I don't know when you did your exams Slopey, but your statement that
If you're already planning XCs with a plog, Nav ceases to be an issue.
suggests that it was under the old JAR system.
The new NAV exam does not include any PLOG work and does not in fact require any use of charts. You could be the best PLOGGER in the world and still fail the new NAV exam. Most aspects of PLOGGING have moved to the Flight Performance And Planning exam, but even here, there is no requirement to produce a full PLOG.
The new NAV exam is far more theoretical and includes thing like the following.
New Delhi is at XXXX North YYYYY East. If the local time in New Delhi is 1500 what is the time in UTC?
And
What is the highest latitude that the Sun is overhead on the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere?
Yes they really do have questions about the time in New Delhi and the position of the sun on the summer solstice!
A more valid question might be how long it would take a CESSNA152 to fly to New Delhi on the summer solstice, but we must take the exams as we find them.