Talk:List of destroyers by upgraded maximum stats/@comment-5032812-20150716012510/@comment-5032812-20150722084628

Well, last time I read up on AA-cut ins, people hadn't figured out exactly how they worked, so I assumed that Akizuki's stronger cut ins were due to her high AA stat. Reading a bit more, it seems that cut in power is a flat value based on equipment loadout. Akizuki and Maya get the strongest AA-cut ins, BBs can also hit above average with sanshiki. Apart from those, though, it seems dual 10cmHA +fire dirrectors and a radar give the strongest cut in, but its only about half as strong as maya or akizuki's. Some people are saying that high AA stat increases activation rates, but the sample size for the tests is kinda small to tell. The spread on activation doesn't seem that large though.

Still, one has to consider the opportunity cost involved in using cut in setups. It generally sucks to use cutin setups for anything above DDs because you have to use a gimped setup that doesn't allow artillery spotting. Akizuki is the only DD with strong cut ins, but as I mentioned before, she trades off attack for that. Powerfull night battle DDs are often critical to success at bosses, so giving up a kill potential is a relevant cost. Given that the AA stat is actually pretty irrelevant to cut ins, the runner up best for this role would seem to be the day battle pair, oddly enough. Yuudachi and Ayanami's cut ins might only blunt the enemy torpedo strike a bit rather than completely shred it, but in return they get to use their regular setup and participate as powerful night battlers.

This does mean that DD with a typical stat spread and high AA (like fubuki and murakumo) are pretty underwhelming for all purposes. Kind of odd from a game design perspective, especially since Fubuki prominently features fire dirrectors.