***WOW this post really blew up. I'm really grateful for all the great comments and awards. Thank you everyone. This was my second PC but I have been really getting more into the budget build route and so I'm glad other people are into that! Happy deal hunting :)
DISCLAIMER: I sourced these used components over the last few weeks in my local area (SF Bay CA). Where I live, there's a pretty good selection of used PC parts so your mileage will vary depending on where you live. But I just wanted to put it out there that many of you can definitely build a decent gaming PC for $200-400 if you are willing to spend the time to hunt for deals in your local area, especially if you live in/near a metropolitan area.
pics
Parts List
CPU: Intel Xeon e5 2620 v3 6 core/12 thread - $16 eBay
Motherboard: Asus Sabertooth X99 - $85 Craigslist
CPU Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 - $20 OfferUp
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR4 2400 MHz (CPU reads a max of 1866) - $40 OfferUp
Storage: WD 640GB HDD 7200 rpm - $10 Craigslist
GPU: EVGA GTX 960 SC 4GB (I actually bought 2 at once for $75 on Facebook Marketplace, sold one on eBay for $100 essentially GIVING me $15 (after eBay/PayPal fees) and a free GPU)
Case: Phanteks prebuild case w/ 3 RGB Apevia fans - $30 Craigslist
PSU: Corsair CX600 - $20 Facebook Marketplace
Total (including the $15 I gained from selling the extra GPU): $206
I can happily play CS:GO, Apex Legends, Fortnite, GTA V and many other games at 1080p at medium settings or better and get 60+ fps. With a better GPU and a little more money, you wouldn't have any issues getting much higher FPS.
So let's break down these components a little bit more and talk about which deals will be harder to replicate if you plan on doing something like this.
Firstly, the CPU is actually the easiest part to attain on this list. These can regularly be had for $20 off eBay. This particular X99 motherboard is VERY NICE for $85 (I actually got it for $70 but paid $15 for the OEM IO shield off eBay because it didn't come with one). It's a quality mobo with 8 slots for RAM so upgrading RAM on this will be as easy as buying another kit of the same capacity and as time goes by and RAM gets cheaper, you could just keep doing that if you wanted without having to get rid of your previous RAM. But finding this exact motherboard for the price may be difficult.
Luckily there are X99 motherboards being made out of China right now using recycled chipsets for about $60-120 depending on the particular models (available from AliExpress). Some of these motherboards are actually pretty good quality, but definitely do your research first. I recommend checking out Miyconst on YouTube. This Xeon/X99 setup is pretty popular in Russia and Brazil because of hardware prices and availability so this is a Russian Ukrainian guy who reviews all of these Chinese motherboards in great detail.
The CPU cooler will be easy to find for about that price. Even new, the Hyper 212 is only $35 but if you buy used just make sure you get the LGA2011-3 hardware necessary for securing it to the motherboard. $40 for 16GB of DDR4 is a good deal but I've seen this same deal pop up a few times but more often at $50. Finding used but working 500-1000GB HDD's for $10-20 is quite easy but I recommend only using this as a storage for games and re-downloadable files. I planned on having a m.2 SSD in this rig but accidentally bought a SATA m.2 drive instead of NVMe (SATA m.2 not supported by this motherboard) so I will still need to upgrade that. But any SSD for your OS and important files will do and you can find these for around $30-40 for a 256 GB SSD new, maybe $10-20 more for an NVMe.
The GPU of course is where the real bargain hunt will be. In 2021, GPU's are super overpriced but I had seen another 960 4GB for $40 in my area after purchasing 2 of them for $75 total, so getting one around $40-60 is definitely possible. This is where I'd upgrade first (after an SSD). Other higher performing options would be the R9 390 8GB (recently purchased one for $80 and another for $100), the RX 580 8GB (recently purchased one for $125 but seen them locally for $150) or even a 1080 (purchased one for $200 but have seen them go for $260 locally). Really, any decent GPU you can find for around $50-200 would be great with this build. I recommend referring to this Tom's Hardware List to see where GPU's rank overall when you're shopping for a used GPU. This part will be where you'll spend most of your time hunting, but those elusive GPU deals are out there!
This case was a good find but I had also received a FREE CoolerMaster ATX case not too long ago, with 3 140mm fans included, in great condition. People often give away or sell their cases for cheap because they take up a lot of space. Look for one with fans included and even better if it comes with screws/standoffs.
Finding a 500-700W PSU for $20-40 is not difficult but this is a component that many people would just prefer to buy new and I don't blame them. At least by 80+ Bronze if you go used. But honestly, I think I'd rather buy a used PSU from a reputable brand than a cheap, new PSU from some brand I never heard of.
Overall, this was a fun build to make and I love reducing e-waste so buying used is good for me. I highly recommend though that you have all the appropriate screws/hardware when buying used parts so ask about that stuff when you purchase something and if it's not included, buy that replacement hardware online before you start your build because it's frustrating to start putting your PC together and then realize you don't have enough screws, etc. It's a little more of a hassle but you can save a lot of money!
Feel free to ask any questions, this is only my second PC build (just started last month but have been diving DEEP into PC building rabbit holes online). But I hate when people on this sub instantly shoot people down asking about $200-400 PC's saying it's not possible. IT IS POSSIBLE, but you have to get creative and it also helps to live in certain areas I won't deny that.

Here you can ask questions/seek advice about Azur Lane; help each other and grow together!
​

Helpful Resources
Azur Lane Wiki
Azur Lane Official English Twitter
Quick Beginner's Starting Guide by Ruvicante (Ignore "Grind stage X until level X" advice)
Azur Lane Community Discord Server
Azur Lane Official English Discord Server

​

Other Megathreads
Littorio's Luxurious Lounge - Gacha, Dorm Screenshots and Discussions

** IMPORTANT REMINDER TO BIND YOUR ACCOUNT **

JP players can bind via binding code or Twitter account; EN players can bind via Twitter account, Facebook account or Yostar account. These options are in Settings.

Use at least one account bind option; use multiple if you want to be safe. If your device is lost, damaged, or a game update breaks the app and forces you to reinstall you could permanently lose your account. EN accounts are easiest to recover with an account bind; make sure to bind your account in the settings and only use the login screen binding buttons to reconnect your account. Using the login screen buttons without a bound account will create a new account for you and effectively erase your progress with no way of recovering it outside of contacting customer support. JUST DO IT.
NOTE: It's also a good idea to remember your server and take a screenshot of your resume so that customer support has an easier time recovering your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I reroll? How do I do it?
No. There are a few reasons for this:

• Names cannot be reused.
• Ships are constructed with non-premium currency that you can easily get through gameplay.
• SSR ships are NOT required for progression.
• High value ships are often stage drops and cannot be built.

Is X ship good?
Take a look at this gallery that shows good, permanently available ships or this tier list for a general indication of any ship's power. For research ships there's also a list showing off how useful they are depending on their development level.
All ships are usable with proper development; just know that some ships/compositions are far less viable in later Worlds.
Should I be spamming Construction or saving cubes?
Saving cubes is crucial as you'll want a large stockpile of them to attempt limited constructions that appear during events. Outside of events, spend 1 cube per day (4 on Sunday) to satisfy the daily build mission; in doing so you'll complete the weekly mission which gives 6 cubes.
However, players starting out should spam construction for the first 2 or 3 days in order to expand their options for fleet setups.
Should I keep duplicate ships?

• Duplicates of ships you use: Keep for limit breaking and retrofitting.
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Rare or higher: Retire for Medals of Honor (in Build menu).
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Normal rarity: Consume for enhancement of used ships.

I'm struggling on X stage, what should I do?

• Level up and limit break your ships; Level advantage makes a difference.
• Check your equipment; equip Purple/Gold/Rainbow rarity equipment and upgrade it.
• Adjust your fleet setup; you may need a tanky frontliner to soak more damage or a battleship in the backline to deal more damage.
• Enhance your ship's stats with common rarity ships.

How should I set up my fleet?
​

Main Fleet (Backline)
Aircraft Carriers (CV, CVL) - Clears the screen of enemy projectiles and weaker ships; Airspace Control Value (ACV) improves damage dealt by your carriers and reduces hostile encounters.
Battleships, Battlecruisers (BB, BC, BBV, BM) - Concentrated damage better suited for high-value targets; secondary gun protects backline from suicide ships.
Vanguard Fleet (Frontline)
Destroyers (DD) - Cheap; low gun damage with high-damage torpedoes; high evasion with poor armor and HP; speeds up your fleet and helps avoid ambushes.
Light Cruisers (CL) - Balanced stats with high anti-air capability.
Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB) - Expensive; high damage and/or large HP pool; some utility.

For the frontline position put your tankiest ship on the left and second tankiest on the right; for the backline try to have your strongest ship in the middle (flagship) position; battleships with a barrage skill should be in the center because it greatly improves their aim.
Make sure that your support (yellow) skills are useful to the rest of the fleet; most only affect certain class, nationality or weapon types and often don’t stack.
While at the beginning it doesn't matter - in fact you'd be better off using both of your fleets equally to level them up - your two fleets should eventually be split up into a mob-killer fleet and boss-killer fleet; the mob-killer fleet sacrifices firepower for sustain so use (self-)healing ships to survive the 4-7 fights needed to summon the boss for the boss-killer fleet.
When should I Limit Break?
This depends on your playstyle; Limit Breaking increases a ship's stats and capabilities at the price of increased Oil costs. Therefore:

• If you lean towards casual play and don't sortie much, Limit Break as soon as possible.
• If you lean towards hardcore play and sortie frequently, Limit Break only if you are struggling to progress.

These guidelines only apply to your main use fleets; farming fleets will have a different approach as explained in the next question.
NOTE: Regardless of your playstyle, Limit Break when your ships are approaching level cap (70/80/90) to avoid losing XP.
What are good fleets to use for farming?
Farming fleets are designed to clear stages with as little fuel use as possible. Therefore:

• Use fewer ships. The minimum is one backline and one frontline ship (1:1). Over-level your ships as level difference matters.
• Use ships with no/few limit breaks since LBs increase oil costs.
• Use upgraded equipment and level up skills.
• Complete the stage several times with stronger fleets to lower its threat level.
• Use ships of lower rarity since they're cheaper: Common (gray) > Rare (blue) > Elite (purple) > Super Rare (gold)
• Use cheaper ship types. For the frontline: Destroyers (DD) > Light Cruisers (CL) > Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB). For the backline: Monitors (BM) > Battlecruisers (BC) > Battleships (BB) and Light Carriers (CVL) > standard Carriers (CV)

Popular vanguard ships: Phoenix, Leander, Cassin, Downes, Fletcher DDs Popular main fleet ships: Erebus, Terror, Nelson, Rodney, Tirpitz, Duke of York, Yorktown
For high-level farming add healers (Akashi, Vestal, Unicorn, Shouhou, Ryuuhou, Arizona) and a strong boss-killer fleet.
When farming for gear blueprints/ships/event points, is it better to full clear a stage or just clear enough mobs until the boss spawns?
Except when getting the third star on a map, you should always go for the boss as soon as it spawns. Only the boss fleet and event elites can drop SR gear blueprints, and the boss has a chance to drop two. Only boss fleets can drop SR ships/boss-only ships, and clearing the boss fleet with an S-rank guarantees a ship drop. Killing the boss fleet is what gives points (specialized cores, core data, event points, etc.); the amount of points is bound to the map, not to the amount of mobs killed.
What should I be equipping?
You can try following these guides. Otherwise, use what you have.
How do I get more Oil?
Oil in Azur Lane is equivalent to stamina in most mobile games; your Canteen generates Oil and you can get more from mission/commission rewards. If you run dry consider running less ships in your fleets, running ships with lower rarity/fewer limit breaks and taking a break.
How do I get Coins?
Aside from generation via the Merchant, large coin drops come from Daily Raids and the 8-10 hour commission (costs 800+ fuel). A popular method is farming map 7-2 until all the "?" nodes appear, collecting the nodes and retreating.
What should I spend Gems on?
Priority list:

• Dorm slots (max 5)
• Dock capacity
• 2nd Floor Upgrade for Dorm
• Promise Rings
• Skins
• 3rd Tactical Classroom slot (depends on your needs)

Spending Gems on anything not listed here isn't recommended (ESPECIALLY Oil/Gold). However, it's mostly personal preference.
What should I spend Medals of Honor on?
Buy the featured SSR if you want heneed a duplicate for limit breaking. Otherwise, solid purchases are gold and purple Bulins (if needed), T3 Skillbooks, T2 Retrofit Blueprints (T3 if needed), PR Blueprints and Dorm food; anything else isn't recommended though your needs may vary.
What are Retrofit Blueprints? How do I use them?
Retrofit Blueprints are used in retrofitting and consumed in the Retrofit tree found in ship details. Note that not all ships have a retrofit. It's recommended to save your blueprints and only retrofit ships you plan on using as higher tier blueprints can be hard to come by.
What is the best use of Core Data?
You'll want several Oxytorps and Black/White shells, the F4U Corsairs) are currently the best fighters in the game. Other useful items include Fairey Swordfish 818) which slow enemies on hit and the Homing Beacon for synchronizing airstrikes. The Seal of the Four Gods, improves Anshan class ships but otherwise is not worth buying.
All of the ships currently in the core shop are obtainable through war archives and/or aren't useful to a new player.
Why can't I rank up past Captain?
For Rear Admiral Lower Half and higher in addition to meeting the rank score requirement you must be high enough on the player leaderboards to rank up. For Rear Admiral Lower Half that means you need to be in the top 1000; all ranks and thresholds can be found here.
When is the daily/weekly reset?
[EN] Daily reset is at midnight PDT; weekly reset is Sunday at midnight PDT.
How to get Akashi?
Tap on her 30 times in the shop menu to get started. And you might want to hold on to 10 purple and 5 gold Sakura tech packs.
How do I unlock the last few memories in X event?
After clearing B3/D3/the last of the non-EX stage of the event, try beating it a few more times.
How do I earn Tech Points?
Tech Points are gained by obtaining, max limit breaking and max levelling (level 120) ships. You can see how many points each ship will give you in the Lab > Fleet Tech tab. As a rule of thumb big ships such as CVs or BBs will give you more tech points than little ships regardless of rarity. MLBing a ship gives you the largest amount of points out of the 3 step process; PR1 ships requirements are generally easier to meet than PR2/PR3 ships' fleet tech thresholds.
How do I earn experience for research ships?
PR EXP is only earned through oil-consuming PvE content (& Operation Siren) with the ships specified under the EXP objectives in the Shipyard. PvP matches, Dorm EXP, Lecture EXP and commissions do not count. The EXP goals are rather large; be prepared for a long grind. Ships who are at an EXP/level cap (i.e. 70/80/90/100~120 depending on limit break, cognitive awakening or EXP hard cap) will still contribute EXP to PR EXP objectives, even if it displays +0 EXP in the combat results.
What types of researches are best?
Here is the list for the best researches for earning PR blueprints. There is also a list for those who are looking to grind gear blueprints specifically. Note that PR ships are an endgame goal; investing cubes and coins into research projects early on will greatly impede your progress with little benefit so free researches are a better option while starting out.
What is the drop rate of X?
The only known drop rate is for Akagi & Kaga; each have a 0.75% chance to drop after defeating the boss of 3-4. No other drop rates are currently known.
Is X getting a rerun?
Most major events get a single rerun per region. You can check the Azur Lane Wiki to see if an event has already reran on your server's region. Reruns generally occur at least a year after the event's first debut; after the rerun is concluded ships from that event will slowly come to permanent construction pools. The exception to this rule are collaboration events which - so far - haven't seen any reruns due to licensing deals.
How do I get retrofit items for Sandy/Warspite/X?
UR retrofit item are acquired through limited-time events. They will have reruns, if you missed them you will have a chance to obtain them in the future. After having a rerun these items are permanently added to the prototype shop.
What is the next big event? Is there an event roadmap?
There is no known roadmap for any of the regions; big events are usually announced a week or two at most before the event itself is released.

