Home » Gaming » Tier List » Azur Lane Tier List: Best Battleships – August 2021

Azur Lane Tier List: Best Battleships – August 2021

Check out our tier list for one of the most popular mobile games around, Azur Lane

Craig Robinson
Azur Lane Tier List

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Mobile game Azur Lane is a side-scrolling shoot ‘em up, simulation and RPG video game with a hint of Gacha elements. While most Gacha mobile games use heroes, Azur Lane is a game that centres itself around Battleships or ship girls. You can only bring six ships into tone party, with three for the Vanguard (front row) and the Main Fleet (back row). With the game naturally limiting composition structures, certain meta strategies and obvious choices dominate the game. Although, like all Gacha games, Azur lane requires some level of adaptation to dominate the high-seas. Here is an Azur Lane tier list, ranking all the Battleships in the game from all the various in-game navies: United States Navy, the Royal Navy, Imperial Japanese Navy, Kriegsmarine, plus ships of the French, Chinese, Italian and Russian navies.\

Azur Lane Tier List Methodology

Before venturing into deeper waters, Azur Lane plays a little differently than almost every other Gacha. The mobile game is an active strategy game, where you’ll need to actively control your Vanguard (front row) and Main Fleet (back row) Battleships, avoiding map obstacles while destroying baddies in the way. Eventually, you’ll come across a boss at the end of each level. Therefore, taking a mixture of boss busters and add annihilators are all concepts to think about.

Also, there are many different types of ships in the game, hence the need to highlight the different ship types, so you can strategize based on that. The general rule of thumb is that the Destroyers, Light Cruisers, and Heavy Cruisers are considered Vanguard (front row) ships, while the Main Fleet, aka the back row, consist of the Battleships, Aircraft Carriers, Battlecruisers, Light Aircraft Carrier, Monitor and Repair Ships. Monitor and Repair ships may be listed as support vessels in the full Azur Lane tier list below.

With that said, here is how we’ll be breaking apart the different brackets within this Azur Lane Tier List. Please note that there are still many more ships to come, such as the USS Anchorage!

 

  • S Tier - These are the best ships that you can attain in the game and you will almost always want these as part of your fleet. They have tremendous stats and skills and these ships will allow you to adapt to almost any situation that is thrown at you.
  • A Tier - These ships are almost as good as S tier ships but are not placed in the S tier category because they have some weaknesses that the best ships do not exhibit. Nevertheless, they are still worth picking up if you do not have access to S tier ships.
  • B Tier - These ships are also quite viable and they make up the majority of the game’s meta, as these ships are the most accessible and the most used.
  • C Tier - Average ships that are not the best. They can still do the job but after a certain point, it will be worth investing in better ships than these.
  • D Tier - These ships are some of the worst in the game and should be avoided if possible. If you want a fleet that is going to carry you through the game’s endgame content, then these ships are worth replacing when you have the opportunity to upgrade them to better ones.

Azur Lane Tier List

S Tier

Retrofit Ships

Warspite is by far one of the most interesting characters available in the S Tier. The reason why is because Warspite is one of the best characters, especially when she is retrofitted to high hells in the late game. When she hits those breakpoints and excels into the late game, it is clear she is one of the best Battleships in the Azur lane Tier List. For example, a retrofitted Warspite can score 5k points a game, meaning she absolutely annihilates everything in her wake. However, achieving this level of power does require a lot of grinding. If grinding to make a ship one of the best in the game isn’t for you, then chances are this isn’t the style of ship you’ll want.

Other amazing retrofitted ships include the Laffey in the Destroyer section, San Diego in the Light Cruiser category, Portland in the Heavy Cruiser department and the Saratoga carrier. Ideally, focus on one retrofit at a time, as the heavy grind takes up a lot of time and is a resource sink. We recommend finding out which one of the above you prefer, then looking for alternatives for other retrofit ships from the S and A Tiers. You can always start a new retrofit project once when you have completed one project.

 

Our favourites

One of our favourite ships in the S Tier bracket is the Akashi. The Main Fleet (back row) repair ship is one of the only support ships in the games, and it is incredibly good. If you need a bit of a pick me up mid game when your comp isn’t that progressed, then this a great addition to the team. Although, if you have some heavy-hitting Vanguards, then Reload Command is a big buff. Either way, there’s a lot of utility from this that makes her worth considering into any composition. Furthermore, the ship is easy to acquire because she gets unlocked via ‘Akashi’s Quest’.

For submarines, you have two choices. The first choice is the I-13, which is a supporting submarine. By default, it sends a plane into the air, which buffs your other ships damage by 5% for ten seconds. It is a powerful method of winning the early game on any mission. Although, if you prefer a more standard Submarine, then the U-101 is not a bad shout because of the starting battle buffs through Great Shark’s Bite and All Out Assault abilities If you opt for a retrofit playstyle, we think the I-13 works well for that strategy. You can watch your retrofits blow everything up with even more damage with the buzz boy in the sky.

