Arknights: Should You Pull? Joint Operation

The “Joint Operation” Banner released alongside the “Contingency Contract” event works a little differently from other banners:

Featured Operators:

Rarity	Operator
6★ Rate Up	Ch'en SilverAsh Eyjafjalla Angelina
5★ Rate Up	Swire Manticore Platinum Texas Croissant Ptilopsis

• The listed operators will be the
  only units available for their respective rarity
• Operator Feature Banners do not add Operators to the Distinction shop

Test out your luck for this banner on our:[Joint Operation] Summon Simulator!

Yes! Not only do the mechanics of this banner favor the player, but the available units are some of the strongest Operators in Arknights right now. SilverAsh, Eyjafjalla, Angelina, and Ptilopsis in particular are game-changing. The only issue with this banner would be pulling Swire, who is unfortunately a little underpowered right now (Swire buffs when, Yostar?!)

Even if you aren’t going to pull heavily on this banner, it would be very wise to do Headhunt x1 until you pull a 5★ or higher Operator, since one is guaranteed in the first 10 rolls.

Dualstrike Guard

+ Passive SP gain for allies with [On Attack] and [When Hit] Skills

+ Strikes twice when attacking, quickly cutting down enemies

+ Very flexible due to her versatile and powerful Skill set

- Low ATK makes her weak against high-DEF enemies

- Her [On Attack] Skills can take a while to charge, especially S3

Ranged Guard

+ Ranged attacks, Block-2, and all-around good stats

+ Becomes very survivable using his S2

+ Breaks the game over his knee with S3

- Makes the game too easy

ST Caster

+ Burns the world to the ground

+ Can fill in for an AoE Caster, but still has the DP cost/ attack speed of a ST Caster

+ Makes ally Casters stronger

- Too pure for this world (that’s probably why she’s burning it down)

Slowing Supporter

+ All of her Skills charge very quickly

+ Unleashes powerful multi-target Arts damage with a Slow debuff by using S3

+ Lots of nifty little bonuses (ASPD buff, global healing, enemy weight decrease, etc.)

- Very tricky to use because of how she stops attacking when using S2 or S3

- High investment; needs E2 and S3 to shine

AoE Medic

+ AoE healer

+ Passively charges [Per Second] SP for allies

+ Very strong and wide-range healing on S2

- S2 takes a long time to charge

Skill-DP-Recovery Vanguard

+ Increases your initial DP

+ Generates DP with her Skills

+ Very potent and useful S2 (AoE Arts damage, DP generation, and a Stun)

- Fragile

- Can be difficult to time her S2 to affect enemies if you’re also trying to spam it for DP generation

Anti-Air Sniper

+ Can punch holes through enemies with the ATK buff from her S2 + her Talent

+ Has longer range than most Anti-Air Snipers once her S2 activates

- S2 takes a long time to charge, and she’s not very impressive until it activates

Normal Defender

+ Talent makes her and adjacent allies more durable

+ Great Defender stats; S1 is a good tanking Skill

+ S2 deals good damage, Stuns, and knocks enemies in a random direction

- Can’t tank with S1 and push enemies with S2 on the same map; you have to pick one

- S1 activates automatically and S2’s knockback can be chaotic, so neither is entirely reliable

Controller Specialist

+ Hard for enemies to hit (Invisibility, Physical/ Arts Dodge, Block-0, etc.)

+ Excellent source of crowd control (Slow on S1, Stun on S2)

= Cannot Block

- Very slow attack speed

Support Guard

+ Pretty good attack range, and deals decent damage when S2 is active

+ Buffs adjacent melee allies

- Very low HP and ATK

- S2 takes a LONG time to charge

Ch’en is a 6* Dualstrike Guard with enormous DPS potential. Her various Skills allow her to tailor her DPS to different strategies, and the extra SP she grants other Operators can be a big help. However, she suffers against high-DEF enemies due to her low base ATK, and she’s not that great at dealing sustained damage due to the burst nature of her Skills.

I don’t recommend pulling specifically for Ch’en, but she’s well worth raising if you get her.

SilverAsh is a 6* Ranged Guard who is generally regarded as the most broken Operator in Arknights. His incredible versatility is only matched by the overbearing power of his S3, which cuts through all but the highest-DEF enemies like butter.

