Vigil [★★★★★★]

If you want to show respect to the Siracusans, then hire a proper Siracusan chef. The next time I see any 'innovative Siracusan cuisine' out of your minions... Beh, let's just say somebody knows about your little office naps, and it'd be a shame if the beans got spilled on your beauty sleep.

The last leader of Siracusa's Bellone Family, and one of the mayoral candidates for Siracusa's Nuova Volsinii special administrative city. Through Operator Texas, he has formed a relationship with Rhodes Island on behalf of the city he represents. He excels in mid-range combat, and exhibits comparable strategy and leadership abilities across a variety of tasks.

Operator Information

• Class: Vanguard (Tactician)
• Tags: DP Recovery, Crowd-Control
• Artist: hou

Voice Actor:
JP: KENN
CN: Zhang Tongming
EN: Salvatore Scarpa
KR: Lee Sangho
IT: Alessandro Pili

Stats

HP	ATK	DEF	Arts Resistance	Redeploy Time	DP Cost	Block	Attack Interval
1755	462	154	0	70	17	1	1s

*Stats at max Promotion and Level, excludes bonuses from Potential and Trust.

Potential	Bonus
1	-
2	Deployment Cost -1
3	Redeployment Cooldown -10
4	Deployment Cost -1
5	Improves Second Talent
6	Deployment Cost -1

Trust bonus
Attack Power +80

Traits
This unit can designate one Tactical Point within attack range to call Reinforcements; ATK is increased to 150% when attacking enemies blocked by Reinforcements

Skill Name	Skill Uptime Details (Initial/Cost/Uptime)	SP Charge Type	Skill Activation	Skill Description
Packleader's Call	5 SP / 21 SP / -	Per Second	Auto Trigger	Immediately generates 7 DP and summons 1 'Wolf Shadow'
Packleader's Gift	4 SP / 5 SP / -	Per Second	Auto Trigger	Immediately generates 2 DP and causes the Wolfpack's next attack to deal 200% damage and restore 20% of its Max HP; Generates an additional 1 DP if the Wolfpack defeats an enemy
Packleader's Dignity	10 SP / 35 SP / 15s	Per Second	Manual Trigger	Gradually generates 12 DP over the skill duration, and causes attacks to hit 3 times; When Vigil or the Wolfpack deal damage to a unit blocked by the Wolfpack, they deal an additional 50% of Vigil's ATK as Arts damage

*Skills at Mastery 3.

Talent

Talent name	Talent Description
Leader of the Wolfpack	Can summon a Wolfpack initially consisting of 2 'Wolf Shadows' at the Tactical Point to assist in combat; The number of 'Wolf Shadows' increases by 1 every 25 seconds (up to a maximum of 3; each 'Wolf Shadow' increases the Wolfpack's Block by 1 and causes its attacks to deal an additional instance of damage)
Wolven Nature	Vigil and the Wolfpack's attacks ignore 200 (+25) DEF when attacking enemies blocked by the Wolfpack

Additional Resources

In-depth information regarding all values above (at different levels), skill/attack range, and more:
GP Arknights Wiki
Arknights Toolbox (aceship)
Fandom Arknights Wiki

Topic Starters

• Strengths/Weaknesses?
• Is their module worth it? Which branch?
• How does this operator compare to other operators in their archetype or role?
• How do you fit this operator into a team? Who do they synergize with?
• Which skill(s) should be focused for mastery, and in what order?
• When is the best time to use this operator's skills during combat?
• Should promoting this operator to Elite 2 be a priority?
• Should new / F2P players aim for this operator? Are there more accessible alternatives?
• Lore discussion (please tag spoilers where appropriate)

Other Operator Discussion threads

List of Operator Discussion threads

Integrated Strategies: Mizuki & Caerula Arbor

Event Duration: Permanent

Event Overview

Features Introduction

New Mechanics & Collectibles

New Enemies

Ecosequence

 

GP Event Guide	Official Links	New Operators
General Guide	Official Trailer	Highmore

Remember to mark spoilers when discussing event story details! The code for spoilers is: >!spoiler text goes here!<
This is how it looks: spoiler text goes here

Integrated Strategies: Mizuki & Caerula Arbor

Event Duration: Permanent

Event Overview

Features Introduction

New Mechanics & Collectibles

New Enemies

Ecosequence

 

GP Event Guide	Official Links	New Operators
General Guide	Official Trailer	Highmore

Remember to mark spoilers when discussing event story details! The code for spoilers is: >!spoiler text goes here!<
This is how it looks: spoiler text goes here

Side Story: Il Siracusano

Event Duration

Stages Duration: May 23, 2023, 10:00 (UTC-7) - June 13, 2023, 03:59 (UTC-7)
Banner Duration: May 23, 2023, 10:00 (UTC-7) - June 6, 2023, 03:59 (UTC-7)
 

Event Overview

 
 

Banner -Through A Path Of Briars

 

Skins & Furniture
Nearl the Radiant Knight - Relight
Passenger - Dream In A Moment
Rosmontis - Become Anew
Sora - Melodiosa
Honeyberry - Wildness Behind
-
EPOQUE Re-edition
-
Siracusan Retro
Siracusan Court of Justice

GP Event Guides	Official Links	New Operators
General Guide	Official Tailer	Texas the Omertosa
Farming Guide	Animation PV	Penance
-	Event Teaser	Vigil
-	Texas the Omertosa Preview	Qanipalaat
-	Recruitment Update	Lunacub
-	-	Quartz

Remember to mark spoilers when discussing event story details! The code for spoilers is: >!spoiler text goes here!<
This is how it looks: spoiler text goes here

Dagda [★★★★★]

Siege said I should choose the life I truly want to live when the war is over. Once that day arrives, how will Victoria turn out to be? And how will I turn out to be? I... I can't imagine it. All I hope is I'm still able to stay by their sides.

Dagda, Former Knight of the Tower and current member of Glasgow who joined Rhodes Island alongside Siege. As a member of Siege's squad, she plays an active role in all kinds of siege operations.

Operator Information

• Class: Guard (Fighter)
• Tags: DPS, Survival
• Artist: Infukun

Voice Actor:
JP: Shiki Aoki
CN: Mihu zzZ (Misty)
EN: Eleanor Bennett

Stats

HP	ATK	DEF	Arts Resistance	Redeploy Time	DP Cost	Block	Attack Interval
2506	574	310	0	80	12	1	0.78s

*Stats at max Promotion and Level, excludes bonuses from Potential and Trust.

Potential	Bonus
1	-
2	Deployment Cost -1
3	Redeployment Cooldown -10
4	Deployment Cost -1
5	Attack Power +24
6	Deployment Cost -1

Trust bonus
Attack Power +40
Defense +35

Traits
Blocks 1 enemy

Skill Name	Skill Uptime Details (Initial/Cost/Uptime)	SP Charge Type	Skill Activation	Skill Description
Counter Technique	3 SP / 4 SP / -	Getting Hit	Auto Trigger	The next time Physical damage would be taken, reduce it by 60%, and the ATK of the next attack is increased by 210%
Search and Destroy	15 SP / 30 SP / 15s	Per Second	Manual Trigger	ATK +35%, attacks hit twice; Talent activation rate increased by 60%

Skills at Mastery 3.

Talent

Talent name	Talent Description
Gang Spirit	Has 30% chance of increasing ATK to 150% when attacking. When deployed, this multiplier increases by +5% for every enemy defeated within the 4 adjacent tiles of a [Glasgow Gang] Operator (max 240%)
Knight's Honor	In [Return to Mist], HP +20%, and each attack restores HP equal to 20% of damage dealt

Additional Resources

In-depth information regarding all values above (at different levels), skill/attack range, and more:
GP Arknights Wiki
Arknights Toolbox (aceship)
Fandom Arknights Wiki

Topic Starters

• Strengths/Weaknesses?
• Is their module worth it? Which branch?
• How does this operator compare to other operators in their archetype or role?
• How do you fit this operator into a team? Who do they synergize with?
• Which skill(s) should be focused for mastery, and in what order?
• When is the best time to use this operator's skills during combat?
• Should promoting this operator to Elite 2 be a priority?
• Should new / F2P players aim for this operator? Are there more accessible alternatives?
• Lore discussion (please tag spoilers where appropriate)

Other Operator Discussion threads

List of Operator Discussion threads

Welcome to another update. This schedule sure is something, ain't it? It's weird, but this event is a good one and we do finally have IS#3 so let's at least try to enjoy it.
You may have seen me share this already, but I'd like to take this space to say that I've finally pushed out my first Arknights fanfiction! I love writing so I've wanted to dip my toes into some fiction for a while now. I've actually written quite a bit, but not much I felt was worth sharing, so this is a big step for me. This particular piece is a fast-paced escape featuring two of my favorites, April and Kazemaru.
If you'd like to read my first public fiction, you can find the Clean version of it here or the Explicit/R18 version of it here.
This article specifically covers the new units from the Il Siracusano event. The main guide covering the rest of the game can be found here on Gamepress. The Gamepress version of this update can be found here. Please note that although the reddit version of the main guide still exists, I no longer maintain it to the same extent and it may be out of date. Refer to the Gamepress guide for the most up to date information!

FAQ and Banner Discussion

Q: Should I pull?
A: In terms of meta, absolutely. Texas the Omertosa is one of the best units in the game, period. She is second only to Mlynar, in my opinion. She is the complete package: crazy DPS, access to RES shred, stall utility / survivability, and all of the flexibility that FRDs bring. She's the kind of unit that's so good she can rot your brain if you use her too much.
The only reason not to pull here is if meta doesn't interest you. I hesitate to write anything negative here about the rest of the banner for fear of giving the wrong impression. Even if the other two units were the worst in the game (and they aren't), Texas alone would still make this a must roll banner.
​
Q: Is Penance good? Does she powercreep Mudrock?
A: It’s easy to view everything through the lens of powercreep these days. After all, in the last few months alone we've gotten better Schwarz, better SilverAsh, and now better (by a lot) Phantom. However, Penance is much more of a sidegrade to the existing Juggernaut, Mudrock.
While Penance is good, Mudrock tends to be the better "general purpose" unit. The thing with Penance is that she is reliant on her Barrier for sustain, and the only way she can gain that is by killing enemies herself (that SHE has to kill, not just help kill) or S3 activations. When placed with the rest of the team, she pretty quickly loses the war of attrition as other DPS units steal her kills or don't allow her to fully charge S3. Mudrock, meanwhile, is much more consistent. She can sustain herself regardless of the surrounding killing power.
To be very clear, Penance's kit is extremely good; however, the fact that she works best alone means that she's more situational than Mudrock is. This is why Penance can do extreme things like solo Patriot or hold the middle lane in max risk CC#12, but won't appear in general teams as often.
​
Q: Is Vigil really that bad?
A: Yes, he is. He is easily the worst 6★ in the game. There are a lot of reasons why. I could probably write a whole article on the topic. I might even do that, which is why I won't address them point by point here. It would take too long and that isn't the goal of this particular article. The TL;DR of it though is that his wolves suck, his damage is dependent on the wolves (who suck), his skill cycles are awful, and he has no utility to make up for it all.
In the current state of the game, most other "bad" 6★s have at least found a niche that they excel in. Mostima has an excellent Module for stalling. Pallas is a good IS#2 pick. Carnelian still has solid true AoE DPS. And so on. Vigil though... doesn't really do anything well. He has poor DP gen, no utility, and his damage is only "good" in a very narrow band of situations. All that is before getting into things like the Flagpipe-meta or how Vanguards are often unnecessary in the first place.
Of course, he isn't technically "unusable". Almost no unit in the game is truly unusable. If you think he is an appealing character, then by all means. However, he is so far behind every other 6★, most 5★s, and even some 4★s that there just isn't any gameplay reason to spend the resources on his very expensive upgrades.
​
Q: Should I pull for Texas pots?
A: If you have to ask, no. I noted a similar question in the discussion of Mlynar's banner. Texas' pots are actually more valuable than Mlynar's, by the numbers. I said not to roll for pots there either, but noted he was a good option if you wanted to spend a little bit. However in this scenario, it's just so expensive to pull for Limited potentials. The lower rate-up means the variance in average pulls is quite extreme. Unless you're prepared to open your wallet in a big way, you probably shouldn't pull to excess here. You should also be aware that a bulk of the difference comes at the Redeploy at pot 4 and Talent improvement at pot 5 (i.e. extremely expensive) which is just enough to let her squeeze in an extra attack on both S2 and S3. If you only pull her to pot 3, you won't notice much of a difference.
Texas is so strong that you will be fine with her at pot1. Trust me, she's that good. But I mean... Well, it's cheaper to just make a whale friend and let them pull for the pots.
​
Q: Does the change to alters have any effect on the Mastery guide?
A: No. It's a very nice change, but the guide typically considers most grades in a vacuum. Guard Ch'en may become more viable with the change, but the grades certainly shouldn't assume everyone has Sniper Ch'en, for example.
The only change is that a few write-ups have been touched up. While there wasn't much influence on the grades, it was mentioned on occasion, and those are no longer necessary.
​
Q: If I pull enough to spark, who should I take?
A: Texas2 > Skadi2 > Nearl2 >> W >> Rosmontis. I probably wouldn’t take Penance with the spark unless there were no other options since she isn’t limited, but meta-wise she would fall between Nearl and W. Also note that Specter2 is not on the banner or available to spark.
Also, while this is out of scope of the guide, if you don’t have enough to reach 300 or have everyone already, it is better to take Lunacub dupes for gold certs than it is to let them roll over to materials.
​
Q: Why is IS#3 coming out now?
A: I have no clue. While Yostar constantly makes schedule decisions that seem perplexing, there is usually some logic there (not always good logic, but at least something). With this though, I literally have no idea what they’re thinking. IS#3 could have been run almost any time in the last two months without issue, yet Yostar decided to launch it simultaneously with the most major event in the timeframe. How is this OK, but overlapping CC isn’t?
I’ll stop there. I don’t want to go on a huge rant about it in an unrelated article, but I had to get it out somewhere…
Anyway, for something related to the guide, I’ve included Highmore here in this update. I actually put her update out a month and a half ago, but I’ve included it here again for those that missed it.
​
Q: Any Module thoughts this patch?
A: Global - Il Siracusano - There's nothing that affects grades here.

• The Pioneer modules that reduce initial DP costs are quite good (Texas1 especially), but that’s only the mod1 effect. The mod2/mod3 upgrades are nothing special, although Flametail's are alright if you regularly use her.
• Schwarz’ second Module is a good DPS boost that raises the ceiling on high DEF she can tackle — her main advantage over Pozy. Both of her Modules are good so which to pursue is mostly a matter of preference, but I personally like her FRD Module more.
• Texas2's Module is really good, but since she's so meta already that doesn't mean anything as far as the Mastery guide goes.

Global - IS#3 - There is a small adjustment for Dusk here.

• Dusk’s second Module is a pretty nice boost if you’re using her. It can really kickstart subsequent cycles of her unique S3, which is traditionally one of her biggest drawbacks. While it doesn’t make her a must promote, her new Module does make her quite a bit easier to use.
• Although not a matter of Masteries, pass on Kal’tsist’s Module. It’s not bad by any means and you may have been planning to get it already, but she just got a second Module with Lone Trail on CN that is much better, if you can stand the wait.

CN - Lone Trail - The Modules here are really good.

• Gnosis' and Kal'tsit's are especially good though they won’t affect their grades. If you have not gotten Kal’s first Module yet, I would suggest waiting for the second instead, if you can wait the six months.
• Pramanix actually got one of the better 5★ Modules. It won’t change her place in the meta but should be very nice in various niche teams or if you like her.
• While mostly derided, I actually kinda like Rosmontis' Module since it's a decent DPS boost, but it wasn't what she needed either so it will only really benefit people already using her. She will continue to languish at the bottom of the guide grade-wise.

​

Il Siracusano

Texas the Omertosa

Skill	Story	Advanced	Roguelike
S3M3	S++	S++	S++
S2M3	S	S+	S+

Texas the Omertosa is the highest graded M6 in this guide. That can be a scary thing for many players due to the extremely high cost of 6★ Masteries. After all, most similarly meta units only have one skill that stands out. However, Texas is one of the top units in the game, and she owes part of that to just how flexible she is between her two best skills. She is absolutely worth the M6 investment for everyone who is using her.
S3 is the higher graded skill here and should be your starting point. While it technically does less single-target damage than S2, it’s still an absurd total, and the utility more than makes up the difference. The sword rains hit multiple targets in a relatively wide area and can even hit aerial enemies. Even better, the microstuns provide tremendous control and can often keep her alive long enough to actually reach her damage potential in dangerous situations, something FRDs typically struggle with. Note also that S3 has particularly important Mastery gains due to the extra target at M3.
On the other hand, S2 does an absurd amount of damage along with a ludicrous amount of RES shred. On paper it can seem like the easier skill to use since it’s more straightforward, but the lack of any stun makes her much more vulnerable when compared to S3. Note that the Mastery gains here are primarily centered on the RES shred. That is important, but it can make the gains “seem” poor. Mastery on S2 is less essential than it is on S3, but it should still be a high priority. That’s just how absurd Texas is.
There isn't much need to invest into S1. While certainly not a terrible skill, it just doesn't compare to her other skills. Why would you need Silence when you can just kill pretty much everything flat out?

Penance

Skill	Story	Advanced	Roguelike
S3M3	S	S+	S

Penance is a little tricky to evaluate. She is extremely strong and is one of the best solo lane-holders available. However, there's an emphasis there on "solo" which makes her somewhat more situational compared to other lane-holders. Since she has no form of self or external sustain, she needs a fairly steady stream of enemies that she can kill or tank to maintain her barrier. This puts her in that somewhat awkward tier where her potential strength may not completely align with her priority.
Her S3 is by far the standout skill and the only one to strongly consider. It does so much and is really the "glue" that brings everything great about her kit together. It adds a massive chunk of barrier, gives her a massive amount of attack that lets her take on extremely hard targets, and super-charges her reflect thanks to said attack boost and increased Taunt. Mastery makes a big difference here too, improving all aspects of the skill, and reducing her SP cost to a very reasonable 20 SP. Defensive Recovery is no problem here either since she wants to be taking hits.
Her other skills aren't bad if you were interested in extra investment into Penance. However, you give up a lot by not using her S3, so most people won't find it worthwhile to pursue their Masteries. If you did, you could go with either skill. Most people favor S1, but be aware that a not insignificant portion of that is because of the attack animation rather than the merits of the skill itself.