Here you can ask questions/seek advice about Azur Lane; help each other and grow together!
​

Helpful Resources
Azur Lane Wiki
Azur Lane Official English Twitter
Quick Beginner's Starting Guide by Ruvicante (Ignore "Grind stage X until level X" advice)
Azur Lane Community Discord Server
Azur Lane Official English Discord Server

​

Other Megathreads
Littorio's Luxurious Lounge - Gacha, Dorm Screenshots and Discussions

** IMPORTANT REMINDER TO BIND YOUR ACCOUNT **

JP players can bind via binding code or Twitter account; EN players can bind via Twitter account, Facebook account or Yostar account. These options are in Settings.

Use at least one account bind option; use multiple if you want to be safe. If your device is lost, damaged, or a game update breaks the app and forces you to reinstall you could permanently lose your account. EN accounts are easiest to recover with an account bind; make sure to bind your account in the settings and only use the login screen binding buttons to reconnect your account. Using the login screen buttons without a bound account will create a new account for you and effectively erase your progress with no way of recovering it outside of contacting customer support. JUST DO IT.
NOTE: It's also a good idea to remember your server and take a screenshot of your resume so that customer support has an easier time recovering your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I reroll? How do I do it?
No. There are a few reasons for this:

• Names cannot be reused.
• Ships are constructed with non-premium currency that you can easily get through gameplay.
• SSR ships are NOT required for progression.
• High value ships are often stage drops and cannot be built.

Is X ship good?
Take a look at this gallery that shows good, permanently available ships or this tier list for a general indication of any ship's power. For research ships there's also a list showing off how useful they are depending on their development level.
All ships are usable with proper development; just know that some ships/compositions are far less viable in later Worlds.
Should I be spamming Construction or saving cubes?
Saving cubes is crucial as you'll want a large stockpile of them to attempt limited constructions that appear during events. Outside of events, spend 1 cube per day (4 on Sunday) to satisfy the daily build mission; in doing so you'll complete the weekly mission which gives 6 cubes.
However, players starting out should spam construction for the first 2 or 3 days in order to expand their options for fleet setups.
Should I keep duplicate ships?

• Duplicates of ships you use: Keep for limit breaking and retrofitting.
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Rare or higher: Retire for Medals of Honor (in Build menu).
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Normal rarity: Consume for enhancement of used ships.

I'm struggling on X stage, what should I do?

• Level up and limit break your ships; Level advantage makes a difference.
• Check your equipment; equip Purple/Gold/Rainbow rarity equipment and upgrade it.
• Adjust your fleet setup; you may need a tanky frontliner to soak more damage or a battleship in the backline to deal more damage.
• Enhance your ship's stats with common rarity ships.

How should I set up my fleet?
​

Main Fleet (Backline)
Aircraft Carriers (CV, CVL) - Clears the screen of enemy projectiles and weaker ships; Airspace Control Value (ACV) improves damage dealt by your carriers and reduces hostile encounters.
Battleships, Battlecruisers (BB, BC, BBV, BM) - Concentrated damage better suited for high-value targets; secondary gun protects backline from suicide ships.
Vanguard Fleet (Frontline)
Destroyers (DD) - Cheap; low gun damage with high-damage torpedoes; high evasion with poor armor and HP; speeds up your fleet and helps avoid ambushes.
Light Cruisers (CL) - Balanced stats with high anti-air capability.
Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB) - Expensive; high damage and/or large HP pool; some utility.

For the frontline position put your tankiest ship on the left and second tankiest on the right; for the backline try to have your strongest ship in the middle (flagship) position; battleships with a barrage skill should be in the center because it greatly improves their aim.
Make sure that your support (yellow) skills are useful to the rest of the fleet; most only affect certain class, nationality or weapon types and often don’t stack.
While at the beginning it doesn't matter - in fact you'd be better off using both of your fleets equally to level them up - your two fleets should eventually be split up into a mob-killer fleet and boss-killer fleet; the mob-killer fleet sacrifices firepower for sustain so use (self-)healing ships to survive the 4-7 fights needed to summon the boss for the boss-killer fleet.
When should I Limit Break?
This depends on your playstyle; Limit Breaking increases a ship's stats and capabilities at the price of increased Oil costs. Therefore:

• If you lean towards casual play and don't sortie much, Limit Break as soon as possible.
• If you lean towards hardcore play and sortie frequently, Limit Break only if you are struggling to progress.

These guidelines only apply to your main use fleets; farming fleets will have a different approach as explained in the next question.
NOTE: Regardless of your playstyle, Limit Break when your ships are approaching level cap (70/80/90) to avoid losing XP.
What are good fleets to use for farming?
Farming fleets are designed to clear stages with as little fuel use as possible. Therefore:

• Use fewer ships. The minimum is one backline and one frontline ship (1:1). Over-level your ships as level difference matters.
• Use ships with no/few limit breaks since LBs increase oil costs.
• Use upgraded equipment and level up skills.
• Complete the stage several times with stronger fleets to lower its threat level.
• Use ships of lower rarity since they're cheaper: Common (gray) > Rare (blue) > Elite (purple) > Super Rare (gold)
• Use cheaper ship types. For the frontline: Destroyers (DD) > Light Cruisers (CL) > Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB). For the backline: Monitors (BM) > Battlecruisers (BC) > Battleships (BB) and Light Carriers (CVL) > standard Carriers (CV)

Popular vanguard ships: Phoenix, Leander, Cassin, Downes, Fletcher DDs Popular main fleet ships: Erebus, Terror, Nelson, Rodney, Tirpitz, Duke of York, Yorktown
For high-level farming add healers (Akashi, Vestal, Unicorn, Shouhou, Ryuuhou, Arizona) and a strong boss-killer fleet.
When farming for gear blueprints/ships/event points, is it better to full clear a stage or just clear enough mobs until the boss spawns?
Except when getting the third star on a map, you should always go for the boss as soon as it spawns. Only the boss fleet and event elites can drop SR gear blueprints, and the boss has a chance to drop two. Only boss fleets can drop SR ships/boss-only ships, and clearing the boss fleet with an S-rank guarantees a ship drop. Killing the boss fleet is what gives points (specialized cores, core data, event points, etc.); the amount of points is bound to the map, not to the amount of mobs killed.
What should I be equipping?
You can try following these guides. Otherwise, use what you have.
How do I get more Oil?
Oil in Azur Lane is equivalent to stamina in most mobile games; your Canteen generates Oil and you can get more from mission/commission rewards. If you run dry consider running less ships in your fleets, running ships with lower rarity/fewer limit breaks and taking a break.
How do I get Coins?
Aside from generation via the Merchant, large coin drops come from Daily Raids and the 8-10 hour commission (costs 800+ fuel). A popular method is farming map 7-2 until all the "?" nodes appear, collecting the nodes and retreating.
What should I spend Gems on?
Priority list:

• Dorm slots (max 5)
• Dock capacity
• 2nd Floor Upgrade for Dorm
• Promise Rings
• Skins
• 3rd Tactical Classroom slot (depends on your needs)

Spending Gems on anything not listed here isn't recommended (ESPECIALLY Oil/Gold). However, it's mostly personal preference.
What should I spend Medals of Honor on?
Buy the featured SSR if you want heneed a duplicate for limit breaking. Otherwise, solid purchases are gold and purple Bulins (if needed), T3 Skillbooks, T2 Retrofit Blueprints (T3 if needed), PR Blueprints and Dorm food; anything else isn't recommended though your needs may vary.
What are Retrofit Blueprints? How do I use them?
Retrofit Blueprints are used in retrofitting and consumed in the Retrofit tree found in ship details. Note that not all ships have a retrofit. It's recommended to save your blueprints and only retrofit ships you plan on using as higher tier blueprints can be hard to come by.
What is the best use of Core Data?
You'll want several Oxytorps and Black/White shells, the F4U Corsairs) are currently the best fighters in the game. Other useful items include Fairey Swordfish 818) which slow enemies on hit and the Homing Beacon for synchronizing airstrikes. The Seal of the Four Gods, improves Anshan class ships but otherwise is not worth buying.
All of the ships currently in the core shop are obtainable through war archives and/or aren't useful to a new player.
Why can't I rank up past Captain?
For Rear Admiral Lower Half and higher in addition to meeting the rank score requirement you must be high enough on the player leaderboards to rank up. For Rear Admiral Lower Half that means you need to be in the top 1000; all ranks and thresholds can be found here.
When is the daily/weekly reset?
[EN] Daily reset is at midnight PDT; weekly reset is Sunday at midnight PDT.
How to get Akashi?
Tap on her 30 times in the shop menu to get started. And you might want to hold on to 10 purple and 5 gold Sakura tech packs.
How do I unlock the last few memories in X event?
After clearing B3/D3/the last of the non-EX stage of the event, try beating it a few more times.
How do I earn Tech Points?
Tech Points are gained by obtaining, max limit breaking and max levelling (level 120) ships. You can see how many points each ship will give you in the Lab > Fleet Tech tab. As a rule of thumb big ships such as CVs or BBs will give you more tech points than little ships regardless of rarity. MLBing a ship gives you the largest amount of points out of the 3 step process; PR1 ships requirements are generally easier to meet than PR2/PR3 ships' fleet tech thresholds.
How do I earn experience for research ships?
PR EXP is only earned through oil-consuming PvE content (& Operation Siren) with the ships specified under the EXP objectives in the Shipyard. PvP matches, Dorm EXP, Lecture EXP and commissions do not count. The EXP goals are rather large; be prepared for a long grind. Ships who are at an EXP/level cap (i.e. 70/80/90/100~120 depending on limit break, cognitive awakening or EXP hard cap) will still contribute EXP to PR EXP objectives, even if it displays +0 EXP in the combat results.
What types of researches are best?
Here is the list for the best researches for earning PR blueprints. There is also a list for those who are looking to grind gear blueprints specifically. Note that PR ships are an endgame goal; investing cubes and coins into research projects early on will greatly impede your progress with little benefit so free researches are a better option while starting out.
What is the drop rate of X?
The only known drop rate is for Akagi & Kaga; each have a 0.75% chance to drop after defeating the boss of 3-4. No other drop rates are currently known.
Is X getting a rerun?
Most major events get a single rerun per region. You can check the Azur Lane Wiki to see if an event has already reran on your server's region. Reruns generally occur at least a year after the event's first debut; after the rerun is concluded ships from that event will slowly come to permanent construction pools. The exception to this rule are collaboration events which - so far - haven't seen any reruns due to licensing deals.
How do I get retrofit items for Sandy/Warspite/X?
UR retrofit item are acquired through limited-time events. They will have reruns, if you missed them you will have a chance to obtain them in the future. After having a rerun these items are permanently added to the prototype shop.
What is the next big event? Is there an event roadmap?
There is no known roadmap for any of the regions; big events are usually announced a week or two at most before the event itself is released.

Here you can ask questions/seek advice about Azur Lane; help each other and grow together!
​

Helpful Resources
Azur Lane Wiki
Azur Lane Official English Twitter
Quick Beginner's Starting Guide by Ruvicante (Ignore "Grind stage X until level X" advice)
Azur Lane Community Discord Server
Azur Lane Official English Discord Server

​

Other Megathreads
Littorio's Luxurious Lounge - Gacha, Dorm Screenshots and Discussions

** IMPORTANT REMINDER TO BIND YOUR ACCOUNT **

JP players can bind via binding code or Twitter account; EN players can bind via Twitter account, Facebook account or Yostar account. These options are in Settings.

Use at least one account bind option; use multiple if you want to be safe. If your device is lost, damaged, or a game update breaks the app and forces you to reinstall you could permanently lose your account. EN accounts are easiest to recover with an account bind; make sure to bind your account in the settings and only use the login screen binding buttons to reconnect your account. Using the login screen buttons without a bound account will create a new account for you and effectively erase your progress with no way of recovering it outside of contacting customer support. JUST DO IT.
NOTE: It's also a good idea to remember your server and take a screenshot of your resume so that customer support has an easier time recovering your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I reroll? How do I do it?
No. There are a few reasons for this:

• Names cannot be reused.
• Ships are constructed with non-premium currency that you can easily get through gameplay.
• SSR ships are NOT required for progression.
• High value ships are often stage drops and cannot be built.

