User blog:提督・ウサギ/Major Event Preparation Guide for Admirals (OUTDATED)



Introduction
Greetings all Admirals! Welcome to Shinhwalee/Death Usagi's Guide to Preparing for Major Events. This Guide was made in order to help all Admirals new or old alike in order to prepare for the Seasonal Major Events (Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall) that takes place every year.

This Guide will cover everything from training your ships, Equipment setup, gaining resources, which ships should be prepared and are mandatory for the Event to have an easier time in Branching Rules, Event Map mechanisms, and to prepare you for the worst in regards to the Event.

The current version of this guide is in regards to the Fall 2015 Event which is estimated to start on Early November.

Fall 2015 Event: What we know so far

 * Real Campaign Referenced: Battle of Kolombangara
 * Operation Name: N/A
 * Event Overall Difficulty: Middle Scale
 * Total Maps to Clear: N/A (Approximately 5 if Mid-scale)
 * Event Start Date: November 18th, 2015
 * Event Period: 2 Weeks
 * Event Ship Rewards: N/A
 * Difficulty Selection System is available.
 * A New ship who participated in Night Battle with Kawakaze, also with Maikaze + Nowaki is hinted to be released (Reward or Drop unknown).
 * Another Foreign "Large" Ship hinted to be released (Reward or Drop unknown). (See Here)

Just what is a Seasonal Major Event?
It is a limited-time Event (3 to 4 weeks mostly) that lets you go through a major operation to clear difficult maps while obtaining Major Exclusive-Rewards that are only available from the Event which includes Ships, Equipments, and sometimes an Item, which takes place every season Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.

Events are also known as the only place where some ships that are impossible to obtain from normal maps or requires to be constructed become obtainable in the Event Maps (Ex. Unryuu, Isokaze, Harusame). Events also start dropping previous Event Reward-only ships in some maps after about 2 Events.

These events are based on real World War campaigns that the Japanese War Ships have participated in the past and some Bosses seem to be apparently based on some of the ships that actually sunk during the real campaign (Ex. Light Cruiser Oni = Naka + Agano, Destroyer Princess = Harusame).

An Event's scale is scaled from Small, Medium and Large.

If we take a look at examples of previous events that took place; Most Admirals participated in these Events to challenge themselves using the Ship Girls they have worked hard to raise while obtaining exclusive rewards which they can enjoy raising.
 * Small Event: Fall 2014 Kon Operation - Was known to be easy and small. Requires moderate to high preparation, so even newbie Admirals with some amount of preparation should be able to clear it in Easy mode. Contained only 4 Maps. (3 Main + 1 Extra)
 * Medium Event: Winter 2015 Operation Hailstone - First Event that introduced the Difficulty Selection System, while introducing a more difficult boss than AL/MI Event (Battleship Water Oni + 2 Battleship Princess at once, but only in Hard difficulty). Requires very high preparation. Contained 5 Maps. (3 Main + 2 Extra)
 * Large Event: Summer 2015 SN Operation - The most recent event that only 45% of the participating playerbase was able to complete. Was practically known as one of the most sanity draining and totally absurd Event of all times for all players due to its extremely high difficulty, bad rewards, and the Final Boss being literally difficult to take down even in Easy due to her absurd stats (333 Armor for Hard mode). Large Events require extensive preparation of tons of resources including Buckets where not even 500 Buckets might not be enough. Contained 7 Maps while the Boss itself was extremely difficult as you faced Anti-Air Princess and Battleship Princess (2 copies in case of Hard mode) at once while required to kill the Flagship Battleship Princess 8 TIMES, after going through separate nodes in the map called node X and Y which gave a special effect for one day against the Boss where her Armor and stats become reduced. Also the fact Ship Locking limited the amount of ships you were allowed to use (For Medium and Hard only).

One thing to note is that majority of Reward Ships & Equipment that you obtain from clearing each Event Map are very good in stats and the ships themselves have very good stock equipments (Ex. Prinz Eugen who was a reward for Fall 2014 Event E-3, has extremely good Guns and Radar), which makes it worth trying to obtain them for yourself.

Event Participation requirements

 * Must have a 75% sortie win ratio
 * Must have 5 empty ship slots for new ships
 * Must have 20 free equipment slots

Special Event Mechanics

 * 1) Combined Fleet (Click to see the details)
 * 2) Effective Line of Sight requirements on all maps to reach Boss or certain routes.
 * 3) Ship Locking: A mechanism where if a ship participates in a certain Event map, that ship cannot participate in the other maps until the semi-final and the final maps. (Ex. A ship that participates in E-1 or E-2 cannot participate in E-3, but may be able to participate in E-4 or E-5). Very critical towards players who do not have a large pool of properly trained ships to use in the Event. Does not apply to Admirals who only go through Easy mode.
 * 4) Branching Rules: You must follow specific requirements in Fleet Composition in order to head into a more simpler and better route in the Event Maps. This includes the Type of Ship (Ex. CAV, CL, SS, Akitsu Maru), and whether Slow or Fast Ships are included in your Fleet, along with how many of them you have in your fleet.
 * 5) Special Specific Ship(s) Branching Rules: A mechanism introduced in the recent Events. Some of the Event maps follow the actual history in which ships have participated in the campaign referenced during the war. Using the ships that are in the game which have participated in the campaign historically had a special branching rule set upon them. When the Developers reveal what the Event will be referenced on, it is recommended to read the historical summaries behind the campaign referenced and see if any of the ships that currently exist in the Game have participated in the campaign. Using the ship(s) may lead the player to a better route in the Event (The special branching rule is mostly revealed after about 2~3 days after the Event starts).
 * 6) * Winter 2015 E-4: Using Naka/Agano or Maikaze+Nowaki have led the players down to another easier route.
 * 7) * Spring 2015 E-5: Using Suzuya + Kumano, Mogami + Mikuma, Or Choukai/Yura + Ryuujou have led the players down another easier route, letting the players avoid an Aerial Combat node, decreasing the amount of battles they had to go through to reach the boss.
 * 8) * Summer 2015 E-7: Using Akitsumaru OR Akitsushima enabled going through a guaranteed route while using Surface Task Force Combined Fleet.

What is the Difficulty Selection System?
The Difficulty Selection System was a new system introduced in the Winter 2015 Event.

In the past, the Event difficulty was determined depending on your HQ Level. Because of this, many Admirals have tried to sustain their HQ Level at low levels and not have them be raised as much as possible so that they can avoid the Hard difficulty of the Event.

Now the Event will let you choose your difficulty. Except the more harder difficulties are only available to Admirals with high HQ level. The Event will have 3 ranks: Easy (丙), Medium (乙), Hard (甲).
 * HQ Level 35 unlocks Medium, HQ Level 80 unlocks Hard.
 * You can choose the difficulty in each map separately.
 * Different difficulties give different medals, equipment and materials when clearing the maps.
 * This was not the case in the past as rewards were the same for all difficulties.
 * Ships rewards will appear regardless of the difficulty.
 * Difficulties probably affect drop rates, but most drops are possible on any difficulty.
 * When the difficulty is changed, the boss's health bar will be reset.
 * Once the map is cleared (boss HP bar is depleted and killed),  You CANNOT go back and change the difficulty .
 * The First Class Medal symbol (the one that appears beside your name in your Admiral page) is given, along with the medal item (the one in your inventory) the moment you clear the final map on hard, regardless of the difficulties chosen for previous maps.
 * It is highly advised that if a ship you would like to obtain is available in Easy mode of the map, you should spam the map in Easy mode to have an easier time doing the map while not putting too much strain on your resources. When the Boss Health Bar is near its end, reset the difficulty (Ex. Easy to Medium then back to Easy immediately) to continue if you still have not finished.
 * You will not be able to jump up the difficulty from Easy -> Hard after a map. To be able to use "Hard" setting, you must clear the previous map either on Medium or Hard itself. Only jumping up two difficulty levels is not allowed, other combinations stick to the old rules 
 * 【 BAD 】 Easy  >  Easy  >  Hard  (not possible because easy jumped to hard)
 * 【OK】 Easy  >  Medium  >  Hard 
 * 【OK】 Medium  >  Easy  >  Medium 
 * 【OK】 Medium  >  Medium  >  Hard 
 * 【OK】 Hard  >  Hard  >  Easy 
 * 【OK】 Hard  >  Hard  >  Medium 

PLAYERS BEWARE: Some Drops will not be available in the lower difficulties
 WARNING : During Winter 2015, Spring 2015 Event, and Summer 2015 Event, some ships were revealed to be only available as drops in Medium and Hard difficulty, or just Hard difficulty alone, and were 100% NOT Available in Easy difficulty. This should be taken into consideration if you plan on farming some ships from the Event Maps.

I am truly sorry to say that for Admirals below Level 80 HQ, since you cannot access Hard difficulty, you may have to give up on getting a ship drop from the Event if she is revealed to be only available on Hard difficulty. If she is available in Medium also, then even if you don't want to do Medium since it is hard for you, if you really want the ship badly, you might as well try :s

Prepare as much as Resources as possible!
This is the most basic of the basics when it comes to preparing for Events.

It is strongly advised that you prepare at least the following minimum amount of resources to prepare for the Event:

Admirals who will be doing Easy mode straight all the way

 * Fuel: At least 30,000 to 50,000
 * Ammo: At least 30,000 to 50,000
 * Steel: At least 30,000 to 40,000
 * Bauxite: At least 15,000 to 30,000
 * Instant Repair Bucket: At least 200 to 300

Admirals who will be doing Medium or Hard mode, or mix of both
The basis of the minimum resources stated above is that  YOU WILL NOT BE RUSHING THROUGH THE EVENT  and will take things slowly and patiently throughout the Event period. If you plan on rushing through the Event, you will probably need a lot more than the stated above.
 * Fuel: At least 50,000 to 70,000
 * Ammo: At least 50,000 to 70,000
 * Steel: At least 70,000 to 100,000
 * Bauxite: At least 20,000 to 40,000
 * Instant Repair Bucket: At least 250 to 500

Admirals who wish to rush through the Event + Farm the Maps for Drops in Medium / Hard:

 * Fuel: At least 70,000 to 120,000
 * Ammo: At least 70,000 to 120,000
 * Steel: At least 80,000+
 * Bauxite: At least 30,000 to 50,000
 * Instant Repair Bucket: About 700+

Which Expeditions to do to gain these resources?
This all depends on how much expeditions you have pulled through and I hope you have been diligently trying to unlock as much as Expeditions as possible. If not then now is the time to open up new Expeditions as soon as possible.

