An informational guide created by itsfyh aka pootatoast#1337.
For support and suggestions, either you can DM me directly on Discord or feel free to visit Ayanamie Discord server.
Special thanks to gurosebe#4054 for some equipment help.
This is an overview of all the new PR equipment that came with the Research update. Please note that this is not a tier list but a write up of what is this equipment about and what is it used for. If you want a tier list, you can go check gurosebe#4054's guide on How to Equip Ships. This guide does not cover PR2 Equipment although it may be possibly included in the future.
All the names are from the Azur Lane Koumakan wiki and as such you can refer the stats there. Other wikis and in-game may have different naming.
PR equipment can only be obtained by research the Tech Academy. Research is similar to what you will do in Commissions but it costs resources instead of using ships. Research does not award the equipment directly, rather it rewards blueprints of the equipment along with other rewards.
One thing to note is all Super Rare blueprints costs 10 blueprints more than the standard 15 blueprints, bumping it up to 25 blueprints. They are also slightly expensive to craft. Other than that, they pretty much function as other Super Rares, with the same upgrade costs in terms of gold and plates.
Improved Hydraulic Rudder
Equipment Type: Auxiliary
Blueprints needed to craft: 25 Blueprints
Description: One of the best auxiliary equipment in the game, the Improved Hydraulic Rudder increases the evasion stat by 40 when fully upgraded (the highest of all evasion equipment). Evasion stat basically increases the eHP of a ship thus enhancing their longevity in battles. Apart from that, it also has a 30% chance every 20 seconds to activate perfect dodge for 2 seconds which is basically projectile invulnerability for 2 seconds.
This equipment is best used on vanguard ships especially CAs (imagine Beaver Badge + this equipment on a CA). It doesn't benefit well with DDs but some destroyers may benefit from this equipment due to low evasion.
Highly Recommended for grabs. Please also note that you can only have one of these per ship.
High Performance Anti-Air Radar
Equipment Type: Auxiliary
Blueprints needed to craft: 25 Blueprints
Description: Basically an Air Radar on steroids. Compared to its purple cousin (70), this auxiliary equipment increases AA stat by 100 when maxed out. It also has a pseudo SG Radar-like effect that reduces encounters with ambushes/airstrikes by 12%. It doesn't however evade ambushes/airstrikes unlike an SG Radar does.
While it may not be useful now, once Chapter 12 and eventually Chapter 13 comes, this is a nice equipment for AA heavy ships and Repair ships due to the eventual plane flood on these worlds. This equipment also benefits North Carolina well due to her skill buffing her firepower with AA stat.
Recommended for grabs. It pretty much replaces Air Radar.
Triple 152mm Prototype (BL 6" Mk XXV)
Equipment Type: CL Gun
Blueprints needed to craft: 25 Blueprints
Description: An upgraded Twin 152mm AP. Stat-wise, it has a better FP boost and damage overall while also firing faster than other AP CL guns. It fires similarly to a Twin 152mm AP gun (4 shells in a single salvo), except it has longer range and much tighter spread.
It's a good CL gun overall for CLs with its stats. It may be slightly less consistent in terms of DPS than the Twin 150mm TbtsK but it's still a competitive CL Gun. As a secondary gun, it can buff FP very nicely and has a long range, although it may suffer from interception due to how it fires.
Recommended. Neptune, a PR ship benefits this gun due to her AP skill.
Triple 203mm Prototype (Mle 1934)
Equipment Type: CA Gun
Blueprints needed to craft: 25 Blueprints
Description: A HE CA gun complementing the Twin 203mm No. 3 Prototype. While it doesn't have the DPS consistency of the former due to how the shells are fired (not to mention the spread), it has the fastest RoF and the highest FP boost of any CA Gun, making it attractive against light targets and CA barrages and skill proccing.
This and the Twin 203mm No.3 Prototype complement with each other, with this gun being slightly ahead. It pretty much outclasses the Twin 203mm Mounted Gun regardless.
Recommended. Saint Louis, a PR ship benefits this gun due to her HE skill.
Triple 203mm Prototype (SK C/34)
Equipment Type: CA Gun
Blueprints needed to craft: 25 Blueprints
Description: An AP CA gun. Basically an upgraded Twin 203mm SK C/34. While it does the same damage and range, it fires in a 3 shell 2 salvo per volley with a better superior reload and volley time, thus very hard hitting in return. It does have a slightly wider spread which may be a problem at longer ranges.
