Azur Lane - Beginner's F2P Guide to Hoarding Cubes!

[@GuardianEPlays]

UPDATE 6/2021: With the new daily/weekly mission structure, you still should do daily pulls, but you no longer have to do a full 10 builds per week to get all the cube rewards. As such, you can forego the build 10 ships mission and easily still get all the rewards. This actually makes cube gain even better than it was in this video. Nothing else has changed, so this guide remains the best cube accumulation method so far. By the way, when I say rotate commissions 2X a day (the 10 hour + 3 smaller ones), that's at a minimum. If you want to optimize, you should rotate those suckers as soon as possible. Happy saving!

[@jeromekeh]

not only that but during the anniversary where if you login for 8 days, you'll get an invitation letter to get a free SR ship; in fact I got Hood using the invite letter but question, how good of a ship is Hood when it comes to her ability and firepower?

[@GuardianEPlays]

That only applies for this anniversary, this guide is more meant as a universal strategy to employ every day, not counting any specific time-gated or time-restricted bonuses. Hood is strong early on, but drops off in late game. You can use her as an early carry.

[@jeromekeh]

@@GuardianEPlays well, who do you recommend to replace Hood?

[@GuardianEPlays]

@Jerome Keh Since this is a general help video, your question would be better suited to the latest update video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWeyZJivq7NqkLM or the new event video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gJXaq5RtpJdqqpo Post a comment and people can help, and it'll help other new players as well. The short answer is that it depends on who you have.

[@Kenraali]

I would add that using cubes for research projects is totally okay, *if* you have 400+ cubes or more saved up for UR events. They are the fastest way to gain research blueprints (but not for specific ships), if you really want those blueprints quickly.

[@aurwoora]

how to hoard cubes: hire a friend to slap you everytime you recklessly tap the build button.

[@GuardianEPlays]

High level strats!

[@Katsunai]

You think we have friends. Lol

[@snorp6781]

Bigger brain move: use the money you would pay your friend to slap you to buy more cubes. [AkashiScheme]

[@aurwoora]

@@snorp6781 i thought we were paying them with doujin codes?

[@snorp6781]

@@aurwoora give the devs the codes in exchange for gems

[@LegatoSkyheart]

yeah Azur Lane is very forgiving and generous when it comes to cubes. Really what you're spending money on is the Skins or Rings for your Ship Girls rather then actually getting the shipgirls themselves.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep! Money spent will generally go towards cosmetics.

[@skeleton316]

And space for your dock/storage space XD fucking get tired of having to make room, because of how many times it keeps giving me the same damn ship !!!

[@swag9374]

@@skeleton316 San Diego: *no* ... *WATASHI WA NUMBAH WAN!

[@skeleton316]

@@swag9374 need a sandy army XD

[@kaleslade7007]

Yeah, but I did spend 89 to get Sovetskaya Rossiya.

[@ShawnXCao]

I don't know if it is just me cube is never a problem. the real issue is gold.

[@GuardianEPlays]

As long as you follow these steps and also 1) only +10 top tier equipment, all other equipment works just fine at +7 or so, and there are diminishing returns, 2) limit break as needed, 3) stick to free research where possible, and 4) only buy things in the shop at a steep discount, you'll get a ton of coins. Watch the coin count grow from the beginning of the video to the end of the video.

[@owarida6241]

Gold and oil are your real enemy 😂

[@MarimeAzur]

Exactly

[@commanderrose5028]

Mine is oil...

[@brittany2121]

I have plenty of gold but 0 cubes :’)

[@dylanhelvetios2300]

Getting ships is really easy and f2p friendly If anything it's upgrading your dock's spaces that will cost you(until you don't care about collecting them all)

[@GuardianEPlays]

It's true, the actual pay gate is gems and dock space, which is true in most games out there. There are always box limitation, with the exception of maybe FEH. But you can definitely get by on free gems if you only spend on dock space and dorm space. You won't be able to keep every common in the game, though.

[@panzerschliffehohenzollern4863]

Gotta Catch them all....

[@MemoriesLP]

Even so, you dont even need to spend real money with that. You have enough gems in this game. I have almost all ships so far, and I have 250 dock space. I spent gems on many other areas too, I didnt even focus on dock.

[@sheinaragners]

aww :c im the kind of person who wants to catch them all.and keep them

[@TehZodi]

It's true. I got all the Ashen Simulacrum ships in 60 cubes. Anniversary banner? 300 cubes before I got my first Taihou.

[@GuardianEPlays]

RNG is a fickle mistress! All we can do is be as prepared as possible.

[@quyrew]

Same got all ships from ashen in 40 cubes and anniversary ships at 60 cubes

[@SomsoKca]

Ran Anniversary on 0 (do daily, commissions to get cube) got all ship except Black Prince... now go light to see if BP would pop up in this low rate of elite. lol

[@uteriel282]

@@SomsoKca got prince the day i got back into the game on a new acc. that was a week ago and got her and aurora just from daily constuction. both on the same day too lol.

[@sayhallo3769]

I was very lucky and got lady Taihou on my second day of playing which is about 15-20 draws.

[@ddduelist]

I'm semi f2p, I never spend money for cubes, only for rings and skins, every single pull have been f2p, this game is the most f2p friendly .

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep, I agree! Super F2P friendly!

[@TimekillofPK]

This guide would've been great a year ago lol. I had to figure this out the hard way like I'm sure you did.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Hahah, yeah. But the game is getting new players all the time, so I figured it might be helpful for people who have picked it up recently!

[@uteriel282]

befor i lost my acc i started during a time when there were 4 events in a row. i got most things i felt i wanted but had to plan my entire day ahead of time to grind for like 2 months straight. now that im back with a new acc i hopped right into another event stream... -_-

[@confus.d]

I feel bad ._.

[@sincerelyotaku7878]

I recently found out azur lane is getting an anime adaptation, I'm hype to see my favorite gals in action.

[@GuardianEPlays]

It sure is! And the PS4 game Crosswave just came out as well!

[@TimekillofPK]

We'll be getting Crosswave here in the States sometime next year...I'm excited.