Expeditions with Best Cost-Benefit Rates:
Show/Hide Expedition Table with Best Cost-benefit Rates

Beginner Admirals

 * If you are able to access the game as much as possible:
 * Fuel + Ammo + Bucket Combo: 2 / 5 / 21
 * Fuel + Ammo + Bucket + Bauxite Combo: 2 / 6 / 5 or 21
 * Fuel + Ammo + Bucket + Steel Combo: 2 / 3 / 5 or 21
 * If you must AFK a lot due to work or school:
 * Fuel + Ammo + Bucket + Bauxite Combo: 9 / 11 / 13

Veteran Admirals

 * If you are able to access the game as much as possible:
 * Fuel + Ammo + Bucket + Steel Combo (Fuel Focused): 2 / 21 / 38
 * Fuel + Ammo + Bucket + Steel Combo (Ammo Focused): 2 / 21 / 37
 * Ammo + Bucket + Steel + Bauxite Combo: 2 / 6 / 37
 * Fuel + Ammo + Bucket + Steel + Bauxite Combo: 2 / 6 / 38
 * If you must AFK a lot due to work or school:
 * Fuel + Ammo + Bucket + Bauxite Combo: 9 / 24 / 40
 * Bauxite Focused: 11 / 15 / 36

Ships to consider using when doing Expeditions
You should consider using the ships stated below in order to save resources even if they seem minor compared to standard consumption rates. In the long run it will save you a lot of resources, especially when more larger consumptions are involved (Ex. Expedition 37 and 38)

Destroyer (DD)

 * Mutsuki-class [Regular, Kai, and Kai Ni] (Lowest Ammo Consumption): Recommended for expeditions that has ammo consumptions.

Light Cruiser (CL)

 * Tenryuu and Tatsuta [Non-Kai] (Lowest Ammo Consumption): Recommended for expeditions that requires CL.
 * Abukuma Kai Ni: Allows use of 3 Daihatsu Landing Craft for 15% Extra Bonus in Resource Gain from expedition she participates in.

Heavy Cruiser (CA)

 * Aoba, Kinugasa, Kako, and Furutaka [Non-Kai] (Lowest Ammo Consumption). Recommended for expeditions that requires CA (Expedition 35).

If Expedition requires Aircraft Carrier (CV)

 * Houshou (CVL) (Lowest Fuel and Ammo consumption): Recommended for Expeditions that require CV(L) (Ex. Expedition 15 and 35)


 * Chitose (AV) and Chiyoda (AV) [Non-Kai] (Lowest Fuel and Ammo Consumption). Recommended for Expeditions that requires CV(L) or AV specifically. (Ex. Expedition 36 and 40).

Submarines (SS)

 * All non-remodeled Submarines, especially Maruyu should be considered to be used in Expeditions with the "Any Ships" option as they have very low fuel and ammo consumption (Ex. Expedition 2 and 6). You can choose to use SSVs for Expeditions that do not have any Ammo consumptions (Ex. Expedition 2, 5, 9)

Orel Cruising (World 2-3)
Great way to obtain Fuel and Ammo, although it is mostly Fuel focused. The map has two nodes available majority of the time that will give you around 15 to 45 fuel per node. Recommended to use about 2 to 3 Submarines above level 20+ that are non-remodeled but maxed in stats via modernization. If you have U-511 or Ro-500 along with two New High Pressure-Temperature Steam Boiler, she can solo the map to obtain resources, which is very profitable in terms of gain and loss. ''' DO NOT USE SSV! '''

Bashi Island (World 2-2)
Somewhat good way to obtain some extra Bauxite. Recommended to use 2 to 3 Submarines above level 20+ as well, but beware you may be led to node A, where there are some potential enemies in Echelon or Line Abreast Formation that can wreck your Submarines, forcing you to retreat.

Kis Island (World 3-2)
Good way to obtain to 50 to 150 Steel in node B. However somewhat risky as node A has Light Cruiser Ho-class Flagship or Destroyer Ro-class Flagship who are equipped with SONAR and Depth Charge, and due to the patch on January, you cannot gain the steel from node B unless you fight in node C (Which should be a piece of cake for Submarines).

Getting more Resources: Sparkling
Using a Sparkled Fleet for your Expedition gives the potential to gain 50%+ more resources than the default resource given. For players who wish to gain more resources than the normal amount, they should consider using a fully Sparkled fleet for more resource gain.

However please do mind that it is 50 percent Bonus, which means that if the original value of the resource given is low, then it might not be a good idea to use a sparkled fleet for that expedition (Ex. using a sparkled fleet for Expedition 2 isn't exactly a good idea as the sparkled fleet's morale will deplete fast).

However if you are desperate for resources and let's say you need Bauxite (Because it's practically one of the hardest resource to gain fast as compared to Fuel and Ammo), then using a Sparkled Fleet for Expedition #6 can be somewhat good if you are willing to sparkle the fleet quite a lot (120 bauxite per 40min). NOTE: Daihatsu Landing Craft (x2) were also included in Expedition 40

Preparations for the Event #2: Recommended Ships
Although you could use standard ships or some Kai Ni Ships, some ships are highly recommended to be used in Events.

Destroyer (DD)
Destroyers are very important as about 3 to 4 of them will be required to be used in maps requiring Combined Fleet while they will be responsible for taking down the enemy boss during Night Battle. Also, having at least one DD with Anti-Air Cut-In setup is practically mandatory to avoid getting bombed by Enemy aircrafts.
 * Fubuki Kai Ni: Remodel Level 70. Good AA stats among the DDs, high LoS, and solid stats. Remodel has rare equipment Type 94 Anti-Aircraft Fire Director, which is highly recommended as it is required to trigger Anti-Air Cut-In, which will help you quite a lot against enemy CVs.
 * Yuudachi Kai Ni: Remodel Level 55. Most Lowest Kai Ni Remodel Level. 1st Highest Firepower and 2nd highest Torpedo stats. Very effective in both Day Battle and especially Night Battle.
 * Shimakaze Kai: High Firepower and 1st Highest Torpedo stat. As good as Yuudachi Kai Ni in Day Battle and Night Battle.
 * Akatsuki Kai Ni: Good Firepower and 3rd Highest Torpedo stats among the DDs, along with high LoS stats (Which is highly preferred in World 2-5). Comparable to Shimakaze in terms of stats.
 * Ayanami Kai Ni: 2nd Highest Firepower and 4th highest Luck. A bit weaker Yuudachi but with high Luck stats. She is extremely great to use in your fleet for Torpedo and Firepower.
 * Yukikaze Kai: Highest Luck in the game (60), solid Firepower and Torpedo stats. Extremely good at night battle thanks to consistent Cut-in attacks.
 * Hatsushimo Kai Ni: Remodel Level 70. 2nd Highest Luck (53). Average Firepower and Torpedo stats, but good Anti-Air stats and gives Type 91 Anti-Aircraft Fire Director. Good for AACI and Night Battles for Cut-in Attack.
 * Shigure Kai Ni: Remodel Level 60. 3rd Highest Luck (50). Very Versatile to be used for both Anti-Air and Night Battle Cut-In. Has great Firepower and Torpedo stats.
 * Akizuki: Has the highest Anti-Air stats (able to go up to 140 AA stats) in the entire game. Able to use Anti-Air Cut-In without a Anti-Aircraft Fire Director. However she is only available to players who have cleared Fall 2014 Event .
 * Teruzuki: Akizuki's sister and has 2nd highest Anti-Air stats in the entire game. Able to use Anti-Air Cut-in without a Anti-Aircraft Fire Director.  However she is only available to players who have cleared Summer 2015 Event. 

Light Cruiser (CL)
Please be advised that some Event Maps will have Branching Rules to have 1-2 CLs to be in your fleet for you to go to a more easier route in the map.
 * Sendai Kai Ni: Remodel Level 60. Great stats. Gives you the full Night Battle Equipment Package.  Highest priority to level! 
 * Naka Kai Ni: Remodel Level 48. Lowest Kai Ni Remodel Level. Has very good stats.
 * Jintsuu Kai Ni: Remodel Level 60. Highest Firepower and Torpedo stats out of all CLs.
 * Isuzu Kai Ni: Remodel Level 50. Loses the ability to use Artillery Spotting due to loss of Plane Slots. She still does have very high Anti-Submarine stats and Anti-Air. Also, due to the recent update, she becomes enabled to use Anti-Air Cut-In without needing to equip an Anti-Aircraft Fire Director like Akizuki and Teruzuki.
 * Ooyodo Kai: 4 Equipment slots. Very good Anti-Air stats, Highest LoS stat, and very versatile. However she has very low Torpedo stats (in fact she starts off with 0 Torpedo stats when Level 1), making her effectiveness in Night Battle a bit low than most Light Cruisers. However she also has 30 Luck, which means she can be utilized to use a Night Battle Cut-In Attack. She is currently known to drop in World 1-6. She also gives the Equipment: Fleet Command Facility which enables you to retreat Heavy Damaged Ships + 1 Destroyer when Combined Fleet is involved, which will make your life easier when doing the Event.  Highest priority to Obtain and level! 
 * Kuma Kai: High Firepower and Torpedo stats. As good as Kai Ni Sendai-class ships. Alternative for players who do not have the time to raise Sendai-class to Kai Ni.
 * Nagara and Natori Kai: High Firepower and Torpedo stats. Equivalent to Kuma in stats. As good as Kai Ni Sendai-class ships. Alternative for players who do not have the time to raise Sendai-class to Kai Ni.
 * Yuubari Kai: Not exactly the best CL you would use due to her low armor and HP along with Evasion, also the fact she cannot even utilize Artillery Spotting as she has 0 Plane Slot stats. However she is very useful if you don't really have any other CLs and require some diversity. She is mostly used for either Anti-Air Cut-In, Anti-Submarine, or Night Battle specifically.
 * Abukuma Kai Ni: She is a CL who can equip the Daihatsu Landing Craft similar to AVs which means that you can practically equip her with 3 copies of them for Expeditions. Another fact is that she can equip Type A Ko-Hyoteki like CLTs, but she herself is NOT a CLT and still remains a CL. This can be put into a huge advantage when some maps do not allow you to bring CLTs (Ex. Summer 2015 Event E-6 and E-7). Abukuma however requires a Blueprint to become Kai Ni, but it is a very good investment and is considered  Highest priority  to obtain as soon as possible.

Torpedo Cruiser (CLT):

 * Kitakami Kai Ni: Remodel Level 50. Highest Torpedo stat in the entire game. Attacks with a preempetive torpedo strike by having Type A Ko-Hyoteki equipped. Has 30 Luck which means consistent Night Battle Cut-In attack and even with Double Attack via two Main/Secondary Cannons, the damage is very deadly.  Highest priority to level! 
 * Ooi Kai Ni: Remodel Level 50. Equivalent to Kitakami Kai Ni except Ooi has low Luck, which means she is mostly good for Double Attack during Night Battle. Attacks with a preempetive torpedo strike by having Type A Ko-Hyoteki equipped. Good to use along with Kitakami.
 * Kiso Kai Ni: Remodel Level 65. Lower Torpedo stats than Kitakami and Ooi. Has more balanced stats. Usually used either when Ship-Locking is involved and you want to save your Kitakami and Ooi for later harder maps.

