Aircraft Regen mechanic help

[the_eng]

Please note, this is not directed to be a pro or anti CV post, I want to better understand the game and though this was the best place to ask. I have not been able to find any information about this.

I am not incredibly well versed with all the CV mechanics in the game so can someone explain the full details of the regen mechanic in terms of aircraft returning to the carrier after a strike. I know that the time for aircraft to be fully regenerated from destroyed is stated in the aircraft stats but does that apply to all situations? So, how long does the regen take for aircraft take if they dropped their payload and taken no damage?  Also how long is the regen if the aircraft has taken a lot of damage and dropped their payload? I realize this varies between carrier and aircraft type but any rule of thumb would help.

Thank you,

[ITZ_ACE_BABY]

regeneration only applies to planes that were destroyed so you can have unlimited planes, planes that are damaged are re-healed when they return to cv for service.

 

[Czevak]

You can press "ALT" and look at the bottom right of the Aircraft UI bar.. thing to see the remaining time until you will regen a plane.

[Zenn3k]

1 hour ago, the_eng said:

Please note, this is not directed to be a pro or anti CV post, I want to better understand the game and though this was the best place to ask. I have not been able to find any information about this.

I am not incredibly well versed with all the CV mechanics in the game so can someone explain the full details of the regen mechanic in terms of aircraft returning to the carrier after a strike. I know that the time for aircraft to be fully regenerated from destroyed is stated in the aircraft stats but does that apply to all situations? So, how long does the regen take for aircraft take if they dropped their payload and taken no damage?  Also how long is the regen if the aircraft has taken a lot of damage and dropped their payload? I realize this varies between carrier and aircraft type but any rule of thumb would help.

Thank you,

There are only two true states of existence for planes.   Alive and Dead.    Dead planes regenerate, Alive planes do not.   Any planes that aren't dead are immediately available to use once they return to the carrier, there is no wait time on that (beyond the return time) regardless of how much damage they took (or didn't take) during their attack, as long as they are alive.   

You only regenerate losses, you don't "build" new planes you haven't lost yet, there is no "stockpiling" of planes.    Holding ALT on the keyboard will show you how much longer till another plane regens for each attack type.

[Ahskance]

2 hours ago, the_eng said:

Please note, this is not directed to be a pro or anti CV post, I want to better understand the game and though this was the best place to ask. I have not been able to find any information about this.

I am not incredibly well versed with all the CV mechanics in the game so can someone explain the full details of the regen mechanic in terms of aircraft returning to the carrier after a strike. I know that the time for aircraft to be fully regenerated from destroyed is stated in the aircraft stats but does that apply to all situations? So, how long does the regen take for aircraft take if they dropped their payload and taken no damage?  Also how long is the regen if the aircraft has taken a lot of damage and dropped their payload? I realize this varies between carrier and aircraft type but any rule of thumb would help.

Thank you,

1) Each plane type has "Deck Slots", which is basically a cap on the amount of plane-type you can have on deck at any given time. 
EX: 8/8 rocket planes.

2) When you take off with a squadron that was previously full on deck spots, your carrier will now have deck spots available and will start the regen process of readying up the next plane to take an available deck spot.
EX: 6 rocket planes take off, so your CV now has 2/8 rocket plane slots taken.  It will begin readying up for the 3rd slot.

3) If your planes do not find a target, or you choose to send them back to the CV without any plane losses, all living planes will land.  Any planes over the deck space limit are removed from the game.
EX: Your CV has regen'd 1 rocket plane while the other planes were out and has 3/8 rocket plane slots.  When your 6 planes return, the rocket plane slots are returned to 8/8 as they cannot exceed the maximum of 8.

4) If your planes do find a target and strike, and you lose 2 planes and have several damaged planes that head back to the CV.  Any plane that lands is treated as a full plane and is immediately returned to service with full health and armament.
EX: Your slots would be 3/8, and 4 planes would return for a total of 7/8 rocket planes.  Any "damage" taken is healed instantly and the planes are rearm'd instantly.

