Battleship - Germany Tier IX Friedrich Carl
Captain & Ship Build and Strategy Guide
- Build focus: Manual Secondaries and aggressive close-range combat
- Playstyle: Fast brawling battleship
- Secondary armament: Player-controlled secondaries with improved accuracy
- Mobility: Engine Boost for closing distance and repositioning
- Defense: Hydroacoustic Search for torpedo awareness during pushes
- Captain: Lütjens is particularly effective for the secondary-focused build
- Alternative: IFHE can be used for Tier IX Ranked battles
- Applies to: Friedrich Carl
Secondary Build
Friedrich Carl uses a dedicated secondary battleship build. Manual Secondaries is particularly important because the ship can manually control her secondary guns while still receiving the skill's accuracy benefit. Remember to Ctrl-click the intended target so the secondary accuracy bonus is applied before committing to the engagement.
The two-point AA skill can be exchanged for Grease the Gears if you feel that the main turrets do not traverse quickly enough. The AA skill has additional value through its cooldown benefit, while Grease the Gears provides a more direct improvement to main battery handling. The choice therefore depends on whether you want to emphasize the secondary utility or make the main guns easier to manage.
Lütjens is a strong commander choice for Friedrich Carl because his improved skills and talents can complement the secondary-focused playstyle. His value increases when the ship is consistently getting into the close-range engagements where her secondary armament can remain active for extended periods.
Upgrades and Modifications
Engine Boost Modification is the preferred option when available because mobility is one of Friedrich Carl's biggest advantages. The extra mobility helps with closing distance, changing angles and disengaging when a planned push becomes unfavorable. Hydroacoustic Search Modification is also a perfectly reasonable alternative if you place more value on having Hydro available for longer during aggressive pushes.
If you do not have either of these upgrades, Damage Control System Modification 1 is the fallback option. The secondary build remains functional without the specialized upgrades, so there is no need to compromise the captain setup simply because a particular modification is unavailable.
IFHE is a specialized option for Tier IX Ranked battles. It improves the penetration of Friedrich Carl's secondary HE shells enough to make them particularly useful against targets such as Valparaiso. This is a mode-specific choice rather than a general recommendation, so it is better avoided in normal Random Battles where the trade-off is less attractive.
Strategy Guide. A Fast German Secondary Brawler
Friedrich Carl is a Tier IX German battleship designed around aggressive close-range combat. Her combination of strong player-controlled secondaries, Hydroacoustic Search and Engine Boost makes her particularly effective when she can force the battle into brawling range. Outside that range, however, her relatively small main battery and limited long-range effectiveness make her considerably less threatening.
The ship represents a hypothetical German refit of a Richelieu-class battleship following France's capitulation in 1940. That unusual combination is reflected in her gameplay: Friedrich Carl combines the mobility associated with fast French battleships with the close-range secondary specialization normally associated with German battleships.
The main objective is therefore to use Friedrich Carl's speed to choose where the close-range fight happens. Engine Boost can be used to reach a flank, close the distance to an isolated target, or reposition before the enemy fleet has time to establish a strong crossfire. The earlier you can create a favorable brawling situation, the more value you get from the secondary build.
How to Brawl With Friedrich Carl
Use Engine Boost to reach a useful flanking position or close the distance toward an isolated enemy before committing. Hydroacoustic Search provides additional security against torpedoes during the approach, allowing you to concentrate on positioning and enemy movement instead of constantly worrying about a torpedo ambush.
Once you commit to the engagement, avoid showing unnecessary broadside to enemy battleships. Stay angled or bow-in when the enemy battleship is preparing to fire, then use the periods between its reloads to expose more of the ship and bring the secondary battery into action. The objective is to maximize secondary uptime without giving the opponent an easy main-battery salvo.
Friedrich Carl is at her best when the enemy is forced to fight on your terms. A battleship pushing into your secondary range can be extremely vulnerable, but the same ship becomes much less comfortable when forced to fight at long range. Use islands, terrain and friendly ships to reduce the number of opponents that can focus you while you close the distance.
Do not feel obligated to complete every push. If the enemy team has recognized your approach and prepared multiple ships to focus you, disengage and look for another opportunity. Engine Boost makes Friedrich Carl unusually good at changing the direction of an attack, and preserving your hit points for a later brawl is often more valuable than forcing an unfavorable close-range fight.
The biggest weakness of the secondary build is the same as with other secondary battleships: its effectiveness drops significantly outside brawling range. Friedrich Carl therefore rewards patience and positioning rather than simply charging forward. Use her speed to reach the right engagement, Hydro to protect the approach, and Manual Secondaries to make the close-range fight as dangerous as possible for the enemy.