Need some help with choosing certain characters for my hard mode formations to be able to clear as well as gear needed on each character. This is my current setup. I will do shortly a basic swap and let me know if you guys have any advice on what characters or gear to swap around
#Hard Mode Help
oak monolith
Since I just finished the XP grinding for that one PR character. This is my current two formations for main campaign, grinding and character direct XP for PR ship grinding. Also will be pictures of my current formations for hard mode. I just need to figure out how to switch possible characters and gear around.
eternal rune
which hard mode stage is this?
also can u screenshot vanguards?
naive fossil
looks like W12
oak monolith
which hard mode stage is this?
also can u screenshot vanguards?
12-1
oak monolith
which hard mode stage is this?
also can u screenshot vanguards?
I did screenshot all of my current farming formation but not all of my hard mode formation. Since the ones I sent here the full gear photo of are the only 12 characters currently with any real gear equipped. This is all else I can do. One moment
eternal rune
without knowing your vanguard options u need to run more ships with high torp stats. san fran and guam for example give 0 torp. could also replace some aux with gold/rainbow oxytorp
oak monolith
do you mean just all of my vanguard ships in my dock?
eternal rune
yes
oak monolith
before I post that I did also wanna show my unequipped gear
do you need to see mainline ships as well or not?
eternal rune
they are decent. u should run unicorn in mob and replace the bunnies (hiryuu+souryu) if u have better CVs. if not they should work i think.
aslo i am not a big fan of warspite but idk if u have better BBs
oak monolith
they are decent. u should run unicorn in mob and replace the bunnies (hiryuu+sou...
In my hard mode formation there are not any Hiryuu and Souryu:
eternal rune
oh yeah sry missed that one
oak monolith
I think it is also 12-4 hard I show in this picture. I have to check. That is the one I need to work on because I need carrier retrofit materials for Hakuryuu rn
yep that photo is 12-4. I just need to change possibly my characters and gear around. I no longer need to farm ship xp for Hakuryuu. So my normal fleet formations for normal grinding can also be changed if needed. I did not want to start on this until after all the ship XP for Hakuryuu was completed. That way I did not have to switch gear back and forth.
eternal rune
yeah i can see that np.
i think laffeyII, z46, sandy for mob
anchorage, z23/laffey, unzen for boss should work.
what is your shinano gear?
do you have spare protocore?
u could use a champy gun on owari.
in this page.
the one that says III on it
to make this gun. u need 25 total BP. but u can only buy 20 per month so might not be possible this month i am afraid. u should still get it cuz u want 3 of this gun eventually anyway https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/wiki/Triple_406mm_(Mle_1938_Prototype)
if u cant. change owari gun to HE mk6
another thing that rly helps is if we can manage to make this green
u want CV for that. ch12 has no suicide boats so we can take hood out and replace her with another CV.
ususally 4 carrier in both fleets is enough to get green ACV but it might be that yours are a bit underlevelled. or your CV gear could be less than ideal
oak monolith
yeah i can see that np.
i think laffeyII, z46, sandy for mob
anchorage, z23/laff...
those photos should have gone through. Let me try again
Those are the two characters that I didn’t get a chance to show apparently because the photos didn’t go through
oak monolith
do you have spare protocore?
u could use a champy gun on owari.
in this page.
t...
I do not think I have enough if I do.
eternal rune
gear is decent 
. what about ticonderoga and unicorn?
oak monolith
Yeah, I really don’t have anything in that shop available hardly
eternal rune
I do not think I have enough if I do.
well that is fine. change her gun to the purple one i suggested. we need more damage for the boss
oak monolith
gear is decent <:RenownThumbsUp:777770456215453697>. what about ticonderoga and ...
What about them?
based what I’ve sent though so far any more concrete advice now that I sent you the stuff that was missing
eternal rune
i meant their gear. if it is similar to shinano it is fine
oak monolith
i meant their gear. if it is similar to shinano it is fine
Like I said. What I showed you is what gear I have equipped and not equipped. They currently do not have any gear on them since I was grinding ship xp for Hakuryuu.
eternal rune
oh i see. yeah that might be why acv was red.
then it should be fine i think. once you gear them check if it is green. u are good to go after that.
also change this formation to circle if u havent already
oak monolith
then it should be fine i think. once you gear them check if it is green. u are g...