Lunacub

Skill	Story	Advanced	Roguelike
S2M3	C	C	C

Lunacub’s permanent Camouflage can be a decent tool to have access to, but the lack of a damage multiplier on her primary skill is a huge drawback that makes her largely inferior to the other 4 and 5★ Deadeyes. For example, she will only out DPS Firewatch against sub-200 DEF, and only out DPS the much cheaper Ambriel at sub-450 DEF. Considering how both are highly available, and have much more forgiving cycle times, it becomes difficult to recommend any of Lunacub’s Masteries. Still, she is not awful, so if you did want to invest in her, S2 is the clear choice. The Mastery gains on it are sizable and S1 doesn’t work with her Camouflage.

Vigil

Skill	Story	Advanced	Roguelike
S3M3	None	None	None
S1M3	None	None	None

Vigil has the extremely dubious honor of being the only completely ungraded 6★ in this Mastery guide. His summon is weak, his already mediocre DPS is reliant on that weak summon, his DP generation is low, and his main skill has a horrific initial ramp-up. There is no meta justification for spending your resources on Vigil.
Should you opt to pursue him anyway, you could go with either S1 or S3. His S3, is his better DPS skill and will probably be more generally useful. If you only do one (or rather, insist on doing at least one), S3 is the one to go with. In good conditions it can even reach some respectable DPS. However a bad cycle time, low DP generation, a reliance on his weak wolves blocking, and an absolutely horrific initial activation time seriously hinder what would already be a fairly niche skill.
His S1, meanwhile, is better for DP generation owing to a relatively forgiving cycle, and renewing a wolf does work around one of his kits' major flaws. However, his DP generation is still pitiful compared to other commonly available Vanguards, and it’s his lowest DPS skill. It's something you should only pursue if you're insistent on using Vigil over better options.
Pass on his S2. While you might initially think that it would be a nice, consistent AFK DP generation skill, it doesn't actually trigger if the wolves haven't spent the previous activation. This makes its effective DP generation extremely unreliable.

Qanipalaat

Skill	Story	Advanced	Roguelike
S2M3	C+	C+	C+

Qanipalaat is a nice little 5★ Caster with an interesting kit that has a good mix of control and damage. Levitate is a strong control status effect, and seven seconds on a 30 SP cost mixed with good damage can be pretty appealing. However, Levitate does have shortcomings, and the duration loss for heavier enemies is significant since his base duration is so long. In addition, 5★ Casters will forever be in an awkward spot thanks to Amiya and solid 4★ options, and Qanipalaat has an expensive 600 red certificate cost on top of the already expensive 5★ promotion costs. While he is decently usable, few will find him worth the price of admission.
Pass on his S1 unless you're a heavy Casterknights player. It has the exact same damage and cycle as Amiya's S1, with only the targeting priority setting it apart. The fact that his S1 has no way to inflict the Levitate means that it has no value that a good Marksman Sniper couldn’t cover better.

Quartz

Skill	Story	Advanced	Roguelike
S2M3	None	None	None

The first Crusher (and the second) miss the mark on design pretty hard. While Quartz may appear to be an HP tank, a complete lack of DEF or RES eliminates most scenarios that would actually be useful. She is, instead, incredibly fragile, and doesn’t even have the DPS to make up for it. Even fully maximized, her DPS is very low, although the stun on her S2 at least provides some decent control. Pass on her S1, which has worse DPS and will only outperform S2 against high DEF enemies that Quartz is unlikely to survive against anyway.
The correct priority decision with Crushers is to promote a Centurion instead. You will get much more value out of Estelle than you will out of Quartz.

Highmore

Skill	Story	Advanced	Roguelike
S1M3	A	A-	S

Outside of IS#3, Highmore is fairly inferior to La Pluma. La Pluma's Talent is just far better in the general game. However, Highmore is still an excellent unit due to a strong archetype, and her IS#3 mode specific Talent elevates her above her competitor there. While mode specific effects are rarely worth pursuing, Highmore is an exception, due not only the scale of IS#3 but also her decent value outside of it.
While La Pluma is a strong M6 candidate, Highmore is not. The debate of burst versus consistency isn’t here, and the defensive nature of her S2 is too situational. There will be rare places it excels in, but in a vast majority of cases you should stick with the consistency that her S1 brings. With S1 and her mode specific buff, she is one of the stronger starter picks due to her good damage, strong self-sustain, and functionality at E1. However, the reduced SP at S1M3 is big, so even if she works well at E1, she is well worth the extra Mastery investment.
​

Mastery Look Ahead

The Lone Trail units are included below, although hesitantly. I prefer to wait on units for a patch or too before reacting. However, because of how the schedules are offset, it may be a while until the next update and I know many people are interested in the units. Instead, I’ll leave the caveat that the assessments below of the Lone Trail units may change in the future and the likelihood I’m “wrong” here is slightly higher than normal.

Unit	Type	Comments
What the Firelight Casts
Puzzle	Welfare	A lot of people, myself included, initially scoffed at Puzzle. He clearly isn't as good as Cantabile (who almost everyone has) and has fairly high SP costs for a Vanguard. However, he's proven himself to be a solid option, especially for a Welfare. To be clear, he is nowhere near as valuable as Cantabile. He is more DPS oriented, which is nice, but not really the purpose of the role. However, his DPS and utility are good enough that his S2 warrants moderate consideration. It charges surprisingly quickly and outputs a ton of damage on top of his flexible archetype. His S1 may be worth considering as well, but it only gains damage at M2 and M3 so odds are it will be ungraded aside from the M1 breakpoint.
Harmonie	Gacha	Within the realm of 5★ Casters, Harmonie is pretty decent. How many times have I said that before? It's a crowded group. Harmonie is still far from a must-raise, but she stands out as having a well designed kit. It has decent damage, good utility, and it all works well together. Niche players especially will find her quite nice. S2 will be the obvious choice for Masteries and will likely end up with a modest grade. Although she exists in a crowded space, her utility along with solid gains will make it something to consider on the lower end of priority.
Reed the Flame Shadow	Gacha	How do you improve the often subpar Caster class? By making them a Medic, of course. Makes total sense. Duh. Reed's alter form is just the most recent big meta unit. There's a lot of those lately and I only have so many adjectives to describe how busted these units tend to be. Reed is a tremendous unit. She features the highest Arts ST DPS in the game, alongside some of the highest HPS and extremely flashy mass crowd-clearing to boot. However there is some reason for caution. Certainly she will be an upper crust unit, but a few small usability quirks may keep her off the very top. Unlike units like Surtr or Ch’alter she has to choose between ST or AoE damage, she needs other units to deal full ST damage, and Arts Weakening isn’t as good as RES shred. She is extremely strong but we’ll need some time to judge just exactly how strong. Regardless, Reed will be a top graded M6. Plan for both S2 and S3.
Where the Vernal Winds Will Never Blow
Jie Yun	Welfare	Jie Yun is one of those units that's quite good... for her rarity. While she lacks the utility that elevates the more meta 5★ options, she has solid damage and a surprisingly good cycle time. Beyond that, there isn't much else to say since her kit is pretty straightforward. Most players tight on resources won't want to invest, but she is good enough and has enough appeal outside of the meta that she'll garner a modest grade. Stick with S2 for Mastery. It is the better skill and has extremely strong gains. S1 has significantly worse DPS and its only real benefit is being auto recovery.
Firewhistle	Gacha	Fire Whistle is a good unit because her archetype is inherently strong. However, she has a slightly different niche than Ashlock. While Ashlock is useless if forced to block, Fire Whistle’s skills work mostly as normal (like Horn’s S2), making her an effective blocker as well as a long range nuker. In my opinion, this isn’t as valuable since effective blocking isn’t why you bring the archetype to begin with and Ashlock does the nuking part better. Still, Fire Whistle is quite good and much more forgiving. Both of her skills are usable and likely to be graded. While S2 has the greater total damage and is better for blocking, it has a notable lack of burst and a high SP cost. S1 meanwhile will be more consistent, reliable, and better against armor.
Lin	Gacha	Lin gets a unique achievement in this guide by getting a full overhaul in the look-ahead because of her Module. Previously she was a disappointing side grade to the already mediocre Carnelian, but her Module goes a long way to improving Lin and now she is a pretty good mid-tier consideration. With her Module she can tank most ranged attacks in the game even with skill up, but it also improves her previously bad cycle time. She can now be placed very aggressively while doing good total damage, making her (finally) a good evolution of the Phalanx archetype.
Chong Yue	Gacha Limited	Yet another hilariously busted unit. Chong Yue hits hard and fast over a long range. He also gets a lot out of buffs, meaning that he should scale nicely into difficult content. His kit can be deceptive since unlike other dual strike units, his hits count independently. This means he gains SP twice as fast and can even trigger his S3 off of the second attack. In fact, he activates his S3 so often that he is the new king of voice-line spam – to the point some might consider it a major drawback. edit: DV took so long to come out this was already patched. RIP. Anyway... However, he isn't quite very tip-top busted thanks to a few drawbacks. They are relatively minor but with how the power level of the game has escalated recently, they are worth at least acknowledging. He's a relatively frail one block unit with no self-sustain who also requires a fair bit of wind-up. Sharing his rate-up with the Lin, who is disappointing without an expensive Module, also hurts his value. It should make pull decisions quite interesting. His S3 is the only Mastery worth considering and it will have a top-tier grade. On top of being an extremely strong DPS skill, it has large improvements to his SP cost that are nearly mandatory to use him effectively.
A Death in Chunfen
Wind Chimes	Gacha	When Quartz was released, many were curious as to what the higher rarities of the Crusher archetype would bring. Turns out the first 5★ attempt is... really bad. Her primary gimmick is just too weak and her cycle time is just too long. Even if her S2’s SP cost was halved, she wouldn’t be good – but it isn’t, and she has a perplexing 30 second cycle for a paltry amount of damage. Wind Chimes is a unit to avoid, but if you were intent on raising her anyway I'd actually consider S1 instead despite the fact that it’s a generic Attack Up skill. The power on S2 is just so anemic that only two hits from S1 will out damage it (in less time than the 5 second wind-up), but even then she's quite a bit worse than the commonly available Centurions.
Qiu Bai	Gacha	Qiu Bai is a difficult unit to rank, and she has caused quite a bit of discussion. I suppose that means she's actually well balanced compared to the hyper-meta state of many recent units. Qiu Bai has some significant drawbacks such as an RNG factor, a lack of RES shred, and an unusually long downtime. However, her range, control, and strong multi-target DPS still give her a ton of potential. S3 is likely to be her "meta" skill when she appears in high end gameplay due to its extremely high DPS, but S2 will often be the better "every-day" skill due to its much shorter cycle. S1 may be appealing, too, since it is her most consistent control skill, though I am unsure if it will garner a grade. Regardless of how you intend to use her, S3 should be your highest priority target. It has some of the most extreme gains over Mastery of any skill in the game; Mastery will be essential to using it at all.
Leaves Chasing Fire
Rathalos S Noir Corne	Collab Gacha	Noir Corne is an interesting iteration on the Musha archetype. While the shortcomings are still there, his kit comes together better in total, and he brings enough burst and utility to make him something to consider, though far from mandatory or meta. His Mastery selection will be similar to his counterpart, Akafuyu, but will be graded higher. Both skills are strong, but have differing uses, so you will likely want to pursue both. If you only did one it's really a matter of preference, but I would start with S1. It handles both trash due to its reset and elites thanks to its block, plus the Offensive Recovery plays better to the archetype.
Kirin X Yato	Collab Gacha	Yet another super strong Limited Fast-Redeploy. Thanks HG, very cool. Yato isn’t quite as busted as Texas the Omertosa, but that’s hardly an insult. There is certainly room for both. For Masteries, Yato will range anywhere from a simple M3 all the way to M9 depending on your preferences. For many players, just Mastering S2 will suffice. It is the easiest skill to use and does so much damage that it covers the majority of use cases. S3 is also quite powerful, but it requires more planning and map knowledge to effectively use. While a strong skill and Mastery, not everyone will get as much use out of it. Finally, her S1 is a fringe consideration. It has extremely long uptime for an FRD and is buff receptive (think of Exusiai’s S3); however, it is much harder to use effectively and her other skills will be more than enough most of the time.
Chapter 12 - All Quiet Under the Thunder
Morgan	Welfare	Morgan is the best non-Siege member of the Siege gang (maybe better than Siege too, depending who you ask), but that wasn't a terribly high bar. Dreadnoughts without the raw power of the 6★ options have pretty limited value, but Morgan does make fairly good use of the archetype thanks to a very strong attack scale that works well with her large HP pool. While she will need healer support, Morgan’s S1 can pack a big punch on a good cycle which should let her pick up a grade (albeit a low one). Unfortunately, her S2 isn't worth much. The Barrier decays too fast to be useful, especially for how short of wind-up S1 has. S2 ultimately makes her much more fragile on a much longer effective cycle time for similar damage.
Humus	Gacha	The bones of the Reaper archetype are good, which natively makes Humus decent. However, since Highmore is freely available to everyone and so valuable in IS#3, it puts Humus in a bad spot regardless of how good he is. His kit does come together pretty nicely, however he has no niche above Highmore or La Pluma, and he will potentially be ungraded due to poor Mastery gains. Both skills will be usable, but S1 does not get the SP reduction that the 5*s do. Start with S2 instead, but even then the gains are well below average in even ideal circumstances.
Cement	Gacha	Cement was memed to death even before we knew her kit (and to be fair they are good memes, CONK CREET BAY BEE). Unfortunately though, her kit is pretty poor and she will be ungraded. She can have an insane amount of bulk with S2, but it's very specific to one-target, slow-attacking, and Physical enemies. Since most mechanics don't favor blocking in the first place and she has the Duelist's restrictive one-block, that just isn't valuable, and the bulk rapidly decays with a tough cycle time. If you were to promote her anyway, I would go with S1 for Masteries which at least has some decent damage output in a true AoE. However, the archetype's Trait restriction will make the relatively high SP cost (compared to similar skills) very limiting.
Ines	Gacha	Ines is a curious unit to discuss. She is a good unit, but not one that has lived up to impossible expectations which has muddied the discussion around her. Her damage is lower than people were expecting (given that Yato2 and Texas2 both came out recently and do more damage on faster redeploys). The situation is reminiscent of Saileach on her release; a powerful unit but an open question on if she is worth the cost compared to the more common and lower rarity options. Given that she is sandwiched between a collab and the anniversary limited, it should make the pull discussions when she comes to global very… spirited, let’s say. For the record, I am a big fan of her kit, but we’ll need some time to see how her kit fits into whatever new meta arises from the revamped CC and IS#4. Both S2 and S3 will have good grades, but right now I lean towards S2 first. Don’t bother with S1. It should be a nice AFK option, but the gains aren’t worth the investment.
Lone Trail
Silence the Paradigmatic	Welfare	Silence's alter form may be about as good as Abjurer's can get while still staying true to the archetype. While damage buffers like Gnosis and Suzuran will remain the best support options, Silence should be a reasonable alternative. It can be easy to read over her kit and come away unimpressed, but the total bulk she adds can end up being pretty extreme. Her S3 will be the highest-graded skill and should have one of the more decent support grades in the guide. Being able to turn any DPS unit into Surtr — better, even, since there is no forced retreat — is an incredibly powerful tool. Her S2 will be worth considering as well, though will mainly be for those who want more regular use out of her. It gives good bulk on a flexible range and an easier cycle, but since it lacks anything beyond damage mitigation, it will more likely end up in the pool of other typical healing and healing-adjacent skills.
Melanite	Gacha	Melanite is a pretty typical “modern” 5★. That is, decent enough to be usable with some niche value, but also nothing special meta-wise. She is the only non-6★, and only AoE, with dodge ignore (via her Module) which will make her appealing to many niche players. S2 will be her main skill with the high damage multiplier and piercing range both being very appealing for her rarity. However, true to her archetype, that S2 damage falls off quickly with range so she isn't the easiest unit to use. Her S2 will probably edge out a low grade due to that niche value and some very nice gains. Pass on her S1, which is just a poor skill all around.
Ho'olheyak	Gacha	While the big tiddy snek mommy has proven to be very popular among the hornier members of the community, she is a pretty poor unit in terms of meta. She is a higher rarity version of Qanipalaat, but while Qani gets some benefit of the doubt by only being a 5★, more is expected of the 6★, and the numbers are just not there with Ho'olheyak. Her control features are really nice, and she combos well with Dorothy, but ultimately her DPS is low and her cycle time is atrocious. S3 will be her main skill and the one to go for Mastery if you only do one since it mixes good control and range. However, the 60 SP cost is killer, so her other skills may be worth a look if you plan to make regular use out of her. S2 is likely the one you should go for as it has much better total DPS, though the double layer of RNG may be unpalatable depending on your tastes. Unfortunately for S1, its SP cost is higher than it should be so it ends up significantly inferior to comparable skills.
Muelsyse	Gacha Limited	I love and hate Muelsyse. She's one of the most interesting designed units we've ever had, but in the same vein she is very hard to write about! There's just so much going on in her kit; far more than I can cover in a one paragraph write-up, but I will try. It's easy to forget Muelsyse is a Vanguard since she doesn't seem like one, nor does her kit play like one. This is a good thing, given just how tight the “Vanguard meta” is, and how that affects units like Ines. Instead, Muelsyse is an extremely flexible unit that can cover a lot of ground in terms of damage, bait, and control... all while incidentally producing DP. While Muelsyse is powerful, it's a good question as to what exactly her meta value will be since "indirect" solutions don't tend to fare well; however, it’s likely that she will have high tier grades for Mastery. She will be a well graded M6 with both S2 and S3 worth pursuing. The DP, ATK buff, and cycle are all identical between them, but the clone effects differ and will be useful in different places, and flexibility is her strength. S1 may be worth considering at the very low end for melee clones, but for range clones it is inferior to the other skills.

