WEST VIRGINIA

Country
United States of America (USA)

Class
Battleship

MMweight
7.0

Obtain Method
Rank Point/Prism

Arena rating

A

PVP rating

C

West Virginia was an American standard-type battleship. It was built during World War I and sank in shallow water due to a torpedo attack in Pearl Harbor. It was later refloated and extensively rebuilt. After that, West Virginia participated many times in World War II.

West Virginia is armed with 4×2 406 mm guns. It can overmatch all ships except Gneisenau and Wichita. It has very good accuracy (among the best in its MMweight) and good penetration, which makes its firepower very high. The guns retain the performance over long ranges. Unfortunately, it has slow shell velocity, which makes hitting long range targets hard.

As a standard-type battleship, West Virginia has a characteristic round body. It’s big and slow but has excellent turning radius and rudder shift. West Virginia has bad bow and stern armor. It can be overmatched and citadeled by 380 mm guns. However, the side armor is pretty good. When angled, it can bounce even 410 mm guns as long as the shells hit the belt. The firing angle is not bad, so angling with West Virginia is easy compared to its sistership Colorado. The AA is good and it has fighter planes. But because it’s big and slow, CVs don’t have a problem attacking it.

Playstyle

At the start of the battle, sail to a flank. Because it’s slow, your teammates usually arrive at the flank faster. This is actually okay, because you can create a crossfire with your faster teammates by staying a bit close to the center. If the enemy is shooting at you, angle your ship. Stay more than 15 km from the enemy so you have time to speed juke and dodge attacks. Kite the enemy if they’re chasing you. If you have no choice but to fight at close range, angle your ship towards the enemy. Don’t show broadside and don’t bowtank.

Is it worth to buy?

Despite having slow shell velocity, West Virginia is surprisingly good as a sniper. That’s the benefit of having good accuracy and penetration. It’s also very good for kiting, although it won’t be able to do much when rushed. Its performance reduces significantly in close combat.

West Virginia is a rank point ship. Rank point is obtained from ranking up in arena or buying from shop. Since rank point is a rare currency, buying West Virginia is not worth it. It’s recommended to go for a more versatile ship first (like Charlemagne). Another way to buy West Virginia is with prism. But prism requires real money to obtain. It’s not worth to spend money for this.

Strengths
Good accuracy, good penetration, good AA, good maneuverability, good side armor, has fighter planes.
Weaknesses
Slow shell velocity, slow speed, very wide, bad bow and stern armor
General playstyle
Sniping, kiting
Preferred fighting range
Long range

Recommended Build

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

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