User blog:Juuryoushin/Extra Operation Guide: 5-5 - The Tail of a Dangerous Salmon

World 5-5:【Extra Operation】サーモン海域北方 Northern Salmon Sea Area
Here we go. Another Extra Operation, and the last one to be unlocked. (At least for now.) It resets at the start of the month, like any other one, and yields a medal plus some ranking points, as always.

To unlock this map, you need to clear 5-4 first. Don't think unlocking it means you can directly tackle it with ease, though.

Like 4-5, you need to sink the flagship at the boss node 5 times in order to complete this map. 1 medal & 200 ranking points are given upon clearing it.

You have two major routes at your disposal to reach and have a chance to kill the boss. A second composition involving a light fleet and the usage of at least 5 Drum Canisters can go to another route. This one has very few chances of fulfilling the said goal. Therefore, I don't recommend taking this route.

The composition for the other routes doesn't have a big influence, so stick to a fleet that consists of mostly heavy ships. There are several threats regardless the decision you will choose. The enemy is no pushover on this map. Bring the best, prepare for the worst.

For this map, Support Expeditions can be used for the whole travel or just for the Boss node. Given the difficulty, it is highly advised to make good use of them to improve your chances even further.

Unlike the three previous Extra Operations, you don't have to worry about the amount of LoS your fleet is carrying, since none of the branching rules require a LoS check.

Now that those points are clear, it is time to unveil the strategies to overcome this map.

Fleet Setup
Recommended Fleet setup: 4 (F)BB 2 CV

As the writer of this blog, it's the first possible composition I will show. (Since I'm using it)

4 FBB 2 CV is your way to go if you want something somewhat cheap and pretty easy to form. You can replace FBBs with whatever BB you want except the Ise-Class. If you have both Yamato-class and Bismarck Drei, field them to improve your chances of surviving along the way.

For CVs, you do not have much choices but to put the usual Kaga plus another CV capable of securing AS and attack reliably. Both Shoukaku and Zuikaku under Kai-2A form can bring a good punch to your fleet. Taihou works quite well too.

Sparkling your entire fleet is recommended.

Strategy
This route is the standard one, thus the one most people will take, although not following the same composition. The only two major threats are the Re-Class Battleship Elite waiting at E node and of course, the Deadend at L. No matter how hard you struggle, you are at the mercy of the compass here. Since you have to go through 3 battles, your ships will not be at full power at the Boss node. This last node isn't particularly hard. Once you're at it, you are pretty much guaranteed to get a kill unless your fleet suffered too much from the Preboss Node.

Be aware that the Fighter Power isn't taken into account in the template above due to the recent implementation of the Aircraft Proficiency. The real value stands between 404 and 424 Air Power, which is enough even for Last Dance. Thanks to Air Proficiency, your CVs are no longer Reppuu Mules and can actively participate in shelling phases.

All your BBs will need a pair of two Heavy-caliber guns, an Armor Piercing Shell to deal with the numerous tanky enemies, and the mandatory Recon seaplane. For FBBs, you want to have the best possible accuracy, so avoid the heaviest guns here.

With good equips, your CVs can afford to take their best bomber on one of the two lowest slots. Save the absolute lowest slots for Fighters. It's too dangerous to even risk a rank wipe and thus the ability to attack during shelling phases.

Last but not least, don't forget a Saiun to prevent a possible fuck up at the boss node, no one knows when a T Red can fall.

To help you getting past this map, you can cover your main fleet by sending a Support Expedition fleet until you arrive at the Boss node. If you don't feel confident, launch both Supports to maximize your odds.

Both Support fleets can be formed and equipped the exact same way. Stick to the Support Shelling and nothing else, the other setups are complete garbage.

Fleet Setup
Recommended Fleet setup: 2 DD 2 BB 2 CV(L)

Points to consider
For Support Expeditions, your main concern is to throw off the right equipment to have a good damage output and the best possible accuracy increase. You will also need ships with high base firepower to make it work better. The Node support will need to be entirely sparkled to be truly effective, or else they will not show up. (or miss 6/6 times.) Each sparkled ship increases accuracy and the chances of triggering, so optimize that to get the best results.

The Boss support is slightly different, since only the flagship will affect the chances of appearing. (Odds are high by default) This doesn't prevent you from sparkling them nonetheless. Accuracy is always welcomed.

DDs don't have huge ways of raising their firepower, so they may be better with a full set of radars or 2 of them. BBs will need 1 or 2 heavy caliber guns to approach the firepower cap, and a pair (or 3) of your two best radars. CVs work best with Dive Bombers. Those have the best damage output and should be equipped with your best radars once again.

Note that this will not be re-explained with other compositions for obvious reasons. It works the same way regardless the main fleet setup.

Node Guide
Node A: Depending on the enemy composition and your Air power, you may or not get Air Supremacy on this node. There are two compositions requiring 420 AS amongst the two. It doesn't matter that much since no one can pose a threat except maybe the Battleship Re-Class lying around. As a bonus, if you sent a support fleet, it can partially get the job done before the shelling phase. Go Line Ahead and eradicate this fleet.

Node D: You can encounter Black Wock Shooter on this node if you are unlucky. Thanks to the Diamond formation, their accuracy and power will suck most of the time. You can't get AS+ on this node however, as it requires at least 512 Fighter power. The other composition is nothing to worry about. Go Line Ahead and explode them.

Node E: Here is the node when most sorties will end. The mighty Battleship Re-Class Elite has many ways of damaging (if not one-shotting) your ships before they can even attack. The Airstrike and the Torpedo salvo are both dangerous and can lead to heavy damage instantly, especially in Line Ahead for the latter. Her shelling can also devastate any ship that isn't named Yamato/Musashi if well-aimed. This is why you need a sparkled fleet here. The support fleet plays a key role since it can reduce the number of targets and thus, leave more room to your ships to disable Re Elite as fast as possible. If you are extremely lucky, it can damage or even take her out, but don't expect that to happen in any of your runs. Go Line Ahead and pray.

After that, you can be led to the node L, which is a deadend with nothing inside. This means a big middle finger to you, your resources, your fleet and your sanity. If it's not the case, welcome to the Boss node.

Node N (Boss): This node could have been much more unforgiving if it wasn't for the formation you are facing. And indeed, the boss is in Diamond formation, which means shitty accuracy all across the board. If you brought the Boss support with you, it will prove to be even easier to succeed. Given the composition you have, the Sub will also be completely ignored. It's both a bad and good thing for you. You'll have 5 targets, and at the same time, S-rank will be out of reach. Go Line Ahead and kill this Wo Kai Flagship.

For the Last Dance, the AS requirement will be a bit higher, but the Re-Class Elite will no longer be here. This enemy composition can therefore be seen as slightly easier.

For shits & giggles, you can also attempt to run this map after clearing it, it has a possible third pattern which basically swaps out Wo Kai and Re Elite's positions.