Azur Lane Tier List 2023 (Best Ships)

Azur Lane is one of the best warhead games. It was developed by Chinese developers in 2017. Azur Lane is based on World war 2. This is a 2D game in which you have to attack your enemies with battleships. There are many battleships in Azur Lane, ships for every kind of situation. You can choose the ship according to the situation of the battle. You can also make a fleet of ships, 6 ships in a fleet. Every battleship has its own captain. The characters in Azur Lane are mostly girls. More than 300 battleships are there in Azur Lane.
By forming a fleet, you can hit your enemy hard. Azur Lane can be played with AI or you can choose the battle manually. This is a top-rated game based on the naval warhead.

Contents

Tier A+Tier A Tier B Tier C Tier D

We have categorized the ships into five groups A+, A, B, C & D.

The top ships of Group A+ are Helena (Light cruiser) and Essex (Aircraft Carrier). These two are the best ships. They can destroy the strongest enemies. Two of the ships in Group A are Portland (Heavy cruiser) and Vestal (Repair ship). They are not as powerful as the upper group but still have an impact on the game.

Some battleships in Group B are Albacore, a submarine, and Ark Royal, an aircraft barrier.
They dominate the game to an extent. The top ships in Group C are Arizona (battleship) and Belfast (Light cruiser). Their role is vital in the game. Some ships in Group D are Isuzu (Light cruiser) and Zeppy (Aircraft Carrier).

Tier A+

Name	Ship Type	Fleet	Service
Helena	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Eagle Union
Minneapolis	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard	Eagle Union
Essex	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Eagle Union
Enterprise	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Eagle Union
Warspite Retrofit	Battleship	Backline	Eagle Union
San Diego Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Eagle Union
Georgia	Battleship	Backline	Eagle Union
Seattle	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Eagle Union
Yat-Sen Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Eastern Radiance
Ning Hai Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Eastern Radiance
Ping Hai Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Eastern Radiance
U-47	Submarine	Support	Ironblood
Roon	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard	Ironblood
Friedrich der Grosse	Battleship	Backline	Ironblood
Unicorn	Light Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Royal Navy
Dute of York	Battleship	Backline	Royal Navy
Centaur	Light Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Royal Navy
Monarch	Battleship	Backline	Royal Navy
Ayanami	Destroyer	Vanguard	Sakura Empire
I-13	submarine carrier	Backline	Sakura Empire
Yukikaze	Destroyer	Vanguard	Sakura Empire
Akashi	Repair Ship	Backline	Sakura Empire
Nagato	Battleship	Backline	Sakura Empire
Azuma	Large Cruiser	Vanguard	Sakura Empire
Gascogne	Battleship	Backline	Vichya Dominion

Tier A

Name	Ship Type	Fleet	Service
Portland	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard	Eagle Union
Saratoga Retrofit	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Eagle Union
Laffey Retrofit	Destroyer	Vanguard	Eagle Union
Vestal	Repair Ship	Backline	Eagle Union
Washington	Battleship	Backline	Eagle Union
Montpelier	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Eagle Union
Eldridge	Destroyer	Vanguard	Eagle Union
Bunker Hill	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Eagle Union
Saint Louis	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard	Iris Libre
Z23 Retrofit	Destroyer	Vanguard	Ironblood
Tirpitz	Battleship	Backline	Ironblood
U-101	Submarine	Support	Ironblood
Bismarck	Battleship	Backline	Ironblood
Graf Zeppelin	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Ironblood
Hood	Battle Cruiser	Backline	Royal Navy
King George V	Battleship	Backline	Royal Navy
Neptune	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Royal Navy
Illustrious	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Royal Navy
Swiftsure	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Royal Navy
Jintsuu Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Sakura Empire
Mogami Retrofit	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard	Sakura Empire
I-168	Submarine	Support	Sakura Empire
Amagi	Battle Cruiser	Backline	Sakura Empire
Mikasa	Battleship	Backline	Sakura Empire
Kitakaze	Destroyer	Vanguard	Sakura Empire
Jean Bart	Battleship	Backline	Vichya Dominion

