[Azur Lane] Access Mode: GRIDMAN UNIVERSE Rerun!

Ianator

And I'm barely 1.5m EXP into my third ship...

On the plus side, I had a far easier time with the once-a-day EX stage this time than I did with the Kizuna Ai event. And I'm gonna need it because there aren't 3x Point Drops like there are on non-collab events.

TNTrooper

On one hand the team building requirements are easier cause it is just using a faction's main fleet or vanguard fleet but on the other hand there are rainbow rarity ships that are even more expensive to unlock and upgrade.

Orphane

can't decide if i want to get Friedrich or Seattle first

on the one hand Friedrich seems absolutely insane but Seattle also seems excellent and is a mega qt

Dracil

Yeah I've only unlocked half of PR1 so PR2 is gonna be ugh.

Ianator

Patchnotes!

https://twitter.com/AzurLane_EN/status/1204430574795935744

- Operation: Christmas! event for Ooshio's "The Reindeer's Present" skin
- Hatsuharu and Ariake permanently added to Light Construction
- Christmas Skins, plus Hatsuharu's new "Snow of the Early Spring" at 10% off for a week
- Ajax and Hammann secretary quests
- End of the Hololive event! Have you crafted your trophy yet?
- Gun mechanics patch! Apparently vanguard ships' firing animations would affect the fire rate of their guns. In particular, Sandy Retro, Seattle and Kitakaze suffer significant drops in DPS from it.

Synthesis

Well, I've done a very lackluster job at the Hololive event, though I did get a surprising number of the unique ships from drops/building. If I already have the SR ship from the event store, what would be the best use of the event currency?

TNTrooper

Furniture and unique gear if you fight to collect everything, gold cat boxes, PR blueprints, purple plates, gold equipment boxes if you need gold items and are feeling lucky.

TNTrooper

After getting Fubuki like 10 times I gave up on getting Aqua. Did a literally last second roll and saw the 20 minute timer right before the server went.

Ianator

Aqua was the last one I had to pull, got her like three days before the end. Also got a second during my last 10-pull early yesterday morning.

What I didn't get was a Miobubs (Dive Bomber) weapon skin. Seriously, I wish they hadn't separated plane skins by plane type because it gets frustrating trying to get a full matched set on one ship.

Sir Carcass

I didn't get all of the event ships, but I have no idea what Hololive is, so I wasn't particularly interested in trying. I just did 3 pulls per day for the tnt points.

Now, if they do a Love Live! crossover, I'm going to be in trouble.

Ianator

Sounds like there was a mistake after the update in which the Light Construction banner was identical to the JP version which displayed Sirius, Swiftsure and Southampton. If you did any Light builds between patches you'll probably get a refund, plus everybody's getting Apologems and more regardless.

The allure of Torpedo Bulge Sword Maid is compelling indeed.

EDIT: Also, Chapter 13 and Chapter 9 Hard are inbound. Y'all ready for Bunker Hill?

Ianator

Heads up, tomorrow will be the last day you can redeem rewards from the Hololive event's HQ Blasting and Port Terminal banners as well as the TNT Point Exchange.

Meanwhile I'm still only 56% into Neptune's second EXP dump, though I did finally get three stars on 10-1!

Ianator

https://twitter.com/AzurLane_EN/status/1207329675598540801

Tonight's patchnotes:
- Two minor Christmas events
- Challenge Mode, Season 3
- PR2, at long last!
- Christmaskins.
- "Fairytale Town" and "Christmas Town" dorm sets.
- Laffey oath skin!

Ianator

Welcome back.

Real talk: the holiday Gacha Thread made me wonder if AL was the right game to get invested in, that I probably should've given Girls Frontline a shot when the VA11 HALL-A collab was running.

And then I updated the OP. Seriously, this event is pretty fun so far even if my first thirty pulls have yielded all of three Suruga (and an Illustrious).

Dracil

I do like the character designs for this event.

But I also got into the CBT for Arknights so splitting time.

Ianator

Last day for Swirling Cherry Blossoms, plus patchnotes for the update in 21-and-a-half hours.

How'd you do? I got eight Suruga. I didn't pull Kasumi until two days ago but I *think* I have enough time to get her to 70 before the chat frame event ends. Still gonna run 400 Training Points' worth of missions just in case though.

Synthesis

Ianator wrote: »

Last day for Swirling Cherry Blossoms, plus patchnotes for the update in 21-and-a-half hours.

How'd you do? I got eight Suruga. I didn't pull Kasumi until two days ago but I *think* I have enough time to get her to 70 before the chat frame event ends. Still gonna run 400 Training Points' worth of missions just in case though.

Wow, and I was annoyed I never got Ryuuhou (who I wanted most purely based on design). I got two Suruga, Kasumi and Noshiro in ~100 cubes worth of builds (I still have 156 cubes left, but I'm pretty much spent for gold). :bigfrown: Kinu I cnan get through the store, but darn it, I wanted Ryuuhou! Arg!

Used the New Years invitation to pick Zuikaku to join Shoukaku (I missed red sister in the original event, and haven't taken advantage of the "playback" thing that was added). Wish getting Akagi to go with my two Kagas was so easy.

Sir Carcass

I've mostly been doing 3 pulls a day. I got 2 Kasumi's (1 on the first day), 1 Kinu, and I did 1 10 pull when I decided I wanted Suruga and lucked into her on that. I've found that not personally caring what I get gives me the best luck.