Paprika [★★★★★]

C'mere, Doc. Try this on! Hm... Looks great on you. My nana knitted it for you! It matches mine, too! How's it feel? Comfy and warm, right? I told Nana all about you, and she called you a good egg!

A member of the Columbian mercenaries recruited to Londinium by Manfred. She and her squad left his command owing to conflicting ideals, and when they were ambushed, we were there to rescue them. Now employed by Rhodes Island, she provides on-field medical support to our combat squads.

Operator Information

• Class: Medic (Chain Healer)
• Tags: Healing
• Artist: 板板

Voice Actor:
JP: Yū Sasahara
CN: Zhou Yihan
EN: Erika Harlacher

Stats

HP	ATK	DEF	Arts Resistance	Redeploy Time	DP Cost	Block	Attack Interval
1666	439	171	0	70	18	1	2.85s

*Stats at max Promotion and Level, excludes bonuses from Potential and Trust.

Potential	Bonus
1	-
2	Deployment Cost -1
3	Redeployment Cooldown -4
4	Attack Power +24
5	Improves Talent
6	Deployment Cost -1

Trust bonus
Maximum HP +200
Attack Power +50

Traits
Restores HP of allies, bouncing between 3 allies. Healing reduced by 25% per bounce.

Skill Name	Skill Uptime Details (Initial/Cost/Uptime)	SP Charge Type	Skill Activation	Skill Description
Shielding Tactics γ	20 SP / 30 SP / 30s	Per Second	Manual Trigger	ASPD +85
Camaraderie	25 SP / 30 SP / 25s	Per Second	Manual Trigger	ATK +70%, bounces per heal +1, Talent activation threshold becomes 80% HP

Skills at Mastery 3.

Talent

Talent name	Talent Description
Focused Attention	When healing, heal an extra 150(+10) HP if target HP is below 40%

Additional Resources

In-depth information regarding all values above (at different levels), skill/attack range, and more:
GP Arknights Wiki
Arknights Toolbox (aceship)
Fandom Arknights Wiki

Topic Starters

• Strengths/Weaknesses?
• Is their module worth it? Which branch?
• How does this operator compare to other operators in their archetype or role?
• How do you fit this operator into a team? Who do they synergize with?
• Which skill(s) should be focused for mastery, and in what order?
• When is the best time to use this operator's skills during combat?
• Should promoting this operator to Elite 2 be a priority?
• Should new / F2P players aim for this operator? Are there more accessible alternatives?
• Lore discussion (please tag spoilers where appropriate)

Other Operator Discussion threads

List of Operator Discussion threads

Stainless [★★★★★★]

Doctor, I find it easy to trust people, but don't take me for stupid. If you were just another lot of plotting schemers, I would've taken up arms with no hesitation. But you see, if I offer a shake when I meet someone, that's all the more likely I've got a new friend. Haha, I'm glad my bet paid off here.

Stainless, a mechanical engineer and the leader of Squad 11 of the Londinium Citizens' Self-Salvation Corps. After fighting together with Rhodes Island during the Londinium incident, he signed a long-term cooperation agreement with Rhodes Island and currently participates as an engineer in various operations across Victoria.

Operator Information

• Class: Supporter (Artificer)
• Tags: Support, DPS
• Artist: 一千

Voice Actor:
JP: Takuma Terashima
CN: Huang Jinze
EN: Jack Ayres

Stats

HP	ATK	DEF	Arts Resistance	Redeploy Time	DP Cost	Block	Attack Interval
2823	593	421	0	70	19	2	1.5s

*Stats at max Promotion and Level, excludes bonuses from Potential and Trust.

Potential	Bonus
1	-
2	Deployment Cost -1
3	Redeployment Cooldown -6
4	Attack Power +25
5	Improves Second Talent
6	Deployment Cost -1

Trust bonus
Attack Power +40
Defense +40

Traits
Blocks 2 enemies
Can use Support Devices in battles

Skill Name	Skill Uptime Details (Initial/Cost/Uptime)	SP Charge Type	Skill Activation	Skill Description
Extreme Firepower	20 SP / 45 SP / 20s	Per Second	Manual Trigger	When this skill is equipped: Device gives an ally Operator ATK +12%. When activated, immediately gain a device. Attacks deal 200% of ATK as Physical damage, and device effects increase by 4x. All active devices are destroyed when skill expires
Efficient Resupply	25 SP / 50 SP / 30s	Per Second	Manual Trigger	When this skill is equipped: Device gives an ally Operator 1 SP every 3.5s. ATK+60%, DEF +60%, and attack all blocked enemies. Device boosted to grant 1SP every 2s, but HP loss is doubled. Gain 1 device when skill expires
Prototype of Feist's Metal Crab	20 SP / 35 SP / 30s	Per Second	Manual Trigger	When this skill is equipped: Device can be attacked by allied Operators, but does not take damage. Can deal area Physical damage with its skill, but loses HP. When activated, immediately gain a device, ATK +55%, ASPD +55

*Skills at Mastery 3.

Talent

Talent name	Talent Description
Battlefield Engineer	Can carry 3 Support Devices (deploy up to 2), with different effects depending on Skill
Cost Cutting	Stainless has a 80%(+10%) chance to recycle a device if it is destroyed within the 8 tiles surrounding him

Additional Resources

In-depth information regarding all values above (at different levels), skill/attack range, and more:
GP Arknights Wiki
Arknights Toolbox (aceship)
Fandom Arknights Wiki

Topic Starters

• Strengths/Weaknesses?
• Is their module worth it? Which branch?
• How does this operator compare to other operators in their archetype or role?
• How do you fit this operator into a team? Who do they synergize with?
• Which skill(s) should be focused for mastery, and in what order?
• When is the best time to use this operator's skills during combat?
• Should promoting this operator to Elite 2 be a priority?
• Should new / F2P players aim for this operator? Are there more accessible alternatives?
• Lore discussion (please tag spoilers where appropriate)

Other Operator Discussion threads

List of Operator Discussion threads

-I followed instructions on gamepress about gaining access to arknights cn servers(I'm on android), but when i sent them an email with my information on it, i received this instead.
**Dear player, hello (⌯'ㅅ'⌯)ﾉ♡:
This email is an [auto-reply].
Due to the adjustment of the customer service business, the current customer service email [email protected] is no longer used. If you have game-related questions, you can enter the line through the following link (https://game.bilibili.com/sdk/cs-h5/) Give feedback.
Thank you for your support!
Sincerely, Congratulations! bilibili game customer service**
-Any other email that i could contact them?

Hey there I am trying to find a go to website for good info. For example I am a big Arknights player and use Gamepress.gg for all my needs. Any recommendations for a legit Star Rail site and also for bonus the best streamers to pick up on YouTube? Any feedback appreciated!

title.
i've been looking through artstation and twitter and i'm constantly confused by how they design their characters. it feels like they add so many things and muddle up a whole character, but it still works. even more baffling is when people can make sense of what they are looking and draw fanart of them.
am i missing/forgetting something fundamental? even when i went to art classes and studied digital art i don't think anyone reached like, "this level" of detail and rendering that still makes sense when viewed as a whole.
is it just a case of me looking / thinking too hard about designs or something else? i genuinely dont understand.
examples :
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/QXx1LB
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/RyqkaA
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/e0eR9Y
https://gamepress.gg/arknights/sites/arknights/files/2023-05/%E7%AB%8B%E7%BB%98_%E9%9C%8D%E5%B0%94%E6%B5%B7%E9%9B%85_1.png
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/typemoon/images/7/70/ArcherTametomoStage1.jpg
https://gamepress.gg/arknights/sites/arknights/files/2022-08/char_4055_bgsnow_1.png

(All skills assuming at SL7. Gacha units assumed to be at Pot 1. Welfare unit assumed to be at Pot 6.. All units are assumed to be at E2 MAX and 100% Trust)

Silence the Paradigmatic - 6* Supporter [Abjurer] (Welfare)

◆ Stats (with 100% Trust): 2277 HP // 522 ATK // 184 DEF // 25 RES
◆ Cost: 10 12
◆ Attack Interval: 1.5s
◆ Trait: Deals Arts damage; When skill is active, attacks instead restore the HP of allies (heal amount is equal to 75% of ATK)
◆ Talent 1: Grants 10% [Sanctuary] to all allies within Attack Range. Effect increases the lower the HP (reaches 24% when HP is lower than 30%)
[Sanctuary]: Reduce Physical and Arts damage taken by the stated percentage (Does not stack, strongest effect takes precedence)
◆ Talent 2: Heals all allies whose HP is lower than 50% within Attack Range equivalent to 6% of Silence's ATK. Effect is doubled for [Rhine Lab] operators
◆ Skill 1 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Increases ATK by 50% (M3 - 80%)

• [10 (M3 - 15) Initial SP 30 SP Cost 25 Seconds]

◆ Skill 2 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Increases ASPD by 30 (M3 - 60), can use a Support Drone when skill is activated
When drone is deployed, applies a 2.4x (M3 - 3x) Talent 1 effect on nearby allies. Drone is destroyed when skill ends or Silence leaves the field

• [8 (M3 - 14) Initial SP 30 (M3 - 24) SP Cost 12 Seconds]

◆ Skill 3 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Increases ATK by 30%, increases the effect of Talent 1 to 1.8x. When an operator within Attack Range receives fatal damage, the operator's HP will not drop below 1 for 7 (M3 - 10) seconds. This will only trigger once per skill activation.

• [20 Initial SP 42 (M3 - 30) SP Cost 60 Seconds]

Can only be used twice in a battle, can be manually deactivated
◆ Base Skill 1: When this Operator is assigned to the HR Office, HR contacting speed +40%
◆ Base Skill 2: When this Operator is assigned to a Factory, productivity +30% (Note: it's the Rhine Lab variant)

Melanite - 5* Sniper [Heavyshooter]

◆ Stats (with 100% Trust): 1664 HP // 882 ATK // 210 DEF // 0 RES
◆ Cost: 15 17 19
◆ Attack Interval: 1.6s
◆ Trait: High accuracy point-blank shot
◆ Talent: After activating skill for the first time, deals 15% (Pot 5 - 16%) increased damage on subsequent skill activations
◆ Skill 1 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: When skill is activated, increase ATK by 60% (M3 - 80%) and Attack Interval by 0.8 seconds

• [20 (M3 - 25) Initial SP 40 SP Cost 30 Seconds]

◆ Skill 2 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: When skill is activated, fires an armor piercing bullet forward, dealing 450% (M3 - 500%) Physical damage to enemies along the way. Damage decreases the further the enemy is (minimum 180% damage)
Can hold 2 charges

• [6 Initial SP 18 (M3 - 15) SP Cost]

◆ Base Skill 1: When this Operator is assigned to be the Trainer in the Training Room, Sniper Operators' Specialization training speed +30%; if training this skill to Specialization Level 3, training speed will be further increased by +45%

Ho'olheyak - 6* Caster [Core Caster]

◆ Stats: 1770 HP // 723 ATK // 130 DEF // 0 RES
◆ Cost: 19 21
◆ Attack Interval: 1.6s
◆ Trait: Deals Arts damage
◆ Talent 1: Increases ATK against aerial targets to 120% (Pot 5 - 123%), and disables the target's special ability for 3 seconds
◆ Talent 2: All enemies within Attack Range whose HP is higher than 80% has [Weightless]
[Weightless]: Decreases Weight by 1
◆ Skill 1 [Per Second/Automatic Activation]: The next attack deals 240% (M3 - 300%) Arts damage and attacks an additional enemy. If this skill only hit one enemy, inflicts [Levitate] for 3 (M3 - 4) seconds
Can hold 2 (M3 - 3) charges
[Levitate]: Changes into an aerial unit and becomes unable to move, attack and use skills; Duration halved against enemies with more than 3 weight

• [0 Initial SP 8 (M3 - 7) SP Cost]

◆ Skill 2 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Attacks deal 9 bursts of 35% (M3 - 45%) Arts damage that randomly targets enemies within Attack Range. Each burst has a 12% chance of inflicting [Levitate] for 1 second

• [22 (M3 - 25) Initial SP 32 (M3 - 30) SP Cost 16 Seconds]

◆ Skill 3 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Attack Range expands, Attack Interval increases by 1.4 seconds, Attacks release Tornados that travel in a straight line forward. Tornados deal more damage the further it travels, reaching a maximum after travelling 3 tiles. Inflicts [Levitate] for 2 (M3 - 2.2) seconds and deals 380% (M3 - 420%) Arts damage on the first target that it hits

• [42 (M3 - 45) Initial SP 64 (M3 - 60) SP Cost 45 Seconds]

◆ Base Skill 1: When this Operator is assigned to the Reception Room, if no other Operators are working in the Reception Room, increases Clue search speed by 35%, self mood reduction per hour +1
◆ Base Skill 2: When this Operator is assigned to the Reception Room, if no other Operators are working in the Reception Room, after consuming 16 Morale, the next Clue will be Rhine Lab Clue

Muelsyse - 6* Vanguard [Tactician]

◆ Stats: 1813 HP // 537 ATK // 157 DEF // 0 RES
◆ Cost: 13 15
◆ Attack Interval: 1.25s
◆ Trait: This unit can designate one Tactical Point within attack range to call Reinforcements; ATK is increased to 150% when attacking enemies blocked by Reinforcements
◆ Talent 1: Can summon Fluid Body to copy a large portion of a standby operator's attributes (HP, ATK, DEF, RES, Block Count, ATK Interval, Attack Range, Damage Type, gains special traits depending on whether the operator is melee or ranged. The Fluid Body will automatically respawn after 25 seconds once defeated
◆ Talent 2: Decreases DP Cost of [Rhine Lab] operators in squad by 2, and additionally decreases the DP Cost for the first [Rhine Lab] operator deployed by 1 (Pot 5 - 2)
◆ Skill 1 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Gradually recovers 12 (M3 - 13) DP during skill duration. Increases ATK and ASPD by 35% (M3 - 50%) for self and Fluid Body

• [8 Initial SP 32 (M3 - 28) SP Cost 15 Seconds]

◆ Skill 2 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Immediately gains 14 (M3 - 15) DP, and increases ATK for self and Fluid Body by 35% (M3 - 50%). If Fluid Body is melee, recovers 3% (M3 - 5%) HP every second and gains 20% (M3 - 25%) [Sanctuary], if Fluid Body is ranged, attacks hit twice and randomly attacks enemies within range
[Sanctuary]: Reduce Physical and Arts damage taken by the stated percentage (Does not stack, strongest effect takes precedence)

• [15 (M3 - 18) Initial SP 39 (M3 - 35) SP Cost 15 Seconds]

◆ Skill 3 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Immediately gains 14 (M3 - 15) DP, and increases ATK for self and Fluid Body by 35% (M3 - 50%). If Fluid Body is melee, pulls all nearby enemies towards self slightly and Stuns all enemies blocked by self every 2 seconds, if Fluid Body is ranged, refreshes all Fluid Bodies, and attacks inflict [Bind] for 1.5 seconds
[Bind]: Unable to move

• [15 (M3 - 18) Initial SP 39 (M3 - 35) SP Cost 15 Seconds]

◆ Base Skill 1: When this Operator is assigned to a Dormitory, self Morale recovered +0.7 per hour, and restores +0.2 Morale per hour to all Operators assigned to that Dormitory (Only the strongest effect of this type takes place)
◆ Base Skill 2: When this Operator is assigned to a Power Plant, increases the drone recovery rate by +10%, for every [Rhine Lab] operator (maximum limit of 5) except self assigned in Base, increases the drone recovery rate by an additional +3%

Fluid Body

Fluid Body: Can copy an operator from Deployment Zone. If the Fluid Body is ranged, after attacking 10 times, can split itself onto the surrounding 4 tiles that are deployable (lasts for 25 seconds). if the Fluid Body is melee, each attack [Steal] 10 ATK and DEF from the enemy (has an upper limit of 250, resets upon copying someone)
[Steal]: Reduce the target's base stats and add them to the user's own stats. The target's stat decrease and the user's stat increase cannot exceed the specified limit (strongest effect takes precedence)
◆ Stats: 2000 HP // 302 ATK // 257 DEF // 0 RES
◆ Copy Skill [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Has 95 Initial SP, 100 SP Cost, has a CD of 20 seconds (Copy can be deactivated when CD is up)

Update Contents:

[Content]
◆ [Operators' Records]/[Paradox Simulation] is updated for the following operators:

• Dorothy
  
• Paprika
  
• Totter
  
• Glaucus
  
• Frostleaf
  

◆ [Exclusive Module] is updated for the following operators:
For Talent Upgrades, numbers are taken at Elite 2 Potential 1 unless otherwise stated. Bolded indicate the change for that current module stage