Tier B

Name	Ship Type	Fleet	Service
Albacore	Submarine	Support	Eagle Union
Ark Royal	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Royal Navy
Aurora	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Royal Navy
Cleveland	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Eagle Union
Columbia	Light Cruiser	Elite	Eagle Union
Elegant Kizuna AI	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard	Kizuna AI
Hyuuga Retrofit	Aviation Battleship	Backline	Sakura Empire
i-19	Submarine	Support	Sakura Empire
Ibuki	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard	Sakura Empire
Izumo	Battleship	Backline	Sakura Empire
Javelin	Destroyer	Vanguard	Royal Navy
Kaga	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Sakura Empire
Kizuna	Destroyer	Vanguard	Kizuna AI
Little Bel	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Royal Navy
Nicholas Retrofit	Destroyer	Vanguard	Eagle Union
North Carolina	Battleship	Backline	Eagle Union
Queen Elizabeth	Battleship	Backline	Royal Navy
Shouhou	Light Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Sakura Empire
U-81	Submarine	Support	Ironblood
Z1 Retrofit	Destroyer	Vanguard	Ironblood

Tier C

Name	Ship Type	Fleet	Service
Akagi	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Sakura Empire
Anniversary Kizuna Ai	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Kizuna Ai
Arizona	Battleship	Backline	Eagle Union
Belfast	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Royal Navy
Curacoa Tetrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Royal Navy
Curlew Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Royal Navy
Furmiruiru	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Utawarerumono
Hiryuu	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Sakura Empire
Kagerou Retrofit	Destroyer	Vanguard	Sakura Empire
Kawakaze	Destroyer	Vanguard	Sakura Empire
London	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard	Royal Navy
Newcastle Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Royal Navy
Prinz Eugen	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Ironblood
Sendai Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Sakura Empire
Shangri	La- Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Eagle Union
Shoukaku	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Sakura Empire
Sirius	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Royal Navy
Souryuu	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Sakura Empire
Taihou	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Sakura Empire
Tanikaze	Destroyer	Vanguard	Sakura Empire
Wichita	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard	Eagle Union
Zuikaku	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Sakura Empire

Tier D

Name	Ship Type	Fleet	Service
Chaser	Light Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Royal Navy
Izuzu	Light Cruiser	Vanguard	Sakura Empire
Zeppy	Aircraft Carrier	Backline	Ironblood

Helena:

Hellena is literally the best light cruiser in the Azur Lane game who is known for her anti-air statistics. But because of her light armor, she is a little weak against heavy explosive weapons. Hellena has got an extra gun mount that becomes more efficient as you proceed in the game and help her to survive against the most dangerous enemies. The radar Scan skill of Hellena enhances the damage effects and provides extensive damage to the opponents.

But this skill can be used only one time as it is a one-time debuff. So it is very necessary to use this skill wisely against the most destructive enemies. The evasion stats of Hellena makes her a useful character in almost all the contexts of the game and the players should pair her up with other DPS vanguards to get the best out of her. Hellena has also the ability to enhance the damage effects of her teammates which makes her a top tier.

Belfast:

Belfast is a rare cruiser of the royal navy that is considered to be the best firepower holder light cruiser of the Azur Lane game. Belfast has the ability to launch underwater missiles to deal massive damage to opponents. The Smokescreen skill increases the evasion rate and also decreases the damaging effect of the opponent’s attacks. The Burn order skill helps to increase your damage effect and fire charms.

Belfast has the ability to destroy the light and heavily armored ships in the game. And with the Barrage perk, you can also provide some damage to the enemies. Belfast plays an important role in both PVE and PVP battles. If Belfast is paired with Queen Elizabeth, she will become very lethal. Belfast offers the highest offensive statistics as compared to other ships.

Yukikaze:

Yukikaze is a floating light tank with the best defensive skills, she can play both roles, defense, and attack. Yukikaze has the ability to destroy every enemy that comes on her way. She can minimize the effects of damage so that she and her other teammates can survive for a longer period of time.

In addition to this, Yukikaze also possesses the ability to fire underwater missiles on enemies that will tear them into pieces. She can heal herself and others from the damage caused by the attacks of enemies. Yukikaze has some rapid moves which make her the best ship food PVP battles. She has the ability to carry four torpedoes at a time that’s why she is considered the best destroyer in the game and will turn out to be a nightmare for the opponents.

San Diego Retrofit Ship Review

Sandy Retrofit just hit Global a while ago, and being the first Ultra Rare ship she received a lot of hype. Most players already know that Sandy Retrofit is super strong, but the exact reason for it is very interesting.

