Arknights New Player Tier List

Article by Daniel O'Brien

Table of Contents

Introduction
Latest Additions/Changes
Tier List

Introduction

TL/DR How To Use

Go to each Archetype labeled as "Core" and develop the highest rank that you have.
If you can be bothered to read, read the Archetype notes and the "New Player Notes" in the ? pop-up on each Operator.

How to Use

This is a tier list for new players of Arknights, to help you decide who to develop (to E1) first and recommendations for your first few E2s.
The focus is on helping new players to complete Episode 4 (where the first set of efficient farming stages are) as quickly and resource-efficiently as possible.
Here are things we take into consideration:
- Usefulness or sufficiency in early/ mid game stages (through Ep 4)
- Development cost efficiency
- Good RIIC base skills earned at E1 promotion
- Ease of use/ understanding
- Late game potential

Arknights Guide: Best Operators To Promote For RIIC Base Skills

This is NOT an end game, nor max power/potential, nor overall usefulness Tier List. If you want that, you can find it here:

Arknights Operator Tier List

A lower ranking does not necessarily mean an Operator is bad, or worse than another Operator. It simply means we believe the higher-ranked Operator to be a more useful or efficient Operator to develop early to clear through Ep 4.
Archetypes are a way of grouping together/ categorizing Operators with similar attributes. For more details see:

Arknights: Class And Archetype Guide

In this list, Archetypes are categorized by the importance of their inclusion in a roster balanced to successfully complete content through Episode 4 (and beyond)
- Core: Necessary to have in the roster or very highly recommended for almost every map.
- Situational: Not needed for every (or most) maps, but important to have when needed.
- Optional: Not necessary to complete early content, but can be a useful option.
Each Archetype has notes important for new players to know.
Any 2 Operators can be compared. (Comparisons are NOT limited to within-Archetype only).
Blue borders indicate Operators that would be strong choices for a player's first few E2s.
Click on the "Explanation" on each Operator to see "New Player Notes" and "Eval summaries" for each Operator.
Red Stars indicate the Operator is Limited
Operators that are given free by the story can be found here or here:

Operators Obtained from Clearing Stages

Other Resources Useful To New Players

A list of gameplay guides can be found here:

Guide List - Core Gameplay

A guide explaining Operator Recruitment and a Filter showing recruitment tag results can be found here:

Arknights: Operator Recruitment Guide

Arknights Recruitment Tag Filter

An Operator List that can be filtered and sorted can be found here:

Interactive Operator List

Latest Additions/Changes

Latest Update: 04/16/2024: Episode 13 [The Whirlpool That Is Passion]

A-

Hoederer

Hoederer: You probably don't want Hoederer to be one of your starter units. He's comparatively fragile, relies on attacking for his self sustain, needs expensive upgrades, and his long attack interval can be frustrating. But you could do a lot worse too. Hoederer hits hard with good damage and sustain that will see him be a key part of your team with lots of long term potential, even if he isn't the ideal starting choice.

C-

Vendela

Delphine

Vendela: Vendela probably won't be worth your attention as a new player. While Incantation Medics are natively pretty decent, Vendela is a relatively weak example of the archetype. Any potential in her utility is unlikely to be realized out of advanced scenarios, her damage is just alright, and her healing is unreliable. It makes Vendela a tough sell for a new player.

Delphine: Newbies won't have access to Delphine. If you are at the point where you're capable of unlocking her, then you're no longer a newbie, so any value discussion here is purely academic.

Verdant

Verdant: Verdant is not a unit you should start your career with, even with his low costs. His DPS is only average for his rarity, while having significant drawbacks that don't take advantage of what a Dollkeepers can potentially bring. Instead, he is a unit who is unreliable with long effective cycles (remember that SP costs don't recover while in doll form) and should be avoided.

Tier List

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Target
1	3	AoE	Multi (Block #)

Damage Type
Arts Damage	Healing	Physical Damage

Position
Melee	Ranged

Caster AoE / Splash Caster

Team Category: Situational

Splash Arts damage for high DP costs and short range. They are useful early on, but fall off greatly later in the game.

B+	Lava Explanation New Player Notes A good, cheap option for early swarm stages. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks splash to nearby enemies<br> + Talent: Immediately gain SP on deploy - allows quick Skill use<br> + Good stats for a 3<br> + Wont hold you back on most content if you didn't pull any of the 4+ AOE casters<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Not worth using more resources than is required to pass content, as all the higher rarity AOE casters are direct upgrades</span>
B	Mostima Explanation New Player Notes Some late game usability, but suffers from the usual AoE Caster drawbacks. Difficult to justify early investment due to 6* costs and marginal/replaceable early game impact. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: When deployed, all ally Caster SP gain increased (does not stack with similar effects)<br> + Decreases movement speed of enemies within attack range<br> + S2 and S3: Extremely powerful crowd control<br> + S2: Great synergy with powerful attackers (especially with limited range) as you can hold enemies within their range.<br> + A well rounded AOE caster that can provide both damage and utility.<br></span> = While the damage on her skills is high when active, she plays more of a crowd control role than DPS<br> <span style="color:red;">- Long Skill cooldowns with low up-times (somewhat mitigated by her SP gain Talent)</span> 12F Explanation New Player Notes Extremely cheap and gets the job done. Also dodge memes! Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks splash to nearby enemies<br> + Talent: 50% physical Dodge<br> + A very cheap to develop and deploy AoE Caster (AoE Casters are a relatively expensive to deploy Archetype)<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Much weaker than his easy-to-get 3 Star counterpart Lava</span> Dusk ★ Explanation New Player Notes A good AoE damage dealer that can stall for a while by summoning Block-2 minions (S3). Can also cheese Annihilation 3, which is very useful early on. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Increases her ATK every enemy she kills up to a maximum and summons a Little Instinct on the first attack after deployment.<br> + Little Instincts provide great crowd control as they each have 2 block, about 2k health and last for 25s<br> + Comparatively very high ATK for an AOE caster<br> + S2: This deals good damage and hits all enemies in her expanded attack range. If you don't care about the little instincts then this skill can provide better damage and can help stack up her talent when fighting against big waves of enemies<br> + S3: This skill lets you summon a new Little Instinct with each new attack and with her huge attack range you can create a lot of constantly refreshing summons to block enemies for the entire duration. Great crowd control with decent damage for up to 60s of enemy distractions.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">-- Long cooldowns<br></span>
B-	Gitano Explanation New Player Notes Expanded range on S2 + hits-all-targets allows for Anni3 cheese strats and good burst. Cheap to raise. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks splash to nearby enemies<br> + Talent: On deployment, randomly gain either ATK, ASPD or HP<br> + S2: a decent ATK boost for a moderate duration. Hits all enemies in range simultaneously. Extended range allows her to hit targets others can't.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Can troll yourself with self-stun. Long cooldown.</span>
C+	Santalla Explanation New Player Notes <p>While Santalla is by no means a bad unit, Splash Casters are tough to justify early resources on. They have relatively low DPS and limited role as the game difficulty evolves, so sticking to cheaper options is typically the recommendation. Additionally, Santalla's RNG nature can add an unnecessary layer of frustration for new players. Her Freeze is potent, but even the control aspects are better found in cheaper units such as Ethan. Santalla may still be worth a look on a new account if you pick her up in the hunt for Typhon, but odds are, your team will have better investment options.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ S2: Decent damage on a reasonable cycle.<br> + The column/row her icicles fall in repeats in a predictable pattern of left, right, center, repeat. Along with the splash area, she can actually Freeze enemies to a reasonable degree.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Within the column/row, the icicles are still RNG which results in frustrating misses.<br> - Relatively low Freeze uptime thanks to the cycling columns and RNG means she doesn't benefit from her own RES reduction (via Freeze) much.<br> - S1: A throwaway generic skill that removes all benefits her kit might otherwise bring.<br></span> Lava the Purgatory Explanation New Player Notes Expensive to raise as a 5. Better than most of her rarity, but probably still not worth raising over the cheaper Gitano. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A 5 version of Lava with an upgraded Talent and some unique mechanics<br> + Talent: After first deployment, immediately gain SP. When deployed, all other Caster operators gain initial SP. Very useful for Purgatory herself, but with her high DP Cost you will usually want to place her down later.<br> + S1: While the raw numbers aren't high, the attack hits 2 targets so the AOE from the two attacks can overlap. The increased range is also very useful as there are not many casters that can reach Sniper range.<br> + S2: When the rings of fire from both Purgatory and the ally overlap the damage over time can be quite high. Good for clearing out a big waves of squishy enemies.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: When the rings of fire don't overlap the damage is not very high. This skill also requires Purgatory to be up close to the enemy to take full advantage.</span>
C	Leonhardt Explanation New Player Notes Expensive to raise as a 5*, not justified for the cost. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Archetype: Attacks Splash to nearby enemies<br> + Talent: For every enemy within attack range, gain ATK (stacks up to a limit)<br> + S2: Reducing RES is very useful in some tough fights, and not many units can do it. Good debuff duration. Can hit enemies outside the range of normal AOE casters<br></span> = His strength is keeping RES debuff up on multiple targets <br> <span style="color:red;">- Other cheaper-to-deploy Operators can provide higher RES reduction.</span> Greyy Explanation New Player Notes S2 suffers from awful skill cycle. Has slowing utility, but Gitano is more broadly applicable. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Attacks slow enemies<br> + Trait: Attacks splash to nearby enemies<br> + A mix of AoE caster and Slower, with decent damage and a consistent Slow<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- He has the Range of an AoE Caster, which is pretty short, so you aren't likely to Slow much before enemies get past him<br> - At E1 his slow is weaker than a Slower Supporter, but it is hard to justify promoting him to E2 since his damage is so low.<br> - Slower Supporter alternatives provide AoE or multi-target Slow and Arts damage at a much cheaper deploy cost.</span>
D	Skyfire Explanation New Player Notes Expensive to raise as a 5*, bad DPS on S2, not justified for the cost. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks Splash to nearby enemies<br> + Talent: Increases Arts damage taken by blocked enemies<br> + S2: Stun offers AoE Crowd Control<br> + Good up-time on Skills<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: trades damage for the stun (does less DPS than S1)<br> - Gitano S2 provides greater DPS potential in some situations.</span>

Caster Burninator / Blast Caster

Team Category: Optional

Straight line Arts destruction.

Ifrit

Explanation

Corroserum

Explanation

Caster Chain Caster

Team Category: Optional

Casters whose attacks jump between close enemies and slow them.

A-	Passenger Explanation New Player Notes A good option for swarm clearing requirements of early game that retains relevance into late game and other game modes. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A chain caster with skills that give him a unique range and AOE<br> + Talent: Damage dealt increases against enemies with more than 80% hp. Bonus damage when there are no enemies in the 4 adjacent tiles.<br> + S2: Good for clearing out waves of enemies with its solid uptime and increased damage. The increased range gives him slightly better range than your average sniper.<br> + S3: Great skill range and good skill DPS, despite the skills short duration. Can carry 2 charges and the bolts can bounce to nearby targets just like his regular attacks.<br></span> = Passenger pairs well with SP recovery operators to help cover his SP issues<br> <span style="color:red;">- High deploy cost and slow attack time<br> - S3: very high SP cost for a short time of activation so you will need to make each use count if you depend on him as a main DPS.</span>
B	Astgenne Explanation New Player Notes <p>A decent option for handling the swarm stages of the early game, but her 5 Star development costs mean there are cheaper to develop options that can handle the same job sufficiently.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Astgenne's Dual-Chain feature on her Skills help to ensure the consistency of her damage output<br> + Talent: +ASPD continues the trend of Astgenne's focus on consistency, offering a healthy bump to her average damage output<br> + Astgenne is less greedy for investment to be effective than other Chain Casters, attaining more of her peak performance far sooner than others<br></span> = Skills can target up to 4 enemies without E2/Mastery, meaning she is less impacted by her E1 trait only targeting up to 3 enemies<br> = Weak Mastery gains are a blessing and a curse: she needs less investment to get going, but she benefits less from max investment<br> <span style="color:red;">- High DP Cost<br> - Weak Skill multipliers hamper Astgenne's total damage output<br> - Weak Single-Target damage output<br></span>
C+	Pudding Explanation New Player Notes A potentially decent option for handling the multi-target and swarm situations of early game. She is easily accessible from the Red cert shop, and is relatively cheap. However, new players will want to make sure they don't delay their E2 progress by using certs on things other than chip catalysts, so most should probably pass. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Strong Chain Caster with powerful burst DPS.<br> + Able to hit way outside her range due to the chaining effects.<br> + Excels at taking down exactly two targets at a time. Generally a better option than many Splash Casters.<br> + S2: Huge damage and long Slow uptime when hitting two targets at a time. Can easily burst down armored enemies.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Very costly to deploy due to her archetype.<br> - Can accidentally hit targets you don't want to attack yet due to her chaining effects.<br> - S2: Harder to use than most other Caster skills. Requires good timing and practice to hit the two target sweet spot for the highest effectiveness.</span>
C-	Leizi Explanation New Player Notes Fairly weak at low development and requires heavy investment to shine. Not worth raising early. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Arts damage that bounces to multiple enemies and slows them. Damage is reduced with each bounce<br> + Talent: Increases damage against unblocked enemies<br> + S2: ATK increases, damage no longer reduced for bounces. Great DPS if bounces can be utilized<br> + A good slowing and damage option for no-block strategies and teamed up with other slowing and crowd-control Operators<br></span> = She is a middle ground between an AoE and ST Caster. She is only better than an AoE Caster when enemies are too far apart for the AoE splash, and is only better than an ST Caster when multiple enemies are close enough for the bounce.<br> = Attack Interval is faster than an AoE Caster but slower than an ST Caster<br> <span style="color:red;">- High DP cost<br> - Low base ATK<br> - Bounce range is only 1 grid and cannot bounce to previously hit targets</span>

Caster Charge / Mystic Caster

Team Category: Optional

Casters that store up normal attacks when they aren't attacking.

C+	Ebenholz Explanation New Player Notes <p>His targetting and range peculiarities along with the complexity of the kit and the relatively high amount of micromanagement required to maximize his performance are not ideal for new players learning the game. Most new players will be better off spending the resources elsewhere.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A mystic caster that focuses on bursting down elite enemies.<br> + Talent: Can store more charged attacks than other mystic caster. <br> + Huge burst potential when fully charged and can kill many enemies in a single hit.<br> + S2: Great wave clear option when Ebenholz has a wide space in front of him to place remnants. Huge damage per hit and good displacement effect. Can be easily recharged for each wave of enemies. <br> + S3: Great burst option that can be used to quickly recharge his stored attacks. Very good skill uptime with the ability to deactivate to prepare for new waves. Extremely high damage multipliers.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Remnants can only spawn in deployable spaces meaning placing allies in his attack range lessens its effects. Can often waste charges attacking a single enemy before skill is available. The skill uses all stored charges regardless of the number of available spaces, often leading to wasted charges.<br> - S3: If you don't kill an enemy in one hit his follow up attacks are far weaker and he will stop storing charges until enemies are out of range.<br></span> Indigo Explanation New Player Notes Her bind utility isn't going to be very useful to new players, and it doesn't become consistent until E2 anyway. Her skills and the archetype itself is not new player friendly. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Usual archetype strengths: Unusual attack range for a Caster, extremely high base ATK, “charges up” when not attacking to unleash a stronger hit later<br> + Talent gives Indigo’s attacks a low chance to Bind the target<br> + S1 turns her attack range into a long straight line and causes her to inflict many quick, weaker attacks over the duration; can be used to Bind multiple enemies, last-hit a weak enemy, or to quickly build up charges for a strong enemy<br> + S2 makes Indigo’s attacks faster and more likely to Bind, and it also causes Bound enemies in range to take Arts damage over time; great for Binding multiple enemies quickly and increasing Indigo’s damage output noticeably for the duration, especially against bound targets since she won't directly attack them<br></span> = Doesn’t attack Bound enemies; sometimes this is good (i.e., it allows her to more easily Bind multiple enemies or build charges) and sometimes it’s bad (i.e., she stops attacking an enemy she could kill, or a ranged enemy that keeps attacking her)<br> = S1’s altered attack range can allow Indigo to hit enemies that other Casters wouldn’t, but it can also take important enemies out of her range<br> <span style="color:red;">- S1 has a VERY short duration<br> - Usual archetype weaknesses: VERY slow ASPD<br> - S2 has poor uptime<br> - The low chance RNG nature of her Bind means that it cannot be relied upon, even with the increased ASPD of her Skills (especially with S1 because of the low duration)<br> - E2 is required to get any kind of reliability on her Binds, which makes her less competitive at E1 where 4 Stars often compare favorably with higher rarity Operators.</span>
C	Harmonie Explanation New Player Notes <p>This is a not an Archtype that new players should be prioritizing, but this being said, she's a very comfy entry point for anyone wanting to try out a mystic caster, her kit has a very clear focus and she is decent at managing her charges.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: deals bonus damage against blocked targets.<br> + S1: Can be useful if you need the additional range.<br> + S2: Great AOE slows the area in her attack range with good uptime. Provides a flat damage over time with a moderate increase in damage due to decreased attack interval.<br></span> = S2: Attacks only blocked enemies which can be situationally useful<br> <span style="color:red;">- S1: Since it reduces your per hit damage it weakens the initial burst damage of a charged up mystic caster attack.<br></span>
C-	Delphine Explanation New Player Notes <p>Newbies won't have access to Delphine. If you are at the point where you're capable of unlocking her, then you're no longer a newbie, so any value discussion here is purely academic.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Solid damage with a synergetic kit.<br> + Talent 1: Plays well into the Mystic Caster niche of holding charges during downtime.<br> + S2: Target Priority keeps her from wasting Talent 1 enhancements while the DoT still allows her to contribute.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Target Priority means she'll usually need assistance from another DPS unit.<br> - Talent 2: Another throw away story Talent that is given out way too late to be useful.<br> - Locked behind Chapter 13 story, so the players who would get the most use from her are the least likely to be able to get her.<br> - No utility to speak of, so she compares poorly to other 5★ Casters and has no niche over the 6★s.<br></span> Iris Explanation New Player Notes Has burst like a truck, but with terrible ASPD. S1 is tricky to use well and S2's Sleep can mess with other Operators. Not recommended for newer players. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A single target caster that focuses on quick bursts of damage<br> + Talent: Can store up to 3 attacks that deal bonus damage that is released all at once when an enemy enters her attack range<br> + Very high ATK for a single target caster<br> + One of the few operators that can inflict Sleep<br> + S1:The duration is short but so is the SP cost. While active, this also decreases the amount of time to store up her attacks.<br> + S2: Great for clearing waves of enemies if you can pile enemies together around the Sleeping targets.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Very slow attack time makes her average DPS rather low</span>

Caster Drone / Mech-Accord

Team Category: Optional

Casters that have Drones whose damage increases when continuously attacking the same target. From a team building perspective, can be viewed as the same role as an ST Caster

S	Goldenglow Explanation New Player Notes <p>A decent damage-oriented kit for new players with AoE elements and relatively low maintenance. The long S2 activation time limits its usefulness on normal stages, but the extended range and low maintenance will be very useful for early-game Annihilation stages.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A Drone Caster that can perform map-wide ranged attacks<br> + Talents: when skills are active her attacks have a chance to crit which deals large AOE damage. Her drones ignore a decent amount of enemy RES which can be a significant boost in damage against high RES enemies.<br> + Great with buffs. Flat ATK buffs like Skadi Alter will have a huge impact on her overall stats and benefit well from the high damage multipliers. ASPD buffs greatly aid her Trait damage increase and talent explosion damage.<br> + Extremely useful in modes where buffs are accessible: Integrated strategies and Stationary Security Service.<br> + S2: A decent afk DPS skill if you plan to leave Goldenglow on the field for a while. A good skill for annihilation mode and for taking down the more durable elite mobs. The increased range can be useful as it provides a unique attack coverage for a caster unit.<br> + S3: The bread and butter skill for Goldenglow, it provides map-wide crowd control and damage to shut down difficult enemies before they have a chance to get close. Since it targets enemies closest to the protection objective it can also be useful in catching enemies that make it past defenses.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: It takes quite a while to charge up, and while it has good coverage the damage can be quite mediocre if you aren't fighting tanky enemies that allow you to build up your drone damage<br> - S3: Since it targets the closest enemies to the objective, it can easily swap targets and lose out on some of the buildup damage.<br></span>
A+	Click Explanation New Player Notes Good damage with good utility (increases to AA Sniper-range and stuns on S2, plus drone can chase enemies outside of normal range). Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Controls a Drone Unit that also attacks enemies; Drone Unit’s damage ramps up as it attacks the same target and resets when attacking a new target. This makes her damage better than her stats might seem to indicate.<br> + Talent: Increases ASPD for Click and Drone Unit<br> + S2: Increases ATK and attack range, and gives Click and Drone Unit a chance to Stun. Also, Drone “locks on” to the enemy and follows it out of Click’s range, until the enemy dies or the duration ends. Good damage and crowd control, and great for focusing a tough enemy that moves out of range<br> + Good addition to a crowd-control/stall team<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Low base ATK that requires the Drone ATK ramp-up to be competitive<br></span>
A	Kjera Explanation New Player Notes Good damage, crowd control, and debuffing. A decent choice for new players, though most will be fine using the cheaper-to-develop Click instead, and using the resources on a bigger-impact upgrade elsewhere. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Drone caster with the ability to apply the Cold and Frozen effects<br> + Offers decent crowd control, especially when paired with others operators that apply Cold, or when her ASPD is boosted.<br> + S2: Synergizes well with her Archetype as the drones lock onto the target and Freeze immobilizes, allowing her more time to attack the same target.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Freeze chance is RNG based with the low chance to Cold, so it can be unreliable.<br> - Her unique ability to freeze enemies is only active with S2, which has a poor uptime.<br> - Low DPS relative to other Drone casters<br></span>
B+	Rockrock Explanation New Player Notes <p>Strong burst DPS, but the awkward overdrive mechanic and its penalties could end up being more troublesome to new players, and not worth the trouble in the early-game learning process, especially at 5 star development costs.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Extremely high DPS potential for her rarity.<br> + S2: DPS rivals even the 6*s.<br> + S2: Manual deactivation means less wasted time if the key target dies early.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Overdrive is a requirement for her DPS which can make timing difficult as well as knocking her out for a brutally long time.<br> - No utility beyond her DPS. No crowd control like with other Mech-Accord Casters.<br> - No built in RES shred really hurts her DPS against some targets.<br></span>
B	Minimalist Explanation New Player Notes <p>A consistent-damage oriented caster that won't perform well enough to justify the higher costs compared to lower rarity counterparts. New players should spend resources elsewhere.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Drone caster with a focus on consistent single target damage<br> + very straightforward unit that deals moderate arts damage<br> + Talent: small probability to do increase damage<br> + S2: The bread and butter skill for minimalist. Good amount of charges with a small SP cost.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Doesn't provide anything particularly unique or impactful in the single target caster department.<br> - Unlike other drone casters, he doesn't have a skill that locks his drone onto a target to take advantage of the archetypal damage ramp.<br></span>

Caster Modal / Phalanx Caster

Team Category: Optional

Ranged units that do true AoE Arts damage when a Skill is active. When a skill is not active, they do not attack, but have increased DEF and RES, making them very survivaable for ranged units.Their range and functioning create a higher learning curve for new players than other casters.