Is X ship good?
Take a look at this gallery that shows good, permanently available ships or this tier list for a general indication of any ship's power. For research ships there's also a list showing off how useful they are depending on their development level.
All ships are usable with proper development; just know that some ships/compositions are far less viable in later Worlds.
Should I be spamming Construction or saving cubes?
Saving cubes is crucial as you'll want a large stockpile of them to attempt limited constructions that appear during events. Outside of events, spend 1 cube per day (4 on Sunday) to satisfy the daily build mission; in doing so you'll complete the weekly mission which gives 6 cubes.
However, players starting out should spam construction for the first 2 or 3 days in order to expand their options for fleet setups.
Should I keep duplicate ships?

• Duplicates of ships you use: Keep for limit breaking and retrofitting.
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Rare or higher: Retire for Medals of Honor (in Build menu).
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Normal rarity: Consume for enhancement of used ships.

I'm struggling on X stage, what should I do?

• Level up and limit break your ships; Level advantage makes a difference.
• Check your equipment; equip Purple/Gold/Rainbow rarity equipment and upgrade it.
• Adjust your fleet setup; you may need a tanky frontliner to soak more damage or a battleship in the backline to deal more damage.
• Enhance your ship's stats with common rarity ships.

How should I set up my fleet?
​

Main Fleet (Backline)
Aircraft Carriers (CV, CVL) - Clears the screen of enemy projectiles and weaker ships; Airspace Control Value (ACV) improves damage dealt by your carriers and reduces hostile encounters.
Battleships, Battlecruisers (BB, BC, BBV, BM) - Concentrated damage better suited for high-value targets; secondary gun protects backline from suicide ships.
Vanguard Fleet (Frontline)
Destroyers (DD) - Cheap; low gun damage with high-damage torpedoes; high evasion with poor armor and HP; speeds up your fleet and helps avoid ambushes.
Light Cruisers (CL) - Balanced stats with high anti-air capability.
Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB) - Expensive; high damage and/or large HP pool; some utility.

For the frontline position put your tankiest ship on the left and second tankiest on the right; for the backline try to have your strongest ship in the middle (flagship) position; battleships with a barrage skill should be in the center because it greatly improves their aim.
Make sure that your support (yellow) skills are useful to the rest of the fleet; most only affect certain class, nationality or weapon types and often don’t stack.
While at the beginning it doesn't matter - in fact you'd be better off using both of your fleets equally to level them up - your two fleets should eventually be split up into a mob-killer fleet and boss-killer fleet; the mob-killer fleet sacrifices firepower for sustain so use (self-)healing ships to survive the 4-7 fights needed to summon the boss for the boss-killer fleet.
When should I Limit Break?
This depends on your playstyle; Limit Breaking increases a ship's stats and capabilities at the price of increased Oil costs. Therefore:

• If you lean towards casual play and don't sortie much, Limit Break as soon as possible.
• If you lean towards hardcore play and sortie frequently, Limit Break only if you are struggling to progress.

These guidelines only apply to your main use fleets; farming fleets will have a different approach as explained in the next question.
NOTE: Regardless of your playstyle, Limit Break when your ships are approaching level cap (70/80/90) to avoid losing XP.
What are good fleets to use for farming?
Farming fleets are designed to clear stages with as little fuel use as possible. Therefore:

• Use fewer ships. The minimum is one backline and one frontline ship (1:1). Over-level your ships as level difference matters.
• Use ships with no/few limit breaks since LBs increase oil costs.
• Use upgraded equipment and level up skills.
• Complete the stage several times with stronger fleets to lower its threat level.
• Use ships of lower rarity since they're cheaper: Common (gray) > Rare (blue) > Elite (purple) > Super Rare (gold)
• Use cheaper ship types. For the frontline: Destroyers (DD) > Light Cruisers (CL) > Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB). For the backline: Monitors (BM) > Battlecruisers (BC) > Battleships (BB) and Light Carriers (CVL) > standard Carriers (CV)

Popular vanguard ships: Phoenix, Leander, Cassin, Downes, Fletcher DDs Popular main fleet ships: Erebus, Terror, Nelson, Rodney, Tirpitz, Duke of York, Yorktown
For high-level farming add healers (Akashi, Vestal, Unicorn, Shouhou, Ryuuhou, Arizona) and a strong boss-killer fleet.
When farming for gear blueprints/ships/event points, is it better to full clear a stage or just clear enough mobs until the boss spawns?
Except when getting the third star on a map, you should always go for the boss as soon as it spawns. Only the boss fleet and event elites can drop SR gear blueprints, and the boss has a chance to drop two. Only boss fleets can drop SR ships/boss-only ships, and clearing the boss fleet with an S-rank guarantees a ship drop. Killing the boss fleet is what gives points (specialized cores, core data, event points, etc.); the amount of points is bound to the map, not to the amount of mobs killed.
What should I be equipping?
You can try following these guides. Otherwise, use what you have.
How do I get more Oil?
Oil in Azur Lane is equivalent to stamina in most mobile games; your Canteen generates Oil and you can get more from mission/commission rewards. If you run dry consider running less ships in your fleets, running ships with lower rarity/fewer limit breaks and taking a break.
How do I get Coins?
Aside from generation via the Merchant, large coin drops come from Daily Raids and the 8-10 hour commission (costs 800+ fuel). A popular method is farming map 7-2 until all the "?" nodes appear, collecting the nodes and retreating.
What should I spend Gems on?
Priority list:

• Dorm slots (max 5)
• Dock capacity
• 2nd Floor Upgrade for Dorm
• Promise Rings
• Skins
• 3rd Tactical Classroom slot (depends on your needs)

Spending Gems on anything not listed here isn't recommended (ESPECIALLY Oil/Gold). However, it's mostly personal preference.
What should I spend Medals of Honor on?
Buy the featured SSR if you want heneed a duplicate for limit breaking. Otherwise, solid purchases are gold and purple Bulins (if needed), T3 Skillbooks, T2 Retrofit Blueprints (T3 if needed), PR Blueprints and Dorm food; anything else isn't recommended though your needs may vary.
What are Retrofit Blueprints? How do I use them?
Retrofit Blueprints are used in retrofitting and consumed in the Retrofit tree found in ship details. Note that not all ships have a retrofit. It's recommended to save your blueprints and only retrofit ships you plan on using as higher tier blueprints can be hard to come by.
What is the best use of Core Data?
You'll want several Oxytorps and Black/White shells, the F4U Corsairs) are currently the best fighters in the game. Other useful items include Fairey Swordfish 818) which slow enemies on hit and the Homing Beacon for synchronizing airstrikes. The Seal of the Four Gods, improves Anshan class ships but otherwise is not worth buying.
All of the ships currently in the core shop are obtainable through war archives and/or aren't useful to a new player.
Why can't I rank up past Captain?
For Rear Admiral Lower Half and higher in addition to meeting the rank score requirement you must be high enough on the player leaderboards to rank up. For Rear Admiral Lower Half that means you need to be in the top 1000; all ranks and thresholds can be found here.
When is the daily/weekly reset?
[EN] Daily reset is at midnight PDT; weekly reset is Sunday at midnight PDT.
How to get Akashi?
Tap on her 30 times in the shop menu to get started. And you might want to hold on to 10 purple and 5 gold Sakura tech packs.
How do I unlock the last few memories in X event?
After clearing B3/D3/the last of the non-EX stage of the event, try beating it a few more times.
How do I earn Tech Points?
Tech Points are gained by obtaining, max limit breaking and max levelling (level 120) ships. You can see how many points each ship will give you in the Lab > Fleet Tech tab. As a rule of thumb big ships such as CVs or BBs will give you more tech points than little ships regardless of rarity. MLBing a ship gives you the largest amount of points out of the 3 step process; PR1 ships requirements are generally easier to meet than PR2/PR3 ships' fleet tech thresholds.
How do I earn experience for research ships?
PR EXP is only earned through oil-consuming PvE content (& Operation Siren) with the ships specified under the EXP objectives in the Shipyard. PvP matches, Dorm EXP, Lecture EXP and commissions do not count. The EXP goals are rather large; be prepared for a long grind. Ships who are at an EXP/level cap (i.e. 70/80/90/100~120 depending on limit break, cognitive awakening or EXP hard cap) will still contribute EXP to PR EXP objectives, even if it displays +0 EXP in the combat results.
What types of researches are best?
Here is the list for the best researches for earning PR blueprints. There is also a list for those who are looking to grind gear blueprints specifically. Note that PR ships are an endgame goal; investing cubes and coins into research projects early on will greatly impede your progress with little benefit so free researches are a better option while starting out.
What is the drop rate of X?
The only known drop rate is for Akagi & Kaga; each have a 0.75% chance to drop after defeating the boss of 3-4. No other drop rates are currently known.
Is X getting a rerun?
Most major events get a single rerun per region. You can check the Azur Lane Wiki to see if an event has already reran on your server's region. Reruns generally occur at least a year after the event's first debut; after the rerun is concluded ships from that event will slowly come to permanent construction pools. The exception to this rule are collaboration events which - so far - haven't seen any reruns due to licensing deals.
How do I get retrofit items for Sandy/Warspite/X?
UR retrofit item are acquired through limited-time events. They will have reruns, if you missed them you will have a chance to obtain them in the future. After having a rerun these items are permanently added to the prototype shop.
What is the next big event? Is there an event roadmap?
There is no known roadmap for any of the regions; big events are usually announced a week or two at most before the event itself is released.

Here you can ask questions/seek advice about Azur Lane; help each other and grow together!
​

Helpful Resources
Azur Lane Wiki
Azur Lane Official English Twitter
Quick Beginner's Starting Guide by Ruvicante (Ignore "Grind stage X until level X" advice)
Azur Lane Community Discord Server
Azur Lane Official English Discord Server

​

Other Megathreads
Littorio's Luxurious Lounge - Gacha, Dorm Screenshots and Discussions

** IMPORTANT REMINDER TO BIND YOUR ACCOUNT **

JP players can bind via binding code or Twitter account; EN players can bind via Twitter account, Facebook account or Yostar account. These options are in Settings.

Use at least one account bind option; use multiple if you want to be safe. If your device is lost, damaged, or a game update breaks the app and forces you to reinstall you could permanently lose your account. EN accounts are easiest to recover with an account bind; make sure to bind your account in the settings and only use the login screen binding buttons to reconnect your account. Using the login screen buttons without a bound account will create a new account for you and effectively erase your progress with no way of recovering it outside of contacting customer support. JUST DO IT.
NOTE: It's also a good idea to remember your server and take a screenshot of your resume so that customer support has an easier time recovering your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I reroll? How do I do it?
No. There are a few reasons for this:

• Names cannot be reused.
• Ships are constructed with non-premium currency that you can easily get through gameplay.
• SSR ships are NOT required for progression.
• High value ships are often stage drops and cannot be built.

Is X ship good?
Take a look at this gallery that shows good, permanently available ships or this tier list for a general indication of any ship's power. For research ships there's also a list showing off how useful they are depending on their development level.
All ships are usable with proper development; just know that some ships/compositions are far less viable in later Worlds.
Should I be spamming Construction or saving cubes?
Saving cubes is crucial as you'll want a large stockpile of them to attempt limited constructions that appear during events. Outside of events, spend 1 cube per day (4 on Sunday) to satisfy the daily build mission; in doing so you'll complete the weekly mission which gives 6 cubes.
However, players starting out should spam construction for the first 2 or 3 days in order to expand their options for fleet setups.
Should I keep duplicate ships?

• Duplicates of ships you use: Keep for limit breaking and retrofitting.
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Rare or higher: Retire for Medals of Honor (in Build menu).
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Normal rarity: Consume for enhancement of used ships.

I'm struggling on X stage, what should I do?

• Level up and limit break your ships; Level advantage makes a difference.
• Check your equipment; equip Purple/Gold/Rainbow rarity equipment and upgrade it.
• Adjust your fleet setup; you may need a tanky frontliner to soak more damage or a battleship in the backline to deal more damage.
• Enhance your ship's stats with common rarity ships.

How should I set up my fleet?
​

Main Fleet (Backline)
Aircraft Carriers (CV, CVL) - Clears the screen of enemy projectiles and weaker ships; Airspace Control Value (ACV) improves damage dealt by your carriers and reduces hostile encounters.
Battleships, Battlecruisers (BB, BC, BBV, BM) - Concentrated damage better suited for high-value targets; secondary gun protects backline from suicide ships.
Vanguard Fleet (Frontline)
Destroyers (DD) - Cheap; low gun damage with high-damage torpedoes; high evasion with poor armor and HP; speeds up your fleet and helps avoid ambushes.
Light Cruisers (CL) - Balanced stats with high anti-air capability.
Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB) - Expensive; high damage and/or large HP pool; some utility.

For the frontline position put your tankiest ship on the left and second tankiest on the right; for the backline try to have your strongest ship in the middle (flagship) position; battleships with a barrage skill should be in the center because it greatly improves their aim.
Make sure that your support (yellow) skills are useful to the rest of the fleet; most only affect certain class, nationality or weapon types and often don’t stack.
While at the beginning it doesn't matter - in fact you'd be better off using both of your fleets equally to level them up - your two fleets should eventually be split up into a mob-killer fleet and boss-killer fleet; the mob-killer fleet sacrifices firepower for sustain so use (self-)healing ships to survive the 4-7 fights needed to summon the boss for the boss-killer fleet.
When should I Limit Break?
This depends on your playstyle; Limit Breaking increases a ship's stats and capabilities at the price of increased Oil costs. Therefore:

• If you lean towards casual play and don't sortie much, Limit Break as soon as possible.
• If you lean towards hardcore play and sortie frequently, Limit Break only if you are struggling to progress.

