Winter 2018 Event/E-7

Map Guide

 * ALL tagged and un-tagged ships are usable here. Un-tagged ship will remain untagged if sortied.
 * LBAS: Three Land Base Aerial Supports are available for sorties, but Enemy's air raids present.
 * 11+ range is required in order to reach the first boss node and 9+ for the 2nd . It is recommended to use Scout Planes in order to reach the specified range.
 * Unlike previous maps, there does not appear to be any historical routings on this map.
 * Like E-4, Friend Fleets are present on this map for both Boss nodes. There are also more friend fleets to see than previously (see below)
 * Note: For some sections of this page, the orders of difficulty abbreviations are C/E/M/H for Casual/Easy/Medium/Hard, respectively.

Historical Fleet: The Complete Leyte Gulf Assemble
What if Operation Sho-Gou was a success and the Leyte fleet didn't suffer any casualties? The following ships are confirmed to have a post-cap historical bonus:
 * CV(B): ,
 * CVL: ,
 * (F)BB(V):, , ,
 * CA(V):, ,
 * CL:, , ,
 * DD:, , , ,

The list currently does not show the complete list, but more will be added when they are confirmed.

Phases
The map can be divided into four distinct phases:
 * 1) Unlock the 1st Boss Node
 * 2) Defeat
 * 3) Unlock the shortcut between node - and -
 * 4) * (forced optional) Obtain the historical damage boost
 * 5) * Casual and Easy difficulties do not seem to have this Damage Bonus
 * 6) Defeat the Final Boss

Unlocking the 1st Boss Node
There are two parts:
 * Obtain A+ rank at node using fast-fleet CTF
 * Obtain Air Superiority (AS) 0/1/2/2 (C/E/M/H) time(s) during Land Base Air Raid.

A+ rank at node
 * Route:
 * Possible composition: 2 fBB/ 4 CV(B) + CL/ 2 DD/ 0-2 CLT/ 0-2 CA/ 0-1 CVL* (fast)
 * (*)For the CVL in escort case, it is recommended only if you have night planes.
 * CTF is highly recommended. The fighter power required to obtain AS is 558/624/858/912 (C/E/M/H). Usage of LBAS (range 9+) is recommended if you wish to obtain AS while having functioning carriers.
 * At least one OASW ship is suggested to tackle the submarine on.

Obtain Air Superiority from Air Raid
 * Set your LBAS to "defense mode" and equip all your LBAS with as many fighters and interceptors as possible. For air-defense fighter power, refer to this link for its stat (Air-defense, Calc AA. column):
 * As you will likely send your LBAS to node Q, these two steps are done separately. Keep sorting into the map until you obtain AS. It is recommended to use a cheap fleet.
 * An unorthodox option is to use a single/strike fleet of fodder ships (level 1) as scapegoats to trigger air raid, for the greater good.

Defeating

 * Route:
 * Possible composition: 4 fBB / 0-2 CVL / 0-1 CV(B) / 0-1 CAV + CL / 2 DD / 1-2 CA(V) / 0-2 CLT / 0-1 CVL* (fast)
 * (*)For the CVL in escort case, it is recommended only if you have night planes.
 * Notes:
 * Obtaining AS at boss node requires 0-162/162-198/198/225 only, but node T requires 303/555/660/687. As such, you will still be equipping your carrier(s) with full fighter planes to deal with node T.
 * Multiple Torpedo Cut-in (TCI) and an Anti-air cut-in (AACI) ships are recommended.
 * LBAS requires 11+ range to reach boss node. As such, it will require  to work properly. Possible usages are as followed:
 * 0-1 base of to attack node N
 * 2-3 bases of 3 Bombers + 1 Boat to node V

Pathways
It is possible to do both pathway and historical bonus unlocks using similar fleets so both objectives will be combined:

Unlocking the shortcut between nodes H-K and B-D differs depending on difficulty: The guidelines below will be based on Medium/Hard. You are bound to reach node D no matter which difficulty.
 * Casual: S-rank nodes H and D
 * Easy: S-rank node H, A+-rank node G(?), defeat(?)/reach node D
 * Medium/Hard: S-rank node G, H, and obtain AS at node I

Historical Bonus

 * Obtain an A+ rank at node Q (use slow STF) and S rank nodes M and W (use Fast STF) You may have to make it to node X as well. You should hear a Quest Complete sound upon returning to Base if done successfully.
 * Note: Casual and Easy difficulties do not seem to have this Damage Bonus, so players on these difficulties should skip this step.

Fleet Composition

 * Pathway: Node G and I Fleet Composition
 * Pathway and Bonus:Node H and Node M & W Fleet Composition
 * Bonus:Node Q Fleet Composition