Your First Week: Building a Foundation That Actually Lasts

The biggest mistake new commanders make is trying to do everything at once. You’ll see events, construction, research, dormitories—it’s a lot. But here’s the secret from my own experience: your success in the first 7-10 days is almost entirely determined by how you manage your starting resources and your first fleet. Let’s break down the two most critical tasks: your initial ship selection and understanding oil management.

First up, the “reroll” debate. Some guides will tell you it’s mandatory to restart the game dozens of times until you get a specific Ultra Rare (UR) ship from your first few builds. I’ve done that grind, and honestly, for 2025, I don’t think it’s worth the hours of frustration for a complete beginner. The CN server’s permanent ship pool and beginner events are generous enough that you can start strong without that headache. Instead, I want you to focus on the guaranteed powerful ships you get from the beginner missions and login events. A ship like Enterprise (from the 7-day login), or San Diego (who is famously powerful when retrofitted) from early construction, will carry you incredibly far. The core principle here isn’t about having one flashy ship; it’s about building a balanced team that covers all the basics: a solid frontline (Vanguard) that can take hits and deal damage, and a reliable backline (Main Fleet) that provides air support and heavy firepower.

This leads directly into your first fleet composition. You might pull a bunch of ships and just throw your highest rarity ones together. I did that too, and I hit a wall around Chapter

Now, let’s talk about the lifeblood of your early progress: Oil. Oil is your stamina; it’s used for every sortie you run. Early on, you’ll feel like you have tons of it, but it drains fast when you’re trying to level up. The single best piece of advice I can give you is to use your “Low-Efficiency” combat data plans from the Lecture Hall. This is a system that lets your ships gain experience while offline. It saves you an enormous amount of oil. I made the mistake of ignoring it for my first month, constantly running out of oil and unable to farm for resources. Once I started consistently assigning my ships to the Lecture Hall, my oil reserves stabilized, and I could use my actual oil for farming specific stages for ship blueprints or event points.

Speaking of farming, your early oil should be spent on two things: clearing the main story chapters to unlock features, and farming the Daily Raids for skill books and enhancement materials. Don’t waste oil trying to farm a specific ship drop from a story chapter until your fleet is much stronger and more oil-efficient. The return on investment is terrible for a new player. Here’s a simple table to show you where your early oil is best spent:

The “1:1 fleet” strategy I mentioned is a classic oil-saving technique endorsed by veteran players on communities like the Azur Lane Wiki{:rel=”nofollow”}. It involves using only one ship in your vanguard and one in your main fleet to clear low-threat maps. This can cut your oil cost per run by 60-70%, allowing you to farm much more. It feels weird at first, sending just two ships out, but it’s the smart way to grind levels for a single ship or clear maps for mission completions.

Navigating the CN Server’s Unique Landscape in 2025

Okay, so you’ve got a stable fleet and you’re managing your oil. Now you’re probably looking at the in-game news and seeing all these events and banners with names you don’t recognize. The CN server has its own schedule, often getting content months before other servers, and it has a few permanent features that are absolute goldmines for beginners. Understanding this landscape is what separates someone who struggles from someone who thrives.

The most important permanent feature for you right now is the META Lab and the Cruise Pass (similar to the “Nameless Honor” in Honkai Star Rail, but for Azur Lane). The Cruise Pass is a no-brainer. The free track gives you solid rewards, but the premium track is one of the best value purchases in the game if you’re considering spending a little. It floods you with cubes, coins, and a powerful ship. I always tell new players to at least complete the free track for the first month before deciding. The META Lab, on the other hand, is your long-term project for getting powerful META ships. You earn sync points by fighting META Showdown bosses. Don’t worry about topping the damage charts; just participate daily. The grind takes a couple of months, but the ship you get is permanently added to your dock and is often top-tier. It’s a guaranteed reward for consistent play.

