Combat/Night Battle

Night Battle Breakdown

The screen after Day Battle. Clicking "夜戦突入" on the right will begin Night Battle

When the fleet pursues the enemy into Night Battle (夜戦, yasen), or enters special Nodes such as Night Nodes or Night to Day Nodes, the fleet will fight at night.

The Night Battle has the following structure:

1. Friendly Fleet (event only)
2. Support Expedition (if the battle starts at night only)
3. Night Contact and Spotting
4. Night Shelling Phase

In case neither fleets meet the requirements, the sub-phase will be skipped.

Night Contact and Spotting

Star Shell, Searchlight, and Night Recon activated. The Night Recon is displayed on top of the Enemy "Radar".

When the fleet is equipped with certain equipment, additional effects are triggered for the duration of the Night Battle. The relevant equipment and their effect are listed below.

• More information on the actual effects on cut-in rate of each piece of equipment can be found in the Night Shelling Special Attacks section.
• See Accuracy, Evasion and Criticals for details on other effects.

Equipment	Effect	Requirements
Star Shell	Increases the of the fleet. Increases the cut-in rate of the fleet. Greatly decreases the cut-in rate of the enemy fleet.	Ship must have at least 5 HP Trigger rate is 70% per ship equipped with a Star Shell. If multiple Star Shells are in the fleet, each will have a chance to trigger in fleet order.
Prototype Night Zuiun (Attack Equipment)		Trigger the Night Zuiun CI. Effect apply only after the Night Zuiun CI triggered.
Searchlights	Greatly increases the of the fleet. Greatly increases the cut-in rate of the fleet. Decreases the cut-in rate of the enemy fleet. The equipping ships have their evasion sharply reduced, and get targeted more often, see here	Ship must have at least 2 HP Trigger rate is 100%
Skilled Lookouts	Increases the cut-in rate of the ship equipping it.	None
Night Recons	Increases the of the fleet. Increases the stat of the entire fleet by 5 for the Type 98 Night Recon & Walrus, 7 for the Type 0 Night Recon Kai, Loire 130M, & Sea Otter, 9 for the Type 0 Night Recon Kai 2 & Loire 130M Kai Sk Increases the critical hit rate of the fleet.	The recon cannot trigger on a slot of size 0. The success rate is dependent on the level of the ship it is equipped on. Trigger is determined by: [math]\displaystyle{ \text{Triggers %} = 4 \times \bigg\lfloor \sqrt{\text{LoS}} \times \sqrt{\text{LV}} \bigg\rfloor }[/math] With: [math]\displaystyle{ \text{LoS} }[/math] the base LoS of the recon (excluding Improvements and fit bonuses), [math]\displaystyle{ \text{LV} }[/math] the Level of the ship carrying the Night recon. Like Day Contact, if multiple night recons are in the fleet, each will have a chance to trigger, in base accuracy order. If the Night Battle was preceded by a day battle: The Air State must be AD, AS or AS+.

Night Shelling Phase

Example of engagement order during Night Battle

Following the battle preliminary stages, Night Shelling proper will begin. Similar to Day Battle, attacks performed by ships are shelling attacks.

Some rules are applied to shelling attacks:

• Attack power is defined by + stats instead of only .
  • It is often represented with the "Night Battle Power" (Yasen) icon.
  • If the enemy is unaffected by torpedoes, such as installations, only is used instead.

• The Shooting Order is altered, with notably Heavily Damaged, evacuated, and sunk ships performing an actionless turn.

• CV(B/L) are unable to participate in night battles, unless specific requirements are met (see below).

• Shelling attacks that target submarines will always deal Scratch Damage, making it impossible to sink submarines during Night Battle.
  • This rule is void if the player's fleet is a Combined Fleet.
  • Friendly Fleets can also ignore this rule, and may damage submarines.