These guidelines only apply to your main use fleets; farming fleets will have a different approach as explained in the next question.
NOTE: Regardless of your playstyle, Limit Break when your ships are approaching level cap (70/80/90) to avoid losing XP.
What are good fleets to use for farming?
Farming fleets are designed to clear stages with as little fuel use as possible. Therefore:

• Use fewer ships. The minimum is one backline and one frontline ship (1:1). Over-level your ships as level difference matters.
• Use ships with no/few limit breaks since LBs increase oil costs.
• Use upgraded equipment and level up skills.
• Complete the stage several times with stronger fleets to lower its threat level.
• Use ships of lower rarity since they're cheaper: Common (gray) > Rare (blue) > Elite (purple) > Super Rare (gold)
• Use cheaper ship types. For the frontline: Destroyers (DD) > Light Cruisers (CL) > Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB). For the backline: Monitors (BM) > Battlecruisers (BC) > Battleships (BB) and Light Carriers (CVL) > standard Carriers (CV)

Popular vanguard ships: Phoenix, Leander, Cassin, Downes, Fletcher DDs Popular main fleet ships: Erebus, Terror, Nelson, Rodney, Tirpitz, Duke of York, Yorktown
For high-level farming add healers (Akashi, Vestal, Unicorn, Shouhou, Ryuuhou, Arizona) and a strong boss-killer fleet.
When farming for gear blueprints/ships/event points, is it better to full clear a stage or just clear enough mobs until the boss spawns?
Except when getting the third star on a map, you should always go for the boss as soon as it spawns. Only the boss fleet and event elites can drop SR gear blueprints, and the boss has a chance to drop two. Only boss fleets can drop SR ships/boss-only ships, and clearing the boss fleet with an S-rank guarantees a ship drop. Killing the boss fleet is what gives points (specialized cores, core data, event points, etc.); the amount of points is bound to the map, not to the amount of mobs killed.
What should I be equipping?
You can try following these guides. Otherwise, use what you have.
How do I get more Oil?
Oil in Azur Lane is equivalent to stamina in most mobile games; your Canteen generates Oil and you can get more from mission/commission rewards. If you run dry consider running less ships in your fleets, running ships with lower rarity/fewer limit breaks and taking a break.
How do I get Coins?
Aside from generation via the Merchant, large coin drops come from Daily Raids and the 8-10 hour commission (costs 800+ fuel). A popular method is farming map 7-2 until all the "?" nodes appear, collecting the nodes and retreating.
What should I spend Gems on?
Priority list:

• Dorm slots (max 5)
• Dock capacity
• 2nd Floor Upgrade for Dorm
• Promise Rings
• Skins
• 3rd Tactical Classroom slot (depends on your needs)

Spending Gems on anything not listed here isn't recommended (ESPECIALLY Oil/Gold). However, it's mostly personal preference.
What should I spend Medals of Honor on?
Buy the featured SSR if you want heneed a duplicate for limit breaking. Otherwise, solid purchases are gold and purple Bulins (if needed), T3 Skillbooks, T2 Retrofit Blueprints (T3 if needed), PR Blueprints and Dorm food; anything else isn't recommended though your needs may vary.
What are Retrofit Blueprints? How do I use them?
Retrofit Blueprints are used in retrofitting and consumed in the Retrofit tree found in ship details. Note that not all ships have a retrofit. It's recommended to save your blueprints and only retrofit ships you plan on using as higher tier blueprints can be hard to come by.
What is the best use of Core Data?
You'll want several Oxytorps and Black/White shells, the F4U Corsairs) are currently the best fighters in the game. Other useful items include Fairey Swordfish 818) which slow enemies on hit and the Homing Beacon for synchronizing airstrikes. The Seal of the Four Gods, improves Anshan class ships but otherwise is not worth buying.
All of the ships currently in the core shop are obtainable through war archives and/or aren't useful to a new player.
Why can't I rank up past Captain?
For Rear Admiral Lower Half and higher in addition to meeting the rank score requirement you must be high enough on the player leaderboards to rank up. For Rear Admiral Lower Half that means you need to be in the top 1000; all ranks and thresholds can be found here.
When is the daily/weekly reset?
[EN] Daily reset is at midnight PDT; weekly reset is Sunday at midnight PDT.
How to get Akashi?
Tap on her 30 times in the shop menu to get started. And you might want to hold on to 10 purple and 5 gold Sakura tech packs.
How do I unlock the last few memories in X event?
After clearing B3/D3/the last of the non-EX stage of the event, try beating it a few more times.
How do I earn Tech Points?
Tech Points are gained by obtaining, max limit breaking and max levelling (level 120) ships. You can see how many points each ship will give you in the Lab > Fleet Tech tab. As a rule of thumb big ships such as CVs or BBs will give you more tech points than little ships regardless of rarity. MLBing a ship gives you the largest amount of points out of the 3 step process; PR1 ships requirements are generally easier to meet than PR2/PR3 ships' fleet tech thresholds.
How do I earn experience for research ships?
PR EXP is only earned through oil-consuming PvE content (& Operation Siren) with the ships specified under the EXP objectives in the Shipyard. PvP matches, Dorm EXP, Lecture EXP and commissions do not count. The EXP goals are rather large; be prepared for a long grind. Ships who are at an EXP/level cap (i.e. 70/80/90/100~120 depending on limit break, cognitive awakening or EXP hard cap) will still contribute EXP to PR EXP objectives, even if it displays +0 EXP in the combat results.
What types of researches are best?
Here is the list for the best researches for earning PR blueprints. There is also a list for those who are looking to grind gear blueprints specifically. Note that PR ships are an endgame goal; investing cubes and coins into research projects early on will greatly impede your progress with little benefit so free researches are a better option while starting out.
What is the drop rate of X?
The only known drop rate is for Akagi & Kaga; each have a 0.75% chance to drop after defeating the boss of 3-4. No other drop rates are currently known.
Is X getting a rerun?
Most major events get a single rerun per region. You can check the Azur Lane Wiki to see if an event has already reran on your server's region. Reruns generally occur at least a year after the event's first debut; after the rerun is concluded ships from that event will slowly come to permanent construction pools. The exception to this rule are collaboration events which - so far - haven't seen any reruns due to licensing deals.
How do I get retrofit items for Sandy/Warspite/X?
UR retrofit item are acquired through limited-time events. They will have reruns, if you missed them you will have a chance to obtain them in the future. After having a rerun these items are permanently added to the prototype shop.
What is the next big event? Is there an event roadmap?
There is no known roadmap for any of the regions; big events are usually announced a week or two at most before the event itself is released.

Here you can ask questions/seek advice about Azur Lane; help each other and grow together!
​

Helpful Resources
Azur Lane Wiki
Azur Lane Official English Twitter
Quick Beginner's Starting Guide by Ruvicante (Ignore "Grind stage X until level X" advice)
Azur Lane Community Discord Server
Azur Lane Official English Discord Server

​

Other Megathreads
Littorio's Luxurious Lounge - Gacha, Dorm Screenshots and Discussions

** IMPORTANT REMINDER TO BIND YOUR ACCOUNT **

JP players can bind via binding code or Twitter account; EN players can bind via Twitter account, Facebook account or Yostar account. These options are in Settings.

Use at least one account bind option; use multiple if you want to be safe. If your device is lost, damaged, or a game update breaks the app and forces you to reinstall you could permanently lose your account. EN accounts are easiest to recover with an account bind; make sure to bind your account in the settings and only use the login screen binding buttons to reconnect your account. Using the login screen buttons without a bound account will create a new account for you and effectively erase your progress with no way of recovering it outside of contacting customer support. JUST DO IT.
NOTE: It's also a good idea to remember your server and take a screenshot of your resume so that customer support has an easier time recovering your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I reroll? How do I do it?
No. There are a few reasons for this:

• Names cannot be reused.
• Ships are constructed with non-premium currency that you can easily get through gameplay.
• SSR ships are NOT required for progression.
• High value ships are often stage drops and cannot be built.

Is X ship good?
Take a look at this gallery that shows good, permanently available ships or this tier list for a general indication of any ship's power. For research ships there's also a list showing off how useful they are depending on their development level.
All ships are usable with proper development; just know that some ships/compositions are far less viable in later Worlds.
Should I be spamming Construction or saving cubes?
Saving cubes is crucial as you'll want a large stockpile of them to attempt limited constructions that appear during events. Outside of events, spend 1 cube per day (4 on Sunday) to satisfy the daily build mission; in doing so you'll complete the weekly mission which gives 6 cubes.
However, players starting out should spam construction for the first 2 or 3 days in order to expand their options for fleet setups.
Should I keep duplicate ships?

• Duplicates of ships you use: Keep for limit breaking and retrofitting.
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Rare or higher: Retire for Medals of Honor (in Build menu).
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Normal rarity: Consume for enhancement of used ships.

I'm struggling on X stage, what should I do?

• Level up and limit break your ships; Level advantage makes a difference.
• Check your equipment; equip Purple/Gold/Rainbow rarity equipment and upgrade it.
• Adjust your fleet setup; you may need a tanky frontliner to soak more damage or a battleship in the backline to deal more damage.
• Enhance your ship's stats with common rarity ships.

How should I set up my fleet?
​

Main Fleet (Backline)
Aircraft Carriers (CV, CVL) - Clears the screen of enemy projectiles and weaker ships; Airspace Control Value (ACV) improves damage dealt by your carriers and reduces hostile encounters.
Battleships, Battlecruisers (BB, BC, BBV, BM) - Concentrated damage better suited for high-value targets; secondary gun protects backline from suicide ships.
Vanguard Fleet (Frontline)
Destroyers (DD) - Cheap; low gun damage with high-damage torpedoes; high evasion with poor armor and HP; speeds up your fleet and helps avoid ambushes.
Light Cruisers (CL) - Balanced stats with high anti-air capability.
Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB) - Expensive; high damage and/or large HP pool; some utility.

For the frontline position put your tankiest ship on the left and second tankiest on the right; for the backline try to have your strongest ship in the middle (flagship) position; battleships with a barrage skill should be in the center because it greatly improves their aim.
Make sure that your support (yellow) skills are useful to the rest of the fleet; most only affect certain class, nationality or weapon types and often don’t stack.
While at the beginning it doesn't matter - in fact you'd be better off using both of your fleets equally to level them up - your two fleets should eventually be split up into a mob-killer fleet and boss-killer fleet; the mob-killer fleet sacrifices firepower for sustain so use (self-)healing ships to survive the 4-7 fights needed to summon the boss for the boss-killer fleet.
When should I Limit Break?
This depends on your playstyle; Limit Breaking increases a ship's stats and capabilities at the price of increased Oil costs. Therefore:

• If you lean towards casual play and don't sortie much, Limit Break as soon as possible.
• If you lean towards hardcore play and sortie frequently, Limit Break only if you are struggling to progress.

These guidelines only apply to your main use fleets; farming fleets will have a different approach as explained in the next question.
NOTE: Regardless of your playstyle, Limit Break when your ships are approaching level cap (70/80/90) to avoid losing XP.
What are good fleets to use for farming?
Farming fleets are designed to clear stages with as little fuel use as possible. Therefore:

• Use fewer ships. The minimum is one backline and one frontline ship (1:1). Over-level your ships as level difference matters.
• Use ships with no/few limit breaks since LBs increase oil costs.
• Use upgraded equipment and level up skills.
• Complete the stage several times with stronger fleets to lower its threat level.
• Use ships of lower rarity since they're cheaper: Common (gray) > Rare (blue) > Elite (purple) > Super Rare (gold)
• Use cheaper ship types. For the frontline: Destroyers (DD) > Light Cruisers (CL) > Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB). For the backline: Monitors (BM) > Battlecruisers (BC) > Battleships (BB) and Light Carriers (CVL) > standard Carriers (CV)

Popular vanguard ships: Phoenix, Leander, Cassin, Downes, Fletcher DDs Popular main fleet ships: Erebus, Terror, Nelson, Rodney, Tirpitz, Duke of York, Yorktown
For high-level farming add healers (Akashi, Vestal, Unicorn, Shouhou, Ryuuhou, Arizona) and a strong boss-killer fleet.
When farming for gear blueprints/ships/event points, is it better to full clear a stage or just clear enough mobs until the boss spawns?
Except when getting the third star on a map, you should always go for the boss as soon as it spawns. Only the boss fleet and event elites can drop SR gear blueprints, and the boss has a chance to drop two. Only boss fleets can drop SR ships/boss-only ships, and clearing the boss fleet with an S-rank guarantees a ship drop. Killing the boss fleet is what gives points (specialized cores, core data, event points, etc.); the amount of points is bound to the map, not to the amount of mobs killed.
What should I be equipping?
You can try following these guides. Otherwise, use what you have.
How do I get more Oil?
Oil in Azur Lane is equivalent to stamina in most mobile games; your Canteen generates Oil and you can get more from mission/commission rewards. If you run dry consider running less ships in your fleets, running ships with lower rarity/fewer limit breaks and taking a break.
How do I get Coins?
Aside from generation via the Merchant, large coin drops come from Daily Raids and the 8-10 hour commission (costs 800+ fuel). A popular method is farming map 7-2 until all the "?" nodes appear, collecting the nodes and retreating.
What should I spend Gems on?
Priority list:

• Dorm slots (max 5)
• Dock capacity
• 2nd Floor Upgrade for Dorm
• Promise Rings
• Skins
• 3rd Tactical Classroom slot (depends on your needs)