[@GuardianEPlays]

My import is en route! And I'll pick up the localized version when it releases. I might make a short gameplay preview video for it, if people are interested.

[@naomy1701]

oh yes pls do, i might not be able to play it (unless it also ships on PC sometime) but its definitly something i can inagine alot AL players would love to see and hear about ^^

[@strix6690]

I hope that i can spend my day playing AL and do all the weekly quest but unfortunately i need to balance my gaming time with my study time so I'm very poor at AL now

[@GuardianEPlays]

Doing the dailies is actually relatively low maintenance, it just requires frequent check ins. As long as you login twice a day, which only takes a few minutes to check everything outlined in the video, and in one of those sessions you do your Daily Trainings, that's pretty much all you need to maximize cube gain.

[@PhillipH-san]

I started playing a week before the Hololive event ended. I spent a sizeable amount to make sure I got all them. Then I bought all the skins and most the dorm items.... I have no regrets.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Congrats on securing everyone in that one week!

[@hevi0]

bruh i wish i was around for the hololive event. too bad for me i only found out about it a year after it ended ;-;

[@Phantastic76]

Wish I was as lucky as others, on avg, I spend 250-300 every event and I just started November so all the reruns are new events to me

[@GuardianEPlays]

You just have to persevere! Over time, the luck will swing back your way. We can't predict how RNG will act in any given situation, we can only prepare the best we can for when it goes sour. Good luck in your future summons!

[@trstmeimadctr]

Yeah Azur Lane is my favorite gacha simply because of how forgiving it is (plus it has some of the best character design ever). I cleared the entire most recent event banner in just 2 10-pulls. I could never do that in any other game, no matter how lucky I get.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep, it has very good rates, and very strong currency income as long as you follow some pretty basic steps!

[@CheztaAhmad]

How f2p is azur lane? Yes

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep!

[@Sparklingling]

😂😂😂

[@Whatevergame1]

Thank you for this, now i got motivated n start saving up cubes.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Thank you for watching!

[@jcruz2255]

Appreciate linking me to this. One thing I learned is to get those commissions in!

[@GuardianEPlays]

Definitely! Constantly rotating commissions (10 hour + 3 smaller) is the key!

[@jcruz2255]

@@GuardianEPlays Just like in life, lol, make your money work for you while you sleep!

[@GuardianEPlays]

@@jcruz2255 That's the way to do it!

[@Milchi7]

By far most f2p gacha of them all. Never spent gems on getting ships and got everything. The only thing you might consider buying gems for is if you are a collector to expand dock space. There is no powercreep, the earliest ships are sometimes even the most powerful. Oh ye, gems are also for Helena and St. Louis skins.

[@nillynush4899]

its much more fair than many games out there, though I wish costumes were maybe half-cheaper. 400 gems per costumes.

[@GuardianEPlays]

There's definitely a hardline for dock space, dorm space, and skins. But in terms of ship collection, it's pretty easy to get what you want, for sure!

[@Usmvalor3]

Well this is preety informative for me in a way to prove, what I did was right. I started to play 2 months ago, and for 1st anniversary I had followed very simmiliar regime: Prioritize cube commisions, spend as little as possible. (daily light 1) When You do what Guaridian mentions, You can easily get 120+ cubes per month. Also I'm a guide gamer, so I check them to distinguish, which ships I might "wanna" pull. My next target is some major Ironblood event, cuz if I ever want to see Friedrich der Grosse in my fleet anytime I need those sweet sweet tech points, and a lot. 630 to be exact.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Always nice to confirm that we're all doing the same thing. And of course it always helps to keep your eyes on the prize, like the Divergent Chessboard event!

[@naomy1701]

and (not to soon in the future, but hopefully sometime ntl) the "Scherzo of Iron and Blood" event, where u could get Bismark along some other realy nice Ironblood ships. if u started 2 months ago u most likely have missed it, as far as i rem it was end of May till end of June

[@howtogitgud]

As a new player and also F2P player, this guide is useful. I litterally spent all of my available cube but realize it's just a wasting opportunity. I got 5 SSR so far within a week playing ; Prinz Eugen, Enterprise (from construction and new player reward event), Illustrious, Atago and Sandy. Edit : I'm current grinding Iron Blood ship to research on Roon.

[@GuardianEPlays]

I'm glad it was useful! That's a great start. Have fun grinding for Roon!

[@nguyenninh2094]

3 years into the game, having collected 84% of shipfus, I am still here, watching this great video.

[@GuardianEPlays]

It never hurts to have a refresher, even for veterans, I think!

[@pagholicky]

This is one of the best f2p game i've played and i mean it. You can go to end game stuff pretty much the same rate as p2w player because gems(real money) affect only trivial stuff like skins, ships max slot and other. Even then you will get enough free gem from 3starring early map for necessary thing like dorm size And as a bonus, devs throws a lot of free stuff from event from skins to equipment etc

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep, definitely a very generous game with some pretty amazing devs!

[@pewseibai]

The song name is souzetsu gekkou, hige driver is the musician who composed the song

[@GuardianEPlays]

I'll make sure to add the song name in. Thanks!

[@AmandaFessler]

FGO veteran whale here. Just started this game last month. Just in time to amass a few dozen cubes for Inverted Orthant. Managed to nab Heinrich in under 40 cubes. Then slowly over the course of the event, I grabbed every single limited ship, including a couple of off-banner SRs just by doing the daily 3-rolls. Even before experiencing these amazingly generous rates, I was blown away by how there were half a dozen ways to get SR ships for free, or just by completing some grindy missions. Between the giveaway Prinz Eugen, the medal exchange shop, the Rookie Missions, the Fox Mines that already gave me two Akagi copies in under a month, and yes, even the grindy PR Research quests - working on Saint Louis before I rank up all these dropped German ships for Friedrich der Grosse - I couldn't believe how generous this game is. I've spent a few thousand dollars on FGO just to amass my collection. Sometimes, I'm relatively lucky. But this game's generosity is just insane. I've barely spent anything here. Just the 30-day Trade License and a couple of gem buys for Peter Strasser's L2D skin. Yet I'm already drowning in SRs. I think I found the cure for my FGO gacha depression, haha. This game really is generous as you say. Thanks for making this video! Now I can employ these best practices to amass a healthy cube stash! :D

[@GuardianEPlays]

Welcome to the game! I enjoy FGO as well, but it's definitely a different breed as far as scratching that gacha itch. The main limitation in Azur Lane as a F2P is gems, for dockspace, oaths, and skins. But beyond that, it's smooth sailing! Congratulations on sweeping Inverted Orthant! Nice choice on the Peter Strasser skin! And I'm glad the video was helpful. Thank you for watching!

