Azur Lane(EN) In-Depth Equipment Guide Series: Secondary Guns
Secondary Guns Overview
Some ships in the game can carry secondary guns in addition to main guns. The types of guns they carry and whether they can carry them in the first place are not determined by ship types but rather by specific ships. General trends do exist(i.e. Japanese cruisers don't tend to have secondary gun slots but have torpedo instead), but you should look at your ship to find out what they can equip.
CLs and CAs with equippable secondaries tend to use DD guns. BBs/BCs/BMs can equip either CL guns or DD guns depending on the ships.
DD guns and CL guns can be equipped as secondary guns for the bigger ships. We already discussed these guns in their respective pages but here we will discuss them in a different context.
A few general rules:
1. CL/CA secondaries generally have low slot efficiency(around 50-60%) and they usually can only be DD guns. In this case it is better to pick your best HE gun(most of the time gold twin 127mm). The reason for that is that they are usually more relevant for PvE in the front line, and that low slot efficiency doesn't affect low caliber HE guns' role in extending enemy fire timer(re-ignition). When low caliber guns re-ignite existing fire caused by higher caliber, the timer is refreshed but the higher caliber damage-per-tick is kept. Therefore low-efficiency secondary HE guns can at least assist your BBs.
2. When offered the choice of equipping DD vs CL guns on a backrow ship(BB/BC/BM), it is generally more favorable to choose CL guns. This is due to higher damage per shot and more relevant shell behavior in the CL guns available.
3. The role of backrow secondary is mainly to kill suicide boats. Therefore, damage per salvo is the only thing that matters. DPS doesn't mean shit because you are firing once against an immediate enemy. You either kill him or he explodes on you. Per second stats are completely irrelevant.
4. There is no absolutely clear winner in AP vs HE for secondaries in the backrow. HE does more damage against lightly armored suicide boats but AP has faster shell velocity and therefore faster reaction time. Though most agree that HE is generally more favorable.
Please note: Torpedo cruisers(cruisers that can't equip a gun on their second equipment slot) still have built-in secondaries. They have their own stats and are nation-specific. They help to make damage output more smooth/consistent but other than that they don't offer much. The weapon stats are average and the "pseudo-slot efficiency" of these built-in guns are estimated to be around 35%. I can talk about them in another article if people request it.
I will not go over every single gun that we discussed before. I will only list the ones that play relevant roles as secondaries.
Secondary Gun Analyses
Twin 127mm MK12 Dual Gun
Obtainable from: US boxes, 5-1, 8-1, 10-3, 11-1
Single 127mm Main Gun (US)
Some ships in the game can carry secondary guns in addition to main guns. The types of guns they carry and whether they can carry them in the first place are not determined by ship types but rather by specific ships. General trends do exist(i.e. Japanese cruisers don't tend to have secondary gun slots but have torpedo instead), but you should look at your ship to find out what they can equip.
CLs and CAs with equippable secondaries tend to use DD guns. BBs/BCs/BMs can equip either CL guns or DD guns depending on the ships.
DD guns and CL guns can be equipped as secondary guns for the bigger ships. We already discussed these guns in their respective pages but here we will discuss them in a different context.
A few general rules:
1. CL/CA secondaries generally have low slot efficiency(around 50-60%) and they usually can only be DD guns. In this case it is better to pick your best HE gun(most of the time gold twin 127mm). The reason for that is that they are usually more relevant for PvE in the front line, and that low slot efficiency doesn't affect low caliber HE guns' role in extending enemy fire timer(re-ignition). When low caliber guns re-ignite existing fire caused by higher caliber, the timer is refreshed but the higher caliber damage-per-tick is kept. Therefore low-efficiency secondary HE guns can at least assist your BBs.
2. When offered the choice of equipping DD vs CL guns on a backrow ship(BB/BC/BM), it is generally more favorable to choose CL guns. This is due to higher damage per shot and more relevant shell behavior in the CL guns available.
3. The role of backrow secondary is mainly to kill suicide boats. Therefore, damage per salvo is the only thing that matters. DPS doesn't mean shit because you are firing once against an immediate enemy. You either kill him or he explodes on you. Per second stats are completely irrelevant.
4. There is no absolutely clear winner in AP vs HE for secondaries in the backrow. HE does more damage against lightly armored suicide boats but AP has faster shell velocity and therefore faster reaction time. Though most agree that HE is generally more favorable.
Please note: Torpedo cruisers(cruisers that can't equip a gun on their second equipment slot) still have built-in secondaries. They have their own stats and are nation-specific. They help to make damage output more smooth/consistent but other than that they don't offer much. The weapon stats are average and the "pseudo-slot efficiency" of these built-in guns are estimated to be around 35%. I can talk about them in another article if people request it.
I will not go over every single gun that we discussed before. I will only list the ones that play relevant roles as secondaries.
Secondary Gun Analyses
Twin 127mm MK12 Dual Gun
Damage
|
15x4
|
Stats
|
FP+20, AA+25
|
Base Fire Rate
|
1.53s/wave
| Attribute |
Lock
|
Range
|
60
|
Firing Angle
|
360°
|
Spread Range
|
15°
|
Ammo
|
HE
|
Very good DD main gun, also very versatile as a secondary.
CL and CA can use this as a good secondary because it's the best HE gun. And as discussed earlier, it is favorable for cruisers to use HE secondaries.
