Standard Banner: Suzuran & Angelina
The new Standard Banner features the following Operators:
Featured Operators:
| Rarity | Operator |
| 6★ |  Suzuran - Slower Supporter
 Angelina - Slower Supporter
|
| 5★ |  Reed - DP-On-Kill Vanguard
 Skyfire - AoE Caster
 Blue Poison - Anti-Air Sniper
|
- Based on previous patterns, it is likely but not 100% certain that the Operators for purchase in the Distinction store will be Angelina and Skyfire.
- 6★ Rate-Ups have a 50% chance of appearing when pulling a 6★
- 5★ Rate-Ups have a 50% chance of appearing when pulling a 5★
Should You Pull?
If you want Suzuran or Angelina, then yes. Otherwise, probably not.
Suzuran and Angelina are the two 6-star Supporter Operators, and both are extremely strong in different ways. You should probably have at least one of them, and they also buff each other when used together. Blue Poison is also a very powerful Anti-Air Sniper, which is appealing; however, Reed and Skyfire are generally unimpressive.
If you’re not sure which Supporter you should pull for, check out our in-depth comparison of Suzuran and Angelina here.
Even if you have Suzuran and Angelina already, you may want to do Headhunt x1 on this banner until you pull a 5★ or higher Operator, since one is guaranteed in the first 10 rolls.
Quick Overview
+ Talent charges [Per Second] SP for other Supporter allies
+ E2 Talent inflicts Fragile (take increased damage) on enemies who are in her attack range and inflicted with Slow
+ S2 is a great multi-target Slowing ability and also does decent DPS
+ S3 covers a huge range, Slows all enemies within it (triggering E2 Talent), increases the strength of her Fragile debuff, AND constantly heals all allies within range
- Most of her power comes from amplifying the DPS of her allies, but she can’t actually do this until she gets E2’d (Fragile debuff is on her E2 Talent and her S3); before E2, all she really does is Slow enemies
- S1 triggers automatically and S2 has a relatively long charge time (though her own Talent shortens it)
+ Offers a ton of passive utility for her allies: ASPD, HP regen, and (while S3 is active) reduced enemy weight
+ S2 is excellent damage + perma-Slow against a single enemy
+ S3 produces great AoE Arts damage that rivals most AoE Casters
+ Good duration and great cooldown on Skills means they can be used quite often
+ Great for Challenge stages that restrict Casters (due to her powerful Arts damage) or Medics (due to her E2 Talent)
- Can't attack while S2 or S3 aren't active
- Fairly weak until you E2 her and level her Skills
+ High RES due to her Talent, which helps her to survive on the frontlines against Arts damage or assassinate enemy Casters
+ Doubles her DP gain with S2
= Deals Physical and Arts damage with S2; unfortunately, this also means her S2’s damage is reduced by both DEF and RES
- Typical Archetype weaknesses: Block-1 and has to land the killing blow to earn DP
- DPS output is not particularly high compared to Bagpipe (at 6*) or Vigna (at 4*)
+ Typical Archetype strengths: AoE Arts damage, high base ATK
+ Can Stun enemies with her S2, making her valuable in stall teams
- Typical Archetype weaknesses: high DP cost, low attack speed
- S2 does a lot of damage per hit, but it actually does less DPS than S1 due to dramatically slowing her already slow attack speed
+ Usual archetype strengths: low DP cost, fast ASPD, and prioritizes aerial enemies
+ Both of her Skills deal high damage to multiple targets; she’s good at killing single targets as well as small groups
+ S1 charges extremely quickly at M3, dealing high damage to multiple targets at a machine-gun pace
+ S2 causes her attacks to strike multiple targets multiple times, absolutely destroying groups of enemies
= The Arts damage from her Talent gives her a little extra oomph against high-DEF enemies, but their DEF still blunts her direct damage so heavily that it doesn’t count for much
- Extremely squishy, so placing her can be difficult on some maps, especially ones with ranged enemies or automatic crossbows
Suzuran
Suzuran is the ultimate damage amplifier for her allies. She Slows enemies to keep them in attack range for a longer period of time, and while they’re Slowed she afflicts them with the Fragile debuff, increasing the amount of damage her allies deal. The combination is simple but delightfully effective, especially during her S3, which increases Suzuran’s range as well as the effect of her Fragile debuff. It doesn’t matter if you’re facing a massive wave or a single mighty boss: once they hit the gravity well of Suzuran’s S3, they move like molasses and tear like tissue paper.