How do you change the formation except from being in the mission? Also any suggestions on what gear to use on each character?
eternal rune
yeah u change it when u start the sortie. inside the map.
honestly the gear u showed me looks fine.
oak monolith
yes but not all the characters you suggested currently have gear on them
eternal rune
oh okay gimme a sec.
this for unicorn
top is better
anyone else? or is that all
oak monolith
Let me look in game. Been taking care of some business stuff today since I just lost my job the other day. So may not respond right away
oak monolith
yeah i can see that np.
i think laffeyII, z46, sandy for mob
anchorage, z23/laff...
why laffey I and II? You saw why characters I had in my current Vanguard for fleet 1 and two main grind fleet didn't you?
eternal rune
Yeah i did. Because with your characters we cant meet the torp requirement for the map
oak monolith
well btw what you suggested are you advising that for hard an regular mode? Also do you need to see my main line ships?
since you told me to replace bunnies, but again you were looking at my main two formations and not my hard mode ones at the time. I do have Guam, which I think someone else recommended for hard mode.
I plan on redoing all my gear for both main xp and main campaign farm gear as well as hard mode. Just need to figure out what to switch them to.
eternal rune
Yeah I thought u needed help with the hard mode.
If u can meet the requirement and run guam then it is fine. I just couldnt figure out how to run her.
U will need different fleets for chapters 13 and 14 normal. Are you thinking about doing 14 next? Or 13?
oak monolith
yeah I do
Here are my characters with torpedo stat
Yes I need help with hard mode. At the same time since I also finding XP grind for Hakuryuu. I want to change my main formation fleets for regular campaign and grinding as well. Since I can only do hard mode three times a day.
eternal rune
Did you try my previous recommendation? It should be fine 12h isnt that hard
oak monolith
I just thought it was strange that you recommended both Laffey I and II
oak monolith
they are decent. u should run unicorn in mob and replace the bunnies (hiryuu+sou...
Also I do not know who to replace these two with anyway that you mentioned in this one.
eternal rune
Lol. Yeah ig it sounds weird. The reson I recc her is because she is already level 125 and has decent torp stats. No need to waste time raising another ship just for hard mode when laffey is completely serviceable
I was thinking u run this for mob
laffey 2 is main tank
hood is flag
and this for boss
u can use saratoga instead of ticonderaga but she will need more levels
oak monolith
OK, well even doing that so far without messing around with the gear. It leaves me this far away
eternal rune
that is fine. easy fix.
replace one laffey aux with this
she might die but u should still clear the stage
oak monolith
Not sure if I have one though. I have to check
eternal rune
i think u had 1
oak monolith
You are correct I do have one. However, it is not leveled yet
regular Laffey or II?
That does put me a hare over the requirement if I got it to +10 and put in on Laffey I
let me look at the rest of the gear on those characters
eternal rune
laffeyII is main tank so she needs to survive i think.
put it on reguler laffey. even if she dies we dont care
Also btw make anchorage main tank not unzen
oak monolith
which slot is that?
eternal rune
current unzen slot so just swap them around
oak monolith
Going to start it shortly. Going to send you the gear pictures for each character first
eternal rune
np. also did u get this green?
eternal rune
looks decent. change owari main gun to this
eternal rune
looks like u are using your best stuff. some gear is not +10 but it should be fine even on +7 and +8.
u can slowly upgrade them.
good luck!
oak monolith
I will let you know how the first attempt goes
Hood starting taking heavy damage and for boss fleet main all lost at least half of their health and Unzen was the only one standing in vanguard at the end
All other characters did decent
eternal rune
if u managed to clear then that is still fine tbh.
we can make it better if we can manage to make this green
can u click it? how close is it to the requirement? there should be a number
oak monolith
eternal rune
well replacing hood with another CV is an option we can try. saratoga is fine but she is underlevelled. so i think maybe u can do that eventually once she has more levels
if this clears then it should be fine for now. once the map is on safe it will be easier anyway
oak monolith
Plus I am trying to get it to three stars at some point. I do not need to kill every mob though yet. I already did that on the first run.
eternal rune
well once u 100% a hard map. u can just turn on clearing mode. only the boss will be there so u can easily get the 3rd star
oak monolith
Also, I just noticed two pieces of Hood's gear are not leveled up
what about for the boos fleet though. Since Unzen was the only one left standing and the main line was at like half health by the end. They seem to be doing worse than mob overall
eternal rune
oh i thought u just gave her owari's gun lol. yeah if she had that 0 enhance gun then it is no surpirse mob fleet struggled a bit
oak monolith
which one is that again and who are you referring to?
