Uhh
#Fixing this mess somehow
manic mortar
one of the top priorities should be to get her retrofit
What’s a retrofit?
raw pilot
when you check the ship there will be an option on the top left that says retrofit
manic mortar
Oh that’s right
raw pilot
unicorn is the best healer in the game and invaluable to make progress in campaign
manic mortar
Ookay that’s what the blueprints were for
raw pilot
her first yellow skill "support carrier" should be leveled to max immediately and you should retrofit her as soon as possible. doing hard mode stages that end in "-4" will give you carrier retroprints
only hard mode stages at world 3 and beyond give you the gold ones
so try to get to the point where you can do that
Z23 can also serve you decently with her retro as well
manic mortar
Thank you both, I’ll try working on that
raw pilot
it'll take a bit to get some retros
manic mortar
I assume leveling the characters up is also important right
If so do I just farm levels until I get the lecture hall
Or is there another way
raw pilot
shangri-la is pretty solid, if you work on any of the SRs, she is the one that you should direct most attention to
kuybyshev and giulio cesare meta are sadly not great
akagi muse is passable, but she's another SR so that's another gold bulin sink
you might be able to acquire saratoga soon from some of the upcoming stags like world 4-1 or 6-4, and she is quite good with full investment
manic mortar
kuybyshev and giulio cesare meta are sadly not great
raw pilot
beyond the ships there is also what you should equip on them which matters a lot
manic mortar
Tbh I just wanted to play them cause they’re pretty, for now I’ll keep them but if I really need to I’ll switch
raw pilot
well
manic mortar
beyond the ships there is also what you should equip on them which matters a lot
My gear is uhh.. kind of doodoo I think
Im just making do with what the game gives me
Upgrading stuff left and right
raw pilot
with kuybyshev the bigger immediate problem is that not only she's not notable she's also SR so she's gonna be a bulin sink. and max limit breaking ships makes a lot of difference
manic mortar
I’ve got a few pulls available, should I try for a specific class of ship or characters ?
raw pilot
at least with cesare you just get her limit break items from the cruise pass. but she isn't strong so there's that
manic mortar
It’s a cruel world
manic mortar
you should stick to your daily pulls
Unsure what that means 😭
raw pilot
basically
there's a daily quest that says "build one ship"
so you do that because you get the cube back
manic mortar
Yes
raw pilot
just do one daily build on light banner (unless an event is active, then you do it on event banner)
manic mortar
So one pull a day pretty much
raw pilot
you shouldn't pull further beyond that at the moment
manic mortar
Fair enough
manic mortar
Need to save then
raw pilot
the other good news
one of them is going to be "free" basically if it's a 2 UR event
and it is probably going to be the vanguard one
manic mortar
raw pilot
in other words, you might get a very strong vanguard soon (think about a month's time)
whether you get the main fleet one, that would come down to the amount of resources you have, and a little bit of luck
so about the gear
it is not typically recommended to grind gear in maps
it takes a bit too long
i would say there is maybe one exception, and that is world 3-2; imo it is fine-ish to grind there for one helldiver (a very strong plane) as you're trying to gain levels to help clear further ahead
beyond that, it is ok to buy a few gold boxes early on to try to jumpstart your gear situation a little
manic mortar
So you get gear mostly from the boxes you get from clearing the levels or if you buy them
raw pilot
as for which gear is good; it is not immediately apparent in-game, so it's best to ask/check guides. you can check this guide which generally is correct on most things to see what is good https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wWMIzaUKISAXMbOEnmsuuLkO9PesabpdTUWdosvHygM/edit?gid=883373039#gid=883373039
raw pilot
So you get gear mostly from the boxes you get from clearing the levels or if you...
early on it is okay to buy a few gold boxes but after a short while i would recommend against it and just wait for the few gear pieces you might be missing to just come naturally from dropped boxes instead of buying them
manic mortar
Alright I’m gonna get to reading all of this
raw pilot
well
lemme jusst do a quick note on an image that has all the tech box gear to show you what is notable
manic mortar
Sure thing
Btw since ive got a bunch of elite bulins should i use them on Unicorn right away ? I also got Helena
manic mortar
No problem
raw pilot
red stuff: pretty good, unlikely to be replaced soon
blue stuff: marginally worse than the red equivalent, or marginally better but considerably more expensive to upgrade, or niche
i didn't point out the AA guns cuz it doesn't matter much early on, but the eagle union gold one and the circular royal navy gold one are solid
there's maybe a couple ones there i didn't point out that exclusively work as bomb boat killers for the main fleet auxilliary, but it should not be too important up to world 10
raw pilot
Btw since ive got a bunch of elite bulins should i use them on Unicorn right awa...
yeah it's fine to use them on unicorn
manic mortar
Maybe that’s a bit too complicated for me right now, I’ll focus on setting up a better fleet
manic mortar
yeah it's fine to use them on unicorn
Can’t even she’s not even level 10 😭🙏
raw pilot
well
maybe you can buy unicorn dupes from the guild shop if you're a little patient, or you might end up dropping dupes of her from 4-4 and 5-4 (happened to me)
saying that just because it's technically easier getting her dupes than for some of the other ships
which might need them more due to either not being available or being scarce
Z23 for example, drops in every map but it is very rare to see a starter ship drop actually
manic mortar
I already got Helena and Portland from the guild shop
raw pilot
like extremely rare
portland should be pretty easy to MLB
she drops in 3-4, 4-1, 4-3 and 5-4 for stages close to your level of progression
and she is just a blue rarity so it's common to see her
you also need to do her retrofit to complete some of the rookie missions anyway
and it is also cheap
so she is definitely usable
her only use is as a "stat stick" though
her skills are terrible
but thankfully her base stats are solid so she gets to put in work as a tank
so don't even bother leveling portland's skills
manic mortar
so don't even bother leveling portland's skills
Noted
raw pilot
one thing about the guild shop
manic mortar
I upgraded unicorn’s skill
raw pilot
you want to get in the habit of buying gold plates always
gold plates are one of the most important resources in this game
manic mortar
To upgrade gear?
raw pilot
always make sure to buy the 5 that are there, then refresh the shop with the button, and buy 5 more
and buy either aircraft or main gun plates
yes
they are for upgrading gear past +10
do not use them without knowing what you are doing though
for now, just get them
make sure you are in a guild, and participate
do the daily contributions and send your ships on operations (just join the operation and click the "recommended" button then send them out)
manic mortar
I am
raw pilot
at the end of each operation there is a fight
you don't need to do well in it if the rest of the guild can finish it, but make sure to participate
participating in it at least once will give you many gold plates
later on you will unlock operation siren
which is the most important thing in this game if you want top tier gear
raw pilot
when you reach level 60 it will unlock
if you unlock it before this month ends
do your best to complete the story mode before the month rolls over
opsi works in a "monthly period" basis where the maps and shops get reset every month and you have to re-clear
before clearing story mode the shops are all in the way they were before a certain update made them much better
manic mortar
That is going to be complicated haha
raw pilot
because you don't want these bad shops, you really want to clear story mode as fast as possible
manic mortar
I’ve gotta go sleep, but thank you infinitely for all the tips
Hopefully I can make something out of it 
raw pilot
no problem, you can ask anything any time just ping me or something