So unlike usual, I will do an in-depth review of San Diego Retrofit, and talk about a few interesting points Sandy brings with her retrofit.

Retrofit Cost

59500 Coins

20 T3 Cruiser Blueprints and 18 T2 Cruiser Blueprints

60 T3 Main Gun Parts and 50 T3 General Parts

3 Copies of San Diego or Gold Bulin

The retrofit requires a special event item to finish. If you miss this item, you cannot complete the retrofit! So make sure to grab it now from playing the mini-game!

The event will have a re-run in the future (The re-run was 5 month after the initial run for CN server)

Retrofit Info

Sandy Retrofit is very expensive, but it is worth every penny. She gets a HUGE boost in Firepower, Anti-air and weapon efficiency. The biggest change is she gets the main gun base +1, this means her main gun fires one more time every cooldown.

For the main gun choice, you really want to use a Destroyer gun on Sandy because DD guns have much higher DPS. The gold + 10 138.6mm gun is the best.

The torpedo choice doesn’t matter that much. Her torpedo damage is very low, just put whatever gold torpedo you have on her.

For AA guns, any Gold Tier AA gun will be fine. Auxiliary slot, Repair Tools+Torpedo Bulge/Fire Suppressor. Anti-Air Radar is also a good choice when facing a lot of enemy aircraft.

Retrofit Skill

The retrofit skill for Sandy is insane. It gives her +25% Anti-Air stats and fires a special barrage every 20 seconds at a 100% chance.

The special barrage shoots 30 stars, each with 24 base damage, so 720 total base damage.

These stars have the very good homing ability, as you can see even if the target is moving, it will chase the target and hit reliably.

The Importance of Anti-Air stat

How does AA stat work in Azurlane?

The anti-Air stat is very important in the later portion of the game. In Chapter 12-13 your entire fleet will be assaulted by massive amounts of enemy aircraft. Currently, all the most difficult bosses in Azurlane are aircraft carriers as well.

In Azurlane, Anti-Air stat does 2 things:

1. It increases the damage done by your anti-air guns, much like firepower stat to the main gun.

2. It provides damage resistance to the damage done by aircraft.

So Anti-Air stat not only helps you shoot down more enemy aircraft, it also reduces aviation damage taken for that ship depending on the ship’s AA stat. The formula taken from CN Wiki for AA damage reduction is as follows:

Aviation DMG Reduction = AA Stat / AA Stat + 150

So Sandy is not only super good at shooting down aircraft, but she is also EXTREMELY TANKY against enemy aviation damage. There are quite a few late gai deals primarily aviation damage, which means Sandy can be used as a front-line tank to soak up damage.

Her skill, I Am No.1 increases AA stat for the entire fleet by 50%. Against bosses that deal mostly aviation damage, this skill can provide an INSANE amount of damage reduction to the entire fleet.

This is why Sandy can single-handedly carry low AA Fleet builds like the IJN/KMS fleets. The skill is just broken when used in the right situation.

Sandy’s performance against ships

We all know Sandy is good against aircraft, but how does she do against normal ships? The answer is pretty damn good. Destroyer guns have extremely high DPS compared to all other guns in the game, and this is done to help the low-firepower Destroyers.

But Sandy retrofit has 182 max firepowers and she fires the gun twice per cooldown. So with DD guns equipped, Sandy can shoot non-stop and deal very good damage.

Escort Cargo (Firepower)

Here is a simple damage comparison from the Escort Cargo map. My Baltimore is a few levels behind Sandy so factoring in the level disadvantage, Sandy is about 5-6k damage behind Baltimore.

Baltimore is a top damage dealer in the vanguard, and Sandy Retrofit is not too far behind.

CHECKPOINT Escort Cargo (Firepower)

However, due to Destroyer guns having low modifiers against Medium/Heavy Armor targets, Sandy’s performance against mid/heavy enemies is not as good.

Damage Curve

There is another reason for my rating Sandy Retrofit so high, and that is because of what I call the damage curve.

To understand this concept, let’s use a simple example:

Ship A shoots once per second, dealing 1 damage per shot. Ship B shoots once per 20 seconds, dealing 20 damage per shot. So both ships have the same DPS, and if we plot the damage done vs time-lapse on a graph, we will get something like this:

Damage Curve

Now let’s say during 1 battle, there are 3 enemies in total and each enemy has 1 HP. Ship A would only take 3 seconds to clear this battle, but Ship B needs 60 seconds.