Heavy Cruiser (CA)

 * Maya Kai Ni: Remodel Level 75. 2nd highest Anti-Air stats in the game. Comes with Type 94 Anti-Aircraft Fire Director, enabling Anti-Air Cut-In. She can use Anti-Air Cut-In with 25mm Triple Autocannon Mount (Concentrated Deployment), Anti-Air Gun (Ex. 12.7cm Twin High-angle Mount), and an AIR RADAR.  High priority to level! 
 * Choukai Kai Ni: Remodel Level 65. Currently the CA with the highest Firepower. Comes with very good stock equipments such as Skilled Lookouts, which increases Cut-in Attack rate during Night Battle, and Type 22 Surface RADAR Kai 4, which is an extremely rare Radar that can be used on Destroyers.  However she requires a Blueprint to become Kai Ni. 
 * Myoukou, Haguro, Nachi, Ashigara Kai Ni: The most elite CAs in the game. They all have extremely good stats. Highly recommended to use any of the 4.
 * Aoba Kai: She is the only common CA to have high luck next to Myoukou Kai Ni. She was considered a good asset in Summer 2015 Event for Admirals who lacked Prinz Eugen as Aoba was able to have somewhat good trigger rate of using Torpedo Night Cut-In Attack in E-7 Boss. For Admirals who are lacking Prinz Eugen, it is recommended to have her ready just in case something similar to the last event occurs where you need several consistent Night Battle Torpedo Cut-in Ships
 * Prinz Eugen Kai: Has the highest Luck out of all CAs which means she is viable to use consistent Night Battle Cut-In Attack. Great Stats also and has the highest HP out of all CAs.  However she is only available to players who have cleared Fall 2014 Event .

Aviation Cruiser (CAV)
Required majority of the time for Branching Rules for Event Maps and especially when used in maps that require Combined Fleet that will lead you to a more easier and simple route in the Map. Usually 2 CAVs are required.
 * Tone and Chikuma Kai Ni: Remodel Level 70. Highest LoS stats, great Firepower, Torpedo and Anti-Air stats. Very good to use when Effective Line of Sight mechanism is involved in the Maps and it has a high requirement. However both requires a Blueprint to become Kai Ni.
 * Mogami-class Kai: Alternative to using Tone and Chikuma Kai Ni if you are unable to level Tone and Chikuma or remodel them to Kai Ni. Moderate stats but low resource consumption rate. Mogami has Level 10 Remodel Level while Mikuma has Level 30 Remodel Level. Suzuya and Kumano both have Level 35 Remodel level.

Battleship (BB)

 * Kirishima Kai Ni: Remodel Level 75. 4th Highest Firepower out of the entire Battleship-class, even higher than Nagato-class.
 * Haruna Kai Ni: Remodel Level 80. Has the highest Luck out of all Battleships, giving you the option to use Night Battle Cut-In Attack with 3 Main Cannons. Also has the high Evasion stats.
 * Kongou and Hiei Kai Ni Remodel Level 75 for both. They are recommended to have in your fleet, as they are balanced Fast Battleships which will help you.
 * Bismarck Drei: Has Torpedo stats, increasing her battle capability in Night Battle.  However she is only available by LSC and requires 2 Blueprints to reach Drei. 
 * Yamato & Musashi: Strongest Battleship of the entire game in Firepower and Armor.  However they are only available by LSC and they have very high resource consumption rate. They aren't really required in order clear the Event, although they are more sturdy compared to the other Battleships, giving them higher survivability.
 * Nagato & Mutsu: Standard Battleships that are very good to use for all players. If you have them, consider using them as they are bit more sturdy and have very high Firepower. One of the things special about them is that they gain accuracy bonuses from using 41cm Twin Gun Mount.
 * Italia & Roma: New Italian Fast Battleships given as reward and drop respectively (Inb4 Roma doesn't exist) during the Spring 2015 Event. They are very excellent ships, more powerful than the Kongou-class and Nagato-class in Firepower and having Long-range like Yamato-class. Don't be fooled because their Italian 381mm guns have -1 or -3 Accuracy stats. That's only the case if equipped on other ships, but if equipped on Italia and Roma respectively, that's when their true potential comes out thanks to equipment fitting bonus. More better if upgraded via Akashi's Improvement Arsenal. The downside to these two is the fact their Remodel costs a Blueprint. If you have obtained one or both of them, you should consider using them next Event.

Aviation Battleship (BBV)
They are considered Slow Battleships, so for players who do not own Nagato nor Mutsu, they may consider using BBVs instead to fill that requirement, especially when a Branching Rule requires Slow Battleships to be included in the fleet.
 * Fusou / Yamashiro Kai Ni: Remodel Level 80. They have great Firepower stats as good as Kai Ni Kongou-class and Nagato-class. They have a (23) Aircraft Slot on their 4th Equipment Slot which can support Air Superiority Power by equipping them with your best Seaplane Bomber with high Anti-Air stats.  However they require Blueprint to become Kai Ni. 
 * Ise/Hyuuga Kai: Mostly the Beginner's Battleship, so I am sure you have used either of them a lot during your starting days. They are only recommended if you really have no choice because you lack the other Battleships mentioned beforehand. Otherwise you may considering using either of the two if Ship Locking happens as it is more recommended to save your important ships for later maps. Beware Ise and Hyuuga's Firepower is very low (They have practically the same amount of base Firepower as Heavy Cruisers).

Aircraft Carrier (CV)
It is worth noting that if you use the Surface Task Force (水上部隊) option in Combined Fleet, '''you may only use 1 CV. If you use The Carrier Task Force (機動部隊) option, then you may bring up to 4 CV'''. This is important as gaining Air Superiority will be important in the Event as there will most likely be Wo-class Kai Flagship and maybe even Aircraft Carrier Princess or Demon (last 2 previous Event always had her appearing either as Semi-Boss or Boss itself), where you will most likely require high Air Superiority power if you want to enable Artillery Spotting Effects for your fleet. However beware that Carrier Task Force option makes your 2nd Fleet which consists mostly of CL, CLT, DDs attack first.
 * Kaga Kai: 1st best CV in the entire game in terms of HP and Air Superiority power. She is highly recommended to level and to be used in the Event. Recommended to use 3 Reppuu + 1 Bomber during Events.
 * Akagi Kai: 3rd best CV in the entire game in terms of HP and Air Superiority Power. She is obtainable from Quest B10. It is highly advised for players who did not do the Quest to do it immediately and power level her to Kai and max her stats via Modernization. Recommended to use 3 Reppuu + 1 Bomber during Events.
 * Taihou Kai: 2nd best CV in the entire game in terms of Air Superiority Power. She also has the special ability to attack even while in Moderate Damage which the other CVs cannot do.  However she is only available by LSC. 
 * Hiryuu and Souryuu Kai Ni: Kai Ni Remodel Level 77 and 78 respectively. Not exactly the best CVs in terms of Air superiority power as they have somewhat unbalanced set of Plane slots. However they give you extremely good stock equipments which makes them worth leveling up to Kai Ni. They also have the best Firepower, Anti-Air, and Evasion stats compared to other CVs, which makes them shine as Bombers than used for Air Superiority purposes.
 * Shoukaku Kai Ni: Her 1st to 3rd Plane Slots have increased by 3+, her Firepower is also extremely high, and her range has increased. She is practically the best CV this game can offer. However you require the Prototype Flight Deck Catapult from either Summer 2015 Event E-6 Medium and above, or from the new line of Quests that were released in a previous update. You may convert her to a CVB at Lv 88, but that is your choice.
 * Shoukaku Kai Ni A: A conversion at Level 88 which turns Shoukaku into a CVB (Armored Aircraft Carrier). This decreases her plane slots and makes them unbalanced. However just like Taihou, she gains the ability to launch planes even at Medium-Damage. It is also stated that she will be able to use a new generation of aircraft: Jets, in a later update.
 * Zuikaku Kai Ni: Her plane slots are a bit different than her sister Shoukaku but still high class CV, best of the best. Her stats are very similar to her sister Shoukaku. However you require the Prototype Flight Deck Catapult, which must be obtained from the new Quests, unless you saved the copy from Summer 2015 Event for Zuikaku herself.
 * Zuikaku Kai Ni A: A conversion at Level 90 which turns Zuikaku into a CVB (Armored Aircraft Carrier). This decreases her Plane slots and makes them unbalanced similarly to Hiryuu-class Kai Ni and Unryuu-class. However like Taihou and Shoukaku Kai Ni A, she can attack even in Medium Damage. It is also stated that she will be able to use a new generation of aircraft: Jet-based aircraft in a future update.

Light Aircraft Carrier (CVL)
It is worth noting that if you use the Surface Task Force (水上部隊) option in Combined Fleet, you may only use 2 CVL. If you want to use this option while having Air Superiority Power, then CVLs will become important factors.
 * Junyou Kai Ni: Remodel Level 80. Best CVL in the game at the current time. Has balanced Plane Slots which enables good Air Superiority power. Also gives you a free Reppuu. Also has highest Firepower, Anti-air, Armor and Evasion stats.
 * Chitose and Chiyoda Kai Ni: Remodel Level 50 for both. Very Balanced Plane slots, making them have good Air superiority power. They also have the highest HP out of all CVLs. Their stats are as good as Junyou Kai Ni. One thing to note is that they are considered " Fast Ships ", which may be an important factor in the Branching Rules.

Submarine (SS/SSV)
The last Event in Winter 2015 had a Branching Rule that involved players using a Submarine in E-5 for a better route in the Map, also the fact one of the bosses there, the Light Cruiser Demon, was in fact a CL, making the use of Submarine in your 2nd Fleet very viable so that your other ally ships would have an easier time while the boss herself attacked the Submarine all the time (LOL). It is always possible that use of Submarines may be involved again in the upcoming Event due to Branching Rules or maybe because of a Boss. However due to the fact majority of the enemies in the Event are Flagship-level DD/CLs, Tsu-class, along with Late Model Enemy DDs equipped with both SONAR and Depth Charge, using Submarines are very risky as they will be prone to getting Heavily Damaged easily by the enemies with ASW equipments.

There are only two Submarines that are worth using in the Event in case they are required:
 * U-511 / Ro-500: Highest Evasion Stats out of all Submarines. Ro-500's potential full Evasion especially is 93 by the use of two New High Pressure-Temperature Steam Boiler which may increase her survivability although it is still not guaranteed. Also the fact Ro-500 has the 2nd highest Luck out of all Submarines while even U-511 herself has the 3rd highest Luck. Using either forms should be considered.  However they are only available for players who have cleared E-3 from Winter 2015 Event and those who got U-511 from Spring 2015 Event E-6 and Summer 2015 Event E-5 as a Drop. 
 * I-58 (SSV): She was actually used the most in E-3 and E-5 of the Spring 2015 Event for those who preferred to bring a Submarine due to the Boss and the Branching Rules. She herself has the highest Luck of all Submarines, letting her do consistent cut-in attacks during night battle. She should be considered to be used by players who do not own U-511/Ro-500.

