Farming Guide

Author(s): Samheart564
Current Version: 1.1.1 | Last Updated: September 5th, 2024

Introduction

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Like in all gacha games, a grind is necessary for progression, whether than be for new ships, gear, experience, or materials. This guide hopes to give all players a comprehensive overview of farming in Azur Lane.

Terminology

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Below are definitions of common Azur Lane terminology when farming:

• Oil-Cap (cost-limit) - Limits the amount of oil spent per battle.

  • Locations: Campaign stages 9-1 and higher; Events & War Archives Chapter D, or highest SP stage.

• X:Y - Number of Main Fleet Ships : Number of Vanguard Fleet ships.

Fleetbuilding for Farming

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See also: Fleetbuilding Guide

Initial Considerations

Consider:

• Does this ship need levels for any reason? (For use in harder content, fleet technology, secretary missions, etc.)

• Does this ship need affinity for any reason? (Oaths, affinity stat boosts, secretary missions, etc.)

Try to avoid using ships that are max level, as they serve no benefits to leeching the exp.

• Ships that are capped due to Cognitive Awakening are fine to use, as any EXP overflow will carry over to subsequent levels (up to 3,000,000 EXP).

Helpful Ship Qualities

• Healers (ex. Unicorn, Perseus, Ryuuhou, Shouhou, etc.)

• Preloaders / Fast-Loaders (ex. Richelieu, Aquila, Independence (Retrofit), Vittorio Veneto, etc.)

• Self-Heals (ex. Neptune, Minneapolis, Phoenix (Retrofit), etc.)

Note: Some ships (ex. Unicorn) fall into multiple categories. READ SKILLS FOR MORE INFORMATION!

Remember:

• Do NOT choose ships for farming fleets based off of ONLY these qualities.

  • These ships help; they are not mandatory for efficient farming.

• Do NOT use oil cost as a consideration when determining what ships to use.

  • Investing in ships that have a purpose for future content, whether that be through leveling them or through their fleet technology bonuses, is better in the long run.

Farming Methods (Campaign, Events, War Archives)

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• If the stage has an Oil-Cap: Use a 3:3 fleet.

• If the stage doesn't have an Oil-Cap: Use a 1:1 fleet.

  • If the stage is a campaign Hard Mode stage, using a full fleet is fine due to the difficulty of the stages and their rewards. It is not worth compromising on the Core Data to save oil.

  • If you are farming Commander Levels, NEVER use a 1:1 fleet.

Farming Campaign

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See also: Common Resource Guide

For Gear

Stages:

Farming stages specifically for gear is not useful. You are better off trying to brute force stages with Level Advantage, as you acquire gear from other sources (Gear Lab, Research, etc.).

For Ship EXP, PR Grinding, Commander Level EXP, Coins, and Upgrade Parts

Stages:

• Before Chapter 9: Highest stage you can do safely.

• Before Chapter 11: 9-1.

• In Chapter 11: 11-1.

• After Chapter 11: 12-1 (or higher).

  • 12-1 and above are significantly better than any stage under them. This is because they have a chance to drop Cognitive Chips and Augmentation Materials in addition to everything else.

Notes:

• Farming Coins before Chapter 9 in Campaign is not advised

• T3 Upgrade Parts drop from Chapter 6 onward.

For Cognitive Chips and Augment Module Stones

Stages:

• Chapter 14 > Chapter 13 > Chapter 12 for these resources, in terms of oil efficiency.

For Retrofit Blueprints

Grind the highest hard mode stage that you can do, that also drops the print type that you need. Double-check the stage drops to make sure you are grinding the right stage! The higher the better, due to the stage dropping more Core Data!

For Drop Ships

Main Article: Early Ship Recommendations Guide

Stages:

Farm the stage the ship drops on. For a list of notable drop-only ships, see the table below.

• Ships listed below are ships that only drop from a few specific stages and/or are build only.

• Chapter 14 and Chapter 15 stages are omitted when possible.

