Azur Lane Guides and Info

If it's not obvious this is now out of date and no longer used due to autists needing to 'take control' of things. Go get the latest version at /alg/.

Where to get the game:
CN -> https://blhx.biligame.com
JP -> https://apkpure.com/アズールレーン/com.YoStarJP.AzurLane
KR -> https://www.apkfollow.com/app/byeogramhangro/kr.txwy.and.blhx/
EN OBT -> https://apkpure.com/azur-lane/com.YoStarEN.AzurLane
EN note: Just be aware that EN is riddled with extremely poor translations when it's not directly stolen from the wiki. Poor text wrapping, plenty of typos and lots of other issues are present too. Marriage was 'censored' to "Oath" but otherwise no other changes were made thus far. The staff claim they're bringing in a different translation company to 'fix' the game since the people running the EN release clearly don't speak English in any capacity.

(Use a Japanese VPN and install from playstore for easier updating and installing)


PLEASE DO THE STEPS BELOW. IT TAKES 30 SECONDS TO BIND YOUR ACCOUNT TO TWITTER OR TO GENERATE A BIND CODE. EVERY TIME THE APP UPDATES SOMEONE SEEMS TO LOSE THEIR ACCOUNT BECAUSE THEY'RE FUCKING LAZY AND/OR STUPID. DON'T BE THAT GUY.

Registering on JP server
https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/Account_Binding#Binding_by_Twitter
https://i.imgur.com/WW0OTBI.jpg

Registering on CN server
https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/Getting_Started




--- READ THIS FIRST ---

FIRST, READ THIS PART. YES. THE PART BELOW THESE SENTENCES IN CAPS LOCK.
The previous guide like this was plagued by shitty images that get outdated quickly and/or were shitty discord guides.
Almost all your questions have answers either on the Japanese/Chinese wikis or the English wiki. If you're completely new and don't speak any Japanese or Chinese, CONSULT THE ENGLISH WIKI FIRST OF ALL: https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/Azur_Lane_Wiki

If you have a specific question, follow the links below and read on to find the information you need. If you still don't find the answer, ask in the thread.
NOTE: the English wiki may not always be up to date or entirely accurate, but for 99% of all your questions, the English wiki has an answer. If you need accurate info and are willing to Google Translate and/or speak Chinese or Japanese, check their respective wikis as a supplement:

Chinese wiki: http://wiki.joyme.com/blhx/%E9%A6%96%E9%A1%B5
Japanese wiki: http://azurlane.wikiru.jp/



--- BEGINNER INFO ---

Q: Can I use an emulator?
A: Yes. Both Memu and Nox work. Others probably do too, but who the fuck would willingly want to use Bluestacks?

Q: I've played KanColle before, what are the differences between it and this game?
A: A lot. I didn't want to link to a pastebin, but for the sake of being thorough without taking up way too much space, all the info on the differences can be found here: https://pastebin.com/JGygMxfy

Q: What's the difference between the Japanese and Chinese servers?
A: These are the primary differences on JP server compared to CN:
- Ships are level capped at 70, rising by 10 for every Limit Break, CN has level cap at 100 with 0 Limit Breaks required. The current level cap on JP is 110 and you are REQUIRED to limit break to get to that point (on top of spend mental modules). The level cap on CN is 120 and you aren't required to limit break to get to that point (though you still need to spend mental modules every 5 levels from 100 onwards).
- Unit stat upgrade costs have increased significantly for BBs, BCs and CVs
- Upgrading equipment costs more equipment plates on JP
- Chinese boats have Japanese VAs
- Uncensored character CGs and uncensored special touch lines
- Delayed event release
- Delayed ship, ship remodel and equipment release (usually tied to those events, but not necessarily)

Q: I want to be a meta fag, who's the best starter?
A: At this point it's entirely based on your dick. Originally the starters didn't have a retrofit and because of this it resulted in Ayanami being overall the best due to her disgusting torpedo damage. With the retrofits however the gap becomes much smaller. Ayanami is overall still the best but each starter has their own niche. Due to CN being unable to pick Ayanami you should just pick whoever is cutest.

Q: Who do I reroll for?
A: Rerolling is more or less completely pointless. This is a collection game, and a ridiculously generous one at that. Unless you're coming in during an incredibly generous promotion period where you get a shitton of everything in the mail, there just isn't a point to waste the time rerolling because you're going to end up getting everything eventually anyway.
BUT, IF YOU INSIST, you should be rerolling to get Hood or Enterprise. They're both some of the best and most powerful ships in the game.
And as a note to gachafags in general: if you're used to cruel gacha rates that jew you out of every cent, this game's SSR craft rate is 7%. Yes, you read that right. And you do not need to (although you can) spend any real money to get the rarest ships.