Seaplane Tenders (AV)
Although previous Events didn't exactly require players to use them, strangely enough the Developers have started releasing some new contents for the AVs (Ex. Akitsushima, World 6-3). It is recommended to prepare at least 1 just in case as no one knows what the Developers might come up with.
 * Chitose/Chiyoda AV: Pretty much your standard AV that you will be using if required. Their standard equipment setup is 2 Seaplane Bombers (Zuiun type 12, Prototype Seiran) and Type A Ko-Hyoteki. Even outside battles, they have their uses thanks to being able to equip Akitsumaru's Daihatsu Landing Crafts
 * Mizuho: New Ship from Summer 2015 Event. Has higher Plane capacity compared to Chitose/Chiyoda. Combat-wise, she is a bit more higher than them.  However she is only available to players who have obtained her as a Drop from the Summer 2015 Event .
 * Akitsushima: Not exactly the AV you would want to use because her Plane capacity is only ( 1 ) per equipment slot, which means she isn't good for extra air superiority nor does her planes last long if shot down during Aerial Combat phase. Also the fact unlike Chitose/Chiyoda, she cannot equip Type A Ko-Hyoteki nor can she use Daihatsu Landing Crafts. Her good point however is that she can equip the Type 2 Large-sized Flying Boat, which is known for its high Contact trigger rate and high LoS, and she can equip both SONAR + Depth charge, making her more useful in Anti-Submarine warfare (However unlike DD/CLs, she must equip a Seaplane Bomber or else she cannot attack submarines).

Akitsu Maru (LHA)
Akitsu Maru has been required for some branching rules in the Event Maps to go to a more simpler and easier route for several past Events. If you have her, it is highly recommended that you train her up to Kai and maximize her stats via Modernization. You never know when you might need her for to follow Branching Rules in the Event maps. She can also equip 3 Reppuu or other Fighter Planes which can help you gain more Air Superiority. She was practically one of the main keys in completing the Summer 2015 Event as she took the players to a consistent route while using the Surface Task Force Combined Fleet. Players who did not have her had to suffer at the mercy of RNG by going to the wrong route several times. Don't let this happen to you.

Preparations for the Event #3: Preparing your Equipments
Other than standard equipments you may obtain from majority of ships, some equipments are mandatory to be prepared to increase your success in clearing the map.

Night Battle Equipment
As stated before, the full package is available to you if you level Sendai to Kai Ni. The Night Battle Equipments are crucial to your success especially when Combined Fleet is involved, as your CA, CL(T), DDs and 1 FBB will be responsible in taking down the Enemy Boss (which will most likely be a Demon or Princess with an insane amount of Armor).

''' In Combined Fleet, the Night Battle Equipments must be equipped on the ships in the 2nd Fleet for the equipments to take effect during Night Battle! '''
 * Searchlight Star Shell
 * During Night Battle, used to support fleet's shelling.
 * Fleet's accuracy rate and cut-in rate increases while enemy fleet's cut-in rate decreases.
 * But, ship equipped with the searchlight is more likely to be targeted and hit by enemy ships.
 * Star Shell does not have demerits when triggered but has lower chance of triggering.
 * Searchlight can be equipped by Destroyer, Light Cruiser, Heavy Cruiser, Aviation Cruiser, Seaplane Tender, Battleship and Aviation Battleship.
 * Star Shell can be equipped by the ships stated above, Torpedo Cruiser, Repair Ship and Submarine Tender.
 * Night Reconnaissance Seaplane (Night Scout)
 * Similar to Recon Seaplane, but has additional effects during night battle.
 * Can trigger Night Contact which boosts your ships' attacks and critical rate.
 * Similar to Contact, Night Contact will trigger only with Air Superiority during the day, or if the battle begins at night.
 * Can trigger Artillery spotting during day battle but lower effect than normal recon planes.
 * Skilled Lookouts
 * Surface Ship Personnel.
 * Choukai Kai Ni Stock Equipment.
 * Increases cut-in chance and critical hit chance of the particular ship it's equipped with during Night Battle.
 * This equipment is optional.

Fleet Command Facility
Stock equipment of Ooyodo Kai. The Fleet Command Facility allows a Destroyer in the 2nd fleet of a Combined Fleet to escort a heavily damaged ship away from the sortie.

This equipment will most likely decrease the amount of times you will have to retreat from an Event Map when Combined Fleet is used.
 *  Must be equipped by the Flagship of the 1st Fleet  and needs a non-flagship DD not Heavy, Moderate, or Light damaged in the second fleet for it to give the option to escort the ship.
 * The DD doing the escort will be the first to meet the requirements. Positioning most important DDs last (or flagship) is recommended.
 * The screen will show up after [Results], and before the [Continue/Retreat] screen. The heavily damaged ship and another DD will show up, with green sentences. Left button will remove the damaged ship and a DD from combat and they will lose 25 morale. Right button will continue without escorting.
 * You cannot escort fleet flagships (Either in first fleet or second fleet).
 * Since the combined fleet mechanic only appears during events, the Fleet Command Facility currently has no use other than stats for the majority of gameplay.
 * Escorted (and escorting) ships cannot participate in combat and cannot be targeted.

Type 3 Shell
Does increased damage against "Installation type" bosses such as Airfield Princess, Isolated Island Demon, Northern Princess, and Midway Princess. This equipment should be highly considered to be developed during your Daily Development Quests in case an Installation-type Boss or Sub-Boss is included in the Event. Spring 2015 Event and World 4-5 should have taught us a lot about the usage of Type 3 Shell.

Type 91 / Type 1 Armor-Piercing (AP) Shell

 * Can be equipped by Battleship and Aviation Battleship. Increases firepower and accuracy.
 * Affects artillery spotting cut-in, Does not affect night double attack/cut-in.
 * When Armor Piercing Shell and Large Caliber Guns are equipped together, daytime shelling damage and accuracy are increased against enemies with thick armor and installation type bosses.
 * Type 1 AP Shell has higher stats than Type 91 shell, but only 2 can be obtained from quest. As of the January 23rd update, more Type 1 shell can be obtained by upgrading through Akashi's Improvement Arsenal.
 * Highly recommended in order to take down the Boss with more effectiveness.

Depth Charge &amp; SONAR
Mandatory when Enemy Submarines are involved or the Map itself is a Submarine map.
 * Using 1 Depth Charge + 2 SONAR is required for maximum output against enemy submarines.
 * In case of using Ooyodo Kai, Yuubari Kai, or Katori Kai who has 4 Equipment slots, then it is recommended to use 1 Depth Charge + 3 SONAR.
 * However they can also use 2 Main/Secondary Guns + 1 SONAR + 1 Depth Charge to be Surface Combat + Anti-Submarine Combat hybrids in case non-Submarine enemies are involved along with Enemy Submarines.
 * If you do not have either of the two or lacking some, it is recommended to spam 10/10/10/20 recipe for SONARs and 10/30/10/10 for Depth Charges. 10/30/10/31 recipe works as a hybrid recipe for getting either of the two.

12.7cm Twin High-angle Mount + Anti-Aircraft Fire Director

 * Upgraded from Type 94 Anti-Aircraft Fire Director via Akashi's Improvement Arsenal.
 * Enables Anti-Air Cut-in while equipped with AIR RADAR. Supplemented by Anti-Air Gun.
 * Unlike the 10cm Twin High-angle variant, this one is a Secondary Gun, making Double Attack being unavailable to the ship that equips it.
 * Only available for ships CL and above.

90mm Single High-angle Gun Mount

 * Available from Italia or Roma Kai.
 * Equivalent to the 12.7cm Twin High-angle Mount + Anti-Aircraft Fire Director.
 * Able to trigger Anti-Air Cut-In while equipped with AIR Radar. Supplemented by Anti-Air Gun
 * Secondary Gun, only equipable to CLs and above.
 * Viable to use for players who do not have the 12.7cm High-angle Mount + Anti-Aircraft Fire Director.

10cm Twin High-angle Mount + Anti-Aircraft Fire Director

 * Akizuki and Teruzuki stock equipment.


 * Can be upgraded from Type 94 Anti-Aircraft Fire Director through Akashi's Improvement Arsenal.
 * Enables Anti-Air Cut-in when equipped. Cut-in rate increases when an Air RADAR is also equipped.
 * Mandatory for at least 1 Destroyer or Light Cruiser in your fleet to be equipped with this equipment whenever an Enemy CV is involved.
 *  HIGH PRIORITY TO OBTAIN!!! 

Type 91 Anti-Aircraft Fire Director

 * Stock equipment of Hatsushimo Kai Ni.
 * Can be upgraded into the Type 94 Anti-Aircraft Fire Director, through Akashi's Improvement Arsenal.
 * Quest reward from D16.
 * Enables Anti-Air Cut-in when equipped along with a high-angle mount (main or secondary) (e.g 12.7cm Twin High-angle Mount) or Type 3 Shell. Cut-in rate increases when an Air Radar is also equipped.
 * Should be considered to be used if you cannot obtain the 10cm Twin High-angle Mount + Anti-Aircraft Fire Director.
 *  HIGH PRIORITY TO OBTAIN!!! 

Type 94 Anti-Aircraft Fire Director

 * Stock equipment of Fubuki Kai Ni and Maya Kai Ni.
 * Can be upgraded from Type 91 Anti-Aircraft Fire Director, and upgraded into 10cm Twin High-angle Mount + Anti-Aircraft Fire Director or 12.7cm Twin High-angle Mount + Anti-Aircraft Fire Director, through Akashi's Improvement Arsenal.
 * Enables Anti-Air Cut-in when equipped along with a high-angle mount (main or secondary) (e.g 12.7cm Twin High-angle Mount) or Type 3 Shell. Cut-in rate increases when an Air Radar is also equipped.
 * Should be considered to be used if you cannot obtain the 10cm Twin High-angle Mount + Anti-Aircraft Fire Director.
 *  HIGH PRIORITY TO OBTAIN!!! 

Carrier-Based Aircrafts: Dive Bomber / Torpedo Bomber / Fighter Planes
Players are recommended to try crafting some high-grade aircrafts for their CV and CVLs. They will increase the potential opening strike when they are required to be brought to the Event maps you are participating.

Reppuu / Shiden Kai Ni
Practically one of the Best Fighter Planes (10+ AA / 9+ AA & +3 Evasion) respectively) in the game. At least 3 copies should be considered to be equipped on each of your CV(L) to gain Air Superiority against the enemy, especially when the Enemy has powerful CV such as Aircraft Carrier Princess or Demon, who now appears quite frequently in the Event usually as a Semi-Boss. If you don't have any, please try to craft them immediately through Development using the 20/20/10/90 recipe with a CV as Flagship. HIGH PRIORITY TO OBTAIN!!! 

Ryuusei Kai
Currently the best Torpedo Bomber you can craft via Development. If players do not have any good Torpedo Bombers, nor Souryuu/Hiryuu Kai Ni, then try to craft at least about 9 copies of this.

Suisei (Comet) Model 12A
Currently the best Dive Bomber you can craft via Development. If players do not have any good Torpedo Bombers, nor Souryuu/Hiryuu Kai Ni, then try to craft some for assurance. Ryuusei Kai takes more priority though.

