Commanders
Contents
About Commanders
A commander is the personification of a ship's crew. Some crews are well-trained and trained in the specific features of the ship, and some are not so well trained. Training a crew is a long process that requires much repetition and a defined curriculum. Commander XP (CXP), earned in battle, is used to level up commanders (see the the related article for more information). Commanders have multiple levels (up to 20), a nation, a name and a portrait. Some special commanders have a special voice.
Unlocking Commanders
When unlocking commanders, it will take some time for a player to get all of them. There are 2 ways of obtaining commanders:
- Buying them from the in-game store
- Drop them from Commander crates
Commander crates will always drop a new commander until all of them have been unlocked. Once obtaining an already owned commander (either through crates or by buying it directly), that same commander will receive a Personal Commendation 
if it is not at max level, and a Universal Commendation 
if it is maxed out (more on that later).
When unlocked, a commander is automatically Level 1.
Assigning a Commander to a Ship
A commander can be both assigned to a ship and used as an inspiration on other commanders. To assign a commander to a ship, select the ship in port and click on it. A new page will appear with the list of all owned commanders from the ship's nation; select the needed commander. A filter tool is available to find a commander more quickly. A commander can be assigned to an unlimited number of ships from its nation. However, it cannot be assigned to other nations' ships.
Once the "Commanders" feature has been unlocked, a ship cannot be taken into battle unless it has a commander assigned to it.
Note that if a ship with a commander assigned to it is sold then bought back, a commander needs to be assigned back.
Commander Progression Items
Promotion Orders
Promotion orders (PO) 
are the most common of all commander progression items. They are obtainable through multiple different means. To name a few:
- Different types of missions
- All campaigns
- The majority of containers
They are used to level up commanders from low to medium ranks. This is a resource that even players with less play time can have in sufficient amounts. Unfortunately for long-term players that may have more than enough of these, there is for now no way of exchanging those for something else.
Insignias
Insignias 
work the same way as promotion orders, but are less frequent as rewards. They are used to level up commanders from medium to high ranks. Just like promotion orders, they are obtainable in a few different ways (including containers, campaigns and some missions).
Commendations
Commendations are obtained when you get a commander that you already have. When it is the case, one receives a Personal Commendation which can only be used on the commander that was just obtained. On the other hand, when an already maxed out commander (Rank 16/Legendary 4) is obtained, the player receives a Universal Commendation which is usable on all commanders.
Levels
As mentioned above, a commander can be leveled up to a total level of 20. Multiple different commander progression items are needed to do this.
Normal
Each commander has 16 normal levels, which can be reached by using mainly the following resources:
- Levels 1 to 6 → Commander XP
- Levels 7 to 13 → Commander XP + Promotion Orders
- Levels 14 to 16 → Commander XP + Insignias
Every time a commander is leveled up, its base trait is upgraded as well. For the skills in general, they are upgraded every 2 levels.
When one does not have enough CXP to level up a commander to a certain rank, GXP is also usable to replace the missing CXP (at a rate of 1:1). A window pops up when it is the case; to make sure GXP is not spent by mistake.
Legendary
Each commander has 4 legendary ranks, which can be reached by using Personal and/or Universal Commendations:
- Legendary 1 → 1 Commendation
- Legendary 2 → 3 Commendations
- Legendary 3 → 7 Commendations
- Legendary 4 → 15 Commendations
- Total → 26
CXP is not used when leveling up a commander to a Legendary rank. Commendations are the only resources needed for this.
Legendary ranks allow the use of special Legendary skills which provide significant bonuses in battle. Most of these skills grant an additional bonus when activating (more on that below).
Legendary Skills
A commander's legendary skills are unlocked and usable when leveling it up to the Legendary status. These skills are, most of the time, extremely useful and even provide a certain advantage in battle once they activate. Legendary skills are just like normal skills, but rather special with better bonuses. Not all Legendary Skills have special effects. Some are closer to normal skills, although they indeed are more efficient.
Skills with Special Effects
Unstoppable:
Available on all universal and destroyer commanders, Unstoppable allows a reduced mobility even while the engine and/or rudder are disabled. It can be considered as the most useful Legendary Skill a destroyer captain can have.
Fully Packed:
A very popular skill available on most universal and cruiser commanders, not only does Fully Packed reduce the consumables' reload time, but it has an extremely useful special effect that can make all the difference: it drastically reduces all consumables' reload time by 30% when close to an allied ship.
