My Thoughts on Illustrious | Azur Lane

[@Hawk2zer0]

There's a few things I do want to mention that I realize I either forgot to include or accidentally left off. 1) I talk about reload a lot here, but it alone can be detrimental (unless you set up your equips to speed her up instead of going for high damage). Your equips will definitely matter in the overall grand scheme of combat. 2) Eldridge is a really nice wombo combo with Illustrious. The Shield soaks up damage while the "hit" still registers. While she might not take damage from getting hit (due to the shield) it can still proc Eldridge's Operation Rainbow skill...extending Vanguard Invulnerability. 3) I was only comparing CVs here. So the fox twins aren't the ONLY counter to Enterprise. Hood I know is a good counter. I've heard ones like Washington can also be. Two vanguards I can think of: Despite Eldridge's low proc rate on Operation Rainbow, that invulnerability will make Enterprise cri everytime. San Diego has massive air attack damage reduction...so while it might hit everyone hard, San Diego is more than likely guaranteed to survive the attack...now if only she could hit like a truck.

[@rainierdanredondo1278]

Me: (still waits for Crimson Echoes)

[@rainierdanredondo1278]

@Brady Game Phone YOU ARE THE ENEMY OF SOME No, seriously. Someone might get triggered cuz of your statement. Me? With the massive amount of selections for Backline, and the uprise of Amagi and Kaga BB, I may have some options to ditch Lusty

[@rainierdanredondo1278]

@Brady Game Phone me: Still forced to use Illustrious because of equipment and Bulin restraints Believe me, I have Washington, South Dakota, Tirpitz, Graf Zeppelin, and (recently) Akagi. And then, I may even get Amagi and Kaga BB in the future. With a couple more Vanguard options. I don't think I have enough time and Bulins to change a setup.

[@rainierdanredondo1278]

@Brady Game Phone besides, i got her close to lv 100

[@rainierdanredondo1278]

@Brady Game Phone Fleet comp: Vanguard- Belfast, Z23 Retrofit, Minneapolis Backline- Illustrious, Enterprise, Hood

[@GCJACK83]

ERIS PADS HER CHEST! Also, Lusty exists for one reason, and one reason only: She buffs the frontline's health pool for PvP, good for protecting the backline.

[@tebjosh13]

Ha!

[@yummychips_]

thats if you dont get wrecked by fox sisters or enty before. I run 3 carriers, fox sisters and enty. Front line dies way before lusty can shield

[@random2370]

@@yummychips_ just increase reload with elizabeth

[@junkiexl86]

And a year later she is still a tough sell. That shield she puts up on Vanguard isn't that strong and shes a middle ground CV after that. Needless to say she collects dust in my fleet. I much rather run Sara, Fox sisters or Hiryuu etc. Heck even Little Illustrious is superior to her.

[@colinmasterson666]

“Amazing chest ahead”… now that brings me back to my days of playing dark souls 1 & 3. Good times. Good times.

[@Godzillafan-tv1ks]

Ah a man of culture I see

[@hijisfriend9030]

Ah, shit those mimic

[@nanarb4733]

Wait..., Isn't that mostly from ds 2?

[@colinmasterson666]

@@nanarb4733 Yes it is. But I’ve only played Dark Souls 1 & 3.

[@nanarb4733]

@@colinmasterson666 understandable, have a good day

[@CrazyTankersVN]

You will hear a lot of people talking shit about Illustrious, especially on Discord #help. In number and manual, Illustrious is not a good carrier when it comes to damage per minute. Nor she is a good carrier in many situations. As an SR ship, she costs a lot of oil. Her aviation is high but her plane setup won't benefit from that. So, is Illustrious really an useless carrier who was voiced by an useless goddess? Personally, I found that Illustrious can be rather helpful during some situation. First, if your vanguard is torpedo-focused, apply them a shield to allow them to drop torpedo at point-blank range, effectively cripple or outright destroy an enemy BB (a combo of Jinfuyami Jintsuu, Fubuki and Ayanami is a prime example of this setup). Very useful in high level stage, and her shield will complement with a healer to make sure the vanguard will not lose their health as fast as they are healed. Illustrious' armor is heavy. That means she will take less damage from enemy BB's HE shells (of course, no armor will protect you from HE spammers but still...). Putting her as flagship, pairing her with a healer like Akashi or "emergency" Vestal and she can last very long. Of course your vanguard must kill enemy fast - no ship can sustain damage for long. And finally, she is one of the top tier waifu who is so sweet and gentle, you won't ask anymore from a girlfriend/waifu like her. She has limited usage, but if you love her, she will always be the best.

[@Hawk2zer0]

That's pretty much where I think she is. I use her in high level areas, but mostly for mob clear right now. I might try her in boss situations...since you did see how much damage my vanguard took for 9-1... probably once I've done the defeat all enemies bit.

[@askaz971]

She is my shipfu, so game gave me her 0 and 10 Enterprise.

[@CrazyTankersVN]

@@Hawk2zer0 9-1 is rather merciful. It is not too hard with a level 100 fleet. You will soon see what HE spammers are when reaching world 10. Killing enemies is one thing, and must kill fast; sustaining damage and timing your time to clear enemy shells would be other problems.

[@widchaponjearaphunt5452]

She still tier 0 for that reason

[@frostlunawinterhazel5125]

Fck them she is good though

[@MrBuash]

She is not for PvP or PvE but PeePee.

[@sylph2689]

Lmfao

[@jtaimelaon4735]

Jelly Donut I fucking lost it at this. Thank you.

[@lumineaether1494]

in *ded*

[@SimplyDuker]

*PeePeePewPew*

[@jW-kr5xn]

She does makes peepee goes pew

[@officialkx3177]

0:50 not gonna lie I did the same thing, I combined all of my SR including bulin

[@erichvondonitz5325]

same

[@sebotrp]

LMAO i am level 65 and still use fleets that consist of mainly my favorite ships regardless if they work well together or not. For example my main fleet consist of Hood, Shohou(Retrofit), Long Island(Retrofit), Black Heart, Belfast and Deutschland and despite there being next to 0 synergy this fleet still manages to do the job well. Seriously i think people care about meta and optimal builds way too much. In fact i think focusing so much on optimal teams is ultimately what ruins half of the fun in such games because you get so fixated on specific ships that you simply need to have in order to perfect your fleet everything else just becomes a meaningless garbage to you. Hell, Long Island is still on my main fleet instead of Enterprise or Illustrious(which i have both) simply because i have much more fun using her and Shohou than the other two.

[@TheBaralinChannel]

Yeah, I personally just put together fleets based on nations. Dump all my RN ships into one fleet, all my KMS into another - voila, who'd have thought that ships that ships of the same nation do a good job. But yeah, the game isn't so tough that you need to make specific builds. Illustrious is always in my british fleet and she does a tremendous job. Maybe there's a better choice but I like her as she is.