mob did not struggle as bad as boss. Mob was overall ok. Boss was almost all dead by the end
eternal rune
owari had a +10 twin 410 gun ready. i thought u just gave that to hood
oak monolith
so boss is more of a problem than mob
I had a second copy but forgot to level it and one other gun
eternal rune
yeah i see that. honestly shinano could use more levels. laffey dying is fine we dont really care since we are just using her as statstick.
eternal rune
can u give one of these torpedo to anchorage? should make her tankier in theory
oak monolith
I am not sure if I have one. I might have to craft it
what are those called so I can look for them quicker?
eternal rune
https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/wiki/550mm_Triple_Torpedo_Mount#Type_3-0 this one would be better.
oak monolith
I think I can craft both of those I don’t have any of them currently in my inventory.
Are those the correct ones that you just posted?
eternal rune
yep this one is right
eternal rune
if u have more of these you can give them to your boss vanguard. unzen and anchorage. maybe give them one instead of san diego
oak monolith
Then what do I put on Sandy?
oak monolith
eternal rune
yeah this looks better. hopefully this makes boss fleet better. but also like i said once shinano has more levels it should be fine
oak monolith
Would you recommend using this same formation for main campaign as well and same gear or just for hard mode. Because now I need to fix or change my main two formations for main grinding since I removed and changed gear and characters around on them.
now my main two fleet 1 and 2 for main grinding other stuff is going to be messed up
not grinding any PR character ship xp at the moment until I start working on another one. I just need the retrofit carrier materials for Hakuryuu atm to unlock her before I switch. So what I had before does not need to stay now
eternal rune
for chapter 13?
oak monolith
There are some characters that do need to be leveled up though for Op Si and such. No I am not worrying about continuing chapter 13 yet. Just worrying about leveling up the characters I already have that need levels for things such as Op Si fleets and such. Plus for the event while it is still here
eternal rune
gimme a sec let me have a look.
the stuff i would say u should level is:
saratoga
guam
shinano
independence if u have the spare core data
sirius and AvP for OpSi
FdG (get her and coin her as well)
hakuryuu eventually once dev 30
volga is also decent and wouldnt hurt to have her levelled
oak monolith
gimme a sec let me have a look.
the stuff i would say u should level is:
saratog...
Already coining FDG and AVP everyday. Some of those characters you mentioned are in my dorm rn
After two battles in one run of the hard note that I mentioned. This is where the health is for my mob fleet, which isn’t too bad yet.
eternal rune
dont forget to make this circle 
for both fleets
oak monolith
I would level up NJ, but I do not have the necessary amount of UR Bulin or dupe copies of her to make it worth leveling her up
It is already there
eternal rune
u can wait for May before u start spending your UR bulins
u want it to be on circular defense. currently it is double line
oak monolith
It is already May
eternal rune
u change it here
oak monolith
It is already there
eternal rune
yeah i meant the may UR. which should be in 2-3 weeks
oak monolith
eternal rune
I want the last one. u are currently on second 
oak monolith
oh ok
oak monolith
dont forget to make this circle <:MutsukiHyperStare:588629678017871872> for bot...
I was going off of this picture you sent
changed it
How come it does not look different in the game though?
eternal rune
yeah sry should have been clearer xD
I meant change it to the circle one
eternal rune
How come it does not look different in the game though?
wdym 
oak monolith
it still looks like during the battle the dual line
oak monolith
oh, by the way, I’ve done like four battles so far but the reason my ammo is back at four because I claimed the extra ammo. However, this is the current health of my mob fleet.
eternal rune
doesnt look too bad. uni will heal them back up. and even if some die it should be fine. remember the map is lethal so it will only get easier once u clear it a few times
if unicorn and tico are firing too close to each other u can get this from core shop (if u have spare core) and put it on unicorn
oak monolith
ok and any advice on what ships to put then in my two normal grinding fleets for the time being until I start working on Marco Polo and other PR/DR characters for grinding normal chapters and events and such?
eternal rune
what was your FdG level and dev level?
oak monolith
I do recall that I think Marco Polo use can use Royal Union or Sargenda for xp grind once I get to that point. Correct? I will check her level and devel level after this run.
I also have Agir I need to work on as well.
But FDG is currently set as my catch up character
eternal rune
marco is KMS + italian in first xp grind
royal navy + italian in second xp grind
oak monolith
ok
Which ships are KMS and Italian facton or abbreviation?