Spending Gems on anything not listed here isn't recommended (ESPECIALLY Oil/Gold). However, it's mostly personal preference.
What should I spend Medals of Honor on?
Buy the featured SSR if you want heneed a duplicate for limit breaking. Otherwise, solid purchases are gold and purple Bulins (if needed), T3 Skillbooks, T2 Retrofit Blueprints (T3 if needed), PR Blueprints and Dorm food; anything else isn't recommended though your needs may vary.
What are Retrofit Blueprints? How do I use them?
Retrofit Blueprints are used in retrofitting and consumed in the Retrofit tree found in ship details. Note that not all ships have a retrofit. It's recommended to save your blueprints and only retrofit ships you plan on using as higher tier blueprints can be hard to come by.
What is the best use of Core Data?
You'll want several Oxytorps and Black/White shells, the F4U Corsairs) are currently the best fighters in the game. Other useful items include Fairey Swordfish 818) which slow enemies on hit and the Homing Beacon for synchronizing airstrikes. The Seal of the Four Gods, improves Anshan class ships but otherwise is not worth buying.
All of the ships currently in the core shop are obtainable through war archives and/or aren't useful to a new player.
Why can't I rank up past Captain?
For Rear Admiral Lower Half and higher in addition to meeting the rank score requirement you must be high enough on the player leaderboards to rank up. For Rear Admiral Lower Half that means you need to be in the top 1000; all ranks and thresholds can be found here.
When is the daily/weekly reset?
[EN] Daily reset is at midnight PDT; weekly reset is Sunday at midnight PDT.
How to get Akashi?
Tap on her 30 times in the shop menu to get started. And you might want to hold on to 10 purple and 5 gold Sakura tech packs.
How do I unlock the last few memories in X event?
After clearing B3/D3/the last of the non-EX stage of the event, try beating it a few more times.
How do I earn Tech Points?
Tech Points are gained by obtaining, max limit breaking and max levelling (level 120) ships. You can see how many points each ship will give you in the Lab > Fleet Tech tab. As a rule of thumb big ships such as CVs or BBs will give you more tech points than little ships regardless of rarity. MLBing a ship gives you the largest amount of points out of the 3 step process; PR1 ships requirements are generally easier to meet than PR2/PR3 ships' fleet tech thresholds.
How do I earn experience for research ships?
PR EXP is only earned through oil-consuming PvE content (& Operation Siren) with the ships specified under the EXP objectives in the Shipyard. PvP matches, Dorm EXP, Lecture EXP and commissions do not count. The EXP goals are rather large; be prepared for a long grind. Ships who are at an EXP/level cap (i.e. 70/80/90/100~120 depending on limit break, cognitive awakening or EXP hard cap) will still contribute EXP to PR EXP objectives, even if it displays +0 EXP in the combat results.
What types of researches are best?
Here is the list for the best researches for earning PR blueprints. There is also a list for those who are looking to grind gear blueprints specifically. Note that PR ships are an endgame goal; investing cubes and coins into research projects early on will greatly impede your progress with little benefit so free researches are a better option while starting out.
What is the drop rate of X?
The only known drop rate is for Akagi & Kaga; each have a 0.75% chance to drop after defeating the boss of 3-4. No other drop rates are currently known.
Is X getting a rerun?
Most major events get a single rerun per region. You can check the Azur Lane Wiki to see if an event has already reran on your server's region. Reruns generally occur at least a year after the event's first debut; after the rerun is concluded ships from that event will slowly come to permanent construction pools. The exception to this rule are collaboration events which - so far - haven't seen any reruns due to licensing deals.
How do I get retrofit items for Sandy/Warspite/X?
UR retrofit item are acquired through limited-time events. They will have reruns, if you missed them you will have a chance to obtain them in the future. After having a rerun these items are permanently added to the prototype shop.
What is the next big event? Is there an event roadmap?
There is no known roadmap for any of the regions; big events are usually announced a week or two at most before the event itself is released.

Here you can ask questions/seek advice about Azur Lane; help each other and grow together!
​

Helpful Resources
Azur Lane Wiki
Azur Lane Official English Twitter
Quick Beginner's Starting Guide by Ruvicante (Ignore "Grind stage X until level X" advice)
Azur Lane Community Discord Server
Azur Lane Official English Discord Server

​

Other Megathreads
Littorio's Luxurious Lounge - Gacha, Dorm Screenshots and Discussions

** IMPORTANT REMINDER TO BIND YOUR ACCOUNT **

JP players can bind via binding code or Twitter account; EN players can bind via Twitter account, Facebook account or Yostar account. These options are in Settings.

Use at least one account bind option; use multiple if you want to be safe. If your device is lost, damaged, or a game update breaks the app and forces you to reinstall you could permanently lose your account. EN accounts are easiest to recover with an account bind; make sure to bind your account in the settings and only use the login screen binding buttons to reconnect your account. Using the login screen buttons without a bound account will create a new account for you and effectively erase your progress with no way of recovering it outside of contacting customer support. JUST DO IT.
NOTE: It's also a good idea to remember your server and take a screenshot of your resume so that customer support has an easier time recovering your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I reroll? How do I do it?
No. There are a few reasons for this:

• Names cannot be reused.
• Ships are constructed with non-premium currency that you can easily get through gameplay.
• SSR ships are NOT required for progression.
• High value ships are often stage drops and cannot be built.

Is X ship good?
Take a look at this gallery that shows good, permanently available ships or this tier list for a general indication of any ship's power. For research ships there's also a list showing off how useful they are depending on their development level.
All ships are usable with proper development; just know that some ships/compositions are far less viable in later Worlds.
Should I be spamming Construction or saving cubes?
Saving cubes is crucial as you'll want a large stockpile of them to attempt limited constructions that appear during events. Outside of events, spend 1 cube per day (4 on Sunday) to satisfy the daily build mission; in doing so you'll complete the weekly mission which gives 6 cubes.
However, players starting out should spam construction for the first 2 or 3 days in order to expand their options for fleet setups.
Should I keep duplicate ships?

• Duplicates of ships you use: Keep for limit breaking and retrofitting.
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Rare or higher: Retire for Medals of Honor (in Build menu).
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Normal rarity: Consume for enhancement of used ships.

I'm struggling on X stage, what should I do?

• Level up and limit break your ships; Level advantage makes a difference.
• Check your equipment; equip Purple/Gold/Rainbow rarity equipment and upgrade it.
• Adjust your fleet setup; you may need a tanky frontliner to soak more damage or a battleship in the backline to deal more damage.
• Enhance your ship's stats with common rarity ships.

How should I set up my fleet?
​

Main Fleet (Backline)
Aircraft Carriers (CV, CVL) - Clears the screen of enemy projectiles and weaker ships; Airspace Control Value (ACV) improves damage dealt by your carriers and reduces hostile encounters.
Battleships, Battlecruisers (BB, BC, BBV, BM) - Concentrated damage better suited for high-value targets; secondary gun protects backline from suicide ships.
Vanguard Fleet (Frontline)
Destroyers (DD) - Cheap; low gun damage with high-damage torpedoes; high evasion with poor armor and HP; speeds up your fleet and helps avoid ambushes.
Light Cruisers (CL) - Balanced stats with high anti-air capability.
Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB) - Expensive; high damage and/or large HP pool; some utility.

For the frontline position put your tankiest ship on the left and second tankiest on the right; for the backline try to have your strongest ship in the middle (flagship) position; battleships with a barrage skill should be in the center because it greatly improves their aim.
Make sure that your support (yellow) skills are useful to the rest of the fleet; most only affect certain class, nationality or weapon types and often don’t stack.
While at the beginning it doesn't matter - in fact you'd be better off using both of your fleets equally to level them up - your two fleets should eventually be split up into a mob-killer fleet and boss-killer fleet; the mob-killer fleet sacrifices firepower for sustain so use (self-)healing ships to survive the 4-7 fights needed to summon the boss for the boss-killer fleet.
When should I Limit Break?
This depends on your playstyle; Limit Breaking increases a ship's stats and capabilities at the price of increased Oil costs. Therefore:

• If you lean towards casual play and don't sortie much, Limit Break as soon as possible.
• If you lean towards hardcore play and sortie frequently, Limit Break only if you are struggling to progress.

These guidelines only apply to your main use fleets; farming fleets will have a different approach as explained in the next question.
NOTE: Regardless of your playstyle, Limit Break when your ships are approaching level cap (70/80/90) to avoid losing XP.
What are good fleets to use for farming?
Farming fleets are designed to clear stages with as little fuel use as possible. Therefore:

• Use fewer ships. The minimum is one backline and one frontline ship (1:1). Over-level your ships as level difference matters.
• Use ships with no/few limit breaks since LBs increase oil costs.
• Use upgraded equipment and level up skills.
• Complete the stage several times with stronger fleets to lower its threat level.
• Use ships of lower rarity since they're cheaper: Common (gray) > Rare (blue) > Elite (purple) > Super Rare (gold)
• Use cheaper ship types. For the frontline: Destroyers (DD) > Light Cruisers (CL) > Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB). For the backline: Monitors (BM) > Battlecruisers (BC) > Battleships (BB) and Light Carriers (CVL) > standard Carriers (CV)

Popular vanguard ships: Phoenix, Leander, Cassin, Downes, Fletcher DDs Popular main fleet ships: Erebus, Terror, Nelson, Rodney, Tirpitz, Duke of York, Yorktown
For high-level farming add healers (Akashi, Vestal, Unicorn, Shouhou, Ryuuhou, Arizona) and a strong boss-killer fleet.
When farming for gear blueprints/ships/event points, is it better to full clear a stage or just clear enough mobs until the boss spawns?
Except when getting the third star on a map, you should always go for the boss as soon as it spawns. Only the boss fleet and event elites can drop SR gear blueprints, and the boss has a chance to drop two. Only boss fleets can drop SR ships/boss-only ships, and clearing the boss fleet with an S-rank guarantees a ship drop. Killing the boss fleet is what gives points (specialized cores, core data, event points, etc.); the amount of points is bound to the map, not to the amount of mobs killed.
What should I be equipping?
You can try following these guides. Otherwise, use what you have.
How do I get more Oil?
Oil in Azur Lane is equivalent to stamina in most mobile games; your Canteen generates Oil and you can get more from mission/commission rewards. If you run dry consider running less ships in your fleets, running ships with lower rarity/fewer limit breaks and taking a break.
How do I get Coins?
Aside from generation via the Merchant, large coin drops come from Daily Raids and the 8-10 hour commission (costs 800+ fuel). A popular method is farming map 7-2 until all the "?" nodes appear, collecting the nodes and retreating.
What should I spend Gems on?
Priority list:

• Dorm slots (max 5)
• Dock capacity
• 2nd Floor Upgrade for Dorm
• Promise Rings
• Skins
• 3rd Tactical Classroom slot (depends on your needs)

Spending Gems on anything not listed here isn't recommended (ESPECIALLY Oil/Gold). However, it's mostly personal preference.
What should I spend Medals of Honor on?
Buy the featured SSR if you want heneed a duplicate for limit breaking. Otherwise, solid purchases are gold and purple Bulins (if needed), T3 Skillbooks, T2 Retrofit Blueprints (T3 if needed), PR Blueprints and Dorm food; anything else isn't recommended though your needs may vary.
What are Retrofit Blueprints? How do I use them?
Retrofit Blueprints are used in retrofitting and consumed in the Retrofit tree found in ship details. Note that not all ships have a retrofit. It's recommended to save your blueprints and only retrofit ships you plan on using as higher tier blueprints can be hard to come by.
What is the best use of Core Data?
You'll want several Oxytorps and Black/White shells, the F4U Corsairs) are currently the best fighters in the game. Other useful items include Fairey Swordfish 818) which slow enemies on hit and the Homing Beacon for synchronizing airstrikes. The Seal of the Four Gods, improves Anshan class ships but otherwise is not worth buying.
All of the ships currently in the core shop are obtainable through war archives and/or aren't useful to a new player.
Why can't I rank up past Captain?
For Rear Admiral Lower Half and higher in addition to meeting the rank score requirement you must be high enough on the player leaderboards to rank up. For Rear Admiral Lower Half that means you need to be in the top 1000; all ranks and thresholds can be found here.
When is the daily/weekly reset?
[EN] Daily reset is at midnight PDT; weekly reset is Sunday at midnight PDT.
How to get Akashi?
Tap on her 30 times in the shop menu to get started. And you might want to hold on to 10 purple and 5 gold Sakura tech packs.
How do I unlock the last few memories in X event?
After clearing B3/D3/the last of the non-EX stage of the event, try beating it a few more times.
How do I earn Tech Points?
Tech Points are gained by obtaining, max limit breaking and max levelling (level 120) ships. You can see how many points each ship will give you in the Lab > Fleet Tech tab. As a rule of thumb big ships such as CVs or BBs will give you more tech points than little ships regardless of rarity. MLBing a ship gives you the largest amount of points out of the 3 step process; PR1 ships requirements are generally easier to meet than PR2/PR3 ships' fleet tech thresholds.
How do I earn experience for research ships?
PR EXP is only earned through oil-consuming PvE content (& Operation Siren) with the ships specified under the EXP objectives in the Shipyard. PvP matches, Dorm EXP, Lecture EXP and commissions do not count. The EXP goals are rather large; be prepared for a long grind. Ships who are at an EXP/level cap (i.e. 70/80/90/100~120 depending on limit break, cognitive awakening or EXP hard cap) will still contribute EXP to PR EXP objectives, even if it displays +0 EXP in the combat results.
What types of researches are best?
Here is the list for the best researches for earning PR blueprints. There is also a list for those who are looking to grind gear blueprints specifically. Note that PR ships are an endgame goal; investing cubes and coins into research projects early on will greatly impede your progress with little benefit so free researches are a better option while starting out.
What is the drop rate of X?
The only known drop rate is for Akagi & Kaga; each have a 0.75% chance to drop after defeating the boss of 3-4. No other drop rates are currently known.
Is X getting a rerun?
Most major events get a single rerun per region. You can check the Azur Lane Wiki to see if an event has already reran on your server's region. Reruns generally occur at least a year after the event's first debut; after the rerun is concluded ships from that event will slowly come to permanent construction pools. The exception to this rule are collaboration events which - so far - haven't seen any reruns due to licensing deals.
How do I get retrofit items for Sandy/Warspite/X?
UR retrofit item are acquired through limited-time events. They will have reruns, if you missed them you will have a chance to obtain them in the future. After having a rerun these items are permanently added to the prototype shop.
What is the next big event? Is there an event roadmap?
There is no known roadmap for any of the regions; big events are usually announced a week or two at most before the event itself is released.

Here you can ask questions/seek advice about Azur Lane; help each other and grow together!
​

Helpful Resources
Azur Lane Wiki
Azur Lane Official English Twitter
Quick Beginner's Starting Guide by Ruvicante (Ignore "Grind stage X until level X" advice)
Azur Lane Community Discord Server
Azur Lane Official English Discord Server

​

Other Megathreads
Littorio's Luxurious Lounge - Gacha, Dorm Screenshots and Discussions

** IMPORTANT REMINDER TO BIND YOUR ACCOUNT **

JP players can bind via binding code or Twitter account; EN players can bind via Twitter account, Facebook account or Yostar account. These options are in Settings.