[@Berubesto]

+ respect for those who put Belfast in their fleet . . . . . . . BERUFASTTO IZ DA BEZT!!!!!

[@bjorndevlieger8565]

neat my fleet is like Illustrious, North Carolina, Enterprise, Atago, Belfast and Prinz got NC there for the AA buffs

[@blazergaming2846]

My Back line consists of: Enterprise, Hood and Illustrious. My front line Consists of: Belfast, San Diego and Prinz Eugen.

[@deloran8530]

My Fleet Main : Enterprise, Hood, Illustrious Vanguard : Prinz Eugen, Takao, Belfast

[@yansuki4240]

she is my first carrier. she's really useful. i love using her airstike while i banzai my jintsu, ayanami to do point blank torpedo shot. GG boss.

[@articerile]

I started two weeks ago, being a British player I wanted a British fleet, and was blessed with Illustrious, Hood and Belfast. I also got Queen Elizabeth. With Liz boosting everyone's everything, and Hood repeatedly buffing my backline's reload, Illustrious has been doing fantastic work in PvP. Add her shield to Belfast's evasion and air damage reduction, and you're golden. They've been taking higher level oathed fleets, and they're not even properly geared yet, and none of them are oathed.

[@sin1712]

ill add one thing here, tho most people will disregard it, illustrious skill reduces your own vanguard evasion to 0, why is this usefull? u can potentially force eldridge to proc her skill using illustrious skill, making eldridge+illustrious a potential combo to considerate for pve/pvp

[@Hawk2zer0]

Probably is a good thing they did that...it'd be a bit broken if evasion wasn't reduced.

[@sin1712]

@@Hawk2zer0 yeah, im literally saying its a upside if u force it with eldridge beacause eldridge skill will overide it, great video btw

[@akbardimas5286]

Hey my sister

[@rainierdanredondo1278]

@@akbardimas5286 hi Tirpitz. How's life?

[@ruieinaba6117]

whered you even get this info? her skill doesnt reduce evasion to 0 it just allows on-hit skills to proc

[@nou286]

wait, konosuba voice actress too lust-nee?

[@Hawk2zer0]

yep!

[@ch0mpd136]

KAZUMA KAZUMA KAZUUUMMMAAA

[@NotABot55]

Hai Kazuma desu... she also voices that Le Triomphant from the Iris Libre event last year.

[@РавильШагимарданов]

Graf Zeppelin please

[@ruikirisame1744]

These types of comments make me kinda guilty to have her

[@РавильШагимарданов]

@@ruikirisame1744 but why?

[@ruikirisame1744]

@@РавильШагимарданов I just find it kind of sad wasting so many cube (and possibly money) and still not getting your waifu. Especially if she is limited

[@peterjohnson367]

One thing people tend to forget when considering stats is that Illustrious is currently the only non-event drop/build(and those events aren't on EN yet) carrier to have heavy armor. This may not seem like a big deal, but it helps her tank bb salvos in pvp that would break Akaga or Lucky E. In pve, she's a late game bloomer, as suicide boats get more intense and unavoidable as you go up in maps, she'll take far less of a beating from them. She's also really useful in this capacity for the suicide boat daily. Overall, Illustrious isn't as a good a striker, but between her skill, not insignificant health pool and heavy armor, she'll win a war of attrition and gets more useful the more you progress in pve.

[@junkiexl86]

Sorry, but I'm not going to slot an otherwise weak ship into a backline slot, just cause she can take a few extra suicide boats lol. There are other combos I can do to mitigate that threat without gimping my battle performance. The issue arises for the very example you are making. Illustrious is a meh CV and her shield is weak. Now if you're someone just starting out and you got illustrious early, sure she can be a good addition and useful. But as you 'move up the maps' as you say, your options and ship combos have grown substantially since then, thus the further you get into the game, the more her value decreases. Give her a Retro and/or a 2nd skill then maybe worth a revisit.

[@RevilloPhoenix]

As a PvP ship, Lusty is great...well, to be specific she is great in current EN meta exactly cause it's an Enty meta for now and not a Fox meta yet do to lack of Nagato. As much as Enty would out DPS Lusty and won't take damage from Lusty by rolling Lucky E...Lusty, and her whole team also takes a lot less/close to no damage from Enty. Lusty is an Enty hard counter, especially with Eldridge. I run Eldridge, Belfast, Fortune Kai, Hood, Illustrious, Queen Elizabeth as my HMS PvP team and I basically never lose to an Enterprise team ever, sure the enemy Enty is always the last to survive but she can never deal any significant enough damage to my iron defence team. Plus on a side note, Lusty is still not as much a write off in terms of damage as one would think, in PvP my Lusty often takes the MVP vs my Hood. Gear for comparison: Lusty: +10 F4U Pirate, +10 Seafang, +10 Barracuda, +10 Steam Catapult, +10 Aviation Oil Tank Hood: +10 410mm, +6 Single 127mm, +10 Quad 40mm Bofors, +10 High Standard Fire-Control Radar, +10 SG Radar. ( I know I'm slacking on the Aux gun of my Hood but honestly, with so much protection on my front line, the enemy front line never makes it to mine, my back line dies to the enemy back line before my front line is ever taken down if any of my ships sink, so my aux gun on pvp almost is a non factor. ) ( Also I guess I should add that I'm not picking on the easy opponents, I always click left most for the highest ranked pvp opponent possible and so far I reached top 10 on every season I was playing. )

[@mochithepooh5368]

That 2:30 sakura torp*** dodge though are so satisfying to watch.

[@K1nsiggMonark]

Ayanami cause shes qt demon that or Ark Royal cause she's one of the usefull CV that at times got pushed out of the build (probably because her being a "nagamon") Also I'd like to add a few usefullness on Illustrious pvp, her 2 Fighter build + Catapult is one of Enterprise PVP counter although it might not look effective cause you want to kill Enterprise ASAP but she can give her Enterprise Bombers a slight headache.(though you need the likes of Hood/Washington to kill Enterprise effectively) On other side nice vid on Illustrious

[@Hawk2zer0]

Agreed. I wonder how much health planes have...could easily counter it if the fighters do enough damage

[@beforeafter2121]

Her usage is not limited to late stage only imo. she may not be the most efficient boss killer but she can do a decent job at almost any other pve scenario (excluding pvp). but shes kinda overkill. the comparison is like if you can have fleet that can only kills 6 nodes but effectively, why bring something that can survive 20 nodes and kill slower? (shes very good in 0 ammo scenario since firepower is cut 50% by that point). overall shes a great ship for lazy player (like me) who wants to auto everything without having to worry about casualty.

