User:神楽坂磯風/Ship Priority

Overview

This article is written on Jan 4, 2022 and may lose credibility in long terms(this happened repeatedly, e. g. how Yuubari seized the position of "strongest CL" from Abukuma, and how Yahagi did the same from Yuubari).

The choice of ships are certainly affected by personal aesthetics. However if we focus on developing a strong fleet that is capable to beat Hard difficulty of events ASAP only, it's strongly adviced to level some certain ships first.

As a beginner, the first long-term aim is to build up an Armada Invencible to clear the event on casual/easy, and beat medium/hard of E1 or E2 if possible (since the first maps of an event should be easier). This means you should focus on the strongest (and the most versatile) ships at first. After that, when you start to challenge medium/hard maps, due to the tag system and historical buffs you should level up other ships as well.

The priority of the ships depend on the following factors:

Relative strength. e.g. Yukikaze Kai Ni has even higher FP than some old heavy cruisers.
Versatility. Ships(especially CL and DD) have one or more specific roles: High luck that can dispatch the boss easier, ASW, AACI, anti-installation, opening torp, seaplane fighter, and more. Some ships such as Yukikaze, Kasumi, Ise or Yahagi Kai are versatile and have multiple functionality; some ships such as Atlanta is almost only for a specific ability but do the job very well; some ships such as Yura is jack in all but master of none.
Quests. Quests are the main source of powerful equipments for the beginners(such as Murata squadron and Bomb-carrying Type 1 Fighter Hayabusa Model III Kai (65th Squadron)). The most quests often have prerequisites, this means you need to level up not only the quest ships, but also the ships of the prerequisite quests. Some ships are very weak but they're required by an quest, which is the common ancestor of many important quests. In order to prevent scraping quest ships, it's recommended to buy ship slots soon after your account registration. If you're willing to scrap some ship that is your first, see the quest page first and press F3 to see if there is some quest related to her. See also The directed graph of Quests
Historical bonus. Kancolle events are likely to be related with historical battles in the WWII. In the most cases "historical ships" have buff on damage and accuracy, which is the key to slay the boss. Apparently the ships which survive longer in the pacific war (such as Yukikaze and Kasumi) are more likely to have historical bonus.
Cost of remodeling. Many ships require Blueprint/Catapult. New Artillery Armanent and New Aviation Armanent and Action Reports are unlikely to be a bottleneck since they're easy to be obtained rather than consumed. It's worth to mention that Kongo, Hiei and Fletcher eat a surprisingly high amount of devmats, which require you to farm them repeatly in 2-4.
Akashi. You need some ships to improve some equipments. For example, Abukuma for Daihatsu and Type 89 tank.

Blueprint priority

Very High = You remodel these ships in order to clear casual/easy maps

High = You remodel these ships in order to clear medium maps

Low = You remodel these ships in order to clear hard maps

Very Low = Only if you have abundant BP or a specific reason (e.g. historical bonus ship)

If you do not have some ships with "high" priority, just ignore them and start to remodel some ships in "low" if there is some BP. You should convert BP to force multipliers as soon as possible.

Very High

Yahagi Kai Ni B (1BP): Overpowerly strong and versatile. 4 slots. Can launch opening torpedo. Can carry Kami tanks and seaplane fighters. Very high firepower and torp. She should be your first aim of LSC as long as you've unlocked the LSC system (It's not recommended for beginners to LSC Yamato and Musashi, however).

Abukuma Kai Ni(1BP): Can launch opening torp, but only 3 slots. Enable improvement of Daihatsu and type 89 tank, which is vital for anti-installation maps. Ancestor of a night bomber quest.

Nagato Kai Ni (1BP): Nagato Special Attack can easily clear the most maps on Easy/Medium, and is the last hope of some very hard maps.

Ise Kai Ni (2BP, Catapult): Very versatile 5-slot aviation battleship which can carry carrier-based fighters and dive bombers. Her quest reward you two 634 squadron bombers, which can improve the range of carriers to LONG, and prevent that your carriers got Chuha before their attack.

Mogami Kai Ni Toku (1BP)： Queen of aviation cruisers. The only one in CA class with opening torpedo ability. Can carry seaplanes and anti-installation equipments.

Shoukaku Kai Ni A(1BP, Catapult): Controversial. 4 slots armored carrier(can attack if chuha). Shoukaku and Zuikaku quests reward you many useful equipments such as Murata Squadron, Iwamoto Squadron (the best obtainable fighter) and Prototype Toukai (land based ASW aircraft).

Zuikaku Kai Ni A(1BP, Catapult): Controversial. Same as Shoukaku.

High

Kaga Kai Ni (2BP, Catapult): It was controversial that if beginners should level up cardiv 1 (Akagi, Kaga) or cardiv 5(Shoukaku, Zuikaku) first. But it's worth to remodel Kaga first, since she have 5 slots with a large deck size which can help you clear the non-event maps easily. Her quest rewards a rocket interceptor, which is a prerequisite of medium/hard events. In late game you can remodel her to Kaga Kai Ni Go to get an versatile aircraft TBM-3W + 3S.

Akagi Kai Ni(2BP, Catapult): Almost same as Kaga. You need both to get two of the best torpedo bombers Ryuusei Kai (CarDiv 1/Skilled) [AKA Fuchida squadron].

Mutsu Kai Ni(1BP): Similar to Nagato. If you have no Nagato, remodel her first to enable special attack. Moreover, if Nagato Kai Ni is the 1st ship and Mutsu Kai Ni is the 2nd, the damage of Nagato special attack will further increase.

Naganami Kai Ni(1BP): Destroyer with very high firepower(if equipped with type D guns) and reasonable luck. Her quest rewards an action report each quarter.

