A question about the North Carolina's stock hull.

[1Sherman]

I'm on the verge of being able to bid a sad fare-thee-well to the Colorado (the ship that my best stats are in and that I've played the most) and say hello to the North Carolina, my first tier 8 ship. However, I have a bit of a problem. I have the doubloons to unequip all my modules without having to re-buy them as well as retrain my captain immediately, and I should have enough money left over to equip the upgraded engine and range that I free XPed (though it'll be a bit tight), but I don't have enough free XP to unlock the upgraded hull or enough doubloons to convert the 500k free XP I have sitting around on ships that I either have or used to have. This leaves me concerned about how it'll affect the NC's gameplay at first: Does the upgraded hull give the NC's shells better penetration and/or better firing arcs? Does it give them better accuracy? Does it give the NC better protection against the tier 10 BB shells that I just realized I'll be facing? TL;DR Will I be screwed over if I get the NC without free XPing the upgraded hull?

[Goose21891]

Free XP the B hull. Armor isn't any better, and the guns are the same but the stock hull has an atrocious rudder.

[MikeTheRipper12]

I can check, but I don't remember it affecting the shell velocity, and the arc doesn't change. What does change is your rudder shift, your health pool, and you get a massive boost to your AA defense. But the stock hull for the NC is good enough to get by. Just.. just don't show your sides much, it's spongy.  

[devastator5000]

NCs hull doesn't effect shells, but it does effect HP which is very low on the stock hull. I recommend the Hull first then engines then Range 

[godzilla5549]

Unlike all of the other USN BBs, North Carolina and Iowa are very playable with the stock hull. You do not need to Free XP the B hull for North Carolina.

 

I recommend getting the B hull, then engine upgrade, and you can skip the FCS upgrade entirely.

[Pulptenks]

Unlike all of the other USN BBs, North Carolina and Iowa are very playable with the stock hull. You do not need to Free XP the B hull for North Carolina.

 

I recommend getting the B hull, then engine upgrade, and you can skip the FCS upgrade entirely.

 

^

 

USN and KGM don't suffer the same struggle of the IJN or lower Medium / Low tier struggle at being stock once high tier.

[Thunder_Guts]

You will your Citadels hit a lot more easily with the stock hull, The upgraded hull gives more protection and you seem to absorb a lot more damage then what you could stock. From my experience get the hulls first then the engine, don't worry to much about the rang as the NC is not ideal for long distance engagements.