[@Hawk2zer0]

I don't auto at all, so I guess that does kinda present a different side of things. I have used her in "training" fleets...or where everyone except her is VERY LOW level and I'm raising them up. Having that massive shield every so often helps them to survive (and level up).

[@horizon1099]

Now that Hawk2zer0's done one of Illustrious, it's my turn, and I'll explain how you use Enterprise. You can't use Enterprise because she's broken sometimes (literally terrible joke why)

[@Hawk2zer0]

We talking about game breaking? Oooo! I know I know! Let's get Long Island, Bogue, and Ranger...then we upgrade their Quick Takeoff skills to Lvl 10. Then we set them as exercise defense. We'll be able to figure out who plays on emulator and who doesn't. If you're on your emulator, you'll be fine. If you're on a phone fighting that fleet, the moment the skills chain...your phone can crash xD

[@horizon1099]

At least now if I see that fleet I'll be like "Probably got the idea from Hawk2zer0" I play on a phone, chances are I'll battle it anyways cause I can't resist and my game's gonna crash and I'll be like "Oh-kay"

[@rainierdanredondo1278]

@@Hawk2zer0 Amagi: Wut about me?

[@GraighSoul]

Hawk2zer0 You monster...how could you...?

[@Direk_Carla]

Just started Azur Lane last night, got BB Kaga, BB Amagi and CA Atago. You remind me of Zak and nice voice too! Thanks for the great tips, you got my subscription!

[@nightnous]

She was my first bulid of 2019 so happy as I'm building a HMS fleet

[@Hawk2zer0]

I've been wanting to set up Faction Fleets...possible now that we had a lot of KMS ships enter the game!

[@nightnous]

@@Hawk2zer0 faction fleets some how give me even more enjoyment in the game, Queen Elizabeth's skill is also put to good use

[@dakpaxian126]

Thanks for the video! I really enjoyed hearing your thoughts on Illustrious, but there were a few things I wanted to throw out there: lllustrious was always more geared towards being a support carrier, so damage was never really meant to be a thing to be considered when it comes to her. There's also something else that's beneficial to her plane setup: potentially quicker take-off times which means more opportunities to deploy her shield. In PvP, she can easily deploy before Enterprise due to having two fighters (especially if you use AM65 Zero with a 9.47s/wave). I'm also surprised that you didn't mention pairing Illustrious with Eldridge, since her shield can allow Eldridge to proc her ability without actually taking damage... which eventually leads to Vanguard invincibility for a set period of time. This helps immensely in PvE and can have some similar merits in PvP (but not nearly as consistent since PvP matches are substantially shorter than PvE battles) Also, side note: a perfect counter to enemy Enterprise is placing one's Hood right in front of her, not necessarily Akaga twins, but you were comparing Carriers overall so I see why you said that.

[@Hawk2zer0]

I did mention that part of who strikes first comes down to reload and plane equips. I haven't tried AM65 Zeros (I don't think I have many...I have more Seafangs than I know what to deal with as Long Island, Illustrious and two other carriers have them). I realize in my script revision, I accidentally missed Eldridge's bit...(she was originally in there). She's good, but I've always been worried about that 1.4k health pool. She's so frail...so it works wonders to pair the two together. There's a lot of counters to Enterprise. Hood is a good BC counter. Fox Twins have always been known for that. Heck...I've had Long Island and Ranger even counter her (Long Island accidentally aced the enemy team)

[@dakpaxian126]

@@Hawk2zer0 I know you mentioned adjusting take-off order in your video, but it felt like you were focusing primarily on Illustrious's low reload stat rather than mentioning a way to address it (i.e examples of planes). But still, thank you for taking the time to reply; I really do appreciate it ^o^

[@Hawk2zer0]

@@dakpaxian126 You do make me wonder if I should consider loadouts/equips in these videos...but those themselves...could be their own videos...(e.g. why a 2-shell gun is better than a 4-shell gun...for characters like Hood...whereas it's fine on characters like Washington).

[@alcatraz-nc2814]

Personnally I switched Illustrious in my main fleet when fighting against boss in chapter 9. My Vanguard is heavily torps focus and with Ayanami skill, it can remove boss HP fairly quickly but the damage you take is absurd, hence the reason I use Illustrious. PVP wise, as long as your Vanguard is alive, Illustrious will always "be useful" and she can counter Enterprise quite well. As a support CV, I think she has her place pretty much everywhere. Clear trash fleet ? Her shield will allow you to save more HP (especially when trying to 3 star maps). In the boss fleet ? Not only CV clear the screen of all ennemi projectile, it also grants you shield. Next time how about Akashi nya~ ?

[@junkiexl86]

The problem is that shield is so weak, that it makes it hard to justify. I could maybe see an argument if she actually was a decent CV otherwise, but her loadout is just garbage when compared against other carriers so all you're left with it that weak ass shield. I can think of 10 other better options for her slot boss fleet or mob fleet. One of which is far superior Little Illustrious lol Enty is kind of in the same boat. A good niche situational RNG skill, but an otherwise meh CV before and after she blows her load. Even then Ive seen times where LuckyE gives me a clutch proc, only for all the planes to get shot the fuck down. A large reason I run 2-3 BB's per fleet now.

[@thehumus8688]

Illustrius is staple pvp team for me. combine with eldridge in British Fleet composition. use VF-15 pirate squad, Reppu and gold barracuda. with QE - Queens command you got fast reload that will launch first vs most opponent, that will also trigger eldridge operation rainbow when enemy turn come. then put some Smoker like Belfast and Leander Kai, then you have its extremly durable Vanguard. or with Fortune kai, you will also have main fleet protection in PVE just use Owari da for Ez win lol

[@Hawk2zer0]

I use her for PvP offense right now mostly for that shield. She's also paired with Long Island Kai and Enterprise. I don't have to worry about damage thanks to those two. So Illustrious is there mostly to help the vanguard in being annoying.

[@1110jesse]

Illustrious is also the only carrier with heavy armor, all others have medium armor :D Also, thanks to her 2 fighter slots, she tends to send out her airstrikes actually faster than other carriers (except for fox twins). Fighters tend to load faster than dive/torp bombers, so that balances out the missing reload stat points.. At least with my setup Illustrious is faster than Enterprice.. And my E has "best in slot" planes while my Illustrious doesn't..

[@xXYellowFlash]

This video was very well made ,and was such a good watch :)!! Hope to see more great content :)

[@seankestebernales5841]

1:21 I chose Enterprise over Illustrious, not because of her looks but because I don't have Illustrious 😂😂😂

[@Spindrift_87]

This is exactly the sort of information I seek, as a new player. I assumed that the more rare a ship was, the better performing it was likely to be - while also being suspicious of that very assumption. Thank you for your educational videos, I found them at the point (fleet ships in the mid-60s, level-wise) where I feel I need to be more discerning about ship choices.