Of course, the problem with a “damage amplifier” is that they need someone else to provide damage for them to amplify. Suzuran’s direct damage potential is negligible, especially in comparison to a powerhouse like Angelina. If the rest of your team doesn’t have decent damage to bring to the table, Suzuran can’t do much to help them. Furthermore, as a young and inexperienced Operator, Suzuran needs a lot of training. Her big selling point is the combination of Slow and Fragile, but she can’t actually cause Fragile until she’s promoted to E2. That’s a long time to wait for an Operator to do their job.
I recommend pulling for Suzuran, especially if you’re not a fan of Angelina’s weaknesses. Don’t expect her to be a direct replacement for Angelina, though. They are not interchangeable.
Angelina
Angelina may be listed as a Supporter, but her potential Arts damage is so crazy that she outperforms some Casters in the role. The massive burst potential of her S2 and AoE destructiveness of her S3 have to be seen to be believed. Throw in a host of passive buffs for her team and the Slowing effect of all her attacks and it’s not hard to see why Angelina is such a popular Arknights Operator.
That being said, Angelina’s S2 and S3 come with a huge drawback: when Angelina is equipped with either Skill, she only attacks while the Skill is active. The rest of the time, all she brings to the table is her passive buffs! Fortunately, Angelina’s Skills charge quickly and are very spammable, so she can usually apply her powerful DPS when it counts. However, this makes Angelina more timing-dependent than most Operators, which is important to keep in mind when using her.
I recommend pulling for (or buying!) Angelina. However, make sure you’re aware of her idiosyncrasies before you dedicate resources to her. She’s very powerful, but she takes foresight, good timing, and a lot of investment to use well.
Reed
Reed was overshadowed pretty quickly after her release by 6* DP-on-Kill Vanguard Bagpipe, who is well-known to be ridiculously powerful. This is understandable, but is it fair? Well, Reed has terrific RES due to her Talent, so she’s good for dueling Arts-DPS enemies, and her S3 causes her to gain an extra DP every time she gets a kill, making her DP recovery potential unmatched among her Archetype. Gaining 2 DP per kill (or 3, if Zima is also on the field!) is a massive boon at the start of a map.
Unfortunately, Reed’s big downside is her DPS, which isn’t very high at all. In fact, it’s fairly comparable to 4* DP-on-Kill Vigna. Considering that Bagpipe is a loose cannon who has more DPS than she knows what to do with, and considering that Vigna is cheaper to deploy, level, and increase in Potential, it’s difficult to rationalize raising Reed instead.
I don’t recommend pulling for Reed, especially if you have Bagpipe.
Skyfire
Poor Skyfire is a famously undertuned Operator. She isn’t useless by any means, but she’s something of a noob trap. When you read the description of her S2, she sounds like a harbinger of mass destruction due to its gargantuan ATK boost (+240% damage at max level!) It looks like it when you use it, too: a huge flaming meteor tears out of the sky and crushes things into a fine paste! It looks amazing.
Unfortunately, what you may not notice at first is that Skyfire’s S2 actually has lower DPS than her S1 (which is just a vanilla ATK buff and not a particularly good one). How is this possible? The problem is how the Skill slows down Skyfire’s already-slow ASPD. At such a slow speed, Skyfire’s S2 isn’t actually very good for damage. It still has use for stalling strategies due to the Stun it causes, but even there the slow ASPD can be a big inconvenience.
I don’t recommend pulling for Skyfire.
Blue Poison
Blue Poison sprays arrows and corrosive venom everywhere she goes, striking multiple targets with multiple arrows that deal multiple ticks of Arts damage long after the initial arrow damage has been dealt. With her quick ASPD and fast-charging S1, Blue Poison is a constant fountain of toxins, rapidly wearing down her opponents from the inside out.
The main thing holding Blue Poison back is her shockingly bad durability. Even for a Sniper, Blue Poison is alarmingly delicate, with one of the lowest HP totals in Arknights and very unimpressive DEF to back it up. This can make it hard to deploy her on some stages, especially where there are ranged enemies or environmental hazards putting her at risk. (Curse you, Annihilation 3 crossbows!)
I recommend pulling for Blue Poison if you don’t have two or more strong Anti-Air Snipers already.
