt is sorely exposed. It's much easier to citadel a broadside NC than a broadside Amagi, and obviously FAR easier than citadelling a Bismarck (which happens once in a full moon and never at close quarters...unless you have 410s and the Bismarck is dead head on XDDDD). When angled is tough,and she is very easy to fight in very angled positions, but when not, is the weakest of the three.

A word must be said about her guns. 410s are nice and can (again, I've done it) overmach some stuff 406s can't. But NC's 16 inchers pierce stuff much better, so when overmatch is not at work, and autobounces are not a thing, they're much better guns for the job (even while lacking in velocity). Sadly the current meta gives very limited ammount of windows of opportunity to exploit that.


Bismarck:
The brawler. Not that problematic from long range but let her too close, you've got an exponentially worse problem between your hands.

First and foremost, out of the three is the only one I don't own. But I do have a Tirpitz, so the essentials are pretty much the same in what regards to armor and vulnerability. Not so much about the secondaries or having hydro. But for the most part, I know the playstyle (in fact, their playstyle is the same, it's just that the Bismarck is so much better at it).

In what regards to armor most people will say she's got the best out of the three, and I agree with that. A Bismarck won't be citadelled from the side at any range under 18km, period. But that comes at a price, and the price is that while broadside citadels are so rare on her, it also means she eats a lot of pure AP pen damage if not angled. There's this fabled notion that the Bismarck twins in this game have this kind of untouchable armor that most people who don't know how to play think that means they can give broadsides all day long. Then when they eat 25k of AP damage they go in chat and start accusing people of hax.

Yes, her armor is the best of the three. No, doesn't mean you're invulnerable. You have to angle, as everyone else does, or you'll pay for it.

Other than that in a straight up gunnery contest, this ship can't even dream of coming close to the NC or Amagi. 380mms say you're much more limited in the targets you can overmatch, for one. You have the lowest guncount, for the second, and ROF doesn't compensate for it, and the turret placement and arcs force you to give much more of a broadside if you want to fire more than 4 guns than the other two. Again, not a problem if you expect NOT to be citadelled, because you won't. But you'll still open yourself to eat a lot of damage if you're caught without enough angling, as long as the opponent is smart enough to aim at your upper belt, not your main armored belt, or at your bows, when you're under the autobounce angle.

the problem is that is not enough when you're not close in. At medium and long ranges you're so outgunned is not even funny. Add to that the horrendous dispersion of the german guns, so, yeah, if you have to tango vs a BB you want the tango to happen in short distances. Because if it's beyond 12km, you're toast. As simple as that. Thankfully that has a simple solution: charge the enemy, you're faster than any other T8 BB. Sadly that comes at a cost: charge in the wrong moment and everyone in the enemy team will be throwing everything they have at you. And while the Bismarck is great shrugging off damage due to her fantastic armor, there's a limit to everything. YOLOing in this ship is asking for a fast death, and that wish is usually promptly granted.
Time your rush right, however, and you'll eat whoever's unlucky enough to be your target.

So, this ship needs some finesse. You need to know how to angle, you need to time your moment to come in like an elephant in a china shop, you need tactical brains (that you don't so desperately require in, say, a NC). Once that finesse is applied, it's a close quarters monster. Because under 10km the fast reload suddenly becomes a factor, the hideous accuracy stops being one, and... secondaries come into play. You specced for secondaries, right?. Tell me you did. Because if you didn't you're doing it wrong with the german BBs . Heck, even in the Tirpitz the secondary spec is a monster, and she gets 3km less of range! O.O.

So time it right, come in close to maybe 8-9km, do your angling properly, let the secondaries loose and fire your main guns for addede extra effect over the ranging inferno that the secondary fires will cause. You don't get it easier than that . Truly a brute. But if you stay at a range all the time...well. You'll be wasting your ship.