A-	Lin Explanation New Player Notes <p>A fine DPS unit for an early roster that offers some ranged tank utility that can supply deployment flexibility/forgiveness. However, her DPS depends on shattering her shields, so she does better in crowds than against single targets, and her cycle depends on her taking shots which makes her relatively situational compared to other Casters.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Lin is shielded in a regenerating crystal barrier that breaks and deals AOE damage and stuns when attacks deal enough damage.<br> + Talent: Lin has a chance to gain SP when she is attacked.<br> + Good choice as a defensive DPS option against ranged attackers, as she will be able to charge her skills quickly and easily mitigate their damage.<br> + S3: Good damage and provides a bit of crowd control by stunning enemies in range every time she kills a target. A solid option when you are against large waves of weak enemies as you can continually break and regenerate your shield.<br> + Module greatly increases her bulk, which with her shield, makes her effectively invulnerable as a range tank.<br> + Module upgrades resolve the cycle time issue with her S3.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Unless she is being targeted, her skill recharge time is quite poor.<br></span>
B	Carnelian Explanation New Player Notes Carnelian's S1 and S2 will not be particularly impactful in the early game for new players. Her S3 can be quite useful, though, so she is worthy of early E2 consideration. Not attacking outside of skill use may cause new players to find this Archetype to be less intuitive, impactful, and easy to use than others, though having a ranged tank option could be useful while still learning proper aggro/deployment mechanics. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Usual archetype strengths: Has DEF +200% and RES +20 while her Skills are NOT active, putting her on par with multiple Defenders<br> + Attacks all enemies within her attack range while her Skills are active (“true” AoE)<br> + Talent heals her every time she uses a Skill<br> + S1 gives her a DEF bonus while active, and Charged S1 retains her Trait buff for the duration; Charged S1 gives her pretty phenomenal defenses (plus a huge heal from her Talent), making this a great skill to support the Archetype’s role of “ranged tank”<br> + S2 inflicts Slow, and Charged S2 inflicts Bind, giving Carnelian good AoE crowd control. With ASPD buffs Charged S2 becomes unrivaled in its Bind uptime.<br> + S3 has expanded attack range; Charged S3 increases damage potential, great against large groups of enemies. It has a faster cycle time than most comparable skills, so it can be available more often.<br> + Has pretty reasonable SP costs for her Skills<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Archetype drawback: doesn't attack when skills are not active, and defenses drop when skills are active, so careful skill use planning is necessary (though charged S1 retains these defenses).<br> - For Skills to compete against the best available, they must be Charged, meaning they must gain twice the normal amount of SP. This leads to a slower first-time Skill activation and overall Skill charge times that are longer than they might appear to be at first glance.<br> - S3 damage ramps up over time, and the charged effect damage increase requires multiple hits per enemy to stack, making it take a relatively long time to reach its peak damage (if it ever does)<br></span>
B-	Beeswax Explanation New Player Notes Self-heal improves her flexibility as a ranged tank, allowing her to function outside of Medic range at times. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Archetype: Does not attack normally. Only attacks when Skills are active, dealing AoE Artsl damage to all enemies in range. Massively increased DEF (+200%) & RES (+20) when not attacking (Skill is not active)<br> + Extremely high DEF while a skill is not active allows her to shrug off most ranged physical damage<br> + S2: The Obelisk that she summons has 5000 HP and over 500 DEF at E2, so it can soak a large amount of damage, blocks 3 enemies and doesn't use a deploy slot.<br> + S2: provides some crowd control when her obelisk is summoned, as it stuns nearby enemies<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Doesn't attack when Skills aren't active, so she is on the low side for consistent DPS and has a very small attack range<br></span>
C	Mint Explanation New Player Notes S2 can be fun to use but isn't generally a strong tactical play. Beeswax is better suited to the ranged tanking role. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Archetype: Does not attack normally. Only attacks when Skills are active, dealing AoE Arts damage to all enemies in range. Massively increased DEF (+200%) & RES (+20) when not attacking (Skill is not active)<br> + Great crowd control against groups of low weight enemies as she can keep them snared for the full duration of her skill<br> + A counter to enemies that deal heavy ranged physical damage and that you can't cover with a Defender<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Her skills have a very limited range surrounding her, making it difficult to find good placement for some maps<br> - It takes significant investment(M3) to reach medium pull strength where she unlocks a lot of her power</span>

Caster ST / Core Caster

Team Category: Core

You bring these when the game throws heavy defenders at you that laugh at your snipers' attacks. You can get by with just one. Note that for units without high DEF, you'd rather bring a sniper for more damage, so casters that prioritize high DEF enemies (Ceobe when using s2, Steward's talent) are very valuable (as those are the enemies you want to use casters against anyway).

S+	Eyjafjalla Explanation New Player Notes Does absolutely everything. Has ST-Caster deploy cost and yet does AoE damage better than the actual AoE Casters. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ E2 Talent: Gains 7-16 SP on deploy<br> + S3: Will blow up anything short of the very strongest enemies with 1 use<br> + S2: great consistent damage option<br> + AoE Caster damage at a lower ST Caster Deployment Cost<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S3: short Duration and long cooldown can leave the team flat if she is the main source of damage</span>
A+	Ceobe Explanation New Player Notes S2 has excellent damage and prioritizes the targets you actually want your casters to attack. S1 has some occasional application for its bind. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent 1: deals additional Arts damage to the target based on a percentage of enemy DEF, making her even better at killing high DEF enemies, which is a strength of her Class<br> + Dynamic range of prioritization and utility offered by her 3 Skills makes her very adaptable to different situations.<br> + S1: good crowd control that prioritizes unblocked enemies and binds them<br> + S2: Vaporizes high DEF enemies by prioritizing them and decreasing Attack Interval<br> + S3: Good DPS Skill with a unique Caster ability changes damage to Physical, prioritizes low DEF, and disables enemy special abilities<br></span> = Talent 2: Increases her ATK and ASPD when there are no adjacent allies, a buff that can at times be difficult to activate<br> = Different strengths and utility than Eyjafjalla<br> <span style="color:red;">- S3: has a long cooldown and works counter to her Talent</span>
A	Steward Explanation New Player Notes You'll want to E1 him for the base anyways, and his targeting ensures he hits the units that you actually want your Caster to attack. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Prioritize attacking enemies with the highest Defense<br> + Decent single target Caster who will always go for high DEF first<br> + Good when overwhelmed by mobs hiding a tank, or when you want to take down a high-DEF drone, since he will target them first<br> + Good Skill <br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Everyone gets Amiya, who is a good single target Caster that needs to be promoted eventually to progress.</span>
B+	Amiya Explanation New Player Notes Decent damage, but S2 is unusable outside of E2, and she's expensive to raise compared to 3* and 4* options. However, E2 Amiya is eventually required for Ch8, so the investment costs won't be wasted and she is sufficiently strong enough to get you through early and mid game. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ E2 Talent: Gain SP when you attack an enemy and when you kill an enemy<br> + S1: has very consistent uptime and good DPS if you E2 Amiya<br> + S2: damage is very strong when paired with ATK buffs<br> + S3: very strong boss killing Skill<br> + Free Operator with Potential guaranteed through story<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2 is unreliable with its auto activation and will be very slow to charge without E2<br> - S3 will forcibly retreat Amiya, making it only usable once on most maps</span>
B	Absinthe Explanation New Player Notes Better damage than Amiya (S1 Absinthe outdamages S1 Amiya), but expensive to raise as a 5*. Note that S1 takes a while to activate and S2 has an HP requirement. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Increased damage when attacking enemies with less than 40% HP.<br> + Great Arts damage potential under the right conditions with multi hit attacks<br> + S1: Infinite duration buff with a decent modifier and unique target prioritization that synergizes with her Talent.<br> + S2: high burst potential.<br></span> = Her niche is finishing off enemies that are already weakened<br> <span style="color:red;"> - S2 and Talent: Their conditions can be very limiting, especially for S2.<br> - She needs a team to be built around her to lower enemy HP in order to take advantage of her high damage potential</span>
B-	Haze Explanation New Player Notes Does fine damage, but can get destroyed during S2 without proper deployment order/ placement. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Attacks lower enemy RES<br> + S2: short cool-down and decent duration gives her nice consistent damage<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: 75% decreased HP means she is very likely to get 1-shot if anything hits her<br> - You can have similar DPS in Amiya but without the HP penalty</span>
C+	Ho'olheyak Explanation New Player Notes <p>Ho'olheyak is an overall poor unit, and her fringe values won't matter for new players. However, her S2 does output some decent damage without relying on expensive Masteries so she can still be decently useful for getting started.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Levitate is one of the strongest forms of control since few enemies are immune to it. Few Operators can apply it, and Ho'olheyak also has a semi-consistent application.<br> + One of few units with the Weightless effect, and isn't reliant on skill activation. Ho'olheyak is usually favored for this when the target has high HP.<br> + S3: Consistent application of Levitate effect. Extended range is a rare utility in Casters.<br> + S2: Decent damage on a shorter cycle time than her S3.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S3: Tornados look like they are AoE but are actually each single target. Extremely long downtime. Damage drops off as enemies get closer, requiring more planning and thought than most other skills. Overall poor damage compared to other 6* Casters.<br> - S2: Heavy RNG (both on targeting and on the control) means inconsistent results.<br> - S1: Auto activation limits the ability to use the skill effectively.<br> - No in-built RES shred.<br> - Although she is often chosen over other Operators for the Weightless effect, the HP threshold heavily relegates that to more advanced scenarios.<br></span>
C	Durin Explanation New Player Notes Extremely cheap to raise, but there are better options that are easily accessible. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Cheap to develop and deploy<br> + Talent: high innate Arts Dodge<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- low damage</span>
C-	Qanipalaat Explanation New Player Notes <p>A unique and well designed kit that has a good mix of control and damage. However, it doesn't compete at end game, and new players really need to be saving their Red Certs and development resources for higher impact Operators.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ An aerial-focused Caster that can inflict Levitate on enemies<br> + Talent interacts positively with Levitated enemies<br> + S2 cycles quickly and inflicts Levitate on enemies for a long duration<br></span> = Heavy enemies will reduce the Levitate duration by half<br> <span style="color:red;">- S2's final explosion doesn't benefit from his Talent, as the Levitate ends before the explosion<br> - Low total damage hurts his viability, Qanipalaat is closer to a support unit than a core DPS option<br></span>
D	Nightmare Explanation New Player Notes An extremely niche kit make her an Operator that no new player (or any player really) should be investing in for progression. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: When equipped with Skill 1, gains Physical and Arts Dodge, when equipped with Skill 2, gains ATK<br> + Can be very effective in a Slow stacking team<br></span> + A very unique Caster that acts as an attacking pseudo-Medic with S1, or a higher damage Slower Supporter with S2<br> <span style="color:red;">- Requires high Skill levels to become dependable, which is hard to justify for such a niche Operator<br> - S2 is auto-activation, which is extremely limiting for a skill where timing its use is so important (especially considering its charge time). It also has anti-synergy since slowing the enemies movement reduces the True damage dealt.<br> - S1: The Dodge is interesting, but there are much better options for ranged/caster tanks. Also, pure healing becomes less important in challenging content, so her hybrid nature will rarely be a better choice than a strong utility medic.</span> Tomimi Explanation New Player Notes It might seem kind of cool that Tomimi's Skills transform her from a ranged Caster into a melee bludgeoner, but this makes it incredibly difficult to find good situations to use her. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Great skill up-time and high damage multipliers on her S2 and Talent<br> + S2: Potential to constantly stun slow attacking enemies and reset their attacks<br></span> = A niche ST Caster that deals heavy physical close-range damage with her Skills<br> <span style="color:red;">- The reduced range on Skill use is extremely limiting<br> - S2 effect is RNG based and can cause problems if you are relying on her for DPS or Stuns</span>

Defender Arts Protector

Team Category: Optional

High block count Operators that deal Arts damage. They tend to have higher DPS and Arts mitigation than normal defenders at the cost of worse physical/general survivability. New players might find them more useful when they have less melee Arts damage or mitigation options.

A-	Dur-nar Explanation New Player Notes In the early game, where blocking is more prevalent but incoming damage isn't very high, this kind of blocker/DPS combo can be quite effective. Also, the melee arts damage can be useful for limited rosters. She is easily to acquire and max potential through the credit store. Keep in mind that she will fall off in later game as players gain a more diverse roster and enemies start hitting harder. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: When Skills are active, attacks do Arts damage<br> + 15 base RES<br> + A DPS Defender (rare) with high base ATK<br> + Very easy to obtain and max potential from purchase with Friend Credits<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- For a Defender, has extremely low DEF, high Deployment Cost, and long Attack Interval<br> - No team utility other than DPS</span>
B	Shalem Explanation New Player Notes <p>In the early game, where blocking is more prevalent but incoming damage isn't very high, this kind of blocker/DPS combo can be quite effective. Also, the melee arts damage can be useful for limited rosters. His S2, however, does a signifcant amount of self-damage, which might be unintuitive and risky for new players. His 5 star dev costs are also a drawback, so be sure to consider 4* Dur-nar before deciding to develop him.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Moderate chance to reduce RES for a few seconds on his attacks<br> + Talent: Gains a large ASPD and ATK boost in IS2<br> + S1: Good skill uptime. Decreases his attack interval and attacks hit multiple targets (equal to his block count) for the skill duration. Offers an additional bit of survival with a boost to max HP.<br> + S2: Great damage with increased range. Synergizes well with his trait to reduce enemy RES.<br> + A DPS/Blocker hybrid that can put out some decent Arts damage.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Much less tanky then other Arts Protectors. Lacks mitigation to support the blocking side of the hybrid role.<br> - Misses out on a significant amount of power when not used in IS2<br> - S2: lacks any defensive bonuses. Without a healer, he will die at the end of his skill duration due to the HP loss over time.<br></span>
B-	Asbestos Explanation New Player Notes One of the stronger Arts mitigation options available. Might be a nice option for new players lacking other melee Arts damage or mitigation options, but likely to fall off in later game as players gain a more diverse roster. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks deal Arts damage when a Skill is active<br> + Talent: Increased RES. When attacked by an Arts normal attack, recover SP to self<br> + A good counter to Arts damage enemies as she has some of the highest base RES and best mitigation Skills for a Defender in the game. When paired with Nightingale can hit the RES cap of 95% Arts damage reduction.<br> + Great skill uptime, especially when fighting Arts damage enemies<br> + S2: A solid source of Arts damage with a huge AoE range<br></span> <span style="color:red;"> - Many of her benefits are negated when not facing Arts damage<br> - While her DEF is not bad, a full DEF focused Defender will be more survivable for most maps</span>
C+	Czerny Explanation New Player Notes <p>Blockers that can also deal good damage, and melee sources of Arts damage can be quite useful in the early game for limited rosters, but this archetype quickly becomes outclassed in more difficult content. The 5 Star development cost is too high here for what it contributes to the roster.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ An Arts defender with a focus on counterattack damage.<br> + Talent: built in arts counterattack that is always active<br> + Effective in situations with fast attacking arts damage enemies.<br> + S2: Pairs well with his passive talent to boost counter attack damage and taunt enemies. The burst can deal a large burst of damage when stacked up.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Lacks RES or DEF buffing which can leave him vulnerable against harder hitting enemies. The burst damage of the skill can be hard to control.<br> - Enemies that deal arts damage often have higher arts resistance and slower attack speeds.<br> - His counterattack only triggers against arts damage when most other options work against all enemies.<br></span>

Defender Duelist

Team Category: Optional

Is it a Guard disguised as a Defender? Or a Defender disguised as a Guard? New players may have a tough time figuring out exactly how to use this Archetype to its fullest. The low block count makes it hard for them to fully block lanes, and their SP regen means they can't charge their skills when not blocking. But their stats are high and skills are strong.

B-	Eunectes Explanation New Player Notes A strong option for 1v1, low flow lane blocking, or frontlining, but she can be tough for new players to utilize well and won't be a map carry. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Extremely high ATK and HP compared to other Defenders<br> + A strong for dueling powerful enemies<br> + S2: Very long Stun<br> + S3: Eunectes becomes a huge stat stick monster with powerful HP regen on top <br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Block-1, so she wont function well in the same positions as your typical Defender<br> - Very expensive to deploy<br> - Eunectes only gains SP when blocking, meaning she can't charge up her skills in between rounds and needs advanced set up for bosses and tougher enemies</span>
C	Aurora Explanation New Player Notes An Archetype with 1 block and conditional SP gain, a tanking skill that self stuns, and an S2 that needs specialized support to really wreck. Aurora is a unit new players should skip. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Duelist Defender that can either tank or deal heavy damage to Frozen targets<br> + Talent: Gains a large amount of HP regeneration when her skill isn't active and SP is under half. Along with her good DEF this makes her very survivable. Not attacking means she won't kill what she is blocking, making it easier to charge her skills.<br> + S1: Turns Aurora into a very tanky 3 block defender with Status Resistance for a moderate duration.<br> + S2: Deals huge damage with great multipliers. The damage per hit can be incredibly high. Synergizes well with operators that can Freeze to set her up to expend skill charges. Skill uses ammo with a low SP cost, so it can be used more flexibly.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Talent: Block-1 along with not attacking make it easy for her to leak enemies<br> - S1: There are many options for 3 block defenders, creating a lot of competition for the role. Her self stun and 1 block when skills aren't active can be a big issue.<br> - S2: Without other operators to Freeze enemies for her, she will miss out on most of the Skills potential damage since she has to Freeze the enemies first.<br></span>
C-	Cement Explanation New Player Notes <p>A 1-Block defensive oriented hybrid just isn't something a new player will find worth the cost of adding to their roster, especially at the 5 star development price tag.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent and S2: Some of the best physical bulk available in the game and one of very few operators with straight damage reduction.<br> + S1: A decent damage skill with true AoE damage.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: SP cost is high already, further hampered by the archetype trait. Poor uptime is often a significant problem with bulk tanking.<br> - S1: Relatively high SP cost, especially with archetype trait, for this type of skill.<br> - One block on a Physical Defender.<br></span>

Defender Enmity / Juggernaut

Team Category: Optional

High stats and block counts, but also have high DP costs and cannot be healed directly.

Mudrock

Explanation

Penance

Explanation

Vulcan

Explanation

Defender Fortress

Team Category: Optional

S+

Horn

Explanation

Ashlock

Explanation

Firewhistle

Explanation

Defender Healing / Guardian

Team Category: Core

Defenders and medics are often ranked by their relative utility, so a class that brings both block 3 (at E1) and healing in addition to further utility is a strong combination.

A+	Saria Explanation New Player Notes Clearly best in class. S1 has powerful healing, S2 has wide reach and is great on poison haze type maps, and S3 has an insane arts debuff alongside a powerful heal and movespeed-based slow. Did I mention that she restores SP yet? Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Heals allies with her Skills<br> + E2 Talent: Grants +1 SP to Operators she heals (HP must be restored)<br> + Great stats all around that, with her Talent, further increase as she is on the field<br> + S1: Great single target healing skill that doesn't get wasted because of the HP threshold requirement.<br> + S2: Large coverage area, and good for "poison mist" stages or other light damage/non burst healing situations<br> + S3 provides good stackable slow and an extremely strong Arts damage boost along with the healing<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- No DEF boosting Skills means she has a hard time surviving the strongest Physical Damage enemies<br> - Does not restore SP if she heals an ally already at full health<br> - S2: the nature of the healing of this skill and the lack of utility make it a less desired choice in challenging content than the other 2</span> Spot Explanation New Player Notes Cheap to raise, easily acquired from recruitment, and provides both good healing and Physical Dodge on Skill use. Disadvantage is that he only heals while his S1 is active. Has a great base Skill at E1 and so should be raised anyway. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Can heal allies using his Skill<br> + Talent: After healing an ally, grants them Physical Dodge for 3s<br> + If you are only looking for an early game Healing Defender to swap out for a high-rarity one later, then Spot is cheap and doesn't require much investment<br></span> <span style="color:red;"> - Gummy is easy to acquire, and has stronger Skills and more HP at similar levels.<br> - Low HP for a Defender</span>
A	Nearl Explanation New Player Notes Expensive but has a strong healing skill in S1. S2 is also very strong in situations where a large amount of burst healing is needed. (Still not worth raising if you have Saria.) Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Can heal allies with her Skills<br> + Talent: Boosts healing taken by herself, and at E2 all allies<br> + Similar to Gummy but with stronger healing Skills, but less HP<br></span> <span style="color:red;"> - Saria is a pure upgrade<br> - Low HP and no DEF boost Skill means she can get 1-shot by some endgame Challenge bosses</span> Blemishine Explanation New Player Notes Brings DPS, Blocking, healing, regeneration, SP recovery, and crowd control to the table. Strong and versatile, but Sleep can mess with other Operators and the way her abilities are spread across her Skills can make her awkward to use. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Can attack Sleeping enemies for increased damage<br> + Talent: Adds [On Attack] SP Charge for Operators on the team that have [Getting Hit] SP Charge skills, potentially a large improvement to their cycle and uptime.<br> + A well rounded operator that can provide interesting utility and fill multiple roles including tank, DPS and support.<br> + S3: Some of the most powerful healing potential in the game along with high dps and a DEF boost<br> + S2: Increases ATK and inflicts Sleep on nearby enemies. Great AOE health regen that can heal Operators that can't be healed directly.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- All of her skills (and thus healing) are tied to being attacked or attacking enemies. This means she constantly needs enemies in her face to use her skills consistently. If not engaging enemies, or if there are downtimes, she does not function as well.<br> - The generalist nature of her kit often makes her situational Operator.<br> - S2: Sleep as a form of crowd control has its limitations, and can cause as much harm as good if not used properly.<br> - S3: While Blemishine is great at keeping other Operators healed, she can't heal herself , and so can't tank damage without an additional healing source. Mixed damage quickly loses effectiveness against enemies with both RES and DEF, which most difficult enemies have.</span>
B+	Gummy Explanation New Player Notes Easily acquired (if you can afford $1) and is reasonably good at healing allies. But S2 is a bit difficult to use well, and S1 can waste charges on chip damage. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Higher HP than her 5* equivalent Nearl. Can help her to survive some 1-shot type abilities<br> + Relatively cheap and easy to raise and max potential. Comes with .99 starter pack.<br> + Basic Attack has a chance to stun<br> + S2: Has a +DEF component, rare for Healing Defenders<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Low Base DEF<br> - S2: Phased Skill that must be timed correctly</span>
D	Hung Explanation New Player Notes Expensive to raise as a 5*, defensive SP recovery is awful, and other cheaper units can heal and/or mitigate damage better. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Skills heal allies. Healing Defenders can cover multiple roles, especially useful for CC and some Challenge Modes.<br> + Talent 1 and 2: Increase DEF, typically a weakness for Healing Defenders<br> + Talent 2: Increases healing received<br> + S2: a Skill that increases DEF, something most Healing Defenders lack. Healed allies gain 1 SP<br></span> = SP charges when “getting hit” which means they will charge faster when blocking many fast hitting enemies, but slower when blocking slower hitting enemies, and not at all when not being hit.<br> <span style="color:red;">- Since he needs to be getting hit to charge his Skills, he cannot heal if he’s not blocking, limiting his options for use as a healer<br> - Generally, worse healer than same-rarity-or-higher Healing Defenders, and worse damage mitigation than same-rarity-or-higher Normal Defenders</span>

Defender Normal / Protector

Team Category: Core

The bread and butter blocking class. These units stop the flow and can take a punch.

A+	Cuora Explanation New Player Notes The premier low-rarity Defender Operator. Her S2’s Block +1 can be a lifesaver, and it also boosts her DEF above some higher-rarity Ops. Especially early/ mid game, Cuora can be used even if you have higher-rarity Normal Defenders, and the resources saved can be put to use elsewhere. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Extremely durable 4* with the highest DEF potential in the game<br> + Viable through all content<br> + 4 Block while skill is active<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Very low ATK and dps<br> - S2: Doesn't attack during the duration</span> Bubble Explanation New Player Notes One of the few Operators to have a "taunt" type ability. Might be useful for you if you are having trouble with deployment order to get enemy aggro on the right units. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: lowers attacker's ATK stat for 5s<br> + A very tanky defender similar to Cuora and Bison<br> + S2: Her niche is that she becomes a high priority enemy target and reflects damage back to attackers as physical damage based on 50% of her DEF stat.<br></span> = Compared to others in the same role she has higher Max HP but lower DEF<br> <span style="color:red;">- Because the reflected damage is physical it is reduced by enemy DEF<br> - Poor skill up time</span>
A	Nian ★ Explanation New Player Notes A fine Defender with some unique and useful utility, but there are lower rarity Operators that are cheaper to develop that are just as good for early-mid game needs. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent 1: significant boost to HP of all Defenders<br> + Talent 2: Blocks first 3 attacks (no damage), great for soaking special attacks or high-damage phases<br> + DPS/defense/support hybrid enables flexible use<br> + S1 and S2: deal Arts Damage.<br> + S2: disables enemy special abilities and increases her block count<br> + S3: buffs all nearby allies in a large range, increasing their block count, giving them status resistance, and increasing their DEF. Especially good for Defenders and Operators with abilities that hit multiple enemies based on Block count. Useful for helping Operators survive Aak buffs.<br></span> = Pure DPS and Silence roles are usually more effectively provided by other Operators<br> = Talent 2 shield use can be tricky to optimize when used as a core Defender<br> <span style="color:red;">- Being a Limited Operator makes increasing Potential very difficult<br> - S2: Silence not effective against enemies with very long attack intervals<br> - S3: Increasing Block can be detrimental to some Operators</span> Hoshiguma Explanation New Player Notes Can take a punch AND deliver one. Hoshi has some great DPS potential for a defensive unit, especially with S3/E2. However, DPS isn't really needed from your Defenders, and there are lower rarity Operators that are cheaper to develop that are just as good for early-mid game needs. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ DPS Defender<br> + Talent: Chance to resist Physical and Arts damage<br> + E2 Talent: Buffs the DEF of all other Defenders<br> + Great DPS and DEF option with S3 that doesn't have the penalties like other DPS Defenders<br> + Very high HP makes her a nice meatball tank<br></span> <span style="color:red;"> - As long as Liskarm can survive, she usually provides more utility as a DPS Defender than Hoshi</span>
B+	Beagle Explanation New Player Notes Solid and cheap to develop. Gets the job done for early/ mid game. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ The default early-game Defender if you don't get someone better<br> + Decent stats with passive DEF and DEF increasing Skill<br> + Easily to max Potential, and cheap to develop and deploy<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Fairly long Skill cooldown</span>
B-	Croissant Explanation New Player Notes Has a strong defensive Skill and a Skill that can Push, but those things won't make a noticeable different in early game. The higher 5 star development costs make her 4 star counterparts a better, more efficient choice for early-mid game. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Physical and Arts Resist with half applied to adjacent allies<br> + Very durable DEF and HP with a strong DEF S1 option<br> + Extremely useful S2 that can replace the need for Specialists on some maps</span><br> <span style="color:red;">- S2 knocks enemies away from Croissant in all directions so enemies can be thrown in unintended directions if they aren't grouped together in front of her.<br> - S1 is automatic so it is not guaranteed to be active when you need it most, though it does have good up-time.<br></span> Heavyrain Explanation New Player Notes Interesting as a tech tool. her S1 is considered HP Regen (can heal allies typically not healable), and S2 can be used to protect a group of allies from hard hitting attacks for a short period. However, for use in the typical defender role, she lacks the damage mitigation of others, and camo'ing herself can cause aggro ordering to break down if the player isn't careful and plans for it. New players will typically be better served by a normal defender more geared toward blocking and mitigation. Camoflaguing hersefl can cause the aggro ordering to break down, which could cause issues for those still learning proper deployment/aggro strategies. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A unique Normal Defender with the ability camouflage nearby allies<br> + S1: The skill can potentially give frontline vulnerable units a safeguard to heal up incase they get too low.<br> + S2: A very interesting skill that camouflages Heavyrain and all adjacent allies. It's got high potential to be useful against enemies that you're DPS can't normally get near.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: The requirement for allies to be under 50% HP makes it risky against tougher enemies that can burst down your squishy DPS before the effect can go off. The healing offered by this skill is mediocre.<br> - S2: Your squishy units could become vulnerable if they are not adjacent to Heavyrain when she camouflages, but are still in range of enemy attacks. .</span>
C+	Bison Explanation New Player Notes An ok Defender, but doesn't do enough to be worth 5* investment costs. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Increases own DEF and the DEF of any Guard or Vanguard deployed in the grid behind him<br> + Extremely durable Defender that rivals the DEF of Cuora<br> + Great when paired with frontline Guards like Astesia to give them a DEF boost (face him away for the buff)<br> + One of the few Operators with a "Taunt" Skill<br></span> = Considered a sidegrade to Cuora<br> = The usefulness of "Taunt" is very niche<br> <span style="color:red;">- High Deployment Cost<br> - Talent and S2 buffs have restrictive deployment requirements.<br> - Much more expensive to develop than Cuora who is just as durable, if not more.</span>
C	Matterhorn Explanation New Player Notes Good at mitigating Arts damage, but there isn't really a reason to use him over other, easily accessible options. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Passive Arts Resistance<br> + Huge HP and Arts Resist make him a great Arts Damage tank<br> + He's a middle ground between the Healing and DEF Defenders<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Too niche to warrant heavy investment<br> - Lacks strong physical damage mitigation, so DEF Defenders are more durable<br> - Healing Defenders can usually handle Arts damage while providing more utility</span> Noir Corne Explanation New Player Notes A surprisingly fine Defender for a 2-star unit. Can be used in a pinch for a Block-3 body if you can't (or don't want to) spend the resources on a higher-rarity Defender. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Very cheap to deploy and develop Defender and effective for early game<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Getting max potential Beagle is easier as you don't need to fish for Starter tag</span> Cardigan Explanation New Player Notes Better to use Spot if you need a Defender that can heal themselves. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Good HP, especially if you max Trust and Potential<br> + Useful on some early-game Challenge Modes with her self-sustain<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- A DEF-focused Defender is almost always preferable to an HP Defender except vs Casters, and against them Healing Defenders are usually best.<br> - Harder to max potential because she is not available in recruitment.</span>
D+	Friston-3 Explanation New Player Notes <p>Friston-3's effect won't have much value to your early progression. It's just too weak.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Costs almost nothing.<br> + Takes no deployment slot.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Effect is fairly weak.<br></span>

Defender Sentinel Protector

Team Category: Optional

A+

Jessica the Liberated

Explanation

B-

Liskarm

Explanation

Blitz

★

Explanation

Guard AoE / Centurion

Team Category: Core

One of the most used guard types as they often double or replace defenders. Strongly recommended to develop 1 or 2. They gain a large power spike at Elite 2 promotion as it increases their block count and thus damage potential.