[@Qardo]

I kind of run Illustrious with Unicorn. As the two together for me have a good support synergy. Works well for me thankfully. At least trying to get through chapter 9. Or poking around farming (for those fox sisters...Kaga come home t.t) or doing events....and run a pure Royal Navy Fleet for getting as much exp for Neptune exp research (mostly Cruiser and Light Cruiser of course).

[@Gredoxx]

Lusty + Unicorn + Queen elizabeth is also an option for mob fleet if you want a full HMS fleet

[@Hawk2zer0]

hmm....I'd have to think out my vanguard for an HMS fleet. Suffolk Kai and Leander Kai are first choices that come to mind.

[@TheRicanNinja777]

@@Hawk2zer0 Sadly Suffolk is a squish factory. But of you can protect her, she does loads of damage. Personally i swap between Belfast, Edinburgh, Leander Kai, Fortune Kai, and Suffolk Kai depending on what im trying to do. With 4k+ max HP, Edinburgh is the tankiest CL in game based solely on HP and EVA stats. Usually run her front with Leander Kai mid and Belfast back on my HMS vanguard. But thats for boss fleet lol. Idk bout clear. Also, Cygnet Kai is has an outright ridiculous amount of survivability but damage on her is another story...

[@Hawk2zer0]

@@TheRicanNinja777 Suffolk is really frail...I've tested the beaver badge and putting her in the middle and that helps out a LOT. Hopefully there's more Aux equips that help with Evasion (I mean like considerable amounts of evasion...not the like +2-15 you can get from SG radar levels. My clear fleets are heavy on CA/CL so...high evasion items are nice...plus the speed boost of the beaver badge helps.

[@TheRicanNinja777]

@@Hawk2zer0 We'll eventually get a gold Hydraulic Control Thingamajig (don't exactly remember the name of it) that adds 40 EVA. That'll be nice when we get it. Plus it won't be limited to only 1 copy per ever lol. Only 1 per ship but it also has a side perk that can proc every 20s to get a dodge skill for a couple seconds. So that's nice. It's something to look forward to, at least.

[@NarutoUzumaki-hj2hb]

5:32 what is the name of the ship with those ghost looking missiles and are they good

[@Hawk2zer0]

That is USS Eldridge's barrage. It's good mostly because it hits EVERYTHING.

[@shafwandito4724]

Talk About Warspite.

[@yansuki4240]

i love lusty, she's my first SSR back in JP server during AL first year. i love to use her with dd squad. her airstrike + torpedo shootgun clear most bosses.

[@naomy1701]

actually thats not a bad fleet, if they are skill-leveled they are pretty ok, not a super-synerge-t(h)ic(c) fleet, but they should survive about anything on a equal level if not more ^^

[@SeismicHammer]

True, asides from Warspite they all have some survivability skill.

[@naejin]

Maybe Eugen could be replaced by a higher damage & faster ship, but I also thought that fleet wasn't bad. In fact, that's basically my current main fleet minus Eugen. Of course, I'm using Warspite now to level her up in anticipation of her retro coming up. Perhaps the worst part of this type of fleet is the obscene oil cost.

[@crimsonfury949]

1:09 new-ish player here. What is wrong with this fleet exactly because I use half of them in my own fleet. (Eugen, Enty, Bel)

[@Hawk2zer0]

The frontline is weak in terms of damage output....that plus eldridge has such a low health pool that she'll probably die quickly with no healing... Prinz Eugen is a health tank, but trades that health advantage for lower firepower. Belfast will help when there is a heavy air presence...which really only happens in one particular chapter in later game

[@Jack_Rakan]

Before I quit AL about a month ago (in the middle of the Graf Zeppelin/Z46 event) I used to use Lusty/Enty/Hood + Belfast/ Ayanami Kai/ Javelin Kai as my PvP fleet, and it worked pretty well against both A-Kaga and HMS fleets, and 90% of the time I won through smashing the enemy vanguard with minimal losses (the rest of the time it was basically a coin toss for who could OWARI-DA without the other guy doing it too)

[@Hawk2zer0]

That backline I do see a lot...if not that...usually the Illustrious is replaced with someone else (one of the fox twins for example). Those Enterprise Stand-offs are the most stressful bits lol

[@vidmaniacz]

When world 12 comes around illustrious and sandy are invaluable there due to the sheer amount of planes, does have pvp presence if you use washington,dakota and eldridge can really outlast fronts and punish cv backs with dual bbs.

[@Hawk2zer0]

She, Enterprise, and Hood are a common pairing I see for backlines....otherwise...I've seen Akagi, Kaga, Enterprise.....or Hood, Washington, Enterprise (which is my boss fleet backline)

[@Lee-fw5bd]

I've been rocking my meme PVP formation for a long while and one of the lynchpins of it is Illustrious. The shield is surprisingly effective at protecting your vanguard from the first wave of barrages. I definitely wouldn't call it a small increase in survivability. Since barrages tend to be proced in the same 5 or so seconds in PVP, I can reliably (provided that the enemy team doesn't have UR backliners or backliners that target my backline specifically) come out of that first wave losing fairly little health meanwhile they took most of my damage. It's usually enough for me to destroy their vanguard while mine is only at half health. That being said, if my vanguard dies before doing enough damage to their main fleet, it's usually my loss so ya know. Strong vanguard is a must

[@toniodu371200]

Actually, Illus works better with Iron blood and sakura empire as all her planes are an absolute relief in harder PVE stages. I absolutely load her with 2 autoloaders , Wyvern torpboi, Me155 and Skyrocket she litterally throw planes every 5s effectively covering 80% of the time making it way easier for my roon agir blucher frontline to actually work without worrying for the 25 million planes incoming at mommy der grosse and my beloved biscuit ( that will die for our sins anyway )...

[@onyxdragon1179]

I love Illustrous, first SR I got barely 2 days into the game (Ive been playing for around 16 days now lol). But I think you failed to mention that her fighters can carry bombs, which helps a lot with the overall damage she does But I do agree her reload speed is slow, but I find her performance to be great (yes, I got the fox sisters, but I use them on an IJN team I got)

[@Max-hb9yu]

1:03 I want to know who you got USS Eldridge by level 20, I don’t really care about the fleet comp, that’s all I want to know is how did you get her, also if she’s not on the list yet, might be worth adding her thanks to the unique(and frustrating) requirements for acquisition if you ever see this comment.