[@AmandaFessler]

@@GuardianEPlays Thanks for the warm welcome! And yes, as my collection has grown, I've started to struggle with my dock. Trying to keep copies down to a minimum with retirements, LBs, enhancement, and the like. Ultimately bought one expansion. Might consider saving up to 200 or so... already spent a lot on gems getting 4 dorm slots too. The rates really are something. Now I'm just hoping Bismarck will rotate into permanent eventually... Managed to get Zeppelin off of Special, and I'm currently aiming for Tirpitz under Heavy. But that legendary battleship is still my main goal. Once I finish my KMS collection, I think I'll be all set for calm waters indeed. A shame I missed her reun, but with these War Archives, I see hope. :) Thanks again for the welcome!

[@GuardianEPlays]

When Bismarck gets dropped into the pool, I hope there's a small rate up. They usually do that around the time they are added. Sounds like you came just in time for the biggest KMS event we've had in a long while!

[@AmandaFessler]

@@GuardianEPlays I hope so too. And yeah, the timing was nuts. Just perfect. About a week to get ready, and level some, then boom. Managed to get to 30k. Couldn't get past B3, but it was a very good haul with the shop mats and buying one copy of the shop sub. And this crazy gacha luck. Is the Graf still on rateup in Special? Just wondering, since her pic is on there. Would explain how I got her recently, and how I got Duke of York when I started, since the latter's pic was on Heavy at the time... Right now I'm thinking of spending my data keys on Divergent Chessboard in the Archives to farm for a couple KMS cruisers I couldn't get to in Orthant. Not sure if that's a good idea, but my data keys are full and I gotta spend them somehow...

[@GuardianEPlays]

Sounds like a great event clear overall! Graf isn't rated up right now. There are actually no specific rated ups ships on the regular banners. You can check by clicking the rates button. If there is a rate up, it will specifically state as such. I usually make it a point to take a look at it before any event day 1 summon videos, just so we all know what the odds are. We get a good number of data keys, so I'd say to go for it, especially if KMS is your jam.

[@Luke-rs3cl]

Thanks for the video i am around 1 year in and this is helping me maximize my cube intake.

[@GuardianEPlays]

You're welcome! Happy grinding!

[@naomy1701]

this is so damn true, i started to do exact this after i got Taihou on last day in the event, and have ramped up about 110 cubes since then, and thats even with spending 3 light constructions a day in hopes to get a ship i want, but that aside, follow these "rules" between events and u will have it alot easier ^^

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep, it just requires a little bit of patience and resolve! Nice job saving back up!

[@wisphen]

Ok, if you combine login rewards, daily missions, weekly missions you can get about 1700 cubes per year assuming there is a event once a month and you spend 140 cubes on every event you can get by with 20 cubes left. Not counting commissions or apology gems or maintenance compensation , good luck shikikans!

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep, super generous devs! Thanks for doing the math!

[@iamhungey12345]

I was free to play for the first full year though it took me over a month in to start hoarding cubes after my disastrous attempt to participate in Hololive crossover event (was too weak to complete and too poor to complete the rate up). Then after learning of the past events I went to start preparing for Ashen rerun beginning in the spring of 2020 for Baltimore, only to have to wait for another year before it finally happens. So yeah the cubes are no longer a problem for me after a while.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep, the more you play, the less of an issue cubes become if you play smart and save appropriately!

[@yukilino]

just started yesterday! and tyvm for the tips!

[@GuardianEPlays]

Welcome to the game! Glad it was helpful!

[@hjux-so3ls]

Saving is easy, but being able to get the ships you want early helps a lot. Another point could be the collaboration events where if you're not a fan of a collaboration event you can spend your cubes in the light construction and go for ships like isokaze or Urakaze, but its up to the person. I pretty much follow the tips you mentioned the only hard one is not buying those 2 cubes for 88 gems because its a cube and you need as many cubes as humanly possible

[@GuardianEPlays]

Collabs are a bit of a double edged sword, since some people can safely ignore them, they're also the most limited ships that will unlikely ever be re-run. So, to that end, people might be willing to spend more for those ships, if they're real targets. For me, gems are a scarcer resource than cubes, so I can't justify the shop purchase, even with the discount. But everyone has got their own priorities, which works for them!

[@hjux-so3ls]

@@GuardianEPlays Definitely, one of my friends wants a kill la Kill collab event so I'm hoping something like that happens. For gems for me I'm on Chapter 8 but using 7-4 until I can get Monarch and Roon from PR, so gems won't be an issue. Also looks like we got a break from events for awhile

[@rickraptor9936]

D'oh. I've been playing the game for nearly a year now, and I never knew the shop actually sells cubes for coins sometimes. Dammit.

[@GuardianEPlays]

It's always worth peeking in, just in case!

[@Ryota7films]

Dock Space is the main problem I find in Azur Lane, probably the main reason a player is going to feel forced into buying gems, not getting banner ships as the game is very generous with rates.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Dock space being reserved for players saving gems or paying players isn't a big deal in my opinion. If you want to keep a copy of every ship, then you forego skins and save up everything for Dorm+Dock.

[@iBangAPES]

when you're starting off, being F2P is difficult because you want to spend all your cubes and gold on those limited time shipgirls. But as a F2P player myself who started since launch, those re-run events are the biggest plus on hoarding up cubes. though most re-run events have have atleast 1 or 2 extra ships on-top of the original event ships, it does save you a bunch of cubes and gold if you already cleared the original event prior to re-runs. thats how i ended up hoarding 1k+ cubes and 300k+ gold at a point. don't forget that luck and the desire sensor also exist. good luck y'all~

[@GuardianEPlays]

New players just need to be patient and stick to dailies even if there's a limited time event running. As you say, if the event isn't a rerun, it's not wise to blow everything on it until you get the cube generation machine going. The event will return.

