hold on
#Current OpSi Fleet
grand granite
Righty-o, let me see...
Alright, this is probably going to suck but uh
First thing is you're going to need to put ALL your good gear on the fleet you're using at one time, because spreading it out is going to sabotage all of your fleets
And shuffle it between fights
Because, put it this way, most people (including myself) cannot simultaneously gear three separate fleets in Operation Siren and expect them all to be at their best
soft fable
aside from the BB gun I slammed on QETA, idk what are the other gears to move
never tried weapon swapping before
grand granite
Can I get a look at your depot btw
A couple of the BB auxes and stuff I am rather concerned about
So I want to see what else you have available
soft fable
including equipped?
grand granite
Uh, yep
You can stick to gold+ if there's too much
The stuff I'm interested to see if you have is gold in any event
grand granite
Actually, I can make one immediate remark about the BB equipment... namely, you are very noticeably underrating the value of accuracy
Which is perhaps a symptom of how some advice in EN is given, but when you get to the Arbiter and bosses with similarly high evasion rates, discounting the value of accuracy is asking for trouble
In fact, I can now understand a bit more why you did less than I expected, because your guns are alright, but I would wager a lot of your bullets just flat out missed
soft fable
as for UR
soft fable
Actually, I can make one immediate remark about the BB equipment... namely, you ...
more on accuracy gears and less on shells I assume?
grand granite
more on accuracy gears and less on shells I assume?
Essentially, yes
grand granite
Eh, not necessarily no
I probably have that many
It's just... for bosses like these, you want the Type 1 shell plus a radar
Because the FP of the black shell is quite pointless if you can't hit the boss
Do you have any Officer's Swords at all? I know you have Crossbows on your BBs right now but uh... unfortunately, they are just generally the worse augment
grand granite
Just three is enough for now (enough for every BB in a single fleet at a time)
soft fable
Eh, not necessarily no
I probably have that many
It's just... for bosses like th...
so the set up should be similar to Soyuz's but the white shell is gold?
grand granite
Yep
soft fable
good thing I have enough of those fire control radars for a fleet
grand granite
Ngl, looking at it all, I have to wonder why my equipment at the point you currently are at was so damn bad in comparison lol
soft fable
¯_(ツ)_/¯
yep, i have 3 fire control radar... so those are what I'll swap for every BB fleet i use in Arbiters?
I have to lv10 the third one
grand granite
Unfortunately so
Ignore the levels, you don't have to 125 everyone for the fight (as long as they aren't dying horribly)
Helena's main gun is obtained in the Gear Lab from the Triple 155 she is currently carrying, and is just straight better (the base Triple 155 is generally bad, except as a BB secondary gun)
soft fable
I can actually make those rn
grand granite
Good stuff
soft fable
only 1 doe
grand granite
Provided your vanguard doesn't die, this probably should be able to reduce the boss to 67 bars by itself, but I am personally hoping for more, especially with submarine help and if your vanguard can live to the end (probably possible on manual, but not necessarily easy, just because of how hard Strength hits)
soft fable
wai wha
soft fable
oh
base roon
yeah I guess Ill snag the one from Chesh
the BB set up for fleet 4 should be the same right?
Type 1 Shell + Radar and Off. sword?
grand granite
The BBs can be the same, but the vanguard will need some equipment shuffling
Unzen, for example, should carry better torps if you're playing manual
Since her torps are a massive part of her damage
grand granite
Uhhh, doesn't have to be the UR torp (in fact, probably safer to NOT be, because that torp is hard to use while also surviving lol)
I'd prefer the Mk IX torpedo in the bottom right corner of this pic
soft fable
That one on Jaburin?
soft fable
lmaoooo
grand granite
That's her party dress skin, now I realise...
soft fable
yes thats my first oath alright
back on the topic of torps doe, that torp is freaky to aim
grand granite
Oh it is, but once you get the hang of it, they are by far the best torpedoes to use on manual (unless you have the skill to face torp consistently, which I can't 
)
In fact, they combo very well with Bismarck Zwei, but none of your ships in that fleet have good torpedoes, so no point trying
soft fable
maybe because I'm used to face torping though I cant do that with THAT bullet density
grand granite
Yep lol
I mean, heck, I can't do it with like half the bullet density even
Everyone just dies on me
grand granite
At least in the current setups I wouldn't personally put her anywhere, there isn't really a good spot at present
soft fable
as for fleet 3 (CV fleet)
grand granite
Alright, shuffled equipment for the fourth fleet
If you find the Mk IX torps too hard to use for now, just swap them for something easier like magnetic torpedoes (they do take a little getting used to)
soft fable
yeah... it's the weakest link that isnt the Mob fleet (fleet 1)
grand granite
Let me get to the CV fleet now
soft fable
Though, I guess the upside of Mk IX is being able to snipe torps
grand granite
Yep, although don't do that anyhow against Strength because she moves a fair bit
It's fine if you've memorised her stationary points, but I'm guessing you haven't just yet
soft fable
yeah....
grand granite
You'll want to be... not quite face torp distance, but at least quite close to her when she's stopped to launch the Mk IXs
It's why like I said, if you don't feel confident with it, just use the quad mags
Better to get some hits by magnetism than miss everything
You can build up your torping confidence over time
soft fable
Probably would do mags if in mobile since frame drops (if that happens)
grand granite
Ye that's a good call lol
I can't manual on mobile at all, basically
Hmmmm, do you not have any Bf109Gs at all?
soft fable
what?
grand granite
PR4 research only
You've not done any PR4 at all?
