How Commanders work
Commanders have base traits that are active from the point in time you assign a commander to a ship.
You immediately can choose a first-row skill and then three more as your Commander reaches rank 2 through 4. Once the Commander is past rank 4, the skills you've chosen continue to improve passively.
You can only assign a commander to a ship of their nation.
- E.g. William Halsey can only command American warships, while Tōgō Heihachirō can only lead Japanese ships into battle.
A Commander can be assigned to multiple ships at the same time, but his chosen skills will remain the same. So, if you're using a Commander on several different ships, make sure you choose the optimal combination when you switch between those ships, or simply look for a universal build.
- Commanders cannot be deleted. However, duplicate Commanders are converted into Personal or Universal Commendations. These are used to level Commanders up through Legendary ranks.
- You can switch the skills at any time in port without spending any resources.
Ranking Up
Ranking up commanders takes resources:
- Regular ranks can be reached by spending Commander XP and Global XP, Commander XP is always prioritized when ranking up
- Advancing past rank 6 takes Promotion Orders, found as rewards for Combat Missions and Campaign tasks
- Moving past rank 10 requires additional Promotion Orders.
- Insignias are required to rank up from 12 and over. They can be obtained the same way as Promotion Orders but less frequently.
Inspirations
An “inspiration” takes one Commander's base trait and adds it to the Commander it’s applied to as a bonus.
- All Commanders have two slots for inspirations, which are unlocked at Rank 7 and Rank 11, respectively.
- To change inspirations after assigning them and taking such an “inspired” Commander into battle, you either need to first finish several more battles with the inspiration applied, or use your Commander XP to switch inspirations instantly.