The tilting has nothing to do with magnetic variation. When you hold the compass plate level a balanced needle (i. e. CG supported) tends to tilt in a plane that goes through the axis and the center line of the needle. That would cause the needle to drag on the plate and significantly reduce accuracy. You can make one end heavier to compensate this effect. The earthīs magnetic field lines do not meet the surface at the same angle for every latitude (the angle is called inclination). Hence a regular needle would not work for every lattitude.
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If it isnīt broken, it doesnīt have enough features yet.