User blog:Tokugata Kuchikukan/A Test of Pride! The Fool vs Shiplock!

"If you're not suffering, you're doing something wrong."

This phrase is something I learned whenever I heard about all of the veteran Admirals in the chat talk about their previous encounters with game events. From Ironbottom Sound, to AL/MI, to even the most recent Winter event, while bragging about their exploits and carrying back incredible equipment or rare ship girls, they also start to bleed from old wounds. The word "salt" pops up almost every time, and many times.

While combined fleet and regenerating HP gauges were a bit terrifying, there was something else that I wished didn't have to happen so soon:

The dreaded shiplock.

To the veteran, it's nothing but an additional rule. To the newface like myself, that's a giant brick wall. I only have less than 3 months of experience, and even less ships that are leveled. I spent too much time only raising my favorite girls and neglecting ones that are actually quite helpful. I've only used 3-2-A a few times, and even then, I became too lazy and relied mostly on PvP to raise my ships. I convinced myself that I was going to play on Easy Mode anyway so there was no actual need to raise more.

...but against my better judgment, I still pursued Hard mode. After all, I already conquered E-1 and E-2 on Hard mode. I wanted to know how far I can go with this scrappy fleet. Or perhaps I wanted to just go and tell everyone, "Hey, I cleared the event in Hard mode!" in an attempt to be recognized by everyone--that I belong as a competent player. And most importantly, for my own pride.

I spent almost half the day trying to figure out which ships I have to use for the next three maps, reading through the wikia event pages and taking second opinions from my friend who is done clearing up to E-4. I readied myself and my ship girls to take on the lock.

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April 30, 2015:

E-3 Hard Mode:
 * 1st run - Passing through Node D was unsettling, hearing the Light Cruiser Demon talk was a bit creepy. I'm not used to this yet. Luckily, she let me pass safely and I was able to secure my first E-3 boss kill. Myoukou dropped.
 * 2nd run - Another surprisingly smooth run. Unfortunately, it was just Yura (again) who showed up.
 * 3rd run - Tone receives heavy damage at Node B, forcing a retreat. I knew that things wouldn't go too smoothly.
 * 4th run - An uneventful boss kill.
 * 5th run - The Flagship Yo-class Submarine hit Tone too hard at Node C. I had to retreat.
 * 6th run - Nagano completely wrecks Ryuujou and Tone, forcing me to retreat once more.
 * 7th run - Another boss kill secured, and another Yura secured. I am really starting to dislike this girl...
 * 8th run - Nagano wasn't at her usual post, and I was greeted by a Flagship Nu-class instead. Made it to the boss and a wonderful new addition to my fleet was obtained, Tokitsukaze.
 * 9th run - Perhaps the smoothest run of the day, destroyed the boss and Agano dropped. Strangely enough, there's still a tiny bit of HP left. I was pretty sure I completed all boss kills with an S... Well, one more boss kill shouldn't hurt.
 * 10th run - The Gold Nu-class appeared again, and managed to troll me by heavily damaging flagship Fubuki. Forced retreat. Now it's slightly starting to sting.
 * 11th run - The Gold Nu-class once again hits too hard, taking Ooi and Ryuujou to heavy damage. Now it's official: I hate that Nu-class. Another retreat.
 * 12th run (Final) - Finally, the Nu-class stopped appearing, and Nagano let me through. The final boss kill was secured, and I met Takanami, my second new event ship as a drop.

That look only 1 more run than E-2. It seems to be getting harder for me at this point. I can only hope that everyone saying E-4 is much easier/the easiest map aren't only saying it just because they have over 40 ships that are able to clear the event. Even so, it fills me with both pride and happiness that I was able to complete E-3 in Hard mode, including the fact that I was able to get Tokitsukaze and Takanami along the way.

I've decided that I'll do as much Hard mode as my resources permit. For now, I feel safe, but it's also slightly starting to feel... much easier than what was described over and over. It seems like even the average newface has a chance to complete this... I have to roll with this momentum going forward.

Here's hoping I don't end up crashing against the brick wall...