Ship Type
Akashi Repair Ship
Ayanami Destroyer
Azuma Large Cruiser
Baltimore Heavy Cruiser
Bremerton Heavy Cruiser
Centaur Light Aircraft Carrier
Drake Heavy Cruiser
Enterprise Aircraft Carrier
Essex Aircraft Carrier
Formidable Aircraft Carrier
Friedrich der Grosse Battleship
Gascogne Battleship
Georgia Battleship
Helena Light Cruiser
Howe Battleship
I-13 Submarine Carrier
Minneapolis Heavy Cruiser
Monarch Battleship
Nagato Battleship
Neptune Light Cruiser
Odin Battleship
Richelieu Battleship
Roon Heavy Cruiser
Ryuuhou Aircraft Carrier
San Diego Retrofit Light Cruiser
Seattle Light Cruiser
Tashkent Destroyer
U-101 Submarine
Unicorn Light Aircraft Carrier
Warspite Retrofit Battleship
Yukikaze Destroyer

 

A Tier

One of Gaming Verdicts favourites on the A Tier is the usefulness of the Washington. Like most USS ships, she is rather average in nature. However, she has much better anti air, which is ideal for protecting her Vanguard and Main Fleet from the onslaught of aircraft. Not to mention her stats are statistically much higher than other Battleships. If you need a solid tanky option for the fleet, then Washington may be a good shout, but it is a niche strategy that sits in the A tier for now.

Also, the Bismarck is by far one of the most popular ships in the game. This Battleship is a really nice core to any force, with its critical strike bonus on Will of the Iron Blood and Wahrheit abilities, especially for other Iron Blood ships. If you like the Bismark and its crit comp focus, build yourself an Iron Blood Comp. If you do so, then this Battleship will feel like one of the best Battleships in the Azur Lane Tier List.

Ship Type
Alabama Battleship
Amagi Battle Cruiser
An Shan Destroyer
Bismarck Battleship
Bunker Hill Aircraft Carrier
Chang Chuin Destroyer
Chapayev Light Cruiser
Cheshire Heavy Cruiser
Duke of York Battleship
Eldridge Destroyer
Graf Zeppelin Aircraft Carrier
I-168 Submarine
Illustrious Aircraft Carrier
Intrepid Aircraft Carrier
Jintsuu Retrofit Light Cruiser
King George V Battleship
Kitakaze Destroyer
Laffey Retrofit Destroyer
Le Malin Destroyer
Le Triomphant Destroyer
Minato Aqua Submarine
Montpelier Light Cruiser
Ning Hai Retrofit Light Cruiser
Noshiro Light Cruiser
Perseus Aircraft Carrier
Ping Hai Retrofit Light Cruiser
Portland Retrofit Heavy Cruiser
Saint Louis Heavy Cruiser
Saratoga Retrofit Aircraft Carrier
Shirakami Destroyer
Swiftsure Light Cruiser
Tosa Battleship
U-47 Submarine
Vestal Repair Ship
Washington Battleship
Yat-Sen Retrofit Light Cruiser
Z23 Retrofit Destroyer
Zara Heavy Cruiser

 

B Tier

Ship Type
Albacore Submarine
Ardent Retrofit Carrier
Ark Royal Aircraft Barrier
Aurora Light Cruiser
Avrora Support
Bel-chan Light Cruiser
Birmingham Light Cruiser
Casablanca Aircraft Carrier
Cavalla Submarine
Champagne Battleship
Cleveland Light Cruiser
Columbia Light Cruiser
Denver Light Cruiser
Dido Light Cruiser
Elegant Kizuna Heavy Cruiser
Hanazuki Destroyer
Harutsuki Destroyer
Hermione Light Cruiser
Hood Battle Cruiser
Hyuuga Retrofit Aviation Battleship
I-19 Submarine
Ibuki Heavy Cruiser
Ibuki Heavy Cruiser
Javelin Destroyer
Jean Bart Battleship
Jeanne D’Arc Light Cruiser
Kaga Aircraft Carrier
Little Bel Light Cruiser
Littorio Battleship
London Heavy Cruiser
Mogami Retrofit Heavy Cruiser
Nelson Battleship
Nicholas Retrofit Destroyer
North Carolina Battleship
Queen Elizabeth Battleship
Ranger Retrofit Carrier
Rodney Battleship
Shigure Destroyer
Shouhou Light Aircraft Carrier
Super Garner Kizune (collab) Battleship
Takao Heavy Cruiser
Tirpitz Battleship
Tokino Sora Aircraft Carrier
U-81 Submarine
Valiant Battleship
Yoizuki Destroyer
York Heavy Cruiser
Yuugure Carrier
Yuuudachi Destroyer
Z1 Retrofit Destroyer
Z46 Destroyer

