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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3M-1wMd0h8 Azur Lane is a Chinese-made side-scrolling shoot 'em up mobile game with gacha mechanics and Japanese voice acting developed by Shanghai Manjuu and Xiamen Yongshi. How is the Monetization? I am not a veteran player of any of the CN/KR/JP versions but so far from what I've seen and what vets have told me, Azur Lane is very "F2P" friendly. The Gacha rate is extremely generous (7% Super Rare, 12% Elite, 50% Rare, 30% Common) and the resources for obtaining new characters are obtainable at a steady pace. I've only been playing a few days and I already have 3SRs and a good number Elites. The main money maker for the game is in skins, rings (yes, you can marry your ships), and other secondary things. The game also awards Rubies (the pay currency) at a small but steady rate via missions and login rewards. The generosity of the Gacha means REROLLING IS UNNECESSARY. Gameplay?  Azur Lane's core gameplay is a side scrolling arcade shooter. Your Ship girls are arranged into fleets of six ships, three in the "Vanguard Fleet" which you control during battles and three in the "Main Fleet" which usually sits off screen. Your Vanguard fleet fires at enemies automatically as you move them around, while Torpedo spreads from the vanguard and salvos from your battleships represent manually triggered heavy attacks. Meanwhile airstrikes from your carriers are traditional Shmup bombs, launching massively powerful attacks that also clear enemy bullets from the screen. Later levels can approach "Bullet-hell" levels of enemy fire. If you don't feel like playing yourself there is an auto feature, which can clear content just fine, though it may require a slightly stronger fleet sometimes than one controlled directly by the player. Outside of battle you can manage your fleets by sending girls out on commissions to gather resources, telling them to hit the books in the academy to increase their skill levels, or shoving them in the customizable dorm room to regain morale and gain experience points (but only if you provide snacks!) PVP?  There is a PVP mode called "Exercises", however it is played using auto-battle mode only. Basically you set up a defense fleet that others can see and challenge with no input from you. Meanwhile you get a menu selection of four random players whose PvP rating is close to your own and pick one, you then set up your attack fleet who will try to defeat them in battle. Even if you lose you gain PvP points and these can be used to exchange for shipsgirls and valuable resources. PvP has "Seasons" that last two weeks before resetting, rewarding players based on the rank they managed to achieve. I'm not normally a fan of PvP in these games, but so far this isn't' that bad, even if I've climbed to a rating where I'm usually getting my rear end kicked. Still even losing I'm getting points towards that chocolate South Dakota... Plot?  Azur Lane is set in a loose reinterpretation of World War 2, the intro tutorial mission for example is the famous Battle of the Denmark Strait where HMS Hood and HMS Prince of Wales engaged the German warships Prinz Eugen and Bismarck, resulting in Hood's destruction in a massive ammo magazine explosion. Early chapters take you to Pearl Harbor, the Coral Sea, and Midway, while later stages continue this pattern and events introduce a new enemy. Overall the plot and story of the game is serviceable and amusing, but don't go into it expecting something story-dense like FGO or GFL. However, if you're a military history nerd like me, you might find an amusing number of historical nods and references (as well as the occasional World of Warships homage) in the ship girls' dialogue and descriptions. Starting Tips (Feel free to suggest more veterans!)
 As a warning, like many gacha games of its type, Azur Lane and its cast can sometimes be rather "Thirsty" and unfortunately some of the designs lean a bit too much towards  Screenshots             Resources: Official Website Official AL English Twitter Azur Lane English Wiki Excellent Gear Guide that explains poo poo instead of just a tier list image full of icons 
Galaga Galaxian fucked around with this message at 03:06 on Feb 1, 2019 |
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Aug 18, 2018 21:16
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 03:01 |
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I'm AGGGGH BEES and this is my favorite thread in the Pacific.
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Aug 18, 2018 21:18
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I have no idea what I'm doing in this game, but Long Island is worth fighting for.
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Aug 18, 2018 21:24
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Here is a tier guide some pubbie wrote for the current US launch. As with all pubbie created things take it with a grain of salt, but it's not a bad "what ships are good to keep" guide.
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Aug 18, 2018 21:25
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San Diego may not be considered good but she keeps spooking me and I just have to admire that spunky idiot attitude.
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Aug 18, 2018 21:28
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San Diego is good (to turn into medals).
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Aug 18, 2018 21:30
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Currently there is no goon discord for this. A few of us are hanging out in a misc channel on the FGO discord, and I believe there are a few people chatting about it in the GFL discord as well. Do people think we should have a "official" goon channel/discord for this somewhere? I'll admit, however, I don't know poo poo about discord stuff and I really don't want to be responsible for something like that anyways.