• Ships with 0 stat are unable to participate in night battle.
  • Currently, this is only observable against the Wa-Class Transport Ship.
• Some ship types gain bonus Evasion :
  • CA(V) gain +5 evasion.
  • DD gain +10 evasion if equipped with a Skilled Lookout
    and a Surface Radar.
• CA(V) equipped with IJN 20.3 cm guns
  
  
  gain special Hidden Fit Bonuses.

In addition to that, Night Battle is not affected by the Day Battle's Engagement, but is still affected by the Formation.

Carrier Night Attacks

Normally carriers cannot attack at night unless certain conditions are fulfilled. There are three different kinds of carrier night attacks: Standard Shelling, Swordfish Night Attacks, and Carrier Night Air Attacks.

This is not to be confused with Carrier Cut-In Attacks which are for daytime shelling.

Trigger Requirements

Standard Shelling

• Regardless of their equipment, those CV(L) are able to attack at night, using the surface night battle attack formula:
  • Using the plane attack animation: Kaga Kai Ni Go, the Taiyou-class Kai Ni
    
    , and Lexington/Kai
    ,
    • Uses a plane attack animation (even when none is equipped, sending an "invisible plane"), unless using a cuit-in.
  • Using the surface shelling animation: Graf Zeppelin/Kai
    , the Saratoga (base),

• This attack can be triggered even when moderately damaged (中破).
• The attack power is relatively weak.
• Plane Proficiency will not affect the critical rate.
• If the carrier can carry ASW Shelling, it will focus on submarines if any are present.
• May be set up to activate Cut-Ins like the Double Attack.

Swordfish Night Attack

• This is just limited to Ark Royal/Kai
  when equipped with a Swordfish
  
  .
• This attack cannot be triggered when moderately damaged (中破).
• The attack power is calculated using the surface night battle damage formula but only taking into account Ark Royal's base firepower and the Swordfish's stats and improvements.
  • All other equipment stat/bonuses are ignored.
  • Swordfish fit bonuses are also ignored.
  • Will send a plane attack animation.
• Plane Proficiency still affects the critical rate.
• May be set up to activate Cut-Ins like the Double Attack.

On a side note, unlike the browser version, on the arcade version the attack is very powerful.

Carrier Night Air Attack

• When equipped with a NOAP
  along with at least one Night Plane, all carriers are able to perform carrier night air attacks.
  • Night Carriers (CVN) are CV/CVL capable of Carrier Night Air Attacks without needing a NOAP
    . They are Saratoga Mk.II, Akagi Kai Ni E, Kaga Kai Ni E, and Ryuuhou Kai Ni E.
• Like day battle, CV(L) cannot trigger the attack when moderately damaged (中破), but CVB still can.
• The attack power is calculated using the carrier night air attack formula.
  • Only the base stats of the carriers, the stats of the night planes, and the count of each night plane are taken into account.
  • Planes in 0-size slots are ignored.
• Plane Proficiency still affects the critical rate.
• It can trigger regardless of the result of the fighter combat phase in day.
• It can trigger even if no bombers are left.
• CV(L) will ignore submarines to target surface ships with this attack.
  • Uniquely, Gambier Bay Mk.II will focus on submarines using a shelling attack
  • If the carrier can also natively carry out "Standard Shelling", and no other valid target is available, the carrier will switch back to the shelling against submarines.
• May activate Night Carrier Cut-Ins.

Night Special Attacks

When using special equipment setups, ships may perform one of multiple special attacks at night. These attacks are often referred to as Cut-Ins due to the way the equipment is displayed on the screen before the attacks are performed. Particular cut-ins are often referred to by their acronym, such as TCI for Torpedo Cut-In, GCI for Gun Cut-In, DA for Double Attack, etc...

Compared to Day cut-ins (Artillery Spotting), Night cut-ins do not require any particular Air State, relying solely on the equipment restrictions and the stats of the ship performing it. Do note that the specific equipment being shown during the cut-ins animation have no influence on the damage output.