[@ozymondiaz877]

Thanks for this guide, i just started and impulse building ships, now im so dedicated to save those. Thank you

[@GuardianEPlays]

Glad to hear it was helpful! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@ozymondiaz877]

@@GuardianEPlays i subbed too :D

[@GuardianEPlays]

Aw, thank you so much!

[@ijnyamato4351]

Thanks for the video! Now I finally have a cube saving strategy! BTW, I got all the Anniversary event ships!

[@GuardianEPlays]

Thanks for watching! Congratulations on sweeping the Anniversary banner!

[@ijnyamato4351]

GuardianE I gathered 100+ cubes for the first time! Thank you so much!

[@GuardianEPlays]

I'm really glad to hear that! You're welcome!

[@jeremywhatley8387]

For the first time since I started the game back in November 2018 I actually had to spend money on cubes because I couldn’t get Essex and with the events one after another I didn’t have much time to build them up but luckily I got Essex with only have to buy one stack of cubes and have been able to save since then. Now I have 300 cubes again lol

[@GuardianEPlays]

Well, congrats on getting Essex, nonetheless! But that's why we can't ever take for granted the number of cubes needed to get our target ships. RNG can be very cruel, so all we can do is prepare.

[@Nakoda3999]

I love azur Lane developer mindset. Its a real free2play game i ever played. And guess i got my eugene from the login bonus today.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep, the game is very friendly for free players!

[@setyoprayoga7439]

Thanks for the tips, man ! From now on, i'll spending the cubes only for the ships in the event

[@GuardianEPlays]

I'm glad it helped! Go forward and save!

[@ChickenPaulz]

Hi I just want to say thank you for doing this video it's been a year and a half since I started azur lane this video help do the right things when I was beginning in azur lane

[@GuardianEPlays]

I'm really glad to hear it was helpful! Thank you for reaching out with your kind words.

[@obi-wankenobi4640]

This does help out a lot. Most I had at one time was over 170.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Happy saving!

[@christianrainey4459]

I just started playing and this is the most F2P friendly game Ive played when it comes to gachas.

[@GuardianEPlays]

It absolutely is.

[@SuigaRou]

I feel like Azur Lane is one of the most generous gacha games out there, at least when it comes to getting the characters you want, and it makes sense when you consider that they don't make their money on cubes, but on gems. Sure, you can trade gems for cubes, but the majority of gems are probably spent on skins and dock space. Thus, it makes sense that they actually want you to get the ships since having more ships is what'll get you to spend more gems. Also, tip #5 is legit. I have a buddy who dropped like 150 cubes in a single day on a banner and didn't get what he wanted. I told him that I space out my summons and almost never 10-pull. My luck has been best when I space out constructions throughout the day. Ever since he's started doing that he's gotten every event ship while watching his cube count steadily rise.

[@quitw18]

Dunno Ive been burning all my cubes in the first day of events since last year and no problems so far

[@GuardianEPlays]

@quit w Everyone will prioritize differently, but the most efficient method is outlined in the video. Remember that everyone has their day when bad RNG hits. We can't control it. If it hasn't happened yet, it will. All we can do is maximize our odds.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Gems should definitely be reserved for skins/docks/slots, etc. They're the rarest currency, so I urge to never spend those on cubes. But Azur Lane is definitely one of the most generous gacha games, for sure!

[@SuigaRou]

@@GuardianEPlays Yeah, I made that mistake when I first started and dropped some gems for 11 cubes. Then I realized how rare they were. But I had downloaded the game on the closing days of Amagi's event and really wanted her in my fleet, so I guess for me it was worth it since those 11 cubes were what built her.

[@jhonhones9517]

thanks for the tips man its helpfull. i just start view days ago and really lucky to pull enterprise, graff + z series destroyer just by build ship for daily mission like you said. feels strong powered by germany engine lol.. best luck in the next germany event banner for us all

[@GuardianEPlays]

I'm glad it was helpful! Congrats on the pull so far, and good luck in the upcoming event!

[@LapisChanDesu]

No matter how I stockpile so much cubes, I usually end up getting all banner Ships in 100 cubes or less. And the only costly cubes expense I did was at 160-ish...

[@GuardianEPlays]

That's great! But it never hurts to be prepared. Like I said, it only takes 1 bad banner. You always read about the guy who spent 400 and didn't get the ship they wanted. It can be you or me or anyone else. Don't be that guy.

[@monitoradiation]

GuardianE's right. I spent 600 on Centaur and didn't pull her. But make sure you know whether the ship you want will be in perma pool later. I learned from my mistake because she ended up in the perma pool and I pulled her on a daily special about 6-7 months afterwards. It was a few rough events afterwards.

[@Shadowcam00]

The last few banners have been kind to me; i got the SSR's so quickly that i could afford to build dupes to save on gold Bulins, and still have hundreds of cubes left.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Congrats! I'd still save cubes rather than build dupes personally. I don't need to save Purins and Bulins since we get so many, and you never know when bad RNG will blow up a cube reserve.

[@jolunrohthocoudis526]

I wish i had watched this last month when i started. but im glad i'm watching it now.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Now you know, and can start saving up!

[@shadowwolf_7982]

Honestly I love the fact that you used Crimson Echoes "High Diver" song in the background of your video. Glad to see that one of many songs from Azur Lane are in this amazing video, a job well done GuardianE ;) (lol sorry if I'm tooo cringy, just love everything about Azur Lane so much, also amazing job on this beginners guide)

[@GuardianEPlays]

It's an awesome song! One of the first big story moments in Azur Lane, I feel. Thank you! It's not cringy at all, I'm glad you enjoy the game and the video.

