Combat

Combat is a major component of the game in Kantai Collection. Combat is accessed through the Sortie menu by selecting a map to send a fleet. Multiple mechanics weave together to create an intricate combat dynamic. For more detailed explanations on the various combat mechanics, please see the individual pages below. Exercises also consist of one surface combat.

Combat Phases

In each node, combat will consist of at least one, up to several Combat Phases. The number of combat phases depends on the node type, with each node type using a different set of combat phases and order. More information on Nodes.

In no particular order, the combat phases are made out of Aerial Combat, Battle Opening, Day Battle, Night Battle, Land-based Aerial Support, and Support Expedition.

Formation Selection

If the fleet currently deployed has 4 or more ships, the player will be prompted to pick a fleet formation before every battle. Fleets with 3 or less ships will not have a fleet formation prompt and will default to Line Ahead.

• Sunk ships and ships evacuated with a Command Facility
  
  are not counted.
• Diamond Formation requires 5 or more ships present in the fleet to be selected.
• Enemy fleets do not have these restrictions. Enemy fleets in Diamond formation with fewer than 4 ships lack formation graphics on the battle screen.

Combined Fleets have special formations that differ from the standard single fleet ones.

Formation		Shelling			Torpedo			Anti-Submarine			Night Battle			AA	Flagship Protection	Notes
		Damage	Accuracy	Evasion	Damage	Accuracy	Evasion	Damage	Accuracy	Evasion	Damage	Accuracy	Evasion
Line Ahead 単縦陣 (Tanjuu-jin, 単縦陣?)		100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	60%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	45%
Double Line 複縦陣 (Fukujuu-jin, 複縦陣?)		80%	120%	100%	80%	80%	100%	80%	120%	100%	100%	90%	100%	120%	60%
Diamond 輪形陣 (Rinkei-jin, 輪形陣?)		70%	100%	110%	70%	40%	110%	120%	100%	100%	100%	70%	110%	160%	75%
Echelon 梯形陣 (Teikei-jin, 梯形陣?)		75%	120%	140%	60%	75%	130%	110%	120%	140%	100%	90%	130%	100%	60%	Single vs Single fleet battles
		60%		120%		60%		100%				80%	110%			Single vs Combined fleet battles (either way)
Line Abreast 単横陣 (Tan'ou-jin, 単横陣?)		60%	120%	130%	60%	30%	140%	130%	120%	110%	100%	80%	120%	100%	60%
Vanguard 警戒陣 (Keikai-jin, 警戒陣?)		50%	80%	See below	100%	70%	See below	100%	??	See below	50%	??	See below	110%	Medium	Upper half of the fleet
		100%	120%		100%	90%		60%	??		100%	??		110%	High	Bottom half of the fleet

Accuracy Exceptions
Formation	Day Shelling & Carrier Attacks	Torpedo Attacks	ASW	Night Battles
Vanguard (Both) vs DD	additional 110%	additional 120%	?	?
Double Line vs Line Abreast	100%	N/A	100%	N/A
Echelon vs Line Ahead
Line Abreast vs Echelon

Notes

• Exact values were datamined from KanColle Kai for the Vita. Testing on the browser version has corroborated these results.
  • Values for Vanguard and the new Echelon are vague as they weren't introduced for KanColle Kai.

Flagship Protection

Flagship Protection is when a non-flagship protects the flagship from being targeted by receiving the attack instead. When activated, a "curved shield" animation plays in front of the flagship's banner.

• Activation rate is determined solely by the selected formation. If activated, a ship with HP above Minor Damage (小破) is randomly selected to be the protector.
  • If no ships are above Minor Damage, flagship protection cannot activate.
  • Having more ships above Minor Damage does not increase the rate.
• It may activate on any type of attack, including shelling, torpedo, ASW, airstrike, and support.
• Submarines do not protect surface ships and surface ships do not protect submarines.
• Installations cannot perform protection, and cannot receive protection if they are flagship.
• In Combined Fleets, the escort flagship does not receive flagship protection.