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Aug 18, 2018 23:24
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the japanese server launch ate the granblue discord too, though a lot of people are already burnt on the game
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Aug 18, 2018 23:53
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I hate and really like this game at the same time. I hate how lovely the UI is, I hate that the plot ends a tenth into the campaign, I really like the WW2 references and I like how the progression makes your team feel massively stronger even if it IS pretty grindy to get there. I can only hope they keep adding onto this thing. Here's a tip: Go to the store and pet the catgirl. She sends you stuff from time to time. Here's another tip: Read a drat tier list cause this game has a massive problem with letting you know which ships are good and which ones are lovely at a glance. Fake edit: Oh yeah, there's also this.  Far as I know Renown is not considered so good anymore (why? No idea) but the rest are good. Nelson also drops from 2-3 and she is supposed to be really good. Det_no fucked around with this message at 00:45 on Aug 19, 2018 |
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Aug 19, 2018 00:27
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AGGGGH BEES posted:Here is a tier guide some pubbie wrote for the current US launch. As with all pubbie created things take it with a grain of salt, but it's not a bad "what ships are good to keep" guide. I've played JP for almost a year. My advice to noobs is to work towards a HMS fleet. Queen Elizabeth (first farmable from 5-2) is the backbone. Fully skill trained, she buffs HMS ship stats by 15%. The great thing about HMS is there are a lot of different compositions available at all stages of the game. Frontline suggestions for noobs: Leander, Suffolk, Edinburgh (cruisers) and Javelin, Cygnet, Fortune (destroyers). Backline: Renown/Repulse, Rodney/Nelson, Unicorn, Erebus/Terror and of course Liz. The SSRs are obviously good too. Belfast, Hood, Warspite, and Illustrious. If you want to auto, US gunboats are generally easier to use since they do not lose effectiveness from the AI wasting torpedoes. The standard recommendation is some combination of Portland, Indy, Phoenix, Cleveland (cruiser buffer), and Helena (debuffer). Wichita is good but super squishy so needs to be overleveled compared to the others and takes a while to get from completing the Brooklyn/Phoenix/Helena collection with full limit breaks.
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Aug 19, 2018 03:59
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Just started this game and I've pretty much no idea what I'm doing besides having fun.  Breaking into world 3 now and this are finally getting a little hairy. Any suggestions to fleet compositions?
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Aug 20, 2018 00:28
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I've been messing about with the game myself, it's interesting, even if I'm not exactly good at schmups. No idea what's good and what isn't but it is fun and cute.
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Aug 20, 2018 00:52
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RanKizama posted:Just started this game and I've pretty much no idea what I'm doing besides having fun. Sims buffs destroyer gunnery and Northampton buffs cruiser gunnery so you should use them with those types of ships to get the most out of those skills.
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Aug 20, 2018 01:05
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Taking this game with me on a flight to jack off to.
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Aug 20, 2018 01:29
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Started playing casually earlier today. Seems ok so far, controlling the ships in battle is a bit awkward. Not really sure how/where to repair damage taken from battles or check/raise morale, or what's the best way to get coins?
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Aug 20, 2018 06:31
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You have to handle healing via auxiliary equipment, ship skills, or repair items you pick up from ? nodes or get from other ship skills. The game also lets you buy full repairs with gems (with one free one a day I think). Thanks to this, a lot of people recommend Unicorn as she has the one of the better healing skills you can get earlier in the game (ch.4-4). There's also Akashi and Vestal as Repair Ships, but Vestal is a bit farther in (ch. 6-1 or gacha) and Akashi has a pretty long questline associated with her. They are both really notable since they get ship repair cranes instead of main guns and can start with repair kits. As far as morale is concerned, morale goes up over time by itself. So you can just let ships sit out or do expeditions. If you want to recover it quickly, you can put them in the dorm. The dorm also lets their morale go into Really Happy status which confers a 20% exp bonus. And just a small tip that may help: you can rearrange the formation at the screen right before a battle. This can let you swap the flagship around which is useful since if she goes down, you lose. Also, coins are really gotten from three places: missions, expeditions, and the Daily Raids. The Daily Raids especially are important because you get 700+ per clear even on the earliest levels. You will of course get them from the refilling market too, but it's not really much until it's high level.
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Aug 20, 2018 06:56
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Polikarpov posted:Sims buffs destroyer gunnery and Northampton buffs cruiser gunnery so you should use them with those types of ships to get the most out of those skills.
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Aug 20, 2018 11:28
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it's a good game. some random things in the "would've been nice to know this earlier" category:
e: fixed typo Dads Dip Cup fucked around with this message at 14:01 on Aug 20, 2018 |
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Aug 20, 2018 13:22
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How huge are the differences between T1 and T2 equipment? I want to save my mats to level better equipment, but getting new planes seems like a slow process.
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Aug 20, 2018 14:34
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There are other healers besides Unicorn. Arizona (drops in 2-2) and Shouhou (drops in 2-2, 2-3, 2-4) do as well.
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Aug 20, 2018 15:18
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 FINALLY For those wondering what's up, the 3-4 node has a low chance to drop Akagi and Kaga, SSR carriers that get a bonus when you put them in a fleet with each other.