S+	Gavial the Invincible ★ Explanation New Player Notes <p>A great starter 6 star for a new roster. She provides blocking, damage, and bulk, along with a self sustain option, which offerst the power and flexibility to help players roll the early game. She's a strong contributor at E1, enabling players to invest in higher-improvement early E2's.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A centurion guard with a diverse kit able to handle larger waves of enemies<br> + Talent: gains ATK and DEF buff that increases the more enemies blocked. Gains bonus healing when on low HP<br> + S1: This provides gavial with some powerful self healing, especially when attacking multiple enemies.<br> + S2: Greatly expands her range, and boosts her ATK and DEF. The pull effect on this skill also provides many useful benefits such as crowd control and the ability to group enemies from multiple lanes together.<br> + S3: This skill is good for large waves of enemies due to the increased DPS and block count. Its damage reduction also provides her with a much needed boost to her survivability.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: Will often still need support healing against enemies with higher DEF or when caught with the skill down.<br> - S3: She can easily die to the after effects of this skill if she has taken a lot of damage.<br></span> Blaze Explanation New Player Notes A monster lane shredder. With the permanent activation skill 2, she gets extra range that gives her reach that can cover 3 lanes of enemies or pass beyond walls. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attack multiple enemies equal to block number<br> + Talent 1: The first time HP falls below 25%, recover 50% HP and prevent HP from falling below 50% for the next few seconds<br> + Talent 2: A short time after deployment, gains [Resistance] effect which reduces stun, snare, and freeze duration by 50%<br> + Very durable and one of the highest DPS Operators in the game<br> + S2: Increased Attack Range allows her to attack enemies from behind Operators or over walls<br> + S3: High burst damage<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Typical Archetype drawbacks of high DP Cost and wanting E2 to shine.</span>
A+	Specter Explanation New Player Notes Amazing end game unit with the potential to solo lanes, be an assassin, be an undying stall machine, and the classic meat grinder. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attack multiple enemies equal to block count<br> + Talents: Increase Max HP +10% and recover HP every second<br> + Extremely high damage potential<br> + S2: Great Survivability with period of "unable to be killed"<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: applies self-stun after Duration, where she cannot attack or block<br> - High DP Cost</span>
B+	Popukar Explanation New Player Notes Excellent early game meat grinder unit that will absolutely shred through the low def enemies. Popukar by virtue of hitting two enemies is already more effective at crowd killing than most other melee options. Popukar can be simply acquired with AoE and Guard tags in Recruitment. New players can use Popukar until acquiring an AoE guard worthy of an early E2. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attack multiple enemies equal to block count<br> + At equal levels she has better ATK than Savage and Estelle<br> + She has good enough raw stats to clear out early game enemies<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Limited to 2 block<br> - She cannot be promoted to E2, and AoE Guards gain a <i>huge</i> boost on promotion to E2 because they gain an extra block, increasing their potential damage by 50%. They also gain a higher percentage of their total ATK at E2 levels than other Guards.</span>
B	Broca Explanation New Player Notes Provides long range Arts damage on skill activation so in situations with limited ranged tiles, he can be useful. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attack multiple enemies equal to Block count<br> + Talent: When blocking 2 or more enemies, ATK and DEF increase<br> + S2: Deals extremely large amounts of multi-target Arts damage for a Melee unit and the manual activation allows it to be saved until needed. The extended range can provide some crowd control and allow for protection.<br></span> <span style="color:red;"> - Very easily killed when blocking compared to Blaze and Specter due to his lack of strong defensive abilities<br> - S2: Needs to be timed since the self-stun causes hm to stop blocking.</span> Estelle Explanation New Player Notes Return on Investment isn't the greatest but she does have a few gimmicks, like heal on enemy killed, that can give her an advantage on survival over even the best in class... if there's no healers. New players may find her awkward to use for general use. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks multiple enemies equal to block count<br> + Talent: When an enemy dies within 8 grids of herself, recover HP<br> + Decent self sustain vs large quantity of weak mobs<br></span> = Recruit only, but the Tags are fairly common<br> <span style="color:red;">- Low DEF combined with S2's "unable to be healed" makes her a risky choice that must be well handled</span>
C	Savage Explanation New Player Notes A unit that people love to meme on, but she isn't as bad as people will say. That being said, she isn't worth developing over popukar for early game, and doesn't have much to offer to late game or tough content. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks multiple enemies equal to block count<br> + Talent: Increases ATK and DEF when adjacent to 2 or more raised grids<br> + Decent multi-target killing with either S1 or S2<br></span> = Very average Stats<br> <span style="color:red;">- S1: has a 4 Star power grade<br> - S2: has a long cool-down for an on-attack Skill<br> - Doesn't stand-out at either DPSing or blocking.</span>

Guard Arts Fighter

Team Category: Optional

S-	Surtr Explanation New Player Notes Breaks the game in half with S3. Very strong offensive unit with high damage that can be used quickly after deploy and kills almost anything. Still good at E1 but not nearly as game-breaking. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ An Arts Guard so powerful that all future content needs to be balanced around her<br> + Passive 20 RES ignore means that she is still doing good damage even against the highest RES targets<br> + S3: Some of the highest Arts damage in the game that can last as long as you can keep her alive. Long range for a melee unit and hits up to 3 targets. Only requires 5 sp to activate, so it can be used quickly after deploy for assassination purposes. The Max HP gain also makes her incredibly tanky, and it is not reduced by things like Contingency Contract Risks.<br> + S2: Great for when you want consistent Arts DPS on the front line.<br> + Talent: Prevents death for 8 additional seconds when at 1 HP allowing her to hold back even the most difficult enemies for a short time<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Can get very DP expensive to redeploy her multiple times for her S3</span>
B	Amiya (Guard) Explanation New Player Notes You can't even get her until Chapter 8, so she isn't an option for new players. We only include her in the list to avoid confusion. (hopefully) Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent buffs ATK and DEF of all allies when deployed. Effect doubles during skill use<br> + Attacks deal Arts damage normally and True damage with S2<br> + Great counter to heavy Arts damage enemies as her skills provide a lot of Arts damage mitigation.<br> + S1: Amiya gains an ATK boost, her attacks hit twice, and she gains 60% Arts Dodge. The Arts Dodge is particularly useful in some CC stages where Arts damage can 1 shot units. Strong dps buffs with good up time.<br> + S2: Similar to Ch'en's S3 in that it causes Amiya to deal 10 hits. However, it also boosts her ATK and RES for up to 3 enemy kills and deals True damage for a moderate duration afterwards. Great effects, especially if you can manage to get 3 kills with it.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2 can only be used one time per fight so you have to make it count<br> - Fairly squishy against non-Arts damage enemies</span>
C+	Mousse Explanation New Player Notes Her debuff brings extra utility, although it's rather weak compared to others available. Her damage output is lower than the higher rarity alternatives. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks do Arts damage<br> + Talent: 20% chance to attack twice<br> + A good source of melee Arts damage if you don't have the higher-rarity options<br> + S2 makes her fairly strong for a long duration<br></span> = Arts Guard Archetype: block-1<br> <span style="color:red;">- Arts Guard Archetype: high DP Cost, low ATK and ATK modifiers on Skills<br> - much weaker than the higher rarity melee Arts damage Operators</span>
C	Astesia Explanation New Player Notes DEF oriented, can't sustain blocking 2 enemies at once long enough if you need a consistent 2 block. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Attacks deal Arts Damage<br> + Every 20 seconds after deployment, Attack speed +5, stacks up to 5 times<br> + High DEF and Arts damage makes her perfect for placing on the front lines<br> + Strong counter to Tanks as she takes relatively little damage from them while s2 is active and hits them very hard<br> + Low CD skill that gives great stat buffs, extra block and multi-target damage<br> + Has innate RES</span><br> = Arts Guard Archetype: Block-1, higher DP Cost, lower base ATK and ATK Skill Modifier<br> <span style="color:red;">- Relatively low HP for a frontliner<br></span>
C-	Sideroca Explanation New Player Notes High HP and can sustain through self-heal, but there are much better/more consistent self-sustain operaors, and her overall DPS is on the weak side. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Archetype: Attacks do Arts damage<br> + After killing enough enemies, ASPD increases and gains Status Resistance effect<br> + A tanky Arts Guard with very high HP recovery and regen<br> + Higher than average max HP for an Arts Guard<br> + S2: Decent skill uptime with a high ATK boost<br></span> = Archetype: Block-1<br> = Better at dueling high Arts damage enemies because of her high RES and HP regen<br> <span style="color:red;">- Typically enemies that do high Arts damage also have high RES, which lowers her DPS<br> - There are usually better options for her role (such as Enmity Guards) to 1v1 powerful enemies</span>

Guard Brawler / Fighter

Team Category: Optional

Low DP costs allow for early deployment, but low ATK and fast ASPD can give some of them problems agains high DEF enemies.

S+	Mountain Explanation New Player Notes A strong Operator at all strages of the game. Low DP cost, good lane holder, and good survivability make him great and easy to use for new players. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Mountain overcomes many of the common drawbacks to the brawler archetype while providing some very resilient dps<br> + Talent: has a chance to critical hit, dealing bonus damage and decrease enemy ATK as well as a chance to evade physical attacks<br> + Strong AOE DPS with either S2 or S3 along with a low DP cost and the ability to activate his skills quickly after deploy means he is well suited to handle early waves.<br> + S2: A toggle skill that Slightly lowers DEF and Attack Range but grants an ATK boost, block+1, splash attack and a huge regen bonus. With this skill, Mountain is able to hold lanes of small to medium enemies very well as most enemies can't out-damage his regen.<br> + S3: His attacks deal 2 hits with increased ATK, increased Talent activation rate and ATK interval and pushes up to 4 enemies away. Very effective against slow enemies as your knockback will reset their attack timers.<br></span> = S3: he will knock enemies back on all sides.<br> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Switching to Defender range means he will always need to be in the enemy path to do DPS, unlike others that can rely more on Defenders to block<br></span>
S-	Chongyue ★ Explanation New Player Notes <p>Strong DPS unit, which is great for helping to clear early game stages quickly and easily. His block-1 can be limiting in some situations, but you don't have to block it if its dead, right?</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: gain 3 SP when you deal the killing blow, allowing you to charge skills quickly in large waves.<br> + Talent: Attacks have a chance to apply a special debuff to enemies that boosts the damage of his attacks.<br> + Skills have big damage multipliers which work well with ATK buffing units.<br> + S2: A unique AOE burst that does two shockwaves that can temporarily levitate enemies and deal huge burst damage.<br> + S3: Great choice for a consistent single target damage and the default skill choice in most situations. The increased range is very useful to cover multiple lanes and allows you to protect Chongyue by placing units in front of him after his attack range expands.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: The secondary effect that levitates enemies and deals most of the the skills’ damage only triggers on enemies affected by his talent, which will only be activate on the enemy that he is currently hitting.<br> - S3: Getting to 5 uses can be a huge pain on many maps as he often needs to be placed early in the map to reach 5 skill activates.<br></span>
C	Dagda Explanation New Player Notes <p>As an Episode 11 welfare unit, new players would have to trek through a lot of content to get to her, and there are much better places to spend the effort and resources.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A Fighter Guard whose damage ramps up as enemies die nearby.<br> + Talent 1: provides a huge damage boost once fully charged.<br> + Talent 2: Great self-sustain when in Episode 11 thanks to healing on damage dealt.<br> + S2: Increases her ATK, number of hits and boosts the crit chance on her talent. <br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Outside of Episode 11, a major part of her usability disappears.<br> - S1: With SP recovery on being hit, she is only reducing damage every fifth hit and it only affects physical damage.<br> - S2: It takes quite a while for her talent to reach its full potential. Poor skill uptime.<br></span> Flint Explanation New Player Notes One of the better Brawler Guards not named Mountain, but that isn't saying much for a generally underpowered Archetype. Not particularly new player roster friendly, either, as she is at her best when not taking an active blocking role. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Increases damage dealt to enemies she is not blocking<br> + Very cheap to deploy<br> + S2: sets her Block Count to 0 so she can DPS more safely on the front line. Good single target DPS with a short slow.<br> + S1: Can push enemies with small force<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- ineffective against high DEF enemies<br> - Poor skill uptime</span> Indra Explanation New Player Notes Her Skills could have excellent potential, but they take too long to charge. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Passive Physical Dodge. Increased ATK for first attack after a successful Dodge.<br> + Very low DP Cost<br> + S1 and S2: Great against high DEF enemies<br> + S2: Good sub tank option with Dodge and the HP restore<br></span> = Extremely rare, <a href="https://gamepress.gg/arknights/core-gameplay/arknights-operator-recruitment-guide">recruitment only</a> Operator<br> = Block-1 Brawler Guard Archetype<br> <span style="color:red;">- S2 has a long cooldown</span>
D	Beehunter Explanation New Player Notes She doesn't do anything well enough to make her worth investing in. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Multiple attacks on the same target increase ATK<br> + Very cheap to deploy Guard that can pack a big punch<br> + Extremely powerful when paired with ATK buffers, can melt bosses in seconds<br> + Fast attack speed, Oraoraoraoraa!<br></span> = Brawler Guard Archetype: Block-1<br> <span style="color:red;">- Without significant investment she will do low damage due to her low base ATK, especially against enemies with DEF<br> - To take maximum advantage of her potential damage needs a lot of support</span> Jackie Explanation New Player Notes A dodge tank that isn't good enough at dodge tanking to be worth using. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A 4* Brawler Guard with a heavy focus on Physical evasion <br> + Talent: Passive Physical Dodge. Increases ASPD after successful evasion.<br> + S2: Stops Jackie from attacking but gain a large amount of physical dodge and counters on successful dodges for bonus damage. Strong against fast attacking low DEF enemies<br></span> = While she can function as a dodge tank against some stronger foes, she will need additional firepower support to kill them.<br> <span style="color:red;">- Due to her low base ATK and low damage modifiers she will have a hard time killing medium and higher DEF enemies<br> - S2: She won't be able to utilize her attack speed versus most enemies since she can only counter attack at the speed of enemy attacks.</span>

Guard Crusher

Team Category: Optional

A-

Hoederer

Explanation

Quartz

Explanation

Wind Chimes

Explanation

Guard Dualstrike / Swordmaster

Team Category: Optional

An archetype that hits twice per animation but has a lower ATK stat because of it. Their normal attack DPS falls off against higher DEF values. Their skills being able to hit drones can be helpful for new players with limited rosters

A+	Irene Explanation New Player Notes <p>At E1 she offers a decent mix of consistent damage and crowd-control on demand that could be useful for players with limited rosters, but isn't likely to make a huge impact. She'll make a much larger impact with S3 after E2 promotion, so she can be considered more highly for early promotion.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Attacks can ignore up to 50% of enemy DEF, allowing her to easily burst high DEF enemies.<br> + Talent: Large increase to ASPD, which doubles against seaborn enemies<br> + Great with buffs and SP recharge skills, particularly in IS and SSS modes as she scales heavily with the provided bonuses.<br> + S1: Surprisingly strong, allows her to continuously launch some tougher small and medium sized enemies into the air.<br> + S2: An AOE stun with good damage and crowd control that lasts up to 4s with 2 charges.<br> + S3: Huge AOE damage that takes full advantage of her passive DEF penetration. Her shots hit aerial units so it can be effective against both ground and air enemies.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1+S2: She doesn't attack enemies after they are launched into the air during these skills, so she can't take advantage of the crowd control on her own.<br> - All skills require on attack recharging which can be difficult to build up on some stages<br> </span> Cutter Explanation New Player Notes Crazy damage output for her rarity makes her especially great as a cheap investment early game Operator for new players Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Archetype: Regular attacks deal damage twice<br> + Talent: Normal attacks have a chance to recover 1 additional SP<br> + S2: Very high AOE damage on drones<br> + Good SP cost on Skills for a burst damage Guard<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Specializes in clearing groups of flying enemies with Skills, but needs to attack ground units to charge the Skills.<br> - Low DEF and no damage mitigation can be a problem since she needs to be on the front line to attack to charge her Skills<br></span>
B+	Bibeak Explanation New Player Notes Good consistent damage output and amazing crowd control, but can be very hard to use properly Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Regular attacks deal damage twice<br> + Talent: Increase ASPD every killing blow, up to cap.<br> + S2: Great crowd-control: low SP cost and ability to store charges allows her to rapidly launch AOE stuns<br> + Mixed damage types with Physical damage on basic attacks and Arts on skills.<br> + Fast ASPD and low SP cost skills<br></span> = While often compared to Ch'en, Bibeak's strength is more in AOE crowd-control than damage<br> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Fairly weak nuking power for an AOE burst skill<br> - Typical Archetypal drawbacks of low base ATK and relatively high DP costs</span>
B	Ch'en Explanation New Player Notes Good damage early game but falls off in later content. Needs Skill Mastery to really excel. New players are better off using development resources elsewhere until if/when they are sure they want to fully invest. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Regular attacks deal damage twice<br> + Talent: When deployed, all Skills with [On Attack] and [When Hit] Charge Type gain 1 SP over time<br> + E2 Talent; +ATK, +DEF, +Physical Dodge<br> + Excellent when paired with other Operators that have [On ATK] or [When Hit] charge skills<br> + S2: Strong burst group assassination<br> + S3: Great multi-target and Boss killing<br></span> = While her attacks hit twice, they only charge 1 SP per attack, and her ATK stat is lower than other Guards to compensate, putting her at a disadvantage against high DEF enemies<br> = As a Nuker, her best Skills are instant bursts, and she lacks Skills for sustained damage<br> <span style="color:red;">- Expensive Deploy Cost<br> - [On-Attack] charge Skills with moderate SP Costs can be slow to charge</span>
C	Tachanka Explanation New Player Notes His extended range could find use for a player with a very limted roster. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Uniquely long range for a dual-strike guard<br> + S1: DEF ignore compliments his dual-strike attacks well since he doesn't have high base ATK. Good sized AOE for the burning zones.<br> + S2: Fires about 20 attacks in 4s. It will potentially deal great damage when buffed or facing very low DEF enemies.<br></span> = All skills have on-attack charging SP but thanks to his increased range he can charge them easier than other dual-strike guards<br> <span style="color:red;">- S2: No damage multipliers means a lot of his damage will be mitigated by enemy DEF<br> - Longer than normal redeployment time<br> - Long Skill cooldowns and poor uptime<br></span>

Guard Duelist / Dreadnought

Team Category: Optional

Typically used as heli-drop assassinations or placed in front of a blocker for DPS
Their low Block Count (and to a lesser extent their low survivabililty) makes them easy to replace and overall less useful than other Archetypes

A+	Nearl the Radiant Knight ★ Explanation New Player Notes <p>She can easily handle any heli-drop assassination roles with S2. Block-1 limits her effectiveness as a solo lane holder, but the DPS increase and range extension of S1 improves her holding ability and makes her more flexible to deploy in support. Her S3 expands her role as a general content Operator and represents a pretty powerful tool for players with limited rosters, so she will likely be a good early-E2 candidate for most new players.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Dreadnought Guard with very high damage and survivability.<br> + Very effective against bosses and elite threats thanks to her damage output.<br> + Talent: All attacks ignore some Defense so she can mow down armored enemies with ease.<br> + S2: Consumes no deployment slots and gives 4 Shields. Can easily handle dangerous enemies with helidrops thanks to a high Attack buff.<br> + S3: Extremely high burst damage with wide range and the possibility of True damage that creates a very tanky summon.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Usual archetype weaknesses: 1 Block count, not too great at holding lanes.<br> - Generally outclassed by Surtr as a boss killer.<br> - S2: Retreats self when the skill ends, and has increased redeployment time if the last Operator deployed wasn't Kazimierz.<br> - S3: More limited in usage compared to Surtr. The conditional True damage cannot offset her flat Resistance ignore.</span>
B+	Matoimaru Explanation New Player Notes Mato can satisfy your early game Duelist needs while also gaining a great Trading Post buff at E1. Overall, this makes her a more efficient development choice than Melantha, or even Skadi, since she can satisfy early-mid game combat requirements. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ High base ATK, and with great ATK buff from S2 she can reach over 2k ATK when maxed<br> + Her HP is monstrous, and combined with S1 she is very durable<br> + Can scale to endgame <br></span> = Duelist type Block-1<br> <span style="color:red;">- Weaker than Melantha at the same levels<br> - The farther you get into the game, the less you will need a dedicated guard to fight enemy Casters<br> - Many higher rarity Guard options.<br></span> Skadi Explanation New Player Notes Skadi is a beast, and the most powerful of the Archetype. The only problem is that Mato or Melantha can do the job most of the time just as well but at a lower price tag, and the limitations of the Archetype itself make her easily replaced by other Operators in many situations. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ S2: Huge on-deploy damage makes her great for boss killing or dueling big enemies<br> + S3: turns her into a raid boss for the duration<br> + Very high ATK and HP stats<br></span> = Duelist Guard: Blocks 1<br> = Glut of 6* Guards gives Skadi a lot of competition, and makes her somewhat replaceable<br> <span style="color:red;">- S2: High DP cost can limit redeploy potential<br> - low DEF</span>
B	Melantha Explanation New Player Notes Solid stat stick that can satisfy almost all of your Duelist Guard needs at a cheap development cost. Mato is an overall more efficient choice, though, because of Mato's E1 base skill. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Mel serves as a nice Caster assassin for early chapters of the game.<br> + High ATK and HP for her level<br> + S1: Decent ATK boost Skill<br> + Cheap to develop and deploy, and easy to max Potential<br></span> = 1-Block Duelist Archetype<br> <span style="color:red;">- very replaceable<br> - S1: has a long cool-down</span>
C-	Franka Explanation New Player Notes If you need to ignore DEF, use a Caster, Arts Guard, or any other Arts damage. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Chance to ignore DEF on attack<br> + Good option vs the very heavy armored enemies with 2k+ DEF<br> + S2: makes her DEF ignore very consistent <br></span> = Duelist Guard: Block-1<br> <span style="color:red;">- The big tanks tend to have high physical damage, making your Medics work overtime to keep her alive (especially during S2)<br> - Most of the time it will be easier to use Arts damage against high-DEF</span> Morgan Explanation New Player Notes <p>Too many downsides, too few upsides, too little impact, and too expensive for what you get.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ S1: Strong cycle time makes her overall damage output decent, assuming you can keep her alive.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: Requires outside healing or she will kill herself in a single cycle (at M3), even assuming she takes no outside hits.<br> - S2: Barrier decays in only 6 seconds, making it nearly useless.<br> - S2: With no reduction in redeploy, the effective cycle time is one of the worst in the game.<br> - Talent 2: The one good thing about her kit is only available in a single story chapter where it just isn't needed.<br></span> Castle-3 Explanation New Player Notes Cannot be used as you would a typical Operator, but can be used as a bait at full deployment since he ignores the limit. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Does not count toward the Deploy Limit<br> + Decent melee buffs on deployment<br> + Good for suiciding or baiting if you don't have room for another Operator.<br> + Extremely cheap to develop and deploy<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Very ineffective at fighting anything outside the beginning chapters</span> Conviction Explanation New Player Notes A meme Operator added for April Fools. Don't be fooled. Summary <span style="color:green;"> + Very cheap to Deploy with decent stats and high attack modifiers<br></span> = S1: Very high damage burst, but at an extremely low proc rate. Damage is mediocre without lucky procs.<br> = Talent: Reduced Deployment Cost and Re-deployment time, but Self-stun for 10 seconds on deployment.<br> = Duelist Guard Archetype<br> = More for memes/fun Operator than practical in combat, as they are too RNG reliant to be useful<br> <span style="color:red;">- S2: 50% chance to stun every nearby ally for a long duration. It is very troll.</span> Flamebringer Explanation New Player Notes People love to meme on Flamebringer. He's better than what your friends will tell you, but not good enough to be worth developing. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Stacks increasing HP for every enemy he kills<br> + Huge HP and ATK stats<br> + S1: decent damage and self-sustain<br> + S2: Significant DPS boost once it activates<br></span> = Duelist Guard: Block-1<br> <span style="color:red;">- Trait: Single Target, block 1, and requiring the killing blow make this slow to charge.<br> - S2: long charge time means it won't have time to make a significant difference on many maps<br> - Very low DEF<br> - Players with Melantha already developed may be better served waiting to acquire a more widely applicable front-line DPS</span>

