Arknights: Guide to Teambuilding
2021-10-21
We'll cover both fundamental and advanced subjects in this article, such as effective early-game units and the many faults and pitfalls that a player may fall into when constructing a squad. We'll also talk about several early-on Operators who might be beneficial contributions to the squad.
The reader is assumed to have finished Chapter 0 of the tale or played on the gacha. Any of these two acts will supply sufficient Operators for the player to form a squad.
Basic Terms
Before we get going, we should go over a few keywords that will appear throughout the manual:
Deployment Points (DP): It's a tool for deploying Operators. The DP cost of an Operator varies according to class, specialty, and availability.
Block Count: This is the maximum number of opponents that a single Operator may halt in one go. Enemies who have surpassed the blocking count will immediately pass through the operator.
Elite: This is effectively breaching the game's limits/level limitations. Elite Upgrade raises an Operator's maximum level and generally gives new Skills or Abilities while resetting their level while maintaining their attributes. We'll refer to Elites as 'E0' or 'Non-Elite' in their hidden state, 'E1' in their first elevation, and 'E2' in their subsequent advancement while discussing them.
Quick Tips
Here are some pointers for novice players as they form squads and select Operators to increase:
Variety is encouraged at Arknights:
Arknights wants players to engage in a number of different troops and enjoy deploying them. Many maps have tricks or opponent kinds that can only be dealt with by a certain unit archetype. Indeed, Trial Maps and situations such as Contingency Contracts may punish or completely ban certain Operator kinds. You're going to have a terrible time if you depend only on your Snipers for DPS and try to accomplish a Trial Map where Snipers are prohibited.
Units with a low rarity are feasible:
The assets you placed into units 3 and 4 are not lost. Many low-rarity troops can be useful in Arknights, particularly under the scenarios outlined above, where your team composition may need to be drastically altered. You won't need multiple AoE Casters on 99 percent of maps, but if you do, you'll be pleased you boosted Lava before pulling Gitano and Skyfire!
Higher DP costs are associated with higher rarity units:
It's enticing to send all high-star Operators, particularly if you're planning to whale. This is a Deception! DO NOT FALL FOR IT! Players are generally short on DP early in a game. Because higher-rarity Operators require more to release, employing several of them can cause a domino effect, slowing down deployment significantly. Half of your squad should be 4 or fewer rarity Operators, as a general rule.
Core Composition
Begin by establishing a "core" composition.
The Operators in this group will form the core of the group, and they will almost certainly be employed 90% of the period. A Vanguard, one Anti-Air Sniper, one Caster, one Defender, and two Medics will make up the core.
First and foremost, the squad requires somebody to hold the front at the beginning of a map until things calm down. It would be much better if they could also supply extra DP. Vanguards have these characteristics: they have minimal DP expenses and Abilities, Strengths, and/or Qualities that create DP.
Secondly, several stages include non-blockable flying "drone" opponents. The Anti-Air Sniper is useful in this situation.
Anti-Air Snipers are known for their cheap DP costs and good ranged power. These Operators provide a significant damage boost initially in a map, even if there are no drones in the area, therefore they are typically worth launching.
Thirdly, physical damage dealers will find it difficult to beat at minimum one adversary with a high DEF stat. Rather than futilely hacking away, employ Arts (magic effect) Operators, which will totally disregard DEF in favor of the lesser RES stat.
Casters are the key cause of magical harm, even though Supporters and a few chosen Guards have magic skills. As a result, having at least one of them on a squad is typically a wise decision.
Defenders are also required because of their capacity to block a massive amount of attackers. These Operators can obstruct up to three opponents at a time, prohibiting adversaries from gaining access to your evacuation routes. To withstand enemy assaults, they usually have high DEF and HP numbers, and they may have Abilities that assist them in dodging damage.
It's worth noting that certain Defenders have restorative abilities rather than defensive bonuses. It's worth noting that until they're promoted to E1, these "Healing Defenders" can only Block-2. It's also essential to remember that while their restorative skills assist their friends to survive, they don't help the Healing Defender withstand intense damage like a protective skill could.
Eventually, our Operators will require healing in order to continue battling. We're looking for two Medics, Operators who heal surrounding teammates rather than assaulting opponents, to help us with this. Most Medics will only have single-target Medics early on in the game, so having two of them is crucial. You may require each one of your Medics to care for separate groups of Operators at times, and you may also need all of them to work on the very same operator (usually your primary Defender) to help them survive while opponents attack.
You may start pulling AoE Medics later in the game. These Medics are extremely effective since they can heal up to three wounded teammates at once. However, because they have various healing areas and heals that are weaker than ST Medics, switching all of your ST Medics with AoE Medics is not really a good idea. It's preferable to get one of each throughout many cases.
The Remaining Team
This "Basic Setup" template is typically fair and capable of dealing with most scenarios it encounters for the sake of convenience. Following that, this tutorial will go through some of the more sophisticated configurations that may be employed and the thinking process that goes into creating them.
