User blog:Tokugata Kuchikukan/Extra Operation! Shiplocked Admiral vs The Great Wall!

"Abandon your sanity and your hope, all who enter."

I remember someone telling us newfaces that in the chat a month before the Spring event. Past 4 maps, I still haven't seen the true face of terror. Most admirals must have breezed through them, and it wasn't until they reached E-5 that things started to get a little messy. People have told me E-5 is the giant wall. It is the first Extra Operation of the Spring event.

Of course, I was terrified. Not simply due to the fact that people spent some days being walled by this menace, but also because of the prior shiplocking. I was running out of viable options for my fleet. Reading through the event pages, I was at a complete loss. Suzuya was locked to E-3, while Kumano was locked to E-4, so the Suzuya-Kumano option is out. I have not leveled Mogami at all, and I don't have Mikuma, so the Mikuma-Mogami option is also off. Ryuujou was locked to E-3 while I have not bothered with Choukai as well, so that option was also out.

I had to rely on the cards I saved up for this run. I wasn't very confident about it, and I was prepared to stop halfway through if it's too difficult. Doubt lingers long, especially for a newbie like me. I don't exactly know what I'm dealing with without seeing it for myself.

Win or lose, I know I did my best with the girls I had left.

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May 2, 2015

E-5 Hard:
 * 1st run - Kaga gets severe damage in Node D, courtesy of the Flagship Ru-class. Not a very good start.
 * 2nd run - I encountered my first-ever Night Battle node. It went better than I initially expected. The boss was reached, and killed, but no S Rank victory. I feel like that Ru Kai is going to be a real problem throughout this...
 * 3rd run - Nagato and Kongou were hammered by the Ta-class. To top it off, Imuya was also severely damaged.
 * 4th run - Yuudachi gets wrecked at the air battle node by the Wo Kai.
 * 5th run - All submarine hazards eliminated at Node C before they could land a hit. Node I, however, brought Imuya to red but pressed on as I had her equipped with a damecon. Reached the boss, but failed to kill the boss. Imuya dodged everything at the boss node.
 * 6th run - I felt a little worried after Imuya was taken to orange at Node C, but they still reached the boss and killed it.
 * 7th run - Yuudachi gets trolled by the closing torpedo salvo at Node D. Retreated.
 * 8th run - Kongou is taken to red HP by Flagship Ru at Node D. Retreated again.
 * 9th run - Reached the boss, but not enough damage. Only C Rank, but at least the health bar is down to half after a few hits.
 * 10th run - Imuya is red at Node C. I didn't want to use the damecon unless it's triggered at the boss node. Retreated.
 * 11th run - Imuya dodges everything at the boss node again. This time, it's an S Rank victory. Mogami dropped. Broke my heart.
 * 12th run - Another smooth run and Imuya's amazing reflexes allowed her to stay alive. Secured a boss kill.
 * 13th run - Decent run. Imuya escapes death once more. No boss kill, but she was hurt hard enough.
 * 14th run - Green T at Node D, but Kongou still gets heavily damaged. Retreated.
 * 15th run - Node D, Ta-class brought Nagato down to orange. Reached boss, and she was in her Final Form, but a crushing defeat followed. Not even a scratch against her. D Rank.
 * 16th run - I finally decided to run a support expedition for shelling the boss' Final Form. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to take her out. Imuya finally uses up her damecon to revive. C Rank.
 * 17th run - In my haste and absentmindedness, I forgot to equip Imuya with a damecon to replace the one used earlier. I had to retreat as soon as she was brought to red.
 * 18th run (Final) - Fully sparkled the main fleet, as well as the support expedition crew. Equipped Imuya with a new damecon and everything went smoothly. The boss was destroyed and E-5 was finally cleared.

SHIPLOCK, CONQUERED!

With a few admirals walled at E-5, I was prepared for the worst case scenario to dumb down the difficulty. It was a long day and it took longer than any of the four previous maps. The final form was also quite a bother, but I managed to pull it off with the help from the support expedition. People told me I was crazy or that it was impossible to do with my fleet on Hard, but I still managed to overcome it. There weren't any notable drops because I kept getting A Rank, even towards the end.

The sparkles really went a long way at the last dance, managing to survive relatively unharmed throughout the nodes and finally landing a decisive blow to the boss. The first EO is done and over with, but there's still one more stage to be cleared...

The only path left is forward. The final stage...