Obviously, this is a very extreme example, but the concept is that in Azurlane, most of the time we are fighting a lot of mobs with low HP. Damage can often be lost due to overkilling, misses, or too many targets. Splitting your damage into more instances will minimize damage lost over the same time period, and save time on attacking the next target.

Sandy Retrofit is the best at splitting her damage into more instances. She shoots lots of low-damage projectiles every second.

This means her effective DPS is very high, she loses very little damage during fights and clears the fight very efficiently without losing much time.

Is big damage bad?

Let’s use the same Ship A and Ship B as an example, but add in Helena, which boosts 40% damage for 10 seconds.

Ship A will do 10+(10*1.4)=24 damage in the 20-second time frame. Ship B will do 20*1.4=28 damage in the 20-second time frame.

In reality, most buffs in Azurlane are time-based and only last a short duration. When we are fighting a boss, using a timed buff with burst damage will yield a much better result.

So the conclusion is, in general, ships that deal damage in more instances are better against mob fleets, which have waves of low hp enemies.

Ships that deal big damage in 1 burst work better against bosses, because they enjoy buffs better.

The Conclusion

San Diego Retrofit – The Good

-Best ship against aircraft.

– Amazing DPS against light armor targets.

– Smooth Damage Curve, clears lower level maps fast

– Extremely consistent results, very reliable.

San Diego Retrofit – The not so Good

– Damage drops quite a bit when fighting medium/heavy armor targets. (Still pretty good compared to most light cruisers)

– Average survivability against shell/torpedo damage.

– Expensive/Time-Limited retrofit

More Ships

USS Albacore

SR Submarine Reward/Build

IJN Taiho SR Carrier Limited Build

USS Essex SR Carrier Limited Build

FENF Le Téméraire Elite Destroyer Limited Build

IJN Yuubari Elite Light Cruiser Event Reward

SN Avrora SR Light Cruiser Event Reward

Good Tier Ships

These ships are what I consider good in combat. Using them will give your fleet an edge.

USS Essex – Carrier My rating: 10/10

Skill 1: When using airstrike, sends out extra TBF Avengers that drop a special Torpedo, these torpedoes inflict Flooding damage to enemies hit. Increase own damage to Battleship by 4% (10% max).

Skill 2: For every USS Carrier/Light Carrier in the fleet, increase your own Aviation/AA by 1.5% (5% max). When Essex’s aircraft shoots down enemy aircraft, increases its own Aviation by 1% (3% max), and stacks up to 5 times.

Skill 3: If the fleet has 4 or more USS Ships, has a 4.5% (12% max) chance to reduce aircraft torpedo/bomb damage to 1 when hit for the entire fleet.

Reduce Aircra

Essex – Another god tier carrier

Essex has the longest skill description out of all the ships currently in the game. She has self-buff, damage boost, and defensive boost all bundled on 1 ship.

Her first skill is super strong, at Lv.10 it drops 8 torpedoes with 301 DMG each, so the total damage for it is very high. And the torpedo will inflict flooding, which stacks with burning and it deals very good damage.

Her second and third skills when counting USS ships, both include herself, and both skills are very effective in Chapters 12-13.

Overall Essex is currently 1 of the top 3 carriers, alongside Enterprise and Centaur. Her sustain damage is excellent with the flooding damage, and her insanely high stats puts her above most other carriers in the game. I would even rate her higher than Enterprise, due to how stable she is.

Top 3 L2D Skins In Azurlane

IJN Taihou – Carrier My rating : 7/10

Skill 1: When the airstrike finishes loading, has a 20% (40% max) chance to use 3 types of extra aircraft. Each type of extra aircraft has an individual proc chance.

Skill 2: Reduce own damage taken from HE Shells by 5% (20% max), reduce own damage taken from aircraft by 5% (20% max).

First skill – Rolling the dice

Taihou’s first skill can send out 3 types of extra aircraft, each type has a 40% proc chance and all 3 types can proc together.

1. Bombers, Carpet Bombing the entire screen, great area damage, but low

single target damage. 24 total bombs each dealing 260 damage.

