User blog:Kuras/Fall Event 2016 E-5

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Back to top Introduction

E-5 is the final map of Fall Event 2016. Although it is not necessarily an easy map, you should be able to reach to boss at a higher rate than in E-4. If you have not noticed already, Flagship Wo-Class Kai CVs are the recurring enemies throughout the entire event. As in previous maps, they are (one of) the main threats at pre-boss nodes here as well. Boss battles should also be significantly easier, where you have your own Combined Fleet and Land-Based Aerial Support at your disposal, and especially if you have the "historical" ships available. Nagato, Prinz Eugen, and Sakawa deal increased damage to all enemies at the boss node! As you might have noticed already, the route to the boss node is a very long one. However, there is no need to sortie Hayasui (with Underway Replenishment) in this map since there is a hidden starting point to be unlocked! Node U will be unlocked at the same time. This allows for a higher rate to reach the boss (fewer potential threats), and evasion and damage penalties from (low amount of) remaining fuel and ammo respectively to be mitigated somewhat. Additionally, players have the option to weaken the boss by lowering her armor. The links will direct you to the respective sections below, where these two game mechanisms will be discussed. Presuppose you already have unlocked the second starting point and are ready to battle against the boss, your fleets will most likely have to go through route K-M-N-O-P-T, with one or two of the first three nodes being able to be skipped, depending on your fleet compositions. A Carrier Task Force is highly recommended, since almost all nodes on the route to the boss require very high air power to achieve air superiority, including the boss node itself. Therefore, this guide will only discuss information relevant for killing the boss with Carrier Task Forces. Though weakening the boss is preferred to be achieved with a Surface Task Force. With a Carrier Task Force, your fleets will always get routed to node K first. This is a very easy node that only contains a couple of abyssal CLs and DDs. Opening air strikes, normal node support, and opening torpedoes are usually sufficient to finish off at least four out of the six enemies before the shelling phase has started. Next up is node M, which can be skipped by having a fast fleet, less than five fBBs and CV(B)s combined, exactly one CLT in the escort fleet and none in the main fleet, and less than four DDs total in your Combined Fleet. Although skipping node M will mitigate the evasion penalty at further nodes by having less fuel spent, it will likely limit the firepower of your fleets as well. Besides, not being able to sortie Nagato because of the fast fleet requirement, is quite a big disadvantage, as she is able to deal a lot of damage at the boss node. Regardless, node M is a submarine node which contains four powerful So-Class submarines, who can easily cause heavy injuries to your shipgirls. It is somewhat viable to sortie one or two DDs with pre-emptive ASW attacks to lower the chance from that happening if you have Prinz Eugen and Sakawa, but they will become rather ineffective at all other nodes of course. Node N is an air strike node that contains three Flagship III or IV Wo-Class Kai CVs. Although they are capable of causing heavy damage, it should not happen too often if you have a shipgirl with AACI setup in one of your fleets. It is required to have close to 600 air power to gain air superiority at this node. The enemies at node O have a Combined Fleet. As with many nodes in this event, the main fleet here consists of three Flagship IV Wo-Class Kai CVs. Though their fleet is always in the third formation (ring/diamond), the Wo-Class CVs remain capable of one-shotting any of your shipgirls. You most certainly already have experienced this in previous maps. On the path to the boss, this is likely to be the most dangerous node. Having your shipgirls sparkled can help somewhat, but it still requires quite of a bit of luck to get past this node safely. Node P is a node where the boss's main fleet performs an air strike against yours. This node is relatively threatening as well, but I found my fleet surviving this node significantly more often than the previous one. The main explanatory factor for this is that the enemies here are equipped with less total number of bombers. At the boss node, node T, four Himes are to be encountered in a Combined Fleet, with DD Ancient Hime in the escort fleet, and CV Hime II, BB Hime, and Abyssal Jellyfish Hime III in the main fleet. The boss of E-5 is Abyssal Jellyfish Hime III. The other slots of their fleets are filled with CLs and Late Model DDs. All of the Himes remain the same for the final kill, while only the others are "upgraded". Therefore, acquiring the final kill should not be that much harder than killing the boss during pre-final sorties. If you have the "historical" ships, boss battles should be quite easy and boss kills should be easily obtained. The "historical" ships, Nagato, Prinz Eugen, and Sakawa (Saratoga as well) deal considerably more damage to the enemies at the boss node (increased post-cap firepower). Otherwise, it should take a bit more luck to achieve, but the battle is definitely not as hard as the one in the second phase of E-4. Still, S ranking the boss node is not easily achieved, since the DD Ancient Hime in the escort fleet is often a lone survivor. Land-Based Aerial Support can potentially deal a lot of damage to the damage here, and even take out the tough Himes during the LBAS phase (see my Final kill replay). However, for the aircrafts in your air base to be able to reach the boss node, combat radius of at least 10 is required. A Taitei boosts the combat radius of other aircrafts in the same air base by 2, while a Catalina increases that by 1. The same as at previous nodes, almost 600 air power is required to achieve air superiority here as well. Since approximately 600 air power is required to achieve air superiority at majority of the nodes, it is recommended to have your fleets leave the base with around 630-640 air power, having plane loss en route taken into account. Boss support is highly recommended if you do not have the "historical" ships. Even if you do have them, boss support is still rather recommended to increase their chances of not wasting their increased damage attacks on the weaker targets. Normal node support is also recommended, mainly to increase the chance of your fleet surviving node O. Although I did not find sparkling necessary, it may help your fleets getting past the dangerous nodes. Good luck with clearing the event! ^-^