Operator	Stage	Stat Buff	Special Buff
Gnosis	1	HP +105, ATK +15, DEF +15	Trait Upgrade: Deals Arts damage, attacks inflict 10% Weaken effect for 2 seconds
	2	HP +125, ATK +20, DEF +20	Talent Upgrade: Attacks inflict Cold for 1 second; Apply 25% -> 28% Fragile effect to Cold enemies within range. Frozen enemies within range receive double the Fragile effect
	3	HP +145, ATK +25, DEF +30	Talent Upgrade: Attacks inflict Cold for 1 second; Apply 28% -> 30% Fragile effect to Cold enemies within range. Frozen enemies within range receive double the Fragile effect
Pramanix	1	HP +100, ASPD +4	Trait Upgrade: Deals Arts damage, attacks inflict 10% Weaken effect for 2 seconds
	2	HP +140, ASPD +6	Talent Upgrade: Attacks 2 enemies simultaneously, attacks have a 20% chance of inflicting Cold for 1 second
	3	HP +180, ASPD +8	Talent Upgrade: Attacks 2 enemies simultaneously, attacks have a 20% -> 25% chance of inflicting Cold for 1 second
Shamare	1	ATK +10, DEF +15	Trait Upgrade: Deals Arts damage, attacks inflict 10% Weaken effect for 2 seconds
	2	ATK +20, DEF +25	New Talent: After being deployed for 15s, is less likely to be targeted by enemies
	3	ATK +30, DEF +35	New Talent: After being deployed for 15s -> 10s, is less likely to be targeted by enemies
Rosmontis	1	HP +175, ATK +55	Trait Upgrade: Attacks deal three instances of Physical damage to ground enemies in a small area (The second and third instances are shockwaves that have half the normal ATK)
	2	HP +250, ATK +65	Talent Upgrade: Attacks ignore 160 -> 190 DEF
	3	HP +275, ATK +75	Talent Upgrade: Attacks ignore 190 -> 220 DEF
Greyy The Lightningbearer	1	HP +100, ATK +20, DEF +10	Trait Upgrade: Attacks deal three instances of Physical damage to ground enemies in a small area (The second and third instances are shockwaves that have half the normal ATK)
	2	HP +200, ATK +30, DEF +12	Talent Upgrade: Attacks have 40% chance to Slow the target for 2 seconds, and deals 10% more damage towards Slowed targets
	3	HP +240, ATK +40, DEF +15	Talent Upgrade: Attacks have 40% chance to Slow the target for 2 seconds, and deals 10% -> 15% more damage towards Slowed targets
Ho'olheyak	1	HP +120, ATK +40	Trait Upgrade: Deals Arts damage and ignores 10 RES
	2	HP +150, ATK +55	Talent Upgrade: Increases ATK to 120% -> 130% against aerial targets, and disables the target's special ability for 3s -> 4s
	3	HP +175, ATK +65	Talent Upgrade: Increases ATK to 130% -> 135% against aerial targets, and disables the target's special ability for 4s -> 5s
Melanite	1	ATK +45, DEF +20	Trait Upgrade: High accuracy point-blank shot, increases ATK to 105% when attacking enemies directly in front, and ignores their Physical Dodge
	2	ATK +60, DEF +25	Talent Upgrade: After activating skill for the first time, deals 15% -> 19% damage on subsequent skill activations
	3	ATK +75, DEF +30	Talent Upgrade: After activating skill for the first time, deals 19% -> 24% damage on subsequent skill activations
W (Module 2)	1	HP +160, ATK +45	Trait Upgrade: Deals AOE Physical damage, and ignores 100 DEF
	2	HP +180, ATK +65	Talent Upgrade: After remaining deployed for 10 seconds, obtains 60% Physical and Arts Dodge, and is less likely to be targeted by enemies. If W does not take damage for 20 seconds, increases ATK gradually to +10%, and resets ATK once damage is taken
	3	HP +200, ATK +85	Talent Upgrade: After remaining deployed for 10 -> 8s, obtains 60% Physical and Arts Dodge, and is less likely to be targeted by enemies. If W does not take damage for 20s -> 16s, increases ATK gradually to +10% -> +20% percentage, and resets ATK once damage is taken
Kal'tsit (Module 2)	1	HP +115, ASPD +5	Trait Upgrade: Restores the HP of allies, when healing melee units, healing effectiveness is increased by 15%
	2	HP +155, ASPD +6	Talent Upgrade: Can use and heal Mon3tr, and Mon3tr has a 25 second redeployment time. Kal'tsit will prioritize healing herself and Mon3tr; If Mon3tr is within Kal'tsit's Attack Range, Mon3tr gains 12 ASPD and +15% DEF; If Mon3tr is not within Kal'tsit's Attack Range, Mon3tr's DEF is reduced to 0
	3	HP +195, ASPD +7	Talent Upgrade: Can use and heal Mon3tr, and Mon3tr has a 25 second redeployment time. Kal'tsit will prioritize healing herself and Mon3tr; If Mon3tr is within Kal'tsit's Attack Range, Mon3tr gains 12 -> 20 ASPD and +15% -> +20% DEF; If Mon3tr is not within Kal'tsit's Attack Range, Mon3tr's DEF is reduced to 0

◆ English voiceover is updated for certain operators:

• Muelsyse
  
• Silence the Paradigmatic
  
• Ho'olheyak
  
• Dorothy
  
• Mlynar
  
• Flametail
  
• Greyy the Lightningbearer
  
• Proviso
  
• Silence
  
• Greyy
  

◆ Korean voiceover is updated for certain operators:

• Dorothy
  
• Mlynar
  
• Greyy the Lightningbearer
  
• Proviso
  

◆ Dialect voiceover is updated for certain operators:

• Lee
  
• Aak
  
• Waai Fu
  
• Hung
  

◆ Added a new term [Weaken]: Reduces target's ATK by the stated percentage (strongest effect takes precedence)
[Skins]

• Twines of Time - Orchid (Free)
  
• Eine Variation - Ebenholz (18 OP)
  
• Ten Thousand Mountains - Ch'en the Holungday (21 OP)
  
• Born as One - Specter the Unchained (21 OP)
  
• Remnant - Kal'tsit (24 OP)
  

Credits: MJYW, Reddit1rules, Boelthor, Nahoma, https://www.bilibili.com/read/cv23411687

(All skills assuming at SL7. Gacha units assumed to be at Pot 1. Welfare unit assumed to be at Pot 6.. All units are assumed to be at E2 MAX and 100% Trust)

Silence the Paradigmatic - 6* Supporter [Abjurer] (Welfare)

◆ Stats (with 100% Trust): 2277 HP // 522 ATK // 184 DEF // 25 RES
◆ Cost: 10 12
◆ Attack Interval: 1.5s
◆ Trait: Deals Arts damage; When skill is active, attacks instead restore the HP of allies (heal amount is equal to 75% of ATK)
◆ Talent 1: Grants 10% [Sanctuary] to all allies within Attack Range. Effect increases the lower the HP (reaches 24% when HP is lower than 30%)
[Sanctuary]: Reduce Physical and Arts damage taken by the stated percentage (Does not stack, strongest effect takes precedence)
◆ Talent 2: Heals all allies whose HP is lower than 50% within Attack Range equivalent to 6% of Silence's ATK. Effect is doubled for [Rhine Lab] operators
◆ Skill 1 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Increases ATK by 50% (M3 - 80%)

• [10 (M3 - 15) Initial SP 30 SP Cost 25 Seconds]

◆ Skill 2 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Increases ASPD by 30 (M3 - 60), can use a Support Drone when skill is activated
When drone is deployed, applies a 2.4x (M3 - 3x) Talent 1 effect on nearby allies. Drone is destroyed when skill ends or Silence leaves the field

• [8 (M3 - 14) Initial SP 30 (M3 - 24) SP Cost 12 Seconds]

◆ Skill 3 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Increases ATK by 30%, increases the effect of Talent 1 to 1.8x. When an operator within Attack Range receives fatal damage, the operator's HP will not drop below 1 for 7 (M3 - 10) seconds. This will only trigger once per skill activation.

• [20 Initial SP 42 (M3 - 30) SP Cost 60 Seconds]

Can only be used twice in a battle, can be manually deactivated
◆ Base Skill 1: When this Operator is assigned to the HR Office, HR contacting speed +40%
◆ Base Skill 2: When this Operator is assigned to a Factory, productivity +30% (Note: it's the Rhine Lab variant)

Melanite - 5* Sniper [Heavyshooter]

◆ Stats (with 100% Trust): 1664 HP // 882 ATK // 210 DEF // 0 RES
◆ Cost: 15 17 19
◆ Attack Interval: 1.6s
◆ Trait: High accuracy point-blank shot
◆ Talent: After activating skill for the first time, deals 15% (Pot 5 - 16%) increased damage on subsequent skill activations
◆ Skill 1 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: When skill is activated, increase ATK by 60% (M3 - 80%) and Attack Interval by 0.8 seconds

• [20 (M3 - 25) Initial SP 40 SP Cost 30 Seconds]

◆ Skill 2 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: When skill is activated, fires an armor piercing bullet forward, dealing 450% (M3 - 500%) Physical damage to enemies along the way. Damage decreases the further the enemy is (minimum 180% damage)
Can hold 2 charges

• [6 Initial SP 18 (M3 - 15) SP Cost]

◆ Base Skill 1: When this Operator is assigned to be the Trainer in the Training Room, Sniper Operators' Specialization training speed +30%; if training this skill to Specialization Level 3, training speed will be further increased by +45%

Ho'olheyak - 6* Caster [Core Caster]

◆ Stats: 1770 HP // 723 ATK // 130 DEF // 0 RES
◆ Cost: 19 21
◆ Attack Interval: 1.6s
◆ Trait: Deals Arts damage
◆ Talent 1: Increases ATK against aerial targets to 120% (Pot 5 - 123%), and disables the target's special ability for 3 seconds
◆ Talent 2: All enemies within Attack Range whose HP is higher than 80% has [Weightless]
[Weightless]: Decreases Weight by 1
◆ Skill 1 [Per Second/Automatic Activation]: The next attack deals 240% (M3 - 300%) Arts damage and attacks an additional enemy. If this skill only hit one enemy, inflicts [Levitate] for 3 (M3 - 4) seconds
Can hold 2 (M3 - 3) charges
[Levitate]: Changes into an aerial unit and becomes unable to move, attack and use skills; Duration halved against enemies with more than 3 weight

• [0 Initial SP 8 (M3 - 7) SP Cost]

◆ Skill 2 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Attacks deal 9 bursts of 35% (M3 - 45%) Arts damage that randomly targets enemies within Attack Range. Each burst has a 12% chance of inflicting [Levitate] for 1 second

• [22 (M3 - 25) Initial SP 32 (M3 - 30) SP Cost 16 Seconds]

◆ Skill 3 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Attack Range expands, Attack Interval increases by 1.4 seconds, Attacks release Tornados that travel in a straight line forward. Tornados deal more damage the further it travels, reaching a maximum after travelling 3 tiles. Inflicts [Levitate] for 2 (M3 - 2.2) seconds and deals 380% (M3 - 420%) Arts damage on the first target that it hits

• [42 (M3 - 45) Initial SP 64 (M3 - 60) SP Cost 45 Seconds]

◆ Base Skill 1: When this Operator is assigned to the Reception Room, if no other Operators are working in the Reception Room, increases Clue search speed by 35%, self mood reduction per hour +1
◆ Base Skill 2: When this Operator is assigned to the Reception Room, if no other Operators are working in the Reception Room, after consuming 16 Morale, the next Clue will be Rhine Lab Clue

Muelsyse - 6* Vanguard [Tactician]

◆ Stats: 1813 HP // 537 ATK // 157 DEF // 0 RES
◆ Cost: 13 15
◆ Attack Interval: 1.25s
◆ Trait: This unit can designate one Tactical Point within attack range to call Reinforcements; ATK is increased to 150% when attacking enemies blocked by Reinforcements
◆ Talent 1: Can summon Fluid Body to copy a large portion of a standby operator's attributes (HP, ATK, DEF, RES, Block Count, ATK Interval, Attack Range, Damage Type, gains special traits depending on whether the operator is melee or ranged. The Fluid Body will automatically respawn after 25 seconds once defeated
◆ Talent 2: Decreases DP Cost of [Rhine Lab] operators in squad by 2, and additionally decreases the DP Cost for the first [Rhine Lab] operator deployed by 1 (Pot 5 - 2)
◆ Skill 1 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Gradually recovers 12 (M3 - 13) DP during skill duration. Increases ATK and ASPD by 35% (M3 - 50%) for self and Fluid Body

• [8 Initial SP 28 (M3 - 32) SP Cost 15 Seconds]

◆ Skill 2 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Immediately gains 14 (M3 - 15) DP, and increases ATK for self and Fluid Body by 35% (M3 - 50%). If Fluid Body is melee, recovers 3% (M3 - 5%) HP every second and gains 20% (M3 - 25%) [Sanctuary], if Fluid Body is ranged, attacks hit twice and randomly attacks enemies within range
[Sanctuary]: Reduce Physical and Arts damage taken by the stated percentage (Does not stack, strongest effect takes precedence)

• [15 (M3 - 18) Initial SP 39 (M3 - 35) SP Cost 15 Seconds]

◆ Skill 3 [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Immediately gains 14 (M3 - 15) DP, and increases ATK for self and Fluid Body by 35% (M3 - 50%). If Fluid Body is melee, pulls all nearby enemies towards self slightly and Stuns all enemies blocked by self every 2 seconds, if Fluid Body is ranged, refreshes all Fluid Bodies, and attacks inflict [Bind] for 1.5 seconds
[Bind]: Unable to move

• [15 (M3 - 18) Initial SP 39 (M3 - 35) SP Cost 15 Seconds]

◆ Base Skill 1: When this Operator is assigned to a Dormitory, self Morale recovered +0.7 per hour, and restores +0.2 Morale per hour to all Operators assigned to that Dormitory (Only the strongest effect of this type takes place)
◆ Base Skill 2: When this Operator is assigned to a Power Plant, increases the drone recovery rate by +10%, for every [Rhine Lab] operator (maximum limit of 5) except self assigned in Base, increases the drone recovery rate by an additional +3%

Fluid Body

Fluid Body: Can copy an operator from Deployment Zone. If the Fluid Body is ranged, after attacking 10 times, can split itself onto the surrounding 4 tiles that are deployable (lasts for 25 seconds). if the Fluid Body is melee, each attack [Steal] 10 ATK and DEF from the enemy (has an upper limit of 250, resets upon copying someone)
[Steal]: Reduce the target's base stats and add them to the user's own stats. The target's stat decrease and the user's stat increase cannot exceed the specified limit (strongest effect takes precedence)
◆ Stats: 2000 HP // 302 ATK // 257 DEF // 0 RES
◆ Copy Skill [Per Second/Manual Activation]: Has 95 Initial SP, 100 SP Cost, has a CD of 20 seconds (Copy can be deactivated when CD is up)

Update Contents:

[Content]
◆ [Operators' Records]/[Paradox Simulation] is updated for the following operators:

• Dorothy
  
• Paprika
  
• Totter
  
• Glaucus
  
• Frostleaf
  

◆ [Exclusive Module] is updated for the following operators:
For Talent Upgrades, numbers are taken at Elite 2 Potential 1 unless otherwise stated. Bolded indicate the change for that current module stage

Operator	Stage	Stat Buff	Special Buff
Gnosis	1	HP +105, ATK +15, DEF +15	Trait Upgrade: Deals Arts damage, attacks inflict 10% Weaken effect for 2 seconds
	2	HP +125, ATK +20, DEF +20	Talent Upgrade: Attacks inflict Cold for 1 second; Apply 25% -> 28% Fragile effect to Cold enemies within range. Frozen enemies within range receive double the Fragile effect
	3	HP +145, ATK +25, DEF +30	Talent Upgrade: Attacks inflict Cold for 1 second; Apply 28% -> 30% percentage of Fragile effect to Cold enemies within range. Frozen enemies within range receive double the Fragile effect
Pramanix	1	HP +100, ASPD +4	Trait Upgrade: Deals Arts damage, attacks inflict 10% Weaken effect for 2 seconds
	2	HP +140, ASPD +6	Talent Upgrade: Attacks 2 enemies simultaneously, attacks have a 20% chance of inflicting Cold for 1 second
	3	HP +180, ASPD +8	Talent Upgrade: Attacks 2 enemies simultaneously, attacks have a 20% -> 25% chance of inflicting Cold for 1 second
Shamare	1	ATK +10, DEF +15	Trait Upgrade: Deals Arts damage, attacks inflict 10% Weaken effect for 2 seconds
	2	ATK +20, DEF +25	New Talent: After being deployed for 15s, is less likely to be targeted by enemies
	3	ATK +30, DEF +35	New Talent: After being deployed for 15s -> 10s, is less likely to be targeted by enemies
Rosmontis	1	HP +175, ATK +55	Trait Upgrade: Attacks deal three instances of Physical damage to ground enemies in a small area (The second and third instances are shockwaves that have half the normal ATK)
	2	HP +250, ATK +65	Talent Upgrade: Attacks ignore 160 -> 190 DEF
	3	HP +275, ATK +75	Talent Upgrade: Attacks ignore 190 -> 220 DEF
Greyy The Lightningbearer	1	HP +100, ATK +20, DEF +10	Trait Upgrade: Attacks deal three instances of Physical damage to ground enemies in a small area (The second and third instances are shockwaves that have half the normal ATK)
	2	HP +200, ATK +30, DEF +12	Talent Upgrade: Attacks have 40% chance to Slow the target for 2 seconds, and deals 10% more damage towards Slowed targets
	3	HP +240, ATK +40, DEF +15	Talent Upgrade: Attacks have 40% chance to Slow the target for 2 seconds, and deals 10% -> 15% more damage towards Slowed targets
Ho'olheyak	1	HP +120, ATK +40	Trait Upgrade: Deals Arts damage and ignores 10 RES
	2	HP +150, ATK +55	Talent Upgrade: Increases ATK to 120% -> 130% against aerial targets, and disables the target's special ability for 3s -> 4s
	3	HP +175, ATK +65	Talent Upgrade: Increases ATK to 130% -> 135% against aerial targets, and disables the target's special ability for 4s -> 5s
Melanite	1	ATK +45, DEF +20	Trait Upgrade: High accuracy point-blank shot, increases ATK to 105% when attacking enemies directly in front, and ignores their Physical Dodge
	2	ATK +60, DEF +25	Talent Upgrade: After activating skill for the first time, deals 15% -> 19% damage on subsequent skill activations
	3	ATK +75, DEF +30	Talent Upgrade: After activating skill for the first time, deals 19% -> 24% damage on subsequent skill activations
W (Module 2)	1	HP +160, ATK +45	Trait Upgrade: Deals AOE Physical damage, and ignores 100 DEF
	2	HP +180, ATK +65	Talent Upgrade: After remaining deployed for 10 seconds, obtains 60% Physical and Arts Dodge, and is less likely to be targeted by enemies. If W does not take damage for 20 seconds, increases ATK gradually to +10%, and resets ATK once damage is taken
	3	HP +200, ATK +85	Talent Upgrade: After remaining deployed for 10 -> 8s, obtains 60% Physical and Arts Dodge, and is less likely to be targeted by enemies. If W does not take damage for 20s -> 16s, increases ATK gradually to +10% -> +20% percentage, and resets ATK once damage is taken
Kal'tsit (Module 2)	1	HP +115, ASPD +5	Trait Upgrade: Restores the HP of allies, when healing melee units, healing effectiveness is increased by 15%
	2	HP +155, ASPD +6	Talent Upgrade: Can use and heal Mon3tr, and Mon3tr has a 25 second redeployment time. Kal'tsit will prioritize healing herself and Mon3tr; If Mon3tr is within Kal'tsit's Attack Range, Mon3tr gains 12 ASPD and +15% DEF; If Mon3tr is not within Kal'tsit's Attack Range, Mon3tr's DEF is reduced to 0
	3	HP +195, ASPD +7	Talent Upgrade: Can use and heal Mon3tr, and Mon3tr has a 25 second redeployment time. Kal'tsit will prioritize healing herself and Mon3tr; If Mon3tr is within Kal'tsit's Attack Range, Mon3tr gains 12 -> 20 ASPD and +15% -> +20% DEF; If Mon3tr is not within Kal'tsit's Attack Range, Mon3tr's DEF is reduced to 0

◆ English voiceover is updated for certain operators:

• Muelsyse
  
• Silence the Paradigmatic
  
• Ho'olheyak
  
• Dorothy
  
• Mlynar
  
• Flametail
  
• Greyy the Lightningbearer
  
• Proviso
  
• Silence
  
• Greyy
  

◆ Korean voiceover is updated for certain operators:

• Dorothy
  
• Mlynar
  
• Greyy the Lightningbearer
  
• Proviso
  

◆ Dialect voiceover is updated for certain operators:

• Lee
  
• Aak
  
• Waai Fu
  
• Hung
  

◆ Added a new term [Weaken]: Reduces target's ATK by the stated percentage (strongest effect takes precedence)
[Skins]

• Twines of Time (Free)
  
• Eine Variation - Ebenholz (18 OP)
  
• Ten Thousand Mountains - Ch'en the Holungday (21 OP)
  
• Born as One - Specter the Unchained (21 OP)
  
• Remnant - Kal'tsit (24 OP)
  

Credits: PRTS

Totter [★★★★]

Why I like snow, you wonder? Let me think... Does never seeing it in Sargon count? Heh, it's not really that deep. People always have their inexplicable fancies.