Q: I don't want to fuck up as a newfag, what are some important things to keep in mind as I'm starting out?
A: A kind Anon put together a list of important/useful tips to keep you on the straight and narrow as a newfag. You should be following this list completely. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dlD1bqchyIMYfLdl4PDeR4NFWA2dklejijldpaar1Gc/edit

Q: Help, I can't beat <level>, what should I do?
A: Grind. Drop to a lower level map and just throw your botes at a wall until you can beat it.
I'd suggest 1-4 since rammer blueprints drop on it, 2-2 because Brooklyn and Arizona drop on it and 2-4 just because it's ez and is a higher XP payout/battle than the other two.
3-4 is also a recommended grinding map because it has the (low) drop chance for 2 very powerful SSRs: Akagi and Kaga, and it drops blueprints for the tier 4 (purple) Repair Toolkit, something which you can never have too many of and remains a very good equipment piece even well into the final chapters of the game.

Q: What fleet composition should I be using?
A: There isn't a definitive answer. You can do just about anything. CLx3, DDx3, both of those can work if you do stuff properly. Even CAx3 works, I just wouldn't personally recommend it due to reload timers.
But to answer the question, the most common setups for the frontline tend to be CA+DD+CL, CLx2+DD or CA+CLx2.
For the backline it's pretty much whatever you want. My suggestion however is to run only two backline unless you for definite sure fucking need it. But realistically, unless you're underleveled, running event maps or setting up a boss fleet for late-game story missions (map 8-4+), you do not need more than two backline for anything and can even be more than fine with only a single backline ship.

Q: Does ship order matter?
A. Yes. For the frontline, the leftmost ship is the ship that will be taking the most damage. The rightmost ship is the one that will be taking the second most damage. The one in the safe little middle pocket will be taking the least amount of damage. Plan your shit around knowing that.
The ordering doesn't matter as much for the backline, but keep in mind the center back ship is your flagship. If they get downed you instantly lose the battle, so you don't want to put some weak ass ship there.
Bonus note: Even when sortied, you can change your ships fleet ordering. In the pre-battle screen after coming in contact with a node, simply drag your ships around like you would in the fleet menu.

Q: What's affection?
A: Affection is how much a bote wants the shikikan D. Real answer though, once you get to 90 affection a ship will receive a +3% bonus to her stats. Once at 100 affection, she will have a +6% bonus, and she will then become ringable. Post-marriage, she will have a 9% bonus to stats and raises the affection cap to 200 - which, once you hit 200 affection, she gets a full total of +12% bonus to stats.

Q: How does one get affection?
A: Several ways. You can make them your secretary, and she will gain 1 affection every 6 hours, until she hits 90 affection(in which case she will gain no more from secretary), you can put her in your back yard and she will proc hearts that will give affection, or you can actively use them in battles. Each S rank completed battle gives a ship 0.06 affection points, if they MVP they will receive 0.12 affection, instead.

Q: What's the difference in ammo types?
A: Each class type of gun will have different multipliers for different ammo types against different armor types.
Check this chart for more info: https://i.imgur.com/MncgH2O.png
Check the wiki to see which botes have what armor ratings. But as a general rule, DDs and CLs have light armor, CAs and CVs have medium armor, and BBs have heavy armor.



--- SPECIFIC QUESTIONS AND GUIDES ---

Equipment Info:
Q: What does [stat] on the equipment screen mean?
A: Read this: http://himeuta.org/showthread.php?11455-Azur-Lane-Equipment-Basics-Guide

Q: What's the best equipment for [ship]?
A: Read this: https://9db.jp/azurlane/data/668 - it should be at the bottom and whatever version you see is the most up to date one. The information on this page is in both Chinese and Japanese, but you can just look at the icons then look at the equipment lists on the English wiki.
You should also read this: http://himeuta.org/showthread.php?11450-Azur-Lane-Quick-and-Dirty-Equipment-Guide BUT BEWARE, it may be outdated at any point in the future. As of the writing of this guide however, most of the information is up to date and the author explains why some things are better than others, and the reasons WHY some equipment is better than others is unlikely to change, so even if say the best option for whatever ship might change one day, the reason WHY it's better should remain the same, and reading this guide to know why that is will help you make decisions on your own.

Q: Where do I find [equipment]?
A: See the farming guides section below.

Q: How does anti-air work? What's this "backline" AA and "frontline" AA thing I've heard about?
A: Read this: http://himeuta.org/showthread.php?11497-Basic-AA-guide-to-AA-guns-and-how-they-work-in-Azur-Lane - AA mechanics aren't easily explained BUT they can be summarized like this: it's all about the AVERAGE fleet stats. Backline vs frontline AA is a total myth and any guide or image that claims it is a thing should be completely ignored.

