Combat/Combined Fleet

The Combined Fleet system was first introduced in the Summer Event of 2014 for the Battle of Midway. By using two fleets 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 every subsequent events so far but with revised mechanics. This page will be updated to include the latest mechanics.

Composition
Info= 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 is usually comprised of heavier ships, while the second fleet is an escort fleet, and is usually 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 any more.

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 the sortie. When choosing between the two different types of combined fleets, besides the fleet composition requirements, note that the combat order is different for each type (see Combat Phases).
 * The Carrier Task Force (空母機動部隊? kuubo kidou butai), or in short, 機動部隊.
 * The Surface Task Force (水上打撃部隊? suijou dageki butai), or in short, 水上部隊.
 * Transport Escort (輸送護衛部隊? yuusou goei butai)

Carrier Task Force (空母機動部隊? kuubo kidou butai) Main (fleet 1): Escort (fleet 2):
 * -|Carrier Task Force=
 * 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 CVL?
 * Maximum of 1 AV?
 * SS? / SSV? cannot be flagship

Surface Task Force (水上打撃部隊? suijou dageki butai) Main (fleet 1): Escort (fleet 2):
 * -|Surface Task Force=
 * 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 (輸送護衛部隊? yusou goei butai) Main (fleet 1):
 * -|Transport Escort=
 * Minimum of 4 DD?
 * Maximum of 2 BBV? / CAV? / LHA? / AS? / AO? / AV? / CT? / CL?
 * BB? / fBB? / AR? / SS? / CA? / CLT? / CV? / CVL? Not allowed

Escort (fleet 2):
 * Minimum of 1 CL?  or  CT?  (Must be the flagship)
 * Maximum of 2 CL?  or  CT?
 * Minimum of 3 DD?
 * Maximum of 2 CA(V)?
 * No other ships found to be allowed

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 generally the same in combat.
 * For Surface Task Force, X = 10 and Y = -5.
 * For Carrier Task Force, X = 2 and Y = 10.
 * For Transport Escort, X = -5 and Y = 10.
 * The above (X/Y) modifers are added on top of the normal damage formula before formation modifiers.  For carrier shelling, these modifiers are also subjected to the 1.5x modifier on firepower.
 * There is no +5 modifier for torpedo damage as in normal sorties.
 * Opening airstrikes are calculated the same 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 the escort fleet to use Formation 4, and more than 4 for formation 3.


 * It has been suggested that when facing a combined fleet, abyssals will also get a bonus in firepower.

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.

Carrier Task Force/Transport Escort=


 * -|Surface Task Force=

General Notes

 * In contrast to normal sorties, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) 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 vary between the two fleets for the different types of combined fleets.
 * For Carrier Task Force, the escort fleet shelling misses much more often compared to normal sorties.
 * For Surface Task Force, the main fleet shelling misses much more often compared to normal sorties and the escort fleet misses slightly more often.
 * 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
 * Fall 2015 Sink Test
 * Spring 2016 Sink Test (Node K -> K)
 * 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 begin a 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 is useful if you tend to encounter just one ship going red on the pre-boss node.
 * Must be equipped on the flagship of the first (main) fleet and needs a non-flagship second fleet 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 of their 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 from 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.

Troubleshooting
1. I got this message, what does it mean? 2. I got some other message, what do?
 * If it is the first two images, it means your fleet got disbanded. Presumably because you have remodelled a ship (e.g. from CA to CAV) and have, therefore, broken the combined fleet rules necessary to create the combined fleet.
 * For now you may want to refer to a Work In Progress (WIP) page by Zel-melon, et. al. on this matter.