I definitely recommend pulling for SilverAsh.

Eyjafjalla is a 6* ST Caster, but you wouldn’t guess the “ST” part by looking at her Skills. S2 in particular turns Eyjafjalla into a sack of firebombs, ready to immolate enemies by the dozens. In practice, she’s more of an AoE Caster with the fast attack speed and low DP cost of a ST Caster, making her incredibly efficient at her job.

I definitely recommend pulling for Eyjafjalla.

Angelina is a 6* Slowing Supporter, and she’s got some of the more interesting mechanics in the role. When equipped with her S2 or S3, she stops attacking EXCEPT while her Skill is active. You might think this is a sharp drop in DPS, but her S2 and S3 are so strong and charge so fast that they’re actually worth the drawback. Furthermore, while she isn’t attacking, she passively heals all allies with her E2 Talent, which makes her a key player in many non-Medic strategies.

That being said, there are definitely times where waiting for Angelina’s Skills to finish charging results in enemies slipping past her that another Operator would have been able to stop. She’s extremely powerful, but she’s a lot more difficult to use than SilverAsh or Eyjafjalla.

I recommend pulling for Angelina, but only if you’re ready to put up with the possible awkwardness of her Skill rotation.

Ptilopsis is a 5* AoE Medic and possibly the most generally applicable healer in Arknights. She heals multiple allies at once, her S2 is an enormous “get out of jail free” card, and her Talent passively charges [Per Second] SP for all allies. She’s stronger than Perfumer and less niche than Nightingale. If you’re going to invest in just one Medic, Ptilopsis might be the best choice.

I definitely recommend pulling for Ptilopsis.

Texas is a 5* Skill-DP-Recovery Vanguard whose worth is mostly predicated on the power of her S2. Her S2 deals Arts damage in a wide area around Texas, Stuns all enemies hit, and also generates DP. Timing the Skill so it maximizes its usefulness can be tricky, however, and Texas is also a bit fragile for prolonged frontline combat.

I don’t recommend pulling for Texas, but she’s worth investing in if you need another Vanguard.

Platinum is a 5* Anti-Air Sniper, and like Texas, her value lies pretty much entirely in her S2. Once activated, Platinum’s ATK and attack range permanently increase, allowing her to shoot nuke-like arrows from farther away than any other Anti-Air Sniper. However, the long charge time not only means Platinum spends the first part of any map being underwhelming, but that she gets heavily penalized for dying or retreating.

I don’t recommend pulling specifically for Platinum unless you need another Sniper, but she’s well worth raising if you get her.

Croissant is a 5* Normal Defender who also likes to pretend she’s a Push Specialist. Her Talent and S1 are survival-focused (and they also benefit any adjacent allies,) while her S2 is a big hammer thwack that boasts increased damage, a Stun, and a push. Unfortunately, Croissant can be a little unreliable. Her Talent is RNG-based, her S1 triggers automatically, and her S2 pushes can scatter enemies in unintended directions.

I don’t recommend pulling specifically for Croissant unless you need another Defender, but she’s well worth raising if you get her.

Manticore is a 5* Controller Specialist, which might be one of the more unique archetypes in Arknights. Her attacks are AoE, but very slow. She’s almost impossible for enemies to hit, but she also can’t Block. Her crowd-control Skills are very potent, but… actually, there is no “but” there. Manticore is a CC machine, pumping out Slows with S1 or Stuns with S2 and doing decent damage on the side.

I recommend pulling for Manticore, but only if you’re interested in utilizing her niche abilities. Keep in mind that 4* Controller Specialist Ethan is available in the Shop Voucher store right now; he isn’t as good at the role as Manticore is, but you may prefer to spend Shop Vouchers on him rather than attempting to pull Manticore.

Swire is a 5* Support Guard who is a little undertuned for her job. She attacks from range, she has great DEF, and her Talent buffs the ATK of nearby melee Operators. However, her HP and ATK are very low, and her S2—which fixes her low ATK—charges obscenely slowly. She’s not bad per se, but she’s very niche and she’s not terribly impressive even when filling her niche.

I don’t recommend pulling for Swire. Here’s hoping she’s the next Operator Yostar chooses to buff!