Q: How does air power work? Why are some CVs better than others?
A: Read this: http://himeuta.org/showthread.php?11487-Azur-Lane-The-Ultimate-Guide-to-CVs-and-Air-Combat
Not all CVs are good at the same thing. For example, one of the best CVs in the game, Unicorn, has mediocre/bad offensive capabilities but amazing support skills that give more reload to the frontline and heals them when she launches airstrikes.

Tierlists:
Q: What ships are the best for PvP/PvE?
A: Read this: https://9db.jp/azurlane/data/668 - the top chart should be the ranking for ships in PvE, the second should be the ranking for ships in PvP. The right side of the PvP tier list has the most recommended formations. The final list is for equipment. Just so you know, the tier lists shown on that page are Chinese, and they're generally considered the best. There are other tier lists on that site (that specific page only has the Chinese one) but those other non-Chinese tier lists are considered trash by many. Ignore them completely.
Futureproofing sidenote: The tier lists may take a little time to be updated at the above link. The person who creates these tier lists uploads them directly to this link if you want the most up to date versions - http://tieba.baidu.com/home/main?id=dfde83b7c0cfcaa6c299 .

Q: What about other tier lists? Which one is the most accurate?
A: Tier lists are not absolute and even the ones generally considered the best, the Chinese ones (in the link above) are not foolproof or guaranteed to be the best choice for your fleet in every situation, but as far as tier lists goes almost any other ones should be ignored.
The Japanese tier list is incredibly flawed and gives ships a rating based heavily just on their rarity (SSR ships are considered "better" for no reason) and another tier list you may have seen made by a person named "Kopfjäger" is outright terrible and is made to deceive you. If you find it, ignore it.

Farming guides:
Q: Where do I find [equipment] or a blueprint for it?
A: Read this: https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/Equipment_Drop_Table (in English) - might be outdated or not list all stages, but it's easy on the eyes and easy to navigate unlike the Japanese version which is more up to date but much harder to understand without Google Translate or knowing Japanese: http://azurlane.wikiru.jp/index.php?%C0%DF%B7%D7%BF%DE%A5%C9%A5%ED%A5%C3%A5%D7%A5%EA%A5%B9%A5%C8 (in Japanese)

Q: Where do I find [ship]?
A: Read this: https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/Ship_Drop_Table (in English) - as with the equipment drop table, may be out of date sometimes.

Morale guide:
Q: My ships have a green/orange/red face icon on them in the sortie screen/dock, what does this mean?
A: Their morale has gone down from you using them too much. It comes back over time. For more info, Google Translate this page: http://azurlane.wikiru.jp/index.php?%B9%A5%B4%B6%C5%D9%A4%CB%A4%C4%A4%A4%A4%C6 (in Japanese) or ask in the thread for specifics.

Q: How do I recover morale?
A: Put them in your backyard and let them rest for a while. They'll also recover morale just by not being sent to battle, but that's slower.

Crafting guide:
Q: How do I craft [ship]?
A: Check the wiki: https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/Building (in English) - if the ship you want isn't listed she may be drop only. This link also has all the crafting timers, so you know how long a ship will take to craft.

Q: [Ship] was a time limited craft, will she ever come back?
A: Maybe. A lot of ships that were time limited crafts came back to the pool as normal crafts after a while, and some others remain event exclusive. It depends entirely on the ship. But the most likely scenario is that you'll eventually be able to get her if you missed her.

Boxes:
Q: I got a box, what's inside of it?
A: Google Translate this page: http://azurlane.wikiru.jp/index.php?%A5%A2%A5%A4%A5%C6%A5%E0%B0%EC%CD%F7#y8a7054e - it's clunky and you might need to click around to know what items are in what boxes, but unfortunately as of the moment this guide is written, there is no English wiki page on what are in equipment boxes.
Remember that you can combine 5 boxes of one quality into 1 of the next quality up to tier 3 (purple.) If you no longer need tier 1 (pink) boxes, upgrade them to tier 2 (blue) and the same goes for blue boxes if you no longer need blue equipment.

Ship skills:
Q: What does [ship]'s skill do?
A: Check the ship's page on the English wiki. There's always an English translation of what their skill does.

Q: What are the best skills?
A: Depends. As a general rule, a lot of ships are made good by the skills they have, but it's not the only thing that matters. If you want a list of what ships are good (ergo they possess good skills) you can check the tier list above.

Resources:
Q: What are these blue/purple/gold icons that have ships on pieces of paper?
A: Blueprints. They're for retrofitting. On applicable ships that have retrofits, on their character screen there will be a new and foreign button of an upward pointing arrow with swirly bits around it. That's the retrofit screen.
Bonus note: You can combine 6 blue blueprints into 1 purple blueprint of the same type.