Back to top Hidden Starting Point The route from the initial starting point to the boss node counts at least 11 nodes (10 battle nodes). Luckily, there is a second hidden starting point to be unlocked, which allows your fleets to start from halfway through the map. Without the hidden starting point unlocked, clearing this map would be an impossible task. To unlock the hidden starting point (and node U), the following conditions have to be met: The above requirements are cumulative, but can all be achieved in separate sorties. Having a screen with white text appearing after the enemy air raid (see screenshot below) is necessary to complete the first condition, but it is not an indication for the completion of the first condition. You can see the white text appearing as a "sub-requirement" falling under the first condition. The first condition can be cleared using the LBAS setup further below. Since I was not able to find detailed fleet compositions for obtaining S ranks at node A, I have included one below that I have sortied to do so. It takes the shortest possible route to node A, via route B-C-G-I-H-D-A. Although a Surface Task Force is quite viable here, having a Carrier Task Force allows you to acquire enough air power to achieve at least air superiority at every node much easier. Node B is a submarine node that contains relatively strong ones. They are capable of dealing heavy damage to your weaker ships, but that does not often frequently. Node C is an air strike node with two, again, Flagship III or IV Wo-Class Kai CVs. Close to 400 air power is required to achieve air superiority here. To avoid getting routed to air strike node E, your Combined Fleet has to have Fast speed, and contain less than five fBBs and CV(B)s combined. Node G is a regular battle node where your fleets have to fight against, once again, two Flagship III or IV Wo-Class Kai CVs. This node will cause your fleets the most problem in their path to node A. Node I is a selection node where you should obviously pick node H. Node H is an easy battle node against some CLs, CLTs, and DDs. If your fleets contains five or more (f)BB(V)s and CV(B)s combined, they will get detoured to node F. Node D is an air strike node where the air strike is performed by the main fleet at node A. They are capable causing heavy damage, but it should not happen very frequently here either. To reach node A from node H, an LoS check has to be passed. Although a specific number is unknown, passing the check should not be a problem at all. Node A contains an enemy Combined Fleet, with a CL Oni as the "mini boss". Node A can rightfully (in my opinion) be called a "mini boss" node since it may take quite a few sorties to reach said node and actually obtain an S rank there. Approximately 400 air power is required to achieve air superiority at the majority of the nodes, including node A. Taking into account plane loss underway to said node, starting off with around 450 air power is recommended. Since obtaining S ranks at node A is somewhat difficult, sending normal node support is recommended.
 * Achieve air supremacy twice during enemy air raids and have your air bases receive no damage at all during those same air raids
 * Obtain three S rank victories at node A (at Hard difficulty, two for Medium, and only once for Easy)

If you have Maya Kai Ni still available, you can have her in place of the Akizuki. AACI is highly recommended since your fleets will have to withstand quite a number of powerful air strikes. The CVBs can also be replaced by CV(L)s if you either do not have them or prefer a lighter fleet.

It is not necessary to have (two) CLTs in the escort fleet. Another CA, CL, or DD can be a replacement for her/them. Furthermore, contrary to the above equipment setups, night-time torpedo cut-in attacks are not necessary here at all.

Since it is required to achieve air supremacy and receive no damage at all during air raids to unlock the hidden starting point, you need to set all three of your air bases to Air defense (防空). Recon planes are hypothesized to give a multiplier to air power for their respective air base, where carrier-based recon aircrafts give the largest multiplier. Considering this, designate a Saiun along with fighter and/or interceptor aircrafts to your air bases. If you have already achieved the first condition for unlocking the hidden starting point, but not the second condition yet, consider setting your air bases to sortie (出撃) and concentrate on node A. The same LBAS setup can be used as the one for boss battles.