Vanguard Formation

• Vanguard is only available during Events, and is usable on any map during this time.
• The modifiers on Vanguard Formation refer respectively to the "upper half" and "bottom half" of the fleet.
  • For a fleet with 6 or 7 ships, the top row applies to ships 1 to 3, and the bottom row applies to the remaining ships.
  • For a fleet with 4 or 5 ships, the top row applies to ships 1 and 2 and the bottom row applies to the remaining ships.
• Attacks from support fleets are affected by the top row multipliers, meaning the 50% damage modifier is applied.
• Vanguard has a further post-cap evasion modifier for all ships in the fleet.
  • For ships at the upper half: Non-destroyers get a 5% bonus. Destroyers get a 20% bonus.
  • For ships at the bottom half: Non-destroyers get a 20% bonus. Destroyers get a 40% bonus.
  • Exception: Ships in position 4 of a 6 or 7 ships fleet receive the upper half bonuses, despite being bottom half ships for all other purposes of vanguard.
  • This bonus applies to shelling and torpedoes, but not airstrike.
• Bottom half ships have increased chance to be targeted.
  • The targeting is determined as follows:
    • 1. Randomly select any ship from the fleet.
    • 2. If the selected ship is an upper half ship, randomly select any ship from the fleet again.
  • Target rate per ship (without flagship protection) based on the above procedure:

Number of Ships	4	5	6	7
Upper Half	12.5%	8%	8.33%	6.13%
Bottom Half	37.5%	28%	25%	20.4%

Choosing a Formation

Formation Selection Screen

When selecting a formation, its modifiers will be applied to the entirety of the next battle node whenever applicable. Picking another formation will discard any previous formation bonuses and penalties and use the new modifiers instead. Each formation has a general use-case archetype based on its modifiers.

• Line Ahead: All-out surface combat formation.
• Double Line: All-around, high accuracy formation.
• Diamond: Anti-Air formation.
• Echelon: Mixed surface-ASW combat formation.
• Line Abreast: ASW formation.
• Vanguard: Defensive/evasive & anti DD/PT Imp formation (event only).

Victory Conditions

A damage gauge that is displayed at the post-combat screen for each fleet, using the following calculation:

[math]\displaystyle{ \text{Damage%} = \dfrac{\text{Fleet HP lost}}{\text{Fleet HP}} }[/math]

The following conditions must be met to attain each rank:

Victory State	Rank	Common name	Conditions
Victory	Total Victory: S (完全勝利S)	Perfect S	Sink all enemy ships, while taking no damage in return. In Short Battle Nodes, take 0 damage.
	Victory: S (勝利S)	S rank	Sink all enemy ships. In Short Battle Nodes, take less than 5% damage.
	Victory: A (勝利A)	A rank	Sink 2/3 of the enemy ships. In Short Battle Nodes, take between 5% and 10% damage.
	Tactical Victory: B (戦術的勝利B)	B rank	Sink the enemy flagship and have fewer ships sunk than the enemy. If the enemy flagship survives and the Damage % gauge is at least 2.5x less than the enemy's. In Short Battle Nodes, take between 10% and 20% damage. If any of the ships sink, this is the maximum rank obtainable.
Defeat	Tactical Defeat: C (戦術的敗北C)	C Rank	The enemy flagship survives and the Damage % gauge is between 0.5x and 2.5x less than the enemy's. Also applies when sinking any ship during the battle. If the enemy flagship is sunk but the enemy has fewer sunken ships, as well as having the Damage % gauge between 0.5x and 2.5x less than the enemy's. In Short Battle Nodes, take between 50% and 20% damage.
	Defeat: D (敗北D)	D rank	If the enemy flagship survives and the Damage % gauge is less than 0.5x of the enemy's. If the Damage % dealt is 0.05% (essentially 0). If both fleets deal no damage to each other. This applies to submarine vs submarine battles and air battle nodes. Ships are sunk but not enough to meet the conditions for E. In Short Battle Nodes, take heavy damages.
	Defeat: E (敗北E)	E rank	The enemy flagship survives and the number of sunk ships in the fleet meets the minimum kill requirements. Not meeting the requirements for a D Rank.

Notes:

• B-ranks are the minimum victory requirements for:
  • Obtaining drops.
  • Clearing a map without a boss gauge.
• Drops (both rate and pool) scale based on rank obtained. Some drops might be exclusive to higher ranks.
• Perfect S (Total Victory) ranks count as a regular S-Rank.
  • Perfect S is fulfilled if all ships' final HPs on battle ended is greater than or equal to initial HPs on battle started.
  • So it's possible to obtain a perfect S if the only damaged ship has used a Repair Goddess in battle, and her final HP is still greater than or equal to her initial.

MVP

At the end of combat, one girl is picked as the MVP. She gains exp and morale bonuses. For more details, please see Experience and Rank and Morale and Fatigue.

The way MVP is determined is:

• The girl who deals the highest total damage (sum of all attacks during the combat) is awarded MVP. This damage is not weighted.
• If multiple girls are tied for damage, the MVP goes to the topmost girl in the fleet order.
  • As such, if no damage is dealt to the enemy, the flagship automatically receives MVP.
• Battles ending in an E-Rank have no MVP.
• In a Combined Fleet, each fleet has its own independent MVP.