grand granite
Don't tell gph that
You'll be roasted alive
grand granite
Anyway, if you get a spare moment, PR4 research is highly recommended, mostly because it's just an utterly broken season
It has excellent equipment and excellent ships... it is rightfully regarded as THE best PR season we have ever gotten so far
Three out of five of the ships were (and still are) meta-defining in their respective fields, the fourth became meta-defining after her FS5, and even the fifth is not that bad in the slightest
Plus you've got the Saiun, the Tenrai, the Bf109G, plus Agir's gun and the Twin 90mm AA gun, and the old season good stuff like the STAAG, the rudder, and the HPFCR
It really is a crazy good season
Basically, every season thereafter was compared to it for strength and (so far) every one has fallen short
soft fable
Dang
Guess I'll delay Kearsarge even more
I'm working on Ancho doe
Since I'm in need of a better tank
grand granite
You don't have Yorktown II do you?
soft fable
Yeah I don't
Not here when PSI ran
I returned in AL when Implac's event ended
more like, seriously committed to AL
grand granite
Ah
soft fable
I regret missing that event cus I wanted the QE aux that came with it
grand granite
If you like Kearsarge, you can keep going with her (I love her myself, so I prioritised her when she came out - although I had finished 4 and 5 as well), since Anchorage can be coined; it's just that without Yorktown II, Kearsarge does lose who is arguably her best partner
Although she can be made to work with other fleets as well (you just don't see them much bc some people just lack imagination)
soft fable
I have enterprise which is nice
Problem is I don't have another USS CV's for said boss fleet
grand granite
You only need one
Kear + Enterprise is enough, since it activates her Air Raid Assistance; the last slot can be something like Ark Royal to give your fleet slow support (or AvP for stop support, if you get her)
Then you can swap Kazagumo out for Laffey II, whose AA down effect allows Kear to activate her stronger debuff for air damage (although it is chance-based for the first proc)
grand granite
Uh... you can but it is a real stretch
Like, is she better than Formidable at Dev 20? I honestly doubt it
It is worth considering at Dev 25+ though
soft fable
Maybe should stock her for a while
Will take a while before I can switch to PR4 ig
For the equips atleast since I can just coin Ancho and AVP
grand granite
Yep, fair enough
Also, if you have prototype cores spare, you can buy the generic blueprints in the prototype shop to turn into blueprints for the Bf109G (or other PR4 items), but you can only get 20 per month of course
soft fable
The cores are something to get ig
grand granite
Note that I've completely and utterly ignored sync order when putting the CVs together, since you're playing manual... just make sure to launch them all together
If/when you can get the Bf109G, slot them into Enterprise's first slot first, and then Formidable's
You have a choice of three converging torpedo bombers: Ryuusei, the Ju-87 D4 (Gear Lab), and the Saiun (which you don't have I think, bc it's PR4 research) - you can take your pick of the former two to fit into Formidable's second slot, if you only have three Ryuuseis right now
Actually, probably the Ju-87 because it's very useful to have options for timing in future
Technically, I should put another converging torpedo bomber in Formidable's slot 3, but I'm banking on a swig of copium that the parallel torpedoes plus her barrage will help you to fight the suicide boats, on the assumption that your vanguard cannot stop them by themselves, since you don't want the suicide boats revealing your CVs (since they lose a ton of damage otherwise)... also you can cope a flood on the boss if the barrage torpedoes hit
As before, if the Mk IXs are too difficult, just switch Kazagumo's torpedoes to quad mags
soft fable
I tried the set ups for fleet 2 and 4
Fleet 4 managed to down to 89
Fleet 2 to somewhere 70
grand granite
Ohhhhhh
Damn, now that you show me that screen
I understand the problem
Your adaptabilities are WAY too low
soft fable
grand granite
Also explains why you're bizarrely doing so much less damage than I expected
soft fable
My equips are now scrambled lmaoooooo
grand granite
See how it says "offense boost" is 126% and survival boost is 124%?
Basically, the Arbiter is ~2x as strong and as durable as you could make her
Like, 2 million ish as opposed to 1 million HP, and hitting twice as hard
You gotta clear more of the basic Operation Siren and get your adaptabilities to 203/203/156 at minimum
Definitely step out of the Arbiter for now, because right now it's definitely way too hard
soft fable
Guess it's not just my equips
grand granite
Nope, it wasn't indeed lol
Ah, Idk why I never thought about adaps
That makes so much more sense, because even though your equips could be improved, it's not like they were utterly abysmal, so you should still have been able to do more damage
grand granite
If your fleet 1 is mob, just equip them with your second-tier equipment and let them clear maps (they don't need to carry the tip-top equipment of your boss fleet, just "enough" will do)
soft fable
Fleet 4 ended in a Time Out instead of a wipe cus of that Rabbit
grand granite
Oh yep, Laffey is indeed busted
Because she doesn't care how strong the enemy is
They cannot damage her for more than 10% of her current HP, up until 25% lol
soft fable
I Ironically use Drake as mob fleet kekw
grand granite
If the Arbiter did a million damage, she would STILL reduce it to a couple hundred
That's how theoretically busted her skill is
soft fable
As busted as irl lol
grand granite
Yes indeed 
soft fable
grand granite
I Ironically use Drake as mob fleet kekw
She's honestly fine in the mob fleet, and while maybe her DPS has fallen off versus Hindy or Unzen
It should still be noted that her damage is still unquestionably in the higher end of vanguard ships
A relatively "weak" rainbow is still better than like 90% of all ships in the game
soft fable
I guess I'll do basic opsi for now, I need materials anyways kekw
Only reason I use her there is because the mob fleet is a faction fleet
Only issue I have there is Perseus
grand granite
Is she just not doing damage
Conflicting with Unicorn?
soft fable
Redundancy
grand granite
Ah ye, fair enough
Ngl, I used to have fun using uh
Albion
With Uni in past mob fleets in OpSi
Just to avoid overhealing
And their timings generally mesh reasonably well
grand granite
She isn't perma yet, unfortunately
soft fable
Pain.........
