The Armor Reduction mechanic was a Event Only Mechanic that was introduced in the Summer 2015 Event and subsequent events. Within these events, these mechanics introduced a challenge that made players attempt to perform different tasks which they were required to clear a certain requirement to help reduce the Abyssal Boss's Armor. Most abyssal bosses during these events were given high armor which made it very difficult to defeat them without exploiting the gimmick that would weaken them. While it was quite possible to defeat the bosses without exploiting the gimmick it was very difficult to do so.
Within the events, each of the requirements needed to defeat the boss has changed. No two gimmicks were the same as of this point. The presence of the method of weakening the boss and/or its defense was usually made clear ahead of time, with earlier events having it set on a timer that would reset if enough time had passed.
Summer 2015 Event - Operation FS E-7
The Summer 2015 Event introduced players to the gimmick for the first time. When the event originally started, the later stages of the event were not released till a day later in order to make sure the gimmick was working as intended. When the later portion of the events were introduced, players would be greeted with a surprise which would present a greater challenge for them once they reached E-7 Operation FS.
Operation FS introduced the Air Defense Princess, an abyssal air defense destroyer boss, which while was tough in general, was only made harder to defeat due to her incredibly high defense. The Devs tweeted later in that day that there was a system that players need to figure out to destroy the 'enemy's main defense" which would involve "destroying the enemy's supply line"
Players who managed to dig around would eventually find that key to weakening the Air Defense Princess would involve the following conditions to be met:
- S ranking Node X which had the Harbor Princess
- S ranking Node Y which had the Isolated Island Demon
- Taking out a large amount of enemy Transport Ship Wa-Class
If some of these conditions were met, this would result in the Air Defense Princess's defenses dropping enough to allow for your fleet to do significant damage to her. The effect was gradual and her defense would drop as the conditions were further met.
However, all armor reduction bonuses would be removed each day at 5:00 AM JST and players would have to repeat the process to weaken her once again.
Fall 2015 Event - Western Front! Deploy a Mobile Task Force E-4
The Fall 2015 Event would be the second time in which the armor reduction mechanic would be used in the game. Unlike beforehand where the effects would happen on a gradual basis, the mechanic would only activate when all conditions were met.
Players would have to fight against the Submarine Princess who was also given a high armor buff but could be weakened under the following conditions:
- Defeating the Harbor Princess at Node J
- Defeating the Anchorage Princess at Node M
Meeting these conditions would drastically reduce the Submarine Princess armor drastically and would result in a change in her dialogue and image. The image was however only available to those that used a mobile task force which players were encouraged to use since it would grant a higher accuracy bonus against fighting submarines.
Like before hand, the mechanic would reset after each day, but this time the time of reset was set for Midnight JST.
Fall 2015 Event - Survive! Vanilla Bay Night Battle! E-5
Within the same Fall 2015 Event, players who made it to E-5 would fight against the Destroyer Water Demon who was given an armor buff of her own. Her requirement were different as she required the following conditions:
- Defeat a total of 15 PT Imp Groups during the attack phase of the operation.
As usual, when these conditions were met, a drastic change to her image and dialogue would take place. Most notable change was that she would lose her helmet when the debuffing process was completed.
Like before hand, the mechanic would reset after each day, but this time the time of reset was set for Midnight JST.
Spring 2016 Event - Operation Recapture Friendly Anchorage E-6
Unlike the previous events, Spring 2016 Event in E-6 introduced a complex but simple mechanic that was confirmed to be a multi-stage process debuff. On top of that, admirals were required to go through several stages in order to actually perform the armor reduction mechanic against the Central Princess.
In order to make the the Central Princess vulnerable, admirals were required to do the following steps:
- Survive an air attack from node I on E-5 without taking any damage
- Score an S rank on Node A in E-6
- Score an S rank on Node G in E-6
- Score an S rank on Node L in E-6
Upon completing 2 out of the 4 steps, the Central Princess would experience a reduction to her armor, but the full effect would not take place until you had completed all 4 steps which would also result in a small change to the Central Princess's lines. In addition, the debuff was triggered only by attacks done by dive bombers and possibly Seaplane Bombers during the Aerial Phase and the Carrier Support Expedition in battle. As in most cases, players were able to take out the Central Princess in a single blow before the battle even started.
Once you completed each debuff steps, the effect was permanent and did not revert back for the remainder of the event.
Summer 2016 Event - Second Battle of Malaya E-3
The Second Battle of Malaya features an armor reduction mechanics that was different in that this one incorporated being able to successfully intercept the Air Raid attack against your base twice, and also scoring an S rank in Nodes A and D. If done successfully, a ding sound would be heard upon returning to base.
Unlike previous events, the armor reduction contributed to weakening the Summer Battleship Princesses instead of the boss of the map. Making them more vulnerable to attacks from torpedo bombers.
Summer 2016 Event - Battle off the Malacca Strait E-4
The Final event map of the Summer 2016 Event featured a large series of steps required to triggering the armor reduction for the Summer Heavy Cruiser Princess all which required for your fleet to successfully score an S rank on four of the five following nodes:
- Node C
- Node D
- Node H
- Node I
- Node K
By completing 4 of the 5 nodes using a combination of Surface and Carrier Task Force you would receive a ding when you return to your homeport base indicating that you have met the requirements.
This resulted in the Summer Heavy Cruiser Princess armor being reduced allowing for your fleet to have a stronger chance of defeating her.