Due to how rare it is to be obtained, it can still complement the already existing Twin 203mm SK C/34.
Recommended. Roon, a PR ship benefits this gun due to her shell-changing skill.
Triple 381mm Prototype (BL 15" Mk III)
Equipment Type: BB Gun
Blueprints needed to craft: 25 Blueprints
Description: A HE BB gun. Functionally similar to the Triple 406mm Mk 6, it trades some raw damage for more FP and a better RoF. Basically a barrage version of the Triple 406mm Mk 6 but it's still slower compared to the Twin 381mm Mk 2 Prototype and the Twin 410mm Mounted Gun.
Best used for monitors due to their low overall FP but having their good barrages to keep up with the DPS. This is also a good gun for battleships that rely heavily on barrages/skill procs while still being able to dish out damage with its FP.
Recommended. Monarch, a PR ship benefits this gun due to her barrage skill.
Triple 410mm Prototype (10th Year Type)
Equipment Type: BB Gun
Blueprints needed to craft: 25 Blueprints
Description: The strongest AP BB gun in the game. Against medium and heavy armored targets, it can pretty much outdamage the Triple 406mm Mk 6 due to its strong alpha damage. However it still suffers from lackluster DPS due to the lack of burn damage on HE BB guns and the fact that it's weaker on light armored targets makes it reliant on another BB with HE shells.
Good to have but not necessary.
Twin 40mm Bofors STAAG Mk II
Equipment Type: AA Gun
Blueprints needed to craft: 25 Blueprints
Description: Another AA gun in the 40mm Bofors family. While it doesn't have the pomf compared to the Quadruple 40mm Bofors, it fires faster and also has the benefit of increasing the accuracy/hit stat by 10. Very useful for battleships.
Still, it's slightly slower than the Twin 20mm Oerlikon and Triple 25mm AA in terms of reload for Min-Maxing AA but it's a strong AA gun when AA is or is not much of a concern.
Highly Recommended.
Twin 100mm High-Angle (Type 98)
Equipment Type: AA Gun
Blueprints needed to craft: 25 Blueprints
Description: A Heavy AA gun. While you may think "woah, this aa gun is better than other aa guns", it's pretty much basically a [Twin 105mm AA](Twin 105mm %28SK C/33%29) trading slightly more damage for a slightly longer reload.
It's still weaker in terms of FP compared to the Twin 113mm AA and the Octuple 40mm Pom-Pom but hey, it's a good AA gun to have.
Recommended.
550mm Triple Torpedo Launcher
Equipment Type: Torpedo
Blueprints needed to craft: 10 Blueprints
Description: The fastest reloading triple torpedo launcher in the game. It also has a good alpha damage but suffers from only having 3 torpedoes launched, thus negating its advantage. Not to mention this equipment is much rarer to get compared to other research equipment.
It can be useful on Ibuki but there are better ones for her that, while slightly slower RoF than this torpedo launcher, has stronger alpha damage ([533mm Quintuple Torpedo Launcher](533mm Quintuple Torpedo Mount) for example).
Very Niche. Good to have but not necessary.
550mm Twin Torpedo Launcher
Equipment Type: Torpedo
Blueprints needed to craft: 5 Blueprints
Description: The Twin variant of its Triple version. Has lower alpha potential due to being Rare rarity and two torpedoes. Not to mention the rarity of the equipment limits its usability to none.
Not Recommended.
Twin 100mm High-Angle Mle 1931
Equipment Type: AA Gun
Blueprints needed to craft: 5 Blueprints
Description: An AA gun. Very lackluster compared to other AA guns out there and it's also a rare equipment in research.
Not recommended.
eHP - Short for Effective Hitpoints. Basically the rough tankiness of a ship after factoring evasion and other damage reduction sources. Can be calculated by Maj. Procrastinator#8734's Auto eHP Calculator
Alpha - Short for Alpha Strike. Another term for burst damage in which it is an attack with high amounts of damage for a longer cooldown.
DPS - Short for Damage per Second. Refers to how much damage a ship and/or equipment is dealing over a second.
RoF - Short of Rate of Fire. Refers to how fast can an ship/equipment can fire.