I think I barely have any Sargdena ships (not sure on the spelling btw)
eternal rune
KMS is german. italian in game is sardegna empire
if u are still coining AvP no need to work on marco polo yet
there is a few italian ships in merit shop
oak monolith
By the way, this is both current during and near the end of the boss battle with the boss fleet on the 12–4 hard
Hopefully it gets better as it gets closer to safe
eternal rune
honestly perfectly acceptable
put a 3rd carrier in place of hood and i am sure u will clear it even better
once saratoga is levelled 
oak monolith
OK, also here is my dorm and here is the information you requested on FDG
eternal rune
ok back to normal mode:
u only level 1 fleet usually. u want your strong stuff in boss.
so we need 6 ships that need levels
sirius is capped on xp btw. once she is level 70 she wont get any more xp
oak monolith
OK, do you need me to post my entire dock or just the main line portion of it?
eternal rune
no u posted it earlier it is fine
oak monolith
I don’t think I posted the main though because you guys only requested the Vanguard
eternal rune
u can take her out of dorm for now. once u LB her u can put her back in
oak monolith
which characters?
eternal rune
u posted it with the torp stat
oak monolith
ok
eternal rune
sirius is 70 so tkae her out for now
volga and duke of york and kazagumo also very close
so either LB them or take them out
oak monolith
but I don’t think I posted my entire main line portion of my dock though earlier
OK, what about Guam?
eternal rune
oh that is fine.
i think you should work on saratoga, FdG and shinano for backline
oak monolith
well, I only have one gold bulin atm
eternal rune
i would prioritize kazagumo then.
oak monolith
So that being said, what do you suggest for current dorm and for current fleet one and or two for main campaign grind and XP?
eternal rune
ok gimme a sec
oak monolith
ok
also consider the fact I also do have to work on Agir at some point. Not sure if she is necessary right now
This is what I chose to do with the dorm for now
oak monolith
In just one fleet and in 12-1?
eternal rune
if u can one fleet then yes it is better.
if not it is fine to let boss fleet steal some xp
u can also replace some of the boss fleet ships with ships that need xp
but that is more min/max than rly useful
oak monolith
Those ships in the boss fleet if at level 120 I cannot get them past that atm
eternal rune
keep kazagumo in dorm and focus her next. she will be useful in opsi
oak monolith
ok
eternal rune
Those ships in the boss fleet if at level 120 I cannot get them past that atm
yeah like i said it is fine to waste the boss fleet xp. but u can also put stuff there that needs some xp. that is why i put ticonderoga there. if u want to u can run other weaker stuff just make sure you dont fail the run
oak monolith
well she is like three away from 70 but do not have materials rn to lb her.
eternal rune
yeah u can put anything else there tbh. pick some purple/blue ships with good fleet tech at 120
oak monolith
well I will change the main fleet formations up to what you suggested but might not be able to work on them for a bit since I just spent 5k oil to get the logger thing for Op Si so I could work on getting more materials for gear. So while I wait for that to regen. Any suggestions on fleet formation for Op Si while I wait or not? I will change main fleet formations to what you suggested though
eternal rune
ok. how far have you gone through opsi?
oak monolith
yeah u can put anything else there tbh. pick some purple/blue ships with good fl...
like what? Just ships that I need their tech points up for PR characters
eternal rune
yes that is right.
if they dont cost gold bulins it is better.
oak monolith
ok. how far have you gone through opsi?
I just struggle with the really high corrosion levels like strongholds an stuff right now. I almost got the entire map unlocked in April. I was just missing one node at the very center and just could not beat strongholds and other very strong levels
eternal rune
u can also check ships that give individual good tech at level 120 for example:
u want stuff that gives BB + CV RLD + ACC
check this page later.
oak monolith
well let me show you something. One moment
eternal rune
hornet, yorktown and some of the USS rare BB are good for this
oak monolith
these are the factions I still don’t have enough tech points to be able to develop certain PR or DR characters once I get to those PR levels yet.
this is the current fleet set up for operation, siren that I have at the moment.
eternal rune
that is fine. for now we mainly care about PR4. PR5 and 6 can wait
can you SS your research academy as well?
oak monolith
wether I have started development on them or not. Every other PR character from each level has either not been started yet, started but not finished the main unlocking process, or fully finished.
eternal rune
what are you focusing here?
oak monolith
can you SS your research academy as well?
what do you mean SS?
oak monolith
well some of those are PR 5 ships. I think I only have Saint Louis, Monarch, and Anchorage fully finished, including their FS. The others are as I have mentioned above. With the exception of the three ships I just showed you
oak monolith
can you also screenshot backline? for opsi
Isn't that all 4 Op Si fleets. I am pretty sure those pictures include both main and vanguard.
eternal rune
oh yeah that is fine. i am mostly interested what u are focusing in research
not the ship development
like actual research in this page
eternal rune
Isn't that all 4 Op Si fleets. I am pretty sure those pictures include both main...
i meant in your dock. your entire backline. sorted by level would help
oak monolith
eternal rune
so we can know if we have better options
oak monolith
Also, any advice who to put in these last two slots?
eternal rune
it is currently on 6
oak monolith
Do you mean something like this?