Guard Enmity / Musha

Team Category: Optional

Can't be healed directly, so must be deployed wisely, but have built-in self sustain

B+

Hellagur

Explanation

Utage

Explanation

B-

Akafuyu

Explanation

Rathalos S Noir Corne

★

Explanation

Guard Liberator Guard

Team Category: Optional

Młynar

Explanation

S-

Tequila

Explanation

Guard Ranged / Lord

Team Category: Core

A very strong archetype because of its abilities to block-2, extended range, and can hit aerials, which gives new players more flexiblity in placements and covering mistakes.
Recommended to have at least 1 (and more is ok)

S	Lappland Explanation New Player Notes Silence ability is very useful early game, but falls off in usefulness in later game. If the player has other options for providing Silence, then her ranking can be dropped. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Attacks disable the target's special abilities. very useful against exploding enemies and stun attacks.<br> + Trait: Can perform ranged attacks at 80% power<br> + S2: A very strong source of melee Arts Damage<br> + S1: Can become fairly tanky<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2 can be very unreliable since it has a fairly long cooldown and auto activates</span>
S-	Qiubai Explanation New Player Notes <p>The flexibility and strength of the Archetype make it great for players learning the game with limited rosters. A DPS and burst lean is also favorable in early game play.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Great source of mixed damage with natural bonus damage against slow or bind which are built into her kit.<br> + Offers utility by binding or slowing enemies depending on the skill choice.<br> + Works well with allies that provide AOE slows to help activate her talent.<br> + S2: Deals a burst of boost ATK and arts damage against ground targets. Leaves a mark on the ground that slows ground targets and gives her a line ATK range for its duration.<br> + S3: Boosts her ASPD, ATK, range, talent arts damage and attacks 2 times. Can take some time to ramp up but offers some of the highest potential DPS when targeting 1-2 enemies.<br></span><span style="color:red;">- S2: The on attack SP charge means you cant charge up the skill between waves with certain characters deployed.<br> - S3: A large part of its damage is arts, and she lacks RES ignore of many other ARTS damage sources. The attack bonus is quite low, and can have trouble with higher DEF enemies. Poor recharge time.<br></span> Thorns Explanation New Player Notes ok at E1, but doesn't really shine until E2, where he becomes a very strong consistent damage dealer. Summary <span style="color:green;"> + Trait: Can perform ranged attacks at 80% ATK<br> + Talent: Attacks deal Arts damage per second for 3s (Doubled against enemies possessing ranged attacks)<br> + Talent: If Thorns has not actively attacked for 2s, recovers a percentage of Max HP every second. Great self sustain that allows him to regenerate his health between waves<br> + S2: A good defensive DPS option for large waves of fast attacking enemies.<br> + S3: While active, Thorns performs like a ground sniper dealing large amounts of physical damage very quickly and some Arts damage over time<br> + A very solid meta unit that can be brought to almost any map, so long as he has enough time to build up his on-attack SP to activate his skill<br></span> <span style="color:red;"> - S3: Thorns needs to build up his SP through attacking for quite a while before he becomes strong and his range is expanded infinitely</span> SilverAsh Explanation New Player Notes ok at E1, but doesn't really shine until E2, where he becomes one of the best sources of multi-target melee burst. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Can perform ranged attacks at 80% power<br> + Talent: Buffs his own Attack and reduces redeploy time of all Operators<br> + E2 Talent: Reveals Invisible enemies within range<br> + Incredibly strong skills with high damage, range and duration.<br> + Great overall stats<br> + S2: makes him a very strong subtank<br> + S3: Erases everything<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Very long cool-down on S3<br></span>
A+	Arene Explanation New Player Notes A good early game choice that provides good damage and drone support. worth considering over lappland if lappland's Silence isn't needed. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Ranged guard that excels in killing drones.<br> + Talent: Attacks prioritize drones and deal bonus damage to them.<br> + Niche ability to temporarily reduce his block to 0 so he can safely position in some enemy paths that other ranged guards can't.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Against non-drone enemies his damage is lackluster and he deals far less damage than similar Ranged Guards.<br> - Many alternative Operators can fill this role in most situations.</span>
A	Luo Xiaohei Explanation New Player Notes <p>A fine low rarity Operator that will be a nice, cheap-to-develop addition to a new player's roster.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Can inflict "critically wounded", an uncommon debuff.<br> + S1: Decent option for an SP battery when fighting weak groups of enemies. Dodge can be useful against tougher enemies but shouldn't be relied on. Low SP makes it quick to switch between forms.<br> + S2: A more damage focused option that can provide him a boost against enemies with low HP, allowing him a better chance to get last hits. <br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: Offers no ATK bonus on skill, which makes him particularly weak against higher DEF enemies.<br> - S2: Poor skill uptime and requires enemies to be under half HP to trigger a large portion of its damage.<br> - To benefit from his critically wounded effect, he must deal the final blow, which can be difficult as his damage isn't the best.<br> - No option to finish off critically wounded enemies himself.<br></span> Midnight Explanation New Player Notes A great early game choice with good damage potential from Talent and Melee Arts Skill. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Can perform ranged attacks at 80% power<br> + Talent: Passive crit chance<br> + A Ranged Guard with Arts damage is rare and if you don't get lucky with Lappland, he can do similar things but weaker<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Low ATK boost on his Skill means he may not be able to completely bring down big enemy tanks.</span>
B	Frostleaf Explanation New Player Notes Has relatively low damage potential and is primarily used as a melee slower. should not be used early game nor probably ever, but does have a good base skill that makes her worth E1 Summary <span style="color:green;">+E2 Talent: Increased attack range at the cost of increased attack interval<br> + Decently durable<br> + Slow and freeze can be very useful against enemies with extremely high ATK<br> + Offers melee grid deployment option different from Slower Supporters.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- When compared to a Slower Supporter, her slow has limited up-time (only active during Skills), smaller range, and has no multi-target. The Freeze is unreliable with relatively low proc chance.<br> - Lower DPS than 3 Star Midnight at equal levels.<br></span>
C	Ayerscarpe Explanation New Player Notes Decent source of melee Arts damage, but outclassed by other options. S2 is awkward to use. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Can perform ranged attacks at 80% power<br> + Talent: Buffs ASPD of Ayerscarpe and allies in the 8 tiles adjacent to him<br> + S1: Damages multiple targets and inflicts Slow.<br> + S2: Attack range increases and damage becomes Arts. Also, bonus Arts damage is inflicted to enemies being blocked by nearby allies every time Ayerscarpe attacks.<br> + Ayerscarpe is a rare melee Slow source<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Getting the bonus damage from S2 requires specific positioning, enemy timing, and a high-block strategy; not viable on all maps, and not common in current meta<br> - Has trouble competing with fellow 5* Ranged Guard Lappland, who also deals Arts damage, has stronger ATK modifiers, and causes Silence instead of Slow</span>

Guard Reaper Guard

Team Category: Optional

S	La Pluma Explanation New Player Notes A great cornerstone, lane-holder, and solo Operator that already functions great at E1 and has E2 and late-game potential. Not being able to be healed directly might create a learning curve for newer players, but shouldn't be a huge problem because of her strong self-sustain potential, especially against the weaker enemies of early game. She's a great option for handling the early game swarm stages to avoid needing to develop one of the overall weaker AoE Archetypes like AoE Casters. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ An Archetype that has an interesting attack range, AOE damage and heals on hit<br> + Trait: Heals self when she hits an enemy, up to her block count, and hits ALL enemies in range<br> + Talent: Gains ASPD when she kills enemies which stacks up quite high<br> + A great cornerstone unit and lane holder, especially for her rarity.<br> + S1: Great for consistent DPS, when she hits twice she heals on both hits so it can provide quite a bit of sustainability for lane holding<br> + S2: significantly reduces her Attack interval, increases ATK and gives bonus damage against enemies with less than 50% hp. This is great for clearing out large waves of enemies and scales well with her talent ASPD boost as she kills enemies.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Lower than average base ATK so she can have some trouble dealing with high DEF enemies without buffs<br> - Can't be healed normally</span>
S-	Executor the Ex Foedere Explanation New Player Notes <p>Executor can be tricky for new players. His strengths (damage, self sustain) as a laneholder and story-carry unit are very valuable to those players just getting started, but he also requires high investment. Without E2, Masteries, or Modules, his flaws all tend to be exacerbated which makes him much harder to use than other story carries like Thorns or Mountain. For new players, he can be very tough to use, although he has a tremendous long term payoff.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Incredible damage potential. Executor's damage is high-hit Physical, the most valuable type, in a True-AoE and from a melee tile.<br> + High-hit Physical damage and DEF ignore means he can tackle tougher enemies than most other laneholders.<br> + Incredible self sustain. Executor has both a well above average DEF and a high amount of self-healing.<br> + Talent1 and Module: Executor second attack also gives him Attack Recovery SP. S3M3's effective SP cost is actually 20 attacks on average, or 18 with Module.<br> + S3: One of the most damaging Physical skills in the game.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- High investment. Executor is a unit that really needs both his Masteries and his upgraded Module to excel.<br> - S3: Very high Attack Recovery SP cost, backloaded damage, and RNG can make the skill unreliable. Without a steady stream of enemies, it will often not be ready by the next wave.<br> - Talent1: Relatively low activation chance on his Talent adds a component of high-variance RNG to his uptime and damage.<br> - Cannot be healed. This can be a big problem in high-pressure scenarios where his own sustain isn't enough.<br> </span>
A+	Humus Explanation New Player Notes <p>A strong Archetype that can hold lanes and DPS, especially in the early game, and at a relatively cheap 4 star development cost. A great option for a new player needing to fill those holes in their roster.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Mixed with the Reaper trait, his Talent allows him to build up a solid barrier to take on harder threats.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: Unlike Highmore and La Pluma's S1, Humus' S1 remains at 3 SP even at M3, greatly reducing his relative potential.<br> - S2: Even if the Vigor threshold can be maintain, the overall damage output is lower than S1.<br> - Extremely poor Mastery gains make deeper investment questionable.<br> - Highmore, who is freely available from the IS#3 rewards ladder, is almost always superior, and high E1 costs are close enough that raising Humus doesn't have much value.<br></span>
A-	Highmore Explanation New Player Notes <p>If you are interested in IS#3, she might be worth the investment, since she is a strong operator in that mode (because of her mode-specific talent) and decent outside of it. If not, investment should be done with caution, since her competition is generally stronger.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent 1 gives Highmore some staying power against elemental damage<br> + Talent 2 offers +ASPD and +1 Block Count in IS3<br> + Unique range offers some interesting decisions with positioning<br> + S1: A great skill that leans into the strengths of the Archetype.<br></span> = +1 Block Count only aids with self-sustain, not killing power<br> = Worse outside of IS3, but still a pretty good unit<br> <span style="color:red;">-- Talent 2 is exclusive to IS3, meaning Highmore loses a significant portion of her power anywhere else<br> - S2 is an oddly defensive skill on an otherwise very offensive Archetype<br> - Will struggle to kill high DEF enemies quickly<br> - Can't be healed normally<br></span>

Guard Support / Instructor

Team Category: Optional

Generally weak on their own, their strength is in buffing other Operators, and so they typically require strong teams and large rosters to be used effectively.
Unfortunately, current members of this archetype do not have buffs strong enough to warrant their general use. New players should avoid this archetype.

A-	Pallas Explanation New Player Notes Pallas' strength is her consistent DPS, but before E2 she lacks a lot of things necessary to make her DPS competitive (before E2 she has no masteries, module, or enhanced Vigor buff). On top of this, her damage plummets further if she is blocking, which is more common in early game. This leads to E1 damage output that just isn't high enough to justify the 6 Star development cost. The flexibility of her increased range can be useful for new players, though Ranged Guards will typically be a better option. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A Support Guard with a focus on personal DPS<br> + Trait: longer attack range allows her to attack from behind other Operators or walls and gives her bonus ATK against enemies she isn't blocking.<br> + Talent 1: Gives her high passive from the ATK bonus when her HP is greater than 80%. Also pairs well with other <a href="https://gamepress.gg/arknights/taxonomy/term/13911">Minos Operators</a><br>. + Talent 2: Heals herself and the ally in front of her when she attacks; Decent sustain, though typically not enough healing to replace a dedicated healer.<br> + S1: Strong consistent DPS: with her high ATK and the low SP cost this can dish out a surprisingly large amount of damage. Arguably her best DPS skill.<br> + S2: great for continuously resetting the attack animation of powerful enemies like the Colossus. Its DPS is the lowest of her skills, but it comes with increased range and a quick cooldown so you will have more opportunities to use it.<br> + S3: Pallas' big flashy support/burst skill. A good buff to pair with operators that benefit from all the stats, but it can also work fine to buff Pallas herself.<br> + Module: grants a decent DPS boost<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: RNG dependence means it can fail its purpose, and more reliable options are available.<br> - S3: limited buff targets and buffs are weaker than other strong buffers. Vigor from skill doesn't stack with Vigor from Talent.<br> - Vigor: HP limitation can be hard to maintain if the operator is blocking, especially for S3 if trying to utilize the defensive oriented buffs.<br> - Loses a lot of her DPS if blocking (trait limitation) or if she loses HP (Talent limitation). This especially hurts her ability to function as a cornerstone.<br> - Often overshadowed by other powerful Operators that are more specialized for their roles.<br> </span>
D+	Whislash Explanation New Player Notes Can function ok as a DPS dealer, and the extended range flexibility can be nice, but will almost always underperform pure DPS Operators, and her buffs are too limited and weak to make up the difference most of the time. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Can attack non-aerial enemies at a distance<br> + Talent: buffs the ASPD and DEF of Operators with Block Count of 3 or more<br> + A unique Support Guard that specializes in buffing Defenders and AOE guards<br> + Good with Nian who can increase Operator Block Count.<br> + S2: Able to temporarily act like a ranged AOE Guard and increases Talent effect<br> + Can be placed safely behind multiple melee operators and still reach enemies<br> + S1: Boosts her talent and allows it to affect Operators with less than 3 Block Count at reduced effect.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Very weak base ATK for a Guard<br> - Weak ATK modifiers on skills mean she will have trouble killing enemies with medium or higher DEF<br> - Because of the Talent limitations, she can have trouble pulling her weight outside of teams heavy in AOE Guards and damage-oriented Defenders</span>
D	Bryophyta Explanation New Player Notes <p>With a plethora of good Guards available in the game, there is very little reason to begin your career using Bryophyta. Even maximized in the endgame, his value is bad, and those values are much much less meaningful in the early going. He is one of the worst 5★s in the game and should be avoided by all players, but especially newer ones.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ S2: Decent total DEF buff.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Stuns himself after.<br> - S2 and Talent: Restricted to the 8 tiles around him, which makes tile space an issue.<br> - Limited offensive value, even with skill up, and high SP costs means he’s a dead spot on the field most of the time.<br></span> Swire Explanation New Player Notes Limited buff applicability; horrible charging and uptime on her S2. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Can attack non-aerial enemies at a distance<br> + Talent: Melee Operators in the surrounding 8 tiles gain an ATK buff<br> + High DEF<br> + S2: good DPS with S2 active<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Very high SP Cost with on-attack charge means low up-time<br> - Talent: Only buffs melee and is difficult to utilize on some maps due to limited melee tiles<br> - Without significant investment her Skills have a very short duration</span>
D-	Dobermann Explanation New Player Notes For meme 3-star clears only. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Boosts ATK of all 3* Operators<br> + Low deploy cost<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Her buffs on their own aren't strong, and having them apply only to 3* makes her use very limited<br> - Weak skills<br> - below average ATK<br></span>

Medic AoE / Multi-target Medic

Team Category: Core

Heals 3 targets every normal attack, but typically at lower amounts than single target healers. Very useful early on when you're learning the game. It is more optimal to run without them when possible, especially since there are Operators who can heal the team or themselves and still cover other roles/utility. For this reason, the best Medics are those that can provide more than just healing.

A	Perfumer Explanation New Player Notes Has no utility beyond healing, but passively heals all allies on the map regardless of location, including Operators like Hellagur that cannot be directly healed. She has an excellent base skill at E1, so she will be raised anyway. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Heal up to 3 friendly units at once<br> + Talent: When deployed, gives passive HP regen to all deployed Operators (amount based on percentage of ATK)<br> + A strong 4* Operator that is viable even in end-game<br> + S2 can heal an enormous amount of HP and increases regen considerably<br> + Passive regen is a good counter to the poison mist condition on some stages and can heal characters that normally can't be healed directly<br> + High HP and decent DEF for a Medic<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- The Attack Interval increase of S2 could be a problem vs enemies with fast attack speed.</span> Ptilopsis Explanation New Player Notes SP charge Talent is very powerful utility, and she has good healing too. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: When deployed, increases SP gain for Skills with SP/s Charge Type.<br> + Trait: Heal up to 3 friendly units at once<br> + S2: provides potent rapid healing (with extended range)<br> + The default AOE Medic choice when not fighting caster enemies<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: has a long cooldown.</span>
A-	Nightingale Explanation New Player Notes Hard-counters Arts DPS enemies, but has no utility beyond that. A long-term investment. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Heal up to 3 friendly units at once<br> + Talent: Passively increases RES for allies within range<br> + Talent: Can summon phantoms that can be placed on open tiles to draw enemy attacks. These ignore deploy limit<br> + The best choice against Arts Damage and Caster enemies by a lot<br> + Her S3 has a very large AOE<br> + She will make some very difficult future stages much much easier<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- If there is no Arts Damage, Ptilopsis (and sometimes Perfumer) can provide better utility</span>
C+	Breeze Explanation New Player Notes Has no utility beyond healing; costs a lot of red certificates that new players will be needing to buy Chip Catalysts Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: normal heals hit up to 3 friendly units at once<br> + Talent: When Skill is active, grant [Resistance] effect to all Medics and (at E2) Supporters (reduce duration of stun, chill, freeze by 50%)<br> + Very high potential healing output with both S1 and S2<br></span> = S2: splash healing provides unique range and AoE Healing output potential<br> = S1: reduces the number targets, but increases the power.<br> = Purchasable with Shop Vouchers, but fairly expensive in terms of Sanity. Not currently available in gacha or recruitment.<br> <span style="color:red;">- Other AoE Medics provide better utility (SP generation, passive healing, RES) making them generally more appealing.</span>

Medic Chain Healer

Team Category: Optional

C-

Paprika

Explanation

Medic Incantation

Team Category: Optional

S+	Reed the Flame Shadow Explanation New Player Notes <p>A 2 for 1 roleplayer (especially a healing + DPS combination) can be a very impactful addition to an early roster that can meaninfully aid early progression</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Efficient healing that can heal herself as well as an ally when she deals damage.<br> + Talent: Attacks have the chance to provide fragility and decrease enemy ATK, which is relatively rare utility.<br> + S2: Great potential damage and sustain, especially if you can hit enemies with both sets of fireballs.<br> + S3: Amazing wave clear as the explosions can chain together to deal huge damage and clear groups of enemies.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Requires units (preferably melee) within range to place the fireballs on.</span>
B	Hibiscus the Purifier Explanation New Player Notes <p>Hybrid roles can be useful to new players with limited rosters, and in the early game when healing requirements aren't particularly high, the damage/healing combo can make pushing through stages easier/quicker if players don't already have stronger hybrid or dps options. That being said, players will typically be better off developing their strong specialized roleplayers, and the healing/range restrictions can be troublesome for players still learning the game.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ The first of herMedic Archetype that both heals and deals arts damage<br> + Talent: Inflict arts fragility on enemies on attack<br> + S2: Great healing when fighting multiple enemies. Additional slow on enemies hit during skill duration<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Poor uptime, short duration often insufficient to kill tougher enemies or sustain through longer fights.<br> - Healing requires an enemy in range to hit, and the amount is lowered by enemy RES.</span>
C-	Vendela Explanation New Player Notes <p>Vendela probably won't be worth your attention as a new player. While Incantation Medics are natively pretty decent, Vendela is a relatively weak example of the archetype. Any potential in her utility is unlikely to be realized out of advanced scenarios, her damage is just alright, and her healing is unreliable. It makes Vendela a tough sell for a new player.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Reasonable healing numbers, despite her low damage.<br> + Good reflect damage may occasionally be useful.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Healing is unreliable since it needs a target for her to attack.<br> - Very low damage.<br> - Taunt is wasted utility. It's very specific and is better resolved by managing deploy order.<br> - Elites have longer attack intervals which limits the value of her reflect.<br></span>

Medic ST / Medic

Team Category: Core

Single target healers. Very useful early on when you're learning the game. It is more optimal to run without them when possible, especially since there are Operators who can heal the team or themselves and still cover other roles/utility. For this reason, the best Medics are those that can provide more than just healing.

