H42

Country
German

Class
Battleship

MMweight
10.0

Obtain Method
Tech Tree

Arena rating

D

PVP rating

A

H42 is the top tier ship of the German battleship line. It has similar characteristics to lower tier German battleships, so you don’t need a lot of time to adapt.

The guns are improved significantly compared to H39. It has 420 mm caliber, sufficient to overmatch all cruisers except Pr66. Even though the accuracy is bad, it has very fast reload (around 22 seconds with crew skills). It also has very long range secondary guns that can reach more than 11 km. This ship is dangerous and can sink enemies quickly in close combat.

H42 has turtleback armor which prevents it from getting citadeled in close combat. However, it can take a lot of penetration damage, so you still need to avoid showing broadside. The bow armor is strong enough to prevent getting citadeled by Super Yamato’s AP (H42 only takes minimal penetration damage). Just like H39, H42 has very long damage control duration, short damage control cooldown, and short repair cooldown. It also has big HP pool, which makes its survivability very high during intense combat. When bowtanking, H42 can be very hard to sink. Keep in mind that the turtleback armor doesn’t work at long range. H42 can get citadeled at long range, although not as easily as other country’s ship.

The main downsides of H42 are big size, slow rudder shift, big turning circle radius, and it’s almost always the first to get detected in battle. This means H42 is very inflexible to use. H42 has a lot of superstructures that burns easily, which makes it terrible against HE spammers. The AA is meh. For a CV, H42 is an exp farm.

Playstyle

H42 is a terrible sniper. At long range its performance falls due to bad accuracy, big size, and bad maneuverability. The enemy can easily hit and destroy it but it can’t fight back. To utilize all of H42’s strengths, you must get to < 14 km range. At that range, H42’s guns can hit reliably and the turtleback armor works well. If the enemy is more than 18 km away, most of its shots will miss. If you’re forced to fight at long range, use HE so at least you have a chance to get more damage with fire.

You should equip secondary battery enhancement module and secondary enhancement crew skill, to increase its secondary battery range to > 11 km. A combination of main battery and secondary battery can melt the enemy very quickly. Use underwater search consumable when there’s a destroyer or ships with torpedo near you so you can avoid their torpedoes easier.

The big problem is, of course, how to get close without being sunk in the process. In PVP, use islands as cover, sail to one flank, and push together with bots (not ahead of them) so they are the ones who get shot instead of you. If possible ask your teammates to support you from the side. Shoot broadsiding players first. You can let your secondary guns kill the bots. Always angle against enemy players. Alter your sailing direction and speed. In global arena, getting close is almost impossible. To save you from headache, don’t choose German ship in arena. If you meet a CV in PVP, just play like usual. Kill the bots in the process. If possible, kill some players too. You will die quickly, but this will give time for your ally CV to carry the match.

Is it worth to buy?

H42 is very strong in PVP but terrible in arena. H42 is a tech tree ship. You just have to grind it. No need to spend money. H42 is very beginner friendly. If you like rushing you should get this ship.

Strengths
Fast reload, good HE penetration, large HP pool, good bow and stern armor, has turtleback armor, good secondary guns, has underwater search consumable, has fighter planes, long damage control duration, short damage control and repair cooldown.
Weaknesses
Low damage per salvo, bad accuracy, large size, bad side armor, easy to get burned, bad maneuverability, bad concealment, bad AA.
General playstyle
Pushing, brawling, bowtanking
Preferred fighting range
Short to medium range

Recommended Build

Equipment
Slot 1: adv. disaster retardant module
Slot 2: steering gears enhancement module or engine enhancement module
Slot 3: secondary battery enhancement module
Consumables
Slot 1: elite damage control
Slot 2: elite repair
Slot 3: elite underwater search
Crew Skills (after basic skill)
Captain: boost morale – hull protection – artillery warning
Gun: secondary battery enhancement – crack gunner – high speed aiming
Engine: steering master – quick shift – adv. quick shift
Damage control: emergency flooding – buoyancy reserve – extinguish

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