Help:Sparkling
- See Morale and Fatigue for more details on morale.
Sparkling is the process of performing simple, low-risk combat sorties to boost the morale of a specific ship. Through the various bonuses (flagship, MVP, S-rank), it is possible for a specific ship to gain +14 morale per combat node, then lose -15 morale upon returning to base. Thus, if the fleet passes through two combat nodes over the course of a sortie, the flagship will gain a net +13 morale; three combat nodes gives a net +27 morale, etc.
As the morale loss for "returning from sortie" occurs after all gains have been awarded (up to the cap of 100 morale), the highest morale a ship can have after sparkling is 85. There is no in-game benefit from having a higher morale.
Sparkling can be done in 1-1 with practically any ship.
- Assign the designated ship as the flagship.
- Equip the flagship to fire first. Aircraft carriers should carry lots of strike aircraft so they can sink as many enemies as possible during the opening strike. Ships that can perform opening torpedo attacks should carry a minisub to do so. Destroyers (and other ships with Short range) should be equipped with a range extender, such as an SG Radar (Initial Model)
.
- Equip the flagship to fire first. Aircraft carriers should carry lots of strike aircraft so they can sink as many enemies as possible during the opening strike. Ships that can perform opening torpedo attacks should carry a minisub to do so. Destroyers (and other ships with Short range) should be equipped with a range extender, such as an SG Radar (Initial Model)
- Add 1-3 escorts.
- These should be weak, cheap to operate surface combatants. Fodder DDs (level-1 destroyers that you plan to use for modernization) are ideal, but non-fodder DDs and DEs are also good choices.
- The exact number depends on how powerful the flagship is. 1 escort is a minimum, giving you a flagship protection roll should the enemy get a shot in, while costing the least fuel and ammo to operate. 2 escorts better matches the enemy formations at node B , and is still small enough to skip formation selection. 3 escorts may be necessary to ensure all enemies are disabled or sunk before the Closing Torpedo salvo, while 4 or more are not recommended due to the increased operating cost.
- Sortie to 1-1.
- You will pass through two combat nodes, no matter what happens with the compass at A .
- After the sortie is complete, your flagship should have gained morale, while your escorts have lost it.
- If your flagship needs more morale, swap your tired escorts for fresh ones and sortie again.
Antisubmarine specialists can be sparkled very easily in 1-5.