Guess I'll just use Formi Mu
Not so useful if the mob fleet is used in boss
The skills are for Mob Fleets anyways
grand granite
It's not too bad as cleanup tbf
Like, if you've stuffed Unicorn and Formi Muse into the mob fleet, if the rest of your fleets have knocked the boss down to say less than 5 bars or something, preload + first rotation can often finish the job
soft fable
I'll definitely need the 2 muse aux to trigger Formimu's preload
Works ig, then slap Wyverns on Uni and Formi
grand granite
Yep
To be fair, those two muse auxes are quite useful regardless of Formi, so they're worth getting
soft fable
Also, I kept the set up u recommend for Fleet 2
I also used the inferior version of the AA gun you recommend
soft fable
Uhhh, doesn't have to be the UR torp (in fact, probably safer to NOT be, because...
The one NJ equips here
soft fable
Cus I noticed they have similar stats, just lower
Also, is the setup of Soyuz, Zwei, and FDG alright?
grand granite
Yep
Only thing is flag BisZwei because she is probably the only you want most to receive Ply's (de)buff
grand granite
Ngl, I'm terribly interested in testing that proposition, but currently gated by gold plate hell (bc I demand full gear for my tests)
There are equally persuasive arguments, in my view, for both Musashi and Bismarck (at least versus medium) but I still haven't come to a personal conclusion about it...
soft fable
If only I have Vanguard, I would've made a crack main fleet of QETA, Vanguard, and Soyuz lol
Though, I suppose META backline in fleet 4 works fine
I returned the UR BB gun on QETA ig
grand granite
Tbf, in the META fleet it's not too bad if they carry a mix of guns because there isn't really any debuff you're syncing to (except I guess Kirov's, but the timing is weird anyway)
But all triple guns in fleet 2 is kinda important to sync on Helena (and Bis Zwei, and Soyuz)
soft fable
Since that Helena have sg radar... I guess they are timed?
grand granite
Yep
SG Helena changes her times to 16, 36, 56, 76
HPFCR/AFCT BBs with triple guns basically go something like 18, 38, 58, 78
So they comfortably stay in her window
Probably in certain setups BisZwei actually starts outpacing Helena after a while, but since she's second in line (with the gun setup given), she should keep sync
grand granite
Ye she's quite annoying lol
A bit of an ancient time frame that is no longer seriously used
But I guess for trying to maximise your chances in the first rotation (the one you can do the most damage in), it isn't irredeemably bad
soft fable
Not now ig, not enough materials
I'm just using the guns I used on Zwei and Fdg for RodM and RepulseM before I changed it
grand granite
Ah
soft fable
@grand granite also, what Cats you recommend for my current fleets?
grand granite
Hard to say definitively because the quality of cat talents generally takes precedence over their skills
Like the usual recommendations are um
Oscar/Antenna/Lime/Pound (if desperate) for BB fleets
And Bishamaru/Jiromaru/Eagle/Ark for CV fleets
Because their unique skills are complimentary for those fleets
But if their talents are bad then it's still not good anyway
Riceist's guide here: https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/wiki/User:Riceist/CatGuide can help you get an idea for what the good talents are
Oh right and um
Drake is a decent option for BB fleets as well, now I remember
She's helpful if your cats aren't good because her talents are fixed, so you don't have to reroll, and they are at least serviceable
soft fable
I have a lv20 Oscar with Artillery Ace 3, Chief of Staff Battleships 3, and Soulful Warrior
Placed in staff cat Fleet 2
grand granite
Damn, that's already a better Oscar than I started with I'll say that
soft fable
The rest though... Not so much
Sure they fit but there's atleast 1 skill that makes it not useful 9n others
Faction locked effects
grand granite
Yep, that's one of the annoying problems
Some faction ones are OK tbf like the German ones for BB cats (since there are a lot of German battleships)
Sakura ones for CV cats (same reason, for carriers)
But inferior to the dedicated hull type options
soft fable
I have 2 cats with Royal Navy buffs
Useful for Faction fleet, problem is I lack proper ships to makr a decent one
Doesn't help that the only UR BB option for HMS is Vanguard and Warspite that is powercrept by SSR ships
grand granite
British cats are actually not too bad early on because a lot of the useful mid-level BBs are British
But once you get to endgame, you're in the awkward predicament that the only two British ships on a meta BB fleet are... Vanguard and Plymouth
soft fable
If it wasn't for the barrier... Yeah I can see my current fleet being enough
grand granite
That is where most people get hard walled
soft fable
I made another 3 officer swords cause I have coins from grinding cdc for Ancho kekw
grand granite
The barrier is 160k HP, but bc she takes 25% less damage while it's up, it's more like 213,000 and a bit in reality... that is a LOT of HP to expect to clear in one rotation
grand granite
Gonna have to dip for a little bit, but when I get back, I'll look your fleets over again and see if I can come up with something...