Also happens to be the best BB/BC/BM secondary if they can only take DD guns. High damage per salvo, good shell pattern and HE.
The purple T2 version is probably usable too if you don't have this. At least the shell is HE. The T1 one isn't though so don't use that one.
CL and CA can use this as a good secondary because it's the best HE gun. And as discussed earlier, it is favorable for cruisers to use HE secondaries.
Also happens to be the best BB/BC/BM secondary if they can only take DD guns. High damage per salvo, good shell pattern and HE.
The purple T2 version is probably usable too if you don't have this. At least the shell is HE. The T1 one isn't though so don't use that one.
Obtainable from: US boxes, 5-1, 8-1, 10-3, 11-1
Single 127mm Main Gun (US)
Damage
|
15x3
|
Stats
|
FP+25
|
Base Fire Rate
|
1.06s/wave
|
Attribute
|
Lock
|
Range
|
60
|
Firing Angle
|
360°
|
Spread Range
|
15°
|
Ammo
|
HE
|
Same as above. Shell behavior isn't as ideal and damage per salvo is lower.
CLs/CAs can use this for its HE shells.
Backrow ships can also appreciate the HE though the per salvo damage isn't as high as the gold Twin 127mm.
Obtainable from: US boxes, 3-2, 10-1, 11-1
Twin 128mm Dual Gun (SK C/41)
Damage
|
11x4
|
Stats
|
FP+15, AA+10
|
Base Fire Rate
|
1.50s/wave
|
Attribute
|
Lock
|
Range
|
45
|
Firing Angle
|
360°
|
Spread Range
|
20°
|
Ammo
|
AP
|
The part of this gun we care about is AP shell velocity. This can help you react to fast traveling suicide boats like those in daily raids and later maps.
Obtainable from: DE boxes
The other DD guns are rather mediocre. You can mostly go by equipment rarity and tier to judge them if you want to use them as transitional secondaries.
Now Let's move onto CL guns.
CL guns are mostly carried by your backrow ships as secondaries.
Triple 152mm Main Gun
Usually not considered as a CL main gun, but as a backrow secondary, this is a staple.
Damage
|
19x6
|
Stats
|
FP+25
|
Base Fire Rate
|
4.59s/wave
| Attribute |
Lock
|
Range
|
60
|
Firing Angle
|
120°
|
Spread Range
|
42°
|
Ammo
|
HE
|
Very large arc of coverage, HE shells and reasonable damage. This is very relevant against suicide boats. It can often destroy multiple boats in one salvo.
Best used on maps where ships are moving at moderate speeds and are in a group, closer to the middle of the map.
This gun has the widest application as a backrow secondary.
Obtainable from: US boxes, 4-2, 9-3, 10-2, 10-3, 11-4
Triple 155mm Mounted Gun
Belfast gun makes a great secondary as well (though you might prefer to use this as a main gun, since it's not that easy to get multiples of this gun).
Damage
|
18x6
|
Stats
|
FP+45
|
Base Fire Rate
|
4.12s/wave
| Attribute |
Lock
|
Range
|
50
|
Firing Angle
|
120°
|
Spread Range
|
24°
|
Ammo
|
HE
|
The spread isn't as great as the purple triple 152mm above and therefore less ideal for killing multiple spread-out boats in one salvo, but it's still adequate.
This gun becomes the best choice at clearing suicide boats moving in a specific pattern: When there are boats lining up charging into you like a "train" one after another, most secondary guns will be overwhelmed. Your BB will likely clear as many boats as the number of secondary turrets she has, but after they all finish firing you'll have to eat all the damage from the subsequent boats. Belfast gun can take care of this situation. The shell output is a 2x3 pattern, so it fires two "mini salvos" per every salvo. For a stereotypical BB with 3 secondary gun turrets, this will translate to three salvos of 2x3, which equals 6 mini salvos, allowing your BB to keep up with the boat-train.
Obtainable from: JP boxes, 6-2, 8-3
Twin 152mm Main Gun (UK)
Damage
|
22x4
|
Stats
|
FP+25
|
Base Fire Rate
|
3.39s/wave
| Attribute |
Lock
|
Range
|
50
|
Firing Angle
|
120°
|
Spread Range
|
28°
|
Ammo
|
AP
|
Despite looking like a twin gun, the shell output is 1x4. This allows you to cover some more area.
This gun is the best choice on maps where shell velocity matters. This gun is ideal against fast moving suicide boats and boats on the top/bottom edges of the map(great distance from your BBs). Most HE guns will not be able to catch those patterns because of low shell velocity. This gun's AP shells can keep up with those patterns because the shells are fast enough to intercept them.
Obtainable from: UK boxes, 4-3, 10-1
Twin 150mm Main Gun (TbtsK C/36)
Damage
|
21x4
|
Stats
|
FP+25
|
Base Fire Rate
|
3.00s/wave
| Attribute |
Lock
|
Range
|
50
|
Firing Angle
|
120°
|
Spread Range
|
20°
|
Ammo
|
AP
|
Clevedaddy's gun is also a valid choice for the same reasoning above regarding AP shells and shell velocity. Though the spread is tighter than the twin 152 so whether this is good or bad will depend on your situational/map awareness.
Obtainable from: DE boxes, 4-2, 9-3