Cut-ins may be activated during a ship's turn and will override its normal single attack.

In addition, all "Special Attacks" (Touches) can trigger at night, with the "Kongou-class Night Assault" being only available during night battle.

Setups and Attack Types

Different setups have different conditions, trigger rates, damage, and number of hits. Cut-ins are solely determined by the attack's prerequisites.

For a given cut-in, any other equipment can be added to the remaining slots. Be wary that adding certain equipment may change the Cut-ins rolled for. If the setup fulfills multiple prerequisites, the Cut-in closer to the bottom of the list will be used. Additionally, each ship will roll for "New Type" Cut-ins first, if possible.

• is used to indicate a Main Gun.
• is used to indicate a Secondary Gun.
• is used to indicate a Torpedo (including Submarine Torpedoes).
  • Sub_LM is used to indicate a Late-Model Submarine Torpedo specifically.
• Surface is used to indicate a Surface Radar
• is used to indicate Night Seaplane Bomber.
• Custom icons are used for Carrier Cut-ins for clarity's sake.
  • is used to indicate either a Swordfish
    
    or Iwai FB.
  • is used to indicate a Night Fighter.
  • is used to indicate a Night Torpedo Bomber.
  • is used to indicate the Photobomber.

Special attacks that hit twice will roll independently to determine hit, critical chance, and armor penetration. Although their animations appear as single hits, Torpedo Cut-In, and Mixed Torpedo Cut-In are actually composed of 2 separate hits, with their damage added together in-game.

"New Type" Cut-ins

Uranami performing a DD-exclusive Torpedo/RADAR/Lookout Cut-in, or TRL for short.

The "New Type" Cut-ins are the Cut-ins introduced with the implementation of Saratoga Mk.II onwards. From top to bottom, each eligible Cut-in will be rolled if the previous roll has failed. If all rolls fail, then an additional single roll for a "Original Type" Cut-in is performed.

Do note that Night Carrier Cut-ins require a CV(L/B) with Night Operation capabilities by either equipping a NOAP
or being a CVN.

• Carriers that can perform Surface Shelling attacks at night will not perform Carrier Cut-ins without said Night Operation capabilities.

Night Zuiun CI

• Can only be triggered on BBV, CAV, CL, or AV.
• The ship must not be more than lightly damaged (小破).
• Performs 2 attacks against random enemies.
  • The same enemy can be targeted twice.
• Drops a Star Shell during the attack.

If not applicable, ships will skip rolling for "New Type" Cut-ins altogether and only roll for "Original Types" instead.

Attack Type	Prerequisites	Notes	Pre-cap Damage Modifier	Accuracy Modifier	Hits	Chance for 2nd Hit (LV 80+ DD only)	Trigger Rate [math]\displaystyle{ \text{Base}_\text{attack} }[/math] (lower is better)
Destroyer Cut-ins	Surface		1.3	1.1	1 or 2	65%	115
		With 12.7cm Mod D K2	1.625
		With 12.7cm Mod D K3	1.706
		With 2 12.7cm Mod D K2	1.820
		With both 12.7cm Mod D K2 & K3	1.911
		With 2 12.7cm Mod D K3	2.002
	Surface		1.2	1.2~?		50%	140
		With 12.7cm Mod D K2	1.5
		With 12.7cm Mod D K3	1.575
		With 2 12.7cm Mod D K2	1.680
		With both 12.7cm Mod D K2 & K3	1.768
		With 2 12.7cm Mod D K3	1.848?
		Requires TSLO	1.5	1.37~?		87.5%	125
		Requires TSLO	1.3	?		~55%?	122
Carrier Cut-ins		=	1.25	?	1	N/A	105
			1.2				120
	OR		1.2				120?
			1.18				130
Night Zuiun Cut-ins	Surface	Is affected differently by "night equipment", see below	1.36	1.02~1.11	2*Will fire at 2 random enemies	N/A	135
			1.32
	Surface		1.28
			1.24

Derivated set-ups

When using an SLO or TSLO in the Reinforcement Expansion, it is possible to "mix" the Destroyer Cut-ins, making 2 cut-ins available to trigger at once, and so increasing the odds of having at least one that activates during Night Battle.