Use at least one account bind option; use multiple if you want to be safe. If your device is lost, damaged, or a game update breaks the app and forces you to reinstall you could permanently lose your account. EN accounts are easiest to recover with an account bind; make sure to bind your account in the settings and only use the login screen binding buttons to reconnect your account. Using the login screen buttons without a bound account will create a new account for you and effectively erase your progress with no way of recovering it outside of contacting customer support. JUST DO IT.
NOTE: It's also a good idea to remember your server and take a screenshot of your resume so that customer support has an easier time recovering your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I reroll? How do I do it?
No. There are a few reasons for this:

• Names cannot be reused.
• Ships are constructed with non-premium currency that you can easily get through gameplay.
• SSR ships are NOT required for progression.
• High value ships are often stage drops and cannot be built.

Is X ship good?
Take a look at this gallery that shows good, permanently available ships or this tier list for a general indication of any ship's power. For research ships there's also a list showing off how useful they are depending on their development level.
All ships are usable with proper development; just know that some ships/compositions are far less viable in later Worlds.
Should I be spamming Construction or saving cubes?
Saving cubes is crucial as you'll want a large stockpile of them to attempt limited constructions that appear during events. Outside of events, spend 1 cube per day (4 on Sunday) to satisfy the daily build mission; in doing so you'll complete the weekly mission which gives 6 cubes.
However, players starting out should spam construction for the first 2 or 3 days in order to expand their options for fleet setups.
Should I keep duplicate ships?

• Duplicates of ships you use: Keep for limit breaking and retrofitting.
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Rare or higher: Retire for Medals of Honor (in Build menu).
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Normal rarity: Consume for enhancement of used ships.

I'm struggling on X stage, what should I do?

• Level up and limit break your ships; Level advantage makes a difference.
• Check your equipment; equip Purple/Gold/Rainbow rarity equipment and upgrade it.
• Adjust your fleet setup; you may need a tanky frontliner to soak more damage or a battleship in the backline to deal more damage.
• Enhance your ship's stats with common rarity ships.

How should I set up my fleet?
​

Main Fleet (Backline)
Aircraft Carriers (CV, CVL) - Clears the screen of enemy projectiles and weaker ships; Airspace Control Value (ACV) improves damage dealt by your carriers and reduces hostile encounters.
Battleships, Battlecruisers (BB, BC, BBV, BM) - Concentrated damage better suited for high-value targets; secondary gun protects backline from suicide ships.
Vanguard Fleet (Frontline)
Destroyers (DD) - Cheap; low gun damage with high-damage torpedoes; high evasion with poor armor and HP; speeds up your fleet and helps avoid ambushes.
Light Cruisers (CL) - Balanced stats with high anti-air capability.
Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB) - Expensive; high damage and/or large HP pool; some utility.

For the frontline position put your tankiest ship on the left and second tankiest on the right; for the backline try to have your strongest ship in the middle (flagship) position; battleships with a barrage skill should be in the center because it greatly improves their aim.
Make sure that your support (yellow) skills are useful to the rest of the fleet; most only affect certain class, nationality or weapon types and often don’t stack.
While at the beginning it doesn't matter - in fact you'd be better off using both of your fleets equally to level them up - your two fleets should eventually be split up into a mob-killer fleet and boss-killer fleet; the mob-killer fleet sacrifices firepower for sustain so use (self-)healing ships to survive the 4-7 fights needed to summon the boss for the boss-killer fleet.
When should I Limit Break?
This depends on your playstyle; Limit Breaking increases a ship's stats and capabilities at the price of increased Oil costs. Therefore:

• If you lean towards casual play and don't sortie much, Limit Break as soon as possible.
• If you lean towards hardcore play and sortie frequently, Limit Break only if you are struggling to progress.

These guidelines only apply to your main use fleets; farming fleets will have a different approach as explained in the next question.
NOTE: Regardless of your playstyle, Limit Break when your ships are approaching level cap (70/80/90) to avoid losing XP.
What are good fleets to use for farming?
Farming fleets are designed to clear stages with as little fuel use as possible. Therefore:

• Use fewer ships. The minimum is one backline and one frontline ship (1:1). Over-level your ships as level difference matters.
• Use ships with no/few limit breaks since LBs increase oil costs.
• Use upgraded equipment and level up skills.
• Complete the stage several times with stronger fleets to lower its threat level.
• Use ships of lower rarity since they're cheaper: Common (gray) > Rare (blue) > Elite (purple) > Super Rare (gold)
• Use cheaper ship types. For the frontline: Destroyers (DD) > Light Cruisers (CL) > Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB). For the backline: Monitors (BM) > Battlecruisers (BC) > Battleships (BB) and Light Carriers (CVL) > standard Carriers (CV)

Popular vanguard ships: Phoenix, Leander, Cassin, Downes, Fletcher DDs Popular main fleet ships: Erebus, Terror, Nelson, Rodney, Tirpitz, Duke of York, Yorktown
For high-level farming add healers (Akashi, Vestal, Unicorn, Shouhou, Ryuuhou, Arizona) and a strong boss-killer fleet.
When farming for gear blueprints/ships/event points, is it better to full clear a stage or just clear enough mobs until the boss spawns?
Except when getting the third star on a map, you should always go for the boss as soon as it spawns. Only the boss fleet and event elites can drop SR gear blueprints, and the boss has a chance to drop two. Only boss fleets can drop SR ships/boss-only ships, and clearing the boss fleet with an S-rank guarantees a ship drop. Killing the boss fleet is what gives points (specialized cores, core data, event points, etc.); the amount of points is bound to the map, not to the amount of mobs killed.
What should I be equipping?
You can try following these guides. Otherwise, use what you have.
How do I get more Oil?
Oil in Azur Lane is equivalent to stamina in most mobile games; your Canteen generates Oil and you can get more from mission/commission rewards. If you run dry consider running less ships in your fleets, running ships with lower rarity/fewer limit breaks and taking a break.
How do I get Coins?
Aside from generation via the Merchant, large coin drops come from Daily Raids and the 8-10 hour commission (costs 800+ fuel). A popular method is farming map 7-2 until all the "?" nodes appear, collecting the nodes and retreating.
What should I spend Gems on?
Priority list:

• Dorm slots (max 5)
• Dock capacity
• 2nd Floor Upgrade for Dorm
• Promise Rings
• Skins
• 3rd Tactical Classroom slot (depends on your needs)

Spending Gems on anything not listed here isn't recommended (ESPECIALLY Oil/Gold). However, it's mostly personal preference.
What should I spend Medals of Honor on?
Buy the featured SSR if you want heneed a duplicate for limit breaking. Otherwise, solid purchases are gold and purple Bulins (if needed), T3 Skillbooks, T2 Retrofit Blueprints (T3 if needed), PR Blueprints and Dorm food; anything else isn't recommended though your needs may vary.
What are Retrofit Blueprints? How do I use them?
Retrofit Blueprints are used in retrofitting and consumed in the Retrofit tree found in ship details. Note that not all ships have a retrofit. It's recommended to save your blueprints and only retrofit ships you plan on using as higher tier blueprints can be hard to come by.
What is the best use of Core Data?
You'll want several Oxytorps and Black/White shells, the F4U Corsairs) are currently the best fighters in the game. Other useful items include Fairey Swordfish 818) which slow enemies on hit and the Homing Beacon for synchronizing airstrikes. The Seal of the Four Gods, improves Anshan class ships but otherwise is not worth buying.
All of the ships currently in the core shop are obtainable through war archives and/or aren't useful to a new player.
Why can't I rank up past Captain?
For Rear Admiral Lower Half and higher in addition to meeting the rank score requirement you must be high enough on the player leaderboards to rank up. For Rear Admiral Lower Half that means you need to be in the top 1000; all ranks and thresholds can be found here.
When is the daily/weekly reset?
[EN] Daily reset is at midnight PDT; weekly reset is Sunday at midnight PDT.
How to get Akashi?
Tap on her 30 times in the shop menu to get started. And you might want to hold on to 10 purple and 5 gold Sakura tech packs.
How do I unlock the last few memories in X event?
After clearing B3/D3/the last of the non-EX stage of the event, try beating it a few more times.
How do I earn Tech Points?
Tech Points are gained by obtaining, max limit breaking and max levelling (level 120) ships. You can see how many points each ship will give you in the Lab > Fleet Tech tab. As a rule of thumb big ships such as CVs or BBs will give you more tech points than little ships regardless of rarity. MLBing a ship gives you the largest amount of points out of the 3 step process; PR1 ships requirements are generally easier to meet than PR2/PR3 ships' fleet tech thresholds.
How do I earn experience for research ships?
PR EXP is only earned through oil-consuming PvE content (& Operation Siren) with the ships specified under the EXP objectives in the Shipyard. PvP matches, Dorm EXP, Lecture EXP and commissions do not count. The EXP goals are rather large; be prepared for a long grind. Ships who are at an EXP/level cap (i.e. 70/80/90/100~120 depending on limit break, cognitive awakening or EXP hard cap) will still contribute EXP to PR EXP objectives, even if it displays +0 EXP in the combat results.
What types of researches are best?
Here is the list for the best researches for earning PR blueprints. There is also a list for those who are looking to grind gear blueprints specifically. Note that PR ships are an endgame goal; investing cubes and coins into research projects early on will greatly impede your progress with little benefit so free researches are a better option while starting out.
What is the drop rate of X?
The only known drop rate is for Akagi & Kaga; each have a 0.75% chance to drop after defeating the boss of 3-4. No other drop rates are currently known.
Is X getting a rerun?
Most major events get a single rerun per region. You can check the Azur Lane Wiki to see if an event has already reran on your server's region. Reruns generally occur at least a year after the event's first debut; after the rerun is concluded ships from that event will slowly come to permanent construction pools. The exception to this rule are collaboration events which - so far - haven't seen any reruns due to licensing deals.
How do I get retrofit items for Sandy/Warspite/X?
UR retrofit item are acquired through limited-time events. They will have reruns, if you missed them you will have a chance to obtain them in the future. After having a rerun these items are permanently added to the prototype shop.
What is the next big event? Is there an event roadmap?
There is no known roadmap for any of the regions; big events are usually announced a week or two at most before the event itself is released.

Here you can ask questions/seek advice about Azur Lane; help each other and grow together!
​

Helpful Resources
Azur Lane Wiki
Azur Lane Official English Twitter
Quick Beginner's Starting Guide by Ruvicante (Ignore "Grind stage X until level X" advice)
Azur Lane Community Discord Server
Azur Lane Official English Discord Server

​

Other Megathreads
Littorio's Luxurious Lounge - Gacha, Dorm Screenshots and Discussions

** IMPORTANT REMINDER TO BIND YOUR ACCOUNT **

JP players can bind via binding code or Twitter account; EN players can bind via Twitter account, Facebook account or Yostar account. These options are in Settings.

Use at least one account bind option; use multiple if you want to be safe. If your device is lost, damaged, or a game update breaks the app and forces you to reinstall you could permanently lose your account. EN accounts are easiest to recover with an account bind; make sure to bind your account in the settings and only use the login screen binding buttons to reconnect your account. Using the login screen buttons without a bound account will create a new account for you and effectively erase your progress with no way of recovering it outside of contacting customer support. JUST DO IT.
NOTE: It's also a good idea to remember your server and take a screenshot of your resume so that customer support has an easier time recovering your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I reroll? How do I do it?
No. There are a few reasons for this:

• Names cannot be reused.
• Ships are constructed with non-premium currency that you can easily get through gameplay.
• SSR ships are NOT required for progression.
• High value ships are often stage drops and cannot be built.

Is X ship good?
Take a look at this gallery that shows good, permanently available ships or this tier list for a general indication of any ship's power. For research ships there's also a list showing off how useful they are depending on their development level.
All ships are usable with proper development; just know that some ships/compositions are far less viable in later Worlds.
Should I be spamming Construction or saving cubes?
Saving cubes is crucial as you'll want a large stockpile of them to attempt limited constructions that appear during events. Outside of events, spend 1 cube per day (4 on Sunday) to satisfy the daily build mission; in doing so you'll complete the weekly mission which gives 6 cubes.
However, players starting out should spam construction for the first 2 or 3 days in order to expand their options for fleet setups.
Should I keep duplicate ships?

• Duplicates of ships you use: Keep for limit breaking and retrofitting.
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Rare or higher: Retire for Medals of Honor (in Build menu).
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Normal rarity: Consume for enhancement of used ships.

I'm struggling on X stage, what should I do?

• Level up and limit break your ships; Level advantage makes a difference.
• Check your equipment; equip Purple/Gold/Rainbow rarity equipment and upgrade it.
• Adjust your fleet setup; you may need a tanky frontliner to soak more damage or a battleship in the backline to deal more damage.
• Enhance your ship's stats with common rarity ships.

How should I set up my fleet?
​

Main Fleet (Backline)
Aircraft Carriers (CV, CVL) - Clears the screen of enemy projectiles and weaker ships; Airspace Control Value (ACV) improves damage dealt by your carriers and reduces hostile encounters.
Battleships, Battlecruisers (BB, BC, BBV, BM) - Concentrated damage better suited for high-value targets; secondary gun protects backline from suicide ships.
Vanguard Fleet (Frontline)
Destroyers (DD) - Cheap; low gun damage with high-damage torpedoes; high evasion with poor armor and HP; speeds up your fleet and helps avoid ambushes.
Light Cruisers (CL) - Balanced stats with high anti-air capability.
Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB) - Expensive; high damage and/or large HP pool; some utility.

For the frontline position put your tankiest ship on the left and second tankiest on the right; for the backline try to have your strongest ship in the middle (flagship) position; battleships with a barrage skill should be in the center because it greatly improves their aim.
Make sure that your support (yellow) skills are useful to the rest of the fleet; most only affect certain class, nationality or weapon types and often don’t stack.
While at the beginning it doesn't matter - in fact you'd be better off using both of your fleets equally to level them up - your two fleets should eventually be split up into a mob-killer fleet and boss-killer fleet; the mob-killer fleet sacrifices firepower for sustain so use (self-)healing ships to survive the 4-7 fights needed to summon the boss for the boss-killer fleet.
When should I Limit Break?
This depends on your playstyle; Limit Breaking increases a ship's stats and capabilities at the price of increased Oil costs. Therefore:

• If you lean towards casual play and don't sortie much, Limit Break as soon as possible.
• If you lean towards hardcore play and sortie frequently, Limit Break only if you are struggling to progress.

