Your First Event: How to Prepare

For a first event, the wiki's event FAQ recommends one goal: go as far as you can on Casual (丙, Hei). Ship tags are almost entirely ignored on Casual and Easy, and the ships you get for clearing a map are the same on every difficulty.

The way I read the rest of the FAQ, preparation comes down to three things: a balanced roster (especially destroyers), a large resource stockpile, and a few hundred buckets. And once the event starts, there's no prize for rushing — waiting a few days for information is part of the plan.

• Casual (丙) is the FAQ's suggested starting point: tags are almost all ignored, so you can focus your best ships.
• Easy (丁) is easier still, but some important rewards haven't been given on Easy in past events. The FAQ suggests switching to it only if Casual is truly too hard.
• Lowering the difficulty mid-map only costs a small gauge recovery. Raising it restarts the map from the beginning — even a cleared gauge comes back.
• Some strong rewards need Normal (乙) or higher. Rare clear rewards usually don't come back, so some players do only the early maps on a higher difficulty.

According to the FAQ, past events have routed fleets by things like:

• Requiring a seaplane tender just to sortie.
• Fleet speed (all fast vs mixed).
• Specific historical ships being in the fleet.
• Destroyer-squadron-only fleets (light cruisers and destroyers).
• Enough LoS gear (recon planes, radar) to avoid branching off before the boss.
• A number of surface radars to avoid a punishment node.

A fleet with only strong battleships and carriers, unremodeled destroyers, no light carriers or aviation cruisers, or no ships that can carry Daihatsu landing craft will hit walls. See Routing Explained.

Boosting income: sparkled expeditions that succeed greatly give 1.5× resources, and Daihatsu landing craft (up to 4) add 1.2× — together about 1.8×. Unlocking high-yield expeditions like Tokyo Express before the event helps too.

Natural regeneration alone isn't enough: late maps can cost four-digit fuel per sortie. See Running Out of Resources.

1. 1Expect the start-of-event maintenance to run late.
2. 2Don't sortie on day one unless you have to. Within a few days, gauges, gimmicks, tags and boss fleets are known.
3. 3The first half opens first; the second half usually follows 1–2 weeks later. Friend fleets arrive later still.
4. 4Read up on escort retreat (護衛退避) for combined fleets before your first combined sortie — the FAQ calls this the one thing you must fully understand.
5. 5Keep a note of which gimmick conditions you've done. A quest-complete chime when you return means one condition was met.
6. 6Check equipment before every sortie and results after every battle. Rushing is how ships get lost.

Can I lose ships in events?

Yes, the same rules apply as in normal maps. Never advance with a heavily damaged ship unless it has Damage Control. See Heavy Damage.

What if I can't finish?

The FAQ treats that as a valid plan: farm a map you can reach the boss on for new ships, and build up for the next event.

Do I need LBAS?

Almost always. Event maps use Land-Based Air Squadrons heavily. See LBAS for Beginners.

When should I start if I'm busy?

The FAQ suggests starting by the time the first friend fleets arrive at the latest, so you finish before the end date is announced.