Skills without Special Effects
Fight Fire with Fire:
Inspirations
Inspirations are another tool a player can have. It allows other commanders' base traits to be applied to the current commander skillset. Each commander has a limit of 2 inspirations that can be assigned to them. A commander leveled up to Rank 6 does not get access to inspirations slots:
- First inspiration slot
- Unlocked at rank 7
- Second inspiration slot
- Unlocked at rank 11
All owned commanders (from any nation, type and rank) can be used as inspirations on an unlimited number of other commanders. One needs to know that an inspiration will not be taken into account for the first 7 battles played with that inspiration on the commander. However, it is possible to bypass these 7 games by using 21 000 Commander XP which will immediatly take the inspiration into account.
For a commander to have a noticeable impact on a ship's performance, it is recommended to level it up to Rank 12/Legendary 2 or more.
Below this level, depending on commanders, they do have an impact, but it is not a very important one.
A commander's skillset and inspirations cannot be locked on ships individually. When assigning a commander to a ship, make sure to have the correct skillset before entering battle.
Guises
Commander guises are some type of "skin" players can put on top of already existing commanders. Guises provide different cosmetic effects such as colored shell tracers, fireworks when a Legendary skill's special effect activates, and more. They are obtainable through multiple different means:
- By completing calendars
- Purchasing some in the in-game store with event currencies
- ...and more
Guises are only cosmetics. They do not provide any advantage during battle.
Note that guises can only be applied to normal commanders (Halloween (and such) commanders included). All collaboration commanders such as Azur Lane, Arpeggio and others cannot have guises applied to them.
Fireworks and shell tracers' colors depend on each guise. Most guises come with a unique voiceover, which can be pre-heard before applying the guise to a commander.
| Guise Name | Color | Nation(s) | Voiceover | Collaboration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miss Santa | Red |  
|
✗ | N/A |
| Snow Maiden | Blue |  
|
✗ | N/A |
| Brady McMordoff | Green |
|
✓ | N/A |
| Racer Fishy | Yellow |    
|
✗ | N/A |
| Bad Advice Cap | Yellow | 
|
✗ | N/A |
| Greg the Garlic Farmer | Blue |  
|
✓ | Viva La Dirt League |
| High Sorcerer Baradun | Blue |
|
✓ | Viva La Dirt League |
| Alice Thompson | Golden |
|
✗ | N/A |
| Bodger the Blacksmith | Blue |
|
✓ | Viva La Dirt League |
| Daniel F. Brassfender | Maroon |
|
✗ | N/A |
| Joanna W. Dew | Maroon |
|
✗ | N/A |
| Tony P. Westriver | Maroon |
|
✗ | N/A |
| Scrooge | Red |
|
✓ | N/A |
| Santa Claus | Red |
|
✓ | N/A |
| Celestial Guardian | Blue |
|
✓ | N/A |
| Cara McMordoff | Green |
|
✓ | N/A |
| Ominous Rider | Red |
|
✗ | N/A |
| Anthony Darby | Red |
|
✗ | N/A |
| Ella Rossi | Red |
|
✗ | N/A |
| Ashikaga Teru | Golden |
|
✓ | N/A |
| Popeye The Sailor Man | Green |
|
✓ | Popeye |
| Bluto The Terrible | Green |
|
✓ | Popeye |
| Lady Liberty | Yellow |
|
✓ | N/A |
| Dave Mustaine | Purple |
|
✓ | Megadeath |
| Vic Rattlehead | Green |
|
✓ | Megadeath |
| Monna Hoshnova | Blue |
|
✓ | hololive |
| Takanashi Kiara | Blue |
|
✓ | hololive |
| Shishiro Botan | Blue |
|
✓ | hololive |
| Watson Amelia | Blue |
|
✓ | hololive |
| Queen of the Deep | Green |
|
✓ | N/A |
| Lady of the Cold | Blue |
|
✓ | N/A |
| King of Winter | Turquoise |
|
✓ | N/A |
| Nadeshot | Yellow |
|
✓ | Creatorverse |
| CouRage | Blue |
|
✓ | Creatorverse |
| StoneBeard | Purple |
|
✓ | Creatorverse |
| Sapnap | Red |
|
✓ | Creatorverse |
| MoistCr1TiKaL | Blue |
|
✓ | Creatorverse |
| Basil Pinepickle | Gold |
|
✓ | N/A |
| Elke Stahl | Red |
|
✓ | N/A |
| Hiss Laessar | Yellow |
|
✓ | N/A |
| Vohlda O | Violet |
|
✓ | N/A |
| High Admiral Malachar | Yellow |
|
✓ | N/A |
