Talk:Winter 2016 Event/@comment-119.73.248.2-20160202015257/@comment-4125495-20160203211600

Not saying that Fubuki K2 is better for night battle than all the other Kai-2 DDs (that's flat out wrong, there's several that are far better options), just that she's better at it than Akizuki and Teruzuki specifically.

Certainly the Akizukis can be adequate in a lot of cases. However I've had a number of cases where Akizuki has failed to do more than scratch in pinch situations. She needs to be able to do more than just sometimes shoot down some planes if she's taking up a slot. It's pretty easy to explain why she's not as good a choice. Night battle attack power is the sum of Firepower & Torpedo stats which is why DDs and CAs are so good at it. The top DDs in terms of base night attack power are, in order, Yuudachi K2 (166), Shimakaze (158), Ayanami K2 (157), Kasumi K2 (155) and Akatsuki K2 (150). Yukikaze and Fubuki come in just after. Teruzuki is slightly better in combat than Akizuki, but her NB base attack power is only 114. Akizuki's is even lower at 111. Only the non-Kai2 Mutsuki-class DDs are worse. Since we're making the comparison, that means Fubuki Kai2 has a whole 33 attack power advantage over Teruzuki, and 36 over Akizuki. That's a huge attack power differential and it will make a difference on any boss-type enemy they need to fight.

There's a strong argument that Hatsushimo is a better choice for backup AACI over Fubuki as well, but IMO it's a waste to use her that way. Hatsushimo's high luck means she's better off with a Cut-in setup, whereas Fubuki K2 has average luck so you're not really missing out by throwing an AACI setup on her and going double-attack for night. Same reasoning applies to not wanting to bother upgrading Kasumi to Kai-2 B - she has reasonably high luck so using her in an AACI capacity is a waste, and if you're not going to use her for AA her standard Kai-2 is far better.

On that balance, I'd prefer to take Fubuki (w/2x10cmHA + AAFD & Air Radar) over Akizuki or Teruzuki in most cases *unless* there was a strong need for AACI and that AACI needs to be provided by a DD, in which case obviously your priority is Akizuki or Teruzuki. It doesn't mean that the Akizuki's are bad, just that if you're minmaxing a fleet, you're less likely to want to use them. They're good to have around but are situational and you really only need one. The devs aren't usually complete assholes (they like to make sure there's always some sliver of hope so as it makes our tears even saltier) so most maps that need heavy AA to get through safely are not restricted to light fleets, and you also have the option of Maya Kai-2 in a lot of those cases.

Basically: the Akizukis have their niche but the niche is small and right now you really only need one of them, and most of the time you can get away with using a better DD.