Hydro is huge. Can't be understated: it's something an Amagi would kill for. Bismarck's turning circle is not much better than Amagi's, but the ability to see what's coming well before it's on top of you will allow you to save you from tons of damage that the Amagi will eat, torpedo damage reduction or not. add to that the ability to give smoked DDs (and overconfident british cruisers) the worst surprise of their short-lived lifes, and you've really got an extra powerful tool. Can't be understated, it's REALLY a great thing to have. SPecially when it comes down to early game starts, that thing alone is able to light up those smoked DDs who think capping early is easy, soon to be surprised by (hopefully) half your team's concentrated gunfire as soon as you reveal them. A well driven Bismarck that rushes into a cap with DDs in smoke at the right moment will flush out said cap area in such a rush and hurry the DDs won't even remember lobbing torps (no, I haven't done it myself, but have seen it done - and have it had been done on me when in a DD- and trust me, it's quite hillarious xD).
ofc said bismarck will eat some torps for sure, but hey, winning an early contested cap usually equals winning a game so...there's that .

All in all I think the's a bit too much of a specialist ,but she's so good at that (and is so fun to play, at least Tirpitz is and heck, she doesn't get the godly secondaries nor hydro!), that she's a powerhouse.



So all in all how do I rank them?.
in pure BBvsBB roles:
Amagi-NC-Bismarck. In that order. Unless it is at close ranges, then it's Bismarck-Amagi-NC.

In all-around unspecific roles other than BBvsBB:
NC-Amagi-Bismarck (Bismarck's troll accuracy at ranges over 10km, and smaller guncount and caliber is just too big of a letdown, hydro or not, while NC's great turn radius and great AAA weigh a lot).

Fun stuff done for the lulz and giggles that will still be effective to the surprise of everyone:
Bismarck-Bismarck-Bismarck XDDD (IN my case tirpitz tirpitz tirpitz...can't wait until I have the Bismarck too,as you can guess ;). Currently in Bayern).


Hope that helped.

[Affeks]

NC: Mid range DPM. Godlike AA. Most accurate BB by far due to very good vertical dispersion (not shown by ingame stats).

 

Amagi: Mid-Long range DPM. Most guns, good velocity and high accuracy at long range compared to NC and Bismarck.

 

Bismarck: Close range brawler god. Secondaries out of this world, utilities for dealing with torps, agile, tanky, gun characteristics good, but need to be within 10km range to be accurate.

[Spellfire40]

 

NC doesn't need Artillery Plotting Room, it is inaccurate as hell at longer ranges. Better to save it until you are almost revealed from concealment. Almost everyone takes AA upgrades so the umbrella reaches to 7.2km. 

 

IMO NC underperforms because too many potatoes snipe in it and the shells themselves fly slow compared to other BB. Needs some getting used to. 

 

Bismarck armour rules over the other two at close range due to the turtleback layout, that's the sloped shell over the top of the citadel. However Bismarck can take massive long range damage from AP sniping. 

 

 

Well not anymore than any other ship at Long range and the "Imunity" of german BBs are good and fine at closer range but to get your secondarys to work you have to Show quite a bit of side and if a NC aims above the armor Belt you still eat huge damage thogh Penetration hits.

A sidenote on the "Amagis Torp Protection is weak":  Amagi 45%With Module NC with Module: 21%  Bismark 24% (without Module) Amagi has to put more work in activly dodging planes than NC but she isnt helpless. Heared she was buffed and has Kind of Turtleback citadel too thogh since i moved on and havent played her too much after the Change i cant confirm if he is less squshi then before.

[mariouus]

I would say NC is weird these days. When playing against it, have recently noticed that her armor looks weaker than it used do. Apparently at about 6-8 km all  tire 7-8 15-16 inch guns can citadel it frontally I do not consider.bow tanking NC as big of a threat like I used to, maybe I just have been lucky.

[Thracen]

I like the NC, She feels fun and powerful still I don't win matches in her.

 

14.29%

74,379

1,335

0.5

0.4

2.0

14%

32%

0%

9

 

Funnily enough I do similar in the Colorado, although I hated her with a passion, just too dam slow. If anyones got any ideas on How to get my performance up a bit I'd love to here it.

 

46.30%

58,000

1,425

1.0

0.7

1.3

31%

29%

0%

1,144

[lycea]

Individual strengths 

 

Amagi good long range firepower and very good torp protection 

 

NC good anti air power and loses only 33% firepower when angled optimally

 

Bismarck best ship for secondary build and a good firestarter because of that and citadel is almost impenetrable 

[lameoll]

bischmark is just the best brawler atm while the amagi is a sniper. Reason why they choose the noca mostly i because it is a godlike AA bubble and can tank  alot from the front.