Aircraft Proficiency
The Aircraft Proficiency System (tentative name) is a system introduced in the August 10th, 2015 update along with the Summer 2015 Event which enables planes to acquire experience in sorties. This system applies to all aircraft in the game with the exception of autogyros and Liason Aircraft.

By acquiring experience from repeated sorties, pilots eventually gain ranks. As planes reach higher ranks, they acquire hidden stat bonuses that increase their overall effectiveness during battle.

Planes may lose their accumulated experience when they are shot down, which would downgrade their proficiency rank, or worse, strip them of their ranking emblems entirely. It is thus of imperative importance to send out your planes under the most favorable aerial situations whenever possible.

Fun Fact: Abyssal Planes DO NOT have aircraft proficiency.

For details please CLICK HERE

Akashi's Improvement Arsenal
This system is made for Akashi and Akashi Kai. If you have her as your secretary ship, you will be able to use Akashi's Improvement Arsenal.

By using Improvement Material (AKA Screws), Development Material and Resources, equipment can be improved and upgraded into a better equipment. Equipment that can be improved depends on the day of the week and the ship in the second slot.

Generally, it is known that main guns which get up to 9+ ★ will have increased Firepower and Accuracy.

Unless for collection purposes, it is NOT recommended to convert an equipment by upgrading a 10+ MAX ★ equipment, unless the converted equipment also has upgrades to 10 Max ★ available (Ex. 15.2cm Twin Gun Mount Kai has upgrades available even after being converted from the 15.2cm Twin Gun Mount 10 MAX ★), or if it converts to an equipment for equipment combination purposes (Ex. Upgrading a 10 MAX ★ Type 94 Anti-Aircraft Fire Director into 10cm Twin High-angle Gun Mount + Anti-Aircraft Fire Director for Anti-Air Cut-In purposes)

(Example: A 9+ ★ 35.6cm Twin Gun Mount will have much better Firepower and Accuracy compared to a standard Prototype 35.6cm Triple Gun Mount, which can't be upgraded via Akashi's Improvement Arsenal)

For Details, CLICK HERE!

See Also:

 * Equipment Guide
 * Combat


 * List of Torpedo Bombers by stats / List of Dive Bombers by stats / List of Fighters by stats

Preparations for the Event #4: Correct Equipment Setups
It has come to my attention that some newer Admirals are still not familiar with the proper equipment setups that are supposed to be used not only in regular runs, but also in Events. The following section will show Equipment setups that are practically mandatory to use in everyday runs and specifically in Events. If possible, don't use Equipment setup outside the ones that are shown below.

Battleship (BB) / Fast Battleship (FBB) / Aviation Battleship (BBV)
When against a Demon or Princess Boss, using Mixed Attack (Armor-Pierce) should be considered to deal more damage against them as they have an insane amount of armor that is very difficult to penetrate. In Combined Fleet, the Battleships' role is to deal heavy damage against the Boss and their supporting ships, so that the 2nd Fleet composed of CA, CL(T), and DD (0-2 Fast Battleships may also be added into the 2nd Fleet but this depends on Branching Rules) has more easier time finishing the boss off.

Double Attack (Anti-Installation-type) is only required if the Event has a Land Base Boss similar to Northern Princess or Midway Princess. Otherwise it is practically ignored.

Show/Hide Battleship (BB) Equipment Settings

Combined Fleet: Fast Battleship (FBB) in 2nd Fleet
If you are planning to use a Fast Battleship in the 2nd Fleet, there are only two ships that are highly recommended to use: Haruna Kai Ni and Bismarck Drei. Haruna Kai Ni has 41 Luck, enabling consistent Night Battle Cut-In Attack, while Bismarck Drei has Torpedo stats which means she can do a very powerful attack during Night Battle. You may just consider using a Kongou-class Fast Battleship with Double Attack setup, but beware because Battleships lack Torpedo stats, sometimes their damage output in Night Battle tends to be garbage due to RNG.

Show/Hide 2nd Fleet Fast Battleship Equipment Settings

PLAYERS BEWARE: Overweight Gun Penalty
This was introduced in the 2014/07/28 Update, where if a Battleship had too much heavy caliber guns that is actually over their capacity equipped on them, they would lose accuracy. This is VERY IMPORTANT, as when Combined Fleet is used, both sides will suffer some accuracy issues where your ships will have issues actually hitting the enemy. For more details, please CLICK HERE

It is highly recommended that you avoid using the 46cm Triple Gun Mount on Fast Battleships and stick with 35.6cm Twin Gun Mount (Prototype ones included) or 41cm Twin Gun Mount (Prototype included) on them. Just let Yamato-class use the 46cm Triple Gun Mount. I would in fact even try to avoid having Nagato-class use 46cm Triple Gun Mount if possible and use 41cm Twin Gun Mount instead, just to increase the accuracy potential.

Heavy Cruiser (CA) / Aviation Cruiser (CAV)
Heavy Cruiser or Aviation Cruiser are available to be added in both 1st and 2nd Fleet, depending on the Branching Rules. It should be mentioned that a Heavy Cruiser in the 2nd fleet will be practically responsible in taking down the Boss during Night Battle in Combined Fleet along with the DDs and CLs. Also, it is recommended that a Heavy Cruiser or Aviation Cruiser become the Flagship of the 1st fleet in case of using Fleet Command Facility during a map that involves Combined Fleet, as compared to Battleships, CA(V)s have less of a role when placed in the 1st fleet because it is mostly up to the Battleships to take down majority of the enemies during Day Battle, so the 4th slot is very important for the Battleships.

Players should take caution that Aviation Cruisers (CAV) equipped with Seaplane Bombers will attack Enemy Submarines if they exist in the Enemy Fleet. In this case, the player should equip the CAV with a Type 0 Recon Plane to avoid it attacking an Enemy Submarine. Also, Aviation Cruisers (CAV) in the 2nd Fleet  DOES NOT  send out Seaplane Bomber during Aerial Combat phase.

Heavy Cruiser (CA)
Show/Hide Heavy Cruiser (CA) Equipment Settings

Aviation Cruiser (CAV)
Show/Hide Aviation Cruiser (CAV) Equipment Settings

Show/Hide Aviation Cruiser (CAV) Equipment Settings

The Lucky Heavy Cruisers (Above 30 Luck)
Some Heavy Cruisers, which is in fact Aoba Kai, Myoukou Kai Ni, and Prinz Eugen Kai, have over 30 Luck which gives them the option to use Night Battle Cut-In Attack. However this is mostly only recommended if Night Battle Nodes (The ones where you start Night Battle right away instead of going through Day Battle first) are involved, and when you are forced to use a Fleet that only consists of Surface Ships such as BB, CA, CL, and DD where no Aircraft Carriers/Seaplane Tenders are allowed to be brought.

Always remember that Recon Seaplanes are required if there are ELoS requirements to reach Boss, but you may use a RADAR instead to meet the requirements. This means that when it comes to maps that do not allow CV(L)/AVs to be brought, you may consider taking out the Recon Plane and just use a RADAR.

Show/Hide Lucky Heavy Cruiser Equipment Settings

Anti-Air Heavy Cruiser: Maya Kai Ni
On March 13, 2015, Maya had received a Kai Ni which turned her into an Anti-Air focused Heavy Cruiser. She boasts the 2nd highest Anti-Air stats in the game with the 1st highest being Akizuki. Before, CAs could not utilize Anti-Air Cut-In without sacrificing Artillery Spotting and use a very crappy equipment setup. But now it is possible for CAs to utilize both Artillery Spotting and use Anti-Air Cut-In at once by using the 12.7cm Twin High-angle Mount + Anti-Aircraft Fire Director, although capabilities are still limited because Day Battle Double Attack is IMPOSSIBLE to use with Anti-Air Cut-In setup. However in the past, DDs were mostly the ones responsible for using Anti-Air Cut-In to shoot down enemy aircraft. However with Maya, it is now possible to use her to utilize a proper CA to use Anti-Air Cut-In.

Show/Hide Anti-Air Heavy Cruiser: Maya Kai Ni Equipment Settings

Light Cruiser (CL)
In a map that requires a single fleet, CLs will most likely be just required for Branching Rules, which means you don't necessarily need to use a CL unless required by that map. However in Combined Fleet, having at least 1 CL is MANDATORY (CLT doesn't count) in the 2nd Fleet. How you utilize your CL is up to you but using the correct Equipment setup is required.

Show/Hide Light Cruiser (CL) Equipment Settings

Light Cruisers with 4 Equipment Slots: Yuubari and Ooyodo
Yuubari and Ooyodo are known to have 4 Equipment slots despite being CLs. However both have one difference: the Aircraft Slot. Yuubari may have 4 Equipment Slots, but her Aircraft Slot stat is 0, which means she cannot utilize a Recon Seaplane and cannot gain any Artillery Spotting effects. Ooyodo however does have Aircraft Slot stats and it is actually quite big for a CL, which means she can utilize Artillery Spotting Effects via Recon Plane, such as using Double Attack. In fact because she has 4 slots, she practically has the same Double Attack trigger rate as CAs and BBs. Also the fact Ooyodo has very high LoS stats which will help you in Branching Rules that require high Effective Line of Sight (ELoS) requirements. Yuubari and Ooyodo can do either the same kind of roles or a different role due to their difference.

Ooyodo Kai
Show/Hide Ooyodo Kai Equipment Settings

Yuubari Kai
Show/Hide Yuubari Kai Equipment Settings

Torpedo Cruiser (CLT)
Torpedo Cruisers are extremely essential and required for any maps possible if they are allowed to be brought (Some maps blocks CLTs from entering). In Night Battle, they are practically One-Shot KO Boss Killers, especially Kitakami Kai Ni. One mandatory equipment that a CLT must always have is the Type A Ko-hyoteki, which enables the CLTs to do pre-emptive Torpedo Attack after the Aerial Combat phase.

Show/Hide Torpedo Cruiser (CLT) Equipment Settings

Destroyers (DD)
It has caught my attention for a while that a lot of the newer Admirals always have trouble giving Destroyers the proper Equipment setup. But in fact it is very simple. It should be noted that players should try to level up standard/common Destroyers at least, just in case Ship Locking mechanism happens in the Event. One thing to mention for sure is that in Combined Fleet, you need about 3 to 4 Destroyers in the 2nd Fleet.

Destroyers below 30 Luck stats
It has come to my attention for quite a while that a lot of people for some reason equip all of their Destroyers that are below 30 Luck stat with Torpedoes or 3 Main Guns. This is however  INCORRECT . If Destroyers (CL/CA included in fact) were equipped with Torpedoes alone, or along with Main Guns, this would make them use Night Battle Cut-In Attack, which they cannot consistently trigger if their Luck stat is very low as the trigger rate is completely Luck stat based. Ships below 30 Luck should be utilizing the Double Attack setup to be used in Night Battle which is a consistent and powerful attack.