[@junkiexl86]

Its not impossible to get her that early. Shes only 20k merit. Just fight the lowest fleet power opponents, many times you'll see people in there running low level or bulin fleets. Forget about getting high rank this way, but a sure-fire way to get merit quickly. Also even with a loss you still get half merit, while still getting no-oil cost XP and make sure you're not capping out on exercises. You can run 15 (+5 every 8 hours iirc) a day, but it caps out at 10, so make sure you stay on top of it.

[@Mario-kf3ej]

There was/is/will be one another counter to E - Hiryuu. Many people underestimate Last Counter skill but it's one of best if not best defensive skill (maybe tied with Eldridge broken skill) in game ! 15 Seconds in which she deploys air strike and she can still deploy her normal air strike that is hella lot of power. Shafted so many Enterprise fleets with her that I lost count. And it's not RNG based. She just strikes again after being Lucky Eed so Lucky E is NOT up because she just triggered Last counter with it. So it's kinda always fatal for E. Not to mention that both Hiryuu and Souryuu will power creep out both E and Akaga in PvE and PvP with thier amazingly strong retrofit. Probably they will be solo T0 CVs until E/Akaga gets retrofit or we get other carriers idk Midway / Shinano ? Because as it stands they are too strong to be in same bracket with E or Akaga after retro. Raw power , amazing skills and all not RNG based so they are insanely reliable - unlike E which may aswell do nothing but strike with solid 30% chance. All in all with well known "trick" to reset exercise CVs like E are not reliable in defense fleet at all - because someone can just reset till she does nothing. On the other hand Lusty or Hiryuu/Souryuu are above E by far since all thier skills will be triggered not matter what - so they are stronger for that purpose even before retro - after also in offense.

[@Hawk2zer0]

Final Counter is crazy! Went up against a player using her...she didn't win...but still that was something. I don't like that people can just reset the exercise penalty-free. It's a bit annoying. I saw the announcement for their retros...will put my remaining Carrier BPs to use (all my retrofittable carriers are done - right now at least).

[@DisgaeMi]

I wonder how hawk going to do Formidable intro when it become her to be in the spotlight

[@diegohiramguidogarcia6003]

so hey a little question, is North carolina, illustrious, enterprise, belfast, prinz eugen and Z23 Retrofit a good fleet? i mean i have been using them until the world 7 so i dont know

[@Hawk2zer0]

your front line damage could be a little lacking in later worlds. as for your backline, not a bad one. those carriers aren't bad for the time being. I will also say to go ahead and quickly train a new group of shipgirls. The more options you have, the better things will be as you play more!

[@diegohiramguidogarcia6003]

@@Hawk2zer0 thank you so much, and also ehm Is roon worth the wait? I almost have her, so Is she that good?

[@Hawk2zer0]

@@diegohiramguidogarcia6003 All of the PR ships are definitely worth it! Roon is a pretty good CA from Ironblood side and worth the work!

[@diegohiramguidogarcia6003]

@@Hawk2zer0 thank you for that, and also thank you so much for responding to my comments, i wish you luck, a great evening and you have a new subscriber, keep up the good work.

[@Ragequit47]

1:23 lol she said "gorilla"

[@Vollerei_]

now i cant unhear that

[@russianarmy-rh2wi]

Owari da*

[@russianarmy-rh2wi]

Woosh me if you want to

[@DKHZStudio]

for now Illustrious is in my third fleet hit Formidable and Unicorn ( unicorn and Illustrious needs to be in the same fleet

[@chasesblog]

Illustrious has been in my main fleet since I opened up fleet 2 along with warspite and respite and have done really good with her, though haven’t done a lot of pvp yet.

[@Gencrossbones]

how to take out enterprise in pvp use the fox sister and pray that your preloaded torpedoes miss the vanguard hit enterprise (this happens to me a lot especially if those are magnetic torpedoes) or just use warspite

[@pyroromancer]

Lvl 20.... 6 SR's........... .......... I messed around in pvp with Lusty shes an anti-carrier-support. Load her up with KMS or IJN fighters and watch them squadrons reduce enemy bombers to half, potentially reducing enemy bomb damage by half. Her shield on vanguard again is mostly intended to reduce incoming bomb damage as the shield goes up around the same time most other carriers strike. Which kind of makes her niche as shes most effective against an all carrier enemy fleet, which is rare, so her potential is utilized only 1/3 to 2/3. Which leaves questionable results.

[@Hawk2zer0]

I had a good number of the SRs before level 20...I just got used to those 6...then realized my Frontline doesn't have much firepower to them

[@Milenos]

Nobody: E: OWARI DA!

[@jeffzebert4982]

I got my Illustrious through the gacha, believe it or not! I just randomly applied a Quick Finisher on one ship that would've taken over 4 hours to complete, and there she was!

[@murderouskitten2577]

1:05 Actually it is vērt decent fleet. I would only ditch eldrige for something else, like Leander or Leipzig

[@sebastianohr2270]

Gamer time

[@mirai6464]

i know this is a year old video but i just onto the game and im lvl 47 rn and for shes good for protecting vanguard specially in exercise when you have spammer enemies she's still 3* btw cuz i prioritize my frontliners

[@junkiexl86]

Not really. Her shield is super weak with a short uptime/long lockout. The best you can get it to is about 750ish at lvl 120 fully oathed with 200 affinity and both armor platings (event items). This leads to the next issue with her; Shes already a sub-par carrier before the skill. With the skill, you're forced to gimp her carrier abilities further by being shoe-horned into slotting HP boosting items (event hull platings, repair toolkits etc) to boost her HP as much as you can to strengthen that shield, which is her gimmick. To further add insult to injury she suffers the same fate unicorn does in the fact to get the most out of her skill (shield in this case), you *should* forgo the torpedo plane slot entirely and slot 1-2 Skyrocket or Messerschmitt Me-155A fighters for the super fast reload speed (8 secs for the skyrockets) since her shield is based on a per-airstrike basis. Though a 750hp strong shield every 8 secs (assuming you went with the max HP and 1-2 skyrocket only approach) can be quite lucrative pairing her with a low level ship(s) you are grinding in early chapters.

[@John-gh2nn]

illustrious also has the same VA as Elizabeth liones from seven deadly sins

[@errornamenotfound2513]

What the background soundtrack?

[@Fishman465]

Her fighter heavy nature will be very useful in Chapter 13's levels (12 a bit less so) same goes for upping your air control when the Air Superiority sub system comes to EN. But truth be told I made similar mistake in fleet building early on; I'm working on raising ships to do more concise builds. W13 is also were DB-heavy ships (sara/lex) run into a wall the planes will either get shot down or the scattered nature combine with the higher Aviation resist means there won't be much damage from them. It's Moot for Lusty (Fighter heavy), Foxes/Cranes/Bunnies (nice mix of ships). Souryuu and Hiryuu are good ships to cover next with their refit in EN now.

