Sandbox/Summer 2020 E-7

Sandbox Rules

This sandbox is to be used to construct an event guide for the above mentioned event map. These guides are to all of the following requirements:

List of branching unlocking requirements (If there are multiple requirements, compositions for each path along with the below requirements will be needed to discuss the unlocking requirements in question)

A list of working compositions that work: (These must have possible alternatives for players who may or may not have all ships needed for a specific path)

The Path said composition will take (To explain what path the composition will take)

A summary or description of what kind of obstacles a composition will face.

A description of the boss node, what it consist and a descriptive guide on what the player should consider for a course of action to successfully win the battle.

(Optional) Tips to farm to take path to collect certain ships (This will also require a composition, path, and possible description.

Editors are to construct thier own version of thier guide and complete them in a timely fashion.

No other editors are to allowed to edit over other editor's work without the full consent of the editor and his approval to do so.

Several version will be constructed through this page and will be reviewed and approved by the staff/ collaboration committee before being moved for the Summer 2020 Event which it'll be reviewed and updated once more before it can be released.

Overall there will be 3 version of the guide that will be constructed which will include:

Preliminary Guide
Polished Guide
Finalized Guide

With each approval of each version the guide, the said guide will be updated to the main page and construction of the next version will begin.

All guides outside of the approved version will be removed and work will begin from the approved version to make it better for the next version until the finalized version is made.

Projected Deadline for E-7 Guide Release: 7/25/2020 Midnight (Not enforced, but only hope to achieve the goal of completion by said date due to map's complexity.)

Guide Thing

E-7 is a complicated map that has multiple requirements across different phases, some of which are repeated across different phases, with a total of three different shiplocks on Hard. (There are no shiplocks on all other difficulties.) This preliminary guide is written with the assumption that the player is playing on Hard difficulty. Nevertheless, the ships used and options listed here are broadly applicable regardless of difficulty.

Introduction

E-7 has three boss phases, as well as a number of unlocking/debuff phases:

Boss 1: Lycoris (Node X)
Unlock Phase for Boss 2
Boss 2: Summer CV Princess (Node Y)
Unlock Phase for Boss 3
Unlock Phase for Start Point 4
Boss 3: South Pacific Aircraft Carrier Princess (Node Z)
Boss 3 Last Dance Debuff

Additionally, the three different shiplocks on Hard are as follows:

Single Fleet
Surface Task Force (STF) and Transport Combined Fleet (TCF)
Carrier Task Force (CTF)

Each fleet starts at a different starting point, and there may be differences in routing depending on which phase of the map is currently active. Only a CTF can sortie from Start Point 4 once it has been unlocked.

As with shiplocks in general, you cannot sortie with ships from different locks in the same fleet. It is therefore even more important to be aware of what type of fleet you are sortieing before deploying to this map, to avoid accidentally locking ships to the wrong lock. This obviously does not apply to difficulties below Hard. Also, it is worth noting that E7 does not enforce its locks post-clear, should you want to farm the map for drops afterwards.

Once again, be aware of your fleet type before sortieing, or risk ruining your entire map run.

The following ships have bonuses on this map:

Boss 1: Lycoris

This is arguably the most straightforward boss of the map; the battles along the route are more difficult to pass than the boss node itself.

While there are bonus ships for this phase, you probably want to save some of them for later parts of the map where they have higher utility; examples include Kongou and Haruna, as well as Myoukou and Naganami, and possibly Junyou, all of which are arguably better deployed in CTF instead for later parts of the map. However, ships such as Kawakaze, Umikaze, and Kuroshio are useful for this part because of their anti-installation capabilities.

Sample Fleet - Fast STF:

2FBB/2-3DD/1AV or CAV/0-1CA(V) + 1CL/3-4DD/1-2CA
- Make sure you have 4 surface radars total equipped to avoid off-routing.
- Standard anti-installation doctrine applies. While FBBs can keep AP shells for APCI (for pass rate along route, amongst other things), CA(V)s should have T3 shells for bonus damage against installations. DDs in the main fleet should have anti-installation nuke set-ups to deal with the 3 Supply Princesses in the boss' main fleet.
  - Nuke Set-Up: 1 WG42 or Shipborne Model Type 4 20cm Anti-ground Rocket Launcher / 1 Daihatsu-class Landing Craft (Type 89 Medium Tanks & Marines) / 1 Type 2 Ka-Mi Tank
  - Most players probably don't have enough equipment for this set-up across 3 DDs, so the third DD (if used) will likely have to include just 2/3 of the equipment listed above and a surface radar for the routing requirement. Otherwise, just use 2DDs and an additional CA(V).
- Escort fleet should have Double-Attack set-ups for the night battle, such as 2 guns 1 Toku Daihatsu Landing Craft + 11th Tank Regiment / 1 WG42 / 1 Shipborne Model Type 4 20cm Anti-ground Rocket Launcher or concentrated variant. As above, CAs should use T3 shells. You do not really need recon seaplanes in escort as you will probably hit AP at best at the boss, but keep in mind the LoS check close to the boss node (and having artillery spotting can help with pass rate at nodes along the route in general).
- At least 1 AACI DD is recommended as you will probably be encountering AP or even AD at the air battle nodes and the boss (depending on number of CA(V) and AV, as well as quality of SPF).
Route: F-I-K-N-O-X
- The route nodes are more dangerous than the boss node, as there there is a chance of encountering an Abyssal fleet in Vanguard formation at Nodes I and O. Air Battle Nodes F and N can also be dangerous as you will likely only manage AP or AD at these nodes. Nevertheless, you should generally be able to defeat the boss if you reach the boss node.
  - Boss gets slightly more difficult during LD as her escort fleet and the Supply Princesses are changed, and you will likely suffer from AD due to the increased FP, but clearing should not be too difficult compared to the pre-LD comp.
  - It may be worth swapping 1 FBB's position from main to escort for LD to help with clearing the escort fleet out to ensure that you engage the boss' main fleet during the night battle, if necessary.
LBAS: 6 waves of LBAS to boss, each base should have 1 Land-Based Fighter 3 Land-Based Bombers and be able to attain AD at the boss. Use a calculator to figure out if requirements are met for AD.
- May need to be adjusted for LD as the boss has slightly higher FP.
Support Expeditions: Boss Support Expedition is generally useful, especially in LD where the Abyssal DDs in the escort have Opening Torpedo capability. Node Support is debatable (since it is unlikely to be effective against the Vanguard comps mentioned above), but can help somewhat with pass rate assuming those comps are not encountered.
- Resource cost is a factor as well, of course. Keep in mind that this entire phase is just the beginning of a very, very long slog.

Unlock Phase for Boss 2

This unlock phase is fairly straightforward:

XXX

Boss 2: Summer CV Princess

YYY

Unlock Phase for Boss 3

Still fairly straightforward. The requirements are:

XX

Unlock Phase for Start Point 4

After the final boss node has been unlocked, it becomes possible to unlock Start Point 4, which will then be the default starting point for a CTF that meets the requirements listed in the branching rules. This is where the requirements begin to get rather onerous (this statement remains applicable all the way through until LD debuff). The requirements for unlocking Start Point 4 are as follows:

XXX

Boss 3: South Pacific Aircraft Carrier Princess

Chipping the boss from Start Point 4 is significantly quicker and more consistent compared to beginning from the original CTF start point. Sample fleets are as follows:

[Table maybe?]

Shortest Route: 4-Z2-W2-W4-Z
Alternative Route (Additional Sub Princess Node Z1): 4-Z2-Z1-W2-W4-Z

Z2: Surface Node with possibility of encountering an Abyssal Vanguard formation (locks to Line Ahead on LD[?]).

Z1: Submarine Node with Submarine Princess (Summer Variant).

W4: Air Battle Node.

The main differences between the two routes are 1) The additional submarine node; and 2) More restrictive speed and large ship limitations for the shorter route. Generally, taking the shortest route should suffice for chipping pre-LD, especially with Friend Fleets now available. Taking the shorter route also allows for all 3 LBAS to be committed to the boss node, while the longer route may need 1 base of Toukai/ASW planes for consistent pass rate at Z1. Node Support is optional; Boss Support may be useful even pre-LD to help with clearing the Escort Fleet prior to the Opening Torpedo phase.

Regardless of your preferred route, it may be worth using South Dakota here to avoid potentially rolling some of the weaker FFs. Most variants of the Hiryuu/Souryuu FF are very strong here as they are equipped with Murata TBs and NCVCI capability.

Once you are within LD range, the debuff specific to the boss ship (South Pacific Aircraft Carrier Princess) becomes available.

Boss 3 Last Dance Debuff

Yet another exercise in revisiting previous nodes, the requirements are:

XXX

Some things to keep in mind for LD:

Ultimately, you're rolling for critical hits against the boss fleet, and any engagement less optimal than Parallel is less likely to clear due to the multipliers involved.
Use of the Nagato/Mutsu special attack is recommended.
- Tsuba has run the numbers for Nagato's special attack and reached the following conclusions:
  - A Nagato/Mutsu pair has higher damage output when the special attack triggers, but does significantly less damage outside of the special attack.
    - [Insert equipment loadout here]
  - A Nagato/SoDak pair has lower damage output when the special attack triggers, but unlike the above, SoDak still has the potential to cause significant damage outside of the special attack.
    - [Insert equipment loadout here]
    - [Same caveat about SoDak FF blocking here]
- Both options are viable, up to player here
[Insert usual thing about F5 to preserve plane ranks here]
Node support effectively mandatory, ASW to help with pass rate at the sub node (you're almost definitely going heavy for LD, so you eat the extra sub node).
- Unless you don't have 3 Murata TBs, then might need to consider alternatives.