S+	Kal'tsit Explanation New Player Notes <p>Kal'tsit is a DPS unit disguised as a Medic, so don't let her classification fool you. Her healing output is quite bad, and she prioritizes herself and Mon3tr no matter what, even if another unit is a hair away from death. As a DPS unit, though, she is... well... a mon3tr, as her summon has extremely high stats and high damage potential, especially with S2 or S3.</p> <p>New players will have to learn how to use, position, and summon correctly, and plan for the 30 DP it takes to summon both her and Mon3tr. In return, they get quite a bit: Two Operators (a medic and an AoE Guard) for the development costs of 1, a fast-redeploy operator, and an operator that will be able to mow down most early-mid game content with ease.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A medic with a powerful summon that can hold lanes, DPS, and deal True damage<br> + Longer range than other ST Medics (mostly useful for Mon3tr deployment, + Fast redeploy means Mon3tr can be easily repositioned or gotten back on the field quickly if he dies (along with damaging and stunning enemies). Can also satisfy some traditional fast-redeploy roles if needed.<br> + Skills have long durations and very low SP costs, making for good skill cycles<br> + S2: Use this skill when you want Mon3tr to handle waves of enemies. It charges incredibly fast and with Mon3tr's Block-3 it can function like an AoE Guard.<br> + S3: One of the best counters to enemies that have extremely high DEF or damage reduction. This skill makes Mon3tr one of the most powerful units due to its overwhelming stats, true damage and quick skill recharge.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Poor healing output and prioritizes healing herself/ Mon3tr even over allies with much lower HP, so she doesn't function well as a general healer<br> - Mon3tr has 0 DEF if deployed outside of her range<br> - Tied skills do not charge if Mon3tr is not deployed and lose all SP if mon3tr leaves the field<br> - Having Mon3tr on the field consumes 2 deployment slots</span>
A	Warfarin Explanation New Player Notes Strong healing for earlygame and a source of SP generation; transitions into an ATK-buffing role for lategame Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: When an enemy dies within attack range, recover SP to self and one random ally within attack range. SP recharging characters are rare and very useful<br> + S1: Great burst healing<br> + S2: One of two big ATK buffers in the game, enables OP characters to become even more OP<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Requires careful placement to maximize Talent and S2 </span>
A-	Sussurro Explanation New Player Notes Very strong Skill healing, but it can only be used twice per map. Decent Base Skill at E1 Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Increased healing received for Operators with 10 or less DP cost<br> + S2: Extremely powerful ST healing<br></span> <span style="color:red;"> - S2: can only be used twice, a disadvantage for longer stages<br> - Squishier than her equal rarity counterparts.</span>
B+	Shining Explanation New Player Notes Her DEF buffs and damage shields help Operators survive enemies that would otherwise smash them. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Passively increases the DEF of allies within range<br> + S3: Operators can tank Physical Damage with ease (outside a certain future event)<br> + Enables Healing Defenders (which usually don't have large/any Defense boosts) to survive harder hitting enemies<br> + Prevents your Defenders from getting 1-shot by some bosses if you are under-leveled<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- As the team gets stronger and survivability becomes less of an issue, the other utility/support based healers become more appealing.<br> - DEF buffs don't help against Arts Damage.</span>
B	Silence Explanation New Player Notes Most versitile "pure healing" ST Medic due to S2 Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Small Atk speed boost to all Medic Operators while she is deployed<br> + S2: Healing drones have the unique ability to provide AoE healing anywhere on the map with an open tile, don't count toward the deploy limit, and have a short cooldown<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Drones cost DP to place and have a short duration.</span>
C+	Myrrh Explanation New Player Notes A better version of Ansel, due to having multi-target healing that doesn't rely on RNG. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Heals all Operators on deploy<br> + S1 and S2: Can heal an additional target<br> + A decent mix of single target and multi-target healing<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Long skill cooldowns</span>
C	Gavial Explanation New Player Notes Easy to recruit, but the healing over time is rarely useful. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Buffs other medics ATK(small) and DEF(huge) after deploy for 17s<br> + Skills have healing-over-time effects that can be decent if leveled.<br> + S2 is a mini AoE heal<br> + Can be purchased from the friend credit store<br> + A decent replacement for Hibiscus or Ansel<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Her healing-over-time only becomes good when the target has less than 50% HP and the Skill is at a high level, otherwise it is pretty weak<br> - Her Skill cooldowns, especially on S2, are not good</span> Ansel Explanation New Player Notes A little RNG-dependent, but often pays off Summary <span style="color:green;">+ S1 gives him a unique extended range that can be useful on some maps<br> + Talent: Chance to heal an additional ally with each heal<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- The Talent proc rate is very low and unreliable</span>
C-	Lancet-2 Explanation New Player Notes Can help with spot healing for earlygame and doesn't use a deployment slot. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Ignores Deploy Limit<br> + Burst heal to all Operators when deployed<br> + Great for maps with DP limitations or decreased deploy limit<br> + Great for annihilation maps where Operators are spread out<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- A strong breeze will kill this operator so she needs extra defensive positioning<br> - Long redeploy time</span> Tuye Explanation New Player Notes Awkward Skills and no utility besides healing. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A medic with powerful bursts of healing or shielding<br> + Talent: After not healing for 4s, increases the healing amount of the next heal<br> + S1: A decent shield that can be useful to help squishier operators survive some burst damage like spider explosions.<br> + S2: This can heal for ridiculously high amounts, well over 2k in the right conditions. Its perfect for keeping allies alive when they aren't in danger of getting killed before they trigger the skills HP condition A good pairing with Surtr to give her extra time in S3 form.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: can only be used on operators that aren't at max HP so it often can't be used to preempt big damage on allies that aren't directly in the line of fire.<br></span> Folinic Explanation New Player Notes Usually not impressive as a healer or a DPS Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Gain Status Resistance effect and take less damage from environmental hazards, making Folinic more viable in maps with with them<br> + S1: Increased range and ATK, short initial cooldown<br> + S2: Allows Folinic to damage enemies, while also increasing her healing potential<br> + Free Operator with Max Potential obtainable through the event shop<br></span> = Allows “Medic Only” runs of some stages, quite fun<br> <span style="color:red;">- S1 May require players to choose between utilizing the range extension or the healing boost if they are required at different times<br> - S2 Has low DPS compared to units dedicated to dealing damage<br> - S2 Prioritizes enemies which can result in insufficient healing to Operators who need it</span>
D	Hibiscus Explanation New Player Notes Has no special qualities. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Easy to obtain and maximize Potential<br> + Cheap to develop and deploy<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Doesn't do anything unique</span>

Medic Wandering Medic

Team Category: Optional

S-	Eyjafjalla the Hvít Aska ★ Explanation New Player Notes <p>Eyjafjalla the Hvít Aska is a great starting unit. She has a huge range making placement easy, and her healing numbers are absurd even at low investment levels. Unlike many end-game units, Eyja2 will be useful to your roster well before your economy really gets rolling. The only downside is that Arknights is a DPS-first game at all levels, so a healing-only unit will not accelerate your early pregression as well as a strong DPS carry. While Eyja2 will be a great help to your progress, she will still only be as good as the rest of your team.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Very strong healer for both regular healing and elemental healing.<br> + Wandering Medic default range is huge already which adds a lot of flexibility in deployment.<br> + She is quite overtuned, meaning expensive Masteries are less essential than they are with other 6★s.<br> + S1: Set and forget! Extremely strong healing with no player input required. Can heal elemental damage off of normally unhealable allies such as Reapers, Musha, and Juggernauts.<br> + S2: Even at SL7, the barrier is more than almost any enemy in the game can overcome.<br> + S3: Global range. Can straight up outheal most regular damage and elemental damage in the game for a long duration.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- A long wind-up on S1 and a long down-time on S3 can lead to potential gaps in her coverage on some maps.<br> - S2 is her only mid-charge skill and it lacks the regular healing punch of her other skills.<br> - Arknights is a DPS-centric game. As good as Eyjafjalla the Hvít Aska is, the best support units still tend to lag behind the best DPS units in terms of overall roster impact.</span>
A-	Mulberry Explanation New Player Notes Good healing and can help a lot with Elemental damage, which has the potential to be challenging to newer players still learning the game. The increased range can make deployment a little easier as well. Outside of Elemental damage, though, she falls behind the other top options. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ The first Wandering medic: heals Elemental damage as well as HP<br> + Talent: Grants a small boost to Medic operators when deployed with another Medic<br> + A Wandering Medic can make some maps with troublsome Elemental damage much easier<br> + Much wider attack range than normal Medics.<br> + S1: Good boost of healing with a small SP cost and holds charges. Good for general content where you take consistent or small bursts of elemental damage. Good HPS.<br> + S2: Reduces elemental damage received and increases ASPD substantially. Good against bosses that deal elemental damage or high elemental burst periods.<br></span> = The tradeoff for bigger range and elemental healing is generally weaker healing than a regular medic, especially outside of skills.<br> <span style="color:red;">- S2: high SP cost, long cooldown </span>
B+	Honeyberry Explanation New Player Notes Poor healing output makes her not great as a general healer. However, she is good against Elemental damage, and she is easily accessible in the cert shop, so if newer players are struggling with Elemental damage she might be worth picking up if better options aren't available. That being said, new players will want to make sure they don't delay their E2 progress by using certs on things other than chip catalysts. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Powerful Wandering Medic focused on controlling the Elemental damage of multiple Operators at once.<br> + Wider range than regular medics, can be deployed on faraway tiles and still reach your Operators.<br> + Lowest DP cost amongst all Medic archetypes.<br> + S1: Very powerful Elemental heal for two Operators with massive uptime. Can keep Operators regenerating Elemental damage constantly.<br> + S2: Can very easily keep Elemental damage in check thanks to targeting 3 Operators at a time. <br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Extremely low Attack stat. Struggles to keep Operators healthy.<br> - Talent: Very poor survivabiliy boost to ranged Operators within her range.<br> - S1: Provides very small continuous HP healing even if she's constantly targeting two Operators. Poor Medic replacement.<br> - S2: Heavy downtime and weak healing. Will keep Elemental damage at bay, but at the cost of needing another Medic in the squad.</span>
B	Chestnut Explanation New Player Notes <p>For early game players struggling with elemental damage, Chesnut is a decent option that is cheap to develop. However, he is a poor healer, and often won't be able to handle the healing load. Honeyberry is much better at the role, and can be purchased with red certs, so players that don't need the Chip Catalysts for early E2s can consider her instead.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A generally strong Archetype because the Range and Elemental Healing are both very valuable. <br> + Can be useful early game with small investment.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Very weak skills means he has no long term value.<br> - S2: Range limitation often hurts more than it helps.<br> - S1: Low impact skill that requires lots of micromanagement.<br> - Despite higher costs, Honeyberry is available to everyone in the red cert shop and is significantly better.<br></span>

Medic Wide-Range / Therapist

Team Category: Optional

Very large healing range, but at the cost of lower healing output, especially the outer fringe tiles that incur the penalty.

B+	Lumen Explanation New Player Notes <p>New players might benefit from the placement flexibilty of his large range, and he can function reasonably well as a pure healer. The on-demand status removal could be a useful tool, but most of the time new players are unlikely to find his unique utility particularly impactful. Medics that provide other types of utility or burst are likely to make a larger impact on an early roster (and new players should be prioritizing DPS over healing anyway). Add to this his high 6 star dev costs and he becomes an Operator most players should wait to develop until later in the game or when they are absolutely needed.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A welfare therapist medic that provides a much needed counter to abnormal status effects.<br> + Talent: Grants Status Resistance on allies that he heals.<br> + Immediately heals allies affected by abnormal status, which can be great against status effects that deal a burst of damage.<br> + Powerful single target healing that is effective even in general use.<br> + S2: Active skill that can cleanse and heal up to 3 allies at once.<br> + S3: The bread and butter option for Lumen, grants up to 8 charges which can cleanse and heal allies. Maintains the attack boosts as long as you don't use up all the charges.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Long sp charge time for a one use heal skill, requires overcharge for cleanse.<br><br> </span>
B	Purestream Explanation New Player Notes Very consistent applier of the Status Resistance buff. Decent healing but long-ish cooldowns. Strong E1 base skill, so she should be raised anyway. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Heals grant the target Status Resistance<br> + S1: Strong manually triggered burst heal<br> + Great source of Status Resistance for allies, as it is not tied to a Skill or have other restriction<br></span> = S2: has a very high healing amount during its duration, but the RNG can make it unreliable if many Operators are in range<br> = Archetype: Larger Healing Area, but healing reduced to 70% when healing distant targets<br> <span style="color:red;">- Her Status Resistance buff has a rather short duration, so it can drop off easily, especially at lower promotion levels.<br> - Currently only obtainable through recruitment, making raising her Potential somewhat difficult.<br> - Typical archetypal drawbacks of lower base healing output than ST Medics and relatively high DP Cost</span>
B-	Whisperain Explanation New Player Notes Most notable for her application of the Status Resistance buff. Purestream is able to apply it a bit more consistently, but Whisperain is typically the stronger healer. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Grants HP regen to targets in her Attack Range that have the Status Resistance buff (can heal Enmity and summons)<br> + Great when paired with operators that have Status Resistance built into their kits since they will activate her Talent.<br> + S1: Heals two targets with increased healing and grants Status Resistance. it's good if you can't wait for S2 to activate.<br> + S2: A good source of Status Resistance as she can grant it on every heal. Infinite duration with good consistent healing. <br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: takes quite a long time to charge, and until activation she is not a very strong healer.<br> - Typical archetypal drawbacks of lower base healing output than ST Medics and relatively high DP Cost</span>
D	Ceylon Explanation New Player Notes Overall unimpressive abilities and long Skill cooldowns. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Larger Healing Range, ATK reduced to 70% when healing distant targets<br> + Talent: Increased ATK, with much larger increase when the stage has water grids<br> + A decent source of the rare [Resist] effect, which becomes a little more useful in Chapter 6<br> + S2: Decent duration if leveled<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Outside of the Summer Event, water grids are non-existent.<br> - [Resist] effect has a pretty niche use, so it is difficult to justify heavy investment<br> - High DP Cost and Low ATK compared to typical ST Medics</span>

Sniper Aftershock / Flinger

Team Category: Optional

Can't attack air enemies, but has a wide attack range and splash damage. Good for countering ground clusters.

A+	Rosmontis ★ Explanation New Player Notes Ignores part of enemies' DEF and has some crowd control to go with her AoE damage. Great against melee enemy clusters. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A unique operator that deals splash damage to ground targets and her attacks cause a shockwave that deals an additional 50% damage<br> + Talent: Her attacks bypass a flat amount of DEF<br> + Rosmontis' specialty is killing large waves of ground enemies with high amounts of splash damage and crowd control<br> + S2: Causes her attack to have a chance to stun and increases the number of aftershocks. making it good crowd control at the cost of lower DPS.<br> + S3: Increases her DPS significantly and attacks two targets at once but she no longer targets enemies unless they are blocked. She will also summon 2 tactical gears that are very tanky and have 2 block.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Expensive to deploy<br> - Although she ignores DEF, her ATK isn't quite high enough to deal with high DEF enemies.<br> - S3: Very difficult to use as she can easily block enemies with her tactical gear at the edge of her range and prevent herself from attacking them.<br></span>
C	Greyy the Lightningbearer Explanation New Player Notes <p>He has poor damage and unreliable utility on top of being in an Archetype with heavy restrictions: and all at an expensive 5 Star development cost. New players should avoid this one.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ S2: Can provide decently long lasting AoE Slow with some damage when fully charged.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Extremely poor overall damage.<br> - RNG-reliant kit for an effect many other Operators can provide in a more straightforward and consistent way. <br> - Very unreliable utility and support.<br> - Relatively expensive for what little he provides.<br></span>
C-	Terra Research Commission Explanation Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Nice individual effects<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Unreliable RNG<br> - Ultimately limited to meme potential<br></span>

Sniper Anti-Air / Marksman

Team Category: Core

Gets extended range at e1, prioritizes aerial enemies. Generally excellent at dealing damage against low DEF, with pretty hard falloffs as DEF rises (except Platinum).
Recommend 1 in early stages, and 2 are recommended moving into mid game.

S+	Ash ★ Explanation New Player Notes Stuns and burst damage are a wonderful combination Summary <span style="color:green;">+ After deployment, throws a flashbang at one target in range that Stuns them and nearby targets. <br> + Her first deployment is very cheap. With the bonus SP, reduced DP cost, Stun on deploy and S2 use she can be a safe option to burst down dangerous foes that would kill most other snipers<br> + Very high damage potential when buffed<br> + S2: great crowd control since it activates her passive flashbang Stun. Her DPS against stunned targets is one of the highest in the game. She still remains effective against medium DEF opponents because her damage multiplier is so high.<br> + S3: knockbacks with large force and deals quite a lot of burst damage if you can knock an enemy into a high tile. It shares the same range as Weedy's S3, but with less push force.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Her effectiveness drastically decreases against enemies immune to stun<br> - S3: only 2 uses per deploy is very limiting<br></span> Exusiai Explanation New Player Notes Amazing burst dps against low DEF enemies Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: prioritizes attacking air units<br> + Shreds low DEF enemies like tissue paper<br> + Great base stats with extremely high DPS potential<br> + When buffed she can confidently be the main DPS into endgame<br> + E2 Talent: buffs random ally with ATK and HP on deploy, great for fast starts<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Without buffs her DMG drops to almost nothing vs enemies with 600+ DEF, which have become fairly standard in new content</span>
S	Archetto Explanation New Player Notes Strong multi-target damage abilties Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A single target DPS sniper with multi-target skills<br> + Talent: Gains a shield that blocks one attack and recovers some SP. Generates SP over time for snipers with attacking type SP charge skills.<br> + Very high DPS potential against low DEF enemies<br> + Great when paired with buffers due to strong damage multipliers and multi hit attacks.<br> + S1: Great for clearing waves of weaker enemies, but they will need to be relatively close together.<br> + S2: This skill can be used to reset her attacks and bounce to enemies outside her attack range. <br> + S3: Great for bosses and tougher enemies that would sit just outside the range of Exusiai.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- While somewhat mitigated by her talent, all skills have attack charging SP which can be slow to charge in between waves.<br> - She has trouble against higher DEF enemies without ATK buffs<br> - S2:her ricochet attacks can bounce 1.5 grids and cannot bounce to previously hit targets so it can be awkward to try to hit more than a couple enemies<br></span>
A+	Vermeil Explanation New Player Notes Decent damage output, especially against multi-target. She will function fine as an early-mid game AA Sniper and you will want to E1 her anyway for her base skill, so she is a great early investment. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Prioritizes attacking air units<br> + Talent: increases self SP recovery<br> + Great up-time on her S2<br> + In multi-target situations, beats the DPS of the other ST Snipers of equal or lower rarity by a lot<br> + Good for clearing out weaker groups<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Struggles against medium+ DEF enemies<br> - Lower than average HP</span> Platinum Explanation New Player Notes Trades attack speed for high ATK and more range, great at tackling DEF values in mid range Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Prioritize attacking air units<br> + Once her S2 is activated she does great damage versus everything but the highest DEF enemies<br> + Increased range with S2 allows her to attack targets other standard Snipers can't<br> + Talent: Large ATK buff as time between attacks increases (up to 2.5s)<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Long activation time on S2, during which she is significantly weaker than other Snipers</span>
A	May Explanation New Player Notes Slow, stuns and damage. Jack of all trades unit, decent dps too Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Prioritizes aerial enemies<br> + Talent: increases own ATK and attack speed<br> + Skills provide strong Slows, and S2 an RNG Stun<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Very low DEF</span> Kroos Explanation New Player Notes Free upon completing stage TR-8, an excellent go-to AA Sniper. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Prioritize attacking aerial enemies<br> + Talent: Each hit has a chance to crit for additional damage that makes her randomly hit really hard<br> + Great for early Challenge Modes since you need cheaper units and she deals more damage than the 4* Snipers at equal levels<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Says "Ko Ko Da Yo" every 15 seconds</span> Insider Explanation New Player Notes <p>Insider is a great starting unit. His DPS is better than the 4★ Marksman, and his high ATK stat extends scenarios he's useful in beyond what is typical of the role. He doesn't need E2 to be effective either, resulting in a powerful low-cost unit who is completely free to obtain! If you're starting out and have access to him, you almost definitely want to be using Insider.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ S2: Highest ATK among Marksman, which extends Insider's usage beyond what Marksman can typically achieve.<br> + S2: Ammo mechanic is very powerful. That, plus a very low downtime, results in an incredibly high effective uptime.<br> + S2: Although it will occasionally be detrimental, his targeting priority mixed with the reduced taunt will allow him to be aggressively placed and snipe out dangerous enemies from a crowd.<br> + Effective at E1, meaning low investment to get good use out of him.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: Attack Recovery means the effective cycle is often worse than S2, resulting in very little reason to ever use his secondary skill.<br> - Stiff competition. There are a lot (relatively) of 5 and 6★ Marksman. All of them are good, and one is similarly free. Many teams won’t find space for him, despite his potential.</span> Blue Poison Explanation New Player Notes Hits multiple targets and has tiny arts damage on attacks. Dont get fooled in thinking it will help you against high DEF enemies Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Prioritizes attacking air units<br> + Excellent DPS when you max out her S1<br> + Talent: Passive Arts damage can provide chip damage against enemies with high DEF<br> + Great option for killing groups with S2<br></span> = Skill Mastery makes a significant difference<br> <span style="color:red;">- Very squishy and needs to be placed in protected positions on certain maps</span>
A-	Kroos the Keen Glint Explanation New Player Notes Gets off the ground extremely quickly and is easy to utilize. Most new players will be better off using the cheaper 3* Kroos as their first or second AA sniper, and waiting for a higher impact 6 star before developing more. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Grants a chance to crit on attack to deal bonus damage and stun targets.<br> + Great with buffs, as her attacks deal multiple hits.<br> + S1: One of the few skills with the ability to camouflage. Damage bonus is decent with decent uptime if you are able to consistently attack enemies.<br> + S2: Great damage if you can continually attack to pass the 32 hit threshold. <br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: The SP charge on attacks makes this skill difficult to utilize. camouflage is primarily used against enemies that will kill you if you try to attack normally.<br> - S2: No ATK boosts and a low base attack means that you will do little damage to enemies with decent DEF. If you can't activate the 4 hit threshold then this skill's dps is quite low.</span>
B+	GreyThroat Explanation New Player Notes Similar to Exusiai with slightly higher ATK, suffers from an offensive recovery S2. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Prioritize attacking air units<br> + Talent: Attack speed +6. At E2: When attacking, 15% chance to crit for high 150% damage<br> + S1: Strong front-loaded burst damage especially when charged<br> + S2: Very high active DPS<br></span> = Higher ATK modifiers and crit allow her to damage high DEF enemies when Exusiai can't, but Exusiai will still out-dps her against mid and lower DEF enemies<br> = DPS can vary wildly because of her crit Talent, which gives a significant damage boost but at a very low chance<br> <span style="color:red;">- S2: SP Cost with charge [on-attack] is high compared to duration, giving it low up-time.</span>
C+	April Explanation New Player Notes She represents a tactical fast-redeploy option in a ranged unit. Can be useful in more challenging content, but not really necessary in early-mid content, so new players are better off waiting to develop her until later Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A unique Sniper with on-deploy stealth and a faster Redeploy Time<br> + S2: Strong damage boost with a fairly long stealth duration<br> + Great for assassinating tricky enemy casters and snipers on difficult maps<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- High base DP cost makes redeploying her over and over very expensive<br> - Her damage isn't quite high enough to deal the most dangerous drones and caster enemies on her own.<br></span> Jessica Explanation New Player Notes Free upon completing stage TR-3. Her damage return on investment doesn't rise as quickly as Kroos. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Prioritizes attacking air units<br> + Good attack boosts make her viable in later chapters<br> + Rare Sniper defensive Skill<br> + Has a lot of skins<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Hard to justify the resources of promoting her to E2<br> - 3 Star Kroos does more damage at equal levels (before E2)</span>
C	Meteor Explanation New Player Notes Reduces DEF. Anti-drone talent Summary <span style="color:green;"> + Trait: Prioritize attacking air units<br> + Talent: Very strong buff vs flying targets<br> + DEF Down debuff can increase team DPS</span><br> <span style="color:red;"> - Hard to justify the resources of promoting to Elite 2<br> - 3 Star Kroos does more damage at equal levels (before E2)</span> Rangers Explanation New Player Notes Very little cost to max out, can deal decent damage to drones Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Increased damage to flying targets makes his attacks really hurt drones<br> + Extremeley cheap to develop and deploy<br></span> <span style="color:red;"> - Weak against anything not flying (he is shooting nerf arrows)</span>
D	Adnachiel Explanation New Player Notes Prioritizes ranged enemies. Overall mediocre damage Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Prioritizes attacking ranged enemies.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: relatively weak and poor up-time.<br> - Kroos is superior in most situations</span>
E	'Justice Knight' Explanation New Player Notes There are plenty of 2 and 3 star Marksman snipers that are much better at combat. Her utility isn't strong enough to bother with. Summary <span style="color:green;"> + Talent: Can help Ranged Operators take down dangerous aerial enemies and avoid retaliation<br> + Extremely cheap to deploy<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Talent: Generally considered a significantly worse option than Thermal-EX.<br> - Extremely long redeploy timer limits usage to one per battle.<br> - Unworkable stats.<br> - Very difficult to get Potentials for, which are important for her kit. Recruit-only after the first copy.</span>