[@cheetweet1962]

I just want to ask what is the relationship of illustrious and unicorn? Are they sisters??

[@terminatortryathalon381]

Soooooo he talked about how Enterprise out does her (of course jokingly) I actually found Illustrious better to Enterprise for a while and now she is in my PVP fleet with Enterprise and they sweep house when they attack together

[@david8dzg]

wait how many SR did you have when r at level 20

[@fluxthelycanroc9603]

nice job hawky, had just the right amount of jokes and memes in it that ive sorta come to expect, as to what id like to see next a video on my favorite destroyer laffey would be pretty sweet

[@s.31.l50]

I have a full British fleet, blessed by the Lolli Queen (HMS Queen Elizabeth) herself. I really don’t have any other British CV to replace Illustrious, so she’s staying.

[@koven-thecovenantofmerakya5060]

*Victorious and ark royal left the chat*

[@zerazot2711]

Alguien dígame como se llama la canción de fondo que está usando pls

[@mathiasrryba]

in my case lusty in most situations gives the shield when enemy airstrike is inbound so my vanguard takes close to no damage from it.

[@GregPrice-ep2dk]

Why is Enterprise so jealous? She's not exactly flaw lowlands either....

[@jacolbyhurst5437]

So what would happen if she by some chance obtain a retrofit in the future

[@kawaiijp6638]

she is my first SR. and she looks fabulous.

[@shiroekurumi5428]

@Hawk2zer0 can i ask your first and second fleet deck ? and their equipment . thank you so much

[@Hawk2zer0]

Might be a bit difficult to do, but I'll get to compiling all of that for you.

[@shiroekurumi5428]

@@Hawk2zer0 thank you mr hawk

[@Hawk2zer0]

​@@shiroekurumi5428 Alright, so here's my two fleet compositions. Fleet 1 - Clear Fleet Back line Shouhou Retro T4 Comet Dive Bomber (+6) T4 Aichi B7A Ryusei (+8) T3 Twin 20mm AA (+3) T3 Repair Tools (+5) T3 Aviation Oil Tank (+4) Queen Elizabeth T3 Quad 356mm Main Gun (+7) T3 Twin 100mm (+3) T3 Twin 37mm AA (+3) T3 Fire Control Radar (+3) T3 Autoloader (+10) I have two ships for 3rd slot Illustrious (Testing other loadouts) T4 Seafang (+6) T4 Seafang (+6) T4 Barracuda (+6) 2x T4 Steam Catapults (+5) Yorktown T4 Seafang (+5) T3 SB2C Helldiver (+3) T3 Barracuda (+3) T3 Aviation Oil Tank (+3) T3 Steam Catapult (+3) Front line Minneapolis T4 203mm Main Gun (+5) T3 Twin 127mm MK12 Dual (+5) T4 Quad 40mm Bofors (+8) Beaver Badge (+6) T3 Fire Control Radar (+5) Cleveland T3 Twin 150mm TbtsK (+4) T3 Twin 127mm Mk12 Dual (+3) Twin 105mm AA SK C (+4) T3 Repair Tools (+9) T3 SG Radar (+5) I have two for middle slot in vanguard: Suffolk Retrofit T4 203mm Main Gun (+7) T3 Quint 533mm Torp (+9) T3 Twin 105mm AA SK C (+5) T3 Repair Tools (+6) T3 SG Radar (+6) Eldridge T2 76mm AA Gun (MAX) T4 Quint 533mm Torp (MAX) T3 Twin 105mm AA SK C (+6) T3 Repair Tools (+6) T3 Gyroscope (+3) - prob replace

[@Hawk2zer0]

@@shiroekurumi5428 Fleet 2 - Boss Fleet Back Line Enterprise T4 A7M Reppu (+10) T3 SB2C Helldiver (+9) T4 Barracuda (+10) 2x T4 Steam Catapult (+8) Hood T3 410mm Mounted Gun (+6) T3 Twin 100mm AA Gun (+5) T3 Twin 40mm Bofors Gun (+6) 2x T3 Autoloaders (+9 & +10) Washington T4 Quad 356mm Main Gun (+6) T4 Twin 100mm AA Gun (+5) T3 Octuple 40mm Pom Pom (+6) T3 Fire Control Radar (+4) T3 Autoloader (+3) Front line Helena T3 Twin 150mm TbtsK (+6) T3 Twin 127mm MK12 Dual (+6) T3 Twin 37mm AA 70k (+3) T3 Repair Tools (+4) T3 SG Radar (+3) Laffey Retro (With Vanquish Mode) T4 Twin 127mm MK12 Dual (+9) T4 Quint 533mm Torpedo (MAX) T4 Quad 40mm Bofors (MAX) T4 SG Radar (+6) T3 Repair Tools (+7) Leander Retrofit (Might replace later on...not sure) T3 Twin 150mm TbtsK (+4) T4 Quint 533mm Torpedo (+6) T3 Twin 105mm AA SK C (+4) T3 Fuel Filter (+4) T3 Repair Tools (+6)

[@shiroekurumi5428]

@@Hawk2zer0 thank you so much you are the best azurlane youtuber !!

[@coenisgreat]

Would love to hear your take on Tirptiz I reckon...also Graf Zeppelin. That CV absolutely wipes fleets with her stukas :3

[@MikeyCochran1516]

You already know who I will request. Enterpise of course.

[@kun6497]

Still using her in harder maps, EX boss and later chapters. VERY helpful when you really need protection.

[@Hawk2zer0]

She's been REALLY helpful so far! It is strange that she has a "Late Bloomer" feel.

[@adrianscott7343]

For Ilustrious was my second ssr and was happy to have her and to this day she Is still on my pvp team also side note I'm still upset that I haven't oath her yet

[@Hawk2zer0]

I have her on attack PvP...She's alongside Long Island Kai and Enterprise. She might not be great for damage, but she helps keep the vanguard alive a bit more. Of course, Lucky E will still have a word with the vanguard, but if that doesn't proc...that shield can reduce the damage pretty well.

[@az_3kgt714]

im gonna disagree with her reload giving illustrious a disadvantage. Since her Airstrike fires off right after enterprise that means your vanguard is protected from MOST of enterprise's airstrike. And if you run high AA cruisers like San diego it makes them really hard to kill and can slaughter most of the enemy's Airstrike. Which comes in handy keeping your Vanguard alive long enough to kill off the enemy vanguard and then your free to attack the enemy backline. Its a round-a-bout way But ive seen it completely negate enterprise's lucky E, to not say that shes a good counter to lucky E. Akagi and Kaga wreck her though because they fire off too early for illustrious's shield skill to work.

