Azur Lane Tier List

Win those battles in Azur Lane with ease. Here is the ultimate Azur Lane tier list to help you win more battles.

Azur Lane is a charming mix of side-scrolling shooting and RPG with a sprinkle of gacha elements on top.

In this game, you collect human representations of World War II warships called “shipgirls”.

If that’s not enough of a head-turner, you’ll be happy to know that the game also has unique battle mechanics.

How Battles Work In Azur Lane

In Azur Lane, you position your ships in two rows: the front row (Vanguard) and the back row. There are 3 slots for each of these rows, so you have to strategize which ships you’ll bring and how you’ll place them for the incoming encounter.

Note that certain ships can only be deployed in front while others are the opposite.

Once the placements are finished, the map starts scrolling and enemies will appear in front of the player’s fleet. The player must navigate their ships to destroy enemies and obstacles while mitigating damage on their side. The goal of every encounter is to reach the boss at the end of the level.

Now that you have an overview of how battles work in Azur Lane, you probably have a clearer idea of how you’ll structure your game. Without further ado, let’s dive into the tier list.

S-Tier

You’ll have the best experience playing this game if you have a handful of these ships at your disposal.

They have excellent stats and skills that fit in most of the situations that the game throws at you.

Ship	Type	Placement
Ayanami	Destroyer	Vanguard
Azuma	Large Cruiser	Vanguard
Baltimore	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Bremerton	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Centaur	Light Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Chapayev	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Drake	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Enterprise	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Formidable
Friedrich der Grosse	Battleship	Back Row
Gascogne	Battleship	Back Row
Georgia	Battleship	Back Row
Helena	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Howe	Battleship	Back Row
I-13	Submarine Carrier	Back Row
Monarch	Battleship	Back Row
Nagato	Battleship	Back Row
Odin	Battleship	Back Row
Richelieu	Battleship	Back Row
Roon	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Ryuuhou	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
San Diego Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Seattle	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
U-101	Submarine	Support
Warspite Retrofit	Battleship	Back Row

A-Tier

A-Tier ships are good and powerful. They’re not top-of-the-class ships like those in S Tier, but still rank quite high in our list.

Ship	Type	Placement
Akashi	Repair Ship	Back Row
Alabama	Battleship	Back Row
Amagi	Battle Cruiser	Back Row
An Shan	Destroyer	Vanguard
Bismarck	Battleship	Back Row
Bunker Hill	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Cheshire	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Duke of York	Battleship	Back Row
Eldridge	Destroyer	Vanguard
Essex	Aircraft Carrier	Backline
Graf Zeppelin	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
I-168	Submarine	Support
Illustrious	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Intrepid	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Jean Bart	Battleship	Back Row
Jintsuu Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
King George V	Battleship	Back Row
Kitakaze	Destroyer	Vanguard
Laffey Retrofit	Destroyer	Vanguard
Minneapolis	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Montpelier	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Neptune	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Ning Hai Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Noshiro	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Perseus	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Ping Hai Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Portland Retrofit	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Saint Louis	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Saratoga Retrofit	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Swiftsure	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Tashkent	Destroyer	Vanguard
Tosa	Battleship	Back Row
U-47	Submarine	Support
Unicorn	Light Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Vestal	Repair Ship	Back Row
Yat-Sen Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Yukikaze	Destroyer	Vanguard
Z23 Retrofit	Destroyer	Vanguard
Zara	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard

B-Tier

In this tier, we have ships that constitute the game’s current meta.

Although they’re not as powerful as those above, they can still dominate the game, especially in the hands of players who know what they’re doing.

Ship	Type	Placement
Albacore	Submarine	Support
Ark Royal	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Aurora	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Birmingham	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Casablanca	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Cavalla	Submarine	Support
Champagne	Battleship	Back Row
Cleveland	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Columbia	Light Cruiser	Elite (Special)
Dido	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Hanazuki	Destroyer	Vanguard
Hermione	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Hood	Battle Cruiser	Back Row
Hyuuga Retrofit	Aviation Battleship	Back Row
Ibuki	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Javelin	Destroyer	Vanguard
Jeanne D’Arc	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Kaga	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Kawakaze	Destroyer	Vanguard
Little Bel	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Littorio	Battleship	Back Row
London	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Mogami Retrofit	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Newcastle Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Nicholas Retrofit	Destroyer	Vanguard
North Carolina	Battleship	Back Row
Queen Elizabeth	Battleship	Back Row
Shouhou	Light Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Tirpitz	Battleship	Back Row
U-81	Submarine	Support
Valiant	Battleship	Back Row
Z1 Retrofit	Destroyer	Vanguard

C-Tier

Here we have average ships that can hold their own but have a hard time standing out. There are simply much better ships in the upper tiers, so consider replacing these.

Ship	Type	Placement
Algerie	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Arizona	Battleship	Back Row
Belfast	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Curacoa Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Curlew Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Eskimo	Destroyer	Vanguard
Gangut	Battleship	Back Row
Hiryuu Retrofit	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Izumo	Battleship	Back Row
Kagerou Retrofit	Destroyer	Vanguard
Kizuna Al	Destroyer	Vanguard
Little Renown	Battleship	Back Row
Prinz Eugen	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Sheffield	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Shoukaku	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Sirius	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Souryuu Retrofit	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Suruga	Battleship	Back Row
Victorious	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Wichita	Heavy Cruiser	Vanguard
Zuikaku	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row

D-Tier

These are poor choices if you want to build a fleet that would carry you through the game’s endgame content. Consider dropping these ships immediately once better ones come along.

Ship	Type	Placement
Akagi	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Bataan	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Biloxi	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Carabiniere	Destroyer	Vanguard
Eagle	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Fumiruiru	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Kinu	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Mikasa	Battleship	Back Row
Reno	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Sendai Retrofit	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Shangri-La	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Taihou	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
U-73	Submarine	Support

F-Tier

Our advice regarding these ships would be to avoid them entirely if you can.

They have very little value except in early to mid-game. If you’re set on building the best fleet you can, then these ships should have no place in your roster.

Ship	Type	Placement
Anniversary Kizuna Al	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Chaser	Light Aircraft Carrier	Back Row
Hibiki	Destroyer	Vanguard
Icarus	Destroyer	Vanguard
Isuzu	Light Cruiser	Vanguard
Naganami	Destroyer	Vanguard
Tanikaze	Destroyer	Vanguard
Tartu	Destroyer	Vanguard
U-556	Submarine	Support
Zeppy	Aircraft Carrier	Back Row

Conclusion

So there you have all Azur Lane’s available shipgirls ranked from best to worst. Consider following this guide if you want to boost your performance in this game.

Of course, there’s more to the game than just owning powerful units.

When you have a solid core of ships, you’ll be in a good position to tweak your team to your liking, while avoiding the frustration that comes when the game’s difficulty spike kicks in.