These guidelines only apply to your main use fleets; farming fleets will have a different approach as explained in the next question.
NOTE: Regardless of your playstyle, Limit Break when your ships are approaching level cap (70/80/90) to avoid losing XP.
What are good fleets to use for farming?
Farming fleets are designed to clear stages with as little fuel use as possible. Therefore:

• Use fewer ships. The minimum is one backline and one frontline ship (1:1). Over-level your ships as level difference matters.
• Use ships with no/few limit breaks since LBs increase oil costs.
• Use upgraded equipment and level up skills.
• Complete the stage several times with stronger fleets to lower its threat level.
• Use ships of lower rarity since they're cheaper: Common (gray) > Rare (blue) > Elite (purple) > Super Rare (gold)
• Use cheaper ship types. For the frontline: Destroyers (DD) > Light Cruisers (CL) > Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB). For the backline: Monitors (BM) > Battlecruisers (BC) > Battleships (BB) and Light Carriers (CVL) > standard Carriers (CV)

Popular vanguard ships: Phoenix, Leander, Cassin, Downes, Fletcher DDs Popular main fleet ships: Erebus, Terror, Nelson, Rodney, Tirpitz, Duke of York, Yorktown
For high-level farming add healers (Akashi, Vestal, Unicorn, Shouhou, Ryuuhou, Arizona) and a strong boss-killer fleet.
When farming for gear blueprints/ships/event points, is it better to full clear a stage or just clear enough mobs until the boss spawns?
Except when getting the third star on a map, you should always go for the boss as soon as it spawns. Only the boss fleet and event elites can drop SR gear blueprints, and the boss has a chance to drop two. Only boss fleets can drop SR ships/boss-only ships, and clearing the boss fleet with an S-rank guarantees a ship drop. Killing the boss fleet is what gives points (specialized cores, core data, event points, etc.); the amount of points is bound to the map, not to the amount of mobs killed.
What should I be equipping?
You can try following these guides. Otherwise, use what you have.
How do I get more Oil?
Oil in Azur Lane is equivalent to stamina in most mobile games; your Canteen generates Oil and you can get more from mission/commission rewards. If you run dry consider running less ships in your fleets, running ships with lower rarity/fewer limit breaks and taking a break.
How do I get Coins?
Aside from generation via the Merchant, large coin drops come from Daily Raids and the 8-10 hour commission (costs 800+ fuel). A popular method is farming map 7-2 until all the "?" nodes appear, collecting the nodes and retreating.
What should I spend Gems on?
Priority list:

• Dorm slots (max 5)
• Dock capacity
• 2nd Floor Upgrade for Dorm
• Promise Rings
• Skins
• 3rd Tactical Classroom slot (depends on your needs)

Spending Gems on anything not listed here isn't recommended (ESPECIALLY Oil/Gold). However, it's mostly personal preference.
What should I spend Medals of Honor on?
Buy the featured SSR if you want heneed a duplicate for limit breaking. Otherwise, solid purchases are gold and purple Bulins (if needed), T3 Skillbooks, T2 Retrofit Blueprints (T3 if needed), PR Blueprints and Dorm food; anything else isn't recommended though your needs may vary.
What are Retrofit Blueprints? How do I use them?
Retrofit Blueprints are used in retrofitting and consumed in the Retrofit tree found in ship details. Note that not all ships have a retrofit. It's recommended to save your blueprints and only retrofit ships you plan on using as higher tier blueprints can be hard to come by.
What is the best use of Core Data?
You'll want several Oxytorps and Black/White shells, the F4U Corsairs) are currently the best fighters in the game. Other useful items include Fairey Swordfish 818) which slow enemies on hit and the Homing Beacon for synchronizing airstrikes. The Seal of the Four Gods, improves Anshan class ships but otherwise is not worth buying.
All of the ships currently in the core shop are obtainable through war archives and/or aren't useful to a new player.
Why can't I rank up past Captain?
For Rear Admiral Lower Half and higher in addition to meeting the rank score requirement you must be high enough on the player leaderboards to rank up. For Rear Admiral Lower Half that means you need to be in the top 1000; all ranks and thresholds can be found here.
When is the daily/weekly reset?
[EN] Daily reset is at midnight PDT; weekly reset is Sunday at midnight PDT.
How to get Akashi?
Tap on her 30 times in the shop menu to get started. And you might want to hold on to 10 purple and 5 gold Sakura tech packs.
How do I unlock the last few memories in X event?
After clearing B3/D3/the last of the non-EX stage of the event, try beating it a few more times.
How do I earn Tech Points?
Tech Points are gained by obtaining, max limit breaking and max levelling (level 120) ships. You can see how many points each ship will give you in the Lab > Fleet Tech tab. As a rule of thumb big ships such as CVs or BBs will give you more tech points than little ships regardless of rarity. MLBing a ship gives you the largest amount of points out of the 3 step process; PR1 ships requirements are generally easier to meet than PR2/PR3 ships' fleet tech thresholds.
How do I earn experience for research ships?
PR EXP is only earned through oil-consuming PvE content (& Operation Siren) with the ships specified under the EXP objectives in the Shipyard. PvP matches, Dorm EXP, Lecture EXP and commissions do not count. The EXP goals are rather large; be prepared for a long grind. Ships who are at an EXP/level cap (i.e. 70/80/90/100~120 depending on limit break, cognitive awakening or EXP hard cap) will still contribute EXP to PR EXP objectives, even if it displays +0 EXP in the combat results.
What types of researches are best?
Here is the list for the best researches for earning PR blueprints. There is also a list for those who are looking to grind gear blueprints specifically. Note that PR ships are an endgame goal; investing cubes and coins into research projects early on will greatly impede your progress with little benefit so free researches are a better option while starting out.
What is the drop rate of X?
The only known drop rate is for Akagi & Kaga; each have a 0.75% chance to drop after defeating the boss of 3-4. No other drop rates are currently known.
Is X getting a rerun?
Most major events get a single rerun per region. You can check the Azur Lane Wiki to see if an event has already reran on your server's region. Reruns generally occur at least a year after the event's first debut; after the rerun is concluded ships from that event will slowly come to permanent construction pools. The exception to this rule are collaboration events which - so far - haven't seen any reruns due to licensing deals.
How do I get retrofit items for Sandy/Warspite/X?
UR retrofit item are acquired through limited-time events. They will have reruns, if you missed them you will have a chance to obtain them in the future. After having a rerun these items are permanently added to the prototype shop.
What is the next big event? Is there an event roadmap?
There is no known roadmap for any of the regions; big events are usually announced a week or two at most before the event itself is released.

Here you can ask questions/seek advice about Azur Lane; help each other and grow together!
​

Helpful Resources
Azur Lane Wiki
Azur Lane Official English Twitter
Quick Beginner's Starting Guide by Ruvicante (Ignore "Grind stage X until level X" advice)
Azur Lane Community Discord Server
Azur Lane Official English Discord Server

​

Other Megathreads
Littorio's Luxurious Lounge - Gacha, Dorm Screenshots and Discussions

** IMPORTANT REMINDER TO BIND YOUR ACCOUNT **

JP players can bind via binding code or Twitter account; EN players can bind via Twitter account, Facebook account or Yostar account. These options are in Settings.

Use at least one account bind option; use multiple if you want to be safe. If your device is lost, damaged, or a game update breaks the app and forces you to reinstall you could permanently lose your account. EN accounts are easiest to recover with an account bind; make sure to bind your account in the settings and only use the login screen binding buttons to reconnect your account. Using the login screen buttons without a bound account will create a new account for you and effectively erase your progress with no way of recovering it outside of contacting customer support. JUST DO IT.
NOTE: It's also a good idea to remember your server and take a screenshot of your resume so that customer support has an easier time recovering your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I reroll? How do I do it?
No. There are a few reasons for this:

• Names cannot be reused.
• Ships are constructed with non-premium currency that you can easily get through gameplay.
• SSR ships are NOT required for progression.
• High value ships are often stage drops and cannot be built.

Is X ship good?
Take a look at this gallery that shows good, permanently available ships or this tier list for a general indication of any ship's power. For research ships there's also a list showing off how useful they are depending on their development level.
All ships are usable with proper development; just know that some ships/compositions are far less viable in later Worlds.
Should I be spamming Construction or saving cubes?
Saving cubes is crucial as you'll want a large stockpile of them to attempt limited constructions that appear during events. Outside of events, spend 1 cube per day (4 on Sunday) to satisfy the daily build mission; in doing so you'll complete the weekly mission which gives 6 cubes.
However, players starting out should spam construction for the first 2 or 3 days in order to expand their options for fleet setups.
Should I keep duplicate ships?

• Duplicates of ships you use: Keep for limit breaking and retrofitting.
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Rare or higher: Retire for Medals of Honor (in Build menu).
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Normal rarity: Consume for enhancement of used ships.

I'm struggling on X stage, what should I do?

• Level up and limit break your ships; Level advantage makes a difference.
• Check your equipment; equip Purple/Gold/Rainbow rarity equipment and upgrade it.
• Adjust your fleet setup; you may need a tanky frontliner to soak more damage or a battleship in the backline to deal more damage.
• Enhance your ship's stats with common rarity ships.

How should I set up my fleet?
​

Main Fleet (Backline)
Aircraft Carriers (CV, CVL) - Clears the screen of enemy projectiles and weaker ships; Airspace Control Value (ACV) improves damage dealt by your carriers and reduces hostile encounters.
Battleships, Battlecruisers (BB, BC, BBV, BM) - Concentrated damage better suited for high-value targets; secondary gun protects backline from suicide ships.
Vanguard Fleet (Frontline)
Destroyers (DD) - Cheap; low gun damage with high-damage torpedoes; high evasion with poor armor and HP; speeds up your fleet and helps avoid ambushes.
Light Cruisers (CL) - Balanced stats with high anti-air capability.
Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB) - Expensive; high damage and/or large HP pool; some utility.

For the frontline position put your tankiest ship on the left and second tankiest on the right; for the backline try to have your strongest ship in the middle (flagship) position; battleships with a barrage skill should be in the center because it greatly improves their aim.
Make sure that your support (yellow) skills are useful to the rest of the fleet; most only affect certain class, nationality or weapon types and often don’t stack.
While at the beginning it doesn't matter - in fact you'd be better off using both of your fleets equally to level them up - your two fleets should eventually be split up into a mob-killer fleet and boss-killer fleet; the mob-killer fleet sacrifices firepower for sustain so use (self-)healing ships to survive the 4-7 fights needed to summon the boss for the boss-killer fleet.
When should I Limit Break?
This depends on your playstyle; Limit Breaking increases a ship's stats and capabilities at the price of increased Oil costs. Therefore:

• If you lean towards casual play and don't sortie much, Limit Break as soon as possible.
• If you lean towards hardcore play and sortie frequently, Limit Break only if you are struggling to progress.

These guidelines only apply to your main use fleets; farming fleets will have a different approach as explained in the next question.
NOTE: Regardless of your playstyle, Limit Break when your ships are approaching level cap (70/80/90) to avoid losing XP.
What are good fleets to use for farming?
Farming fleets are designed to clear stages with as little fuel use as possible. Therefore:

• Use fewer ships. The minimum is one backline and one frontline ship (1:1). Over-level your ships as level difference matters.
• Use ships with no/few limit breaks since LBs increase oil costs.
• Use upgraded equipment and level up skills.
• Complete the stage several times with stronger fleets to lower its threat level.
• Use ships of lower rarity since they're cheaper: Common (gray) > Rare (blue) > Elite (purple) > Super Rare (gold)
• Use cheaper ship types. For the frontline: Destroyers (DD) > Light Cruisers (CL) > Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB). For the backline: Monitors (BM) > Battlecruisers (BC) > Battleships (BB) and Light Carriers (CVL) > standard Carriers (CV)

Popular vanguard ships: Phoenix, Leander, Cassin, Downes, Fletcher DDs Popular main fleet ships: Erebus, Terror, Nelson, Rodney, Tirpitz, Duke of York, Yorktown
For high-level farming add healers (Akashi, Vestal, Unicorn, Shouhou, Ryuuhou, Arizona) and a strong boss-killer fleet.
When farming for gear blueprints/ships/event points, is it better to full clear a stage or just clear enough mobs until the boss spawns?
Except when getting the third star on a map, you should always go for the boss as soon as it spawns. Only the boss fleet and event elites can drop SR gear blueprints, and the boss has a chance to drop two. Only boss fleets can drop SR ships/boss-only ships, and clearing the boss fleet with an S-rank guarantees a ship drop. Killing the boss fleet is what gives points (specialized cores, core data, event points, etc.); the amount of points is bound to the map, not to the amount of mobs killed.
What should I be equipping?
You can try following these guides. Otherwise, use what you have.
How do I get more Oil?
Oil in Azur Lane is equivalent to stamina in most mobile games; your Canteen generates Oil and you can get more from mission/commission rewards. If you run dry consider running less ships in your fleets, running ships with lower rarity/fewer limit breaks and taking a break.
How do I get Coins?
Aside from generation via the Merchant, large coin drops come from Daily Raids and the 8-10 hour commission (costs 800+ fuel). A popular method is farming map 7-2 until all the "?" nodes appear, collecting the nodes and retreating.
What should I spend Gems on?
Priority list:

• Dorm slots (max 5)
• Dock capacity
• 2nd Floor Upgrade for Dorm
• Promise Rings
• Skins
• 3rd Tactical Classroom slot (depends on your needs)