Totter, real name Totter, is a semi-retired mercenary living in the forests along the border of Victoria. To repay a favor, he left the forests and came to the battlefields of Londinium at great personal risk. After the incident concluded, he chose to occasionally participate as a sniper in Rhodes Island's fieldwork.

Operator Information

• Class: Sniper (Besieger)
• Tags: DPS
• Artist: 板板

Voice Actor:
JP: Chikahiro Kobayashi
CN: Liu Beichen
EN: Mercer Boffey

Stats

HP	ATK	DEF	Arts Resistance	Redeploy Time	DP Cost	Block	Attack Interval
1550	920	105	0	70	22	1	2.4s

*Stats at max Promotion and Level, excludes bonuses from Potential and Trust.

Trust bonus
Attack Power +50
Defense +40

Traits
Attacks the heaviest enemy first

Skill Name	Skill Uptime Details (Initial/Cost/Uptime)	SP Charge Type	Skill Activation	Skill Description
Sunpiercer	0 SP / 3 SP / -	Attacking Enemy	Auto Trigger	The next attack targets 1 more enemy and deals 220% ATK as Physical damage
Prism Break	25 SP / 40 SP / 30s	Per Second	Manual Trigger	ASPD +50, each attack targets 2 more enemies; if only one enemy is hit, deals 225% ATK as Physical damage

*Skills at Mastery 3.

Talent

Talent name	Talent Description
Illuminating Eyes	Can attack Invisible enemies. If there are Invisible enemies within attack range, ATK +20% (+3%)

Additional Resources

In-depth information regarding all values above (at different levels), skill/attack range, and more:
GP Arknights Wiki
Arknights Toolbox (aceship)
Fandom Arknights Wiki

Topic Starters

• Strengths/Weaknesses?
• How does this operator compare to other operators in their archetype or role?
• How do you fit this operator into a team? Who do they synergize with?
• Which skill(s) should be focused for mastery, and in what order?
• When is the best time to use this operator's skills during combat?
• Should promoting this operator to Elite 2 be a priority?
• Should new / F2P players aim for this operator? Are there more accessible alternatives?
• Lore discussion (please tag spoilers where appropriate)

Other Operator Discussion threads

List of Operator Discussion threads

Kazemaru's always seemed to fly under the radar; with the release of her skin I thought it would be a good time to make a guide to call attention to how good of a unit she is.

Basic Information

Kazemaru is a 5* Dollkeeper Specialist, meaning she's a Guard by a different name with a baked in way to cheat death. Compared to her branchmates Kaze focuses exclusively on dps, boasting two amazing skills--especially her signature s2 which summons her Kaminingyo to fight alongside her. The "catch" is that her skills are so good that she wants to avoid using her ability to cheat death because it cuts into her skill uptime.

Offensive Stats

Kaze has high Attack, a 1.2 second attack interval, above-average dps, and a standard 1x2 range. Overall her stats are on par with 5* Guards, and she has reasonable dph too.

Defensive Stats

Kaze has average HP, below-average Defense, 0 Res, and 2 block. By stats alone her bulk is a little below-average, though she's not too squishy. As a Dollkeeper her trait provides plenty of extra survivability, but she also has forced HP loss on all her skills.

Cost and Trust

Kaze costs 15 DP to deploy, almost as low as a 5* Vanguard. Her trust bonus is full offense, +80 Attack. The low DP cost is a big advantage for Kaze, letting you open stages with her and making her easier to fit in.

Trait: Does not retreat upon receiving lethal damage, instead swaps to a doll with 0 block for 20 seconds, then swaps back to the original.

The doll can be weird, so here are the basics. The doll is not a separate unit like Phantom's clone but a set of modifiers applied to Kaze's stats, so it shares the same bonuses from trust/potential/module base stats, and can be healed or buffed like a regular operator. Switching to or from the doll will fully heal Kaze's HP and remove all status effects and debuffs (even permanent ones); elemental damage buildup is not healed. But switching also resets her SP to 0, deactivates her skills, and removes buffs like Warfarin's s2. While in doll form she cannot gain SP and her SP bar instead shows the remaining duration of the doll, and she dies for real if killed in doll form. The doll's range is a 3x3 square centered on her, deals single-target physical damage, and its attacks can hit flying enemies
The game tags all Dollkeepers as "Fast Redeploy", and for once the tagging is accurate. Much like Executors, the doll lets Kaze get back in the action quickly after "dying", fully healing herself in the process. While unlike Executors the doll is automated and doesn't allow repositoning, Dollkeepers have better stats and generally better skills, plus the doll itself can fight back rather than Kaze having to leave the field entirely. And since the doll blocks 0 melee enemies can't attack it; barring strong ranged enemies it's all but impossible to truly kill Kaze.
Now, Kaze has an extra layer of complication on top of all this: her s2. S2 claims to summon the doll, but in reality the Kaminingyo it summons is a separate unit like Phantom's clone. The Kaminingyo is mostly identical to the doll, but has two important differences from the doll: it does not benefit from potential/module (but always has stats as if Kaze was at max trust), and cannot hit flying enemies. Unlike most summons (but like the doll), it can be healed directly.

Talent: From Paper Comes Life

When the doll or Kaminingyo is summoned, it will deal 270% of its ATK as Arts Damage to all ground enemies in the surrounding 8 tiles.
Thanks to the high multiplier this talent often kills whatever "killed" Kaze (it does ~2.1k damage if Kaze is max level) and the true AoE lets it wipe out trash mobs, giving her some breathing room and you time to react if she "dies". The greatest value of this talent comes form its interaction with s2, however, and will be covered then.

Module: PUM-X

Stage 1: +45 Attack, +25 Defense. Doll gains +15% Attack. Stage 2: +55 Attack, +35 Defense. From Paper Comes Life now has a 280% multiplier when the doll is summoned instead. Stage 3: +65 Attack, +40 Defense. From Paper Comes Life now has a 285% multiplier when the doll is summoned instead.
While this module is good for a generic +damage module in theory, it has one massive flaw: absolutely none of it applies to s2's Kaminingyo, not the base stats, not the +15% Attack, not even the enhanced multiplier for her talent! Given that the Kaminingyo is a bit more than 50% of s2's damage output, this module is much less beneficial than it appears. Adding insult to injury, the +15% Attack doesn't apply to her talent activation when she "dies". The first level may still be worth considering, as it provides ~+22% Attack total to the on-death doll and the elite material used is t4 Polyester (which many veterans have more of than they can spend), but is a luxury option. Only get the upgrades if you're intent on maxing out your Kazemaru.

First Skill: Origami Art - Swift Strike

At m3{m0} Origami Art - Swift Strike has 0 initial SP, costs 2{3} SP, recovers SP by attacking, lasts for a single attack, and is automatically activated. It gives the affected attack a 350%{275%} attack multiplier and causes Kazemaru to lose HP equal to 10% of her max HP.
Power Strike has always been a good skill, and Kaze gets a version that deals even more damage at the cost of self-damage. The self-damage can force out the doll faster (and thus proc her talent more often), but in practice Kaze's doll is weaker than her s1 so you normally use this skill alongside a healer. On the other hand, in situations where there are extremely powerful melee enemies but weak/no ranged enemies, the low SP cost lets her get in a few skill activations before being forced to swap back to the doll.
S1 is a great skill in its own right thanks to high sustained dps and dph, but even so it pales in comparison to s2 in most content. The primary exceptions are IS and SSS; s1 has excellent scaling with all kinds of buffs, which both of those game modes provide in spades.

Second Skill: Origami Art - Twin Shadows

At m3{m0} Origami Art - Twin Shadows has 15{10} initial SP, costs 20 SP, recovers SP over time, lasts 20 seconds, and is manually activated. Upon casting the skill Kazemaru instantly loses 50% of her current HP and summons a Kaminingyo on a surrounding melee tile, which despawns when the skill ends (including Kazemaru "dying"). For the duration of the skill, both Kazemaru and the Kaminingyo gain +120%{+90%} Attack.
The Kaminingyo will be summoned on the same tile as an enemy if one is available (if there are multiple eligible enemies then normal aggro rules are followed); if there are enemies within the 3x3 summon range but their tiles are not available then the Kaminingyo will be summoned on the nearest available tile; if there are no enemies within the 3x3 summon range the Kaminingyo is summoned on a random tile, even if there are enemies nearby that the Kamingyo could reach if summoned onto a specific tile (within a 5x5 range but not a 3x3 range). This skill cannot reduce Kazemaru's HP below 1.
S2 is a fantastic skill; in terms of dps it just about ties Bagpipe s3, but is on a mere 20s cooldown. The 40s rotation with 50% uptime makes it easy to have this skill up for virtually every wave, and with 15/20 initial SP you can helidrop it as well. The Kaminingyo even activates her talent when it appears for a 270% nuke...that benefits from the skill's +120% Attack, hitting for ~4.6k damage if Kaze is max level. The HP loss is surprisingly negligible; the Kaminingyo will naturally take aggro from ranged enemies since it will have deployed more recently and many melee enemies can barely reach Kaze thanks to s2's sheer dps. If they do reach she can drop just as quickly, but even if she does "die" the doll will still have a chance to finish the job and will fully heal her when she returns. Another benefit of this skill is that since the Kaminingyo is summoned in a 3x3 square around Kaze and has a 3x3 range of its own, it can potentially reach any enemy within a 5x5 square centered on Kaze, offering massive coverage if you can get it to spawn on the correct tiles. Making use of this extra range will effectively halve the dps since Kaze herself can't reach, but most melee operators couldn't even dream of reaching most of these tiles to begin with.
It's hard for me to praise s2 enough, though not as hard as it is for any other skill to match s2's mix of great dps and great rotation with extended range while being attached to a 2 block operator with nigh-immortality that only costs about as much DP as a Vanguard.

Mastery Choices

S2's masteries are a little on the weak side, providing only ~16% more dps during the skill and 5 initial SP. Even so, with as much dps as s2 does 16% is still enough to notice, and the 5 extra initial SP is helpful for helidropping her, so it's highly recommended you get s2m3 if you're using Kaze. If you are interested in s1 for IS/SSS or just to mix things up you'll need to put masteries on it; as a Power Strike type skill it has a major breakpoint at m3.

Usage

It's easy to get Kaze to pull her own weight by simply treating her as a Guard; the complexity comes in when taking advantage of the Dollkeeper trait.

General Tips

While above I have said that Kazemaru generally wants to avoid swapping to her doll, it's not that her doll is outright terrible like base Spec2's doll, it's just that the doll isn't as good as her skills. Compared to her basic attacks the doll trades away block for extra range (and +15% Attack if you have her module); it doesn't do so well vs elites, but it can handle trash mobs just fine as long as there aren't too many, and her talent will help clear enemies that may have piled up. And given that the doll's the key to her self-sustain you'll end up using it anyway, so it's better to know how to make the most of it. The trick is controlling when Kaze "dies", with the main method being timing s2--sometimes it's better to delay s2's activation so that Kaze takes more damage instead of killing the enemies asap, potentially allowing her to swap to her doll at a safer time. Or you can just take the simple approach of giving her a healer; doing this means not exploiting the theoretical infinite self-sustain via the doll but improves Kaze's ability to fight stronger enemies. Her skills are more than enough for her to pull her weight, and the doll still gives her a safety net in case something can "kill" her in spite of the healing she'll be recieving.

Filter

Yet another way to handle the doll is to simply accept that some enemies will leak and have someone else to catch them, typically another blocker. How exactly this plays out depends on how far ahead Kaze is compared to that other operator.
If you put Kaze 1-2 tiles ahead then it's generally possible to ensure that Kaze, the Kaminingyo, and the other operator can all reach enemies that leak past Kaze. If you're dealing with enemies that have too much dps for Kaze to handle, like Enraged Possessed Leaders, then you can put a tank behind Kazemaru to hold them while Kaze provides the dps. Otherwise it's usually best to pair with an operator who has extended range such as Lords, s2 Blaze, and Fortresses who can also reach enemies blocked by Kazemaru. In this case Kaze acts as the tank, using her self-sustain to avoid the need for a healer while providing much more dps than most tanks could.
If you put Kaze further ahead then she generally can't cooperate with the other operator, but the advantage of this is that she keeps whatever she's fighting away from your other operators. In this case the intent is that elites/bosses will be able to bypass Kaze and windup in a prepared killzone, where ranged operators can focus fire on the elites/bosses without being distraced by the trash mobs Kaze will be holding off. It can also be helpful if you're dealing with enemies that have AoE/multitarget/chain attacks, preventing them from exploiting clumped up operators.

Vanguard

Kaze makes for an amazing first deploy; while she may not generate DP she's cheap, has the damage output and rotation to keep up with all but the most unrelenting rushes, and doesn't need a healer. She can solo hold a lane for a long time--possibly for the entire stage if there isn't too much pressure--giving you more time to get other operators out and saving you any DP that would otherwise be spent on reinforcements. And she can be positioned much more aggressively than many Vanguards, though it's best to leave at least 1 tile between her and the red box so there's space for the Kaminingyo.

Integrated Strategies

IS favors operators who can adapt to different situations and fill multiple roles, and Kazemaru certainly fits that description: she's got great dps, a fast rotation, can potentially cover multiple lanes, is cheap enough to deal with rushes if you lack a Vanguard, can keep herself alive if you lack healers, and can be used as bait. As a Specialist she even uses tickets that normally have less competition and can be chosen as a starter in the Vanguard/SnipeSpecialist squad, as a 5* she doesn't cost too much Hope, and she does well even at e1. She also has high relic compatability--since s1 is a Power Strike type skill it benfits greatly from the usual +ASPD, spinach, and SP battery relics, as well as any +Attack she can get, and as a Dollkeeper she's even eligible for the Hand of Superspeed. But she's not reliant on getting good relics, as s2 is already good on its own. Do note that her talent is sadly unaffected by spinach and the like even if it's activated via s2 or she "dies" to s1's recoil.

Synergies

This'll be a short section; Kaze is another operator without many synergies beyond the trivial ones.

Healers

This one isn't as trivial as you might expect, especially given her branch. I keep bringing up how Kaze's skills are much better than her doll, and healers are the simplest way to ensure more skill and less doll uptime. Another way to look at it is that for Kazemaru healers functionally act as SP batteries as well, on top of any direct SP they may provide.

Bards

Bards have a few advantages for Kazemaru: they provide enough healing to balance out her self-damage, they provide Attack buffs which scale well with Kaze's high multipliers, and those Attack buffs are AoE so they can affect both Kaze and the Kaminingyo whereas most other buffers can only target one. Skadi2 s2 in particular has infinite duration so there's no need to worry about cycling, and the extra healing and Defense buff helps shore up Kaze's squishier stats. Heidi s1 comes with the double-edged sword of 0 block; while it can cause Kaze to leak, it also provides a chance for her to release an enemy that would have otherwise "killed" her. Heidi s1 also has a rotation that's even faster than Kaze s2's with a 10s duration and 20s cooldown, and with Kaze s2 double-dipping on the Attack buff thanks to having two buff targets it can often turn the tables and kill said powerful enemy instead.

Quercus

Quercus s2 is a powerful SP battery, but is contigent on her healing the target and thus is most consistent on operators with self-damage. Kazemaru s1 is an example, and as a Power Strike type skill it benefits greatly from SP support. Additionally, Quercus has enough hps and a fast enough rotation to help make up for Kaze s1's self-damage. The one thing to watch out for is SP lockout--while Kaze is using s1 she can't recover SP, but if Quercus has nothing to do but heal Kaze's self-damage she'll heal before s1 finishes and the SP will be lost. But in practice Kaze will normally be getting attacked too and/or Quercus will cover multiple operators; in either case Quercus will be kept busy enough that she won't heal Kaze ASAP during s1 and the SP will be gained as expected.

