Airspace Control Guide

Airspace Control: Understanding your new frenemy


Written by www.twitch.tv/mrglrglrglrgl (discord Mrglrgl#1126).  All formulas taken from the EN wiki.

  The average player after attempting ch13 for the first time.

 EN now has the Airspace Control mechanic (ASC for short), and - as per usual for plane-related mechanics - the ingame details do not properly explain it.  Understanding this mechanic is crucial for ch13, and may be for future content as well, so I have decided to take the time to write a detailed guide about it.

 By the time you are finished reading this, you will have full understanding of Airspace Control, and also be able to calculate your ASC Tier for any map.

The Fundamentals

Airspace Control has four components: Fleet ASC, Modified Map ASC, Final ASC, and ASC Tier.

Fleet ASC

Each ship has its own ASC value, calculated from its number of planes and AVI.  Each type of plane has different contribution weight, with fighters being the highest (at 10) and seaplanes being the lowest (at 4).  The exact formula is as follows:


Please note the following:
  1. This takes base AVI and gear AVI ONLY.  It does NOT take AVI from skills.
  2. The plane counts are based on the number of planes the ship actually launches per airstrike.  Remember that Limit Breaking CV/Ls increases how many planes each slot launches.  For example: Illustrious has two fighter slots and one torpedo bomber slot.  Her limit breaks give her a total of +2 fighter capacity and +1 torpedo bomber capacity, so each fighter slot launches a total of 3 planes and each torpedo bomber slot launches 2 planes.  With two fighter slots and one torpedo bomber slot, she launches a total of 6 fighters and 2 torpedo bombers per airstrike.  Her ASC plane contribution is thus 6 fighters and 2 torpedo bombers.
  3. It is currently unclear if AVI from meowficers or fleet tech counts.  For now, assume that it does not.
The ASC values of each ship from BOTH participating fleets are added together - the sum is your Fleet ASC.  Fortunately, you do not need to calculate this yourself.  Your Fleet ASC is shown ingame here:


  The EN wiki also has precomputed ASC values for each ship here.

Modified Map ASC

Each map has its own base ASC value.  The game recommends a certain Fleet ASC value here:


 However, this value is irrelevant voodoo magic.

 The value that actually matters is the map’s base ASC value, which is hidden ingame.  It can be found on the wiki like so:


 This base ASC is then reduced by the combined AA stats of both your participating fleets, using the following formula:


The end result is the Modified Map ASC.

 Please note, again, that this DOES NOT TAKE AA FROM SKILLS.  Only base stats and gear stats are counted.

Final ASC

Your Final ASC value is a number between 0 and ~2+.  It is generated by dividing Fleet ASC by Modified Map ASC.

Fleet ASC ÷ Modified Map ASC = Final ASC


ASC Tier

Your Final ASC value determines which ASC tier you have for the map, which in turn determines the buffs (or debuffs) granted to your fleets (X is your Final ASC):



Screenshotted from the EN wiki, because I don’t have time to make my own chart.  Sorry EN wiki, I love you and will make my own chart if/when I have time <3.

Exception Rules

Under certain circumstances, your ASC Tier will deviate from the chart.
  1. If Modified Map ASC is 450 or less, you cannot have Air Incapability.  If you would otherwise satisfy the conditions for AI, you will instead be granted Air Denial.
  2. If Fleet ASC is 450 or less, you cannot have Air Supremacy.  If you would otherwise satisfy the conditions for AS+, you will instead be granted Air Superiority.
  3. If both Modified Map ASC and Fleet ASC are 150 or less, the entire ASC system will be voided and you will not receive any buffs or debuffs.

Tl;DR

Why?  I put so much time into this T_T
  1. In order to interact with ASC, you MUST run CV/Ls.  If you have no planes or AVI across both fleets, the highest ASC Tier you can attain is Air Denial (AD).  AA is not a replacement for CV/Ls.
  2. The more planes you have, the better your ASC.  Fighters are better at ASC than other plane types.
  3. 2-plane CVLs kinda suck at ASC.
  4. Skills don’t affect ASC.
  5. Ch13 expects you to have AS/AS+, and has abnormally high requirements.
  6. The recommended ASC value displayed on maps ingame is meaningless.
  7. Limit Breaking CV/Ls increases their plane count, drastically increasing their ASC contribution.


FAQ

Where did all this mechanical information come from?

The EN wiki's Combat page.  Again, shoutout to the great dataminers and writers from EN/CN/JP, who took the time to discover this information and publish it.

Almost all the formulas and charts were basically screenshotted from that page.  While I would have preferred to remake them, Blogger is a stone-age piece of donkey manure that can't do proper mathematical notation without a plugin that requires HTML knowledge.  And I don't know HTML, so... doing so wasn't in my power.


How does ASC affect how “good” each CV/L is, relative to each other?

 Actually, very little.  Plane count and AVI are the only CV/L stats that matter for ASC, so most 3-plane CVs have very similar ASC contribution.  This encompasses basically every good CV, with two exceptions - Illustrious and Centaur (which will be discussed below).

 All the 2-plane fighter/bomber/AA gun CVLs also have very similar ASC contribution.  Lack of planes and AVI means these ships have significantly lower ASC contribution than a 3-plane CV/L.  However, most non-healer CVLs like this were not very good to begin with, so their relative value is still the same.  While the utility of the healers has slightly decreased, they are still irreplaceable, and thus their lower ASC contribution is irrelevant.

 The only type of CV/L significantly benefited by ASC is the extremely rare fighter/fighter/bomber loadout.  The extra fighter slot gives these ships much higher ASC contribution.  Currently, the only CV/Ls with this loadout are Langley, Illustrious, and Centaur.
  1. Langley is too weak to see use in the high-level maps where ASC actually matters, and her low AVI means that she is still outclassed by most 3-plane CVs.  So her relative value is unaltered.
  2. Centaur was completely overpowered before, and ASC makes her near-mandatory for ch13.  The inherently low damage of the fighter/fighter/bomber loadout is irrelevant on her, due to her barrage.
  3. Illustrious is quite a bit better now as a support ship.  However, at the end of the day, the inherently low damage of her loadout means she is still a dedicated support ship, and is liable to struggle without the proper team to back her up.

 TL;DR: 2-plane CVLs suck more, the good CVs are still just as good, and Centaur is even more busted than before.

What ASC Tier should I aim for?

 All pre-existing maps (both story and event) are intended to be run on Air Parity.  Ch13 is intended to be run on either AS or AS+ (preferably the latter).  Future events are unknown - now that EN has the Airspace Control mechanic, it is entirely possible that future events may expect AS/AS+ as well.
Are BB piles dead now?

The short answer: no.

 The long answer: sorta, but not really.

The debuff from Air Incapability, while annoying, is not crippling on most maps.  BB piles still “work”, they’re just less efficient due to the ACC and EVA debuffs.  Having said that... you really shouldn’t do it in ch13.

 1:1 clearing of old maps and events can still be done just as easily as before - it just requires throwing a CV/L or two into the boss fleet if you want AS.  It is also possible to have one fleet be a BB pile, and put the CV/Ls necessary for ASC in the other fleet.  Remember that ASC is shared between both fleets.
What about “hybrid carriers”, such as BBVs and Shirakami Fubuki?

 Anything with a plane and an AVI stat contributes to Fleet ASC.  These “hybrid carriers” do not have enough planes or AVI to carry ASC on their own - however, they may make the difference between one ASC Tier and another.  If you’re missing that one little bit of Fleet ASC, these are quite useful.


Do dead ships contribute to ASC?

No. (This is actually explained ingame.  But good luck finding it.)

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