User:VanillaCupcake/Sandbox/Early Game Ships

this one's more aimed at newer players

note that most of the notes between here and the tables and are more for me as a reference to keep me focused on what this guide is fundamentally about. It will be cleaned up later.

it's for getting a basic set of ships available across a variety of types. Any ship in this guide will be accessible in non-event maps and it will be assumed that the player has no access to ships currently exclusive to time limited events, late main-map or LSC exclusive drops, or time limited drops in main maps.

it will come in two stages: basic readiness and then rounding out more event focused stuff

first half will be focused on a small number of ships that are both available early and "come online" early with the goal of allowing the player to efficiently clear standard maps and farm them for experience and drops.

The second half will be focused on getting enough ships to field any variety of combined fleet and to round out empty niches not covered in part 1 (anti air, anti-installation, OASW, CAVs, etc)

PART 1: you just started the game and are a super beginner

(maybe I can have these in separate clickable tabs? I dunno how to make that work)

first half will be focused on a small number of ships that are both available early and "come online" early with the goal of allowing the player to efficiently clear standard maps and farm them for experience and drops. It will be assumed that the player does not yet have access to remodel blueprints and no ship that requires a remodel blueprint to perform will be listed here.

Generally it is better to focus your experience and modernization fodder into a smaller number of ships first, and then you can use them to help carry and train more girls.

lastly it is not worthwhile to raise multiple copies of any girl as you cannot use multiple of the same ship in a fleet at a time.

anyone not mentioned in any table is some combination of:

• too rare to reasonably expect a player to have
• worse than recommended ships
• requires limited resources to stand out from the rest of their class

Destroyers (DD) are weak in daytime surface combat, but make up for it via their performance in anti-submarine combat, night battle, and other utility purposes. They are also frequently very helpful in achieving preferential routing on maps and are sometimes needed to even reach the boss at all. Early on, you should pick five of these to raise. Note that nearly all IJN destroyers are effectively identical at Kai, so the goal here is to pick up and begin leveling those who have stand-out Kai Nis that do not require Blueprints or Action Reports.

Good DDs

Ships	Explanation
Shimakaze, Yukikaze	These two are unique in that they come online and reach their full potential (or most of their full potential) at only level 20. Their all around stats are excellent and Yukikaze will likely be your first reliable Torpedo Cut-In Destroyer. However, they are both rare and difficult to acquire, so do not fret if they don't show up right or even at all. Both can be constructed through the rare Destroyer recipe, and also begin dropping in normal maps as early as 2-4.
Yuudachi, Shigure, Kasumi, Ayanami	Top-tier DDs who, when at their final remodel, perform well in multiple roles or exceptionally well in a single role. While their Kai Nis will be out of reach for now due to their level requirement, it's good to get an early start in leveling them.
Asashio, Michishio, Hatsushimo, Hibiki,	Other destroyers who, while strong, are not as good as the above ships.

Other DDs

Ships	Explanation
any member of the Mutsuki-class	These ships have universally poor performance in combat, but their below average resupply cost makes them efficient in expeditions. Keep some and use them to run expeditions only.
Shirayuki, Hatsuyuki, Miyuki, Oboro, Sazanami, Ikazuchi, Inazuma, Nenohi, Wakaba, Samidare, Suzukaze	In terms of in-game performance, these ships have no redeeming traits - they have mediocre stats and do not have a second remodel, so they're stuck this way forever. Do not level them unless you really love them.

Heavier than destroyers, they perform better in daytime combat roles and can fill a wide variety of utility purposes. Many maps in the main game require one to get preferential routing, but there is rarely, if ever, room for more. They are very important for branching in World 2, so you should train two of them so that you can still sortie to these maps while one is repairing.

Best early game CL

Ships

Explanation

Kuma

IJN CL are very unimpressive at Kai, but Kuma is an exception - her stats are very high in all areas, 10 more each than other Kai CL. She's also very easy to find, first appearing in 1-1 and everywhere hereafter. She shines brightly in the first few worlds, where surface combat against other ships is all that matters and no one is high enough level to reach their final remodels. However, she has no utility capabilities and no second remodel - she will fall off compared to other CL later on.

Secondary CL

Ships	Explanation
Isuzu,Sendai	Average performance at Kai, but excellent utility performance at Kai Ni.
Abukuma	Same as the above, but she is a rare drop who at this stage of the game will only show up in Construction through the rare DD/CL recipe.

These CL are, for the time being, primarily here to be rotated in Kuma's place if she is repairing or fatigued. All IJN CL except Kuma are the same at Kai, but these three are chosen specifically because they are the first CL that a player should aim to remodel to Kai Ni later on.

Other CL

Ships	Explanation
Tenryuu, Tatsuta	Exactly like the Mutsuki-class destroyers - poor in combat, but efficient for expeditions. Send them on expeditions only.
Naka, Natori	Bad. No relevant first or second remodels. They will eat up your exp and give nothing back.

