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

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 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, Akatsuki	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.

Light Cruisers

Heavier than destroyers, they perform better in daytime combat roles and can fill a wide variety of utility purposes. Many maps call for at least one to achieve preferential routing. However, there is rarely room for more than one or two in a fleet. You should raise about two of these.

Good CLs
Ships	Explanation
Kuma, Nagara	They're very similar to Shimakaze and Yukikaze in that they come online at only level 20 with monstrous Kai stats compared to everyone else in their class, even eclipsing the raw stats of many CL Kai Ni - but unlike Shimakaze and Yukikaze, they're fairly common. As a downside, though, they do not have any special utility function. Due to limited room for CL in a fleet, you should only train one of the two.
Isuzu	Average performance at Kai, but excellent utility performance at Kai Ni.
Sendai	Average performance at Kai and fills no utility role, but comes with a full set of night battle gear at Kai Ni.
Kitakami, Ooi	They start as CL, but become Torpedo Cruisers (CLT) at Kai and Kai Ni, with the power to launch devastating pre-emptive torpedoes. Raise them automatically regardless of which other CLs you choose to train, as they are extremely powerful and will remain strong forever.

Other CL
Ships	Explanation
Tenryuu, Tatsuta	Exactly like the Mutsuki-class destroyers - poor in combat, but efficient for expeditions. Send them on expeditions only.
Common CL that lack relevant second remodels - Naka, Natori	Bad. They will eat up your exp and give nothing back.

Heavy Cruisers and Aviation Cruisers

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, Chikuma	A pair of relatively common CA that have exceptional stats at Kai. They later remodel into CA(V) and continue 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 do not have a final remodel and probably never will.

Seaplane Tenders

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.

Standard Carriers

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.

Light Carriers

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.
Shouhou	Better than Ryuujou and also easy to find, but she does not have a Kai Ni form.
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.

Battleships

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. This combination of ships, if Kai and modernized, will allow you to tackle every main world map from 1-1 up to 5-2.

Ships you should collect ASAP, even if you're not leveling them

(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