Base Skills

At e0 Kazemaru's base skill is Fading into Shadow, a Reception Room skill. Fading into Shadow increases clue search speed by 15%
At e2 Kazemaru gains a second base skill, Proficient Artistry, also a Reception Room skill. Proficient Artistry increases clue search speed by a further 35% assuming Kazemaru is the only operator assigned to the Reception Room.
This skill provides a total +50% clue speed if Kazemaru is solo; given that the best generic RR skills are only +25%, this may seem like a top-tier skill. However, there are hidden clue search speed increases based on the elite promotion of the operators (0% for e0, 8% for e1, 16% for e2), and their rarity (5% for 1/2/3*, 7% for 4*, 9% for 5*, 10% for 6*). For Kazemaru that's an extra +25%, giving +75% total, but you miss out on the bonuses from having a second operator. With them even a cheap combo like e1 Gitano+e1 Rope can hit +75%, and the expensive e2 Ch'en1+e2 Astesia goes as high as +101%.
Edit: u/MetaThPr4h has pointed out that an operator at 0 morale will still count for the hidden bonuses, but will not interfere with Kaze's base skill. This lets you get +101% with Kaze+0 morale e2 6*, making it one of the best RR combos.

Closing

This guide was short, as Kazemaru's a relatively simple operator to use; it's just that most people haven't looked at her numbers enough to realize how good they are. Do ask any questions you have however, as the doll and Kaminingyo have a lot of minor details to them. Next up is a Penance guide once her banner arrives. As always, here's a link to the Operator Guide Repository maintained by u/LastChancellor, also available in the subreddit's sidebar.
In case you'd like to see Kazemaru in action for yourself, here are some videos (only content EN has already gotten though, in case you're worried about spoilers). These are generally showing her performance in extreme scenarios and at max level, but they should give you an idea of what her upper limit is like.

• 7-18, 3 Specialists, s2 Kazemaru/s1 Projekt Red/s2 Jaye
• 7-18, 2 Dollkeepers, s2 Kazemaru/s3 X2 Specter2
• 9-13, 3 operators drawn by 温泉瓜, s2 Kazemaru/s2 Blacknight/s2 Cantabile
• 10-6 adverse, 2 Specialists, s2 Kazemaru/s3 Lee
• 10-12, 3 Dollkeepers, s2 Kazemaru/s2 Bena/s3 X3 Specter2
• GA-EX-8, 5 operators drawn by 温泉瓜, s2 Kazemaru/others (including Qiubai)
• SN-EX-8, 5* Felines only, s2 Kazemaru/others
• SN-S-2-B, 4 e2 1 5*s, s2 Kazemaru/s2 Lappland/s2 Specter1/s2 Mulberry
• DV-8, 4 5* Felines only, s2 Kazemaru/s2 Indra/s1 Quercus/s2 Rockrock

EP11: Return To Mist

Event Duration

Stages open on: April 27, 2023, 10:00 (UTC-7) - End Of Service
Event Duration: April 27, 2023, 10:00 (UTC-7) – May 11, 2023, 03:59 (UTC-7)
 

Event Overview

 
 

Banner - Bearings And Sparks

 
 

Skins & Furniture
Lee - Trust Your Eyes
Iris - Mirror Visitor
Kazemaru - Like Illusion
-
Shining Steps Re-Edition Outfits
Ambience Synesthesia/II Tailor-Provided Re-Edition Outfits
Ambience Synesthesia Tailor-Provided
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Saint-Marsol Classroom

 

GP Event Guides	Official Links	New Operators
General Guide	Official Tailer	Stainless
-	Animation PV	Dagda
-	Operator Preview	Paprika
-	Teaser	Totter

Remember to mark spoilers when discussing event story details! The code for spoilers is: >!spoiler text goes here!<
This is how it looks: spoiler text goes here

Well this game out of nowhere. I thought I had another week to put this one out. Yostar ruins any attempt at predicting schedule yet again. Ahh well, content is content, though I would have much rather had IS#3!
Apologies for any grammar mistakes this time. My editor is wrapped up with HSR stuff and we thought we had another week still on this one. Oops. Now you all have to suffer with my mistakes and run-on sentences.
This article specifically covers the new units from the An Obscure Wanderer event. The main guide covering the rest of the game can be found here on Gamepress. The Gamepress version of this update can be found here. Please note that although the reddit version of the main guide still exists, I no longer maintain it to the same extent and it may be out of date. Refer to the Gamepress guide for the most up to date information!

FAQ and Banner Discussion

Q: Should I pull?
A: No. The decision here is essentially the same as Dorothy was, but a bit worse. Stainless is not a bad unit, but he is also not one that will appeal to a lot of players, and unlike Dorothy, he needs other units to really shine. He is a creative unit that opens up many possibilities, but suffers from the age-old problem many support units suffer from - why not just bring another DPS unit instead? To stand-out, a support unit has to be really special (like Skadi the Corrupting Heart) or be attached to a strong base body (like Warfarin or Ptilopsis). Stainless is notably poor on his own, so many players will find what he does to be very gimmicky and not worth the effort. With two of the worst possible supporting 5★s (Paprika, who is bad, and Cliffheart, who is free) and an ultra-meta limited in two(ish) short weeks (Texas the Omertosa), there isn’t a lot of reason to spend your rolls here unless you personally find Stainless or his gameplay to be appealing.
​
Q: What's this about a big grade update?
A: OK I admit no one really asked this question. I'm just using this as a platform to bring it up!
I've noted this in passing in a few places, but I've been working on a large-scale grade update. There's several reasons for this, and I tend to do one about once a year. Now is an opportune time to look over everything and update anything that looks out of alignment.
Most of this is a matter of consistency since the guide is done update by update. Naturally, not everything lines up perfectly. However some of the grades also require adjustments as the meta shifts over time. Additionally, IS#3 is right around the corner, and while I don't plan to do a full update like I did for IS#2, there are adjustments that need to be made.
I don't plan to do a full article for these changes. Most of them are simple things and uninteresting. It's just not worth the extra effort. Some of them are big though, so if you're curious to see a compilation of the specific updates you can check them out on this post. I just finished up a bulk of the work in the rush to get it done before this article!
​
Q: Any Module thoughts this time?
A: Global - Chapter 11 - There are no Modules with this patch, likely due to the short difference in time between IS#3 and Il Siracusano on CN.
Global - Mizuki and the Caerula Arbor - This isn’t out yet, but I wrote this early anticipating it would be out first. So much for that. It shouldn't be long though (:copium:), so I’ll leave it here for reference since there won’t be a new update for IS#3.
Dusk’s second Module is pretty good here. Not “must get” territory, but enough that she got a small grade touch up which I included as part of the larger grade rollout from last week. Kal’s Module is also decent, but won’t influence her grades since she’s already so meta.
CN - Leaves Chasing Fire - Not much to say for this patch. Ifrit’s Module is pretty good, but won’t affect her grades. The rest is pretty unimpressive, not counting Yato who is so good it doesn’t matter if her Module is anything special.
CN - Chapter 12 - The Modules this patch are generally extremely good.
The biggest winner is Lin, though since she isn’t out yet I can’t say she’ll get any grade adjustments. She will be graded better on her release than she might normally be. Her look-ahead down below has been updated to reflect this.
Carnelian’s Module is a decent one as well, but it isn’t as good as Lin’s and a lot of Carne’s flaws are unaddressed so she’s likely to remain unchanged.
Last, Dorothy’s Module is also extremely good. It won’t affect her S2 or S3 since that core role remains unchanged (just better) but it may result in her S1 picking up a grade. The higher attack multiplier on S1 means it benefits more from the crit mines. Mixed with the built in DEF reduction, it lets Dorothy take on some really tough targets, though a layer of RNG on top of an already advanced unit will be unpalatable for many.
​
Q: Were there updates for Highmore and Luo Xiaohei?
A: Yes, I put them out a couple of weeks ago but it wasn’t worth putting together a whole article for them. If you missed them, they are available in the main guide or on their Operator pages over on Gamepress.
​
Q: Where’s IS#3?
A: Great question. To be completely honest, I have no idea. Yostar really threw me for a loop by overlapping banners here. Hopefully it won’t be long, but really at this point I don’t even have good speculation since none of the scenarios seem that plausible.
It’s nearly impossible to accurately predict anything these days. Yostar has violated most basic prediction tenants at this point. It’s anything goes these days.
​
Q: Anything else?
A: Oddly... no. This banner is a really lackluster one among a sea of super powerful banners, but I can only discuss that in so many ways before it feels like beating a dead horse. It feels unnecessary to harp on that fact. That, plus the fast turnaround from the previous event, means there really isn't much else of interest to discuss.
​

Episode 11 - Return to Mist

Stainless

Skill	Story	Advanced	Roguelike
S3M3	A-	A-	B
S1M3	C+	B	C
S2M3	None	None	None

Stainless is a tricky unit to give Mastery suggestions for as he is reliant on other units to be effective. All of his skills are support oriented, to include his S3. While he can, of course, use S3 on his own, the DPS without someone else is quite poor. S3 is the standout here, but the support nature and some odd Mastery gains makes him quite nuanced and he could reasonably range from "don't raise at all" to "full M9", depending on what you want out of him.
His DPS support role with S3 is the best starting point due it's extreme flexibility, and some flaws in his other skills. The first thing to note is that his S3 has significantly better Mastery gains than it appears. This can't be seen in his operator page directly so it is easy to overlook, but the turret's internal skill that deals the damage also improves over Mastery. From SL 7 to S3M3, the direct damage increases from 260% to 300% and the splash damage increases from 120% to 150%. You can see these details over on the the CN wiki.
That out of the way, his turrets add a huge amount of flexibility to your DPS units. For some examples, he can safely extend the range of more fragile DPS units. He can convert low damage-per-hit (DPH) units like Exusiai into high DPH units to help them overcome armor. He can double dip on multi-hit units like Mlynar or La Pluma. He can charge Offensive Recovery skills like Thorns S3 or Ines S1. There are many more, but it would be a fool's errand to attempt to list them all.
However, that all can seem gimmicky if there isn't a good place to take advantage of these things. With the way AK is designed, these sorts of things are never a necessity, and it is not always easy to come up with these trickier solutions. While it is his best skill, ultimately his S3 is still a luxury relative to its potential.
Meanwhile, his S1 and S2 are more typical support skills. While not bad skills on their own, they do suffer from some fatal flaws that keep them out of meta consideration. Primarily, it is that Stainless is not a good unit on his own. Since deployment slots are limited, the best support units are those that justify the spot on the field. In Stainless' case he does nothing outside of turrets and has relatively poor stats. Compare that to Operators like Warfarin or Ptilopsis who are amazing Medics with strong general purpose Talents. This makes the Mastery gains on his S2 especially poor since a bulk of the "benefit" is focused on his own stats and the actual buff gets no benefit aside from a tiny cycle time improvement. His S1 meanwhile has better gains, but again since he is a fairly poor unit, it relegates that role to meme comps instead of being more general purpose like Skadi2 or Warfarin.
In summary, start with S3M3 (if you do any at all) and stop there. Use S2 regularly, but it will be fine at SL 7. Only pursue Mastery as a matter of luxury. Finally, consider S1 as a secondary option if you want to open up a few more possibilities with him.

Paprika

Skill	Story	Advanced	Roguelike
S2M3	None	None	None

Paprika's archetype is an odd one. While on occasion it can be useful to reach out further than the normal range, in a large majority of cases a Chain Healer will just be worse than an AoE healer. Add on the fact that Paprika has no utility to speak of beyond healing, she becomes really tough to recommend. Her one saving grace, at least, is a fairly high amount of healing-per-second (HPS), but that is almost never worth the investment and multiple other 5★ Medics have her beat along with better utility. If you are looking to raise her anyway, the best skill is sort of a toss up. The improved trigger at S2M3 makes her healing numbers more reliable and the extra bounce will allow her to reach out of her range further. However the improved speed at S1 will allow her to better cover more units within her own range if they aren't close together and generally has better total healing if it can reliably trigger her Talent. Pick your poison here, but I would ultimately suggest her S2 since being able to reach out of her range is at least a unique aspect compared to other Medics.

Totter

Skill	Story	Advanced	Roguelike
S2M3	B-	B-	B-
S1M3	C+	C+	C+

Totter is a pretty nice unit. He isn't mandatory to raise, but he has a unique and rare niche combined with a powerful range. While it is not a full on invisible reveal, he is one of only two purely Ranged units (as of this writing) that can interact with invisible enemies (Tsukinogi is the other, Scene requires her Melee buggies to be deployed). Given the inexpensive costs to promote a 4★, he is a decent utility to have available. His skills split a fairly typical "consistent vs burst" divide which can make selection a matter of preference. You can potentially do both for Masteries, but if you only do one, I slightly favor the better burst and larger gains of S2.

Dagda

Skill	Story	Advanced	Roguelike
S2M3	None	None	None

Dagda is not a unit you should be investing in. There just isn't any value in a one-block, low Physical attack, single-target unit. Her S2 DPS actually isn't terrible on paper, but enemies of any consequence that she'd be useful against are far and few between. If you plan to raise her anyway, S2 is the obvious choice. It does have decent DPS, a decent cycle, and hits a bit harder than most other Brawler skills. Meanwhile, her S1 being Defensive Recovery kills any potential value it might have (except for meme combos with Blemishine). However, even her S2 Mastery gains are fairly paltry, so invest here with extreme caution.
​

Mastery Look Ahead

Episode 12 units are added below, plus Lin is updated due to her really good Module. The new CN limited isn't out yet so they are not included yet.