2. Torpedo Bombers, converging type, great against non-moving bosses. 18

total torpedoes each dealing 240 damage.

3. Recon planes, no damage, increase backline ship’s damage by 10% for 8

seconds.

At max level:

– Chance to proc o extra aircraft is 0.6^3=21.6%

– so chance for this skill to activate is 1-21.6%=78.4%

– Chance to proc all 3 is 0.4^3=6.4%

Overall this skill will proc very often, with a 6.4% chance to hit the jackpot. However, you usually won’t get the aircraft you want. Overall this skill is not amazing, but you will get occasional big hits here and there.

Another Yandere IJN Carrier?!

Taihou is one of the tackiest carriers in the game, she has Heavy Armor and excellent damage-reduction skill.

Her first skill is not only unreliable, but it will also proc when the airstrike finishes loading. This means you can’t save it when manually playing, which is actually a big drawback.

Overall, Taihou barely made it into the good tier. When used alone, Taihou is not amazing but not terrible either. However, being an IJN Carrier means she can benefit from Nagato’s OP team bonus. Nagato+Taihou+Centaur is a pretty good combo for boss fights.

Taihou’s Nemesis

USS Albacore – Submarine My rating: 8.5/10

Skill 1: When emerging and leaving the battlefield, fire a set of special Torpedo barrages, the Torpedo barrage has a 70% chance to ignite the enemy.

Skill 2: Increase own damage to Destroyer, Light Cruiser, and Carriers by 1% (10% max)

Albacore is a pretty good submarine. She will be an event reward so you can get her for free. She has very high base oxygen so she can do well without extra oxygen gear. The extra damage against carriers also helps when fighting chapter 13 bosses.

She also has some synergy with Cavalla, which is a nice bonus. Overall her damage output is not as high as the other SR Submarines, but good enough to get the job done.

PR Ships

IJN Yuubari – Light Cruiser

Skill 1: After combat, Increase EXP gained by Light/Heavy Cruisers by 5% (15% max)

Skill 2: Every 20 seconds has 30% (60% max) chance to proc, increase own firepower by 20% (40% max) for 10 seconds.

Yuubari is a strange ship. She is a purple rarity, but her oil cost is the same as a common ship. Her base stats are EXTREMELY weak, but she can increase vanguard cruiser’s XP gain.

Overall her main use is speeding up PR Farming (Ibuki and Azuma). She will also get one of the most interesting Retrofits in the future.

Usable Tier

Avrora is no longer CBT Exclusive, she will be rewarded through events during the 1st Anniversary. Her skill boosts all vanguard damage by 35%, which is very good. Unfortunately, her own stats are god awful, especially her anti-air is even worse than most Destroyers.

Overall she is usable but very fragile and slow, would not recommend her on high-level maps.

Collectible Tier

The artist for Le Téméraire cared a lot for her daughter, pumping out lots of high-quality art. Unfortunately, the ship’s combat performance is not good at all, low survivability with mediocre damage output, and average skill. Would not recommend using high-level maps at all.

On the bright side, the artist is very active so we can expect a retrofit in the future.

Ashen Simulacrum

I rate ships into 3 categories: Good, Usable, and Collectable. And there are 7 new event limited ships this time. The event walkthrough video will be up 1-2 days later after all of the events is released.

New Ships Summary

Good tier Ships

Baltimore SR Heavy Cruiser Limited Build

Alabama SR Battleship Limited Build

Cavalla SR Submarine Exchange/Drop

Bataan Elite Light Carrier PT Reward

Birmingham Elite Light Cruiser Limited Build

New Ships Summary

Usable tier Ships

San Juan Rare Light Cruiser Event Reward

Sims Retrofit

Collectable tier Ships

Aylwin Rare Destroyer Build/Drop

USS Baltimore

USS Baltimore – Heavy Cruiser My overall rating 9.5/10

Skill 1: Change main gun ammo type to AP. The armor modifier increases as the skill level increases. The main gun has a chance to apply armor break to heavy armor enemies.

Skill 2: When the fleet has USS Carriers or Light Carriers, increase all team members’ AA by 2.5% (7% max), and increase USS Carrier/Light Carrier’s aviation by 5% (15% max). When a team does not have USS Carrier or Light Carriers, increase its own firepower by 4.5% (12% max) and evasion stats by 5% (15% max). The first skill at max level has an armor modifier of 85%/120%/85%, a higher modifier than normal CA AP shells.