[@naomy1701]

nothing cringy with loving Azur Lane, its a magical place to find some peace and lighthearted fun whenever u feel for it. its been a great place for me to talk with ppl in chat, enjoy the amazing art of the game and find a great timekiller for almost any type of waiting time ^^

[@Wolf_Spark]

Here's my strategy when it comes to earning cubes/using them in events. 1: Always build 20 ships(40 cubes total) on the first day of every event.( I normally get about 2-3 event ships that way) 2: After the initial 20 builds,do only 3 builds a day(That will use 6 cubes but you'll get 4 cubes a day guarantee from the daily missions, and also a few more from commissions and whatever missions the current event has-in others words you don't rly lose cubes) 3:When a new week starts, build 10 ships.That normally consumes 20 cubes, but at the beginning of the week, you will get the "weekly mission" that awards 6 cubes from building 10ships, (doing the daily tasks will grant u another 4 cubes). So in reality, you only use 10 cubes to build 10 ships. 4.After the first day of the week, just build 3 ships a day (most events will have u build 3 ships for event currency) and do the daily missions and commissions.(and keep repeating this) If you do it like that, you shouldn't run out of cubes, most of the time, you may even earn more cubes.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Whatever strategy works for you! I'm always in the interest of earning *more* cubes, not breaking even, because you never know when bad RNG will hit. A few notes on your strategy: 1. It's fine to splurge a bit up front. I do it too. Everyone has their own strategy, so building a few multis on the first day is fine and shouldn't make a huge impact on being able to stock up on cubes. 2. 3X builds a day is standard during and event, and I do mention this in the video. 3. I wouldn't start a new week with 10 builds. The most efficient approach is to way until the end of the week, and do additional pulls if you need to meet the weekly 10 build quota. By doing the 10 build early, you're actually performing at least 6 unnecessary builds where you gain nothing back, because you'd have to do those builds for the daily missions anyway. 4. I think this is the same as your point 2.

[@ashce10]

Shop actually is 3 resets a day. Though im sure someone else corrected this or you know it. Once at reset, then, at least in central time, one at 1( or 2 cause dst) , and another at 7(or 8 cause dst)

[@GuardianEPlays]

Thanks for adding the clarification!

[@sankyu3950]

Another tip is dont try to go for event thats a rerun or isnt desirable, if its collab or you want that event ship then yes go get it

[@GuardianEPlays]

That's true! Only spend when you want the ships.

[@PlayinAbyss_alt2]

Casually saving and playing and repeat the process over and over again. I’m f2p and I barely touch the build button unless when there’s UR ship rerun. I use ship drop on map like Yuudachi Kaga Akagi… and Elite retro ships for farming daily. Personally I’m not really competitive so my progress is kinda slow than others players but that’s fine by me.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Nice, patience is definitely the way to play it! Though you should be doing 1 daily light build every day, otherwise you're throwing away cubes (and at least 1 event pull every day if there's an event). Once you have a healthy stock, you'll have enough cubes to get every ship, not just save for UR reruns. This game is generous enough with the cube/coin income.

[@sayantanpaul5947]

Damn should have watched this 1 day ago spent 10 pulls today on the bismark banner but no bismark guess will do 3 per day from now on till event ends.Great video btw.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Never too late to start saving! And thank you!

[@sayantanpaul5947]

@@GuardianEPlays thanks for replying

[@armanzukhruf23]

Your luck in this game is everything dude. Let me share this video to my friend

[@GuardianEPlays]

You can't control luck! But you can control how many cubes you save to mitigate bad luck. Even someone with rotten luck can increase the chances of getting the ships they want by saving and farming.

[@armanzukhruf23]

@@GuardianEPlays me in Ashen Simulacrum spend more than 300 cubes and don't get Baltimore, Fallen Wings too, spend 200 cubes still no Colorado, my friend spend 500 cubes don't get Essex. So think luck is everything.

[@GuardianEPlays]

:( Hopefully your luck turns around. Over time, it should balance out. It is about 100-150 cubes on average to get the event ship you want.

[@armanzukhruf23]

Thanks

[@sparkrock9134]

Love the background music! At first I thought that was the music on your games home screen which I was about to say UNFAIR!

[@GuardianEPlays]

Ah, if only I could change the home screen music like that!

[@sparkrock9134]

GuardianE that would be the day of my Azur career lol. Switch back and forth between that song and Kazumi A.I’s boss song.😎

[@GuardianEPlays]

All the Kizuna Ai music was so good!

[@degenerateweeb3216]

Woah, i never knew that they are so generous on magic cubes, i'm thinking of quitting in that case. You save me thanks!

[@akasha6536]

That's awesome, it's my new years resolution to start saving up for the next event and you've helped me out a lot. thanks so much for ☺️

[@GuardianEPlays]

Good luck to you! I'm glad it was helpful!

[@akasha6536]

@@GuardianEPlays it really was 😁 thank you ☺️

[@suijinsatou641]

you made me realize, before this i've always spend coin & cubes at day 1

[@GuardianEPlays]

There are certain advantages to completing early, like the chat frame, but otherwise it's most efficient to stick to dailies!

[@IllumiNot]

Thanks, I'll try this, and I'll try to teach myself of patience

[@GuardianEPlays]

You can do it! I hope it helps!

[@MyVanir]

Assuming a 4 week month, you already get a net gain of 120 cubes a month (40 per week brutto, 30 after weekly build costs). Add 24 more from monthly login and you get 144 a month you are guaranteed.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep, the guaranteed number is a known quantity, but a lot of people questioned how many cubes you can get from commissions/shops, dismissing it because it's RNG based, but the impact is way too significant to ignore, as shown here. There's RNG, but a big number of cubes can be gained from those sources on average.

[@MyVanir]

@@GuardianEPlays Yeah, you get a lot of chances to succeed at the rng commissions. Throw enough shit at a wall and some of it is bound to stick.

[@norahh7045]

Okay, mabye I should actually start saving this month... I didn't know you could get so many cubes in a month, I've usually gotten most of the banner ships with only under 100. Except the Nagato event where I didn't get Nagato and/or Mutsu. I was REALLY hoping to get Nagato 'cause I saw her Oath skin before and I wanted it. But like I said I didn't get her so now I gotta wait til the event comes back and mabye I'll have enough cubes for it then :)

[@GuardianEPlays]

The re-run will be back eventually, so you have plenty of time to save up a healthy cube stash!