Then there are the events. CN server events can be overwhelming—new story, new ships, new gear, limited-time maps. My strategy, which I’ve refined over multiple events, is this: Day 1, focus solely on clearing the event’s story stages on Normal mode. Don’t jump into Hard mode or the EX challenge stage yet. Clearing the story unlocks everything and lets you start accumulating event points (usually called “PTs”) passively through daily missions. Use your natural oil regen for this. The event point shop will have a free ship, often a very good one, that you can get just by accumulating points. This is a guaranteed ship! Prioritize getting that ship first over the construction banner. The banners are tempting, but they’re a gamble. The point shop ship is a sure thing. As the official Azur Lane Weibo account{:rel=”nofollow”} often highlights in their event previews, these free ships are designed to be strong and accessible to all players.

Let’s talk about cubes and coins, your construction currencies. You’ll be tempted to spend all your cubes on every new event banner. Resist that urge early on. Your cube income as a new player is high from one-time missions and achievements, but it will slow down. I advise building a safety net. A common rule of thumb in the community is to try and keep a reserve of at least 200 cubes. This isn’t my random idea; it’s a buffer that allows you to pity a UR ship if one comes on a banner (UR ships typically have a pity system at 200 builds).

Is rerolling for a UR ship absolutely necessary when starting in 2025?

Honestly, I don’t think it’s worth the hassle anymore. I spent hours doing that in the past, and it just burns you out. The CN server’s beginner events and login rewards are so good now that you get powerful ships like Enterprise for free within your first week. You’re much better off using that time to actually play the game, learn the mechanics, and build a balanced team around the strong, guaranteed ships you get early on.

Focusing on a single flashy ship can actually hurt your early progress if your fleet isn’t well-rounded. A solid team with a healer like Unicorn and a good tank will carry you much further than one UR ship struggling alone.

I’m always running out of Oil. What am I doing wrong?

This is the most common wall new players hit, and I hit it too. You’re probably using full 6-ship fleets for everything. The biggest game-changer is using “1:1 fleets” for farming easy story stages or event normal mode maps. That means one Vanguard ship and one Main Fleet ship only. It cuts your oil cost per run by over half.

Also, don’t sleep on the Lecture Hall’s “Low-Efficiency” combat data plans. This lets your ships gain experience while offline, saving a massive amount of oil for when you really need it, like farming daily raids for skill books. Your oil should be for unlocking features and targeted farming, not just general leveling.

What should I spend my Cubes and Coins on as a beginner?

The temptation to pull on every new event banner is real, but fight it! Your initial cube income is high but it will slow down. My hard-learned advice is to build a safety net of at least 200 cubes. This gives you a shot at the pity system if a must-have UR ship shows up on a banner.

For coins, prioritize essential upgrades: expanding your dock space so you don’t have to constantly retire ships, and leveling up key skills for your main fleet. Don’t blow thousands of coins on the general construction pool early on. The event point shop’s free ship is always a better, guaranteed target for your initial resources.

The CN server events look confusing. What’s my first move when one starts?

Here’s my simple Day-1 event strategy: ignore the Hard mode and EX challenges completely at the start. Just focus on clearing all the event’s story stages on Normal difficulty. This unlocks the full event and starts your daily missions for earning event points (PTs).

Use your natural oil regeneration for this. Those event points will let you buy the free ship from the shop, which is often really strong. Always go for the free ship before you even think about spending cubes on the limited construction banner. It’s a sure thing versus a gamble.

What are the most important permanent features I should focus on after the tutorial?

Two things: the Cruise Pass and the META Lab. The Cruise Pass (free track) gives you a steady stream of great rewards just for playing. The META Lab is a long-term grind where you fight bosses daily to earn a powerful META ship over a couple of months. You don’t need to be top rank, just participate consistently.

These systems are core to the CN server’s progression. They provide structured, long-term goals and guaranteed powerful rewards that aren’t dependent on gacha luck. Make them part of your daily routine from the start.