Sniper AoE / Artilleryman

Team Category: Situational

Ranged Physical splash damage with a large attack range

S-	W ★ Explanation New Player Notes Makes your problems explode with great damage and stuns. Can be very useful in the early game, but will have a bit less impact toward middle and late game. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks do Physical AoE splash damage<br> + Talent: She gains Physical and Arts Dodge and becomes less likely to be attacked 10 seconds after deployment, which allows her to be placed later and still survive<br> + Her abilities focus on stuns, which is one of the strongest forms of crowd control<br> + S2: When there is downtime between waves, she can cover a large area with mines and continuously stun enemies as they approach<br> + S3: Huge AoE burst damage and a long duration stun on multiple enemies. Best used on large mobs of enemies huddled together<br> + Much easier to use than previous AoE snipers as she works well independently<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Typically Archetypal drawbacks: Expensive to deploy and slow ASPD</span> Fiammetta Explanation New Player Notes <p>Her strong AoE dps can be very useful in the early game, but will have a bit less impact toward middle and late game.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ An Artilleryman (AoE Sniper) with a very strong damage potential, Fiammetta can provide a rare level of consistently high damage.<br> + Powerful pick in IS due to strong damage and relic interaction.<br> + S2: Low SP cost along with her talent means she can activate it frequently, and it has a more flexible (but still restrictive) range than S3.<br> + S3: If she can be well placed, it can dish out incredible amounts of damage with 100% uptime.<br> + Best buddies with Skadi the Corrupting Heart who can maintain her Vigor talent at no cost while also buffing her attack.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Counterintuitive talents make her awkward and unreliable. She will always need a support unit to be maximized, and she draws healing away from frontline units.<br> - Heavily map dependent due to restrictive ranges on her skills.<br> - S3: key damage spot is just barely over one tile wide and damage is subpar outside of that small area.<br> - Sound effects on S3 can get annoying when they play all the time, non-stop, for the entire map.<br></span>
A+	Shirayuki Explanation New Player Notes Excellent utility with Arts damage and Slowing from her Skill. Can replace the need for an AoE Caster or Slower in some cases. To top it off, she has a great base Skill at E1. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: AOE attack with large range<br> + S1: Extended Range provides unique and exceptional reach<br> + S2: Inflicts Arts DMG which is great for killing high-DEF enemies<br> + S2: Slow offers additional utility<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Doesn't prioritize flying units, so often cannot be relied on to eliminate them<br> - Very high deployment cost<br> - Slow Attack Speed</span>
A-	Jieyun Explanation New Player Notes <p>An Archetype that can be more useful in early game than late, but isn't worth the 5 Star development costs if cheaper or better options exist to sufficiently cover their role. </p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Grants a small boost in ATK and reduced DP cost on first deploy.<br> + S2: Throws out the chakram to the next attacked target, dealing physical damage over time and reducing movement. The chakram floats in position for a moderate amount of time dealing good damage and providing solid crowd control.<br></span> = While her Talent helps, her Archetype has high base DP cost, so it is still costly to deploy her.<br> <span style="color:red;">- S2: has on-attack SP charging. With her poor attack speed this can take quite a while to charge up without an SP battery.</span> Meteorite Explanation New Player Notes Crit Talent and S1 makes her an excellent pure physical damage dealer with a large splash area Summary <span style="color:green;">+ AOE splash attack, Long range<br> + chance to crit for increased DMG<br> + Great for clearing out mobs of enemies<br> + With buffs can even clear out mobs of high DEF enemies<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- High DP cost<br> - Slow Attack Speed</span>
B	Sesa Explanation New Player Notes Good if a lot of things are being blocked, which is more common in early parts of the game. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Archetype: AOE Splash attacks, long attack range<br> + Talent: When deployed, blocked enemies receive increased Physical Damage from ALL Operators<br> + Extremely high potential damage when buffed<br> + Good duration Skills with decent SP costs<br></span> = Good synergy with teams that block large groups of enemies<br> <span style="color:red;">- Unlike other AoE Snipers, he has no abilities that increase the area size of this splash attacks.<br> - S2: Can be difficult to achieve its full potential, as it can miss fast moving enemies or get wasted on an enemy that dies before it can explode</span>
D	Catapult Explanation New Player Notes Can get the job done if she is your only option, but ShiraYuki is much better and fairly accessible from recuitment Summary <span style="color:green;">+ AOE splash attack, Long Range<br> + A cheaper alternative to ShiraYuki<br> + A good unit to bring into Annihilation 2 to clear out mobs<br> + Skill increases splash of her attack to the size of Meteorite's S1 for a decent duration<br></span> <span style="color:red;"> - The cheaper costs comes with much lower ATK<br> - No ATK modifiers or special utility makes all other AoE Snipers generally more useful<br> - Slow Attack Speed</span>

Sniper Boomstick / Spreadshooter

Team Category: Optional

Small attack range makes them rely heavily on map design, enemy aggro managment, and potentially healer support to actually be worth using over other Archetypes

S	Ch'en the Holungday ★ Explanation New Player Notes Even though her S3 is the meta-defining skill that gets the most attention, her S1 and S2 aren't bad either, and will be a strong DPS option for early-mid game rosters. Newer players may struggle with her high DP cost until they learn and develop the DP generation game, and her short range can make her more difficult to deploy well. Her ammo mechanic can be very new player friendly since Skill attacks are fully utilized and not wasted due to activation mistimings or enemy gaps during a duration. She should be one of the first (probably the first) Operators E2d. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A Spreadshooter Sniper that deals some of the highest physical AOE damage in the game<br> + Great flexibility with skill use since they use ammo instead of skill durations. This allows ALL Skill attacks to get utilized (none are wasted by lacking enemies in range) and a more controllable cycle because of manual deactivation.<br> + Talent 1: Great for herself, and good when paired with other Snipers that use ammo as theres a chance that the ammo doesn't get consumed on attack<br> + S1: A decent fast-charging consistent DPS skill<br> + S2: decent damage and can be activated quickly after deploy. When fully charged this skill has great uptime and lasts for a very long time. great AOE crowd control with enemy movement slowing and DEF debuffing.<br> + S3: Her best Skill. Pretty much does anything that S1 or S2 can do, and does it better. Provides massive AOE damage, increased range and the best version of her slowing and DEF decreasing effects. <br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Typical Archetypal drawbacks of high DP Cost and slow ASPD</span>
S-	Pinecone Explanation New Player Notes Very strong early game. High DPS, and can handle the early game swarm requirements (so you don't have to develop an AoE Caster or other archetype that will be less useful and drop off sooner). She has great longevity and is relevant a long way into content. The controlled burst of her S1 can be very flexible/convenient, but also requires manual activation (too much manual skill management can overwhelm new players still learning and needing to focus on other aspects of the game). Some players may benefit from having their first E2 Operator be a 4*, since it will allow them faster access to E2 friend carry support units (this should not be done lightly, though). Pinecone is a strong option for this, as she has great DPS gains which will have a more noticeable gameplay impact than most other 4 star options. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Pinecone is a dps-oriented Boomstick Sniper with increased SP Recovery<br> + S1: Good burst DPS skill. Good DEF ignore, but the SP cost per charge and damage multiplier are mediocre. The skill can be used to reset her attacks.<br> + S2: Good DPS once it is fully charged up.<br> + Talent: enables her to quickly charge her Skills after deployment.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Talent: SP recovery bonus only lasts for a minute after deploying.<br> - S2: With her high DP cost its going to be difficult to place her early enough to full charge her skill on most maps. This issue is further compounded by the reduced range.</span>
C-	Executor Explanation New Player Notes Great burst potential with S2, but Pinecone is a smarter investment for newer players. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Attacks ignore set amount of DEF<br> + Trait: True AoE physical damage to all enemies in range. Different from other AoE Snipers that do splash.<br> + Trait: Deal 150% dmg to enemies in nearest row. <br> + Niche, but not as reliant on buffers or gimmicks thanks to S1, which allows him to hit for 2k+ DMG per attack unbuffed<br> + Especially with buffs S2 hits like a truck because of his great ATK multipliers <br> + Very durable with high DEF and HP for a sniper<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Very high DP Cost<br> - Short range and Slow attack speed</span>
D	Aosta Explanation New Player Notes Unreliable slowing to go along with all the other drawbacks of the Archetype. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Archetype: Boomstick Sniper that deals AoE mixed Physical and Arts damage to all enemies in Attack Range<br> + Talent: Attacks on unblocked enemies apply a DoT effect dealing a percent of ATK as Arts damage per second for 3s<br> + S2: Attacks can Bind enemies for up to 1.5s, which when combined with other crowd control can stall enemies quite well.<br> + The "Aosta" meme<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Hard to use even within his own niche due to his small attack range and need for enemies to be unblocked<br> - S2: Poor skill up time<br> - Very high DP cost</span>

Sniper Close Range / Heavyshooter

Team Category: Optional

High damage potential at the cost of limited range and higher DP cost

S	Pozëmka Explanation New Player Notes <p>A strong DPS unit with versatility that can keep herself safe (or make up for poor positioning) with her deployables. On the flip side, managing and redeploying her summon may add an undesirable layer of complexity for some players still learning the game.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A high powered close range sniper with a deployable that expands her range<br> + Talent: Has access to Typewriter (deployable) that mimics her skills and reduces enemy DEF. Typewriter is invulnerable so it can be used to safely snipe at tough enemies without putting Pozyomka in danger<br> + S1: Infinite duration ATK boost with a fairly low SP cost.<br> + S2: Turns her Typewriter into a quick deploy sniper. You can store up to two charges and then quickly use them.<br> + S3: The default choice in most situations. Great for assassinating bosses or elite enemies. It has a long uptime, making it good against durable enemies or bosses with multiple forms.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Cannot be used unless something is in range of the unit herself. Unless both she and her deployable are hitting the same unit, the damage isn't very strong and will struggle to take out moderately durable enemies.<br> - Can be difficult on some maps to find deployment room for both her and her Typewriter to target the same enemy<br></span>
A+	Schwarz Explanation New Player Notes A powerful physical damage ranged dps unit that can be effective against enemies with some DEF Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: When attacking, chance to crit for increased damage and decrease enemy DEF for a short duration<br> + E2 Talent: When deployed with at least 1 other sniper, all Snipers gain ATK<br> + A good companion to Exusiai as she can kill heavy DEF units that Exusiai can't<br> + High ATK and damage multipliers<br> + Tops the Physical dps charts vs enemies with medium+ DEF<br> + S3: Guaranteed critical burst<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- High DP cost<br> - Short attack range <br> - S3: Range narrows to a frontal line and slightly Slower ASPD</span>
C	Provence Explanation New Player Notes high damage potential, but very range and positioning restricted to reach it Summary <span style="color:green;">+ With ATK modifiers from Skills and crit Talent she can output crazy damage under the right conditions<br> + Excellent physical damage option against beefier opponents<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- The conditions on her skills can be limiting<br> - Limited ability to deal with flying units<br> - High DP Cost<br> - Short Range and slightly slower Attack Speed </span>
C-	Melanite Explanation New Player Notes <p>Melanite is not a newbie friendly unit. Positioning is very important with her and she needs relatively high investment to reach her potential. She isn't awful, but new players can usually find better value from their resources in the early going.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ S2: High Physical damage potential on a relatively short cooldown.<br> + Module: Dodge ignore is rare, and area-of-effect dodge ignore is even more rare.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Damage drops off rapidly with range, limiting where she can be effectively used.<br> - Module: Dodge ignore is nice, but content dependent and will frequently not be useful.<br></span>
D	Aciddrop Explanation New Player Notes really only useful against very high DEF enemies, and a Caster will almost always be a better answer Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Attacks will do increased minimum damage if the enemy is 2 tiles ahead of self, as opposed to the normal 5% minimum. This allows her to provide physical DPS against extremely high DEF enemies.<br></span> = Close-Range Sniper Archetype<br> <span style="color:red;">- Her Talent is only useful against very high DEF enemies as she has naturally high ATK and goes over the minimum versus most opponents<br> - Very poor skill uptime</span>

Sniper Heavyweight / Besieger

Team Category: Optional

They prioritize heavy enemies first and have a long but funky attack range that doesn't allow them to attack enemies close to them

S+	Typhon Explanation New Player Notes <p>Typhon is a strong starting option. While her boss killing is locked behind an expensive E2 promotion, much of her baseline power is available at only E1. The infinite duration S2 has nearly all of its windup time minimized at SL7 already as well as much of its DPS and her Talent 1 DEF ignore. Along with her big range, ease of use, and big DPH, it makes Typhon an excellent starting option with plenty of room to grow as your account matures.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Big range that can reach significantly further than most other DPS units.<br> + Excellent at handling high DEF between her strong DEF ignore and big damage-per-hit.<br> + S3: "Tracks" her target which makes it very easy to use as well as very flexible. It can follow bosses through pathing and invulnerability phases without hiccup. Ammo mechanic.<br> + S2: Powerful infinite duration skill for when S3's tracking is unnecessary. Needs to be activated twice to be infinite, but the initial SP on the first activation is extremely short which adds a lot of flexibility that other infinite duration skills don't have.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S3: Long attack interval and RNG can both be annoying.<br> - While her big range is mostly a benefit, the missing front row can be a problem.<br></span>
A+	Rosa (Poca) Explanation New Player Notes Has CC and can partially ignore DEF if the target is heavy enough. A good long-range option against high-DEF enemies, since they are typically heavy. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait; Prioritize attacking highest weight enemy<br> + Talent: When attacking heavy enemies (weight >= 3), ignore a percentage of enemy DEF<br> + Talent: All Ursus Student Council Operators on the team gain ATK<br> + S3: Great crowd control on multiple enemies with a decent cooldown<br> + Attack range lets her stay safe far away from the front lines<br> + Pierce DEF allows her to hurt high DEF enemies, and can be especially useful against enemies that have both high DEF and RES.<br></span> = While most often used for crowd control, her damage is quite good as well and should not be underestimated<br> <span style="color:red;">- Her attack range can make her difficult to position on some maps<br> - Slow attack speed and high DP Cost</span>
C+	Totter Explanation New Player Notes <p>Not really powerful or useful enough to warrant a spot on most young rosters. However, he does offer some unique Stealth utility, and is a cheap option for development if players find they need it and have no other options</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A sniper with a focus on dealing with stealth enemies.<br> + Unique among snipers in his ability to attack enemies in stealth naturally. With his large range, he can easily chip away at stealth enemies as they approach.<br> + S1: A decent option for consistent damage with low SP cost and decent damage multiplier.<br> + S2: Decent uptime and solid attack boosts. Good option if you are dealing with mobs of stealthed enemies. <br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Often doesn't deal enough damage to finish off stealth enemies on his own.<br></span> Erato Explanation New Player Notes <p>Sleep tends to be an awkward crowd control option even for advanced players because of the drawback of most Operators not being able to attack Sleeping enemies. For new players, the drawbacks and additional planning/awareness that is required won't be worth the potential benefits most of the time.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A Heavyweight sniper that deals bonus damage against sleeping enemies.<br> + Erato ignores 50% DEF against sleeping targets which is useful against heavy enemies which typically have higher DEF.<br> + She performs well in teams with multiple operators that can inflict and hit sleeping enemies.<br> + S1: Moderate sleep duration and cooldown, good for when you only want consistent sleeping support.<br> + S2: Decent DPS modifiers which can work regardless of enemy status.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: Long recharge time and lacks DPS modifiers.<br> - S2: Can't benefit from her passive DEF ignore without assistance from others.<br> - Better options existing both in terms of inflicting Sleep and and dealing damage.<br> - Requires setup to be effective and usually can't handle her priority heavy targets on her own.<br></span> Toddifons Explanation New Player Notes Prioritizes heavy targets, but isn't particularly strong against high DEF. A unique S1, but tough to find impactful application. Needs to be up against Sarkaz enemies to be decent. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A Heavyweight sniper that deals bonus damage against Sarkaz openents<br> + Very high base attack and damage modifiers<br> + Skills have good uptime<br> + S1: Can help physical heavy DPS to focus down heavy opponents quickly due to lowered DEF.<br> + S2: Deals high burst damage with each shot and a moderate splash AOE around the target. Its great for handling tanky Sarkaz units due to her innate bonus damage against them, making each shot really pack a punch. The skill uses ammo instead of skill duration so the timing of when to activate is less of an issue.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- loses her lustre quite a bit when not fighting Sarkaz enemies<br> - S1: Raising the taunt level of heavy opponents can cause issues if it draws fire away from higher priority targets like drones or wraiths..</span>

Sniper Hunter

Team Category: Optional

C-

Coldshot

Explanation

Sniper Long-Range / Deadeye

Team Category: Optional

Long range, but low DPS despite their high ATK stats because of their slow attack speeds

A	Fartooth Explanation New Player Notes <p>Pure DPS is welcome in the early-mid game, and her large range can be useful to players still learning deployment. S2 is also potentially more useful in this phase of the game, where a lot of blocking is more common.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Deadeye Sniper with huge attack and map-wide range<br> + Talents: Effective counter to enemies with high Dodge rates. Reduced taunt levels synergize well with her talent and provide some flexibility when placing her later.<br> + S2: Greatly increases ASPD with good uptime. Can attack enemies anywhere on the map as long as they are blocked.<br> + S3: The bread and butter skill for Fartooth. Deals huge single target damage with infinite straight line range and great uptime.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Requires enemies to be blocked for bonus range. Lacks an ATK or DMG modifier.<br> - S3: Requires specific map placement to take full advantage of her range. Other Operators are more flexible picks that do as well or better job when the full map range is not required.<br> - Low DEF Enemies pathing into her normal range can cause re-targeting and interfere when trying to utilize the infinite range and bonuses.</span>
B-	Andreana Explanation New Player Notes Specializes in weakening enemies for other Operators to finish off. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Prioritize attacking lowest DEF enemy<br> + A very specialized sniper with a large attack range that focuses on weakening enemies for other operators to finish off<br> + S2: Extremely high raw ATK, more than enough to break through almost any DEF and still deal a significant amount of damage. Decent when paired with Provence as she can weaken enemies into the HP range for Provence's skills to activate. The Slow lasts long enough to keep an enemy continuously slowed.<br> + Great skill up time<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: The inability to attack targets under 50% HP is a huge hindrance as she usually can't kill enemies on her own<br> - Archetype: High DP cost and slow ASPD</span> Firewatch Explanation New Player Notes One of the few Operators that can become Invisible, making her great at taking out ranged threats while protecting from them.Has a good tactical AoE Nuke. Strong in specific use cases, but not so much for general use, meaning new players should avoid early development and wait until later to decide if they want to develop her. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Extra large attack range<br> + Trait: Prioritize attacking lowest DEF unit<br> + Talent: ATK boost vs ranged enemies<br> + S1: Rare Sniper defensive Skill: Invisible = not targetable and doesn't take damage, perfect for vulnerable deployment to take out ranged threats while protecting her from them. Has great up-time. <br> + S2: Great group and high HP enemy killing burst potential<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Typical Archetype drawbacks of High DP Cost and slow Attack Speed<br> - S2 has a long cooldown and specific targets cannot be chosen, making it less predictable, though planning can mitigate this in some cases.<br> - Can be annoying if attacking priority causes her to target a lower DEF non-ranged unit, but this is rare.<br> - Strong for specific uses, but they are not common, and she's not as great for general use</span>
C+	Ambriel Explanation New Player Notes Infinite range with S2 can have its uses, and having a Sniper with some crowd control can be convenient. A good base skill makes her a good option to E1 anyway. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Prioritizes lowest DEF enemy first<br> + E2 Talent: Chance to stun the target for 2s when attacking targets outside of her default attack range (default range is extended by Skills)<br> + High base ATK<br> + S2: A high ATK modifier and the unique ability to attack enemies at any spot on the map.<br> + S1: long range slows<br></span> = Best used to take out low DEF threats or chipping at some boss enemies before they reach the front-line<br> <span style="color:red;">- Very slow Attack Speed prevents her from having high DPS despite high ATK<br> - S2: Attack speed becomes even slower against enemies outside of default range</span>
C	Lunacub Explanation New Player Notes <p>A relatively easy-to-pilot member of her archetype, and the camouflague can make her placement more forgiving, but she is largely inferior to the other members.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Easy-to-understand Deadeye that leans hard into the Archetype's Trait (Low DEF targeting priority)<br> + Near-permanent Camouflage allows for aggressively positioning Lunacub without support<br> + Talent provides a meaningful Attack Interval reduction during skill<br> + S1 is a potent ATK buff on a fast cycle<br> + S2 increases ASPD by enough to rival a Marksman's Attack Interval, and replenishes Camouflage on-kill<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1 does not refresh her Camouflage, forcing more conservative positioning or skill use<br> - S2 provides no ATK buff and has a long cycle with bad uptime, greatly limiting potential use cases<br> - Lunacub is not versatile, she is a dedicated mook slayer and will struggle to fulfil any other duties<br></span>

Specialist Ambusher

Team Category: Optional

They don't block and have lower targeting priority from enemies, which allows them to be safely deployed in grids that blocking Operators would not survive. Unique range and True AoE attacks offset their very slow attack speed. Can be very useful in some cases, but require some knowledge and planning to use effectively

Explanation

Explanation

Explanation

Explanation

Specialist DP-Drain / Merchant

Team Category: Optional

Very cheap deploy cost for the stats make them strong early map play options, but their continuous DP drain needs to be played around.

B+	Jaye Explanation New Player Notes A very good combat Operator, especially for new players, as both the heal and Silence options can be quite strong in the early and mid game. Be warned, though, that promoting him to E1 will make him less useful in his RIIC base role, and thus will be lowering your long term Base production potential. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Decreased Redeployment time<br> + Talent: Increases ATK when attacking infected lifeforms<br> + Very useful in the <a href="https://gamepress.gg/arknights/core-gameplay/arknights-cn-integrated-strategies-explained">integrated strategies</a> mode due to the ability to solo early rounds.<br> + S2: Deals significant damage and rapidly heals himself and nearby allies when attacking low to medium DEF enemies. Great for certain bosses and high damage enemies who have low DEF as he can out-sustain their damage<br> + S1: A great counter to exploding spiders as he will deal a large amount damage to them and silence on every hit<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Very difficult to use on maps with decreased DP regen<br> - His healing is based on damage done, so when facing high DEF enemies his healing amount drops significantly.<br> - Trait: No DP refund on retreat, uses 3 DP every 3 seconds while deployed, and will forcibly retreat when DP is not sufficient to keep him deployed</span>
C-	Swire the Elegant Wit Explanation New Player Notes <p>Swire can be a tough unit for new players. The best parts of her kit tend to favor the endgame. Her revive Talent is locked behind E2, as is her Module, which adds a huge dose of QoL. Her S2 is unintuitive and her S3 difficult to maximize. Newer players will even have difficulty finding the value in her general purpose S1 over the far cheaper Jaye.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent 2: Swire’s revive is the most unique part of her kit. They add a huge amount of flexibility to situations that would otherwise end runs early.<br> + S1: Allows for heli-drop healing in a FRD package.<br> + S2: Swire’s highest DPS skill. Bottles can be placed on enemy occupied tiles (unlike traps) which leads to high total damage before enemies can reach her.<br> + S3: Default double-strike gives her high base DPS against low-DEF enemies. Although highly technical, allows for very short windup burst that few others can match.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: In most situations, Jaye’s S2 will outheal Swire’s S1. Being restricted to her coins means it triggers less frequently. Swire2’s S1 also does not enhance her own offensive capabilities.<br> - S3: Low force level means that even with a full 10 hits, there are few dangerous enemies that will be meaningfully shifted.<br> - Trait: Like all Merchants, Swire is costly to place on the field early unless the clear is planned around her already.<br> - Swire2 is a highly technical unit and not all players will find her enjoyable to use.<br> - Swire2 generally lacks a unique niche among the 6★s. She is rarely the “best option” available.<br></span> Lee Explanation New Player Notes DP Drain is difficult for newbies to play around, and new players will likely struggle to get the most out of his gimmicky kit. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Great effects that help him in his role to duel enemies. Negating a freeze or stun to instead stun the attacker can be powerful against certain enemy types.<br> + Great counter to long range enemies that deal heavy damage.<br> + S2: Low SP charge with a lot of damage scaling potential if you have allies with multiple hits to help build up charges.<br> + S3: Great for crowd control as he can force enemies to approach one at a time. Attacks knock back with small force allowing him to stall well against smaller enemies. Evasion and taunt are useful against ranged enemies.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- He can quickly eat DP if enemies are continually trying to stun him.<br> - S2: Requires a lot of set up and support to get the most out of it.<br> - S3: Ineffective against larger enemies as they can ignore the knockback.<br></span>
D	Mr. Nothing Explanation New Player Notes Not an Operator that a new player will find easy to use nor find particularly impactful. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A DP Drain Specialist that can provide damage and niche buffs<br> + Talent: After not attacking for 4 seconds, the attack will deal additional damage and stun the target.<br> + S1: Heals very quickly and can be used to effectively activate his Talent after its short duration. Fast recharge after activation for repeated use. The extra block can be useful when fighting multiple enemies that don't hit too hard.<br> + S2: A moderate ATK buff with secondary side buffs. The secondary buff can be useful in different situations and be switched by deactivating and reactivating the skill.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: The threshold to activate the heal is very low and he can be easily killed before it activates.<br> - S2: The secondary buffs are not particularly powerful for the role of a DPS unit.<br></span>