Q: How do I get retrofit blueprints?
A: They only drop on the boss clear on hard mode maps. You can only do 6 hard mode runs every day. For more info, check this page: https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/Equipment_Drop_Table#Hard

Q: I'm running low on oil, what do I do?
A: Your fleet consumes too much oil. Oil consumption is determined by 3 things and 3 things only: ship rarity, how many limit breaks the ship has, and the ship type itself. The higher the quality and the more limit breaks, the higher the fuel cost. In terms of fuel cost per ship type, BBs are the most expensive, then CVs, then CAs, then CLs, then DDs. The difference is huge between a maxed SSR BB and a LB0 normal DD.
You don't need to field a full fleet to combat if it's overkill. You can remove ships and save oil, but obviously in turn your fleet is weaker. Balance the two out and consider what ships to use for what mission.

Q: How do I get more money/oil?
A: Oil and gold can be passively generated by your buildings. Upgrade them if you haven't already. Read more here: https://azurlane.koumakan.jp/Academy
If you're impatient and don't mind whaling you can also just buy diamonds then convert them to more oil and gold in the jewcat's store.


--- OTHER INFO ---
As the guy who updated the old guide (you know, me, writing this) I play on the JP version and don't know if these links still work or whatever. I'm leaving them here in case you play on the CH version and might want some of this info.

CN version Decensor:
https://pastebin.com/dJjyaXyF

JP audio mod for Chinese ships with CN audio (Ping hai, Ning Hai, Yat sen):
http://megume.me/share/CNBoteToJPVAPatch.zip

Friends lists for events:
Add yours to the list: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdJwr3JD5NqL2XXs1Ez0A34E79OjAbKes37A1t5sUhRO5ImLA/viewform
Check what people to add: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AL6yO7cnGLLvSbLg_yvEZiSaTXTwDoflqnXE7cWx4-o/edit#gid=108123644

The only reason I'm including these is because there might be content in the future that requires friends to do it with or there might be more simulator battles and it'd be nice to have someone's good secretary ship to use in those battles.
(For those not familiar, in short, during some events there are these things called simulator battles where you have 1 blank space in your selection of ships for them and you can only fill it in with a friend's secretary ship, otherwise it's left blank and you miss out on a free ship slot. These two links are just futureproofing in case some event does happen where you need some /alg/ guys' strong secretary ships or whatever, who knows, it doesn't hurt to include.)
(Also another sidenote: if your server isn't listed in the registration form, other than bothering whoever made these things into updating it, there's not much you can do. I dunno if being on different servers makes you unable to add someone or not, but if doesn't then just select whatever server and write in your ID. If it does impact it, not much we can do if the guy doesn't update it.)



--- TRANSLATED EVENTS ---

Visitors Dyed in Red (Cranes event) - https://pastebin.com/MgxUsshm
Return of the War God (Mikasa event) - https://pastebin.com/6RrR425P
Winter's Crown (Victorious/DoY event) - https://pastebin.com/H1Rap8wR

--- ANTHOLOGY LINKS ---

Volume 1:
Raw - https://nyaa.si/view/1003400
Fully translated - http://www.mediafire.com/file/7w7bzj6e6qcd6uj/Azur+Lane+Comic+Anthology+Vol+1.zip

Volume 2:
Raw - https://mega.nz/#F!5NNGXJCR!5ar_dODR4sjLRFHx5pQAbw
Translated Chapter 1 - https://imgur.com/a/ZdMWkOW
Translated Chapter 2 - https://imgur.com/a/GV40w6a
Translated Chapter 3 - https://imgur.com/a/0hd7DtF
Translated "3.5" - https://imgur.com/a/Ak9VfDa
Translated Chapter 4 - https://imgur.com/a/qZUnlcj
Translated Chapter 5 - https://imgur.com/a/ZObDy40
Translated "5.5" - https://imgur.com/a/wtcvbRj
Translated Chapter 6 - https://imgur.com/a/gl0tPFM
Translated Chapter 7 - https://imgur.com/a/fQLjsl5
Translated "7.5" - https://imgur.com/a/NVrIkQt
Translated Chapter 8 - https://imgur.com/a/RkpJ11S

Volume 3:
Raw - https://mega.nz/#F!xBE3hKLS!HvTD6fv2j1p53vbmXx6ayQ
Translated Chapter 1 - https://imgur.com/a/7lLLqSE
Translated Chapter 2 - https://imgur.com/a/EYGzpEb
Translated Chapter 3 - https://imgur.com/a/lmViQkE
Translated Chapter 4 - https://imgur.com/a/YwPw4Me
Translated Chapter 5 - https://imgur.com/a/OA1Rhdm
Translated Chapter 6 - https://imgur.com/a/dZxA6TF

--- MISC LINKS ---

Tokyo Active NEETS AL Orchestral Album (Kindly purchased and uploaded by Anon) - https://mega.nz/#F!JswhxTgQ!yLeQT7PoscFxf9pEPeYpQA