Each main gun shell has a 3.5% chance to armor break heavy armor targets, the debuff applied is the same debuff as Battleship AP shells, so the armor break does not stack.

Another Top tier Heavy Cruiser

Baltimore is the new addition to top-tier Heavy Cruisers, she has some of the best offensive stats in Heavy Cruiser class, with main gun+1 and an excellent auxiliary gun. This results in very high damage output, comparable to or even surpassing the PR heavy cruisers.

Her second skill is extremely valuable since currently all the best carriers are from the USS faction, and carriers are very important in the end-game chapters. So Baltimore is not only an excellent damage dealer, but her team buff is also pretty good.

She only lost 0.5 points because of her average-ish survivability. Overall I’d say Baltimore is the go-to heavy cruiser for everyone, especially for newer players without maxed-out PR ships.

USS Alabama – Battleship My overall rating is 9/10

Skill 1: In battle, increase own evasion stats by 3 (12 max), reduce own torpedo damage taken by 5% (20% max). Every 20 seconds have a 45% (75% max) chance to fire a special barrage.

Alabama’s second skill: Alabama’s skill was patched last minute before the server went live, so the translation is a bit off. I tested her 2nd skill for 20 minutes straight and here is currently how it works.

The skill has 2 parts, the first part is every time Alabama’s fleet destroys an enemy fleet on the map, she gets +2.5% Firepower and Anti-air until the entire sortie ends.

The second part is during battle, every time Alabama sinks an enemy ship, she gets the same +2.5% FP/AA buff. The buff you get this way lasts until this battle ends. The +FP/AA Buff can stack up to 8 times max (this is probably a bug but it is 8 for now). So the max FP/AA you can get is 20%. After reaching max buff she also reduces all damage taken for the backline by 8%.

Alabama = Washington+

While her second skill might be patched (or translation gets fixed), it really doesn’t affect her combat performance that much. Alabama is a South Dakota class BB, which means her base stats are super good with high AA.

Her barrage is almost exactly like Washington, except the main shells are AP shells, the damage numbers are 170 per shell, 3 shells per wave, and 3 waves in total. So the total damage is pretty good for a 75% chance to proc barrage.

Her second skill is also very easy to proc, it is very easy for Battleships to last-hit enemy ships so she can reach max buff very reliably.

Overall, regardless of 7 or 8 stacks of the buff, Alabama is a very good Battleship. She is not top-tier like Monarch, but definitely a powerhouse even for end-game chapters.

USS CAVALLA

USS Cavalla – Submarine My overall rating 9.5/10

Skill 1: Reduce damage taken by allied submarines for 10% (15% max), when leaving the battle, regenerate own HP by 3.5% (8% max).

Skill 2: Increase damage dealt to carriers by 5% (20% max). When emerging and when leaving the battle, fire a special torpedo barrage. If Cavalla is in the same team as Albacore, the barrage damage is increased by 5% (15% max)

Not much to say for Cavalla other than she is a top-tier submarine. Currently, all the end-game bosses in the main chapter are carriers, and Cavalla with her friend Albacore both deal bonus damage to carriers.

USS Birmingham – Light Cruiser My overall rating 8.5/10

Skill 1: When in battle, reduce burn duration for self and flagship by 3 seconds. When shooting down enemy aircraft with AA guns, increases own FP/AA by 5% (15% max), lasting 8 seconds, and cannot stack.

Skill 2: When taking damage has a 4% (10% max) chance to increase their own evasion stats by 20% (40% max) for 5 seconds, 8 seconds trigger a cooldown. When taking damage and falling below 30% HP, completely evade all attacks for 5 seconds, this can only trigger once per fight.

Birmingham’s second skill was also patched last minute, the devs probably realized the 30% evasion rate buff is too OP so it was changed to 40% evasion stats (which is not much, especially in later chapters)

Birmingham = Cleveland+

Birmingham is a Cleveland class Light Cruiser, which means she shares the same OP stats line as all other Cleveland classes. Just with her stats alone, she would be a 7/10, and her skills are pretty good.

Overall I’d rate Birmingham the same as Montpelier, a very strong universal Light Cruiser. She is tanky, does great damage, and has very good anti-air which is a huge plus on end-game content.

