Arknights: New Operator Spotlight - Dusk

Dusk is a new limited 6★ AoE Caster Operator and the sister of the first limited Operator in Arknights: Nian. However, Dusk couldn’t be more different from her lackadaisical sister: she’s cold, distant, focused entirely on her artwork, and of course a Caster rather than a Defender. Who is this unusual loner, and is she worth the hype? Is it worth it to pull for Dusk?

To reiterate, Dusk is a limited 6★ AoE Caster. This means she has a high DP cost, slow ASPD, and a short attack range, but it also means her attacks inflict splash damage on all enemies around her initial target. For details about her Talents, stats, Skills, and more, take a look at her Operator page.

The big thing that makes Dusk stand out from other AoE Casters is her E2 Talent and S3, which both allow her to summon a minion called a Freeling. Freelings can both attack and block enemies, giving Dusk some extra damage as well as potential to emergency-block. You can even absorb a powerful attack with a disposable Freeling!

• The best time to use an AoE Caster is against swarms of weak enemies, and Dusk is no different. Her Arts-damage splash attacks are perfect for decimating multiple enemies in one slash of her sword-brush.
• Freelings! Dusk’s Freeling minions can be put to all kinds of good use on the battlefield. They contribute extra damage (with much faster ASPD than Dusk has, thank goodness), can be used as emergency blockers, and can eat high-damage hits like the explosions from Infused Originium Slugs or the charged attack of a Sarkaz Lancer.
• Dusk gets rewarded for cleaning up hordes of weak enemies thanks to her Sublimity Talent, which increases her ATK every time Dusk or a Freeling kills an enemy. Dusk has very high base ATK as it is, so the stacks from Sublimity can have a huge effect on her damage output.
• S2 expands Dusk’s attack range, hits all enemies within that range, and buffs Dusk’s ATK and ASPD for the duration. Dusk will also deal increased damage to enemies with low health, helping her to nab the killing blow and those sweet Sublimity stacks.

• S3 is a terrific Skill. It lasts for a long time, granting a huge ATK buff and expansions to Dusk’s attack range and splash radius. It also changes Dusk’s priorities so she targets unblocked enemies, and this is important, because every attack for the duration will summon or refresh a Freeling at the target’s location. It’s almost impossible for enemies to get past Dusk during her S3 just because they’ll get clogged up by so many Freelings along the way—to say nothing of the damage Dusk will be raining down at the same time.

• Freelings aside, Dusk suffers from all of the disadvantages of her archetype: exorbitant DP cost, slow ASPD that murders her damage output, and limited attack range.
• Dusk’s two Talents are at odds with each other. Sublimity encourages you to leave her out for a long time so she can get kills and buff her ATK. On the other hand, Finishing Touch demands that Dusk be retreated and redeployed if you want to get another Freeling.
• Freelings only last for 25 seconds and Dusk only gets one per deployment (unless she’s equipped with S3). Considering that Freelings are the main thing differentiating Dusk from other AoE Casters, this is a big downside. 25 seconds of bonus damage and blocking is nice but limited, especially since you don’t get to decide when Finishing Touch activates (it always activates on Dusk’s first attack after being deployed).
• S3 has a long cooldown. This is fair, since it is a very powerful Skill, but it also chafes because it’s the main way Dusk gets to use Freelings. Such a long cooldown means you must pick when to use it very carefully, since it’s unlikely to recharge more than once (unless you’re on an Annihilation map or something).

You don’t often need an AoE Caster in Arknights, but in some situations they can be very useful. When those occasions appear, you’ll want to pull out the best Operator for the job. As such, let’s compare the two 6* AoE Casters in Arknights: newcomer Dusk and old hand Mostima.

• Stats: Dusk and Mostima have nearly identical stats everywhere that matters, with one exception: Dusk has much, much more ATK than Mostima. Since AoE Casters attack slowly, every hit has to count, and Dusk’s count for that much more than Mostima’s. This win clearly goes to Dusk.
• DPS: Mostima actually has a higher ATK buff on her S3 (+170% to Dusk’s +120%). However, Mostima’s S3 lasts for 27 seconds at M3, while Dusk’s S3 lasts for 60 seconds at all levels. Coupled with Dusk’s higher base ATK, the buffs from Sublimity, and the extra damage from Freelings, it’s crystal clear that Dusk wins in DPS.
• Utility: Utility is Mostima’s specialty. She increases the SP gain of allied Casters, Slows all enemies within her attack range, Stuns with her S2, and inflicts knockback with her S3. However, other than the SP gain, Dusk can accomplish many of these same effects simply by blocking enemies with Freelings. True, Freelings aren’t able to block everything (i.e., Ghosts), but on the other hand, Dusk gets 60 seconds of infinite Freelings while Mostima gets either 7 seconds of Stun or 27 seconds of Slow + knockback. Mostima is still probably the better utility unit, but it’s much closer than it should be.

Short answer: Yes. Dusk is better than Mostima.

Dusk has much higher damage output and does a great job at crowd-controlling enemies by using her S3. Mostima is occasionally more useful than Dusk by virtue of being able to Stun rather than relying on minions to block for her, and she supports other Casters on her team with her SP-gain Talent while Dusk’s kit is purely selfish. However, in 99% of cases, Dusk is going to be a better fit for the job.

Dusk is currently the best AoE Caster in Arknights. However, AoE Casters are still a fairly weak archetype in Arknights, and Dusk doesn’t really change that. She can be pretty fun and effective, especially during her S3, but she’s not particularly efficient in most situations.

That being said, Dusk is still a hikikomori dragon painter sporting awesome imagery and animations. If that’s enough to make you pull for her, then we at GamePress hope you are able to find her on your quest! (Maybe ask Nian for help. Or don’t… possibly Nian’s help just makes it worse.)