Combat/Combined Fleet

The Combined Fleet system was first introduced in the Summer Event of 2014 specially for the Battle of Midway. It is made using two fleets such that during a sortie, a total of up to 12 ships are involved as opposed to the usual 6. The Combined Fleet system has again been used in the so far evwry subsequent events but with revised mechanics. This page will be updated to include the latest mechanics.



Composition
Combined Fleet (連合艦隊 rengou kantai) (when available, i.e. events only as of now) can be formed by viewing the second fleet, and then dragging the "/2" icon over the "/1" icon (refer to picture on the right). The first fleet is the main fleet and, in general, is comprised of heavier ships, while the second fleet is an escort fleet, and is comprised of lighter ships.

In order to disband a combined fleet, either click on the "combined" icon, or make changes to either fleet so that they don't meet the requirements anymore.

There are currently three different types of combined fleets available for use: Each type of combined fleet has different composition requirements. In  some cases , you will be given the option to choose between which combined fleet you want to make. In other cases, you will be told which fleet to create for sortieing. When choosing between the two different types of combined fleets, besides fleet composition requirements, also do note that the combat order is different for each type, so do bear that in mind as well (see Combat Phases).
 * The Carrier Task Force (機動部隊 kidou butai)
 * The Surface Task Force (水上部隊 suijou butai)
 * Transport Escort

Carrier Task Force (機動部隊)
Main (fleet 1): Escort (fleet 2):
 * Maximum of 2 BB/BBV
 * Minimum of 2 CV/CVL
 * Maximum of 4 CV/CVL
 * SS/SSV cannot be flagship
 * Exactly 1 CL (CLT does not count)
 * Minimum of 2 DD
 * Maximum of 2 CA/CAV
 * Maximum of 2 BB (no slow BB allowed)
 * Maximum of 1 AV
 * SS/SSV cannot be flagship

Surface Task Force (水上部隊)
Main (fleet 1): Escort (fleet 2):
 * Minimum 2 of a combination of CL/CA/CAV/BB/BBV
 * Maximum of 1 CV or 2 CVL
 * Maximum of 4 BB
 * Maximum of 4 CA/CAV
 * SS/SSV cannot be flagship
 * Exactly 1 CL (CLT does not count)
 * Minimum 2 DD
 * Maximum of 2 CA/CAV
 * Maximum of 2 BB (no slow BB allowed)
 * Maximum of 1 AV
 * Maximum of 1 CVL
 * SS/SSV cannot be flagship

Transport Escort
Main (fleet 1): Escort (fleet 2):
 * Minimum of 4 DD
 * No Submarine/Carrier/Battleship/Heavy Cruiser
 * Maximum 2 CL
 * Training Cruiser or Light Cruiser flagship
 * Minimum of 3 DD
 * No CLT/BB/SS

Combat Mechanics
The combat flow for a combined fleet is quite different from a normal fleet battle, because there are two fleets involved.

Fleet Formations
For different combined fleet types, the colors may be different, but the formations' effects are the same in combat.
 * For Surface Task Force, X = 15 and Y = 0.
 * For Carrier Task Force, X = 5 and Y = 15.
 * There is no +5 modifier for torpedo damage as in normal sorties.
 * The escort fleet generally has better ASW accuracy than the main fleet.
 * The ASW accuracy trend among the four formations seems to follow the damage modifiers (i.e. Formation 4 is the worst and 1 is the best).
 * You need at least 4 ships in escort fleet to use Formation 4 and even more for formation 3.

Combat Phases
The ordering of combat phases differs between the two types of combined fleets. For the Carrier Task Force, the escort fleet engages first, while for the Surface Task Force, the main fleet engages first. Each phase in itself is similar to normal non-Combined Fleet combat. For a full run through on what each phase does, please see Combat:Combat Stages.

General Notes

 * In contrast to normal sorties, anti-submarine warfare damage is not reduced during night battle.
 * The main fleet will not take part in anything related to torpedoes.
 * Equipment on the main fleet will not affect night battle.
 * The shelling accuracy of all of the ships in combined fleet appears to be very low, probably to balance out the 12 vs 6 system.
 * Accuracy penalties seem to vary between the two fleets for the two types of combined fleet.  For instance, Carrier Task Forces have better main fleet accuracy than Surface Task Force.  The exact differences are still being studied.
 * If a fleet does no damage in a battle (e.g. main fleet takes out all of enemy before escort fleet can fire, or vice versa), then the MVP for that fleet defaults to the flagship.
 * When entering night battle, only damage dealt at night will be taken into account for MVP determination.
 * Thus, the main fleet flagship will receive MVP after a night battle.
 * The flagship of the escort fleet (a.k.a. second fleet) is currently unsinkable.
 * Winter 2015 Sink Test
 * Spring 2015 Sink Test
 * Other ships are not applicable. You might want a Fleet Command Facility.
 * In the Spring 2015 event, it became impossible to make a submarine flagship, presumably to prevent exploitation of this mechanic.
 * You can't sortie with the escort fleet flagship moderately damaged.
 * It's possible to have a ship of the same name in both main and escort fleets simultaneously (e.g. having Yuudachi in both fleets while combined).

Fleet Command Facility
The Fleet Command Facility (stock equipment of Ooyodo Kai) allows a destroyer in the second fleet of a combined fleet to escort a heavily damaged ship away from the sortie. This may find good use if you tend to encounter just one ship going red on the pre-boss node most of the time.
 * Must be equipped on the flagship of the first (main) fleet and needs a non-flagship DD with more than 75% hp (any damage 小破 or higher is no good)  for it to give the option to escort the ship.
 * 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 both lose 25 morale (on top of 15 from returning from sortie) and all remaining fuel. Right button will continue without escorting.
 * See this video for an example.
 * The DD that will escort the damaged ship is the first undamaged DD in the lineup order (bear that in mind when deciding the lineup for the escort fleet)
 * Both ships (the damaged ship being escorted back and the ship escorting her back) will be permanently out of the rest of the sortie.
 * One ship may be escorted per battle (i.e. multiple ships can be escorted back to base over several nodes).
 * It is not possible to escort the escort fleet's flagship.
 * As of the Autumn 2014 event, escort ships are counted out of the score calculation, allowing you to get an A or S rank as long as you fulfill the usual criteria.