Tutorial: Leveling

This is a guide to leveling your ship girls effectively through sorties. Experience (XP) increases the level of ships, which leads to increases stats of Evasion, LOS, and ASW, as well as passive accuracy increases. Leveling ships can also unlock remodels at higher levels.

Suggested places to level:

 * 1-5: [Base XP: 150, Node(s): 3] Lower level Admirals who haven't cleared 2-4 yet. Good place to level DD/CL early on.
 * 2-4A: [Base XP: 300, Node(s): 1] Typically used for admirals that have not cleared 2-4 yet.


 * 3-2A: [Base XP: 320, Node(s): 1] Often the default place to level.  Features decent xp gain and very easy enemies.  Is very versatile and can be used to level all types of ships.  A good goal for newer admirals is to clear 2-4 to unlock the path to 3-2 for easy leveling and preparations for events and following maps.
 * 4-3: [Base XP: 330, Node(s): 3] A more challenging place to level.  The main focus is to level a specific ship with ASW capabilities (DD, CL) at a fast pace by placing as flagship and achieving MVP.
 * 5-2: [Base XP: 380, Node(s): 3~4]
 * 5-4A: [Base XP: 420, Node(s): 1] A good way to level up the expensive Yamato class.  2 CV/L goes to easier node and SS can be used to tank most of enemy fire.
 * 5-4: [Base XP: 420, Node(s): 3] A relatively easy map in comparison to base XP.  Can be cleared for both HQ xp and Ship xp.

Number in parenthesis indicates number of nodes typically completed.

1-5=Overview: A relatively easy map. Suggested Composition: 4+ DD/CL (Other classes can be included as well) Equipment: Focus on ASW equipment such as sonars and depth charges as you will only face SS.

Guide:
 * The first three nodes are relatively easy and it is recommended that you end after 3 nodes. Use formation Line Abreast.
 * 4 or less ships will head to C; more than that will head to D.
 * The boss node can be reached if you use a composition of 4 ships composing of: 1 CVL or AV, 2 or less CL, DD. A BBV can also be added for an additional shelling phase)

Tips:
 * All the non dead end nodes are composed of SS.
 * F and G are dead end nodes that have strong enemy ships.
 * Use the formation Line Abreast as this is the strongest ASW formation. (Requires a minimum of 4 ships)
 * Third node has the possibility to drop SS with S rank.
 * Going to boss node allows more chances to drop SS. However this also gives a lot of HQ xp, which can make it difficult later as events often increase in difficulty.

Pros: Easy, and simple to unlock Cons: Low Base XP Notes: Increases in difficulty at HQ levels 40 and 80 with higher chance to get SS as drop. Map overview. First node switches to Elite SS after level 80 which makes the map more difficult after that point.
 * -|2-4A=
 * -|3-2A=Second tab content goes here.
 * -|4-3=Third tab content goes here.
 * -|5-4A=
 * -|5-4=

General Tips

 * Maps have a base XP, which is typically the same for all nodes. Higher base XP maps can be faster leveling and/or more resource efficient.
 * Leveling speed, cycling ships
 * Resource cost: Submarines, Destroyers and Light Cruisers have relatively low consumption.
 * Modernization: Improves the primary four stats of your ships. AA tends to be difficult to modernize but also the least effective for farming xp.  Firepower and shields can help the most.  Stats gained during modernization are lost upon remodel, so typically modernization is used after the first remodel.
 * For more experienced Admirals that do not need ships drops, leveling speed can also be increased by sortieing with maxed out ship slots so that you do not waste time getting new ships.

Submarines as tanks
Submarines draw fire from all ships that can target it (DD, CL) This helps to prevent damage to other ships and lowers your repair costs as submarines have very low repair costs. Early on, submarines can be obtained through construction or on the map 1-5. They have low sortie costs.

Sinking
Avoid sinking ships by ending sorties if a ship is heavily damaged. Do not deploy ships that are heavily damaged. Ships entering a new node at Medium damage will not sink.

XP Mechanics

 * Flagship gives 50% extra xp


 * MVP gives double xp. Can be combined with Flagship bonus for total of 3x bonus.


 * MVP is awarded to the ship that does the most total damage with ties going to ship in highest slot.
 * S rank gives 20% extra xp; C/D- ranks have xp penalty


 * Placing a ship at flagship and achieving MVP grants the most XP. This is useful for quickly leveling up a single ship or focusing XP on more resource expensive ships to reduce the resource costs of leveling it up.


 * Night battle can increase rank and resulting XP. This is recommended for losing ranks (C-) but not for winning ranks (B+). Night battles increase fatigue and cost 1 bar of ammo. An exception can be when you want to give your flagship another chance to get MVP.

Morale considerations
Morale affects ship performance like accuracy and evasion which can affect rank and help influence MVP -CVL premptive strike is not influenced by morale

Difference between HQ XP and Ship XP

 * HQ XP and ship XP are different things.


 * HQ XP increases the most when you achieve victory at a boss node.
 * Earlier on, It can help to try to reduce HQ XP gain as certain maps like event maps can get more difficult at certain HQ tiers.
 * More details on the topic can be found on the Experience and Rankings page.

Formation

 * Formations can help you achieve the best results. Double line reduces firepower but can help if you are having issues with accuracy.
 * Formations can also be used to help influence damage and be used to help certain ships be more likely to achieve MVP.

Other ways to level

 * PvP - can give high amounts of XP with no need to repair and low HQ xp gained.
 * Only refreshes twice a day for a maximum of 10 opponents per day.
 * Targeted admiral might change his fleet composition while you are initiating attack.
 * Expeditions - Can be a source of xp for lower level ships.
 * Expeditions 22, 23 focus on xp instead of resources, but these specific expeditions are not recommended in general as they are very slow and resource inefficient as well as taking away the use of a fleet in gathering resources.
 * Sparkling can help achieve Great Sucess, which doubles the XP gain
 * It can be useful to combine leveling with sparkling to help increase your resources.