Also, just wanted to show you this as well
I was thinking about show you the progress of some of my other PR/DR characters, but I decided not to at the moment. I didn’t know if it was really relevant.
oak monolith
What did I do wrong?
eternal rune
which is the first line here
u want the first line to be on 4
so that u can start getting agir and hakuryuu in academy
oak monolith
I tried to switch it but could not see if there was a way to save the selection
let me see something then. One moment
oak monolith
eternal rune
yep perfect
also how many FdG prints u buy per day?
u should buy 6-10 if u can afford it
same thing with AvP
no more since it will cost a lot and generally not worth
oak monolith
10 + 2 free ones
oak monolith
so 2 + 8 then?
eternal rune
yes
oak monolith
ok
eternal rune
i mean if u can afford 10+2 it is fine
ok next about research academy
do u know what research to pick?
oak monolith
eternal rune
avoid stuff that costs cube unless u have 600+ cubes
oak monolith
Forgot I wanted to show you that as well earlier
oak monolith
avoid stuff that costs cube unless u have 600+ cubes
I try to avoid cubes and tech boxes ones. Only that cost the book things for leveling up gear, credits, or that do not cost anything
eternal rune
take the face research always if u can.
oak monolith
face research?
oak monolith
wdym?
eternal rune
the ones that show ship faces
oak monolith
ok
eternal rune
for example this is what i am currently taking
oak monolith
well what if they are not ones that show any ships faces on them?
eternal rune
oak monolith
I see
oak monolith
I mean I know you only get 1 refresh a day
eternal rune
or take the shortest research that u can
oak monolith
ok and do you mean time to complete wise?
oak monolith
ok
eternal rune
one last thing
oak monolith
I will keep that in mind. This is what I have rn
eternal rune
since u can coin the gold ships in PR4
it is better to prioritize agir and hakuryuu if u can
oak monolith
ok
eternal rune
ok now we can move on to OpSi
oak monolith
ok. I forget what we said about main campaign but can worry about that later since I need oil to regen
currently what I have going
eternal rune
yeah just scroll back I recommended a setup
oak monolith
ok I might have to screenshot it
eternal rune
yeah looks fine but never take this. it is never worth
it just wastes your time
basically cognition and rigging analysis is the best. and grant donation is also good
ok can you show me full dock for backline? sort by level
oak monolith
yeah just scroll back I recommended a setup
OK not sure how far back it is. Looking right now so I can take a snip of it
eternal rune
sure thing. show me the backline ships and we can work on sth
oak monolith
ok and sth?
eternal rune
something
oak monolith
ok
the gear will be another story. I will just save any screenshots of what you send me here. Then I go to go and take care of some personal stuff.
eternal rune
np i will leave it here so u can always check back.
if not we can continue with opsi another day
just ping me or u can also make another thread if I am not here. I am sure other ppl will be happy to help
oak monolith
I will just make a new thread and review it later today
before I do who should I put in those remaining dorm slots?
eternal rune
avp, hornet, guam, kazagumo (until 70), san jacinto, and any of these 5 tbh
do u have second floor of dorm?
oak monolith
yes I use it for main mob fleet
eternal rune
yeah so u can take guam there as well and put these ships instead
u want to slowly work on them later so for now get them to level 70 and MLB them
they are cheap and they give good tech at 120
oak monolith
you forgot Volga on that list? Any changes then?
eternal rune
oh yeah volga also fine since she is LB1 so can go up to 80
so avp, hornet, san jacinto, volga and these blue battleships
oak monolith
I sent you a friend request. I can mess with the gear and order the ships are in each fleet later. I did change though the main grinding ships formations up.
Going to make that new thread and ping you in it. Then I gotta go.
eternal rune
looks fine. put FdG in middle not saratoga
oak monolith
I just screenshotted this. I just tagged you in the new thread. I’m gonna head out.
Since you should have pictures of the way, it’s currently set up
eternal rune
just needed backline pics 