Back to top Weakening Mechanism If you desire easier boss battles, there is actually a way to achieve that! The boss can be weakened by having her armor reduced. This weakening effect is permanent. In order to achieve said effect, the following conditions will have to be met: These conditions are cumulative, but can all be achieved in separate attempts. The first condition is the same as the one for unlocking the hidden spawn point, but you need to achieve it four times now. It can be achieved using the LBAS setup just above here. Earning S ranks at node P for the second condition is achieved by not taking damage from the air strike at said node. Although not necessary, you can achieve this more easily by designating your air support to that node, with fighters and a Taitei assigned to the air bases. Earning S ranks at node F is very easily done, albeit quite expensive as well. The shortest path to node F is through route U-I-H-F. It contains only three battle nodes and mostly against weak CLs and DDs. To go to node U from the second starting point, your need to sortie a Surface Task Force consisting at least four (f)BB(V)s and CV(B)s combined. To reach node F it is required to have at least five (f)BB(V)s and CV(B)s combined. None of the nodes that your fleets come across have any air power. It is not recommended to send normal node support to S rank node F as it will most likely just be a waste of resources. You can find the fleet compositions I have used to earn S ranks at node F below.
 * Achieve air supremacy four times during enemy air raids and have your air bases receive no damage at all during those same air raids (The ones from unlocking the hidden starting point do not count here!)
 * Obtain two S rank victories at node P
 * Obtain three S rank victories at node F (at Hard difficulty, two for Medium, and only once for Easy)

Although battling at the nodes does by no means require such a heavy fleet, it is required to reach node F. To save some resources, I sortied my Kongou-class fBBs, a CA, and Aquila. Since none of the nodees that your fleets go through have any air power, it is not necessary to equip any fighters on your CV.

This is the same escort fleet I have used for the boss battles. It is actually possible to sortie a much lighter and more efficient escort fleet for the purpose of earning S ranks at node F, since all of the nodes en route are very easy.

Back to top Fleet Composition & Equipment Setups

It is recommended to equip a Fleet Command Facility on the flagship of your main fleet. It allows your fleets to reach the reach the boss node more frequently. Even with two of your shipgirls retreated, the boss battle remains relatively easy, if you (still) have the "historical" ships (Nagato, Prinz Eugen, and Sakawa) in your fleets. Since it is much less viable to have a Fleet Command Facility equipped on a BB, appoint a CV to the flagship position instead and have her carrying it. Nagato is one of the "historical" ships that do increased damage at the boss node. Therefore, if you have her adequately leveled, you should definitely sortie her. Keep in mind that this fleet composition takes the longest possible route to the boss node as it is a slow fleet. Despite the longer route, it is without a doubt worth to sortie Nagato as she makes the boss battles much easier. It is recommended to have around 630 air power since almost all of the nodes require approximately 600 in order to achieve air superiority.

It is highly recommended to have a shipgirl with AACI setup in one of your fleets to defend against the many powerful air strikes. Keep in mind that retreating a heavily injured shipgirl using the Fleet Control Facility will require an available DD in the escort fleet. Since Akizuki is the flagship of the escort fleet here, and therefore cannot be the escorting DD, the first (and only, in this case) one available is Ayanami. This is preferable since you do not want the AACI ship retreat as well. Again, the "historical" ships Sakawa and Prinz Eugen deal increased damage at the boss node. Therefore, if you have them adequately leveled, you should definitely sortie them.

The main change I made here is the removal of the Fleet Control Facility from the flagship. As a result, some of the aircrafts are swapped around and Taihou was given a Skilled Carrier-based Aircraft Maintenance Personnel instead. In hindsight, the Fleet Control Facility did not have to be removed, to be able to reach the boss node in fewer attempts than it actually took me. I am fairly certain that I could have obtained the final kill even with two of my shipgirls retreated. The boss's fleets remain largely the same in her "final form".

No changes were made in the escort fleet for the final kill. This is the exact same fleet composition with the exact same equipment setups as for the pre-final kills.

Back to top Support Expeditions

Normal node support is recommended, mainly to make surviving node O easier.

Boss support is also recommended, to allow your "historical" ships to have a higher rate of targeting the tougher enemies (the Himes).

Back to top Land-Based Aerial Support Your aircrafts will have to have a minimum of 10 combat radius to be able to reach the boss node. A Type 2 Large Flying Boat increases the combat radius of other aircrafts in the same air base by 2, while a PBY-5A Catalina increases that by 1. If you find your air bases impossible to reach the boss node, you can send them to node O instead. Alternatively, you can designate fighters to your air bases instead of attack planes and sortie them to the air strike nodes N and/or P.

Back to top Notable Drops

Back to top Map Clear Rewards

Back to top Bonus Screenshots