= Very similar to CL, and they start as CL, but they trade all utility and shelling firepower for devastating torpedoes and the ability to launch them pre-emptively. However, they are somewhat fragile and are sometimes penalized in map routing. Both CLT listed here should be leveled.

Torpedo Cruisers

Ships	Explanation
Kitakami, Ooi	The torpedo queens. They remodel early and have the highest torpedo stat out of all shipgirls by a significant margin. They are extremely powerful right out the gate and they will stay that way forever.

Similar to CL, but they trade some of the utility for more raw firepower and armor. Many very early game fleets will only have room for 2 at most. There are also Aviation Cruisers CA(V), which fit into the same slot in a fleet and trade some offensive power for the ability to carry Seaplane Bombers and Seaplane Fighters, an ability that will be important later. For now, level two of them at the very most (but at least one).

Good CA(V)

Ships	Explanation
Tone	A relatively common CA that has exceptional stats at Kai. She later remodels into a CA(V) and continues to perform well at all stages of the game.
Myoukou	Another CA with high Kai performance and a great final remodel. Somewhat uncommon.
Mogami	Remodels into a CA(V) at the very low level of 10. Likely to be your first CA(V).
Takao, Atago	Honorable mentions that rival Tone, Chikuma and Myoukou at Kai, but they do not have a future Kai Ni remodel and thus should not be leveled instead of Tone, Chikuma, or Myoukou.

They can carry seaplanes and equip minisubs, allowing them to perform an opening torpedo. However, their stats are generally poor. Their key use early on is routing, particularly allowing you to achieve optimal routing in World 2. There are only two available to you at the start, and you should collect both.

This is a very difficult choice

Ships	Explanation
Chiyoda, Chitose	The only two AV available outside of events and late game maps. They're not great, but they're all you've got. They remodel into CVL at level 15 and onwards, but one should be kept as an AV.

Heavy ships whose primary roles are heavy pre-emptive strikes and securing air superiority. They're quite rare at first and you aren't allowed to bring many to one map, in most cases. Thankfully, the game gives you Akagi for free. For now, try to acquire and level one only (alongside Akagi). Some are better than others, but the differences between them are not large and you should take whoever you can get.

Caption text

Ships	Explanation
Akagi	The game gives her to you for free as the reward of a very early and very easy quest. Great all around stats, good plane capacity. Definitely use her.
Kaga	Akagi's sister. The best of all choices here due to her solid stats and best-in-class aircraft capacity. Can be found in 2-3 and early world 3.
Souryuu, Hiryuu	At Kai, they're effectively identical. The weakest of the 6 Kai IJN CAs. Like Kaga, they start dropping in 2-3 and early world 3.
Zuikaku, Shoukaku	Better than Souryuu/Hiryuu, weaker than Akagi/Kaga. You will not see them outside of doing the CV recipe in Construction, as they only drop in 4-4 and beyond.

They're like Standard Carriers, but with less of everything (including deployment cost). Map routing is kinder to them and sometimes requires them. Note that this is the first point at which ship speed comes into account in this guide. Every ship mentioned prior to this point is Fast, but from here on out some will be Slow. Most standard maps don't penalize slow ships, but 2-5 does and it's important for new admirals to start clearing 2-5 monthly as quickly as possible in order to begin acquiring medals (and by extension, remodel blueprints). You should level two of them - one fast, one slow.

Slow CVL

Ships	Explanation
Jun'you, Hiyou	The best CVL at Kai stage - good stats, good plane capacity. The only demerit is that they're slow, which won't matter too much in these early stages except for World 2-5. They're identical at Kai, but Jun'you has a (very good) final remodel and Hiyou does not. Choose whichever suits your liking - you'll come back to the other one later.

Fast CVL. Pick your poison - they all have a considerable downside, but you'll need one to attempt 2-5.

Ships	Explanation
Chitose, Chiyoda	Remember those AV from earlier? They're the strongest of the fast Kai CVL, but they do not reach Kai until level 35 and their base CVL form is very weak. If you choose to go with one of them, level her as an AV while running World 2 maps and then perform both remodels back to back once she reaches level 35.
Ryuujou	The weakest Kai CVL, but she's easy to find and has a good final remodel.
Zuihou	Identical to Shouhou at Kai, but has a very strong Kai Ni. However, she is very rare and does not drop until late in the main game. If you see her at all, it will be as a side result of attempting to craft CV through Construction. Do not aim to craft her specifically.

Heavily armoured and with high daytime firepower, they're also very expensive to sortie and repair. They come in three flavours: Battleship (BB), Aviation Battleship (BBV), and Fast Battleship (FBB). Unlike with CVL, their speed will not be important at this stage as it is not recommended to take Battleships to 2-5 anyways. Most standard maps will not let you bring many, so only train two, with at least one being an Aviation Battleship for 1-5 farming.