Those set-ups are:

• "GTRL": Surface
• "DTRL": Surface

GTRL is sometimes referred to as "GUiTaRSolo" for "Gun, Torp, Radar, and Skilled Lookouts (SLO)".

Do note that if a DD is equipped with a Surface Surface Radar AND a Skilled Lookout
, then it gain a post-cap evasion bonus during Night Battle.

Original Cut-ins

In contrast with the "New Type" Cut-ins, "Original" Cut-ins are only rolled once, even if multiple setup prerequisites are met. The setup used will be the top-most that meets the prerequisites. If this roll fails, the ship will perform a Single Attack.

Attack Type	Prerequisites	Notes	Pre-cap Damage Modifier	Accuracy Modifier	Hits	Trigger Rate [math]\displaystyle{ \text{Base}_\text{attack} }[/math] (lower is better)
Gun Cut-in		+ Any on the remaining slots	2	2	1	140
Mixed Gun Cut-in		No additional	1.75	1.5		130
Submarine Cut-ins	Sub_LM	With Late-Model Sub Torps ONLY	1.75	?	2	105
	Sub_LM Sub_LM		1.6			110
Torpedo Cut-in		+ Any on the remaining slots	1.5	1.5		122
Mixed Torpedo Cut-in		Additional allowed	1.3	1.5		115
Double Attack		No additional	1.2	1.1		-
		Additional allowed
		Additional allowed

Single Attack

If all rolls fail or the ship meets no Cut-in requirements, then it will perform a "Single Attack", a default 1 hit shelling attack, with no particular damage or accuracy modifier.

Trigger Rates

Trigger rate formula
[math]\displaystyle{ \begin{cases} \text{Trigger %}_\text{Cut-in} = & \dfrac{\text{Base}_\text{ship} }{\text{Base}_\text{attack} } \times 100 \\ \text{Luck} \lt 50 & \text{Base}_\text{ship} = \lfloor 15 + \text{Luck} + 0.75 \times \sqrt{\text{Level} } + \text{Modifier} \rfloor \\ \text{Luck} ⩾ 50 & \text{Base}_\text{ship} = \lfloor 65 + \sqrt{\text{Luck} - 50} + 0.8 \times \sqrt{\text{Level} } + \text{Modifier} \rfloor \end{cases} }[/math] With [math]\displaystyle{ \text{Luck} }[/math] the stat of the ship, [math]\displaystyle{ \text{Level} }[/math] the Level of the ship, [math]\displaystyle{ \text{Modifiers} }[/math] is the sum of various equipment modifiers (see the below table for value). Modifiers change based on the cut-in that is being used. Modifiers can affect the enemy fleet. [math]\displaystyle{ \text{Base}_\text{attack} }[/math] is the Value used by each type of Cut-in. See the above tables for value.
Notes The effect of over 51 is negligible due to diminishing returns, thus going above such value is generally discouraged. The formula used above was datamined from KanColle Kai and is corroborated by test results in the browser version.

Modifier			Value
			Allied		Enemy
			Other CIs	Night Zuiun CI
Ship	Placement	Flagship	15		N/A
		Other	0
	Health	Moderately Damaged (中破 Chuuha)	18	N/A
		All other health states	0
	Skilled Lookouts	-	5	8
	Torpedo Squadron Skilled Lookouts	DD/CL(T)	8	0
		Other	0
Fleet	Searchlights	-	7	-10	-5
	Star Shell Prototype Night Zuiun (Attack Equipment)	Do not stack	4	-10	-10

Notes

• Improvements do not affect the trigger rate for any equipment.