Talk:List of fleet standard aircraft carriers by upgraded maximum stats/@comment-7401186-20150219194426/@comment-5032812-20150301015721

For best carriers. In my experience, Taihou, then Kaga. Taihou solves most problems carriers have,  she has good plane count, better armor and can attack at orange, making it less likely she will be rendered worthless before she has a chance to participate. Kaga, on the other hand, is all about air superiority. With the best plane count, she is basically 1.5 carriers worth of fighter power  (or torpedo bomber). Besides that, her stats are average though.

Past those, Hiryuu has the highest firepower of all carriers, making her hit like a truck durring shelling phases. The downside being that she has average plane count and the weaknesses of other non-Taihou carriers. Souryuu is the same, but her firepower is only on par with Taihou (though still better than Kaga and akagi). These two are necessary for some rare plane quests that give you really elite planes.

Akagi is basically the average carrier, good plane slots, average stats.

Other carriers are below average combat wise, though Unryuu and Amagi have exclusive planes.