Yep, unfortunately
It deploys at about 00:38 every fight, no matter what
soft fable
I guess the deal here is to kill her on the last round before she deploys it
Should I send another SS?
heady oxide
as a bonus this isnt even the hardest version of her, which is in November
soft fable
as a bonus this isnt even the hardest version of her, which is in _November_
Also why is she harder in November
grand granite
Her module combination is horrifying
The 20s/20% shield module AND the Grand Debut module (+10% all stats every 10 secs for up to 5 stacks)
November Strength is, at least in my opinion, THE hardest of all the Hard Arbiters
Plenty of people I know with very competent fleets and equipment, who can one or two-fleet all other Arbiters require three or more for November Strength
grand granite
Crazy question but
You wouldn't happen to have three Mk 4 guns would you (it's normally on the border of memes, unless you actively PvP, but I thought I might as well try...)
soft fable
Mk4?
grand granite
This gun
Node just before the Georgia gun/rainbow 457 in the Gear Lab
soft fable
I don't, idk if I can craft some rn doe
heady oxide
sorry just back from buying dinner.. yeah i remember it was also the first time i tried harbiter and could only bring her down to like 30%
grand granite
It's a bit expensive resources-wise, mind you, although I guess since it's the gateway to the Georgia gun it isn't bad to make or anything... I used to use it as a Georgia gun substitute back before we could build Georgia guns in lab, and it's not half bad in PvE
But its real place to shine is PvP, particularly if you subscribe to the theory (which I personally do, although it's not completely mainstream) of "first strike, certain victory"
(Anyway, I'll be back in a little to explain why I'm bringing this up...)
grand granite
Alright then, no need to lose sleep over it
It's just CN (who are inarguably better at this game than we are) crafted a "rapid fire" BB setup that uses the Mk 4s to squeeze in three rotations of BB fire before she can put her shield up... as far as I know, preloads notwithstanding, this is the only way to squeeze in three rotations of anything before Strength puts the shield up
But there may be less bizarre ways to work around this, particularly if we can coax your main triple BB fleet (probably with two Helena procs) to pull off half or more bars by themselves... in theory, with some good critical RNG, it should be possible, given that in my current testing my triple BB fleets (carrying Georgia guns, and without Helena) with one rainbow BB switched for an SR can do just under 50% in two rotations
heady oxide
it also kinda requires BB RLD (fleettech)* doesnt it?
soft fable
Just unfortunate I dumped my previous exp packs to cdc
I don't have enough to buy Georgia gun in proto core
Should I make atleast one Mk4?
grand granite
it also kinda requires BB RLD (fleettech)* doesnt it?
Nah, it's billed as a "low cost" setup, the idea being that it was meant to help players with weaker ships try to compensate with three rotations, so you don't need too much tech
Of course, the only problem is that after that the fleet completely shits the bed and you are forced to just take the loss because fourth rotation is probably not breaking the shield, and you can't get to fifth because the Mk 4 overheats or whatever and increases its own cooldown
heady oxide
i see
grand granite
Should I make atleast one Mk4?
I guess if you have no other needs right now for ordnances you can, since at worst you can always make another Georgia gun
How much did your triple UR BB fleet do by themselves, incidentally?
soft fable
Didn't count but I can say a lot
grand granite
Good, because you're going to want them to do the main carrying
soft fable
Fleet 4 brought down to 82
Fleet 3 to 70 or something
Fleet 2 around 28
Fleet 1 to 22
Not exact numbers
grand granite
Ahhhhh
OK, I already see a slight improvement
You want to change the attack order
Lead with Fleet 2
You wasted a bit of Fleet 2's potential because the boss dropped to 28, which means the anti-shell shield went up
soft fable
Don't change the fleet 2 guns it seems?
Also I noticed that KirovM's effect times quite okay with Georgia gun ig?
grand granite
Yep, it does
It's the same cycle as certain old ships we used to use with Georgia gun like Roon Muse and Helena META
I mean, in all honesty, since your fleet 4 isn't technically synced on anything but Kirov, you might as well give one of them Georgia gun to try and stay in sync for two rotations, a triple gun + radar on the other two so they can at least benefit from her debuff for one rotation
soft fable
QETA has the georgia gun
The rest in fleet 4 is using Prototype Triple 410mm
Should probably make an MK4 for one of them
grand granite
Oh, sure, that's worth a shot
grand granite
Oh hmmmm, let me... try a quick calculation...
I actually completely forgot that Repulse has +30% RLD (assuming HMS equipment, which you can easily achieve by just giving her a STAAG or Hazemeyer for AA)
soft fable
She have
Only thing I despise in that fleet is QETA not max lb
Her dossier is close but man I'm already waiting for quite long
grand granite
Yep
soft fable
I just use the gun to compensate kekw
grand granite
OK, I double checked the damage and mods and, at least in principle you probably want something like
Radar QE META with Georgia gun
Radar Repulse with Mk 4
Just because Repulse's on-fire barrage is guaranteed and stronger than Rodney's
In theory you should be able to sneak both of them in for their third rotation before Strength puts her shield up, so that may help
grand granite
It's super painful but you'll have to swap your radars for both fleets lol
You're going to lose a lot of damage to misses otherwise
So like, fleet 4 carries the radars when they go in
Then when fleet 2 has their chance, radars gotta go back to them
Although, like I said, lead fleet 2 and do as much damage as you can with them to start with
soft fable
So
Fleet 2
Fleet 4
Fleet 3
Mob Fleet?
grand granite
If you don't mind using the resources to get that 1, stick it on Enty and pray for Lucky E...
