Changes

=== How to Use ===

=== How to Use ===

* To use this new factory, you need improvement materials [[file:Improvement Materials.png|20px]]. They can be obtained through the following methods:

* Improvement materials [[file:Improvement Materials.png|20px]] are the primary component for improvement. They can be obtained through the following means:

** Certain quests reward Improvement Materials.

# Specific quests

** Medals can be exchanged for 4 Improvement Materials per medal.

# 4 improvement materials in exchange for a [[Blueprint|medal]].

** The in-game cash shop sells them in a package of 10 Improvement Materials for 700 DMM points.

# The in-game cash shop, which sells them in packages of 10 for 700 DMM points.

*  The 2nd ship of the fleet can aid Akashi and influence the possible upgrade options.

# Event map clearance rewards and first class medals, the latter of which yields 10.

*   There is a chance to fail when doing improvements and upgrades

*  The 2nd ship in your first fleet determines which upgrades are available.

**   If the improvement level is low, then you will have a higher chance of success, and vice versa.

* Improvements can fail.

**  Akashi Kai has a higher success rate than Akashi herself.

** Your chance of failure rises with equipment improvement ranking.

**  On failure, resources, Development Materials, Improvement Materials and any extra equipment used will disappear. Equipment being upgraded is left unchanged.

**  Your success rate is higher when using a remodeled [[Akashi]].

**  There is a slider for guaranteed success that increases the required DevMats and ImproveMats.

**  On failure, components used will disappear; however, the equipment being upgraded remains unchanged.

* Equipment that has been improved will have a ★ beside them. Improvement ranges from ★+1 to ★+10. ★+10 appears as ★max.

**  There is a slider that guaranteed success in exchange for an increase in required development and improvement materials.

* All improvement attempts from ★+6 onward also use up other equipments (most of the time it is the same equipment). Some equipments will have this requirement even from ★+0.

* Equipment that has been improved will have a ★. Improvement ranks range from ★+1 to ★+10. ★+10 appears as ★max.

** Equipment to be spent must be unlocked and unimproved.

* All improvement attempts from ★+6 onward use up equipment (most of the time this is the same as the equipment being upgraded). This requirement is present on some equipment even from ★+0.

** Some equipments do not use up unimproved copies of itself (an example would be . As of May 4, 2015, all equipments that have this behavior cannot be developed.

** Locked and previously improved equipment cannot be used as improvement fodder.

** As equipment is spent even on failure, using the guaranteed success slider for difficult to obtain equipment may be considered.

** As equipment is spent even on failure, you are recommended to use the success slider when improvements consume rare equipment.

* There's no ''<u>visible stat</u> ''difference between unimproved and improved equipment.

* There is no visible stat difference between improved and unimproved equipment.

** Improvements on equipment have been shown to have bonus to shelling, torpedo and anti-submarine damage, depending on the category of the equipment.

** Improvements on equipment have been shown to increase firepower, torpedo and ASW stats depending on the category of the equipment.

<!-- ** It's possible that this bonus is not directly added to FP/Torpedo value for damage calculation, but is instead a flat bonus added. -->

*** It's possible that this bonus is possibly not directly added to the firepower/torpedo value in damage calculations, but is instead added as a flat bonus.

** Japanese sources are currently testing the effect of improvements. Preliminary results as of 2014/12/10 are:

** Japanese sources are currently testing the effect of improvements. Preliminary results as of 2014/12/10 are:

*** 12.7cm Twin Gun Mount and similar (not specified in wikiwiki)

*** 12.7cm Twin Gun Mount and similar (not specified in wikiwiki)

**** ★+8~10: +4 bonus to firepower

**** ★+8~10: +4 bonus to firepower

*** Depth charges and sonars are reported to boost firepower and ASW.

*** Depth charges and sonars are reported to boost firepower and ASW.

* If the equipment reaches the maximum improvement level (★max), it may be possible to upgrade to a stronger variant. Any lock on the equipment must be removed, and an upgrade must exist for this to be possible. Be aware that the improvement level will be reset if you do this, and a ★+10 equipment could be stronger than an unimproved upgrade.

* If the equipment reaches the maximum improvement level (★max), it can sometimes be upgraded into stronger equipment. Be aware that the equipment's improvement level will reset, and a ★+10 equipment could be stronger than its unimproved upgrade.

** If the new equipment after upgrading is something you can develop from conventional development, the improvement level will be automatically reset to ★+3 (or ★+5 in a few cases).

** If the new equipment after upgrading is something you can develop from conventional development, the improvement level will be automatically set to ★+3 (or ★+5 in a few cases).

** This has the highest chance of failure, so using the guaranteed success slider can be considered.

** This has a higher chance of failure than normal improvement.

** Note that certain equipments cannot be equipped by the same ships when upgraded. For example, upgrading [[Type 94 Anti-Aircraft Fire Director]] (usable by all surface ships) into either [[10cm Twin High-angle Mount + Anti-Aircraft Fire Director]] (small caliber main gun) or [[12.7cm Twin High-angle Mount + Anti-Aircraft Fire Director]] (secondary gun) will reduce the number of ships who can equip it.

=== Possible Improvements ===

=== Possible Improvements ===