 

C Tier

Ship Type
Yamashiro Battleship
Fusou Battleship
Ise Retrofit Battleship
Massachusetts Battleship
Zeppy Carrier
Hornet Carrier
Lexington Carrier
Bearn Carrier
Yuubari Light Cruiser
Eldridge Carrier
Leipzig Carrier
Cygnet Destroyer
Foxhound Destroyer
Kiyonami Event Destroyer
Fubuki Destroyer
Acasta Retrofit Destroyer
Fortune Retrofit Destroyer
Hatsuharu Destroyer
Hamakaze Destroyer
Aniversarry Kizuna AI Carrier
Newcastle Retrofit Light Cruiser
Kawakaze Destroyer
Eskimo Destroyer
Gangut Battleship
Little Renown Battleship
Algerie Heavy Cruiser
Belfast Light Cruiser
Sheffield Light Cruiser
Kinu Light Cruiser
Hiryuu Retrofit Aircraft Carrier
Wichita Heavy Cruiser
Arizona Battleship
Sirius Light Cruiser
Kizuna Al Destroyer
Prinz Eugen Heavy Cruiser
Souryuu Retrofit Aircraft Carrier
Victorious Aircraft Carrier
Shoukaku Aircraft Carrier
Izumo Battleship
Kagerou Retrofit Destroyer
Curlew Retrofit Light Cruiser
Suruga Battleship
Fu Shun Destroyer
Zuikaku Aircraft Carrier
Surcouf Submarine
U-552 Event Submarine
I-25 Submarine
i-26 Submarine
Tai Yuan Destroyer
I-56 Event Submarine
Reno Light Cruiser
Emile Bertin Light Cruiser
Ajax Light Cruiser
Achilles Light Cruiser
Clevelad Light Cruiser
Black Heart Heavy Cruiser
Atago Heavy Cruiser
Choukai Heavy Cruiser
Maya Heavy Cruiser
Graf Spee Heavy Cruiser
Deutschland Heavy Cruiser

 

D Tier

Ship Type
Akagi-chan Carrier
Akagi Aircraft Carrier
Amazon Destroyer
Arizona Battleship
Bataan Aircraft Carrier
Biloxi Light Cruiser
Black Prince Light Cruiser
Bluegill Submarine
Brooklyn Light Cruiser
Carabiniere Destroyer
Chaser Carrier
Chicago Heavy Cruiser
Cooper Carrier
Curacoa Retrofit Light Cruiser
Dace Submarine
Dunkerque Battleship
Eagle Aircraft Carrier
Exeter Heavy Cruiser
Fletcher Destroyer
Fumiruiru (collab) Carrier
Fumiruiru Aircraft Carrier
Furutaka Retrofit Heavy Cruiser
Gloucester Carrier
Green Heart (Collab) Carrier
Hibiki Destroyer
Honolulu Light Cruiser
I-58 Submarine
Independence (Event) Carrier
Indianapolis Heavy Cruiser
Isuzu Light Cruiser
Kako Retrofit Heavy Cruiser
Koln Carrier
Kuon Heavy Cruiser
L’Opiniatre Event Destroyer
Le Temeraire Event Destroyer
Leander Light Cruiser
Lena Light Cruiser
Lil’Sandy Light Cruiser
little  Illustrious (event) Carrier
Long Island Carrier
Makinami Destroyer
Maryland Battleship
Maury Destroyer
Mikasa Battleship
Mutsu Battleship
Naganami Destroyer
Nakiri Ayame Heavy Cruiser
Ookami Mio (collab) Carrier
Pamiat Merkuria Light Cruiser
Phoenix Light Cruiser
Prince of Wales Battleship
Ryuujou (Event) Carrier
Sendai Retrofit Light Cruiser
Shangri-La Aircraft Carrier
Shiranui Destroyer
South Dakota Battleship
St. Louis Light Cruiser
Suzuya Heavy Cruiser
Taihou Aircraft Carrier
Tanikaze Destroyer
U-556 Submarine
U-557 Submarine
U-73 Submarine
Vampire Destroyer
Yorktown Carrier

This concludes our Azur Lane Tier List. If you enjoyed this, why not check out our other Gache tier lists, such as our AFK Arena Tier List?

Staff Writer AT WEPC

Craig Robinson

Craig has spent several years in esports. He began his journey as a volunteer, writing about games he loved whilst studying at University. Upon graduating, he worked as a freelance writer, talking about esports and gaming for several years before landing in WePC's gaming section.

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