Choukai Kai Ni(1BP): Heavy cruiser with decent stats. Her quest is the common ancestor of many further quests.

Medium

Yukikaze Kai Ni(1BP to Tan Yang, 2BP to Yukikaze Kai Ni, 3BP total): Very high firepower, torp and luck. Can AACI. Can equip Kami tank. But too expensive.

Fletcher Mk.II(1BP): Versatile DD with high luck. Often has historical buff. Can obtain RUR-4A Weapon Alpha Kai and ASW Lightweight Torpedo (Experimental Initial Model) from quests. But she demands 380 devmats. Note: Do not remodel her to Mk.II until the quest which needs Mod.2 form is finished.

Musashi Kai Ni(3BP): After the update that lifted the day shelling cap to 220, Yamato and Musashi were significantly buffed. But not easy to be obtained(if you do not have them, don't fret since they're not essential even in Hard events). Gives you a 51 cm gun.

Yuubari Kai Ni Toku(1BP): the former queen of CL. But it's still adviced to have one, as her quest rewards a Type D Kouhyouteki.

Kongou Kai Ni C(2BP): Controversial. Can perform night special attack which is often crucial after the night firepower cap was lifted to 360. But 300 devmats are a painful burden...

Hiei Kai Ni C(2BP): Controversial. Same as Kongou. But 330 devmats are absolutely a painful burden...

Hyuuga Kai Ni(2BP, Catapult): Have some quests with Ise Kai Ni. Can OASW with a helicopter. You should remodel her after Ise is remodeled, anyway.

Saratoga Mk.II: Her quests reward night fighters/bombers. After you finished the quest, you can remodel her further to an armored carrier.

Suzuya Kai Ni(1BP): Quest gives a Kyoufuu Kai. Can equip 8cm gun in the expansion, which implies anti-installation functionality(e.g. 3 rockets, one 203(No.3) and one 8cm in the expansion).

Kumano Kai Ni(1BP): Functionality similar to Suzuya, but you should remodel Suzuya first for quest rewards.

Low

BB

Italia, Roma Kai, Bismarck Drei: Remodel Italians and Germans only before an event in Europe.

CV

Unryuu Kai: Source of a +13 fighter(should be +max before conversion).

CVL

Ryuuhou Kai Ni E(1BP, Catapult): Good CVE. Quest rewards a night bomber. But since she consumes a catapult, it's not recommended to be remodeled in the early stage of the game.

Gambier Bay Mk.II(1BP, Catapult): High firepower CVE. Can carry anti-installation equipments(useful for 6-4 right route). Gives you a night fighter. But since she consumes a catapult, it's not recommended to be remodeled in the early stage of the game.

CA/CAV

Zara Due(1BP): High firepower but low torp. Suitable for 1st fleet of task force.

CL

Noshiro Kai Ni(1BP): High firepower, but cannot launch opening torp like Yahagi. Noshiro Kai Ni is the only way to improve 15.2cm Twin Gun Mount Kai Ni which is the typical weapon of Yahagi.

Gotland Andra(1BP, Catapult): Her functionality is similar to Noshiro Kai Ni. Quest rewards a Seafox which is very useful for Nelson. But since she eats a catapult, it's recommended to remodel CV and BBV that require catapults first.

Kuma Kai Ni D(1BP): Similar to Abukuma, but cannot equip torpedoes. Quest rewards an expansion.

Yura Kai Ni(1BP): Required by some quests. Jack in all trades(seaplane fighter, opening torp, anti-installation), but she has only 3 slots and poor FP and Torp stats.

DD

Some Yuugumo class destroyers, and Akigumo(1BP for each): High firepower means higher survivablity in dogfights between small ships. Rewards D guns which are cruicial in night CI of low-luck ships. Akigumo Kai Ni is similar to Yuugumo class, and also has a bonus of 12.7cm Twin Gun Mount Model C Kai 2 +7, which can save one D gun. Remodel at least 2 of them.

Kagerou Kai Ni, Shiranui Kai Ni and Kuroshio Kai Ni (1BP each): Quest rewards a catapult. Ancestor of a quest which reward 61cm Quad (Oxygen) Torpedo Mount Late Model, a very powerful torpedo.

Ooshio Kai Ni(1BP) and Arashio Kai Ni(1BP each): Anti-Installation and some quests.

Lowest

BB

Fusou Kai Ni, Yamashiro Kai Ni(1BP): The only highlight of them was the Leyte Gulf, but many years have passed since then...

CV

Katsuragi Kai, Amagi Kai(1BP): Too weak, and no quest...

CVL

Shinyou Kai Ni, Taiyou Kai Ni, Unyou Kai Ni(1BP, catapult each): With the CVE in the "Low" rank, it's not reasonable to give them catapults unless you have many of them. The Unyou's quest gives some good equipments, but this quest does not require Kai Ni. If you really have abundant catapults, give one to Unyou Kai Ni first to get a night bomber and a Zero mod. 64.

Suzuya Carrier Kai Ni, Kumano Carrier Kai Ni(1BP each): It's strongly discouraged to remodel CAV form to CVL form. Or if you're very enthusiasted in them, make a dupe of both.

CA

Tone Kai Ni, Chikuma Kai Ni(1BP each): Even weaker than Suzuya and Kumano, since they cannot equip 8cm guns in the expansion. If you don't use dupes of Mikuma Kai which is a by-product of 20.3cm (No.3) Twin Gun Mount, it's very reasonable to remodel them.

CL

Kinu Kai Ni(1BP): Since she can increase the resource gain of expedition, her priority remains controversial. But should be classified as either Low or Lowest priority.

Tama Kai Ni(1BP): weaker than Yuura. SPF/Anti-installation roles.