Show/Hide Destroyers Below 30 Luck Equipment Settings

Destroyers below 30 Luck: Night Battle Cut-In Setup via Skilled Lookouts
Although above I have stated that Destroyers cannot use Night Battle Cut-In setup due to their Low Luck, there is an exception to this. You may equip the Skilled Lookouts which will increase the Cut-In Attack trigger rate for the ship that is equipped to, and ships with low luck is no exception to this. You may choose to equip Skilled Lookouts on a Destroyer below 30 Luck, but beware since their Luck is low in the first place, the trigger rate might be still low by a bit.

Show/Hide Destroyer Below 30 Luck Equipped with Skilled Lookouts Equipment Settings

Anti-Air Cut-In Destroyers
Ever since Akizuki's debut, the Anti-Air Cut-In system has come into play which enables the ship equipped with the correct setup able to shoot down several of the Enemy CV(L)'s Aircraft. In fact, sometimes you may even shoot down all of the Enemy bombers down to 0, which would totally disable the enemy CV from attacking due to them running out of Bomber Planes. This is extremely important and a very high priority as the Event will be infested with powerful CV Enemies such as Standard Carrier Wo-class Kai Flagship (Black Wo Shooter) and Aircraft Carrier Demon or Princess, who have powerful Air Superiority Power and Bomber Planes that can even potentially wreck your Yamato-class. This is where Destroyers equipped with Anti-Air Cut-In setup comes into play, where they try to protect your allied ships from getting bombed by the Enemy Aircraft.

Show/Hide Anti-Air Cut-In Destroyer Equipment Settings

The Lucky Destroyers (Above 30 Luck)
In contrast to Destroyers whose Luck stats are below 30, the Destroyers who have Luck above it have more versatility. This is because Destroyers above 30 Luck, especially the Goddess of Luck Yukikaze, who has 60 Luck, can utilize Night Battle Cut-In Attack quite frequently. However beware that Night Battle Cut-In is still RNG-based, where even Yukikaze can fail to initiate Night Battle Cut-In Attack...

Applicable Ships: Ayanami Kai Ni, Shigure Kai Ni, Hatsushimo Kai Ni, Ushio Kai Ni, Yukikaze Kai, and Any Destroyers who had their Luck raised up to 30 and above via Modernization by having 5x Maruyu Kai fed at once.

Show/Hide Lucky Destroyers (Above 30 Luck) Equipment Settings

Anti-Submarine Destroyer
Well, just your everyday Destroyer that sinks Enemy Submarines. You should all be familiar with this from doing all those World 1-5 runs at least. Always have 1 Depth Charge + 2 SONAR!

Show/Hide Anti-Submarine Destroyer Equipment Settings

Anti-Landbase Warfare Destroyer
After the introduction of WG42, it has become possible for Light Cruisers and Destroyers to be more effective in taking down a Landbase-type Enemy Boss such as Harbour Water Demon, Anchorage Water Demon, or Harbour Princess. However please note that WG42 is still less effective compared to Type 3 Shell, so if you aren't required to use Destroyers or Light Cruisers in your fleet in a map that has a Landbase-type enemy as the boss, just focus on using CA/BB with Type 3 Shell.

Show/Hide Anti-landbase Destroyer Equipment Settings

Aircraft Carrier (CV) / Light Aircraft Carrier (CVL) OUTDATED (THIS SECTION REQUIRES UPDATE)
The CV and CVLs are key players in gaining Air Superiority against the enemy through use of powerful Fighters, mainly through the use of Reppuu.

Simple Rule of thumb to follow for CVs: Always put your best Fighter (Mainly Reppuu or Shiden Kai-2) on the CV's most highest numbered Plane Slot (Ex. For Kaga and Akagi, it's their 3rd Equipment Slot). Also if you know that the map you will be entering will have lots of powerful enemy CVs (Ex. Standard Carrier Wo-Class Kai Flagship, Aircraft Carrier Princess/Demon), expect to have like 3 Reppuu equipped on the CV. In the most worst case, you may even have to equip 4 Fighters on a single CV, totally making her unable to attack and only used for gaining Air Superiority.

Another thing to mention is that because Light Aircraft Carriers are forced to attack enemy Submarines and suck at sinking them unless in Line Abreast with proper setup, you should try to avoid using CVLs in maps that have troll submarines unless 100% required due to Branching Rules, and if you do bring CVL because of such reasons, then I would personally recommend you to have it focused on gaining Air Superiority even if it costs the CVL being unable to participate in battle due to having 4 Fighter Planes equipped.

One warning is that if the Plane Slot number of CV's equipment slot of where the Dive/Torpedo Bomber is placed is too small (Ex. Hiryuu Kai Ni and Souryuu Kai Ni's 4th Slot is very small in plane slot number), in a long run, your bomber planes will be shot down left and right, which means the CVs that had Bomber Planes placed in an extremely low numbered slot will become unable to participate during Shelling Phase.

Kaga / Akagi / Shoukaku-class Kai
Show/Hide Kaga/Akagi/Shoukaku-class (CV) Equipment Settings

Taihou Kai
Show/Hide Taihou Equipment Settings

Hiryuu and Souryuu Kai Ni
Show/Hide Hiryuu/Souryuu Kai Ni Equipment Settings

Junyou Kai Ni
Show/Hide Junyou Kai Ni Equipment Settings

Chitose & Chiyoda Kai Ni (CVL)
Show/Hide Chitose/Chiyoda Kai Ni (CVL) Equipment Settings

Equipment to consider using for CV/CVL with 4th Equipment Slot with low plane capacity
Ships like Junyou Kai Ni, Ryuujou Kai Ni, Hiryuu Kai Ni, and Souryuu Kai Ni all have a 4th Equipment slot with very low plane capacity, which isn't exactly fit to have a single lone Bomber Plane equipped on it while the 1st to 3rd slots are filled with Fighter Planes, since the CV(L) would run out of Bomber Planes pretty fast and be unable to attack during the Shelling Phase.

In this case, it's either you have 2 Bomber Planes and 2 Fighter Planes equipped on the CV(L), or you pretty much use the ships stated above for Bomber purposes than Air Superiority purposes. However there are other equipments that are viable to use but it all depends on your preferences and choices.

Saiun

Show/Hide Saiun Equipped CVL Equipment Settings

If you would like to disable T-Crossed Disadvantage  (T字戦不利) from happening, then you may consider putting Saiun on your CV/CVL. However using Saiun has its Advantages and Disadvantages.

Advantage: Since  T-Crossed Disadvantage  has been disabled, you may be able to take down the enemy much faster, especially in the Boss node. This would also help the Support Expedition hit the enemy with a good amount of damage.

The Saiun also increases the chance of your planes to gain contact, which increases accuracy and damage.

Disadvantage:  T-Crossed Disadvantage  may be more preferable in the Pre-Boss nodes because it guarantees more survival for your ships as you will be getting out with minor damage. In the Pre-Boss nodes, the goal isn't exactly to defeat all enemies but to come out of there safely without any Heavy Damage and then reach the Boss node, which  T-Crossed Disadvantage  may help. Having  T-Crossed Disadvantage  disabled would mean you would be getting other Engagement Modifiers that may enable the Enemy to wreck one of your ships down to Heavy Damage (and remember, Engagement Modifiers apply to both allied and enemy side).

It is your choice of whether you want to use Saiun, but please take note of the Effective Line of Sight mechanism that may come into play during the Event, and you may want to consider using some Recon Aircrafts such as Saiun and Type 2 Recon Aircraft if there are some huge requirements.

Skilled Carrier-Based Aircraft Maintenance Personnel (SCAMP)

Show/Hide SCAMP Equipped CV Equipment Settings

SCAMP is obtained from Quest B28 which requires Unryuu Kai (who requires Blueprint to become Kai...). This increases the Shelling Firepower by 15+ for CV/CVLs. If you want to use a CV like Hiryuu Kai Ni for some powerful bombing, you may consider using SCAMP to increase her power. You may even consider equipping SCAMP on her when she is used for Support Shelling Expedition to increase her Firepower.

Submarines (SS/SSV)
As explained before, Submarines are only required if the Branching Rules requires it to be in your fleet or if the Boss is someone similar to Light Cruiser Demon and you want an easier time against the Boss. Otherwise there is absolutely no need to bring a Submarine in Combined Fleet or in a single fleet even if you were allowed to. Bringing a Submarine is not recommended because all of the Events are infested with Late Model Enemy Destroyers these days, along with Flagship-level CL, DD, and Light Cruiser Tsu-class, who are all equipped with both SONAR and Depth Charge which would practically wreck your Submarine with ease.

Usually Submarines are equipped with like two Torpedoes, but in Events, that is not exactly viable since the Submarine would definitely get wrecked into Heavy Damage quickly.

In Events, there are about three options you could use: 

Show/Hide Submarine (SS/SSV) Equipment Settings

Seaplane Tender (AV)
The Seaplane Tenders have few options to use when it comes to utilizing them in combat. However their stats aren't exactly that good in the end, so avoid using them unless 100% required due to Branching Rules.

Chitose/Chiyoda AV
As explained above, they have more diversity in equipment settings so if you are required to use an AV, you will definitely be using them.

Show/Hide Chitose/Chiyoda AV Equipment Settings

Akitsushima Kai
As explained beforehand, Akitsushima isn't exactly suited for Combat and is mostly used for LoS purposes or semi-ASW support.

Show/Hide Akitsushima Kai Equipment Settings

Akitsu Maru Kai (LHA)
As explained above before, Akitsu Maru is sometimes required due to Branching Rules (However other options do exist where you don't even have to use her, although things do become a bit more complex). However Akitsu Maru is totally useless when it comes to combat, that the only role she will have in the fleet is to have 3 Reppuu equipped to give 84+ Air Superiority stat for your fleet.

Show/Hide Akitsu Maru (LHA) Equipment Settings

Preparations for the Event #9: Leveling your Ships
We now know which ships are recommended and the good equipment setups that go with them. However now where to level the ships to Kai Ni or to satisfactory levels? All of these are available in the Tutorial: Leveling section, but I will just list a summary of places to level.

Maps where you can Level your Ship
Show/Hide List of Power Level Maps

{| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" id="mw-customcollapsible-powerlevel" ! scope="row" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 100px; height: 10px;"|Map ! scope="col" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 100px; height: 10px;"|Node(s) ! scope="col" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 150px; height: 10px;"|Type of Ships applicable for Flagship ! scope="col" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 150px; height: 10px;"|EXP (MVP + Flagship) ! scope="col" style="width: 300px; height: 10px; text-align: center;"|Advantages ! scope="col" style="width: 300px; height: 10px; text-align: center;"|Disadvantages ! scope="row" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 100px; height: 10px;"|

World 1-5
540 per node
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 100px; height: 10px;"|A, B, C
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 150px; height: 10px;"|DD, CL
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 150px; height: 10px;"|

(1080 to 1620 EXP per run) ! scope="row" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 100px; height: 10px;"|
 * style="width: 300px; height: 10px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"|
 * Good for Beginners
 * Very Cheap
 * Morale ignorable if only node A is spammed
 * style="width: 300px; height: 10px;"|
 * Not applicable for Admirals above Level 80 HQ.
 * Quite limited when it comes to leveling the DD/CL to very high levels due to the low EXP per run.