[@christian6637]

I was able to get Illustrious early game(Between Chapter 1-3). The Past... I was able to get a good set for her.. Seafang,F4U and Swordfish. On Pve she will usually deal 40-60k dmg. I don't know why people say she is a "Bad" ship, She is pretty much the carrier i had since i started AL. To compensate with the 2 fighter squadron I use Yorktown.... For BB is Ise. So my main fleet is like this(This is where lusty is.. Boss Fleet). They're level is inbetween 70-85 Backline: Ise,Illustrious,Yorktown Vanguard: Ajax,Laffey,Portland For Second Fleet(Mob Fleet): Backline: Lexington,Hood,Vestal/Unicorn Vanguard: Leander,Achilles,Cassin

[@strikerdx2]

I can't bring myself not to run her with unicorn. They're cute together) (and also historically correct)

[@ellisnozomi]

Illu is not ur main damage dealer carrier but it doesn't mean she can't carry ur fleet. She have a support very gd skills giving ur frontline more survivability giving her esp with. Eldridge at all. Not all ships need to be damage dealer to put on. Like Helena you won't compare it to a prinz eugen being a vanguard. I feel like ppl in eng ser pretty underated illu

[@Hawk2zer0]

I use in in the late game because of how good she is. The video was to focus on letting people know that she's not amazing for damage, but that didn't mean she's bad.

[@dravendfr]

How does Centaur compare?

[@rakafirmansyah1716]

What's soft landing?

[@elnosaequtsi5984]

seriously there is nothing wrong with illustrious at all, she completely balance and reasonable. even now still, most people shit talk her cuz lack damage stat, no bombing, etc. they literally comparing her with nasty dps ships, smh. even from the game itself Illustrious is made for SUPPORTIVE ROLE. but hey, what am i kidding. people can do whetever they want with their ship. but it still painful how those people accused her to be bad ship because of misunderstanding.

[@GhostycrewJaeger]

Looks at my 1stfleet....... Yup there's Enty Kagabb Long Island retro oathed(I just love her) Laffey retro Fortune Z43 I love my 1st fleet

[@Justfalor]

Its sad how no one recognizes Ranger as the ultimate carrier in Azur lane. I would love a video about her ;)

[@Hawk2zer0]

Mostly RNG...but she is the most POTENTIALLY dangerous one...however...she won't let her planes have enough room for takeoff lol.

[@Justfalor]

@@Hawk2zer0 true that but the satisfaction when both of her skills trigger multiple times is just amazing. She can 100-0 any boss in the game potentionally xD

[@Hawk2zer0]

@@Justfalor really any CV/CVL with quick takeoff is crazy...So when you think it's funny and use three Quick Takeoff carriers for PvP defense...it's funny...

[@Justfalor]

@@Hawk2zer0 I guess I'll get some more cvls in my main fleet for pvp then ;) Currently running Saratoga Ranger only in my main fleet. that way I have a battle rating of around 8k but they can easily anihalate a 10k vanguard + main fleet. Its crazy how much they can do. Of course, I do not like to face Enterprise but Norfolk can tank all day long while Ranger will eventually destroy all other ships ;)

[@Hawk2zer0]

@@Justfalor my Long Island can rival Enterprise aviation stat-wise...but her quick takeoff skill makes her just as deadly as Enterprise.

[@Dragon20C]

Her with unicorn = OP

[@whateverthisis389]

Fun fact:Illustrious was the one that obliterated the Italian Fleet

[@Achef2tre]

1 year later, still no Belfast for me

[@510Z32]

What is your top all around fleet setup ?

[@Hawk2zer0]

I don't think I have an all around fleet. I suppose technically either of my two main fleets now will do fine all around. It depends on the overall role of the fleet. My fleets now for mob and boss nodes are a bit different from each other. My mob fleets use strong frontliners that have high damage and decent rate of fire. Their main focus is where most of the damage comes from and aim to keep ships away from my backline. My backline is less DPS focused and works more as support (Shouhou heals and Illustrious protects). I won't deny that making a DPS focused backline won't work as it works better (faster clears) than a support backline. I do this from time to time by replacing Illustrious with a more DPS CV like Yorktown. The fleet composition that shown during the 9-1 node is my main mob fleet. As for boss fleets, it's the opposite. The DPS comes primarily from the backline, but still can have a good chunk of that damage from the vanguard. My boss fleet usually has ships that work on high damage combined with skills that aid in the DPS game. Current setup I have is Enterprise (with Lucky E), Hood (Barrage and Reload buff), and Washington (decent salvos with a timed barrage skill). Either fleet can do the job in the lower chapters, but I think it's probably best to build fleets in one of these two setups in the later chapters.

[@510Z32]

Hawk2zer0 thank you so much for the reply I’m a noob and kinda just went with whatever worked lol but I’m starting to get in the higher chapters and I am trying to build a fleet that’ll get me threw them without too many issues. Again thank you so much I appreciate the quick response.

[@Hawk2zer0]

@@510Z32 No problem! I was there too...being new to it! I do like that really anything can work in the early 7-8 chapters. It's makes the game a bit more fun trying to find where other non-meta ships shine. Sure they may not be powerful enough to work in the late game, but it's fun being able to use them. I've found some hilarious combinations (e.g. Glowworm, Charles Ausburne, and Shiranui) that work for hilarious reasons.

[@510Z32]

Hawk2zer0 im currently running Laffey,eugen,Belfast Enterprise, hood,Saratoga lol it’s been working but I got a feeling I’m gonna have to change it up soon

[@Hawk2zer0]

@@510Z32 Eugen's tanky AF. But as a CA...she doesn't have the firepower as many others do. Belfast isn't bad....Burn order is handy, but she does seems a bit more defense driven. She's not bad either, but put the two together and you might struggle with dishing out some damage. Laffey is fine as her Kai form is pretty dang solid. She'll deal some good damage...but she is a DD so don't expect CA damage from her. I'd say train a good CA (gunboat is preferred, but a torp CA could do the trick). A good gunboat would be Wichita or Minneapolis (if you have her from Fallen Wings). If you have neither...then look for Torp CAs like Suffolk (her retrofit is good), Exeter is decent, but you'll need a substitute soon.

[@pixelhero6832]

Fleet me : leader ship yorktown right ship: duke of york left ship : enterprise vanguard leader: z23 Left ship: Indianapolis right ship : prinz eugen

[@julbot1]

I'd like to see a video on the Cranes Zuikaku/Shoukaku.

[@justinemarkdajay7485]

Is Lusty better than Shouhou on world 13?

[@Hawk2zer0]

Shouhou has no anti-plane capability, but provides healing...She can put out some amazing amount of damage though (Which is why she's in my boss killer formation) Illustrious has double the amount of fighters normally and provides a shield for vanguard based on her health pool. Combine with Unicorn if you need healing that badly. Just know those two together, might not have the sheer damage you're hoping for.