BB, FBB

Ships	Explanation
Kongou, Hiei, Kirishima, Haruna	Their performance at Kai is identical to one another. They drop in the boss nodes of all World 2 maps. Solid stats with a reasonable resupply cost.
Nagato, Mutsu	Stronger at Kai than the Kongou sisters, but very rare, especially Nagato. They also have a noticeably higher resupply cost.

BBV

Ships	Explanation
Fusou, Yamashiro	The most common Battleship drops. They start off as BB, and remodel to BBV at Kai. They drop virtually everywhere from World 2 onwards.
Ise, Hyuuga	Better than Fusou and Yamashiro, but harder to get. Like Fusou and Yamashiro, they start as BB and remodel to BBV at only level 10. Drops in the boss nodes of 2-2 and onwards.

In the end, you should have a small but well rounded fleet of 5DD, 2CL, 1~2 CA(V), 2 CV, 2 CVL, 1BBV, 1 (F)BB, 1 AV, 2 CLT. This combination of ships, if Kai and modernized, will allow you to tackle every main world map from 1-1 up to 5-2.

(this section needs a better name and better formatting, I'll fix it later)
Ships that are extremely important to collect ASAP due to them being required for the important quests that unlock your second, third, and fourth fleets. Getting them should be a high priority.
CL: Sendai, Naka, Jintsuu
CA: Myoukou, Haguro, Nachi, Ashigara
FBB: Kongou, Hiei, Kirishima, Haruna

PART 2: An Event is coming up and you want to do it

This comes mostly or entirely after Part 1, although it is possible for someone who is not done with the basics to make small forays into an event to collect some rewards.

The goal here is to pick up some unique rare ships that perform specific functions and to increase the number of leveled and modernized ships to the point that a player can put together any type of Combined Fleet. Ships that were mentioned in Part 1 that you did not train at the time will be revisited in Part 2, and ships with poor Kais that were not mentioned in Part 1 will be visited in Part 2 now that Kai Ni remodel levels are more reasonable to attain.

Additionally, now that you have a collection of strong modernized ships, leveling and training will be more efficient and we'll be able to start leveling some ships up to their Kai Ni remodels. Some Blueprint remodels, too.

Furthermore, historical bonuses will be mentioned in regards to the girls that frequently have them, especially night battle attackers.

You should aim for a minimum of 10 DD, 3 CL, 4 CA/V, 4 CV, 4 CVL, 4 FBB, 1 BBV, 1 AV, 2 CLT, plus a few specialized ships that will be mentioned specifically farther down.

TODO: Considering adding SS(V) to this part

At this point directions for where to collect specific key ships, if they're hard to find, is also given out, as it is feasible to begin target farming them. Construction is 100% not recommended at this point as farming gets you a better chance at ships per resources spent and gets you additional experience, too.

Destroyers

Destroyers as they reach Kai Ni will begin to differentiate from each other and become more specialized in the kind of roles they can perform. You should aim for a variety of DD who are capable of surface combat, anti-installation duties, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-air.

Regarding the earlier mentioned minimum of 10 ready DDs, you should aim for a minimum of:

• 3 Surface Combat DDs
• 2 Anti-Installation DDs
• 1 Anti-Submarine Warfare DD
• 1 Anti-Air DD

TODO: Consider adding Naganami - look into how early a player can reasonably pass 5-3 and access the Naganami quarterly quest.

The Best

Ships

Explanation

Superb. Excellent stats - high night battle attack power and good starting luck. She is also able to equip Tanks and all types of Landing Crafts, making her an effective anti-installation attacker as well. On top of her high stats and ability to take on multiple attacking roles, she's also has historical damage bonuses in maps more often than any other DD in the game, often making her a key boss killer. She can also equip all types of Command Facilities. The only real downside is her high remodel level of 75, but it's worth it.

Surface Combat DDs

Ships	Explanation
	The difference between them and other destroyers becomes less pronounced or even disappears as other DDs reach their final remodels, but they're still strong and the fact that they require only a small amount of experience to do their job is valuable, allowing you to funnel more EXP into other ships. Where to find? Shimakaze: 2-4 Pre-boss, 4-1 Boss Yukikaze: Boss nodes of 3-1, 3-3, 4-2
	These two are quite similar to each other: they sport the highest and second highest night battle attack power among DDs, respectively, but they're also very rarely historical ships. Don't let that discourage you, though - they're still amazing picks. Ayanami has a much higher starting luck, but her remodel level is a lot higher too.
	Respectable offensive stats, high luck and a fairly low Kai Ni level. While she's not as outright powerful as Yuudachi and Ayanami, she's frequently a historical ship in events. If you're willing to invest more levels into her she is also able to do opening ASW attack with buildable equipment around level 71, making her an effective anti-submarine specialist as well.
	Frequently a historical ship and has and high starting luck, but otherwise worse than those above her due to her average stats. However she is able to equip Command Facilities and Landing Crafts, giving her some extra utility and allowing her to function as a second-string anti-installation ship.
	Excellent stats, but poor luck. Has an alternate form where she trades her huge stats for anti-sub and anti-installation abilities, but this requires the very high level of 85.

