User blog:SlashZero/Spring 2016 E-7 Oyashio (D Node) Farming Composition

This event I decided to prioritize clearing all maps on hard (甲) rather than farming on easy for the event drops. As I managed to safely finish the event only using around 70k fuel, here's another hard mode farming guide because I had to farm Oyashio on hard after clearing!

Disclaimer: It only took me 6 runs to get Oyashio (appeared on 4th S rank). Therefore, I haven't had too much time to test this comp extensively. But I think the theory is sound.

Why E-7-D?
Notable drops include Oyashio, Akitsushima, Maruyu, Mizuho, Harusame and others. And that's right, they all drop only upon S-ranking D node. A-rank victories drop nothing interesting.

Route


I mean, there's only one way to get to D node. It does require usage of Carrier Task Force Combined Fleets though. (This node would be a lot easier to S-rank if you could use a Surface Task Force.)

I'll also mention there seems to be a very high chance of enemy air raids upon reaching D node. I got raided 6/6 times.

Composition
There are only two nodes to deal with: A and D.

A contains two Wo-class Flagship Kais, with varying planes requiring anywhere from 648-792 fighter power to get Air Supremacy. They are always in diamond formation though, so it's not actually that threatening of a node. But to avoid unneeded bauxite (and plane rank) losses, it's desirable to get air supremacy at this node.

D node has two compositions. The first three opponents are consistently Seaplane Tender Princess and two Wo-class Flagship Kais requiring about 1056(!) fighter power for air supremacy. The last three spots are either one Destroyer Water Demon and two Ro-class late model destroyers, or two Destroyer Water Demons and a Tsu-class Elite. The former is by far the easier of the two, not in the least due to the Destroyer Water Demons having premptive torpedoes. Enemy formation can either be diamond or double line. (You're in for a bad time if you roll double line double Water Demons.)

Therefore, we prioritize high fighter power (to mitigate bauxite losses), high AA (to mitigate damage at D node), and high day/night firepower (to get S ranks). Utilizing Artillery Spotting to its maximum potential is important, as well as bringing a strong escort fleet.

Fleet Lineup and Equipment
Example 1



Example 2



Main fleet

 * Extra-long Range Battleship
 * By putting the longest range battleship first, this will give the first attack of the first shelling phase to the flagship, which means your fleet gets to open with a higher artillery spotting trigger rate attack.
 * 2 upgraded fit guns.  If you are using two Nagato-class or other such setups, give this ship an upgraded 46cm or 51cm.
 * Upgraded AP shell, of course.
 * Your best scout plane.  (e.g. >> rank Type 0 Obs)
 * Fleet Command Facility is not recommended due to the short length of each sortie and the drastically lower chance of S-rank without all ships.
 * Long Range Battleship or Aviation Battleship
 * Similar to 1 except setup to have just long range, not extra long.
 * Depending on the capacity of your carriers, a Fusou-class equipped with a Zuiun may or may not be required to make air supremacy at node A.
 * 4 Armored Carriers/Standard Carriers
 * Armored Carriers are preferred due to their high firepower and ability to shell at chuuha.
 * Equip your best torpedo bombers to their largest slots.
 * Equip Saiun to the smallest slot.  You don't want to try to S-rank in T-red.  Contact is also nice.
 * Fill the remaining slots with fully trained (gold >>) fighters.
 * If you have excess fighter power, you can also try equipping a secondary gun to Taihou to increase her attack and put her range above standard carriers as in the example above.
 * Aim for about 720 fighter power.  Less may be possible, but I didn't have enough runs to test this thoroughly (the highest fighter power Wo composition is only 1 of 4).
 * If anyone is brave enough to test, I'd be interested to hear how low you can go without giving up air supremacy on A or more airstrikes on D.