Specialist Fast-Redeploy / Executor

Team Category: Situational

Typically used to soak big hits, stall, or for their on-deploy abilities

S+	Texas the Omertosa ★ Explanation New Player Notes <p>A powerful and versatile unit that is easy to use. A great reactive option for new players to recover from mistakes. A meta-defining endgame unit so a good long-term investment.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Extremely versatile, both in combat and for party building<br> + Recasts skill and refills HP on kill, which fits her offensive assassin role well<br> + Unbeatable map control<br> + S2: Very high DPS in very short cycles, makes her an amazing assassin<br> + S3: High DPS in very short cycles against multiple enemies at once. Keeps her very safe through continuous interruptions.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Eats through your DP reserves<br></span> Kirin R Yato ★ Explanation New Player Notes <p>A powerful and versatile unit that is easy to use. A great reactive option for new players to recover from mistakes. A meta-defining endgame unit so a good long-term investment.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ One of the best units in the game, featuring extremely high, near instant Physical damage on a Fast-Redeploy timer and tons of utility.<br> + S2: Absurd total burst damage in a true AoE.<br> + S3: Tons of utility while still having high damage. Extended reach from a melee tile, hits air units, and is invulnerable until the damage is dealt.<br> + S3: Decimates "raid boss" style enemies due to their large hit box.<br> + S1: While not as valuable as her S2 and S3, S1 has extremely high single-target DPS and total damage.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Extremely vulnerable due to frail body and increased taunt. Will often be one shot by more dangerous enemies if she is not deployed with care.<br> - S3: The ideal usage to maximize damage is not obvious. The damage can feel weak at times if deployed poorly. It can be difficult to maximize (hint, deploy along the line of travel of a moving enemy).<br> - S1: Only works well against very low-DEF enemies.<br></span>
A+	Phantom Explanation New Player Notes Phantom gives you two fast-redeploy Operators in 1 edgy package. Great damage and crowd control potential, but can get DP-expensive very quickly with multiple redeploys. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Archetype: Greatly decreased redeployment time<br> + Talent: Can summon a clone. The clone has the same skill as Phantom and has a seperate redeployment time.<br> + Great crowd control and assassination Skill options<br> + S3: A very long duration of AOE crowd control when combined with his clone<br> + S2: front-loads his damage so even against hard hitting enemies you can get out a lot of damage before death<br> + His clone can block enemies and serve as a great distraction<br></span> = Without Potentials he can become very DP expensive after multiple redeploys<br> <span style="color:red;">- His clone cooldown is much longer than Phantom himself, so it can be tricky to coordinate with his clone if you redeploy him quickly</span>
A	Gravel Explanation New Player Notes No flashy extra utility here, she just takes hits and takes 'em like a champ, but a lot of times that's all you need your Fast-Redeploy to do. Her cheap DP cost lowers the cost of multiple redeploys. Even once you have the higher rarity Ops in this Archetype, she'll still be a better choice in some situations. Also, her E1 RIIC base skill is fantastic, so she should be promoted anyway. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Significantly reduced redeployment time<br> + Reduce self deployment Cost by 1<br> + Easy to max potential for even lower DP cost<br> + The go-to human sacrifice when you need to delay enemies or soak big attacks or enemy specials<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Extremely low ATK means she can't do much other than take hits<br> - Skill effects quickly wear off and then she can't do much</span>
A-	Projekt Red Explanation New Player Notes Great utility with her AoE Stun. Can be useful in early/ mid game as a drop-in assassin. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Greatly decreased re-deploy time<br> + Talent: Increased minimum damage, giving her decent damage against high DEF enemies<br> + S1: Great for assassinating lone squishy enemies<br> + S2: Great at disrupting enemy flow and special abilities<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Very squishy vs Arts damage if not leveled<br> - Compared to Gravel, is much more expensive to re-deploy multiple times if you don't have at least Potential 4</span>
B+	Kafka Explanation New Player Notes Can't block, but pauses enemies with Sleep, which is great for stalling (but remember most Ops can't attack Sleeping enemies). Does her job at level 1 with no investment whatsoever, allowing you to put resources toward other options instead. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A very unique Fast-Redeploy unit focused on either sleeping groups of enemies or dealing a burst of Arts damage<br> + Talent: reduces her block to 0 and gives her camouflage during skill activation, meaning most enemies wont be able to harm her while skills are active.<br> + S1: Very powerful on deploy Sleep that can stop enemies in their tracks for up to 5s. Useful in high risk CC to give your team a breather to recharge. The Sleep persists even if you immediately retreat her.<br> + S2: Deals a moderate burst of Arts damage and changes her basic attacks to Arts damage for the duration of the skill. With camouflage, she can safely be placed where other Operators cannot.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Extremely limited attack range that can be hard to utilize for many maps if you want to use her as DPS<br></span>
B	Waai Fu Explanation New Player Notes The AoE Silence can be useful in early-game if you don't already have a different Operator that can provide it, but Silence becomes less useful in later game. New players should go with Gravel and only consider Waai if they find themselves needing her specific utility. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Greatly reduced redeployment time<br> + Talent: Each attack has a chance to increase ATK and knock the target back with very small force<br> + Passive knockback chance<br> + S1: Good at assassinating squishy targets or weakening stronger targets 1v1<br> + S2: Long duration AoE silence and moderate AOE dmg, great for mobs of those exploding spiders<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Her Archetype competition, Projekt Red, has a stun that is more useful in a wider variety of situations</span>
C-	THRM-EX Explanation New Player Notes He's only in this Archetype because of developer classification. Can be used for his on-deploy debuff, but most players will not need or desire to try to make him work, and will prefer to use the team slot for a more complete Operator. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Ignores deploy limit<br> + Talent: Decent on-deploy AOE damage and applies the [Fragile] debuff that boosts damage taken by enemies<br> + Cheap to deploy and develop<br> + Useful in bursting down high HP bosses, and for stages with lowered deploy limits<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- The long redeployment time will only allow one or two talent uses on most maps.<br> - Doesn't attack normally<br></span>

Specialist Puller / Hookmaster

Team Category: Situational

Not used nearly as often as Pushers, but every player will want to have one with developed Skills.

S	Gladiia Explanation New Player Notes <p>Every player should have a Puller, and Gladiia is undoubtably the best overall Opartor in the Archetype. Even though lower rarity Pullers can satisfy the early/mid game pulling job just as well, Gladiia, with her decent DPS and self sustain, has the extra benefit of being able to double as a good Guard for players with limited rosters. Thus, new players will get much more out of the investment than "just a Puller".</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A Puller Specialist with skills that focus on AOE crowd control<br> + Free max potential 6 Star Operator<br> + Talent: Significant boost to survivability for <a href="https://gamepress.gg/arknights/taxonomy/term/161">Abyssal</a> Operators, especially when facing seaborn enemies. + Has stats and abilities that enable her to function as a Guard in some cases (especially useful for newer players with limited rosters) + S2: A good skill with decent cooldowns. It is especially useful in some Contingency Contract maps with holes where you can insta-kill some very buffed up medium weight enemies.<br> + S3: Great crowd control and damage against lighter enemies, as it can trap them for its full duration. Can bunch up enemies to make them easier to take out with radius-type attacks (eg splash, chain)<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S3: High skill SP cost<br> - usefulness outside of the puller utility drops significantly against heavier enemies and for players with larger rosters.</span>
B+	Rope Explanation New Player Notes Gets the pulling job done and has the cheapest development costs; S2 gives her extra reach. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Can be deployed on Melee or Ranged grids<br> + Talent: Physical Dodge gives her good physical damage mitigation<br> + S2: Can reach long distances<br> + Satisfies the core needs of a Pull Specialist<br></span> = Tanking as a Pull Specialist isn't practical most of the time<br> <span style="color:red;">- Generally all-around weaker utility than Cliffheart<br> - Harder to find spaces for Pullers than Pushers</span>
B	Cliffheart Explanation New Player Notes Gets the pulling job done and S2 provides some unique range and utility. Rope does the job just as well, though, and is cheaper to develop. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Can be deployed on Melee or Ranged grids<br> + Talent: When not blocking, +ATK and +DEF<br> + S2: incredibly strong when leveled up, especially in annihilation mode<br> + S1: lower cool-down makes it a better version of Rope's Skill<br> + Half utility and half DPS with strong damage and short cool-down stuns<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Pull Specialists are very situational when there are no pits and her viability plummets without them<br> - Less deployment opportunities for Pull Operators than Push Operators</span>
C	Snowsant Explanation New Player Notes Gets the pulling job done, but Cliffheart or Rope will be as good or better in most situations. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Can pull enemies using Skills, and can be deployed on Ranged or Melee grids<br> + Talent: Silences [Infected Lifeforms] (like exploding spiders!) and at E2, increases her Pull strength against them.<br> + S1 and S2: Applies Slow to targets<br> + Free event Operator is easy to max Potential<br></span> = S2: True AoE that pulls ALL enemies (Cliffheart can pull maximum 3, and Rope 2), but enemies must be close together, making it difficult to catch multiple enemies<br> <span style="color:red;">- At maximum development, Cliffheart skills have lower SP cost<br> - Pull Specialists are not commonly needed, and her usefulness decreases dramatically outside of her niche</span>
D-	Almond Explanation New Player Notes <p>There's no reason to use Almond as a newbie. Pullers are a rare niche in the first place, so the much cheaper Rope is the better option for starting. Almond falls behind even in long-term investment too. Cliffheart, who you get for free as part of the login, is significantly better. And Gladiia, who is available for free via Record Restore, is a top-tier meta unit when fully invested. There's just no value in Almond in the game, and especially so for a new player.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ S1: Charge based Shift skills are quite useful in general. Along with her Talent, she can have 4 charges immediately available.<br> + S2: Four second bind.<br></span> = Talent: Her Talent gives her relatively quick access to multiple shifts, but is useless after.<br> <span style="color:red;">- S1: Unfortunately, S1's value is neutered by a poor Force level which doesn't improve over Mastery.<br> - S2: The distance a pull skill moves an enemy is actually related to how far away the enemy is from the operator. By pulling the enemy closer, each pull gets "weaker", so the shift distance is not as good as it may appear. In fact, her S2 will rarely pull an enemy further than the other Hookmasters. Higher SP cost than comparable skills on the other Hookmasters. Only one target while Snowsant, Cliffheart, and Rope can all pull multiple.<br></span>

Specialist Pusher / Push Stroker

Team Category: Situational

Their main job is to push things into holes when the map allows for it. Every player will need one with developed Skills.

Shaw

Explanation

Weedy

Explanation

B-

FEater

Explanation

Enforcer

Explanation

Specialist Sacrificial / Geek

Team Category: Optional

Self damage can make them awkward to deploy and use easily.

Aak

Explanation

E+

Spuria

Explanation

Specialist Substitute / Dollkeeper

Team Category: Optional

The substitue mechanic may be a bit tricky for new players to get the most out of. Can be fairly permissive for new players, since even if they die, they stay present and will likely substitute back. However, they also lose their blocking when this happens. New players probably won't be utilizing the substitute strengths directly (and it could cause problems until learned), as it is a bit more of an advanced tactic.

B+	Specter the Unchained ★ Explanation New Player Notes <p>Her "Undying" S2 can provide some utility for new players, but her 5* version can provide it at a cheaper development cost. better than the other members of her Archetype, and can provide some interesting options at E1 for a limited roster, but overall likely won't make a huge impact nor be a good E2 option until well into the game (since she requires heavy module investment to shine). At a 6 Star development cost, most new players will be better off spending those resources elsewhere.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ An extremely resilient Dollkeeper with skills focused on DPS and preventing death<br> + Provides AOE dps and crowd control when substituted<br> + Part of a growing list of operators that provide buffs for abyssal hunters<br> + S2: Great damage boosts with one of the longest undying effects in the game, long enough to handle most enemies.<br> + S3: Huge HP and ATK books, turns her attacks into AOE and deals a conditional bonus hit. Can be paired with Gladia to make her extremely durable.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Requires timing, as she substitutes at the end of the skill. Poor uptime unless you use and upgrade her module that provides SP after substitute.<br> - S3: The bonus hit condition often requires you to maintain low HP %.<br><br> </span>
B	Bena Explanation New Player Notes Good DPS melee unit that can block 2, but needs support to act as a lane holder. Her substitue mechanic is very permissive for new players, since even if she gets deployed somwhere where she dies, she stays present and likely substitute back. However, new players probably won't be utilizing the substitute strengths directly (and it could cause problems until learned), as it is a bit more of an advanced tactic. 5 star development costs mean 4 star alternatives might be better to start with. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Instead of dying when her HP reaches 0, Bena switches to a substitute that doesn't block, and after a short duration switches back to Bena.<br> + Both the Substitute and Bena switch in with full HP. Bena only retreats if the substitute dies before switching back to Bena, so she can be difficult to fully kill.<br> + Talent: reduces damage taken by the substitute, making it harder to kill her before switching back to Bena. The Arts damage can be helpful against high DEF enemies that Bena can't hurt<br> + Can be a great bait/ranged damage soak because of the difficulty to fully kill her.<br> + S2 has good DPS and cycle time<br></span> = swapping between them clears negative status effects but also clears buffs.<br> = S2 will almost always do more damage than S1, even against higher DEF enemies.<br> <span style="color:red;">- Both Skills reduce Bena's HP, and S2 will cause her to switch before the duration ends. Healing support may be required if needing Bena to stay blocking.<br> - skills end when switching to the substitute, and SP cannot be gained when the substitute is deployed.<br></span> Kazemaru Explanation New Player Notes <p>Good DPS melee unit that has AoE capabilities, which can be useful in early game. The substitue mechanic may be a bit tricky for new players to get the most out of. She will usually need support to act as a lane holder. 5 star development costs mean cheaper to develop and more straightfoward to use 4 star alternatives might be better to start with.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A Dollkeeper with a lot of flexibility. Kazemaru covers a surprising amount of ground.<br> + S2: Short cooldown allows for very high uptime if she has any outside healing, and her doll can keep her going even if she doesn't.<br> + Attack gain on S2 transfers to her doll, increasing the Arts nuke on death or S2, and doubling dipping on her melee damage output.<br> + Doll summoned by S2 can greatly extend her range (doll has 8 tile range + 1 range for the summon) and DPS.<br> + Well above average level of sustain thanks to the Dollkeeper archtype.<br> + High value in IS due to her sustain, low Hope cost, and Specialist class which has few reliable and consistent melee units.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- 5* stats ultimately keep her out of the meta despite her flexibility.<br> - Outside of IS, the game tends to favor more direct and high-powered solutions. The flexibility she brings can very often be easily optimized out.<br></span>
D	Verdant Explanation New Player Notes <p>Verdant is not a unit you should start your career with, even with his low costs. His DPS is only average for his rarity, while having significant drawbacks that don't take advantage of what a Dollkeepers can potentially bring. Instead, he is a unit who is unreliable with long effective cycles (remember that SP costs don't recover while in doll form) and should be avoided.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Arts-based damage.<br> + Can reach 3000 HP fully maximized.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Very poor DEF negates most value from his HP pool.<br> - Damage is only average for the rarity and has a huge downside which requires support or it drastically lowers his total damage.<br> - Substitute does nothing.<br> - Dollkeepers cannot regenerate SP while in Doll form. Verdant lacks any mitigation to this, which extends his downtime by 20 seconds.<br></span>

Specialist Trapmaster

Team Category: Optional

Fun but unnecessary. Requires micromanagement and a lot of DP to use well.

B-

Dorothy

Explanation

Frost

★

Explanation

Robin

Explanation

Supporter Artificer

Team Category: Optional

C-

Stainless

Explanation

Roberta

Explanation

Windflit

Explanation

Supporter Aura / Bard

Team Category: Optional

S-	Skadi the Corrupting Heart ★ Explanation New Player Notes <p>An amazing buffer and a late-game meta unit. For early game, her impact will depend a bit on the players roster and ability to use her properly. At E0 she cannot buff or summon, and at E1 her support buffs are dependent on her stats, which are obviously lower pre-E2, limiting her support ability.</p> <p>Some things that make her less new player friendly: Her range requires her to be closer to the front lines, she does not attack or heal directly, and her healing may not be enough to replace the use of a medic in some situations. Thus, players may still have to deploy a full blocker + healer + DPS team anyway, which will be enough to clear early stages without the use of a buffer. Also, for teams with limited rosters, buffers are most effective when they have other good Operators to buff.</p> <p><br /> On the other hand, in cases where she CAN fully replace a medic, she will make things much simpler, and her buffing will allow players to clear content much easier with worse or less developed Operators than they otherwise could, thus potentially allowing players to progress faster with less development resources needed.</p> <p>Thus, her rank could go up for savy new players that can use her well, or down for those that cannot.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ An Aura Supporter with powerful stat boosts abilities<br> + Talent: Can summon a seaborn on a deployable tile that effectively extends skadi's attack range<br> + Broad Support utility make her a great addition to almost any team<br> + Very cheap DP cost enables early deployment for valuable support in early stage.<br> + S1: Turns skadi into a tank support that will take half of the damage enemies deal within her attack range. She becomes very durable with good healing, but having a supporter tank isn't often useful.<br> + S2: The bread and butter skill for skadi. This gives a big chunk of stats to all nearby allies, boosts her healing and it has infinite duration. Because her deploy cost is so cheap you can easily deploy her early to activate this skill quickly.<br> + S3: Great attack boost if you can handle the HP penalties. The true damage is decent but this skill is used mainly for the attack boost.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- As a pure support unit, her impact on the field is heavily dependent on the rest of the team.<br> - S3: Can be hard to use without an extra source of healing.<br> </span>
C-	Sora Explanation New Player Notes Gives a little extra healing and can pause enemies with Sleep if you're struggling. Probably not worth the unit slot until you can invest heavily into her ATK-boosting S2. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Heals allies in range for 10% of her ATK per second<br> + Talent: 50% chance to restore SP after a Skill ends<br> + Great AoE ATK buffer, especially for Operators with low base ATK or high multiplicative ATK modifiers<br> + Very low Deployment Cost.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Can't attack, so completely relies on teammates to affect the field<br> - Her Range limits her deploy options on some maps</span> Heidi Explanation New Player Notes <p>Unique support tools, but the block adjustment on her skills takes advanced planning, and she just doesn't do enough for an early game roster to warrant a roster spot nor the development costs.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Competitively high Inspire buff.<br> + S1: Fast wind-up and cycle time (at the time of this writing, the fastest wind up at M3 of any attack buffer.)<br> + Block-count manipulation is unique among buffers.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Her buffs can't stack with others from the Archetype, and there exist better options (e.g. Skadi the Corrupting Heart.)<br> - Block-count manipulation can be daunting (especially for newer players) and is often not useful.<br> - Low up-time on S1 is often not enough for big targets.<br> - Like most buffers, it's usually better to just bring an additional DPS instead.<br></span>
E-	U-Official

Supporter Buffer / Abjurer

Team Category: Optional

Ranged Arts damage dealers that specialize in buffing their allies.

Quercus

Explanation

Silence the Paradigmatic

Explanation

Nine-Colored Deer

Explanation

Tsukinogi

Explanation

Supporter Debuffer / Hexer

Team Category: Optional

Typically unnecessary in the early game, where your Operators and the enemies are weak. Grows in value for lategame as their relative effects increase. Even then, though, adding another DPS unit is often more effective.

A+	Gnosis Explanation New Player Notes A decent mix of damage, crowd control, and debuffing, with a low deploy cost and large attack range, make for a versatile addition to a limited roster. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A Hexer supporter operator that mixes damage and crowd control.<br> + Talent: Provides one of the strongest Fragile effects, and doesn't have HP restrictions<br> + Talent: Grants Status Resistance to all Karlan operators, including himself.<br> + A powerful source of Cold (reduces ASPD by 30) and Frozen (can't move and RES -15) debuffs. Excellent support for other Operators that interact with Cold/Frozen.<br> + S1: Decent single target attack with a short Freeze. Good for occasionally disrupting enemy attacks.<br> + S2: A moderate duration AOE Cold with a very short cooldown. Can be overcharged to AOE Freeze enemies, making it very useful for groups of weaker mobs. Benefits significantly from M3.<br> + S3: Deceptively high damage, especially with ATK boosts. The damage can easily take down some elite mobs on its own thanks to benefiting from its own Fragile effect. Keeps enemies Frozen for the full skill duration.<br> </span> = relatively short "Frozen" windows lean him more toward burst damage support, and the RES reduction better supports Arts damage.<br> <span style="color:red;">- Talent: can't achieve maximum Fragile effect if enemies are immune to Frozen<br> - S1: Only provides one second of freeze which doesn't provide for much control.<br> - Ineffective against enemies that are immune to Frozen.</span>
C	Shamare Explanation New Player Notes Primarily buffs your team's Physical damage output, so she's great with Ops like SilverAsh/ Exusiai. Terrible direct damage means she's only valuable against high-DEF enemies. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: When enemies within attack range have less than 40% HP, apply Fragile effect (damage taken increases)<br> + S2: AOE Def and ATK break skill with great uptime, good against stronger enemies. She can place the doll on any open grid on the map<br> + Her Talent that provides the Fragile effect is a great damage boost so long as she can survive.<br> + High RES and HP is good for tanking caster enemies.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Her DPS is very low </span>
C-	Pramanix Explanation New Player Notes Reduces enemy DEF and RES, so works well with any kind of DPS Operator. Her damage is low, but she's cheap and she hits multiple targets with S1/ at E2. Possibly useful for earlygame Arts damage if you're unlucky with Casters; otherwise, doesn't see much value until lategame. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Boosts damage against enemies under 40% HP<br> + Talent 2 and S1: Attacks 2 targets at once<br> + S2: Huge DEF and RES debuff<br> + Cheap to deploy<br> + High HP and RES means she can frontline vs enemy casters<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Low ATK<br> - S2 debuffs aren't effective against low DEF or RES targets.</span>

Supporter Ritualist

Team Category: Optional

Valarqvin

Explanation

Supporter Slower / Decel Binder

Team Category: Situational

Slower supporters help to give you more time to deal with enemies. They are particularly useful against enemies that cannot or should not be blocked.
It is recommended to raise one, but getting a better option doesnt necessarily mean you will gain much by replacing what you have. (until is time to E2 a worthy one)

A	Podenco Explanation New Player Notes Good slow and silence on demand. S1 can also heal! Considering her low development costs, she is a great Slower to raise for early/ mid game until you can E2 even better options. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks slow enemies<br> + Talent: When deployed, all Supporter Operators gain ATK<br> + S1: Changes her into a strong healer<br> + S2: AOE Silence and damage-over-time with a decent duration, as long as enemies can be kept in the AOE<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Medics and Healing Defenders typically provide more reliable healing, and situations that ban both of those classes is very rare.<br> - S2: Keeping enemies inside the small AOE can be difficult.<br></span>
A-	Suzuran Explanation New Player Notes Overall solid unit. At E2 she does so many things at once. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks Slow enemies<br> + E1 Talent: Gives additional SP/s for herself and other Supporter operators. (Does not stack with Ptilo and other similar effects)<br> + E2 Talent: Increases damage taken for Slowed enemies in range, making her a great debuffer<br> + S1: Boosts ATK and ASPD, good uptime<br> + S2: Permanent once activated, can attack multiple enemies with increased ATK, great for consistent multi-target Slowing and a decent DPS option if the multi-targeting can be fully utilized.<br> + S3: Slows all enemies in an expanded range, increases 2nd talent effectiveness (a potentially huge team DPS increase), and heals all allies in range. Her strongest skill and great for challenging content.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Not much point in using S1, and her S2 has a relatively long charge time, requiring Suzuran to be deployed early (though her Talent helps to speed it up).<br> - S3: Cannot attack while it is active<br> - Overall low personal DPS potential for S1 and S3 (though her primary role is support)</span> Proviso Explanation New Player Notes <p>Offers a comfortable kit for Slow and Silence for new players. Is more expensive to promote to E1 than Podenco without being significantly better in combat. On the other hand, Proviso has a great base skill that improves when promoted to E2. New players should NOT promote operators to E2 for base skills while they still have combat-relevant promotions to make, but for those that care about maximizing their base output, the fact that she will <em>eventually</em> be E2d may make those players prefer early promotion of her over Podenco.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A Decel Binder support with a specialty in slow and silence attacks<br> + Talent: Grants a moderate ASPD buff when deployed to one random Kazimierz operator<br> + S1: Single target slow option. Low SP cost with charges that increase her slow duration.<br> + S2: Provides both AOE slow and silence in one package. Good attack speed buff during skill duration.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Short range and moderate cooldowns make it a niche choice amongst silence options.<br></span>
B+	Angelina Explanation New Player Notes Can act as a Caster with S1. Damage output is decent. She gets a massive powerspike at E2. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks slow enemies<br> + S3: great AoE damage that rivals most AoE Casters. Allows Shift Specialists to yeet heavy enemies and send medium weight enemies flying<br> + S2: very reliable against slow moving big enemies<br> + Good Duration and great cooldown on Skills means they can be used very often<br> + Great for Challenge Operations that restrict Caster or Medic Classes<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Can't attack while S2 or S3 aren't active<br> - Fairly weak until you E2 her and level her Skills</span>
B	Orchid Explanation New Player Notes An extremely cheap option to obtain slow, she works with no investment at all. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks slow enemies<br> + A decent Operator for early missions but not usually worth using resources to promote<br> + Cheap to develop and deploy and easy to max potential<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Weak Skill<br> - Other Supporters provide much more utility</span>
B-	Istina Explanation New Player Notes Her S1 offers consistent slowing and S2 is a multi-target slow available at E1. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks slow enemies<br> + Much cheaper to deploy than an AoE Caster<br> + Larger range than most AoE casters, hitting all around and not just straight ahead<br> + S2: Good AoE and Duration<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- DPS is much lower than your average AoE Caster<br> - Overshadowed by Angelina who does significantly more damage<br> - Very low DEF means she will die quickly if targeted/damaged</span>
C+	Glaucus Explanation New Player Notes She can bind and prioritizes air, but does so pretty poorly compared to Snipers. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks do Arts damage and slow enemies<br> + Talent: Prioritizes drones, Increased ATK when attacking drones<br> + A Supporter + Sniper hybrid Operator that is perfect for eliminating high-DEF drones<br> + S2: Incredibly strong AoE Arts burst damage that binds enemies (stuns drones) for a long duration<br> + Great when paired up with Schwarz, Ifrit, or other limited-range attackers, as she can bind enemies in their attack ranges<br></span> = Supporter offers different attack range than an anti-air Sniper<br> <span style="color:red;">- Has a tougher time against high RES drones<br> - Slower attack speed and ATK than equal rarity Anti-Air Snipers<br> - Low damage against non-drone enemies</span>
D	Earthspirit Explanation New Player Notes Doesn't attack during her main slowing skill, and it just isn't effective enough to justify its use. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Attacks slow enemies<br> + S2: AoE slow effect to all enemies in her Range for a good duration<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: +ATK% is suboptimal because she has low ATK to begin with<br> - S2: She doesn't attack<br> - low base stats</span>

Supporter Summoner

Team Category: Optional

An archetype that takes a lot of game knowledge and good timing/ positioning to use well. Not recommended for beginners overall due to their complexity.