Unit	Type	Comments
Mizuki and the Caerula Arbor
Highmore	Welfare	Highmore is very similar to La Pluma to the point their S1 is literally identical. La Pluma is still the better unit in general since her ASPD talent is better for what the class does, but Highmore will still be a very viable alternative (or addition, double reaper go brrrr). This is especially true in IS#3 where she is the better pick with some big advantages thanks to her mode specific talent. There is a much bigger difference across their S2s however, with Highmore’s being far less valuable. The bulk that her S2 brings isn’t as useful and is much more niche in addition to some pretty poor gains. Stick with just her S1 for Mastery which makes her a very consistent and reliable option in IS#3. La Pluma will perform better elsewhere though.
Il Siracusano
Vigil	Welfare	Vigil looks to be the weakest 6★ of 2022. Even on paper, his kit isn’t very good. It has low DP gen, no ATK improvement, and no real utility. However, it's even worse than that. His wolves, which his skills are reliant on, are incredibly weak. They are statistically worse than Beanstalk's or Blacknight's pets, and the supposed benefits of them come nowhere close to making up the difference. If that weren't enough, there are many bizarre interactions in his kit, bordering on bugs, which remain unfixed as of this writing. There's too many to list here in this look ahead, but check this write-up by Boelthor for some more info. You'll get much better value raising Blacknight, or even Beanstalk. I hope this changes by his release on EN, but as it stands, he'll be among the lowest graded 6★s post-Module upgrades.
Lunacub	Gacha	Lunacub’s permanent stealth will certainly have some uses, but her DPS isn't high enough to justify the added investment. Her cycle time is perplexingly long for a year four unit, and the lack of attack multiplier on her S2 means she'll struggle more compared to her competition. She's a bit like Kirara in that regard: a nice idea hamstrung by poor damage and skill uptime. She'll be ungraded, but go with S2 if you particularly like her.
Penance	Gacha	If you relied only on the initial flurry of highlights, you could be forgiven for thinking that Penance is the hyper meta unit of this banner. She is a cautionary tale of not using only Youtube/Bilibili highlights to guide your opinion. Of course, she’s still a monster of a unit. She hits hard, has a mountain of bulk, and an absolutely incredible damage reflect. She is potentially the best solo lane holder in a lot of scenarios. However, for general purposes, Mudrock remains the go to choice, as Penance’s kit works poorly in a full team comp. Because she is reliant on having enemies to kill in order to maintain her bulk, she ends up rather inflexible compared to her competitors. S3 will be her main skill worth Mastery. Her other two skills are fine, and big Penance fans will find both of them useful, but her S3 is far and away the best option. They won't justify the investment cost for most.
Texas the Omertosa	Gacha Limited	Texas is the banner’s real winner and the latest to power creep an older unit (RIP in pieces Phantom). She is extremely powerful and is at the very tip-top of the meta. She has better ST Arts DPS than both Surtr and Eyja. Not only that, she also has a mountain of utility; her S2 has a strong RES debuff which makes her effective against nearly all enemies, her S3 has range, anti-air, and heavy crowd-control, and that's on top of the benefits of being a FRD. Both her S2 and S3 will receive top tier grades. She will be the highest graded M6 yet, so plan for both.
Quartz	Red Cert Shop	Quartz certainly has an eye-catching stat-line, but she isn't any better than other alternatives, even at her rarity. She mainly seems to be here to tease the ridiculous stats the eventual 6★ on the archetype will have. She'll be ungraded due to said alternatives. There just isn't much value in raising her beyond novelty. However, you'll want to prioritize S2 should that appeal to you.
Qanipalaat	Red Cert Shop	Qanipalaat is a fairly interesting unit with some unique aspects to his kit. He's pretty decent too, for his rarity, with good crowd control and reasonable damage. However the ever present problem with the 5★ Casters is present here. It's a crowded group and being just decent isn't enough to particularly standout. Ultimately he doesn't justify the investment, especially with the added red cert cost. The Mastery gains on his S2 are pretty good, so he may end up with a low grade, but he shouldn't be on most people's planners for any reason but personal desire. Pass on his S1 which is just a worse version of Amiya's S1.
What the Firelight Casts
Puzzle	Welfare	A lot of people, myself included, initially scoffed at Puzzle. He clearly isn't as good as Cantabile (who almost everyone has) and has fairly high SP costs for a Vanguard. However, he's proven himself to be a solid option, especially for a Welfare. To be clear, he is nowhere near as valuable as Cantabile. He is more DPS oriented, which is nice, but not really the purpose of the role. However, his DPS and utility are good enough that his S2 warrants moderate consideration. It charges surprisingly quickly and outputs a ton of damage on top of his flexible archetype. His S1 may be worth considering as well, but it only gains damage at M2 and M3 so odds are it will be ungraded aside from the M1 breakpoint.
Harmonie	Gacha	Within the realm of 5★ Casters, Harmonie is pretty decent. How many times have I said that before? It's a crowded group. Harmonie is still far from a must-raise, but she stands out as having a well designed kit. It has decent damage, good utility, and it all works well together. Niche players especially will find her quite nice. S2 will be the obvious choice for Masteries and will likely end up with a modest grade. Although she exists in a crowded space, her utility along with solid gains will make it something to consider on the lower end of priority.
Reed the Flame Shadow	Gacha	How do you improve the often subpar Caster class? By making them a Medic, of course. Makes total sense. Duh. Reed's alter form is just the most recent big meta unit. There's a lot of those lately and I only have so many adjectives to describe how busted these units tend to be. Reed is a tremendous unit. She features the highest Arts ST DPS in the game, alongside some of the highest HPS and extremely flashy mass crowd-clearing to boot. However there is some reason for caution. Certainly she will be an upper crust unit, but a few small usability quirks may keep her off the very top. Unlike units like Surtr or Ch’alter she has to choose between ST or AoE damage, she needs other units to deal full ST damage, and Arts Weakening isn’t as good as RES shred. She is extremely strong but we’ll need some time to judge just exactly how strong. Regardless, Reed will be a top graded M6. Plan for both S2 and S3.
Where the Vernal Winds Will Never Blow
Jie Yun	Welfare	Jie Yun is one of those units that's quite good... for her rarity. While she lacks the utility that elevates the more meta 5★ options, she has solid damage and a surprisingly good cycle time. Beyond that, there isn't much else to say since her kit is pretty straightforward. Most players tight on resources won't want to invest, but she is good enough and has enough appeal outside of the meta that she'll garner a modest grade. Stick with S2 for Mastery. It is the better skill and has extremely strong gains. S1 has significantly worse DPS and its only real benefit is being auto recovery.
Firewhistle	Gacha	Fire Whistle is a good unit because her archetype is inherently strong. However, she has a slightly different niche than Ashlock. While Ashlock is useless if forced to block, Fire Whistle’s skills work mostly as normal (like Horn’s S2), making her an effective blocker as well as a long range nuker. In my opinion, this isn’t as valuable since effective blocking isn’t why you bring the archetype to begin with and Ashlock does the nuking part better. Still, Fire Whistle is quite good and much more forgiving. Both of her skills are usable and likely to be graded. While S2 has the greater total damage and is better for blocking, it has a notable lack of burst and a high SP cost. S1 meanwhile will be more consistent, reliable, and better against armor.
Lin	Gacha	Lin gets a unique achievement in this guide by getting a full overhaul in the look-ahead because of her Module. Previously she was a disappointing side grade to the already mediocre Carnelian, but her Module goes a long way to improving Lin and now she is a pretty good mid-tier consideration. With her Module she can tank most ranged attacks in the game even with skill up, but it also improves her previously bad cycle time. She can now be placed very aggressively while doing good total damage, making her (finally) a good evolution of the Phalanx archetype.
Chong Yue	Gacha Limited	Yet another hilariously busted unit. Chong Yue hits hard and fast over a long range. He also gets a lot out of buffs, meaning that he should scale nicely into difficult content. His kit can be deceptive since unlike other dual strike units, his hits count independently. This means he gains SP twice as fast and can even trigger his S3 off of the second attack. In fact, he activates his S3 so often that he is the new king of voice-line spam – to the point some might consider it a major drawback. edit: DV took so long to come out this was already patched. RIP. Anyway... However, he isn't quite very tip-top busted thanks to a few drawbacks. They are relatively minor but with how the power level of the game has escalated recently, they are worth at least acknowledging. He's a relatively frail one block unit with no self-sustain who also requires a fair bit of wind-up. Sharing his rate-up with the Lin, who is disappointing without an expensive Module, also hurts his value. It should make pull decisions quite interesting. His S3 is the only Mastery worth considering and it will have a top-tier grade. On top of being an extremely strong DPS skill, it has large improvements to his SP cost that are nearly mandatory to use him effectively.
A Death in Chunfen
Wind Chimes	Gacha	When Quartz was released, many were curious as to what the higher rarities of the Crusher archetype would bring. Turns out the first 5★ attempt is... really bad. Her primary gimmick is just too weak and her cycle time is just too long. Even if her S2’s SP cost was halved, she wouldn’t be good – but it isn’t, and she has a perplexing 30 second cycle for a paltry amount of damage. Wind Chimes is a unit to avoid, but if you were intent on raising her anyway I'd actually consider S1 instead despite the fact that it’s a generic Attack Up skill. The power on S2 is just so anemic that only two hits from S1 will out damage it (in less time than the 5 second wind-up), but even then she's quite a bit worse than the commonly available Centurions.
Qiu Bai	Gacha	Qiu Bai is a difficult unit to rank, and she has caused quite a bit of discussion. I suppose that means she's actually well balanced compared to the hyper-meta state of many recent units. Qiu Bai has some significant drawbacks such as an RNG factor, a lack of RES shred, and an unusually long downtime. However, her range, control, and strong multi-target DPS still give her a ton of potential. S3 is likely to be her "meta" skill when she appears in high end gameplay due to its extremely high DPS, but S2 will often be the better "every-day" skill due to its much shorter cycle. S1 may be appealing, too, since it is her most consistent control skill, though I am unsure if it will garner a grade. Regardless of how you intend to use her, S3 should be your highest priority target. It has some of the most extreme gains over Mastery of any skill in the game; Mastery will be essential to using it at all.
Leaves Chasing Fire
Rathalos S Noir Corne	Collab Gacha	Noir Corne is an interesting iteration on the Musha archetype. While the shortcomings are still there, his kit comes together better in total, and he brings enough burst and utility to make him something to consider, though far from mandatory or meta. His Mastery selection will be similar to his counterpart, Akafuyu, but will be graded higher. Both skills are strong, but have differing uses, so you will likely want to pursue both. If you only did one it's really a matter of preference, but I would start with S1. It handles both trash due to its reset and elites thanks to its block, plus the Offensive Recovery plays better to the archetype.
Kirin X Yato	Collab Gacha	Yet another super strong Limited Fast-Redeploy. Thanks HG, very cool. Yato isn’t quite as busted as Texas the Omertosa, but that’s hardly an insult. There is certainly room for both. For Masteries, Yato will range anywhere from a simple M3 all the way to M9 depending on your preferences. For many players, just Mastering S2 will suffice. It is the easiest skill to use and does so much damage that it covers the majority of use cases. S3 is also quite powerful, but it requires more planning and map knowledge to effectively use. While a strong skill and Mastery, not everyone will get as much use out of it. Finally, her S1 is a fringe consideration. It has extremely long uptime for an FRD and is buff receptive (think of Exusiai’s S3); however, it is much harder to use effectively and her other skills will be more than enough most of the time.
Chapter 12 - All Quiet Under the Thunder
Morgan	Welfare	Morgan is the best non-Siege member of the Siege gang (maybe better than Siege too, depending who you ask), but that wasn't a terribly high bar. Dreadnoughts without the raw power of the 6★ options have pretty limited value, but Morgan does make fairly good use of the archetype thanks to a very strong attack scale that works well with her large HP pool. While she will need healer support, Morgan’s S1 can pack a big punch on a good cycle which should let her pick up a grade (albeit a low one). Unfortunately, her S2 isn't worth much. The Barrier decays too fast to be useful, especially for how short of wind-up S1 has. S2 ultimately makes her much more fragile on a much longer effective cycle time for similar damage.
Humus	Gacha	The bones of the Reaper archetype are good, which natively makes Humus decent. However, since Highmore is freely available to everyone and so valuable in IS#3, it puts Humus in a bad spot regardless of how good he is. His kit does come together pretty nicely, however he has no niche above Highmore or La Pluma, and he will potentially be ungraded due to poor Mastery gains. Both skills will be usable, but S1 does not get the SP reduction that the 5*s do. Start with S2 instead, but even then the gains are well below average in even ideal circumstances.
Cement	Gacha	Cement was memed to death even before we knew her kit (and to be fair they are good memes, CONK CREET BAY BEE). Unfortunately though, her kit is pretty poor and she will be ungraded. She can have an insane amount of bulk with S2, but it's very specific to one-target, slow-attacking, and Physical enemies. Since most mechanics don't favor blocking in the first place and she has the Duelist's restrictive one-block, that just isn't valuable, and the bulk rapidly decays with a tough cycle time. If you were to promote her anyway, I would go with S1 for Masteries which at least has some decent damage output in a true AoE. However, the archetype's Trait restriction will make the relatively high SP cost (compared to similar skills) very limiting.
Ines	Gacha	Ines is a curious unit to discuss. She is a good unit, but not one that has lived up to impossible expectations which has muddied the discussion around her. Her damage is lower than people were expecting (given that Yato2 and Texas2 both came out recently and do more damage on faster redeploys). The situation is reminiscent of Saileach on her release; a powerful unit but an open question on if she is worth the cost compared to the more common and lower rarity options. Given that she is sandwiched between a collab and the anniversary limited, it should make the pull discussions when she comes to global very… spirited, let’s say. For the record, I am a big fan of her kit, but we’ll need some time to see how her kit fits into whatever new meta arises from the revamped CC and IS#4. Both S2 and S3 will have good grades, but right now I lean towards S2 first. Don’t bother with S1. It should be a nice AFK option, but the gains aren’t worth the investment.

Everyone will soon be getting Vigil, but I haven't seen many people excited for his kit. To the contrary, people seem to think he's a dud unit As such, I'll be doing a brief overview explaining what his purpose is.
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For the sake of discussion, I will be assuming three things.
Firstly, that all Tacticians referenced are at max Pot and Trust.
Secondly, that Vigil is using his S1. I'll not be addressing S3 because it doesn't tie into his kit very well, because I don't want to deal with all the potential use-cases that crop up when discussing atypical DPS skills, and because S1 is a solid skill. In other words, because S3 moves the conversation into a DPS Skill evaluation (or worse, Flagpipe comparisons), and S2 is bad, I'll be looking at the first skill people will encounter when they get him.
Thirdly, I'll be simplifying somewhat. This isn't a deep-dive into every use-case; I just want to unpack his many skill interactions and explain his unusual stats. You can decide for yourself if and how to use him. You're a smart cookie.
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First and foremost, let's introduce the most polarizing aspect of Vigil's kit: his Talents.
Talent1: Can summon a Wolf Pack initially formed of 2 "Wolf Shadows" at the tactical point. The number of "Wolf Shadows" increases by 1 every 25 seconds (up to 3; each "Wolf Shadow" increases the Wolf Pack's Block Count by +1 and causes normal attacks to deal 1 additional hit)
Talent2: When enemies are blocked by the Wolf Pack, Vigil and the Wolf Pack ignore 200 of its' DEF
His Talent1 is an offshoot of the typical Tactician "I have a Summon" talent, with a notable quirk. In short, he doesn't have one summon; he has up to three stacked on top of each other. Each one attacks individually, blocks individually, and takes damage individually. This last part is important, because only the "top dog" can take damage and damage does not overflow onto other dogs.
Vigil deploys with two dogs, gains one every 25 seconds, and can have up to three. They are all deployed on the same "tactical point"; one wolf, three heads. A Pack.
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His Talent2 is straightforward; Vigil and his dogs ignore 200 def when attacking an enemy the dogs are blocking. This is improved by his trait, which buffs Vigil's atk (but not the Dogs!) to 150% when attacking dog-blocked foes. An important talent, since Vigil's damage is all multi-hit, thus subjecting him to def multiple times over.
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Let's get into stats of the relevant units. Stats labelled [2] indicate Summon Stats.
4* Beanstalk: 11 DP, 455 atk, 404 atk2, 1895 hp2, 408 def2, 0 res2
5* Blacknight: 12 DP, 502 atk, 474 atk2, 2582 hp2, 308 def2, 20 res2
6* Vigil: 14 DP, 542 atk, 371 atk2, 1100 hp2, 317 def2, 20 res2
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At a glance, Vigil's summon looks…horrible. Then you remember the atk2 and hp2 stats stack up to three times, and it looks a lot better.
For sake of clarity, lets look at the stats when all three are attacking a blocked enemy (to benefit from the subclass trait) and Vigil has two stacks (his "on deploy" loadout). Please remember Vigil's 200 def-ignore talent, that his summon can stack a third time, and that his summon gains +1 block per stack (relevant when discussing On-Block abilities).
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4* Beanstalk: 682.5 atk, 404 atk2, 1895 hp2
5* Blacknight: 753 atk, 474 atk2, 2582 hp2
6* Vigil: 813 atk, 371 x2 (742) atk2, 2200 hp2
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On to the only skill we're discussing today; Vigil S1. First and foremost, what is its purpose? Beanstalk and Blacknight are famously technical units, typically when using their S2's. Is it another gimmicky high-skill-skill?
S1: Call of the Leader
M3: Immediately obtain 7 DP and summon one “Wolf Shadow” . 21 sp, Auto trigger.
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…Not what you were expecting me to hang my hat on? Let's walk it through.
His Talent1 gives him a stack of Dog every 25 seconds, in addition to this skill's stack every 21. Each DogStack takes damage individually, and as such the Pack cannot take more than 1100 damage in a single hit. In other words, this skill roughly halves the time between dog "regenerations", giving the dogs (up to) 1100 hp every 13 seconds or so. For ease, lets just say "every 13 seconds, regain up to 33% max hp". For comparison, this is adjacent to Mudrock's "20% max HP every 9 seconds", and has a similar (but different) stacking system. As a Defender, Mudrock solidly beats the dogs in HP and Def, but having a damage-gate ability similar to one of the most durable units in the game is still noteworthy.
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This is before considering Vigil benefits from all the usual Tactician shenanagins. His wolf pack cannot be truly killed by damage, and will continue regenerating even after being killed. The cooldown also begins immediately; a dog could be killed and revived twice back-to-back while still maintaining block-2 and ~742 atk, since the "respawn" time isn't tied solely to skill activation or defeat/retreat as it is for B&B. As a result, even in cases when the dog is strictly outmatched, it will still keep coming back from Hell's heart to bite at thee.
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It's at this point that I would like to note that Vigil is one of four "Summoners" with a block-3 capable unit. The other three are Kal'tsit, Ling, and Beeswax.
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In short, S1 turns the dogs into an off-skill Mon3tr, supported by a Meteor. Roughly 40 DP, two squad slots, and three deployment worth of units, yours for one-third the cost, all while providing roughly the same dp as a Charge-Gamma.
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Since I know lots of you read and enjoy Gamepress articles, let me take a moment to reply to the Boelthor analysis. Since I'm only acting as an "Operator Introduction", I'll not be addressing every point (S2, S3, etc)

• Most of the "wolf stats" issues are adjusted by improving the regen rate, as addressed above. Tactician's summons are still balanced around being block-2, more like Pioneer Vanguards; a two-stacked Wolf Pack has similar stats to Saga, only being 5 hp off and trading 55 def for 20 res. The block-3 is more a tribute to the class's gimmicky nature; it can slow waves of enemies, interrupt foes that require block-2 or block-3, and is harder to OHKO than lower-rarity summons. While this can be done by operators, the wolves are 0 cost summons that can't be perma-killed by conventional means. In other words, don't treat them like Stat-Tank Defenders (unless you're Skalter-ing them), treat them as Couriers.
• "Refresh" issues are addressed via faster cooldown that starts without them needing to "die", and bonus stats the longer they linger. The dog on top may be chipped, but at worst it'll count as Blacknight's summon + Shield.
• I'd argue Vigil is tied for "highest DP cost" due to welfare pots, but the point is taken. I'd "justify" it in the same way people justify Mudrock's 36 dp cost; their role is to be a laneholder. Once Vigil's placed, you've got ranged damage and a quality summon on top of dp gen. If Flametail didn't have their DP cost reduced via Module, Vigil would start to powercreep them. That's not badmouthing Flametail, that's saying Vigil is her peer in some regards.

To summarize, Vigil can largely be considered a Flametail Sidegrade.
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So. You've made it. The end of my inane ramble.
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TL;DR
Vigil is our first block-3 Vanguard, the first "Laneholder" themed Vanguard, the highest off-skill damage of all Vanguards, and is both easy to use and easy to obtain. Use him as you'd use a Pioneer Vanguard, and you'll find yourself appreciating the flexibility.
Or don't.
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Thanks for reading. Have fun.

Lee is an operator who, for whatever reason, doesn't get nearly as much credit as he deserves. But I've found my Lee to be consistently useful, so I've written this guide to raise awareness of what he's capable of.

Basic Information

Lee is a 6* Merchant Specialist, who at first glance seems to be the epitome of the class, with a variety of situational abilities. But the whole turns out to be greater than the sum of the parts--he has so many niche uses that it's common for at least one to be relevant, and a surprisingly excellent statline that can compete with 6* Guards. This makes him a deceptively effective generalist, usuable just about everywhere and able to defuse many otherwise annoying situations.

Offensive Stats

Lee has high Attack, a 1 second attack interval, among the highest basic attack dps in the game, and a standard 1x2 range. There's not much else to say here, as the numbers speak for themselves.

Defensive Stats

Lee has above-average HP and Defense, 0 Res, and 1 block. While he doesn't have Defender-tier bulk, he's reasonably durable and 1 block means melee enemies can't gang up on him.

Cost and Trust

Lee costs 9 DP, making him very cheap if not for his trait. His trust bonus is a relatively balanced +300 HP and +55 Attack.

Trait: Has reduced Redeployment Time (25s), but DP Cost is not refunded upon retreating; While deployed, 3 DP are consumed every 3 seconds (automatically retreats without sufficient DP)

The inherent drawback of Merchants: they're DP hogs. Simply having Lee on the field will cancel out your natural DP gen, and playing with multiple Merchants is very costly. The faster redeploy time does help in that you can retreat him in order to regen DP, in addition to the usual advantages of frds. While you can mitigate the downside by simply placing him last when you have no more need for DP, it still limits your ability to respond to emergencies and/or use helidrops unless you build up a bank of DP in advance. Lee has enough going for him that he can justify this cost, but it is something you must keep in mind if using him.