It might be able to do... 3 or 4 bars more by itself tbh lol
Esp since it frees Enty's Pancake for Formi, so her damage goes up a bit as well
soft fable
Formi is on Mob now
grand granite
... Was it Ark META who took her place
grand granite
Ah OK
That makes two people with Ark META against Strength, the coincidences have been bizarre lol
grand granite
Ye, I've been helping someone else with this fight and by sheer coincidence they're also using Ark META
grand granite
Some might call it a meme but if you had more Bf109Gs, Lusty is actually not a bad ship for Strength and Temperance
6x 135% rocket fighters, plus the rocket fighter barrage in her augment and her damage isn't nearly as bad as some people think...
But without, then no, it's a bad idea
soft fable
Too bad I can only have 1 of the rocketa
grand granite
Yep
soft fable
It's not the lack of cores (since I can just convert my pr3 exp packs cus tf imma do with it)
But monthly limit
grand granite
Yep, stuck at twenty per month is rough
Can't even complete 1 equipment fully, Idk what they were thinking
soft fable
Funnily enough, I have 18
Either I might shift to Pr4 temporarily for the rocket planes after I dev30 flan
grand granite
You can, if you want
But after this month it switches to Hermit so unless the next META is medium/light AND CVs are the best option (which they probably aren't since you can field triple rainbow BB, but not triple rainbow CV) you probably need them less in the near future
Ark and Ark META really shine next month, actually, bc of their crazy ultra-TB-focused loadouts
grand granite
Just move them to someone in the mob fleet, it isn't too important
Bomb fighters are... not famed for their damage, really
soft fable
To Formi it goes ig
I placed my Ryuseis on Uni and Formi earlier when it's their turn lol
grand granite
Yep, very good idea
soft fable
I just got Ancho... where can I fit her in the future?
grand granite
... She used to take Guam's place in the CV fleet (before Guam existed), but since you have Guam, definitely no need there...
She can take Roon Muse's place in the BB fleet if that vanguard is dying, but it looks solid enough as-is, and seriously the only "proper" improvement for it ship-wise from now on is really Roon Muse --> Agir, and FDG --> Musashi or Vanguard (then it really is the true meta BB fleet of modern times)
And Fleet 4 is also arguably fine as long as it's not dying
Paradoxically, she has no role in your current setups lol
Mostly because your vanguard choices as-is are already very solid
It's borderline heretical for me to say because she's my second favourite ship, but in reality... Anchorage isn't actually that good a ship to use in many environments because she's something of a one-trick pony: she's absurdly hard to kill, while helping your vanguard survive a little
But in many cases, you want other utilities as well, so if your vanguard isn't getting murdered there are often other options that are sufficiently tanky and have other benefits
Like Guam in the CV fleet is not collapsing easily herself, has better and more reliable damage (due to her arcing shells from her main guns), and crucially murders planes to help protect your CVs' hidden gauge
While she is an undoubtedly excellent ship, I am willing to go on-record to say that the ONLY place where Anchorage was 100% the best-in-slot was PvP from... let's say middle of 2021 through to about October of 2023
A performance so dominant, incidentally, that it was dubbed in the PvP chronicles as "The Age of Anchorage"
soft fable
Guess I pretty much wasted oil
And I don't have problems with survivability with Fleet 4 cus Laffii is just THAT broken
I rather build Agir 9nce she can be coined
soft fable
@grand granite do I also need to use the Mk4 and Georgia gun on fleet 2? Or their guns are fine as it is?
This run's report
Fleet 2: 100% down to 63%
Fleet 4: 63% down to 43%
Fleet 3: 43% down to 22%
Fleet 1: 22% down to 10%
grand granite
Nope, keep Fleet 2 with triple guns
What you should try is uh
Triple guns with radar, right
And reset your runs until Helena procs for at least the first two rotations
Oh never mind, you're already going 👀
soft fable
I'll try raw dogging it first kekw
grand granite
Sure, why not
But ye, if you're willing to reset until Helena procs all four rotations (provided your Fleet 2 vanguard doesn't just die before that), you probably can knock her down 100% --> 30% with Fleet 2 alone lol
soft fable
Also, should I use the purple mk8 on RodneyM?
grand granite
Eh, nah... I think because QE uses Georgia you might face jamming issues trying to force all three in before the shield comes up
Better to use triple gun on Rodney
soft fable
This run's report
Fleet 2: 100% down to 63%
Fleet 4: 63% down to 43%
Fleet 3: 43...
Here's the results ig
grand granite
Well, it's an improvement so that's already worth patting yourself on the back for, imo
soft fable
Ig it might kill if Helena proc
But not sure kill
Also I used rockets on Uni as well kekw
Also the shield procs during or right after the 2nd wave of planes hits
grand granite
It should be after
CVs should get their second rotation airstrikes at like 0:45 left on the clock at latest
soft fable
The UR BB fleet definitely packs a punch kekw
And I guess my Fleet 3 is on par with Fleet 4
Basing on the results
grand granite
Ye about even
I mean, both rely on SRs so it's not too surprising they're about on par
But ye, URs... really are something else
soft fable
If I get dual rockets doe, I might try Lusty somewhere kekw
I might finally mlb Shinano, problem is she's only lv105 and I can't grind for lvls rn
Random shit idea
What if I replace Formi and Uni with NJ and Warspite lol
grand granite
Uhhhh
Problem again is
You hit the anti-shell shield
Especially if the mob fleet goes last
Basically, once Strength falls under 30% health, BBs just check out in effectiveness because half their damage is reduced to 1
grand granite
Yep
She gets a ton of hell because of that cursed proc chance but if you're willing to reset until/willing to gamble 4 radar procs, it's simply beyond astounding how impactful that 40% is
Helena is the true miracle worker of the game
Making bad fleets and good fleets alike achieve what would otherwise be impossible
soft fable
KirovM's dmg increase only procs 1 time huh...
grand granite
Damage increase only once ye
Slow all the time, at least (although it isn't a large slow, granted)
soft fable
Not good... Only 65% on fleet 2
My vanguard died before I can reset
Also by 4 procs of sg-radar, that's the entire part including the shield?
grand granite
Yep
With SG Radar, assuming you haven't already knocked her down to below 30%
It should be possible for your fleet to clear out the shield in a single rotation...