[@gkgameplaycz]

this video is more relevant with the addition of Shinano

[@GuardianEPlays]

This video strat thankfully still has consistent results! (-ω-)ゝ

[@kingbob7565]

I’m on commenting but I’ll do it anyway On my first day of Azur Lane Building. I already got Hood and during the Event “Crimson Echoes”. I just build without second thought and got Amagi and Kaga(BB).

[@GuardianEPlays]

A very eventful day!

[@kingbob7565]

GuardianE I also got Ashigara and Naganami(x2). So i got a Lucky start. And Btw That was when i just started Azur lane.

[@kamikami334]

Thanks now i can save properly

[@GuardianEPlays]

You're welcome!

[@BloodlessRMZ]

Thank you for the awesome guide!

[@GuardianEPlays]

I'm glad it was helpful! Thank you for watching!

[@matsujonen]

I just started around new years and spent my cubes until I had only about 10 cubes. Then I started paying attention to my cubes and now in around 50 cubes in only a week or so

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep, the free cube gain is very nice in this game!

[@theoneinthebackground4209]

Sucks for me. I’m in the navy and we are out to sea (no internet) for at a few days to a few weeks a month. Those daily and weekly missions can be tough to keep up with.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Ah, that is a bummer... you can just do the best you can when you do have reliable access! Unfortunately the cube intake won't be quite as high, but you can hopefully still grind what you need over time.

[@MemoriesLP]

I play this game since first week on NA. I have 2 Research Ships (super end game content) on max Research level (30) I have almost all event ships. I have 6-7 oath rings. 250 dock capacity. Entire first floor from dorm done. +1 space for dorm (I think so? What is the default space? I have 3 dorm spaces) +1 space for skill learning Maybe Im missing something lol I've never spent a dolar at this game. I will probably spend on Jean Bart skill only because she is my fav ship.

[@ryeflekun7857]

Me too.

[@GuardianEPlays]

You're not missing anything really, but some people don't know this stuff when starting out... or they compulsively spend and don't realize how much of a difference saving makes. A lot of people argue over how many free cubes and coins we really get.

[@MemoriesLP]

@@GuardianEPlays yeah. People want to rush these type of games. That is a huge mistake

[@RobertChisholm]

Azur Lane is gatcha friendly to encourage players to buy gems for dock space. I noticed you gained about 150k gold in the video. I'd be curious to see what you spend gold on. I tend to stay around 50-70k. Most of my money goes to building a collection of +10 equipment.

[@GuardianEPlays]

I only +10 top of the line equipment for my main fleets. Any high tier equipment I upgrade as necessary for progression, and I never buy anything in the shop unless it's on sale. I also always gravitate towards free research projects in general. Since I do large, front-loaded summons, I need a healthy coin stash going into a banner. That said, I've never felt stilted in progression, at least thus far.

[@MyVanir]

You're better off not spending coins outside mass-builds and just hoarding while ignoring the merchant coins. You get more than enough from dailies and comms.

[@Hs632wb]

Thanks for the guide man! I have just start almost 3 weeks ago and always have trouble with cubes due to the events and now the 3rd anniversary rate up for 2 ships of your liking, so this is very helpful. But the 1st problem I have with being a 100% F2P is oil, i seem to run out of oil very quickly due to my ships, how can I get oil efficiently to grind all my ships and large commissions?

[@GuardianEPlays]

I'm glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching! Oil does tend to be a problem. Early on, you shouldn't worry too much since you need to level your Commander level, but you can use oil efficient fleets featuring 1 Phoenix and 1 powerful backline Elite ship like a Nelson or Rodney. It can clear most mob stages at relative low oil cost. But again, Commander EXP is based on number of ships, so you may want to do that only if you really need more runs to get specific items in an event shop or grind 3-4 foxmines. Good luck!

[@justawanderingoldman7699]

Start Anniversary event with 0 cube. Now, my cube is also 0 but I got every event ship in gacha (even Albacore). From my experience, it's better to not use all your cube on the same time. If you already spent around 30+ cube and still don't get what you want, better to wait several hour or even a day to spent it again. And do single pull to save your cube. Why you need to pay 10x pull if you can get what you want on your 1st pull? Somehow it's work well for me.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Congratulations on sweeping the Anniversary banner! Yes, I mention in the video to stick to your dailies for the most efficient pulling method on a new banner.

[@AspiraSakka117]

Hey GuardianE I have a few questions and I noticed this a lot in your Azur Lane videos, but how do you managing on stockpiling coins? At 9:02 your max was 55200, however you were above it by a lot, around 490k if anything. Were you spamming the 10 hour commissions along with your regular commission? I know this might just be me, but a majority of the research that require cubes are as you pointed out not that good, but the ones that really matter are the 30 minute ones which gives a lot of resources whether its PR ship prints or weapon blue prints. What server are you on? Sorry for asking all these questions ;A;

[@GuardianEPlays]

You can go well above your max coin limit, you just can't grab coins from the Academy. Everything else (mails, missions, training, sold ships) is all fair game. You don't gain any coins via commissions, only dorm coins. The highest yield for coins is actually your daily training, so you should make sure to do those every day. I'm not really in a super rush for the PR materials, so I just take my time and do the cheaper researches where possible. I'm on Lexington!

[@AspiraSakka117]

@@GuardianEPlays Thanks for the reply Guardian! If anything I always spam everything whenever I get the chance whether its exercise, missions, training and the like. Maybe I used the terms coins wrong haha, maybe its gold! Nonetheless I do agree that doing daily training does give you a hefty amount of coin! No worries! gotta take it slow and get what you can with time~ Ah, I thought you were on avora! Keep up the good work! love the content my friend.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep, spam everything! The commissions yield dorm coins, which is also very nice, but they don't give a lot of real coins. I think Avrora was the very first server, and I missed the beta by a week or so! So I never got Avrora until just this event. Thank you very much! I really appreciate it! (°ω° ) ~♪

[@naomy1701]

sorry but thats not correct, u get coins from comissions very well, 4500+ on the 10 hour ones even, and more often than not comissions have either oil or coins invarious quantities (this is answered to the first answer given, i see u in a later comment corrected urself to "barely any" which is fair enough in the overall bigger picture i guess ^^)

[@GuardianEPlays]

That's true, I misspoke on the commissions. Sorry for the confusion!