First talent: Kindness Begets Prosperity

When Lee is blocking an enemy, the enemy has ASPD -14 and Lee has ASPD +14; If there is only one enemy within the surrounding 8 tiles, this effect is doubled.
Simple but effective, this talent provides sizable improvements to both dps and survivability, capitalizing on Lee's already great statline.

Second talent: Preparedness Averts Peril

When DP is consumed by Lee's Trait, if there is sufficient DP, consumes 5 DP instead to block the next Stun/Frozen effect inflicted on Lee and Stun the attacker for 3 seconds (unlimited range). The effect of this talent lasts until consumed, but Lee can only have one "stack" at a time.
One of Lee's signature tricks, making him near immune to Stun/Freeze outside of extreme spam. This even applies to things like the Stun from Nervous Impairment, making him a counter to a surprising variety of annoying enemies and even some bosses. Note that if he's Stunned/Frozen by a sourceless effect like Nervous Impairment or an untargetable/Stun-immune entity like Chapter 6's ice altars or The Blood Knight he'll still ignore the effect but won't be able to Stun anything in return. Care is needed when using this talent, however, as it's a net DP loss, and if it's activated too much you'll run out of DP and Lee will be forcibly retreated by his trait.

First module: MER-X

Stage 1: +200 HP, +55 Attack. Only 2 DP are consumed per 3s. Stage 2: +260 HP, +67 Attack. Preparedness Averts Peril now Stuns the target for 4s. Stage 3: +300 HP, +74 Attack. Preparedness Averts Peril now only consumes 4 DP.
The first stage of this module is near-mandatory, allowing you to naturally regen DP (albeit at 1/3rd of the usual rate) while Lee's out. Not only does this mean you can leave him on field while gaining DP for other operators instead of needing Vanguards to do so, but it can fund Preparedness Averts Peril under nearly all circumstances. All of this produces a qualitative change in how and where he can be used and is a massive improvement in his flexibility. I'll be taking X1 as the baseline for the remainder of this guide.
Stages 2 and 3 are minor; the counter-Stun is not nearly as important as being able to ignore Stun/Freeze in the first place, and the reduced DP cost for Preparedness Averts Peril isn't nearly as impactful as stage 1 was. Neither upgrade is outright bad, just hard to justify given the cost of module upgrades and scarcity of module mats.

First skill: Stern Admonishment

At m3{m0} Stern Admonishment has 0 initial SP, costs 7{10} SP, recovers SP over time, lasts forever, and is automatically activated. It gives Lee +60%{+40%} Attack and 40%{25%} Arts dodge.
A solid skill in a vacuum, s1 suffers from being on a Merchant. It simply doesn't do enough to justify the DP drain in most situations, and even when it does Jaye s2 is a generally better skill that's cheaper to build (and you usually won't "just use both" due to stacking DP drain). It's also the worst of Lee's skills, making it an even harder sell.

Second skill: Exorcise Evil

At m3{m0} Exorcise Evil has 0 initial SP, costs 7{10} SP, recovers SP over time, is instant (SP begins recharging as soon as the skill is cast), and is manually activated. Equipping this skill passively gives Lee +30{+20} ASPD. When activated, Lee applies a Mark to his target that lasts 5 seconds, increasing their Taunt level. When the Mark expires, it explodes dealing 300%{260%} Arts damage to all enemies within a 1 tile radius, including aerial enemies. Every hit on the marked target by allies increases the explosion damage by 20%{15%} of Lee's ATK, up to 30{25} times. If the hit cap is reached, the target dies, Lee dies, Lee retreats while blocking the target, or the skill is recast the Mark will explode immediately.
S2 is a hard skill to evaluate, and I'll admit I don't like it much so I'm biased. The ability to Mark a target is interesting, but a lot of dps operators these days are AoE which makes targeting moot, and since Lee has to be in melee range to Mark you could just replace him with an operator who has higher dps. The passive component points towards using him as an frd because it's always active, but his first s2 Mark doesn't detonate until 12s after deployment, and the game has a lot of great frds/mrds that deal more damage with less/no windup and don't eat so much DP. There aren't many operators who can cap out hitcount in the 5s alloted (none with a comparable rotation afaik), and for the ones than can like Exusiai you're normally better off just buffing them with Warfarin or Skadi2. S2 still has a high damage output even using Lee solo, but if you're doing that s3 is generally the better skill. All-in-all, s2 has a lot of things it could do, but I don't think it does any of them well enough to justify the DP drain.

Third skill: Honored Guest

At m3{m0} Honored Guest has 0 initial SP, costs 7{10} SP, recovers SP over time, lasts forever, and is automatically activated. It gives Lee +50%{+37%} Attack and Defense, changes his range to a 3x3 square centered on him, increases his Taunt, gives him 70%{60%} Physical and Arts dodge against attacks not coming from entities inside his range, and causes his attacks to push (but not damage) all enemies in range except his current target away from him with 0 force.
S3 has a lot going on, so I'll start off with the simple stuff: the stat boosts and range expansion. +50% may not seem like much, but remember that Lee had great stats to begin with and his first talent also helps both his offense and defense. The +50% Defense is enough for him to be a qualified tank, and with his first talent at full strength he has higher single-targt dps than Mountain. The range extension, ignoring its interaction with other aspects of the skill, lets him cover up to 3 lanes theoretically, and lets him hit around corners.
Moving on to the dodge, you may notice that the wording I used is more cumbersome compared to the game's "attacks coming from outside his Attack Range". This is because the game has "sourceless" damage, which technically does not come from outside his range (because it doesn't come from anywhere) but which s3's dodge still applies to. I can't give an exhaustive list of sourceless damage, but some examples are spider explosions (but not all on-death explosions), Imperial Artillery Targeteers, and the damage proc when an elemental damage bar fills up. This makes the dodge even stronger than it seems, since it applies to some things you wouldn't expect it to. And 70% dodge is very strong already; coupled with the Taunt and his high Defense, most long-range enemies are nonissues as long as s3 Lee's on the field. It won't do anything for enemies within his range, but those enemies he can just attack, or push.
Speaking of the push, 0 force may not be impressive, but the key is the frequency of pushes. Most pushers are pushing once every ~6.2 seconds with s1, or at best once every 3.84s with Weedy s2. Lee is pushing every 1s, or every ~0.88s if blocking (the doubled talent 1 effect is mutually exclusive with having targets to push), making up for quality with quantity. In general, weight 0 enemies (dogs, slugs, other small animals) will be sent flying away from him, weight 1 enemies (most grunts) can be stalled indefinitely, and weight 2 enemies (tougher grunts/lighter elites) can be slowed down significantly. The frequent pushes will make ranged enemies of these weights nearly unable to attack at all unless they're pushed outside his range where they have to contend with his 70% dodge. And melee enemies obviously can't attack him if he's not blocking them, so it's almost like Stunning all non-primary targets. His main target won't be "Stunned" since it doesn't get pushed, but Lee's still got his high stats. Heavy enemies won't necessarily leak past him either--light enemies tend to have low bulk so Lee will kill them quickly to free up his block count, and light enemies also get pushed back further so heavy enemies will reach him first. As long there aren't too many heavy enemies, s3 Lee is effectively block infinity.
Lee's s3 is great all around, with good numbers for general use and multiple unique strengths that can totally shut down certain problems. It's easily his best skill, and certainly has enough going for it to justify dealing with the Merchant DP drain.

Mastery Choices

Lee's masteries present a dilemma: s3 is by far his best skill, but the mastery gains on it are low. Meanwhile s2 isn't nearly as good, but m3 is a massive breakpoint. My advice is to cut costs and postpone his masteries until you run into a situation where s3 masteries would be a decisive factor.

Usage

Despite all he has packed in his kit, using Lee is simple: just place him down and let him do his thing. The maiin sources of complexity are playing around his DP drain, and knowing everything he can help against.

Laneholder

The most basic way to use Lee, especially if you don't have need of any of his niches (or in addition to them). As long as there are no drones and not too many heavies he doesn't really need anything but healing to hold a lane, and often he can even get by with weaker heals like Perfumer's talent. You generally can't drop him ASAP like you would many other laneholders due to his DP drain hindering further setup, but a good Vanguard can both make setup faster and hold the lane until it's ready for Lee, and once he's down he has almost no warmup. Using him as a laneholder is otherwise straightforward, and suprisingly effective.

Fast Redeploy

Being a fast redeploy has a lot of generic uses on its own, but Lee also puts his own spin on things. Specifically, Lee's one of two frd laneholders, alongisde Mon3tr who's shackled to the not-frd Kal'tsit. This isn't always useful, but being able to move him from lane to lane if needed can help a lot on maps where pressure shifts from place to place. A related advantge is that if necessary you can place Lee early in a map to lanehold, then retreat him so you can regen DP freely before replacing him once you've finished setting up. Another benefit to this is that redeploying an operator fully heals them, potentially allowing you to skip a healer for Lee on maps where there are enough lulls in the action.

Silver Bullet

While this isn't meant to be an exhaustive list, here are some of the examples of things Lee's kit can counter to give you some perspective on just how many problems he can solve.

Stun/Freeze Negation

It's fairly obvious what kinds of enemies this counters. Setting aside random enemies with Stun like Snipers and Defense Crushers, Chapter 6 and Break the Ice's main gimmick is useless against him, and Nervous Impairment (Under Tides/Stultifera Navis/IS#2) loses a lot of its threat. He can solo block The Blood Knight (even in CM, though he needs help to not get ohko'd), Kreide, the Lost Colossus, and Snow Doe/Frost Buck.

Taunt+Dodge

This counters long-range enemies like mortars, Faust, Armorless Union archers+Lazurites, Tiacauh Ritualists, Sandcastle Builders, etc. However, it also counters sourceless damage, such as certain explosion-on-death enemies like spiders/Winterwisp Blood Shamans, but not 'Smarty's/Dublinn Flamerazers/Icefield Arts Fighters. Perhaps more importantly, elemental damage procs all inflict sourceless damage. Nervous Impairment deals True damage so it bypasses Lee's dodge anyway, but being able to ignore the Stun is already enough to make it much less threatening. Corrosion's Defense loss still applies, but the high chance to dodge makes it less likely for him to be burst down by a proc, and Lee was already a counter to some of the most dangerous Corrosion enemies (the Lazurites and their lackeys). Burn has the highest damage/proc do dodge rng can be unreliable, but it's also the least threatening kind of elemental damage to begin with. Necrosis inflicts a DoT that Lee can somehow still dodge, so rng gets smoothed out, and the side-effects mean nothing to infinite duration skills like Lee s3. Certain boss attacks are sourceless as well, most notably The Deathless Black Snake's fireballs.

Push

This part of his kit shuts down mob spam. In addition to generic grunt hordes, the Originum Dust and Invitation to Wine enemies have their main gimmick almost totally shut down by him (he may need some dps support if dealing with the -80 ASPD tumors from OD), the Blood Knight's Bloodlblades are trivial with him around, he can juggle Chapter 10's blobs without increasing his block count above 2 and thus attracting the cannon, and in Stultifera Navis and Ideal City he can stall the 80%-100% dodge enemies.

Integrated Strategies #2

Some of this was covered above, but Lee is very helpful in IS#2 as long as you get him to e2 (and the e2 CasteSpecialist squad is good in general). He can carry floors 1-3 almost entirely on his own and counters some of the midbosses directly, and on later floors he's still quite useful. He's also useful in the default ending: he can hold the center lane as long as he has any kind of healer, letting you dedicate the rest of the squad to killing the boss and the singers/drones.

Synergies

Lee's a relatively self-contained operator, so he doesn't have too many synergies beyond the trivial ones like "use Vanguards to fund his DP drain".

Rosa

Packs of heavy, high Defense enemies may be the natural predators of s3 Lee, but they're Rosa's preferred prey. Taking a combined arms approach is thus very effective, and not much short of a boss can break through this duo, though if there's incoming Arts damage Lee may need healing.

Angelina

Angelina s3 gives all enemies on the map -1 weight as long as it lasts, letting Lee stall things he otherwise couldn't. Angelina s3 isn't infinite duration so he can't stall forever, but it does give him some breathing room, and Angelina herself can hopefully kill the offending heavies. As the cherry on top Angelina provides passive healing while her skill is inactive, which can often be enough for Lee.

Nightmare

A rare sight, Nightmare s2 has obvious synergy with Lee in that his repeated pushes will keep triggering the damage-over-distance, turning her into a somewhat viable source of True damage. Furthermore, Lee tends to end up with a clump of lightweight enemies, so it's much easier for Nightmare to hit multiple targets with s2. Another advantage is simply that Nightmare is a Caster, and her Arts damage helps with typically heavy high Defense enemies. It's still not worth raising Nightmare, but if it's too late for you this can at least make her work properly.

Reed2

Almost a straight upgrade to Nightmare as far as Lee's concerned, Reed2 provides healing and debuffs enemy Attack to go with Lee's ASPD debuff, plus she kills armored enemies. But the greatest benefit is her s3; Lee can clump an arbitrary number of lightweight enemies together, and Reed2 can them detonate them all at once along with anything else unfortunate enough to be in the blast radius. Just watch out for lag.

Base Skills

At e0 Lee's base skill is Moment of Respite, a Control Center skill. Moment of Respite increases morale recovery of all operators in the Control Center by +0.25 if Aak is also in the Control Center.
At e2 Lee gains a second base skill, Worldly Insight, also a Control Center skill. Worldly Insight grants a +25% increase to clue collection speed.
Lee pairs well with Aak, but Aak himself isn't a good choice--even with the extra morale from Lee, Aak will drain morale too quickly and clue bias isn't very valuable. On his own, +25% clue speed makes Lee a better filler CC operator than the usual +0.05 morale operators most of the time, but he still isn't as good as most other production-boosting CC skills and their associated combos.

Closing

Writing this guide made me realize Lee isn't nearly as hard to use as he looks, and it turned out shorter than I expected. But if anything's unclear I can hopefully elaborate, since his kit has a lot of quirky mechanics. Next up is Kazemaru, or Penance if I don't manage to finish the Kazemaru guide before that banner. As always, here's a link to the Operator Guide Repository maintained by u/LastChancellor, also available in the subreddit's sidebar.
In case you'd like to see Lee in action for yourself, here are some videos (possible spoilers ahead). These are generally showing his performance in extreme scenarios and at max level, but they should give you an idea of what his upper limit is like.

• H6-4, 4 Specialists, s3 Lee/s2 Phantom/s3 Weedy/s3 Gladiia
• H7-2, 2 Specialists, s3 Lee/s3 Mizuki
• H8-4, male only, s3 Lee/others
• H9-6, 4 males, s3 Lee/s3 SilverAh/s2 Phantom/s3 Młynar
• H10-3, s3 Lee holding right lane
• SV-EX-6 CM, s3 Lee carry
• SV-EX-8, 2 Specialists, s3 Lee/s2 Phantom
• NL-EX-8 CM, 4 operators semi-afk, s3 Lee/s1 Saria/s2 Skadi2/s1 Nearl2
• NL-S-5, 4 operators afk, s3 Lee/s1 Warfarin/s2 Saria/s2 Weedy
• IW-EX-2 CM, 2 operators, s3 Lee/s3 Reed2
• SN-6, s3 Lee carry
• SN-EX-8, 2 operators, s3 Lee/s2 Gnosis
• SN-S-1-A, 8 operators
• SN-S-1-B, 5 operators
• LE-EX-8 CM, s3 Lee blocking Kreide

Luo Xiaohei [★★★★]

This place is a lot like the Hall for Spirits to me, with all the Infected staying here because they have nowhere to go. But... the Infected have it really different from spirits. They can't even escape just by staying far away from everyone.

Luo Xiaohei, a small feline friend recommended by Lee. Kind, but not weak. Brave, yet not reckless. After some tests, he formally joined Rhodes Island as a guard operator.

Operator Information

• Class: Guard (Lord)
• Tags: DPS
• Artist: 九日九号

Voice Actor:
JP: Kana Hanazawa
CN + Cat form: Shanxin

Stats

HP	ATK	DEF	Arts Resistance	Redeploy Time	DP Cost	Block	Attack Interval
2040	698	325	10	70	17	2	1.3s

*Stats at max Promotion and Level, excludes bonuses from Potential and Trust.

Trust bonus
Attack Power +30
Defense +25

Traits
Can launch Ranged Attacks that deal 80% of normal ATK

Skill Name	Skill Uptime Details (Initial/Cost/Uptime)	SP Charge Type	Skill Activation	Skill Description
Tail Afterimage	0 SP / 10 SP / -	Per Second	Manual Trigger	Can switch between initial state and the following state: Attack range becomes 4 adjacent tiles, ASPD +40, gains 45% Physical Dodge, and attacks all blocked enemies
Broken Blade	15 SP / 35 SP / 20s	Per Second	Manual Trigger	ATK +70%, ranged attacks no longer reduce ATK, target 1 more enemy, and add an additional attack that ignores 200 enemy DEF when target HP is below 50%

*Skills at Mastery 3.

Talent

Talent name	Talent Description
Executor-in-Training	When dealing lethal damage, leave the enemy with 1 HP and inflict Critically Wounded (gives +2 SP to the attacker when killed); Luo Xiaohei will not attack Critically Wounded targets

Additional Resources

In-depth information regarding all values above (at different levels), skill/attack range, and more:
GP Arknights Wiki
Arknights Toolbox (aceship)
Fandom Arknights Wiki

Topic Starters

• Strengths/Weaknesses?
• How does this operator compare to other operators in their archetype or role?
• How do you fit this operator into a team? Who do they synergize with?
• Which skill(s) should be focused for mastery, and in what order?
• When is the best time to use this operator's skills during combat?
• Should promoting this operator to Elite 2 be a priority?
• Should new / F2P players aim for this operator? Are there more accessible alternatives?
• Lore discussion (please tag spoilers where appropriate)

Other Operator Discussion threads

List of Operator Discussion threads