Then your fourth rotation can continue trying to damage her
soft fable
I managed to go to the 3rd proc and almost broke the shield but yeah
Vanguard dead
Lemme try again
grand granite
Ye that's the real difficulty tbh
Roon Muse is a tank, but she's no Agir, that's for sure
soft fable
The fps drop doesn't help
Managed to break shield
But...
Helena proc'd dmg control and didn't proc sg
Had to restart
grand granite
soft fable
Managed to break through but vanguard died before all BB's fired
Down to 61
Kinda small
Fleet 4 to 42
Yep... the run is pretty much screwed
soft fable
Honestly I'm just try harding cus I don't have anything to do in AL rn kekw
I can't even grind coins or exp
grand granite
You are using subs as well right
soft fable
Yes
They don't jave augment yet though
Only Flasher and Albacore have I think
And they're only lv100-105 (they are hard to level)
grand granite
It's fine, every bit of extra damage helps
When do you call them
grand granite
Just a little bit more 🤞
soft fable
Yeah, my only problem is keeping Helena alive
I might move Ply up front and use Laffii
But that might fuck things even more
grand granite
How good are you at dodging Strength's big attacks, out of curiosity?
soft fable
How good are you at dodging Strength's big attacks, out of curiosity?
Not so good due to fps drops
soft fable
There's a chance if I don't fuck it up
grand granite
Lul, I'm a Touhou player at heart, I will generally dodge first over damage, at least against Arbiter (I can be more reckless with some of the METAs)
But that's also the luxury of having a higher damage ceiling, tbf
grand granite
To be clear, I'm not a good Touhou player
Stage 4 is generally when I start dying badly, too
grand granite
Indeed, the true miracle worker 
soft fable
What's better is, is Fleet 1 proc'd the Alizarin Song lol
yes, I had neptune hold the aux that change bgm
soft fable
Welp, ty for the support
Maybe the next time I do this, hope I already have better CV fleet 
grand granite
No worries at all
Glad you managed to get through in the end 
grand granite
You have about 2/3 of the month left to continue powering up your fleet, should definitely be looking better when June rolls around
grand granite
I also can't wait for QETA's dossier
In theory should be middle of next month (whenever the Thursday is), assuming they keep the schedule they've kept so far 🤞
grand granite
Yep, fair
soft fable
cus as much as I like BB's I'm lacking in the CV department so bad
grand granite
Yep, that's very fair
Bc of the variety of enemies, it's useful to try and make one good CV fleet and one good BB fleet
Since there are some that favour one style over the other
grand granite
You can power through with at least reasonable ships tbf
Strongholds are arguably less scary than they appear at first sight
soft fable
Maybe after leveling Cheshire to replace Neptune as tank
grand granite
Hmmmm... for the most part, Neptune is probably fine as a mob tank... not too sure that Cheshire necessarily outdoes her...
You can, though, but I'd be surprised if you see any kind of discernable improvement
grand granite
No reason why you can't use what you like
And I genuinely mean that
You can get supposedly bad ships, or bad fleets like faction ones, to achieve a surprising lot in this game if you want...
soft fable
At the very least my META fleet can support in damage
grand granite
Yep
soft fable
Could be more if QETA is max limitbreak
grand granite
META ships do get some crap, but the SRs are mostly solid tbh (and some are ridiculously powerful)
Most of their bad reputation stems from the difficulty in obtaining them and limit breaking them, that the effort outweighs the rewards when all you get is a "good" ship
I guess it's part of the mentality of some that it must be UR or bust, though
Unfortunately, such a mindset does lead to missing interesting ideas in the ships that don't sparkle with rainbows...
soft fable
Then there's Hard mode of monthly challenge that is pretty much UR check
Even Normal to some extent
grand granite
Well, this month that is arguably true lol
It's just a pure damage check, and unfortunately it is the URs that are the best at dealing that
It's a surprisingly uninspired gimmick compared to some of the more innovative ones they've had in preceding months tbh
soft fable
Arbiters and Showdown are free real estate ig
soft fable
It's a surprisingly uninspired gimmick compared to some of the more innovative o...
I hate the Warspite one lol
soft fable
And taunts me even more that she's strong as a boss but powercrept by SSR's as playable
grand granite
Esp because it seemed similar to the preceding one (Elbing's)
Ye, sadly, Warspite has not aged well, as much as it pains me to admit
She's one of my favourite ships, and I had a real blast using her in PvP (and as a stand-in in my BB fleets before I could field many URs)
But her time has long past, unless they release some kind of boost for her
grand granite
Dirty secret that might get me exiled by the PvPers but in 2022, after Vanguard released (note that I lacked almost all the meta backline suggestions, so I was forced to come up with random shit to save myself), I hit upon a novel way of using Vanguard to buff Warspite indirectly by virtue of being HMS
Because the sniper skill also marks the target for HMS BBs to focus down on, and Vanguard just happened to be an HMS BB...
