Azur Lane is a bullet hell style mobile game, with a character roster being the warships from World War 2 personified. If you are familiar with the two franchise Touhou and Kancolle from Japan, this is pretty much a fusion of the two. In this Azur Lane Beginners Guide, we would list out everything you need to know when starting AL and how to progress fast.
Table of Contents
1 - How to get EXP for your ships?
Overall, Azur Lane is a rather grindy game - you would need to clear a map over and over to get enough level on your two fleets. The overall rule is that you clear the fourth map of every world until you are strong enough to do the next world. Power level up in 1-4, 2-4 and 3-4 until you are level 80 or so.
EXP can also be acquired in PVP or "Practice" mode: As a new player, you probably would not be able to beat anyone, but just field your fleets and battle - even if you lose, you would get exp and Merit (shop currency).
The best method of getting exp is probably the Dorm - as long as you provided it with food, the ships stationed there would get exp constantly even if you are not playing.
Lecture Hall is also a good method of getting exp - it stores a percent of the exp level 100 ships receive and distributed to all shipgirls stationed there.
2 - How to strengthen your shipgirls?
Equipment
Overall, try to fill up all the equipment slots of your units when you field them out to battle. The specifics can be found in our Azur Lane Equipment Guide. Overall, the rule is to try to equip your shipgirls with as much purple and gold equipment as possible.
From chapter 3 onward, you would need to upgrade them - the materials dropped from world 1 - 5 can only upgrade the gears to + 6 max - you would need to grind quite a bit at world 6 to get enough purple materials to upgrade your equipment to +10
Equipment can be acquired through open boxes, blueprint drops and events. Check your Craft menu in the item section frequently to see if anything is ready to be crafted yet.
Limit break
Shipgirls can be limit broken with another copy of the same ship or a bulin of the same color. You should limit break the ships you are using at least one or twice to clear out the early chapters easier.
Skill
Constantly level up the ones you use the most using books.
Retrofit
Some shipgirls can be retrofitted - this upgrade would increase their stat and add 1 extra skill. The blueprints needed for retrofits can be acquired in Hard Mode and various other places.
3 - How to get resources?
You need to clear out the daily raids every day - they give gold, plates, book, and boxes. Afterward, you would need to clear Hard Mode. It is recommended to clear the hardest map possible every day, preferably world 3 or higher, as those maps would drop golden BPs.
Upgrade your canteen and merchant in the academy to get a steady stream of gold and oil.
4 - What to buy with your free Gems?
Azur Lane does give a decent amount of premium currency for F2p players - they are best used for Dock Slots (you would need more very soon) and dorm slots (1 or 2 more slots is recommended to speed up your leveling speed).
Gems can be acquired by filling up collections and 3 stars the main story.
5 - What to do in Events?
Usually, Azur Lane's events would have two levels of difficulty, one for new players and one for veterans. Those two levels give about the same amount of rewards, except for the final trophy. Priority the points for new ships and gear in events.
6 - Gameplay tips
There are 5 main classes in Azur Lane: Battleship/Battlecruiser (BB), Aircraft Carrier (CV), Heavy Cruiser (CA), Light Cruiser (CL) and Destroyer (DD). The general rule is to field one of each class in your fleets, with the BB in the middle to shoot down suicide boats and trigger their barrage skills.
About the Frontline, CA should be in the frontmost position as a tank. The others can be placed wherever you like.
If you have problems 3-starring a map, get more levels on your shipgirls and clear it over and over until the threat level becomes green. Each level that your shipgirls has over the enemies would give them 2% damage and defense.
If you have submarines, you can also field them to get some extra damage in as well.
Interested in mor of our articles related to Azur Lane? Please check out this post for a complete equipment guide.