[@justinemarkdajay7485]

@@Hawk2zer0 i have Shouhou retro on my mob but i plan on using Lusty just in case I need more plane protection. My frontline is damage oriented so it might be possible that I'll need another healer or atleast a better one in Lusty.

[@mirrorofray]

which server do you play on?

[@Hawk2zer0]

Avrora

[@ninjaofcake]

I don’t get the reason why Kaga BB is more powerful than Kaga CV, I mean sure, but what about all the long hours people spent on farming for Kaga CV.... like why....

[@Hawk2zer0]

I haven't used Kaga BB yet, but I could harbor a guess. It might have to do with how the IJN carriers are. Most work best with their "sister". It could be this very reason (considering Ikkousen only procs and buffs her when Akagi is with her). I haven't really used the Fox Twins much yet. I am just now in the process of leveling them. I'll see how Kaga BB fares in the long run...since I do like to use all my ships.

[@周生生-f1f]

I'd like to review Soryuu and Hiryuu sisters (aka the 5th CV div.) Especially with their retrofit.

[@Hawk2zer0]

Don't know when I'll be able to get the retrofit (since I'm in EN)...but I'll at least cover them!

[@jskx0559]

-1 man of culture points for trashtalking your wife. +11 man of culture points for telling the truth. And +1 subscriber as well.

[@jinterbell]

she shines in later chapters and a most have

[@mr2tuner136]

year old video but im going to point this out. Ive found illustrious to be a really good counter to enterprise. Especially if you run USN Cruisers in your PvP fleet. While she doesn't counter enterprise's "lucky E" by defeating her before it fires. What it does is allows your cruisers to shoot down every SINGLE PLANE that carriers throw their way and take Minimal damage. More often then not NO PLANE GETS THROUGH your vanguard. And your vanguard takes 0 damage. Lusty pulls MVP in PVP about 75% of the time because plane kills count towards total damage for the match. So lusty will usually MVP for as high as 66 kills at 59k damage..almost entirely from shooting down planes. Of course i have her as my anti-air carrier becauase that's what she's really freaking good at . 2x +10 gold me-155's (no bombs but quick reload and high dps against planes) and 1 squadron of +10 gold barracuda's. She does better in PvP than PvE because you more reliably come up on Carriers. Sometimes you get Akagi,Kaga,Enterprise on a single backline. And lusty just bitch slaps all of them (that was one of her 59 kills match) Her low reload Works to her advantage on enterprise surprisingly because her air strike fires right after enterprise. So you get the full time of the shield during an Enterprise Lucky E. Akagi,Kaga fires their's off too soon for her shield to catch them though. But your fighters still Blunt a lot of damage off them. Either way Im done just thought id throw in my 2 cents.

[@junkiexl86]

Or you can just slot something far more effective overall in her place and use an AA focused vanguard when you see a CV heavy opponent instead. I run Hiryuu, Nagato and Warspite in my backline, but if I see a CV heavy opponent I'll run Sandy, Reno and Juneau upfront and the airstrike issue is mitigated, without having to gimp my overall battle performance with sub-par Illustrious slotted in the back somewhere. tbh, if Illustrious is getting MVP in matches, you're building wrong and need to re-analyze your comp. If PvE is your counter-argument, her shield is super weak with a short uptime/long lockout. The best you can get it to is about 750ish at lvl 120 fully oathed with 200 affinity and both armor platings (event items). This leads to the next issue with her; Shes already a sub-par carrier before the skill. With the skill, you're forced to gimp her carrier abilities further by being shoe-horned into slotting HP boosting items (event hull platings, repair toolkits etc) to boost her HP as much as you can to strengthen that shield, which is her gimmick. To further add insult to injury she suffers the same fate unicorn does in the fact to get the most out of her skill (shield in this case), you should forgo the torpedo plane slot entirely and slot 1-2 Skyrocket or Messerschmitt Me-155A fighters for the super fast reload speed (8 secs for the skyrockets) since her shield is based on a per-airstrike basis.

[@HalcyonSkies]

I've been thinking about a heavy tank fleet with Lusty here, Phoenix, Amagi, Illustrious, their skills together would make it very difficult to actually destroy I think. Hell even throwing Arizona in the backline for some healing, or with Shouhou maybe. Could make your fleet extremely tanky. Must protecc Amagi after all :P

[@Hawk2zer0]

I've used a decent number of backliners, but I'm curious to see how Amagi does given all of her skills seem nice. Haven't really used Arizona much, but I know she has a healing skill. Should give her some time and see how she is. Phoenix is a nice cruiser. She was in my initial clear fleet before I had Minneapolis to switch her out at.

[@HalcyonSkies]

@@Hawk2zer0 The only problem I could see is the damage output might be low, but gear should sort that out. It could prove to be an extremely annoying PvP fleet to deal with if the skills work off one another like I hope they do. I need to level up some of the other ships first to test it.

[@Hawk2zer0]

@@HalcyonSkies It'll work for the first chapters...but I doubt chapter 9 or chapter 10 will allow that setup.

[@HalcyonSkies]

@@Hawk2zer0 Will have to see I suppose. Though right now I'm on the fox hunt since I just got Akagi to drop :)

[@cjvaans4484]

Her barrier is pretty useful for the Vanguards to help them last longer. I think I now know why I see both Lusty and Eld together in fanarts. They make a pretty good combo. Some say Eld makes a good counter against E-chan. Not to mention she's a damn goddess. Beautiful and gentle. and a useful one.

[@Hawk2zer0]

Part of the reason I oathed her :D

[@robertoortiz1210]

HELP IM LEVEL 20 AND HAVE NO SR WHAT DO I DO??

[@Hawk2zer0]

Uh...don't worry about it too much and keep at it? Not having any SR's doesn't mean your fleet is bad (there are plenty of powerful fleets that don't have any SRs in them whatsoever. So don't worry and just keep at it! You'll get some soon!

[@Naerl__]

My first SR

[@soli5156]

Hmm? So in so Short Illustrious is an Anti-Air Type of Carrier? The fact that you said it carries more fighters than bombers, is straight on point though.

[@Hawk2zer0]

She's more tuned for air superiority than damage. You could give her a barracuda and she'll do decent damage with it. But she loses the dive bomber...the DPS plane type.

[@soli5156]

@@Hawk2zer0 Hm. Then she is only good at Hard Mode maps which needs a decent amount of Anti Air? Sounds good though.

[@jellyman1303]

Look at the old UI! I miss it so much...

[@Hawk2zer0]

Oof..it's funny now..it was a very clunky one

[@SilentGamin102]

No one: Absolutely no one: Enterprise yeets Illustrious out of the frame 1:23 - 1:25