[@aregularperson7453]

_if only i found this guide before i spent 600 gems on cubes, just to get a bunch more shrops and kents during the ashen event_

[@GuardianEPlays]

Never too late to start saving again!

[@aregularperson7453]

@@GuardianEPlays i've started doing this, had 28 cubes, now have 24, cus i got greedy with the rolls today

[@Akairouu]

this would really help the new players out there!

[@GuardianEPlays]

I'm glad! Thank you!

[@dragonslayer2430]

Ty it was helpful 😌😆

[@GuardianEPlays]

Glad it was helpful!

[@SakaiYuji]

I never bought cubes with gems at all. Just do comms with chances to get cubes and only do 1 build daily with 4 builds on the 7th day to complete the weekly build quest. That's it. Are you ready for Italian Navy?

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep, me neither! It's a very low maintenance game to stock up on wisdom cubes. I'm excited for the final reveals! The teasers look very nice so far!

[@MrHoxworth]

Only time when I used gems to buy cubes was the event with Bismarck, used 200 cubes and didn't get her, so bought some, didn't work, got her from random build last day of the event, and now she's lvl 120 with a skin and Oath (no regrets)

[@GuardianEPlays]

At least you got her in the end!

[@chazzydell7962]

For some reason I keep running out of quick finisher!! Any advice?

[@GuardianEPlays]

That's only an early game problem. Do not use quick finishers on your dailies. You should basically only use quick finishers during events if you need to bulk pull. Eventually you'll have too many to even use.

[@cristianyusei]

I started on 12, and spent the oil on missions, I'm level 37, at 40 I was able to climb the bar, is there any tips to get free and faster oil?

[@GuardianEPlays]

For oil, it's more about using oil cost effective fleets, like 1:1 fleets. Using a single Elite BC like Nelson/Rodney paired with a tanky vanguard ship like Phoenix, for example. But as far as sources of oil, it really comes down to the Academy, commissions, quests, and selling common dupe ships.

[@theargentraven42]

Heres a tip, save those maintenance mail rewards. They give you like 1k oil for each one. I stockpile them until I need them like during an oil guzzling event.

[@monarchxxv936]

Helpful guide! but i have a question. will taihou return?

[@monarchxxv936]

nvm got her now im happy tho i risked my money 😂

[@renyoudie]

Probably a year from now with the next anniversary update. She's probably not gonna get any sort of rerun till then. Edit: lol didn't see your update, enjoy your big-tiddy yandere.

[@monarchxxv936]

@@renyoudie money is the answer for hoes, thanks for replying :D

[@GuardianEPlays]

Thank you! I see that I'm late. Congrats on your Taihou! She would have been the more limited of this batch.

[@air_w0lf766]

I gotta be honest, this is truly helpful but I only understand number 1 up to number 4. Sorry for being dumb since it's my 5th day in Azur Lane. I hope there's a beginner's guide soon.

[@GuardianEPlays]

I think they'll make more sense once you've started getting more into the game, but it's pretty simple. I try to explain it as I'm talking about how they apply in the video. When a limited event starts with a limited banner, you'll know what I'm talking about with step 5 - there are often daily event quests tied to doing 3 builds per day. 6) You can limit break ships in their profile. You usually need dupes, but you can just save up and get bulins/purins over time instead. 7) Research is something that gets opened up over time at the bottom of the main screen, where you get unlock special ships via quests and experience farming.

[@air_w0lf766]

@@GuardianEPlays Thank you for answering. I'm still currently grinding for London at 2-1.

[@Rpground]

I had to spend gems on cubes this month or else I absolutely wouldn't of gotten Taihou. Spent over 3000 gems and only just getting her absolutely meant I would of had to spend.

[@GuardianEPlays]

I'm not trying to discourage spending necessarily, but 3000 gems is around 110 cubes. You would have gotten that for free throughout the duration of the month, as evidenced by the video. I'm not sure when you got Taihou, but if it was anywhere before the final days, you had time to spare. Sometimes you get a tough break, and it doesn't pan out, so I definitely understand spending. I just want to give people the best possible ways to save up their cube counts.

[@Rpground]

@@GuardianEPlays Og course I was just stating what I felt I had to do...actually, that's not including my stockpile and the daily cubes I was getting. No way in 6 days was I going to get 110 cubes. I will say I overspent by a bit, as I've recouped a few, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it or anything. Bought those gems months ago anyway, so it was either going to go into cubes for an emergency or a skin I really want...which there is only one shipgirl I was to buy skins for but Spence doesn't even have one yet anyway.

[@TheBlackob]

"People spend upwards of 600 cubes without getting their desired ship" HOW THE FU? Last Event i spend around 200 Cubes as i did not have the coins to do more. How do you spend 600 without cashing?

[@GuardianEPlays]

Some people do cash, or some people just do it over the course of the a few weeks with the event. Or some people just save tons of coins - like in the video, I have 550,000+ coins by the end of it.

[@bbublz3991]

Thanks!!

[@GuardianEPlays]

Glad to help!

[@asf1062]

Ive never played the game before but i watch guides to know the do's and don'ts of the game. Im convinced to try it but i wanna ask if this game is time friendly? cause every vid i see, they've played for hours and hours a day and I kind of dont have the time to spend that much a day. Also thanks for the guide!

[@GuardianEPlays]

I'm glad to hear it helped! As with any mobile gacha game, you can spend hours min-maxing or just coast to get efficient rewards. You get what you put into it, basically. Events themselves can be grindy for shop clearing, but don't command tons of time every single day if you only want the exclusive ships. Following the guide here will only take about 30 minutes per day for cube accumulation.

[@8koi245]

Gotta catch Shinano in the re-run!!

[@GuardianEPlays]

Gotta start preparing!

