The sections focus on how to identify, manage, and produce quality Commanders who are good for the long run with minimal use of Elite Commander XP!

Note: This guide does not contain information on what Commander skills to select nor what complements the best for each ship class.

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The guide is for everyone, but much friendlier to new players. Everything will be explained to be on the same level as those who are the most experienced. The writing will be easy to follow with plenty of screenshots for those who are too lazy to read everything!

The hierarchy of commander classes in descending order of importance.
Rare exceptions can be made for regular Commanders who have 18+ skill points, despite their type being outnumbered by others.

*The tier range can expand further to 6s and even 5s, if there is a significantly larger non-regular Commanders to assign.

The idea is to have a more effective tenure for the Commander to participate in at least 25 battles on the assigned ship before it gains elite status. Such considerable time spent makes most retraining worthwhile.

Note: The mechanics of each ship tech line has increased XP requirement for each higher tier.

The full scale of enhanced skills will differ in quality with some being exceptionally good.
An assessment will prevent resource waste on those with relatively useless enhanced skills.
Survivability Expert is one of the most effective universal skills, but others may not fit with the player's combat style.

Note: Skills points are still needed to activate them unlike Unique Commanders who are conditional dependent on battle performance.

Superships are exempt from the T7-9 rule that normally apply to non-regular Commanders.
Historical/Event/Special Commanders must be used instead of Unique/Seasoned ones because the best are needed for higher XP performance to expedite the research reset process.

The Captain's Logbook must be consulted first to distinguish any starless Special Commander.
Several of them will appear like a regular Commander and easily blend in to look very much alike.
Major nations like Japan will usually have a disproportionately higher number of non-regulars who are acquired through annual events. As their numbers swell, dismissal of Regulars will look more appealing for each applicable situation.

Note: Dismissals must be done at credit cost only because the full Elite Commander XP is not worth the doubloons.

Inactive Commanders can be placed on less frequently utilized premium ships when available, without wasting 100 doubloons to expand 4 more reserve slots.

Any Commander who has reached level 21 is now a Navy Elite and all CXP earned will be converted to ECXP that can be used on others.

Note: The Navy Elite can continue generating ECXP not only on the original assigned ship but also on all premium ships for that respective nation.

Any Commander who retrain with 13 skill points or below are the most cost-effective.
The ECXP cost is 5000 increments for levels 11-13, who have standard competence.
The ECXP cost will start increasing by 12500 increments for levels 13-18.
Tier 8+ ships will require a more hard-hitting Commander who is at least a level 17 for multiple tiers 3-4 skills.

Lesser nations like the Netherlands or Spain are ideal to reuse the same non-regular Commander.
The main benefit allows more consolidation of CXP to expedite skill development, especially when the nation does not have an extensive tech tree that require multiple ship class specializations.

Note: The same method can be applied to any major nation but only when retraining a Commander with less than 18 skill points to avoid the exorbitant ECXP cost.

Each major nation will have varying tech tree branches that may not have all ship classes.
The red circles signify the T1-6 rule of assigning the expendable regular Commanders. The green ones highlight where the non-regular Commanders should be assigned to, with their current available numbers.

Any ship that requires significantly more than average ship XP to branch off to at least 2+ lines.
The Gaede destroyer here needs much more ship XP because of its progression to 3 different ships.

Submarines and CVs progress by 2 tiers at a time and requires 2-4x more battles on average.
The US branch has an unique CV line because of having 2 types that requires more ship XP on the Ranger.

The milestone after reaching the last ship of the respective Tech Tree means that the entire line can now be reset to gain Research Points. They are obtained incrementally and start from Tier 5 and up when progressing through the same line again.

Note: No reset means no research points and ship XP on the tier 10 ship will stagnate.

The final tier ships primarily serve the purpose for either clan or gold-level ranked battles. Based on the player's play style, the best ship that fits such combat aggression is worth keeping, unless there is another premium compatible ship to use.

The best of the best Commanders must be utilized in these high-stakes battles and will most likely be fully skilled as Navy Elites. Tech tree ships are preferred because they are stronger but requires Commander training that have the highest ECXP cost.

Note: Premium ships do not require the same stringency for vetting selection because of non-existent commander training.

The strategic assignment of each Commander to certain tiered ships makes a significant difference to their skill development. The late stage goal is to have a more competent Commander to achieve higher ship performance that leads to more rapid Tech Tree progression and eventually for more Research Points!

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Here are other detailed guides that are not only comprehensive but tailors different themes and challenges:

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