Combine with her 18.8% damage debuff, the snipe, and the two BBs going ham together and I could often kill enemy NJs before they got to fire (this being before most people put the manjuu aux on her, at least in my server)
Alas, that was the last time she received a boost of any kind, however indirect
soft fable
That's nice
Kinda sucks there's only 2 UR hms BB and 1 of them is outclassed by SSR's
On another topic, not sure if I should keep RodneyM or use GneisenauM in my fleet 4
With the skills and barrage as concern
grand granite
Let me go double check Gnei's barrage real quick
I guess one issue about Rodney is uh
I'm guessing, against Strength, her clones died quickly and horribly
Which does reduce her barrage output
soft fable
Doesn't help that her nuke barrage ain't guaranteed
grand granite
Oh and her barrage on fire is, insanely, not 100% in 2024...
The weird things this game does sometimes lol
soft fable
Idk man
grand granite
Esp since every gunnery backline META since like... Gneisenau, actually (?)
Has had 100% barrage
How the hell are non-100% barrages still a thing on gold ships
grand granite
Ye that one is bizarre
There isn't even a lore reason (yet revealed)
soft fable
It's fixable if you have QE's aux gear but I don't...
grand granite
Although it's probably still less horrifying a thought than Jintsuu META, who needs to die to reveal her full potential
grand granite
Ye it's slow bc of the daily cap
Best you can do is that uh
Endless hidden zone waltz to at least ensure you hit that cap everyday
Hmmmm, on pure DPS calculations, Rodney META is supposed to be better than Gneisenau META...
Problem is this calculation assumes none of the clones die and that all of the needles hit something (not going to happen against a single target)
And depending on number of times her on-fire barrage procs, you may or may not see better results with Gneisenau...
It's honestly just hard to say which is better, but you can at least give it a try
soft fable
Guess I can use practice Arbiter as test dummy kekw
Though I guess I can give her an Mk4 too if I have enough materials
Though is Triple guns better than Twin Guns?
grand granite
It's better on Fleet 2 just because you're syncing to Helena
On Fleet 4, where you're only really syncing to Kirov, there is a reasonable argument for twin guns
It's a bit of an article of faith that triple guns are "better", but it's really only because they are cheaper to upgrade to +13 (whereas a 3x Georgia gun setup costs an eye-watering 1080 gun plates)
If you are not syncing to something on the 20-second cycle, there is no reason, in principle, why a twin gun setup generally need be any worse than a triple gun setup in many cases
Ofc, that nuance gets lost in a lot of advice given to people, unfortunately
soft fable
Nobody can replicate Helena's sg-radar as of rn so ig
Even KirovM's are just 1 time
And it's lower in comparison
grand granite
Mhm
There are some situations where Georgia gun is helpful, though, like trying get around Arbiter 20-second shields
Since then there is already a good extra reason to ditch Helena (mind you, this is like a late endgame player type consideration)
There of course do exist some stuff that works on twin gun cycles (Helena META, Roon Muse), but the unfortunate fact of the matter is... it's nothing compared to a 40% damage debuff
soft fable
Also, I noticed that RodneyM's set up is all about dmg dealt%
All of her clones down basically gives her +16% dmg dealt (iirc)
Then there's her Cinders of Hope ability which adds another 8%
grand granite
Partly a reference to her boss ability
soft fable
Is her nuke barrage even powerful
grand granite
At least so far I'm not too sure if it has any deeper meaning
soft fable
Cus that might be why it's not fucking guaranteed lol
+24% dmg dealt on a humanoid siren with that nuke seems whack
grand granite
It is
406 base damage, with crazy 400 all modifiers
So let's just say 406x4 = 1624 base damage, which is a pretty big number
Problem with it is single projectile meaning that IF it misses, that's a lot of damage down the drain
Reason why multiple projectiles in a barrage is generally favoured is you don't get completely shattered by a single miss
grand granite
Esp since Arbiters have ~25% evasion rate give or take against most battleships
So that's a 1-in-4 chance Rodney's barrage does absolutely nothing, assuming it procs the 80% at all
soft fable
Rng fest
grand granite
To be perfectly fair, though, URs get 100% proc barrages that still easily overpower 1624 base damage so... I would still argue in 2024 it should be 100% proc rate
grand granite
This is not 2019 when Monarch 70% proc was the norm
soft fable
Hms gets the short stick moment ig?
soft fable
The fact that it's rodney is not helping towards the allegations
grand granite
It was supposed to be an HMS event
And who was arguably the best ship, performance-wise, from it? A bloody German
soft fable
All because they butchered the supposed star of the event
grand granite
HMS gets a pretty short stick, although it's a dangerous thing to say out loud in EN because there are KMS stans everywhere 👀
grand granite
It's fine, this isn't the first time I've gotten in trouble over this opinion
To be fair, Formi Muse isn't uh... completely unsalvageable
You can't use her for stop unless you're trying to meme, but preload is still a pretty broken thing
EN hates her, but both CN and JP rate her much more favourably because preload is still a rare and powerful thing to have
And her output, due to her loadout, is pretty nice
If not for how the combination of LaffeyII/Kearsarge/Soyuz cut CVs as a concept to death in PvP, she honestly would have made a solid option there
Like even... six months ago? She could have found a place...