World 3-2
! scope="row" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 100px; height: 10px;"|
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 100px; height: 10px;"|A
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 150px; height: 10px;"|BB, CA, CV, CVL
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 150px; height: 10px;"|1152 per node
 * style="width: 300px; height: 10px;"|
 * Nearly no Buckets used.
 * Cheap by using Submarine as Tank where all enemies only attack the submarine.
 * Morale can be ignored on the Supporting Ships, especially the supporting CVL.
 * style="width: 300px; height: 10px; text-align: left; vertical-align: middle;"|CA or sometimes even BB fails to obtain MVP if they fail to initiate Double Attack.

World 4-3
F to D
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 100px; height: 10px;"|

or

F to K
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 150px; height: 10px;"|DD, CL
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 150px; height: 10px;"|1188 per node
 * style="width: 300px; height: 10px;"|As long as your fleet reaches node D, F, and K, it is easy to level the DD/CL.
 * style="width: 300px; height: 10px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"|
 * Chance to reach node J, which could wreck one of your ships to Heavy Damage.


 * Buckets will be used in the long run.

! scope="row" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 100px; height: 10px;"|
 * Somewhat Expensive in Resource consumption

World 5-4
! scope="row" style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 100px; height: 10px;"|
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 100px; height: 10px;"|A
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 150px; height: 10px;"|BB, CA, CV, CVL
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 150px; height: 10px;"|1512 per node
 * style="width: 300px; height: 10px;"|Highest EXP gain. Similar to World 3-2A Leveling by using Submarine as Tank.
 * style="width: 300px; height: 10px;"|
 * Requires frequent rotation of the Support Ships
 * must be wary of morale
 * Buckets may be used
 * Tends to be quite tedious

World 5-4 Type 2

 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 100px; height: 10px;"|A, H,  O 
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 150px; height: 10px;"|BB, CV
 * style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; width: 150px; height: 10px;"|1512 per node
 * style="width: 300px; height: 10px;"|Goes all the way to Boss Node to obtain 4536 EXP per run
 * style="width: 300px; height: 10px;"|
 * Requires Buckets
 * May require a lot of repairs
 * Expensive in resource consumption
 * CV may steal MVP
 * }

Other ways to Level your Ship: PvP
Try to do PvP as much as possible as they give a great amount of EXP (Unless the opponent's Flagship + 2nd Ship are Level 1...) But beware that bringing CVs with Bomber Planes may decrease your bauxite by a huge amount, especially if the Opponent has any ships that have Anti-AIr Cut-In setup, so avoid using CVs as much as you can.

Leveling Guides

 * Guide to Power Leveling Heavy Cruiser (CA) in World 3-2A
 * Guide to Power Leveling Destroyer (DD) & Light Cruiser (CL) in World 4-3
 * Youtube Video Guides/Samples

Preparations for the Event #10: Sparkling


As many players may or may not know, Sparkling your ships can lead to some good performance from them.

Sparkling will increase the ship's evasion and accuracy. However this game is still RNG, so even if you Sparkle the ship, she might get wrecked, so beware...

Also, another thing you should watch out is that if you somehow went into a Dead End or the wrong route, your sparkle may become wasted, and this is worse if you somehow got Disconnected as you lose some morale after a sortie ends.

It is highly recommended that you pick which ships you will use for the Event beforehand and sparkle them to max (100 if sparkled through PvP, 85 if through Sorties).

For more details on Sparkling, PLEASE CLICK HERE

Preparations for the Event #11: Modernization
This is mostly in regards to the newer players who are still inexperienced with this game.

It is highly recommended that you modernize all of the ships that will be participating in the Event to MAX.
 * Firepower is important because it will help you take down your enemies faster.
 * Torpedo stat is important in Torpedo phase, but also during Night Battle as it uses both Firepower and Torpedo stat for Damage calculation.
 * Anti-Air is very important, especially in this event as it will be majorly CV focused that you probably would want a lot of Anti-Air stats, especially in regards to the ship who will be using Anti-Air Cut-In.
 * Armor will be important for the Ship's survival from the enemy's attack.

Stats other than Firepower, Torpedo, Anti-Air, and Armor
Please know that the other stats such as Evasion can only be increased from Leveling up, so please try to level up your ships more even if their Main stats are maxed through Modernization. Luck can be increased by feeding 5 copies of Maruyu Kai at once.

Preparations for the Event #12: Know your Enemies
This is mostly in regards to players who are doing a major Event for the very first time.

There are some enemies you should take knowledge of beforehand in order to be more prepared against them. These enemies have appeared in the past events several times as common enemies or pre-bosses. Of course, new enemies will make an appearance in every event, but some enemies who had appeared in the past events become pre-bosses or actually the map boss itself. This section will cover the most important enemies that may be huge impact towards your event runs.

Battleship Water Demon
Currently known as one of the hardest Boss to take down. Her Final form is not a joke when it comes to Firepower and Armor. Compared to the Battleship Princess, this Boss has the standard 2 Gun + Recon + Radar setup like all the Battleships you use that if her fleet somehow obtained Air Superiority or during Night Battle, she will be using extremely deadly Double Attacks, and even her single attacks aren't funny at all because it practically wrecks your Battleships down to Heavy Damage in a single blow. She appeared as both Winter and Spring 2015 Event as the Final Boss and in Hard mode, her fleet is a totally absurd composition If she becomes the Boss again (whether it be final or on another map), prepare to face your worst...
 * Winter 2015 Event E-5 Final: Battleship Water Demon + 2 Battleship Princess + Wo-class Flagship II + Ne-class Heavy Cruisers
 * Spring 2015 Event E-6 Final: Battleship Water Demon + Aircraft Carrier Princess + Ru-class Kai Flagship Battleship + Ne-class Heavy Cruiser + 2 Destroyer Ni-class Late Model

Battleship Princess
One of the worst living nightmares of all Admirals, whether it be new or veteran admirals... You will definitely face her in one of the maps in the Event. She has appeared as either a Map Boss (Ex. Summer 2014 E-6, Fall 2014 E-3, Winter 2015 E-5, Summer 2015 E-2, E-5, and E-7), or as a Sub-Boss (Ex. Winter 2015 E-3 and Summer 2015 E-7). One thing for sure is that she will be one of the highest reasons for sending you back home if she is a Sub-Boss, and if she is the Boss itself (whether it be main or support), sometimes there will be very undesirable RNG situations where she survives the battle due to her high Armor and HP, or tanks your ships' attacks and make you unable to attack the main boss (Ex. Anti-Air Princess). Expect to receive some suffering from her whether you like it or not.

Always remember that if she happens to be a Sub-boss, there is absolutely no need in trying to fully sink her. Even if she doesn't fully die, if she is just a Sub-Boss that is an obstacle before the true boss of the map, just ignore her and move on (Unless one of your ships got hit to Heavy Damage, which can be avoided if Fleet Command Facility is used)

Aircraft Carrier Demon / Aircraft Carrier Princess
Don't expect either of the two to be easy just because she is a CV. Whether it be her Demon form or Princess form, she is practically another nightmare you will have to face once or twice in the Event for sure, and what is worse is that she has capabilities to practically one-shot a Yamato-class down to Heavy Damage. Just like the Battleship Princess, she has appeared as Sub-Boss (Ex. Fall 2014 E-4, Winter 2015 E-4 and E-5) or as the Boss itself (Winter 2015 E-4, Summer 2015 E-3 as support, and E-6 as Main Boss), and if sub-boss she will most likely appear right before the Boss node, and there will practically be no way to avoid her before going into the Boss node.

In the past, if Combined Fleet was involved, she was somewhat more easier to take down since you were practically using 12 ships + Support Expedition (Situations where you had to retreat due to her wrecking one or two of your ships still existed), but during Winter 2015 Event E-4, you were forced to face her with a single fleet which made things a lot more harder for players due to her absurd HP and Armor which not even Yukikaze's full Torpedo Cut-In Attack could take her down in single shot (was worse if Yukikaze was Medium Damaged) which required more than 1 ship to actually take her down (Kitakami Kai Ni sometimes took her down in a single shot though).

Expect her to make an appearance again because the Devs just love her making the gatekeeper before the Final Boss...

Light Cruiser Demon
Nickname: Nakano or Abyssal Naka + Agano. Ever since Winter 2015 Event, she has started appearing as a normal enemy in some nodes not only in Events, now also in World 4-5. She isn't exactly a huge threat if you have Battleships on your side, but if you are forced to use CL/DDs only, then she may become a bit of a threat. One funny thing the players did when she was the Boss was use a Submarine in their 2nd fleet as flagship so it would tank all of the CL Demon's attacks (LOL U MAD?).

Standard Carrier Wo-class Kai Flagship
Oh look, it's Black Wo Shooter~ One of the annoying enemy CV that we already face in 3-5 North route and in 5-5 Boss... She will most likely make an appearance for Medium to Hard difficulty map somewhere. One of the annoying factors about her is her high armor, HP and the fact she has 102 Air Superiority alone. If she was alone, it wouldn't be an issue, but if at least two copies of her appear along with other minor CV(L), you are going to need a lot of Air Superiority power to not get Air Parity, which means you will need a lot of Reppuu equipped, and if Combined Fleet was used, using Surface Task Force option might not be a good idea as you might get Air Parity due to only using 1 CV or 2 CVL. Be wary of her. She was in fact the Boss of Winter 2015 Event E-2.

Standard Carrier Wo-class Flagship II
Less of a threat compared to Wo-class Kai Flagship, but this one has Hellcat Enemy Aircraft (aka Takoyaki) which can be a threat. She will most likely appear along with the Kai Flagship variant in normal nodes in later maps, or appear in a Boss node.

Battleship Ru-class (Kai) Flagship
{|

Flagship

 * style="width: 50px;"|

Kai
These two are practically the troublemakers of normal nodes. Always expect either of the two to send you back home due to them sending one of your ship to Heavy Damage in one shot... (Ex. Winter 2015 E-2 had the issue where the 2nd node had two Ru-class Flagship that was extremely annoying as one of your ships kept going into Heavy Damage...)
 * }

Preparations for the Event #13: Support Shelling Expedition


Support expeditions involve sending a fleet into an expedition to provide additional bombardment during the opening stages of Combat. For the Event, the Support Expedition is available on the bottom right section when you open the Expedition Page.

There are two types of support expedition; normal support and boss support: Events usually come with their exclusive support expeditions that can only be used throughout the event. These event expeditions are unlocked by default.
 * The 15 Minutes Expedition is a Normal Support Expedition. It gives support at every node other than boss node with ~50% chance to trigger at each node.
 * The 30 Minutes Expedition is a Boss support expedition. It gives support at the boss node with ~80% chance to trigger.