Spending Gems on anything not listed here isn't recommended (ESPECIALLY Oil/Gold). However, it's mostly personal preference.
What should I spend Medals of Honor on?
Buy the featured SSR if you want heneed a duplicate for limit breaking. Otherwise, solid purchases are gold and purple Bulins (if needed), T3 Skillbooks, T2 Retrofit Blueprints (T3 if needed), PR Blueprints and Dorm food; anything else isn't recommended though your needs may vary.
What are Retrofit Blueprints? How do I use them?
Retrofit Blueprints are used in retrofitting and consumed in the Retrofit tree found in ship details. Note that not all ships have a retrofit. It's recommended to save your blueprints and only retrofit ships you plan on using as higher tier blueprints can be hard to come by.
What is the best use of Core Data?
You'll want several Oxytorps and Black/White shells, the F4U Corsairs) are currently the best fighters in the game. Other useful items include Fairey Swordfish 818) which slow enemies on hit and the Homing Beacon for synchronizing airstrikes. The Seal of the Four Gods, improves Anshan class ships but otherwise is not worth buying.
All of the ships currently in the core shop are obtainable through war archives and/or aren't useful to a new player.
Why can't I rank up past Captain?
For Rear Admiral Lower Half and higher in addition to meeting the rank score requirement you must be high enough on the player leaderboards to rank up. For Rear Admiral Lower Half that means you need to be in the top 1000; all ranks and thresholds can be found here.
When is the daily/weekly reset?
[EN] Daily reset is at midnight PDT; weekly reset is Sunday at midnight PDT.
How to get Akashi?
Tap on her 30 times in the shop menu to get started. And you might want to hold on to 10 purple and 5 gold Sakura tech packs.
How do I unlock the last few memories in X event?
After clearing B3/D3/the last of the non-EX stage of the event, try beating it a few more times.
How do I earn Tech Points?
Tech Points are gained by obtaining, max limit breaking and max levelling (level 120) ships. You can see how many points each ship will give you in the Lab > Fleet Tech tab. As a rule of thumb big ships such as CVs or BBs will give you more tech points than little ships regardless of rarity. MLBing a ship gives you the largest amount of points out of the 3 step process; PR1 ships requirements are generally easier to meet than PR2/PR3 ships' fleet tech thresholds.
How do I earn experience for research ships?
PR EXP is only earned through oil-consuming PvE content (& Operation Siren) with the ships specified under the EXP objectives in the Shipyard. PvP matches, Dorm EXP, Lecture EXP and commissions do not count. The EXP goals are rather large; be prepared for a long grind. Ships who are at an EXP/level cap (i.e. 70/80/90/100~120 depending on limit break, cognitive awakening or EXP hard cap) will still contribute EXP to PR EXP objectives, even if it displays +0 EXP in the combat results.
What types of researches are best?
Here is the list for the best researches for earning PR blueprints. There is also a list for those who are looking to grind gear blueprints specifically. Note that PR ships are an endgame goal; investing cubes and coins into research projects early on will greatly impede your progress with little benefit so free researches are a better option while starting out.
What is the drop rate of X?
The only known drop rate is for Akagi & Kaga; each have a 0.75% chance to drop after defeating the boss of 3-4. No other drop rates are currently known.
Is X getting a rerun?
Most major events get a single rerun per region. You can check the Azur Lane Wiki to see if an event has already reran on your server's region. Reruns generally occur at least a year after the event's first debut; after the rerun is concluded ships from that event will slowly come to permanent construction pools. The exception to this rule are collaboration events which - so far - haven't seen any reruns due to licensing deals.
How do I get retrofit items for Sandy/Warspite/X?
UR retrofit item are acquired through limited-time events. They will have reruns, if you missed them you will have a chance to obtain them in the future. After having a rerun these items are permanently added to the prototype shop.
What is the next big event? Is there an event roadmap?
There is no known roadmap for any of the regions; big events are usually announced a week or two at most before the event itself is released.

Here you can ask questions/seek advice about Azur Lane; help each other and grow together!
​

Helpful Resources
Azur Lane Wiki
Azur Lane Official English Twitter
Quick Beginner's Starting Guide by Ruvicante (Ignore "Grind stage X until level X" advice)
Azur Lane Community Discord Server
Azur Lane Official English Discord Server

​

Other Megathreads
Littorio's Luxurious Lounge - Gacha, Dorm Screenshots and Discussions

** IMPORTANT REMINDER TO BIND YOUR ACCOUNT **

JP players can bind via binding code or Twitter account; EN players can bind via Twitter account, Facebook account or Yostar account. These options are in Settings.

Use at least one account bind option; use multiple if you want to be safe. If your device is lost, damaged, or a game update breaks the app and forces you to reinstall you could permanently lose your account. EN accounts are easiest to recover with an account bind; make sure to bind your account in the settings and only use the login screen binding buttons to reconnect your account. Using the login screen buttons without a bound account will create a new account for you and effectively erase your progress with no way of recovering it outside of contacting customer support. JUST DO IT.
NOTE: It's also a good idea to remember your server and take a screenshot of your resume so that customer support has an easier time recovering your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I reroll? How do I do it?
No. There are a few reasons for this:

• Names cannot be reused.
• Ships are constructed with non-premium currency that you can easily get through gameplay.
• SSR ships are NOT required for progression.
• High value ships are often stage drops and cannot be built.

Is X ship good?
Take a look at this gallery that shows good, permanently available ships or this tier list for a general indication of any ship's power. For research ships there's also a list showing off how useful they are depending on their development level.
All ships are usable with proper development; just know that some ships/compositions are far less viable in later Worlds.
Should I be spamming Construction or saving cubes?
Saving cubes is crucial as you'll want a large stockpile of them to attempt limited constructions that appear during events. Outside of events, spend 1 cube per day (4 on Sunday) to satisfy the daily build mission; in doing so you'll complete the weekly mission which gives 6 cubes.
However, players starting out should spam construction for the first 2 or 3 days in order to expand their options for fleet setups.
Should I keep duplicate ships?

• Duplicates of ships you use: Keep for limit breaking and retrofitting.
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Rare or higher: Retire for Medals of Honor (in Build menu).
• Duplicates of ships you don't use, Normal rarity: Consume for enhancement of used ships.

I'm struggling on X stage, what should I do?

• Level up and limit break your ships; Level advantage makes a difference.
• Check your equipment; equip Purple/Gold/Rainbow rarity equipment and upgrade it.
• Adjust your fleet setup; you may need a tanky frontliner to soak more damage or a battleship in the backline to deal more damage.
• Enhance your ship's stats with common rarity ships.

How should I set up my fleet?
​

Main Fleet (Backline)
Aircraft Carriers (CV, CVL) - Clears the screen of enemy projectiles and weaker ships; Airspace Control Value (ACV) improves damage dealt by your carriers and reduces hostile encounters.
Battleships, Battlecruisers (BB, BC, BBV, BM) - Concentrated damage better suited for high-value targets; secondary gun protects backline from suicide ships.
Vanguard Fleet (Frontline)
Destroyers (DD) - Cheap; low gun damage with high-damage torpedoes; high evasion with poor armor and HP; speeds up your fleet and helps avoid ambushes.
Light Cruisers (CL) - Balanced stats with high anti-air capability.
Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB) - Expensive; high damage and/or large HP pool; some utility.

For the frontline position put your tankiest ship on the left and second tankiest on the right; for the backline try to have your strongest ship in the middle (flagship) position; battleships with a barrage skill should be in the center because it greatly improves their aim.
Make sure that your support (yellow) skills are useful to the rest of the fleet; most only affect certain class, nationality or weapon types and often don’t stack.
While at the beginning it doesn't matter - in fact you'd be better off using both of your fleets equally to level them up - your two fleets should eventually be split up into a mob-killer fleet and boss-killer fleet; the mob-killer fleet sacrifices firepower for sustain so use (self-)healing ships to survive the 4-7 fights needed to summon the boss for the boss-killer fleet.
When should I Limit Break?
This depends on your playstyle; Limit Breaking increases a ship's stats and capabilities at the price of increased Oil costs. Therefore:

• If you lean towards casual play and don't sortie much, Limit Break as soon as possible.
• If you lean towards hardcore play and sortie frequently, Limit Break only if you are struggling to progress.

These guidelines only apply to your main use fleets; farming fleets will have a different approach as explained in the next question.
NOTE: Regardless of your playstyle, Limit Break when your ships are approaching level cap (70/80/90) to avoid losing XP.
What are good fleets to use for farming?
Farming fleets are designed to clear stages with as little fuel use as possible. Therefore:

• Use fewer ships. The minimum is one backline and one frontline ship (1:1). Over-level your ships as level difference matters.
• Use ships with no/few limit breaks since LBs increase oil costs.
• Use upgraded equipment and level up skills.
• Complete the stage several times with stronger fleets to lower its threat level.
• Use ships of lower rarity since they're cheaper: Common (gray) > Rare (blue) > Elite (purple) > Super Rare (gold)
• Use cheaper ship types. For the frontline: Destroyers (DD) > Light Cruisers (CL) > Heavy Cruisers (CA, CB). For the backline: Monitors (BM) > Battlecruisers (BC) > Battleships (BB) and Light Carriers (CVL) > standard Carriers (CV)

Popular vanguard ships: Phoenix, Leander, Cassin, Downes, Fletcher DDs Popular main fleet ships: Erebus, Terror, Nelson, Rodney, Tirpitz, Duke of York, Yorktown
For high-level farming add healers (Akashi, Vestal, Unicorn, Shouhou, Ryuuhou, Arizona) and a strong boss-killer fleet.
When farming for gear blueprints/ships/event points, is it better to full clear a stage or just clear enough mobs until the boss spawns?
Except when getting the third star on a map, you should always go for the boss as soon as it spawns. Only the boss fleet and event elites can drop SR gear blueprints, and the boss has a chance to drop two. Only boss fleets can drop SR ships/boss-only ships, and clearing the boss fleet with an S-rank guarantees a ship drop. Killing the boss fleet is what gives points (specialized cores, core data, event points, etc.); the amount of points is bound to the map, not to the amount of mobs killed.
What should I be equipping?
You can try following these guides. Otherwise, use what you have.
How do I get more Oil?
Oil in Azur Lane is equivalent to stamina in most mobile games; your Canteen generates Oil and you can get more from mission/commission rewards. If you run dry consider running less ships in your fleets, running ships with lower rarity/fewer limit breaks and taking a break.
How do I get Coins?
Aside from generation via the Merchant, large coin drops come from Daily Raids and the 8-10 hour commission (costs 800+ fuel). A popular method is farming map 7-2 until all the "?" nodes appear, collecting the nodes and retreating.
What should I spend Gems on?
Priority list:

• Dorm slots (max 5)
• Dock capacity
• 2nd Floor Upgrade for Dorm
• Promise Rings
• Skins
• 3rd Tactical Classroom slot (depends on your needs)

Spending Gems on anything not listed here isn't recommended (ESPECIALLY Oil/Gold). However, it's mostly personal preference.
What should I spend Medals of Honor on?
Buy the featured SSR if you want heneed a duplicate for limit breaking. Otherwise, solid purchases are gold and purple Bulins (if needed), T3 Skillbooks, T2 Retrofit Blueprints (T3 if needed), PR Blueprints and Dorm food; anything else isn't recommended though your needs may vary.
What are Retrofit Blueprints? How do I use them?
Retrofit Blueprints are used in retrofitting and consumed in the Retrofit tree found in ship details. Note that not all ships have a retrofit. It's recommended to save your blueprints and only retrofit ships you plan on using as higher tier blueprints can be hard to come by.
What is the best use of Core Data?
You'll want several Oxytorps and Black/White shells, the F4U Corsairs) are currently the best fighters in the game. Other useful items include Fairey Swordfish 818) which slow enemies on hit and the Homing Beacon for synchronizing airstrikes. The Seal of the Four Gods, improves Anshan class ships but otherwise is not worth buying.
All of the ships currently in the core shop are obtainable through war archives and/or aren't useful to a new player.
Why can't I rank up past Captain?
For Rear Admiral Lower Half and higher in addition to meeting the rank score requirement you must be high enough on the player leaderboards to rank up. For Rear Admiral Lower Half that means you need to be in the top 1000; all ranks and thresholds can be found here.
When is the daily/weekly reset?
[EN] Daily reset is at midnight PDT; weekly reset is Sunday at midnight PDT.
How to get Akashi?
Tap on her 30 times in the shop menu to get started. And you might want to hold on to 10 purple and 5 gold Sakura tech packs.
How do I unlock the last few memories in X event?
After clearing B3/D3/the last of the non-EX stage of the event, try beating it a few more times.
How do I earn Tech Points?
Tech Points are gained by obtaining, max limit breaking and max levelling (level 120) ships. You can see how many points each ship will give you in the Lab > Fleet Tech tab. As a rule of thumb big ships such as CVs or BBs will give you more tech points than little ships regardless of rarity. MLBing a ship gives you the largest amount of points out of the 3 step process; PR1 ships requirements are generally easier to meet than PR2/PR3 ships' fleet tech thresholds.
How do I earn experience for research ships?
PR EXP is only earned through oil-consuming PvE content (& Operation Siren) with the ships specified under the EXP objectives in the Shipyard. PvP matches, Dorm EXP, Lecture EXP and commissions do not count. The EXP goals are rather large; be prepared for a long grind. Ships who are at an EXP/level cap (i.e. 70/80/90/100~120 depending on limit break, cognitive awakening or EXP hard cap) will still contribute EXP to PR EXP objectives, even if it displays +0 EXP in the combat results.
What types of researches are best?
Here is the list for the best researches for earning PR blueprints. There is also a list for those who are looking to grind gear blueprints specifically. Note that PR ships are an endgame goal; investing cubes and coins into research projects early on will greatly impede your progress with little benefit so free researches are a better option while starting out.
What is the drop rate of X?
The only known drop rate is for Akagi & Kaga; each have a 0.75% chance to drop after defeating the boss of 3-4. No other drop rates are currently known.
Is X getting a rerun?
Most major events get a single rerun per region. You can check the Azur Lane Wiki to see if an event has already reran on your server's region. Reruns generally occur at least a year after the event's first debut; after the rerun is concluded ships from that event will slowly come to permanent construction pools. The exception to this rule are collaboration events which - so far - haven't seen any reruns due to licensing deals.
How do I get retrofit items for Sandy/Warspite/X?
UR retrofit item are acquired through limited-time events. They will have reruns, if you missed them you will have a chance to obtain them in the future. After having a rerun these items are permanently added to the prototype shop.
What is the next big event? Is there an event roadmap?
There is no known roadmap for any of the regions; big events are usually announced a week or two at most before the event itself is released.