Worth giving up secondary guns for AA in Tier 4-5?

[_Guderian]

At tier 4 and 5 USN ship hull upgrades for the Omaha, Wyoming, and New York, give you a significant amount of AA but takes away some of your firepower. In the BBs you give up many secondary guns, and in the Omaha you give up half your torpedoes and two main guns. Is it really worth giving up such a big chunk of your firepower; at tier 4 the Wyoming is seeing the lowest tier CVs with the fewest aircraft, and the Omaha and New York both have AA to start with, is the additional AA worth the trade off?

[Guest]

To be honest with you, lower tier ships don't really have much of an AA complement, its up to you for the battleships, I persoanlly did it for the AA, though I wonder how effective it truly was, and for the Omaha...the gun firepower is my preference. 

[_Sarcasticat_]

Lowtier AA is usually bad AA...Except for a ship like the Yubari o.o

 

Keep the 2 guns and torpedoes on the Omaha, screw AA for that thing.

 

Get the AA for the BBs. You're gonna need it.

[MarxistLlama]

On the Omaha, the 1944 hull gives your torpedoes a much better firing arc and better AA at the cost of one gun per side, and a couple torpedo tubes per side. In my opinion it's worth it.

[wiplash269]

I tried the AA on the Omaha and was glad I could change it back for a while I was worried I could not change back. It was not worth the loss of firepower.

[Guest]

Lowtier AA is usually bad AA...Except for a ship like the Yubari o.o

 

Keep the 2 guns and torpedoes on the Omaha, screw AA for that thing.

 

Get the AA for the BBs. You're gonna need it.

 

Even the Yubari can't do it well, it has great self-defense capabilities, but its escort AA is...lacking. 

[Tears_of_Destiny]

The AA upgrade on the NY is enough to matter against low CVs and certainly helps. The Tier III and IV BBs though just have near-worthless AA.

 

However, those AA upgrades also come with substantially more Hull Points, which you need.

[Guest]

The AA upgrade on the NY is enough to matter against low CVs and certainly helps. The Tier III and IV BBs though just have near-worthless AA.

 

However, those AA upgrades also come with substantially more Hull Points, which you need.

 

Indeed, the low tiers have worthless AA with guratness across the board at tier 3 and below, with only 1 exception at tier 4, tier 5 is better but is still below average at best 

[Tears_of_Destiny]

 

Indeed, the low tiers have worthless AA with guratness across the board at tier 3 and below, with only 1 exception at tier 4, tier 5 is better but is still below average at best 

 

If you want to sound impressive you can say that the South Carolina's AA is twice as powerful and far-ranged as the St. Lois

[Guest]

 

If you want to sound impressive you can say that the South Carolina's AA is twice as powerful and far-ranged as the St. Lois

 

That isn't saying much in the first place... 

[AirshipCanon]

The HP is a huge difference and is more of a deciding factor than the AA, TBQH. 

[_Sarcasticat_]

 

Even the Yubari can't do it well, it has great self-defense capabilities, but its escort AA is...lacking. 

 

Said as well as Jingles the man himself.

[_Guderian]

So after many hours put in playing all three ships I have come to the conclusion that Omaha and Wyoming are not worth upgrading for the AA because you aren't yet seeing much in the way of carriers, New York is worth upgrading for the extra hull points and because carriers are starting to appear.

[Sirus_Patton]

With the US BBs you want to upgrade the hull period.  You need the extra HP from the upgrade, and in most cases the final hull upgrade greatly reduces the rudder shift time.  New York, for example, gains 6,500HP and a reduction of 9 seconds to rudder shift by upgrading the hull.

[anonym_BuI29koGa7hJ]

I run with the final hull upgrade for the Omaha (with more AA and less guns/torps), but what can I say, I enjoy watching planes fall from the skies in a ball of fire. I often find myself in games with carriers and even higher tier ships so the AA is useful, and you still have enough firepower to wreck any ships that give you trouble.

[TruePoindexter]

On the Omaha, the 1944 hull gives your torpedoes a much better firing arc and better AA at the cost of one gun per side, and a couple torpedo tubes per side. In my opinion it's worth it.

 

It used to - now the B hull has a good firing arc as well making it unnecessary. I would research but not use the final hull on the Omaha now. The AA upgrade is marginal while extra torps and guns are huge. This is one of the few advantages that the Omaha has over the Murmansk.

 

The AA on both the Wyoming and New York are not earth shattering but neither are the secondaries. The improvements in rudder shift and health are much more important than either of those traits. 

[Jakob_Knight]

I'd say it depends on what you are giving up and what you intend that ship to be doing.

 

Most ships below T5, it isn't that effective, as you don't have the number of AA guns or the special Cruiser consumable that makes effective AA fire work.  At the same time, having no AA capability at all leaves your ability to fight against fighters in a self-defense capability gone.  If your ship doesn't have the combination of maneuvering, speed, and AA firepower to be able to force an engagement with enemy fighters and survive the encounter, I'd say consider carefully if you will use what you lose more.

 

This is all given with the understanding the Devs can change the situation at any time with a nerf here or a buff there.  I personally take the C hull on my Omaha because I like the additional defense ability more than the weapons I give up, but I use that ship on either independent missions or as the best AA escort for a group that one can manage at T5, so it is worth it to me.  On the other hand, other players use the ship as an offensive vessel and need the weapons more than the modest AA boost for their needs.

 

So, I would say, if your ship has no AA at all without it, take it.  If your ship has AA already, think carefully of how you will fight without the things you will give up to make it slightly better.  If you like the picture you see in your mind, go ahead and do it.  If not, then don't.

 

Sorry, but that's the best advice I can give to such a broad question about so many different ships.