Sparkling your ships (mainly flagship) increases the probability to trigger support while using fatigued ships reduces it. Furthermore, support does not work on nodes that begin in night battle. Support expeditions will end if either of these two conditions are fulfilled: It is recommended to start a sortie immediately after the support expedition has been sent in order to avoid the timer running out halfway through the sortie.
 * 1) Finish a sortie.
 * 2) The timer runs out.

Support Types
A support expedition requires a minimum of at least 2 DDs (Destroyers). The other 4 slots affect what type of support will be provided. The only Support Expedition that is actually worth using is the Support Shelling type, so I will only be mentioning information on that:

Shelling damage calculation
Ship's damage is dependent on firepower stats. However, CVs and CVLs are calculated differently using the following equation: Firepower (FP), Torpedo (TP), Divebomb (DB)

$$Damage= 55 + (1.5 * FP) + (1.5 * \sum(TP)) + (2.0 * \sum(DB)) $$

For example; a fully modernized Kaga Kai with 4 slots of Suisei Model 12A, which provide a total sum of 40 dive bombing power (10 dive-bomb for each Suisei Model 12A):

$$Damage = 55 + (1.5 * 49) + (1.5 * 0) + (2.0 * (10 + 10 + 10 + 10)) = 208 $$

Accuracy, Overweight Penalty and AP Shells do affect support expeditions' performance. Therefore, it is recommended to sparkle your fleet or equip accuracy equipment (Ex. Radar) onto your fleet.

Sample Support Expedition Fleet Equipment Setup
Show/Hide Shelling Support Expedition Fleet Equipment Settings

Preparations for the Event #14: Tips that may lead to your Success
Although how you play the game is your choice, I hope that you will at least take these tips into consideration so that you will have much easier time doing the Event and to not have your sanity flushed down the toilet...

Tip #1: Save your Resources before the Event

 * Try to avoid using too much resources before the Event, especially in Crafting. Limit your Construction + Development to 4 times per day (as in only do it during the Daily Construction/Development Quest). Try to avoid using Buckets as much as possible. If you power level in World 1-5 for DD/CLs and 3-2 for BB, CA, CV(L), you will lessen the use of Buckets.

DO NOT DO LSC BEFORE OR DURING THE EVENT!!!
LSC takes a large chunk amount of Resources away from you. AVOID IT AT ALL COST BEFORE OR DURING THE EVENT!!! Even if the bait is strong, or you feel jealous because someone else got lucky, AVOID IT. Events are a once in a limited time opportunity while you have several chances to do LSC later on. Even if you obtain the ship you want from LSC, getting it ready for the Event would take even more amount of resources, especially if it was Yamato-class.

Tip #2: Prepare a large amount of variety of ships as possible

 * Prepare at least 3 to 4 of each type of ships. This is mostly because of Combined Fleet and even because of Ship Locking. If you prepare only a few amount of each ship class, you may bump into a wall because you lack the correct amount of ships that are required or may lack the correct ship class which is absolutely required by the Branching Rules. Also if Ship Locking happens which even requires Combined Fleets to be used (which would require about 24 different ships at high level for two different maps that are divided by Ship Locking), you may really be in trouble due to lacking ships.
 * Here is a list of how many ships you will most likely require to not get blocked off in the Event even with Ship Locking:
 * 6 to 8 BB(V)s
 * 4 to 6 CA
 * 2 CAV
 * 2 to 3 CL
 * 2 CLT
 * 8 DD
 * 3 to 4 CV
 * 3 to 4 CVL
 * 0 to 1 SS
 * 0 to 1 Akitsu Maru

Tip #3: Avoid doing an Event Map on Harder difficulties if you aren't confident
The previous Winter 2015, Spring 2015 and especially Summer 2015 Events have proved that the rewards differ depending on which difficulty you do. However for some maps, the reward difference between the difficulties were somewhat minor.

Let's take E-4 from Winter 2015 Event as an example: As you can see, the only difference between Medium and Hard was 3 Improvement Materials (AKA Screws), which made clearing the map on Hard Mode practically pointless excluding fame and praise between your friends. If the miscellaneous rewards are shown to be very minor, for the sake of your sanity and resources, try to avoid doing harder difficulties.
 * Clearing on Hard (甲): Katori, 1 Medal, 6 Improvement Materials
 * Clearing on Medium (乙): Katori, 1 Medal, 3 Improvement Materials
 * Clearing on Easy (丙): Katori

However if there is an Equipment reward that is only available in the harder difficulties, then it is highly recommended that you challenge yourself in trying to get that Equipment as it won't appear in the game ever again until who knows when, which might be never, until next year, or even more later on.

Let's take E-2 from Winter 2015 Event as an example: As you can see, the Hard Difficulty in the map was extremely rewarding compared to the other lower difficulties, which made doing the map in Hard difficulty very much worth it. However the sad fact was that this was only applicable to Admirals who were above Level 80 HQ as players who were below the level could not access the Hard difficulty.
 * Clearing on Hard (甲): Irako, 3 Improvement Materials, 1 Ryuusei (601 Air Group), 1 Prototype 51cm Twin Cannon
 * Clearing on Medium (乙): Irako, 1 Repair Team, 1 Ryuusei (601 Air Group)
 * Clearing on Easy (丙): Irako, 1 Repair Team, 1 Tenzan (601 Air Group)

However even if the difference between the rewards were garbage, there were some maps that made doing Harder difficulties more worth it: The Drops. During the previous Winter 2015 Event, some ships were only available as drops in either Medium and Hard, or just Hard difficulty alone (Ex. Isokaze, I-401, and Yahagi). For players who were after such ships, they had no choice but to do the harder difficulties in order to obtain the ships. So unless there is a rare exclusive ship that you want badly, avoid doing the harder difficulties. On a side note, it was speculated that the Drop Rate of some ships differed between the difficulties but this was never proven.

Tip #4: Avoid Rushing the Event or Entering the Event on Day 1
This tip is mostly directed towards the more newer Admirals. There will be Veteran Admirals (Including me) who will volunteer on exploring the Event on the 1st Day in order to gather information on the Branching Rules, the Boss Fleet Composition, the Drops, and the Rewards. There is absolutely no need for you to do that yourself. There are over millions of players in this game worldwide, so even if you don't do it, someone else will most likely gather the information. In fact, I would avoid doing the Event for about half the week or for the 1st week whole so that enough information has been gathered.

It's your choice, but you may either wait for the other Veterans to lay out the information for the community which will most likely take about 3 to 5 days so that you can just follow the information to have an easier time with the Event, or jump into the Event on Day 1 and go through several sessions of Trial & Error due to using the wrong kind of Fleet Composition which will cost you more resources. In fact this is worse if you did not stockpile on a large amount of resources.

Also, waiting out for the information to be available by the other Veterans is recommended because of the Drops that will be available in the Event Maps. As mentioned before, some drops may be only available in Medium or Hard difficulty, or just Hard difficulty alone. So if you did the Event early in Easy just to have an easier time, then only to find out a ship you wanted really badly is revealed to be only available as a drop in Medium or Hard difficulty, then you just dug your own grave...

An Event is usually around 3~4 Weeks. That is a plenty amount of time to clear the Event as long as you are patient in your progress. There is no need to try to rush it on Day 1 to 3 where your resources will be reduced to dust after compared to the players who were patient.

Tip #5: Farm Ships on Easy Mode if possible, and before you clear the Map
Some rare ships will be available to obtain as drops on all of the difficulties, Easy to Hard (Ex. Unryuu was available as drop in E-4 from Easy to Hard). This means that there is absolutely no need to go farming the ships on harder difficulties unless there is proof that the harder difficulties have higher drop rate.

Also, this was mentioned before, but if you want to farm ships in Easy mode, do that before you completely clear the map for good. As the Difficulty Selection System allows you to choose your difficulties as long as you didn't clear the Map for good (as in totally destroy the Boss HP Bar), you may switch the difficulties around to keep farming on Easy endlessly (Ex. Farm on Easy mode until the final Boss HP Bar, then switch to Medium difficulty, enter the map which will reset the Boss Bar back to Full, retreat on first node, then go back to Easy mode again).

Some Admirals during the previous event suffered because they cleared the Map on Medium/hard first then tried to farm for drops which made things way harder for them due to the resource consumption and because their target ship was not dropping for a long time (Ex. some players cleared E-4 on Hard difficulty first, then proceeded to farm Unryuu from the map after. They suffered A LOT).

This isn't exactly required if the map itself is really easy even in Hard (Ex. Winter 2015 E-1 was very easy to farm).

Tip #6: Do not be Hasty. Do not be Desperate. Be Patient.
One of the most important aspect of the Event: Your sanity. RNG-sama will definitely be there to troll you hard several times. An example would be a situation where you go through very difficult pre-boss nodes and reach the final pre-boss node right before the boss, but then you get wrecked. If you are unlucky, expect such situations to happen several times.

But you have around 3 weeks to do the Event. You have plenty of time even with Work and School as you can do it slowly during the time. There is absolutely no need to rush it on day 1 or something because you gain nothing from doing such thing (other than praise and fame among your fellow players maybe). Just more sanity draining, more resource drains, along with tons of trial and error.

There are also those desperate players who actually sink their very high leveled ship just to finish an Event Map. Even during Winter 2015 there were such cases happening, especially in E-5 Hard difficulty (Except for some, they still failed to even kill the Boss Flagship despite the sacrifice). '''DON'T DO THIS. EVER. '''

Sinking your ships won't get you anywhere in the Event. Just losses. Sure if you have tons of time laying around to train it back from scratch, it is your choice whether you want to go through the sacrifice to have your past efforts go in vain. But always remember that just because the character sprite is the same, she won't be the same one you had spent your time with in the past... >_<

Patience is the key to everything in this game. Please remember this.

Conclusion
I know this was a really LONG guide, but I hope you took your time in reading through this guide. Although the newer Admirals might not know this, but Events are very much serious business for the players...

If you have any Questions, please feel free to comment to ask me anything (some other people who are available at the time may help too)

I hope you enjoy the upcoming Event with all your heart's content and that your efforts pay off.

Good Luck to Everyone!



World 3-2A Power Level Guide for Heavy Cruisers
A Guide to help you power level your Heavy Cruisers (CA). This Guide contains the Fleet Compositions, Facts, Tips, and even a Video Guide that may become great help to you.
 * scope="col" style="width: 500px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"|
 * scope="col" style="width: 500px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"|

Visit here if you require help in power leveling your Heavy Cruisers. ! rowspan="2" style="width: 250px; background-color: Plum;"|
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World 4-3 Power Level Guide for Destroyers & Light Cruisers
A Guide to help you power level your Destroyers (DD) and Light Cruisers (CL). This Guide contains a very solid fleet composition that will guarantee MVP for your DD or CLs along with more facts and tips you can follow to have a great time power leveling.
 * style="width: 500px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"|
 * style="width: 500px; text-align: left; vertical-align: top;"|

Visit here if you require guidance in power leveling your Destroyers or Light Cruisers!
 * }