Anti-Installation DDs

Ships	Explanation
	Excellent stats and can moonlight as a surface combat DD.
	Offensive stats are not as high as Michishio's, but in return she is frequently a historical ship, especially in European events.

Anti-Submarine Warfare DDs

Ships	Explanation
	Can perform OASW attacks regardless of equipment at all times. However, she is a rare drop from 2-3 only and requires her Kai remodel to be effective, which is at level 55. Highly recommended regardless, as not needing certain gear or level to OASW makes her very flexible.
	If Johnston utterly refuses to appear, more levels can be fed into Shigure as a less versatile backup.
	For the desperate. A dedicated ASW specialist with only average stats elsewhere. Uncommon drop and only appears in 2-4, 2-5, and 4-2. Only resort to her if you can't find Johnston and really don't like Shigure for some reason.

Anti-Air DD

Ships	Explanation
	IJN's premier AA destroyer with a very powerful Anti-Air Cut In, and by Kai she has all the gear she needs to AACI. An absolute must have. Drops in the boss node of 2-2 only.

Light Cruisers

Following up on the CL mentioned in Part 1. Abukuma takes center stage here and will likely be your first blueprint target: Sendai and Isuzu are also K2'd for night battle gear and OASW/AACI, respectively. Kuma takes a backseat as her lead over other IJN ships disappears at this point.

TODO: write more about CLs when polishing this up

CL

Ships	Explanation
	Excellent CL who can fulfill a variety of roles, the most notable being the ability to perform pre-emptive torpedo attacks without needing to be a CLT or SS(V). She also has solid combat stats and the ability to equip all types of landing crafts and tanks. Stays relevant for a very long time due to her torpedo ability alone.
	Comes with a full set of night battle gear as stock equipment at Kai Ni. She also has solid stats, but it's unlikely she'll be used over Abukuma if the fleet calls for a single CL only - the main reason you are leveling her is for the quickest and easiest access to the useful night battle gear.
	At Kai Ni, she gains the ability to OASW automatically regardless of ASW stat or equipped gear. She also gains access to special AACI setups that allow her to perform an okay AACI with minimal equipment slot usage, and it is in fact possible for her to do both of these things at once. Her offensive power is mediocre, however - her main use is OASW and AACI.

Heavy Cruisers

Heavy Cruisers are often, but not always interchangeable with CAV in maps. Compared to CAV they often have superior base stats, but are unable to carry Seaplane Bombers and Seaplane Fighters. Sometimes they can be used where CAV cannot, and sometimes CAV can be used where CA cannot.

For the most part, they're restricted to performing only as beatsticks - with the exception of Maya, who has formidable anti-air presence. I recommend training Maya and at least one surface combat CA.

Surface Combat CA

Ships	Explanation
	IJN's best non-blueprint-eating CA in terms of raw combat power. While she only has a very tiny edge in attack power compared to her sisters at Kai Ni, she has a serviceable luck stat which makes her potentially able to run a TCI setup for very high damage.
	Myoukou's three sisters. Very slightly weaker in exchange for reaching Kai Ni slightly earlier. Only level one if you did not opt to level Myoukou during Part 1 - otherwise they can be saved for later.

Anti-Air CA

Ships	Explanation
	Excellent CA. While her Kai is painfully average, she shines bright at Kai Ni with a substantial increase to attack power and access to two powerful AACI setups that are exclusive to her. These setups are also relatively light on equipment slots, and allow her to maintain night battle double attack while running AACI. She also complements Akizuki well in maps with very heavy enemy air presence.

Aviation Cruisers

As you gain access to more equipment, maps, and events, CAV in their usage begin to branch out from CA. While their stats are typically lower on average, they gain access to equipment that CA don't - anti-installation rockets, Seaplane Bombers and Seaplane Fighters.

All CAV start out as CA and must be remodeled to Kai (Mogami-class) or Kai Ni (Tone-class) before they become CAV. I recommend getting at least two.

Tone-class

Ships	Explanation
	CAV that retain a CA's higher combat stats. She also comes with a copy of the perpetually useful 20.3cm no.3 Twin Gun Mount. However, she requires the use of a Blueprint to remodel. If you are short on them or have higher priority ships who require one, feel free to leave her for later and pick two other CAV.

TODO: ask Echo how to make "20.3cm no.3" part link to the item's page