Cleveland class performance chart

USS Bataan – Light Carrier My overall rating is 7/10

Skill 1: When using F6F Hellcat, increase Fighter efficiency by 10% (30% max), airstrike has a 45% (75% max) chance to send out extra Hellcats.

Skill 2: When you’re not in a flagship position, increase other Carrier/Light Carrier’s reload by 5% (15% max), and increase backline Anti-air by 20 (50 max).

Bataan is a light carrier, her aircraft composition at Max Limit Break is 3 fighters and 3 torpedo bombers. When equipping Hellcat fighters, her fighter efficiency becomes 155%, which is very high.

The first skill at max level sends out 3 extra Hellcats, each dropping two 380-damage bombs. This brings her damage output to just below the standard carrier level.

Great Light Carrier

Bataan is honestly as good as a damage-oriented light carrier can get. However, currently, there is no real reason to use a light carrier.

Currently, the only thing Light Carrier has over Carrier is their anti-sub ability. With this event adding submarine enemies, I can see CVL having a more important role in the future.

But, as for now, I can only give Bataan a 7/10, that’s the highest I can give for a non-utility light carrier. She can definitely go higher if the light carrier starts to play a more important role in fleet building.

Usable Tier Ships San Juan and Sims Retrofit

San Juan is from the Atlanta class, which means you can expect garbage damage output and excellent anti-air ability. San Juan is pretty much a weaker version of Sandy, which is not bad at all. Even an average retrofit will push her into the good category.

Sims’ retrofit is nearly identical to Hammann’s retrofit, she gets a decent amount of anti-air boost, and her retrofit skill is the most average Smoke Screen skill. I can’t think of any other word to describe this retrofit other than Average.

Sims is pretty much the same as Hammann, usable but would not recommend it on difficult maps.

Collectible Tier Ship

Aylwin is the only collectible tier ship this time. She is a rare Destroyer with below-average stats and a weak skill. So I would not recommend using her in combat at all.

She gets a special page because of her dialog. She went from a sweet and soft marshmallow to yandere so fast, it is just amazing.

I strongly suggest you check her affinity dialogs on the wiki, I find it really amusing.

Centaur, London Retro

London Retrofit

The weirdest heavy cruiser in the game

Skill 1: Increase all vanguard’s firepower by 5% (15% max). Does not stack with other Artillery Command skills.

Retrofit Skill: When firing, the main gun has a 15% (30% max) chance to deal double damage. When this ship sinks an enemy, increase its own accuracy by 0.5% (1.5% max), and stack up to 8 times.

London retrofit is actually the weirdest heavy cruiser in the game right now. Her auxiliary weapon has a whopping 160% efficiency. Since Destroyer guns already have the highest base DPS in the game, add the firepower stats of a heavy cruiser on top of that, London’s auxiliary gun actually deals more damage than her main gun. That doesn’t mean her main gun damage is bad. With the bonus firepower and 30% chance to deal double damage, London’s overall DPS is top tier in a heavy cruiser.

So London has top-tier damage, what about her survivability? The answer is…middle of the pack.

Unlike most Heavy Cruisers, London has light armor, and light armor is a lot less durable than medium armor. Overall London’s survivability is fairly similar to a light cruiser. Her retrofit actually grants her the highest Anti-air stats in all heavy cruisers, so her survivability in chapters 12-13 is not too bad, but she is still a bit of a glass cannon, and needs to be protected.

London Retrofit – Conclusion

In my opinion, London is a top-tier heavy cruiser. Her first skill is very valuable, boosting the entire vanguard’s firepower, and her second skill is amazing too.

Due to her extremely OP auxiliary efficiency, make sure to use a good Destroyer gun on her. DD guns have insane base DPS and London with a good Destroyer gun can absolutely demolish light armor enemies.

For the main gun choice, you can use an HE gun to add more hurt if you are facing light armor enemies or an AP gun for more armor-type coverage.

Overall London is a pretty OP-heavy cruiser. Her DPS is very high, and her DPS curve is smooth too with 2 sources of damage. Her only weakness is her low survivability, which limits her usage in the end-game maps.

But she is extremely good at farming lower-level maps when survivability is not a problem, London retrofit is actually one of the best (if not the best) heavy cruisers to use right now. I highly recommend picking her up.

