Talk:I-8/@comment-23.255.173.15-20141031044517/@comment-120.19.63.169-20141031053700

With subs, you don't aim to specifically level them. You just bring one along to tank and leech experience. I think you misunderstand their role: during the lower levels, their job IS to get hit, they take the blows from DD/CL in 3-2A so your other ships with more expensive and longer repairs don't. I don't see the problem in them getting hit to red in 3-2A since you're supposed to go back to base after the one battle anyway, allowing them to get repaired before fatigue regenerates for the next sortie.

Anyway once you have at least three 40+ non-maruyu subs, orel cruising becomes somewhat reliable. It doesn't give much exp but the frequency of doing orel cruising is how everyone ends up with high level subs.

And to answer your maruyu question, you need maruyu kai for the 1 equipment slot, maxed torp stat and a quint or 53cm torpedo equipped in order to sink the DDs in 1-1. I used her for a while in expeditions but the sparkling eventually became a pain in the ass