Arill/Sandbox/Combat/Map Mechanics and Nodes

Map Mechanics

Maps are made out of nodes connected to each other through paths called edges. You may only access a given node by travelling through those edges. Each node is independent of each other, and your fleet state will carry over from node to node.

There are a few mechanics that take place in the map itself.

Land Base Air Raid

In maps where a Land Base is present, an additional mechanic may be imposed where an enemy abyssal fleet will attack the allied Land Base. A text alert saying "Enemy formation approaching! Enemy aircraft are approaching our base." (敵編隊接近中！我が航空基地に敵機接近中。) will appear in the map screen and the Raid will follow shortly. Raids may trigger whenever you travel to another node.

Please refer to the LBAS page for additional details.

Map Unlocking / Phase Progression

In some maps, particularly during Events, conditions might be required to further progress the map. A map may be split in distinct phases, with each phase requiring a different set of objectives to be met. These objects range between successfully defeting enemy fleets, defending against enemy Air Raids, attaining air superiority on certain nodes, beating previous bosses, and so on. As soon these conditions are met, the map advances to the next phase; new nodes and/or paths will be unlocked, older paths might become inaccessible, and older routes might change severely.

Resetting a map by choosing a higher difficulty will reset the map to its initial state.

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  Initial state of the Fall 2020 E-3 map

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  Final state of the Fall 2020 E-3 map

Nodes

The Start Node dictates the point from which your fleet will start. Multiple start points may be present in the same map. In such cases, the Start Node from which you'll begin sortieing is defined by the fleet composition as well as fleet type when you enter the map.

Battle Nodes are the main types of nodes present in a sortie, often times making up for the majority of nodes in the map. A Battle Node will always begin with Day Battle and can be followed up by a Night Battle. Node Support Expedition may appear in these nodes. Specifically for Battle Nodes, the battle cost varies depending on the node composition:

• Submarine-only nodes will consume 8% fuel and no ammo.
• PT Imp Pack-only nodes will consume 4% fuel and 8% ammo.
• Regular battle nodes will consume 20% fuel and 20% ammo.
  • Pursuing the enemy fleet into Night Battle will increase the ammo cost by an extra 10%.

Boss Nodes are usually the final point of a map's route and are where the map's boss resides, if it has one. After the Boss Node battle end, the sortie automatically finishes and the player fleet returns to Homeport. Boss nodes can be of any kind of battle node, meaning they can be a Night to Day Node, Night Battle Node, or a Battle Node. Boss Support Expedition may appear in these nodes.

• Regardless of the actual Node type and composition, the consumption for Boss Nodes is always 20% fuel and 20% ammo.

Air Raid nodes are special nodes where only LBAS as well as the Stage 1 of the Arill/Sandbox/Combat/Aerial Combat are performed. This node consists of a purely defensive battle against enemy Aircraft Carriers. The enemy fleet is able to further progress to Stage 3 of Aerial Combat and perform an Airstrike against your fleet.

• The consumption for Air Raids is 8% fuel and 4% ammo.

Similar to Air Raid nodes, however LBAS is performed once, followed by full Arill/Sandbox/Combat/Aerial Combat phases performed twice back-to-back.

• The consumption for Air Battles is 20% fuel and 20% ammo.

Ambush nodes are purely defensive nodes where your fleet is attacked by an enemy fleet without being able to fight back. Specifically for Ambush nodes, formation may not be selected prior the battle, and will be defaulted to Line Ahead or Cruising Formation 1 (for combined fleet).

• The consumption for Ambushes is 4% fuel and no ammo.

Night Battle nodes skip over Day Battle and instead consist of only the Night Battle phase. Node Support Expedition may appear in these nodes even though they begin the battle at night. The battle will automatically finish after the Night Shelling phase is ended.

• The consumption for Night Battles is 10% fuel and 10% ammo.

Night to Day Battle nodes invert the usual Battle node format, beginning the battle on Night Battle and then automatically transitioning to Day Battle afterwards. The applicable Support Expedition will trigger when the battle starts (during the night), but Day-only phases such as LBAS and Arill/Sandbox/Combat/Aerial Combat will be performed as soon the Day Battle begins.

• The consumption for Night to Day Battles is 20% fuel and 30% ammo.