Escort Fleet
OR
 * Bismarck Drei
 * As previously, take advantage of the flagship bonus for artillery spotting here.
 * Two upgraded 38cm kais
 * Upgraded AP shell
 * Night Scout
 * Kiso Kai Ni
 * Extra opening firepower and night battle power.  Lower-cost compared to Bismarck, but not as strong in day.
 * Standard double attack setup: two upgraded guns and a midget sub


 * Akizuki-class Destroyer
 * Distraction during night battle, and amplifies allied AA power during the day
 * Your best 10cm High Angle Mount + AA Fire Director
 * Your best small anti-air RADAR
 * A Searchlight (upgraded preferred).  This concentrates fire onto your least night-battle capable escort ship, and also gives the standard accuracy bonuses.
 * Night Battle Double Attack Destroyer
 * Primarilly night battle damage output
 * Two  10cm High Angle Mount + AA Fire Directors
 * Either a surface RADAR or a good AA gun.  The extra AA power can be nice due to six fleet AA stages occurring at the start of battle at D node, giving increased chances to disable the Wo Kais and mitigate damage from the Seaplane Tender Princess's bombers.
 * Jintsuu Kai Ni (or another high-firepower CL)
 * In D node, Jintsuu Kai Ni is preferred over Abukuma Kai Ni because Jintsuu is able to pierce the armor of the Wo-class Kais with artillery spotting, while Abukuma has a low chance of striking a soft target that CLTs will not hit simultaneously.
 * Your two best medium-sized guns
 * Night Scout (especially if not using Bismarck Drei) or another seaplane scout
 * Kitakami Kai Ni and Ooi Kai Ni
 * Standard double attack setup
 * One cut-in setup is also an option for those with 50+ luck CLTs, but I don't recommend it.  Consistency is more useful than increased chuuha damage.

Air Bases

 * Setup
 * First two bases are all fighters.  You'll want your best fighters on your carriers, so put the best remaining ones here.  Frontload the higher-stat fighters.
 * Last base is either all fighters, or 3 fighters and one land-based bomber.
 * Deployment
 * Concentrate Base 1 onto D
 * Split Base 2 between A and D
 * Concentrate Base 3 onto D
 * Rationale
 * Assigning one base to A will allow you to gain air supremacy at A without having the requisite 792 fighter power.
 * Assigning the second base will avoid damaging the first base's fighter planes.  Since Base 1 attacks first, it needs the most fighter power.
 * Splitting a base's strikes like this will increase bauxite usage compared to concentrating on one node (due to how badly the system was programmed), but the benefits are significant.
 * Because lower fighter power can be used on node A, three armored carriers can be utilized without having to use a Fusou-class equipped with both  Zuiun and a seaplane fighter, or equipping bombers to smaller slots.
 * This also potentially frees a low-count slot for additional carrier equipment.
 * Concentrating the remaining strikes on D node will achieve two objectives:
 * Decrease the required fighter power to achieve air supremacy and shoot down enemy bombers
 * Trigger additional fleet anti-air stages with each wave to shoot down even more enemy bombers
 * This will hopefully mitigate damage to allied ships and bauxite as much as possible.
 * Expect any bombers equipped to bases to forfeit their ranks.  Tsu-class OP.  (Other enemys at D don't have very low AA either.)
 * Basically, any bomber sacrifices a lot of bauxite for slight increases in damage output.

Support Fleet
Using a support fleet is not required (I didn't), although D node is definitely not a free S without it. It may save you resources (especially bauxite) overall.
 * I recommend the standard high-firepower high-accuracy setup
 * 2 Battleships (Nagato-class are nice because of their wide equipment selection)
 * 2 high firepower and/or high accuracy main guns. Freedom Guns and 41cm triples are good options.
 * 2 Type 32 RADARs and/or FuMOs and/or 15m Duplex Rangefinder + Type 21 Radar Kai Ni
 * 2 Standard Carriers or high-attack Light Carriers
 * 2-3 high-stat dive bombers, depending on how low base attack is.  Egusas are good, as well as Suisei (401st).
 * 2 Type 32 RADARs
 * 2 Destroyers
 * RADARs or guns or something.  Honestly DDs are kind of irrelevant against the mostly high-armor targets at D node.
 * Remember to triple sparkle everyone, including the destroyers.  It increases appearance rate.

Formations
Always 4.