Synthesis

3 (sometimes 4) builds a day, with more towards the end. I just got a second Kasumi.

On the bright side, I have a lot of time to think about what to buy from the store. Especially since I don't need to spend 8000 on Noshiro.

TNTrooper

Got all the ships and finished the chat portrait yesterday. Also finished the Seattle grind and am 7% into the 2.4m exp grind for FDG.

Synthesis

I'm terrible at those grinds. I'm still only 40% into the last XP grind for Roon and don't even particularly need her since I got Z46.

Sir Carcass

Synthesis wrote: »

I'm terrible at those grinds. I'm still only 40% into the last XP grind for Roon and don't even particularly need her since I got Z46.

I got Monarch, who I'm on the last step of blueprints with, and am like 20% through the first XP grind for Roon. All I really do these days is the daily stuff.

TNTrooper

I just put 3 Eagle Union vanguard ships in all my fleets and got Seattle on the 31st. And doing all the daily stuff and a bit of D3 grinding on the side with 3 Iron Blood main fleet ships already got me 1/3rd of the way to FDG in 8 days.

Orphane

Synthesis wrote: »

I'm terrible at those grinds. I'm still only 40% into the last XP grind for Roon and don't even particularly need her since I got Z46.

Roon is...on a whole nother level compared to z46

Synthesis

Orphane wrote: »

Synthesis wrote: »

I'm terrible at those grinds. I'm still only 40% into the last XP grind for Roon and don't even particularly need her since I got Z46.

Roon is...on a whole nother level compared to z46

I mean, probably, it's just that I had a big gap in the Iron Blood Vanguard at the time, with Hipper as the most obvious fill.

By the time I actually get Roon, she still won't matter. Because I'm terrible at the grind.

On the last day of the event store, is it a safe bet to spend the currency on Special General Blueprints? I only have one of either, apparently, and I obtained both ships just through the builds.

Ianator

Yes, PR Blueprints are a good spend for event points. That said, I do think the current exchange has just PR2 prints which means Seattle, Georgia, Kitakaze and Gascogne for the non-rainbow ones.

Also, CN/JP seem to be getting Royal Maids Battle Royale Rerun Season 2 next week. Think EN's gonna tag along?

TNTrooper

Roon isn't going to be irrelevant anytime soon, she is one of the best heavy cruisers in the game. If you don't have anyone to grind for Roon then switch to another PR ship while you level Leipzig and someone from the Konigsberg class.

Sir Carcass

Synthesis wrote: »

Orphane wrote: »

Synthesis wrote: »

I'm terrible at those grinds. I'm still only 40% into the last XP grind for Roon and don't even particularly need her since I got Z46.

Roon is...on a whole nother level compared to z46

I mean, probably, it's just that I had a big gap in the Iron Blood Vanguard at the time, with Hipper as the most obvious fill.

By the time I actually get Roon, she still won't matter. Because I'm terrible at the grind.

On the last day of the event store, is it a safe bet to spend the currency on Special General Blueprints? I only have one of either, apparently, and I obtained both ships just through the builds.

Thanks for the reminder. I almost forgot to spend mine. I actually did forget for the last event.

Sir Carcass

Haha, oh man. I almost feel trolled by the game. I finally got enough blueprints to finish limit breaking Monarch and thought "whew, that was a lot of blueprints, but it's finally done". But then, nope, Fate Simulation. The blueprint grind is real.

TNTrooper

But once you do that her heal skill will last for 10 seconds instead of 8.

Sir Carcass

TNTrooper wrote: »

But once you do that her heal skill will last for 10 seconds instead of 8.

Well, in that case.....

TNTrooper

For some ships Fate simulation is huge or at least a decent buff. Then there is Monarch.

Ianator

Patchnotes

- Main Story: Chapter 13 and Chapter 9 Hard arriving
- Airspace Control mechanics
- 3x Core Data campaign (17th through 26th)
- New Ships: Dewey, Bunker Hill (Ch13 drops)
- New Retrofit: Hermes (Card games on motorcycles on the ocean!)
- Agano's "Dating Game?" and Dewey's "A Christmas Thank-You" available 1/16 through 1/30
- Dawning Ceremony ending tonight. Last call to get your event ships (Suruga, Ryuuhou, Noshiro, Hibiki, Kasumi and Kinu) to max LB!

In addition, Curacoa and Curlew retrofits have been announced for next update. Sounds like either Winter's Crown Rerun or Royal Maids Battle Royale S2 to me!

TNTrooper

Today's announcement was Newcastle so it's Maids Bate Royale. Which is a pretty good way to grind PR exp and farm purple upgrade plates.

Ianator

Maids and qipao... Name me an odder couple that just works.

Orphane

I mean i would say fate sim is still worth it just because getting 15 luck as opposed to 0 is still helpful

But yes the skill upgrades are varying degrees of usefulness

Ianator

I can't believe I edited a post in the Steam thread instead of this one.

Fletcher number seventeen, Halsey Powell inbound.

Betsuni

Ianator wrote: »

I can't believe I edited a post in the Steam thread instead of this one.

Fletcher number seventeen, Halsey Powell inbound.

I wondered why you posted that random link in there. Figured you were just happy to share.

Ianator

I think we all know where this is going.

Yongshi and Manjuu present: Fletchermon! Catch all 175 Fletcher-class Destroyers! Coming Spring 2038.

Ianator

Aaand we're live.

Hell yeah gimme that raid boss music