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Aug 20, 2018 15:44
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Charges pressed after playing this game in a school zone
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Aug 20, 2018 19:44
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Yeah I've only had Kaga drop so far from 3-4, I'm still trying to get a Akagi. I've been focusing mostly on pvp right now since I want both Eldridge and South Dakota, but this has come at the price of high oil costs due to limit breaks. I'm working on a Fletcher fleet to get around this though.
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Aug 20, 2018 19:58
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RanKizama posted:How huge are the differences between T1 and T2 equipment? I want to save my mats to level better equipment, but getting new planes seems like a slow process. You do get some mats back when you sell these equips but not all of them, so some light upgrades on filler equipment isn't gonna hurt too much. I never went past +4 for T1/2 equips.
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Aug 20, 2018 20:59
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The UI is pretty bad in this coming from girls frontline. Like it's really inconsistent on when the game lets you select a ships portrait to get it's details. I hate having to re-select 6 ships every time for the commissions. The class icons are pretty vague to me so I still can't tell at a glance a ship's duty or if it's frontline or backline.
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Aug 20, 2018 23:02
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Holy poo poo, I went into Stage 3 and got loving smashed. That difficulty curve went up in a hurry.
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Aug 20, 2018 23:38
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It'll level off a bit presently. Right now most people have crap gear, random teams, or both.
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Aug 21, 2018 01:13
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The US twin 127mm guns (5"/38 DP) are loving amazing as DD primaries and as secondaries for all ships in the early game. They boost AA rating on top of being pretty nicely balanced stats wise. I strip them off every Atlanta class ship I get. They're basically the only thing San Diego and her ilk are good for.
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Aug 21, 2018 01:49
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Edit. Previous discord shut down channel.
Bacontotem fucked around with this message at 09:17 on Jan 20, 2019 |
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Aug 21, 2018 04:19
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What's up with Yorktown? She is consistently doing nothing. Swapped out her and Hornet (who was doing great) for Saratoga and Lexington. Damage feels much more consistent now. Especially with my Pennsylvania cleaning up afterwards. Also swapped my San Diego for Cleveland and that helped a lot as well. San Diego's skillset sucks. I want a Houston so goddamn bad to finish my trio. RanKizama fucked around with this message at 13:21 on Aug 21, 2018 |
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Aug 21, 2018 06:23
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Should I basically just be doing light construction at the start or just ignore outside of dailies?
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Aug 21, 2018 16:45
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Depends on if you want to have a stockpile of cubes for whenever the first event is. However the game is still officially in open beta, so who knows how far off that event will be or even what it will be as I've heard they may be doing new events mixed in with the old ones from other servers.
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Aug 21, 2018 17:17
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RanKizama posted:What's up with Yorktown? She is consistently doing nothing. Swapped out her and Hornet (who was doing great) for Saratoga and Lexington. Damage feels much more consistent now. Especially with my Pennsylvania cleaning up afterwards. Are her planes bad?
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Aug 21, 2018 22:35
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https://twitter.com/AzurLane_EN/status/1031964186807611392 Hammann confirmed as a goon 
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Aug 22, 2018 00:16
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Kyte posted:Are her planes bad? Doesnt matter anymore since I swapped to Saratoga and Lexington though. I love this setup so much.
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Aug 22, 2018 01:34
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I'm up to 4 SSRs now (well 1 dupe so 3) which is crazy good rates considering I probably only built 12-14 ships so far. Might give Illustrious a last go or start saving cubes since I'm down to 14 now. Thinking about limit breaking San Diego and just build around Belfast, SD and Warspite but wanted to be sure if there are early units that really make teams shine. I haven't touched equipment at all, as per reddit you can convert t1-t2 into t3 somehow and I shouldn't decrate T1-2 at all. Is that right?  
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Aug 22, 2018 14:24
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EPIC fat guy vids posted:Thinking about limit breaking San Diego
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Aug 22, 2018 15:09
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EPIC fat guy vids posted:I'm up to 4 SSRs now (well 1 dupe so 3) which is crazy good rates considering I probably only built 12-14 ships so far. Might give Illustrious a last go or start saving cubes since I'm down to 14 now. Yeah you can convert 5 of T1-T2 into the next tier. Right now I'm just running Laffey, Fletcher, and one of the Fletcher classes with Renown, Saratoga, and Yorktown in the back because  . Do we have a guild set up and does it even do anything?
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Aug 22, 2018 15:10
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I think I'm off to a good start. Still running through Stage 3 but just find of farming at the moment. Got a handful more Elites under there, but I'm too lazy to do another screencap. RanKizama fucked around with this message at 16:03 on Aug 22, 2018 |
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Aug 22, 2018 15:58
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| # ? Apr 19, 2024 03:01 |
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One thing I've found annoying about the game is that the notifications blink in the same color as text messages on my phone.
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Aug 22, 2018 16:12
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