S	Ling ★ Explanation New Player Notes Despite lacking her most powerful tool until she reaches E2, Ling still functions quite well with her first 2 skills, and is extremely simple to use in contrast to other Summoners. She can provide flexibility and fill role/squad gaps for new players with limited rosters, and can make an impact in several deploy slots for the development cost of a single operator, which makes for an efficient use of resources in early game. Her S3 also represents a large power spike as first/early E2 option. Her specific playstyle may not appeal to all players, and maximizing her potential for some of the harder content can require a lot of micromanagement. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Ling receives some ATK buff and SP when her summons are retreated or die<br> + Summons can fill multiple roles as they can be placed on either range or melee tiles depending on the skill<br> + S2: A ranged option if you want to use her summons on ranged tiles. Great burst damage with charges and a low SP cost. Using the skill when a summon is low on HP refunds them making them easy to replace.<br> + S3: The primary skill for Ling, it allows you to combine her summons into giant walls of stats. The active skill boosts those stats even further and provides arts DOT around them.<br> + A very powerful Operator for low-op strategies.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: The summons are extremely squishy and can die very easily before you have a chance to refund.<br> - S3: The summons can be very expensive to fully deploy.<br> - Less impactful when trying to include in a full and strong squad. Can require a lot of micromanagement if using her to low-op difficult stages.<br></span>
C+	Scene Explanation New Player Notes Probably the most new-player friendly Summoner, since she can restock destroyed drones and reveal invisible enemies. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Can summon mobile camera drones. Enemies within the nearby 8 tiles lose stealth<br> + Drones have very low DP cost to summon and a 1 tile attack range, making them more viable as dps units compared to other summons like Meeboos or Tentacles.<br> + S1: Allows drones to enter Stealth, which can be very useful in assassinating ranged enemies<br> + S2: Gives Drones very high raw stats to duel most low-mid power enemies with ease. Also replenishes 1 drone with each use, so destroyed drones can be replenished, a feature not available to every Summoner.<br> + Stealth detection is rare and her drones allow you to get stealth detection anywhere there's an open melee tile.<br></span> = Stealth detection is not needed for the vast majority of maps.<br> <span style="color:red;">- Her drones require Deploy slots and DP that could be used for other Operators</span>
C	Magallan Explanation New Player Notes Requires more planning/ support because her drones can't block. Offers a lot of different options and utility, but requires a lot of investment to develop them all. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait and Talent 1: Can summon Drones with 0 block that gain abilities based on selected Skill<br> + Talent 2: Drones cannot be targeted for some time after they are deployed<br> + Great for the CC Event since there are Contracts that lower the number of Operators the team can bring to battle, leaving the extra deploy slots available for Summons.<br> + Choice of S2 or S3 provides both Arts and Physical Damage options<br> + S1 is incredible for slowing the movement of large groups of enemies<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Drones require DP to place and count toward the deploy limit<br> - Skill activation can be tricky to master<br> - Requires significant resource investment if you want to bring her as a DPS into endgame</span>
C-	Mayer Explanation New Player Notes Strong, but cycling her Meeboos properly can be tricky. If you screw up her Skill timing, she probably just lost you the map. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait and Talent: Can summon Robotters (Meeboos) that lower enemy attack speed when attacked<br> + Robotters are very cheap to deploy.<br> + S1: Makes Robotters quite tanky. Nice dodge buff for adjacent allies at higher Skill levels that stacks with other dodge buffs.<br> + S2: Can dish out a ton of damage if you use multiple Robotters<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Robotters count toward the deploy limit<br> - Requires significant resources to get to the point where she is useful endgame</span>
D+	Deepcolor Explanation New Player Notes Can't recycle her summons, so mistakes with her are punished pretty severely. Requires a lot of investment for a unit that doesn't offer much power. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Can summon 4 tentacles that scale with Operator level to assist in battle<br> + S1: Tentacles can become very durable at high Operator Levels<br> + S2: Huge 50% Dodge buff with long duration, and stacks multiplicatively with other Dodge buffs<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Very squishy, especially before max Trust<br> - Tentacles count toward the Deploy Limit, which could be used for other Operators<br> - Cannot retreat and redeploy her Summons, unlike higher rarity Summoners.<br></span>

Vanguard Agent

Team Category: Optional

S+	Ines Explanation New Player Notes <p>A flexible unit that can provide strong DP Gain, DPS, and utility in a single package. A strong unit at all points in the game, new players will slot her into the default team and almost never take her out.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Strong damage, competitive among the best Vanguard skills.<br> + Tons of utility, much of it extremely strong and unique.<br> + Talent 1: The Bind from her Talent is incredibly powerful, facilitating both early map and late map holds.<br> + Talent 1 and S2: Steal aspects are twice as strong as the numbers appear since they both buff Ines and debuff the enemy.<br> + S2: Instantly activatable with Bagpipe<br> + S2: Incredibly fast cycle means she doesn't even need to be redeployed.<br> + S2: Presuming a target to attack, DP generation is competitive with Flagbearers.<br> + S2: Has true Invisibility, which protects her from splash and environmental damage, instead of the more common Camoflauge which does not.<br> + S3: High damage and control potential.<br> + Talent 2: Shadow Sentinal cannot be disrupted by enemies, making it very effective for both snare and invisability reveal.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Needs an enemy to attack to generate DP so can be inconsistent on some stages<br></span>
S	Cantabile Explanation New Player Notes <p>A great unit that can fill many roles well for a small roster. She can generate good DP while also contributing decent damage, which is especially useful in early game. She stays relevant into end game, which means her 5 star development costs aren't wasted.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Fast deploy vanguard with the strong DP recovery and the ability to Camouflage.<br> + Talent: Increases ASPD when not blocking<br> + One of the highest potential DP recovery rate operators when able to continually attack enemies<br> + Good mix of high DP regeneration and damage<br> + S1: Solid choice if you want to take advantage of her fast redeploy time to drop her in for quick DP generation.<br> + S2: Provides Camouflage and further ASPD boosting to generate DP more quickly. Ammo is useful in preventing the DP generation from being wasted between weaves and she remains hidden until Ammo is fully depleted.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: As redeploys make her more expensive, her total DP generation weakens quickly on reuse.<br></span>
A	Puzzle Explanation New Player Notes <p>A strong archetype for young rosters that combines damage with DP gain. He is worthy of consideration if you haven't yet obtained stronger members of the archetype.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Great for building up SP for skills.<br> + Both physical and arts damage options for skills.<br> + S1: Decent skill for AFK DP generating.<br> + S2: Strong damage over time if you allow it to build up, and with the bonus attack speed can generate a good amount of DP if you can continuously attack.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Short duration, large buildup cost, and can be difficult to get the full use out of the skill.<br> - He lacks defensive abilities.<br></span>

Vanguard DP-On-Kill / Charger

Team Category: Optional

Often used with other Vanguards to provide exta killing power early and adding to the DP generation.
Having pretty high damage, they can be used to duel at no cost since thier DP is refunded when they are retreated
You shouldnt be relying on the DP from this archetype to deploy your team.

A+	Bagpipe Explanation New Player Notes Explosive DPS. The combination of her E2 talent and Standard Bearer Vanguards creates the end game DP generation meta. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Archetype: Gain +1 DP on kills and full DP refund on retreat<br> + Talent: Every attack has a chance to "crit" and hit another target<br> + Talent 2: When in team, all Vanguard operators deploy with extra initial SP, enabling some Vanguards to use their skills almost right after deployment<br> + Extremely high DPS that outclasses the DPS of all other Vanguards<br> + Great with buffs as she does multiple hits and has good ATK multipliers.<br></span> = S3 is typically used for drop-in, skill use, and retreat; S2 if she wants to stay deployed<br> <span style="color:red;">- S3 is powerful but it has poor uptime<br> - Block-1 at base makes it more difficult to capitalize on her multi-attacking Talent</span>
A	Vigna Explanation New Player Notes Great damage. Her S2 can penetrate the DEF of some heavily armored enemies. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Gain +1 DP cost on kills<br> + Trait: Full DP cost refund on retreat<br> + Excellent ATK, easily the highest single target Vanguard DMG with S2 buff<br> + Respectable DEF<br> + Can be considered A direct upgrade to Plume<br></span> <span style="color:red;"> - 1-Block Vanguards can easily let enemies by when they come in waves<br></span>
A-	Plume Explanation New Player Notes One of the highest-DPS 3-stars currently. Remains a cheaper alternative to Vigna. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Gain +1 DP on kills<br> + Trait: Full DP refund on retreat<br> + Great ATK stat for early game<br> + cheap DP Cost</span><br> <span style="color:red;"> - 1-Block Vanguards can easily let enemies by when they come in waves<br> - A very weak Skill with a long cooldown<br></span>
C	Reed Explanation New Player Notes Mixed damage has shown to be not so great. Although she tries to produce more DP, she remains a less desirable investment than other options. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Obtain 1 DP after this unit defeats an enemy. Refunds the original DP Cost when retreated<br> + Talent: High innate RES, making her one of the highest RES melee DPS units<br> + S2: Provides both Physical and Arts damage, though the Arts damage portion is not very high<br></span> = Vigna has higher max ATK values because of Skills, and higher <i>potential</i> DPS because of crit Talent, but Reed has higher consistent DPS.<br> = S2: When paired with Zima S2, has the potential to reach 3 DP gained per kill.<br> <span style="color:red;">- Typical Archetypal drawbacks of easy leakage with block-1 and needed killing blows to generate DP.</span>
C-	Wild Mane Explanation New Player Notes <p>It might require too much micro-management for new players to maximize her DP saving potential. Most new players will be better off using the lower rarity Operators of the Archetype.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Strong Charger Vanguard with powerful burst damage and utility options.<br> + Talent: -1 DP to all Guards every time she is deployed. Thanks to her archetype, she essentially has negative DP cost.<br> + S2: Powerful utility option that can interrupt many enemies during their attacks, including Possessed. <br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: Provides no Attack boost, so she struggles to deal with armored enemies. Must be retreated when the skill is over as she will lose her skill.<br> - S2: Poor damage output when compared to other, more common Charger Vanguards such as Vigna. </span>
D	Grani Explanation New Player Notes Having a defensive kit in an offensive archetype isn't a great idea. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Trait: Gain +1 DP on kill<br> + Trait: Full DP refund on retreat<br> + When deployed all Vanguard operators gain 20% physical evasion<br> + Extremely easy to max Potential, lowering her DP cost<br> + Considered a defensive alternative to Vigna<br> + Multi attack on s2 is unique for a Vanguard<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Defensive focus does not synergize well with her Dp-On-Kill mechanic.<br> - Can leak easily when her S2 is down because of 1-block base and weak killing power.</span>

Vanguard Flagbearer / Standard Bearer

Team Category: Core

The best sources of DP. They can't always hold lanes because they stop attacking and blocking when they use their Skills. They are the DP generating meta, so develop and learn one early.

S	Myrtle Explanation New Player Notes Super cheap, prints DP like counterfeit dollars, and heals other units. A game-breaking 4-star. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ When deployed, Vanguard operators recover 25 HP/sec<br> + One of the best DP generators in the game <br> + Her Archetype is almost necessary to challenge the more difficult -75% cost recovery maps<br> + Strong healing both passive and with s2</span><br> = Reduce block count to 0 when using skills<br> <span style="color:red;">- Doesn't attack when using Skills.<br> - Not great at holding back enemies.</span>
S-	Elysium Explanation New Player Notes Specifically buffs Snipers, which you may not have many of. Still incredibly useful for his speed of DP generation. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: Lowers Sniper deployment cost and increases their ASPD<br> + Great for team compositions that use multiple Sniper operators<br> + Good when combined with Myrtle to really speed up deployment<br> + S2: Slows enemies significantly, reduces their DEF and removes stealth. A great counter to Wraith enemy types<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Can be expensive to deploy first compared to myrtle without increased potential.</span>
A-	Saileach Explanation New Player Notes New players will be better off using Myrtle for their Standard Bearer DP generation needs. Mytle is much cheaper to develop, easier to increase her Potential, stays relevant into end game, will be sufficient for all content, and just does the job as well or better for early content. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A Standard Bearer Vanguard with a mix of offensive and defensive abilities<br> + Talent: passively buffs the ASPD of allies and debuffs the ASPD of enemies near her flag<br> + Talent 2: Reduces the DP Cost by 2 of the unit deployed after her<br> + S1: Same as Elysium: good DP recovery but no additional benefits<br> + S2: Like a stronger version of Myrtle's S2. It can be used with increased range, gives more DP, and provides a DEF boost on top of the healing. <br> + S3: The bread and butter skill for Saileach. It provides great mix of crowd control, damage and damage amplification. It has good cycle and uptime. <br></span> = S2: The tradeoff for better buffs is slightly lower duration and a higher SP cost. Rarely a reason to use it over S3.<br> <span style="color:red;">- Higher deployment costs without providing better DP generation than lower rarity options.<br> - S3: low DP gain for a Standard Bearer skill.</span>

Vanguard Skill-DP / Pioneer

Team Category: Core

Your bread and butter for dealing with rush-heavy maps. Produces DP so you can put down other Operators faster.
It is recommended to have 2 in a squad, as you often need to hold more than one lane.
Mostly drops out of the meta at end game where Standard Bearer Vanguards + Bagpipe rule

A+	Siege Explanation New Player Notes A strong unit in the early/ mid game since she's great at clearing multiple low-DEF targets and is both offensive and defensive. She drops out of the meta in the late game, however. Her S2 requires her to be hitting enemies to generate DP, which sucks for a Vanguard. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ E2 Talent: Recover 1 SP when enemies die adjacent<br> + Good stats all around<br> + Strong AOE physical damage with S2<br> + Talent: Buffs all Vanguards<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S3 provides stun and decent single target damage but no DP gain.<br> - S2 doesn't generate DP if she isn't hitting enemies</span> Saga Explanation New Player Notes Very effective, but can trip up new players because of the way she doesn't technically "kill" enemies. Make sure you understand the [Critically Wounded] mechanic before you use her. S2 can be spammy since it is manually activated, but this is a also the advantage it has over Siege. One of the better long-term investments in this archetype. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A strong 2 block Skill DP Vanguard that can deal big bursts of damage while generating DP.<br> + Talents: Gains Physical Evade and HP regeneration at low HP once per battle. Enemies dealt lethal damage by Saga gain Crippled status and can be killed by allies to gain SP.<br> + Great when buffed as she has strong damage multiplier with her spammable skills.<br> + S2: The bread and butter skill for Saga, it deals high damage in a cross shaped area around her and grants some DP. It can hold up to 3 charges and executes enemies that are crippled giving her some SP back when it kills them. Great when facing large waves of enemies to really spam it.<br> + S3: A good balanced skill that can finish off enemies quickly once they go below 50% HP. She won't deal the most damage for a Vanguard or generate the most DP but she will be quite strong in both areas and have enough ATK to hurt tougher opponents.<br></span> = If you place Saga close to an exit then fast moving enemies like wolves can still exit in crippled form.<br> <span style="color:red;">- S3: Poor skill uptime</span>
A	Texas Explanation New Player Notes Can directly replace Fang, almost recovers her DP cost in less than 15 seconds, and gives +1 initial DP (2 at E2) just by being in squad. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Very good damage output<br> + Good source of early DP makes her great for maps with fast start requirements<br> + AOE Arts damage and crowd control with her S2 is very useful<br> + Talent Increases your DP by 2 at the start of battle<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Dies fairly easily vs stronger enemies</span>
A-	Flametail Explanation New Player Notes <p>Her DP generation isn't that great, and her kit is geared towards later-game challenging situations where she can take advantage of her dodge and the survivability and DPS it provides, which mostly requires E2.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Powerful Pioneer Vanguard with a great mix of survivability and damage.<br> + Passive dodge chance boosts her survivability against all kinds of opponents.<br> + Talent: Transforms dodges into more powerful strikes.<br> + S2: Provides high physical dodge to all Operators within range.<br> + S3: One of the highest dodge rates in the game from a single Operator. Has very quick cycling and strong burst damage.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Heavy diminishing returns on stacking dodge chances.<br> - Reliance on dodge makes her kit very RNG-centric. Gets overwhelmed really easily if she doesn't dodge.<br> - S2: Somewhat worse DP generation than other Vanguards in her archetype.<br> - S3: Extremely quick cycling and short duration leaves her wide open against enemies that won't die from a single usage.</span> Courier Explanation New Player Notes Defense is important early on, and Courier offers quite a bit. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Defense-oriented, can double as a light tank with S2<br> + Easy to acquire through the friend credit store<br> + Can be considered a direct upgrade to Fang<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Has trouble clearing mobs on his own without some serious levels<br> - A good choice for early-mid game but hard to justify the resources to bring him to late-game</span> Fang Explanation New Player Notes Very cheap to deploy, starts printing DP earlier than the rest. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Reduce own DP cost by 1<br> + Great early game Vanguard that can take a few hits and not die<br> + can max Potential easily to get another -2 DP cost<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Has a hard time killing anything but the lowest armored enemies<br></span>
B+	Zima Explanation New Player Notes Can directly replace Courier (but is more expensive to raise). Solid kit that is stronger the more Vanguards you like to use. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Buffs other Vanguards with S2 to increase ATK and DEF and give them +1 DP on kill<br> + Tanky Vanguard. Can double as a light tank<br> + E2 Talent: reduces the DP cost of all Vanguards on the team by 1<br></span> <span style="color:red;"> - While her S2 buff is strong, it has a short duration with a long CD<br> - Not very fast at killing mobs when buff is down</span>
B	Yato Explanation New Player Notes Not really a Vanguard, because she doesn't generate DP. She's really a 2* Fast-Redeploy Specialist. That's pretty useful to have around, though. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Fast Re-Deploy speed</span><br> <span style="color:red;">- no DP recovery!!<br> - Extremely weak attack and defense that doesn't scale.<br> - The Specialist Fast Re-Deploy Operators are much better.</span> Scavenger Explanation New Player Notes Offensive version of Courier, but dies too fast without investment. Summary <span style="color:green;"> + Can be considered a direct upgrade to Vanilla<br> + Can reach high enough ATK to clear beginner mobs easily<br></span> = Offensive oriented<br> = Talent requires proper placement<br> <span style="color:red;"> - Very squishy and will take a lot of levels to keep her from dying in later difficulties<br> - A good choice for early-mid game but hard to justify the resources to bring her to late-game<br></span>
C	Poncirus Explanation New Player Notes <p>At mid-E1, she is slightly better than the common 4★ Vanguards, but at a higher development cost. Pioneer Vanguards are a low priority overall and generally become less impactful as content gets more difficult, so the extra investment is unlikely to make a difference for most players.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ S2 and Talent: When fully online, Poncirus has some impressive stats for a 5★ Vanguard.<br> + S2: DP generation is front-loaded to the skill rather than over the duration which gives her a decent initial burst.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Overall DP generation is fairly low and is worse than Charge β, the default 4★ Vanguard S1. It takes 70 seconds minimum to reach the infinite duration stage, an eternity for a Vanguard.<br> - Although her stats are decent, she is a very high investment to get there.<br> - Pioneer Vanguards have a tough time finding use compared to Flagbearers and Agents.<br></span> Chiave Explanation New Player Notes Only fits more built rosters. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Talent: When deployed, all 1* operators' Redeployment Time -75%. Additionally, for every 1* deployed, self ATK and DEF increased.<br> + S2: Decent AOE burst that lowers enemy RES and can be used shortly after deployment<br> + Some decent synergy with the new 1* Operator Thermal-EX so he can do more on-deploy AOE damage and [Fragile] debuting.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- 1* Operators are extremely situational, even with Chiave's Talent they are hard to justify bringing to more difficult maps.<br> - S2 has a fairly long CD after its initial use and it is awkward to save the skill for difficult enemies as its tied to his ability to generate DP for the team</span> Vanilla Explanation New Player Notes An okay Vanguard, but costs more to deploy than Fang and doesn't provide significant return for the investment. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ A decent early game Vanguard with flexible Skill that can kill mobs fairly quickly<br> + Fairly cheap DP Cost</span><br> <span style="color:red;"> - Low DEF means she can die very easily<br> - Lowest DP-Recovery rate<br></span>

Vanguard Summoner / Tactician

Team Category: Optional

The deploy on ranged grids and can summon Reinforcements.

A	Beanstalk Explanation New Player Notes Her minion is virtually immortal, she can target air units (though she doesn't prioritize them), and she generates a fair amount of DP. Has a great RIIC base skill at E1 when paired with Vermeil. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ The first of this Vanguard Archetype that mixes the vanguard class with a sniper and summoner<br> + Her summon is surprisingly durable, with stats similar to a 4* defensive vanguard of the same level. Additionally, they cost nothing to deploy, take up no deploy spots and refresh quickly if defeated.<br> + S1: will fully heal your summon or revive it it has died. <br> + S2: increases the summon's DEF and creates up to 4 additional summons around her tactical point for the duration of the skill. Great for stalling mobs of weak enemies while you chip away at them.<br></span> = As a ranged vanguard she can only be placed on ranged tiles giving her unique positioning among the vanguard options<br> <span style="color:red;">- With no DPS boosting skills her damage can be mediocre, especially on enemies that are not being blocked by her crabs.</span>
B+	Muelsyse ★ Explanation New Player Notes <p>Muelsyse is not a newbie friendly unit. She is very powerful with a lot of future potential as you progress, but has some drawbacks that especially affect newer players. Newer teams are less likely to have good clone targets, she requires a good understanding of the game mechanics, and her best skill is locked behind an expensive E2 promotion.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Extremely strong "laneholder" style unit, rather than a typical Vanguard role.<br> + Talent 1: The fact the clone also copies the range of the base unit can result in tremendous reach.<br> + S3: Ranged clone effect is very powerful. DPS is strong if there are enough tiles and it will usually permanently bind multiple enemies in range. Melee clone effect will stunlock most enemies.<br> + S2: Ranged clone effect has very high peak DPS. If tile space is limited, it can have higher total damage than S3.<br></span> = DP generation is good for a Tactician, but poor compared to a Flagbearer.<br> <span style="color:red;">- S2: Melee clone effect is a weaker effective tank compared to S3 so long as the enemy is stunnable. Healing is less valuable given the clone can just be recycled.<br> - Reliance on clone targets and advanced play style favors older players who need her role the least. Newer players who would benefit more from her role will have a harder time effectively using her.<br> - Relatively expensive DP cost (even with her Talent) for a Vanguard, and a long initial activation. She has a lot of tough competition purely as a Vanguard.<br></span> Blacknight Explanation New Player Notes Despite being stronger than Beanstalk generally, Blacknight's sleep-centric niche might be hard to utilize for newer players, as it will often cut into their actual DPS for no real gain (since Sleeping enemies cant be attacked by most operators), and they will not have anything difficult enough to make sleep-stalling worth it. Summary <span style="color:green;">+ Great crowd control for a tactician vanguard<br> + Sleep is a rare status effect and she can apply it liberally<br> + S1: Great DP recovery for a tactician vanguard (but still poor for vanguards as a class). Great for healing up between rounds as the skill effect holds until her summon is attacked.<br> + S2: Great crowd control allowing you to chain sleep an enemy. Good synergy with other operators that can sleep or attack sleeping targets. Fast recharge with moderate DP recovery.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- S1: Its attack buffs are not that impressive as hypnos has fairly weak base ATK.<br> - S2: The AOE of hypnos' sleep is very small and easy to miss if enemies are not right next to it. not effective against targets immune to sleep.<br></span>
D-	Vigil Explanation New Player Notes <p>An expensive to develop unit that is terrible at end game. Even though he is probably living his best life in an early-game roster, he's still not worth developing over other cheaper to develop DP generators.</p> Summary <span style="color:green;">+ S3: Good DPS when everything manages to line up.<br> + S1: Decent DP generation and recovers his wolves which normally have a long recovery time.<br></span> <span style="color:red;">- Much lower return on expensive investment for upgrades than other 6★s.<br> - Mixed damage types greatly hurts his DPS against stronger enemies.<br> - Summon has bad stats and a longer redeploy than other Tacticians. The 3-block makes them very fragile as well.<br> - Wolves range is only their own tile, which contributes to their fragility.<br> - Kit has no utility beyond damage.<br> - S3: High initial SP required for activation is awful for a DPS skill, and triply awful for a Vanguard skill. Much of the DPS is reliant on his wolves, which have weak stats and are fragile.<br> - S2: Won't trigger if the previous charge isn't spent by his wolves, which have short range and poor stats.<br> - S1: Contributes no damage.<br> - Not worth investment costs for most players.<br></span>

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About the Author(s)

Daniel O'Brien

Arknights: Alyeska#2654

Discord: Alyeska#7717

Arknights New Player Tier List

Introduction

TL/DR How To Use

How to Use

Other Resources Useful To New Players

Latest Additions/Changes

Tier List

Filter Tier

Filter Rarity

Filter Archetype Priority Category

Filter by Class or Archetype

Status

Buff

Debuff

Function

Other

Caster AoE / Splash Caster

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Caster Burninator / Blast Caster

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Caster Chain Caster

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Caster Charge / Mystic Caster

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Caster Drone / Mech-Accord

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Caster Modal / Phalanx Caster

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