• If a ship isn't listed below, check their wiki page for drop locations.

• Consult a ship tierlist for information about ship viability! All ships besides Yuudachi (Retrofit) are sidegrades to other easily accessible options, or outright worse than other easily accessible options.

Farming War Archives

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For Gear

There is no gear worth farming in War Archives

For Drop Ships

Main Article: War Archives

Stages:

Check the War Archives wiki page for a list of drop-only ships and their locations.

Farming Events

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For Event Currency

Stages:

• SP (once daily) > D3 > D1 > D2 > C2 > B3 > Highest stage doable.

Currency Thresholds:

• If you have enough time: Aim for about 55,000 , that should get you everything relevant from the event.

• If you are in a time crunch: Aim for about 18,000 - 20,000 , that will get you the Event Ships (Shop + Point Milestone), and the Event Gear (if there is any).

See the table below for more detailed information.

Event Shop Priority

Main Article: Event Shop Priority

For Drop Ships / For Gear

Stages:

• Farm the stage needed for the ship / gear.

Farming Operation Siren

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See also: Operation Siren

Operation Siren Fleetbuilding

See also: Fleetbuilding Guide

Meowfficers:

• Unlike previous stages, the rarity and level of the Meowfficer's in your farming fleet matters! Make sure the Meowfficers are SR Rarity, and as high level as possible; the talents don't matter.

Tuning:

• As the Corrosion Level of zones increase, the minimum tuning requirement of your fleets also increases. Make sure that the Roman Numeral is at minimum equal to (ideally above) the Corrosion Level of the zone you are on. There are no additional benefits for being above 203 / 203 / 156 tuning.

The Bare Minimum

Clear every single zone once, until the entire map is unlocked.

• If you have excess oil, buying the Operation Siren Data Logger (available from the Operation Siren Exchange Shop) allows you to strategic search this process with ease.

Then, wipe your map clean of any icons above stages. This includes any Coordinates (both Fractured and Abyssal), Strongholds, the monthly Arbiter, and Daily / Story Missions.

• When auto-search is an option, use it to your advantage! Auto-search will get most everything important on all zone types.

• Buying and completing as many File Zones as possible (available from the Operation Siren Exchange Shop) is highly recommended. These are all auto-searchable.

• Buying the Hidden Zone data logger (available from the Operation Siren Exchange Shop) allows you to strategic search all Hidden Zones. Highly recommended to purchase if you have the vouchers to spare.

Shops

• Blue Port Shops (NYC, Liverpool, Gibraltr, St. Petersburg): Buy out EVERYTHING!

• Mysterious Merchant (Akashi): Aside from repair boxes (any type) and tuning (if maxed), buy out EVERYTHING!

Star Farming

In Operation Siren, stars allow you to get one-time rewards depending on number of stars obtained. These stars are heavily RNG; only hyper-focus them if you have spare time. Read the list of Operation Siren Zones wiki page for more information.

Pick the zone you want to farm stars on. Set Strategic Search to repeat the same zone. Let auto-search do the work for you until your AP is drained. Profit.

• Note: Some stars are RNG only on the first monthly clear (explorable). Be careful!

If you are in the middle of the month, make sure to have some AP leftover for future Stronghold / Coordinate Zones / Daily Missions.

Excess AP Drain (Cat Node Farming)

Pick a random Corrosion Level 5 Zone. Set Strategic Search to repeat the same zone. Let auto-search do the work for you until your AP is drained. Profit.

• If possible, select the option to stop whenevere a Mysterios Merchant (Akashi) or Siren Construct spawns. They aren't important outside of Star Farming, so it's up to your preference.

The purpose of this is to get as many Cat Node loot drops as possible, since rewards outside of "The Bare Minimum" are lackluster.

If you are in the middle of the month, make sure to have some AP leftover for future Stronghold / Coordinate Zones / Daily Missions.

Operation Siren Image Guides

Below are a list of image guides that explain Operation Siren mechanics!