[@DoktorMerrick]

I'm just starting and I'm looking to stockplie supplies and not be that credit card user to get what I want. ecuase I'm either wasting currency. Or just being stupid. But I'm going for Ironblood faction ships. I do like some of the other Ships, but I won't go crazy for them. So that way I don't want to be spread, rather have a set goal. Ironblood.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Saving is smart! You'll have plenty of cubes to go after your Ironblood targets.

[@timeshark8727]

yeah, you can get quite a few cubes daily. You also don't need to build any ships to play the game with all the drops you can get.

[@GuardianEPlays]

True, you get a lot of excellent ships via drops!

[@ambaraputra1603]

1 thing should be noted for newbies; fleet full of SR doesn't mean the fleet is the strongest! don't rush your luck! even common ships have a ton of end game potential!! ...or so they said, is that actually true?

[@GuardianEPlays]

Most ships are viable into the late game, as long as they're built properly and have good support. And there are plenty of Elites and common SRs that are very strong, so I'd say it's true.

[@janarcangel49]

Some have their niche. Langley and amazon and Yuubari for example has EXP modifiers. Ranger and Long Island with the right RNG has large damage potential.

[@keithsimpson2685]

Im mostly doin this and still run out of cubes fast. Mostly because i am new and have no ships so all events I want to make as many rolls as I can. Normal banners may as well be events to me

[@GuardianEPlays]

If there's no event going on, you shouldn't be spending more than 1 cube per day, basically. We had a nice reprieve of about a week and a half with before Universe in Unison hit. When starting out, you just have to take opportunities to save where you can. If you stick to the 3 dailies on an event banner, you should still be net positive in cube count if you follow the guide.

[@Mark-dy9pc]

Woo didn't know that we can get that much. Since I've suffered in fgo this is like a god level of f2p friendly 😂

[@GuardianEPlays]

The devs are definitely very generous with the cubes!

[@semphonix]

Thx for info.. now i can stop spam build to get copy of formidable

[@GuardianEPlays]

You're welcome! May your cube reserves grow!

[@uteriel282]

got one booby carrier yesterday and one today from single event constructions lol. still missing zara tho and the cruiser pool in this event is full of random trash you get everywhere.

[@semphonix]

@@uteriel282 yah like 4 hour build for SHONEN ( Nevada)

[@nickwilliams6621]

People need to look at this video for the upcoming Scherzo of Iron and Blood re-run.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Hopefully when people are in recovery mode after the event, they'll do some efficient saving!

[@dnl.p1]

Great Video. Thank you!

[@GuardianEPlays]

Thank you very much! I hope it was helpful!

[@PhillyCh3zSt3ak]

"You can usually get most in about 100 cubes". Laughs in Bismarck. I look back on this as hindsight and am a bit salty about this still despite almost being a year ago. Almost on every event I did fairly well, but then the Bismarck event hit and it hit hard. That event alone I think I dumped maybe 400+ cubes. I'll have to look in the old Discord message archives if I want the real number because I did run the numbers and it astounds me. This was when I was still pretty garbage about resource management and to be honest while I'm better, I'm still garbage. That event was the only one where I willingly pulled out the debit card and dropped about $60 on gems for cubes (since before this I had never purchased gems I got the bonuses so if we went with true dollar values it'd be closer to $120); now luckily I did get my coveted Bismarck. Ever since then I've been expecting that one event to burn me once again.

[@GuardianEPlays]

That's the core message behind the video - RNG is RNG, and everyone gets hit hard eventually, no matter who you are. No one is bulletproof. And while people may want to consider splurging because they have a healthy cube reserve, the reality is that it only takes one bad event to deplete everything you have. You'll get really lucky sometimes, get really unlucky sometimes, but on average, across all events across years of playing, it'll likely average out to about 100-150 cubes per event.

[@aldyzero6676]

Maybe you should make a guide on grinding exp for PR ships (like monarch and izumo good exp grind on 7-2)

[@GuardianEPlays]

That's a pretty good idea!

[@TheLiamis]

I find just leveling common or rare gets the exp grind done in 2 or 3 weeks at a chill pace. The blueprints is what takes longest.

[@d3fyre_rett]

I just started azur lane late march and since I mostly played blindly and didnt know what to do during the ashen event rerun, i missed out on cavalla and bataan and maybe more that I didnt know about. I did get allen Sumner from the limited pool. Ive started hoarding cubes maybe two weeks ago and I'm wondering, when do we expect the next event?

[@GuardianEPlays]

Welcome to the game! You can see the latest news, including info on the latest event incoming in this livestream recap: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jmfLh5acfL6cpNk

[@meisterl0]

Do they give Gold bulins on events sometimes or just the monthly log ins and quest's? Cause i don't wanna spend on another copy of a certain SR unit.

[@GuardianEPlays]

The most consistent sources of gold bulins are the weekly quest, medal exchange shop, and login bonus. They appear in the merit shop sometimes as well. Just be patient and you'll get more bulins than you need, in most cases over time. They hand out a lot of them.

[@rainfyre2694]

I got Essex when i started playing the game. My (cube) spending has been chaotic since.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Well, if you follow this guide, you'll basically never have to worry about cubes ever again!

[@loopin9543]

Im going to start new acc in azur lane and gonna save a lot of cubes for upcoming events and rate ups, I hope I can restrain myself lol

[@GuardianEPlays]

Good luck, and happy saving!

[@loopin9543]

@@GuardianEPlays well in the first day I built 12ships (4 each banner) and luckily got sandiego and illustrious. The rest of my cubes rn is saved lol and thank u for the tips in this vid, its very helpful tho.

[@Vara01858]

286 cubes no Baltimore, while on the subs gacha before that I got everything in 60 cubes. Luck comes and goes.

[@GuardianEPlays]

Yep, that's exactly what I said.

[@nohandlesplease]

When I started the game I went heavy on special construction because JUST LET ME HAVE SOME BACKLINE SHIPS DANG IT! I was under the impression that special construction was the only way to get non-vanguard ships. RNG was not kind...

[@GuardianEPlays]

We've all got to start somewhere, and now you know better! That's all that matters!