Nicholas Retrofit Tank Destroyer

Skill 1: When firing the main gun has a 5% chance to proc, increase own evasion stats by 16% (40% max), reduce own damage taken from enemy aircraft by 16% (40% max), and last 8 seconds.

Skill 2: Every 20 seconds has 30% (60% max) chance to increase own firepower by 20% (40% max), lasts 10 seconds.

Retrofit Skill: Every 20 seconds have a 40% (70% max) chance to increase your own FP, Torpedo, Reload by 20% (40% max), and lasts 10 seconds. If any other vanguard ships take damage and fall below 20% HP, reduce damage taken for that ship by 5% (15% max), if that ship is USS Helena, also heal her by 8%, the DMG reduction/healing can only trigger once per battle.

Nicholas retrofit is a very solid destroyer that focuses on stats boost/survivability. Her first skill is amazing, making her the tackiest Destroyer against aviation damage. Her survivability is Yukikaze tier, and she is a Fletcher-class which means you can run Fletcher and further boost her stats.

Nicholas Retrofit – Conclusion

Nicholas Retrofit is very good, but not top-tier. That is mostly due to Top tier Destroyers being pretty OP and Nicholas with just stats-boosting skills falls a bit short. Also, Nicholas and Helena had some interesting history, hence the retrofit skill has special healing for Helena only.

Overall I’d rate Nicholas Retrofit slightly above Javelin Retrofit, she is definitely a good choice whenever you need a Destroyer, especially when you need a tanky one. Since she is dropped only on a very annoying map, getting Nicholas is fairly difficult. If you are only looking for a good destroyer, I do not recommend going through the trouble of farming Nicholas.

Centaur

Skill 1: When using an airstrike, send out extra Swordfish aircraft that drop a special torpedo. The special torpedo slows enemies hit by 40% for 6 seconds. Increase own damage done to Battleship by 4% (10% max)

Skill 2: When using airstrike, increase the main fleet’s aviation stats by 5% (15% max), and firepower by 4% (10% max), and lasts 8 seconds.

Aircraft Setup: Slot One-2 fighters Slot Two-2 fighters Slot Three-4 Torpedo Bombers Total # of aircraft per airstrike=8 Centaur is classified as a “Light Carrier“, but she is not “Light” at all.

The first skill when maxed drops 12 extra torpedoes, each has 202 base damage. So the total damage from the first skill is actually very high. (Barracuda, the best Torpedo bomber is only 288*3 damage). The extra torpedo also slows enemies when they hit.

You can probably tell just by looking at the skill, that Centaur is pretty OP, she is the only carrier I rate above Enterprise. Her first skill is high damage+slow bundled together, and her second skill buffs the entire backline (it also buffs the damage of her own airstrike).

Her aircraft setup is also amazing, 4 fighter/4 torp setup means her airstrike cooldown is quite a bit lower than normal carriers. So Centaur buff will usually go off first before other backline ships fire. The extra fighters also help a lot when the Air Superiority System hits.

While Centaur is classified as a Light Carrier, her stats are actually higher than most SR Carriers.

Centaur

Centaur is probably the most versatile ship in the game. She has good anti-air, and a strong backline buff, she also slows and deals good damage. She does pretty much everything. She is good in both PvE and PvP, and on top of that she is a Royal Faction ship, so she gets access to a lot of team synergies.

The only weakness of Centaur is that she is classed as a Light Carrier, so in hard mode maps you can’t use her to fill in the Carrier slot. Other than that she is pretty much a perfect carrier.

Centaur will most likely be permanently available in the special pool, so there is no rush to get her. But if you have some spare cubes I do strongly suggest spending cubes to get her, she is a god-tier carrier.

The Submarines

Submarines right now are just extra damage that you can utilize against the hardest bosses, but right now even without the submarines, you can beat the chapter 13 bosses without too much trouble. So any submarine will get the job done as long as they have level and gear.

Since submarines’ survivability is irrelevant, the only thing that matters is their DPS. And all the Super Rare submarines have better DPS than the Elite Submarines. So I would rate all the SR subs as Good and Elite subs as Usable.

A special mention is that Chapters 13-2, 13-3, and 13-4 all have Carrier as bosses. So any submarine with a damage bonus against carriers will perform better under the current end-game environment.