Obviously, this is just a template; team configurations should be adjusted according to the scenario.
Basic Setup
Almost every class is duplicated in the basic setup, which effectively extends the "core." The distinction is that it adds two Guards instead of four Medics. Instead of introducing an additional Defender, the very last slot can be used in various ways.
The second shooter in this squad is not always an Anti-Air sniper but can be another sort of sniper, such as Shirayuki as an example. The same may be said for the Caster slow even if the first Caster is AoE; the second Caster, like Amiya, can be single-target.
A Duelist Guard, like Melantha, is strongly advisable for the Guard positions. The easiest way to find these is to look at their characteristic definition, which may include "Blocks 1 Enemy." The other Guard is a toss-up: choose your fave.
Finally, the basic configuration should include two Vanguards, two Snipers, two Casters, two Medics, two Guards, one Defender, and a selection of Operators.
Specific setup scenarios: Dealing with swarms
This is a map with only one outlet and a massive amount of opponents. Single-target Operators may not be sufficient to slaughter them all in time; therefore, AoE Operators, maybe with an additional Defender to keep the enemy in place, are recommended.
A squad that focuses on collecting all foes in one place and creating a death zone is ideal for this. To begin, create a core of three AoE Operators (Casters or Snipers) and two Defenders. All of the adversaries are gathered by the Defenders, and the AoE Operators destroy all at once.
Due to the high cost of Defenders and AoE Operators, this combination may take too much time to launch without enough DP generation. To end the DP drought, an additional Vanguard may be required. Carry an Anti-Air Sniper and a Duelist Guard to fight with drones and stray single opponents, as well as the standard two Medics for restoration.
Finally, this squad should include three AoE Operators, two Defenders, three Vanguards, one Anti-Air Sniper, one Duelist Guard, and two Medics.
Specialists
Readers may notice the lack of Supporter and Specialist Operators in these proposed teams. This is because, as their names suggest, these two sorts of classes are primarily focused on assisting the team in a certain specialty; they may specialize installing for time, being reassigned many times each map, pushing foes across the field, contacting extra troops, and so on.
That need not mean that Supporters and Specialists can't deliver harm or stop opponents. It just necessitates familiarity with particular operators within those groups. The conclusion must be that as players become more comfortable with the game and its Operators, they may add Specialists and Supporters to their squads to suit their style of play.
Newcomer Recommendations
Shaw
Shaw is a Specialist Operator who can push opponents around. Operators like Shaw may push or pull foes into pits or off ledges for a quick death on various Arknights maps. She may be deployed on both distant and combat tiles, and she can even be used as a frontline troop if necessary.
Melantha
Melantha is a Duelist Guard with a high HP and ATK and a low deployment cost. Players will also want to play fast in some situations and kill particular targets before wreaking havoc on our backline. Melantha's strong HP enables her to survive assaults long enough to kill her intended victim. She may easily withdraw after her task is over until she is required again.
Rangers
Rangers is a 2 sniper team. Given his lack in rarity, he possesses an amazing Talent that delivers 50% more damage to flying targets, making him effective from the game's initial to mid-stages, as well as some late-game stages. Being a 2 Operator allows him to deploy quickly, but it also restricts his development and renders him vulnerable to anything except air units. Overall, he is an Operator who is simple to level up and gives a great deal of value.
Kroos and Jessica
When it comes to anti-air, Kroos and Jessica are viable options to Rangers. Both can handle air and ground troops with reasonable ease, but they may be promoted to boost their power even more, unlike Rangers. Kroos and Jessica vary mostly in terms of their potential advancement levels. Jessica can be advanced to E2, but it requires more resources; Kroos can only be raised to E1 once, although it is less expensive.
Fang
Fang, a Vanguard Operator, is the final character. Fang will be the first on the field to halt the flood of adversaries until additional Operators can be deployed because he is inexpensive to send and has a reasonably good defense. Fang's selling point is her Talent, which allows her to lower her DP cost by one. This may not sound like much, when you're attempting to set up fast, every point of DP matters.
Levelling Order For Operators
To sum it up, here are some brief tips on how to level your Operators:
Beginner Tip: Make sure your first big team has at least two 3 Operators. The cost of leveling two 3 Operators via the Mission Board is entirely refunded, so you may practically max them up for free.
Leveling up operator: In general, leveling Operators equally is preferable to having a single Operator that is over leveled. It's important to keep in mind that Operators work as a team. Damage dealers can't do damage unless they're high level, defenders can't hold ground if the Medics aren't strong, and players may not make it through the first wave if Vanguards are dropping all over the place.
Do Skill Levels Create a Change?: YES. Since skills are so crucial in Arknights, it's critical to maintain them leveled. Skill Sets are even more essential to some Operators than their EXP levels!
I'm not certain how high I should level?: The answers may vary based on the player and their playstyle; however, I would advocate getting an Operator to E1 level 30. This helps players to obtain a better understanding of how the unit works before deciding whether or not to include it again.