soft fable
I mean, I was planning to pair her with Unicorn but I just used normal formi, cus I doubt she's as good if in Boss setting (even if it's as a finisher)
grand granite
Ye definitely not
Because then you can't even trigger her stop in any meaningful or planned way
soft fable
But yeah, she's ok in mob
grand granite
I'm still not 100% sure if Formi Muse's stop mechanic managed to steal the title of "worst stop mechanic in the game" from Strasser, just for sheer ludicrousness
soft fable
Probably, what's the point of time stop if the enemy that's supposed to stop is dead
Doesn't help that it seems the skill is bugged
Not sure if it's fixed
grand granite
Some people have experimented with her in mob, using her airstrikes to kill stuff, then incidentally stopping stuff like suicide boats/rammers in their tracks (people used to meme this with Strasser too, actually) but you can't really do this on purpose, since you can't control if she even kills anything with her airstrike
Ah, no, the bug is just in the description, it doesn't actually affect her performance in any way
grand granite
Basically, the stop is for 2 seconds no matter what
So the only thing actually affected by the skill level is the proc chance, but not the duration of stop
grand granite
She's usable ig, but can't recommended as a cleaner on OpSi bosses
Ye, fair
The kit is incoherent, I won't deny that
Maybe it's supposed to be some metaphor about her brand of rock music
grand granite
Ofc upgrading Eugen is a low bar
But ye, it is a boost, for sure
soft fable
Ig Tem as well but elite so ae
Rarely anyone uses elite ships
Unless it has a niché
grand granite
Ugh ye lol
Both Tem and Kongou were (quite considerable) upgrades on their base form, but when their base forms were already in the gutter anything seems an improvement
And purple, at the end of the day, is indeed generally waifu only
(I say, as one with quite a few purple waifus )
soft fable
I mean... you probably already know I use one lol
I refuse using PoW even if her buffs seems better
grand granite
Nah
She may get crap for a lot of reasons, but as a faction buffer for a pure HMS fleet, QE still actually is the best
I have a good friend in my guild who has also been coping for her retro since... I have known him, incidentally
soft fable
I'm only recent but I guess I'll join them on years of inhaling copium ig
grand granite
He sends the devs that request every time there's a survey, without fail
That and uh
Sheffield oath skin
soft fable
Though, even if they retro her... not sure what's likely to be buffed or added
+Dmg dealt for hms ships?
grand granite
A barrage would be nice, in 2024
soft fable
True
grand granite
Every other faction buffer has a barrage
soft fable
Mfer has an entire manga yet no retrofit lol
grand granite
Ikr
Although some might argue it was her fault because in that manga she willingly gave up her retro for Warspite
soft fable
Which didn't end well
grand granite
I must admit, though, I am still coping hard for her because
In the current lore, she is cooking something big with QE META
Given both Soyuz and Bismarck basically emerged with new stuff after their various cooks, I am willing to believe something is possible for QE...
soft fable
But ofc Iris event
Which is not bad
Since they never had a UR (not counting DR) before
grand granite
Yep
Am def happy for them
Esp because I was dreading that it was gonna be another damn German paper ship
Idm the German URs as characters, but God it's unfair they get paper ships for their events AND for PR
soft fable
¯_(ツ)_/¯
Please be a carrier
I need one so bad
Though it's most likely a BB but who knows
grand granite
Also, of course not to raise your hopes but it IS true that the last two CN anniversaries in a row, it was HMS who took the retrofit, ranging from the busted (Unicorn) to the pretty good (Nelson)
It may not be QE, but I'm at least hoping HMS can continue the good retrofit streak 🤞
soft fable
inhales more copium
grand granite
Especially because I am genuinely afraid, because of that RPG event, they are getting zero other events this year (except maybe something in PR7)
You're newer so you may not know but HMS underwent a pretty legendary event drought between Aurora Noctis (July 2020) and Pledge of the Radiant Court (May 2022)
It wasn't as bad as the French, granted, Skybound Oratorio (June 2020) to Fool's Scales (August 2023), but when you're supposed to be a major faction, that is one bloody bitter pill to swallow...
soft fable
We have someone in lore channel that definitely screamed Wehraboo dev conspiracies lol
grand granite
To be fair, I at least understand Bismarck Zwei
Because it was on the heels of the Velvet Code incident in CN, which basically resulted in all the German ships' names getting censored and the (temporary) removal of the oath system (instead they got "proof of eternal friendship")
But everything else? There is German bias, even if the KMS stans refuse to admit it...
I still remember, with rage, the nerve of the KMS stans accusing HMS of "stealing" the February 2023 event (Implacable) from the French
Like... when your faction is stealing events and even PR slots from everyone... the call is coming from inside the house... Jesus
soft fable
Not sure if we'll get shut having casual convo in a gph thread so might move to dms kekw
Since the Arbiter is down anyways
grand granite
Nah, it's fine, although we absolutely can lol
Nobody mods threads, I'm 99% sure
Keep the thread alive, though, it's probably easier to ask in here if you ever need more help for OpSi
DMs do prevent this from accidentally getting leaked to aforesaid KMS stans though
soft fable
True
heady oxide
Just occurred to me lol but do you have a submarine fleet?
grand granite
Yep, I asked as well
Underlevelled, but it helped
heady oxide
i see. tbf subs really help, but they do require significant investment to make an impact. Doesn't help the drop to craft bidders is random af
also timing to call subs is important for harby strength
grand granite
Yep and yep
I swear though, Idk what the hell the devs were thinking with those Mark VIII torpedoes for building Bidders
Because the drop rate is beyond appalling
Even though the system sucked, I count myself lucky I could at least farm the SOS system for them, back in the day, else I swear I might still be without enough Bidders to this day...