TLDR:  A CV starts regenerating/readying whenever your planes are below their "cap".  Regen is unaffected by any outside factors and only regens one plane at a time of a given type.  Multiple types of planes can regenerate at the same time if you have the spaces to be filled.

[Soshi_Sone]

6 hours ago, Ahskance said:

TLDR:  A CV starts regenerating/readying whenever your planes are below their "cap".  Regen is unaffected by any outside factors and only regens one plane at a time of a given type.  Multiple types of planes can regenerate at the same time if you have the spaces to be filled.

The above is a really good summary of the entire process.  It really all boils down to what Ahskance says.  I'll say it with number bullets:

1.  If a spot is open on deck for a squadron, the CV is generating an aircraft for that spot.

2.  Once the spots are all full (through gen) or because returning planes landed, the gen stops.

3.  Any landing planes that push you over the max on deck are basically discarded.

In number (1), the CV does not care how many planes are in flight.  It only looks at open slots on deck.  As soon as a squadron takes off, open slots exist, and the gen process begins.  Note it does this even BEFORE any planes are lost, because it doesn't count lost planes.  It ONLY looks at planes on deck.

Although we use the phrase "regeneration", from a purely technical standpoint planes are ALWAYS "generated", NEVER "regenerated".  A plane that is shot down is gone...forever!  The CV started generating a replacement the moment the spot it once occupied became vacant on deck.  Now, if it's not shot down and returns to the CV, and there are no slots to fill (because other planes were generated during its sortie, including the plane generated to replace it when it was launched, and/or other planes returned, to the point all slots are full), then it is discarded on landing.  Somewhat ironically, in this sense, planes are never regenerated, but can on occasion be discarded. 

But my above para is mainly discussing a technicality.  When someone says regeneration, that is interpreted to mean generation.  But thinking of it as what it is "technically" can often make it easy to understand what is actually taking place.   Refer to (1), (2), (3) above. 

 

 

[Tzarevitch]

The above posts from everyone else are accurate. There's no need for me to add to it other than to say don't think of it as "regeneration." Each CV has a theoretical maximum number of planes it has, this includes planes that are crated up and are currently unusable.  That number isn't listed but people have calculated what the number is based on the length of a match. "Regeneration" people talk about is basically taking crated planes out of storage as deck space is available.  Here's a picture of USS Enterprise. You can see the stored extra planes strapped to the ceiling and they are assembling one in front of the camera. 

Spoiler

Once planes are launched and space is available, the CV crews immediately start uncrating replacement planes to fill the available space until all available spaces on the deck are filled. (It isn't realistic but it is a game.) Planes that survive from the attack run are immediately added to the list of ones available on the deck (they do not go back into storage) and anything in excess of the space on the deck goes away. If there is no space on the deck the CV crew stops bringing planes up out of storage. 

[LastRemnant]

11 hours ago, ITZ_ACE_BABY said:

regeneration only applies to planes that were destroyed so you can have unlimited planes, planes that are damaged are re-healed when they return to cv for service.

 

Yeah but they don't regenerate that quickly though if not at all to matter, in the end, that's what when a CV gets deplane 

[munchtiger]

11 hours ago, the_eng said:

Please note, this is not directed to be a pro or anti CV post, I want to better understand the game and though this was the best place to ask. I have not been able to find any information about this.

I am not incredibly well versed with all the CV mechanics in the game so can someone explain the full details of the regen mechanic in terms of aircraft returning to the carrier after a strike. I know that the time for aircraft to be fully regenerated from destroyed is stated in the aircraft stats but does that apply to all situations? So, how long does the regen take for aircraft take if they dropped their payload and taken no damage?  Also how long is the regen if the aircraft has taken a lot of damage and dropped their payload? I realize this varies between carrier and aircraft type but any rule of thumb would help.

 Thank you,

Regeneration has already been covered by everyone else but I'll chime in on the other side

The word for strikes returning is "recovery", the time it takes depends on the distance between strike and your CV, this is why many CVs move up so that they don't need to wait as long for strikes to be recovered and can cycle faster, as long as the plane isn't dead, the time to recover/return doesn't change.