Arknights: Should You Pull and New Unit Reviews - Zwillingstürme im Herbst

Hello there.  TacticalBreakfast here.  You may know me from my Mastery guides, however long time readers of the "Should You Pull" article series will more likely know me as definitely NOT being the long time writer of the series, Luninareph.  I'm sad to say that Luni has retired from Arknights articles.  This has left a hole in the staff, but somewhat fortunately, I already wrote similar topics as part of my banner discussions in the Mastery guide.  So I'll be stepping in to write these articles, at least for the time being.

The last thing I want to do is add a lot of work to my already full plate, so two things to keep in mind.  First, I'll be updating the format a bit from what Luni did.  This is mainly to make it compatible with what I'm already doing, and thus lessen the new work required.  If you feel anything is lacking or missing, please let me know.  The best place to give feedback is the #ak_site_suggestions channel in the official GP Discord.  Second, I don't think I will be the permanent writer for this article.  If someone steps up, I'll be glad to hand it off.  That said, I do think it's an important article so I'll continue to write it as long as necessary.

Now, without further ado, on to why you came here.

Most likely yes.  Virtuosa is a powerful meta-caliber unit, and a popular limited character.  For most people, that will be more than enough justification.  However, with the exploding levels of power, and no easy skips on the horizon, there's still plenty of nuance to discuss, and why you *might* get better value from your pulls by saving.

First, Virtuosa is a unique unit.  Ritualists and friendly Elemental Damage are new, and no enemies currently have any defenses against it.  It is a very powerful effect and Virtuosa's role in the meta is unique among an ever growing roster.  However, while it is a powerful effect, it also has a hard cap on her DPS, and a relatively low one at that.  With so many ridiculously powerful DPS units these days, even the fact the Necrosis damage is pseudo-True Damage isn't all that special.  Most meta DPS units will easily out-DPS Virtuosa against even tough enemies.  This makes her presence in the top of the meta a bit inconsistent compared to other upcoming units.

Second, is Viviana, who is relatively poor and brings the overall banner value down.  She is the weakest gacha 6★ ahead of us.  Now, to be clear, she is not a trash-tier unit.  She is still perfectly usable with some solid damage.  However, in comparison to the plethora of busted OPs ahead of us, she easily comes up last and brings the total value of the banner way down.  This is especially true when compared to the next Limited banner of Zuo Le and Shu, who are both meta-caliber units and give that banner tremendous value!

This all makes the pull choice here a little bit less clear than the other banners ahead of us.  The odds of a meta unit on this banner are worse than Degenbrecher’s, Ray’s, and Shu/Zuo Le’s banners, for a unit who is a little less critical.

Now, none of this is to say that you shouldn't pull here.  As said, Virtuosa is still a powerful and meta unit, as well as a popular and limited one.  For most people, that is more than enough.  However, there is reason here to proceed with a bit of caution if you're really trying to maximize your value, especially if Virtuosa doesn't appeal to you or you have no interest in using her in IS  (she isn't a particularly good starter) and can thus rely on her coming off of supports.

Free Pulls and Pull Timing

As part of limited banners, we get 24 free pulls.  The first ten are given on the first day, with one additional for each day of the banner.  If you can be patient, the ideal pull strategy is to wait for the final day of the banner as there is a relatively high probability (~29%) of getting at least one of the rate-ups on the free pulls.

If you choose to do this, DO NOT MISS THE FINAL DAY!  It's very easy to lose track of time and miss your window, so while this is the ideal way to spend your pulls, be very careful with it!

This also means that even if you don't intend to fully pull on this banner, it is often worth pulling at least on 6★ on the final day.  The 24 free pulls already puts you halfway to pity, which drastically lowers the amount of your bank you need to invest for at least one unit.  This isn't absolute advice, depending on your saving goals, but is something to consider if you're on the fence on the final day.

Spark Targets and Discussion

As a general rule, you should not spend 300 pulls for the sole purpose of sparking an old limited.  Of course, that is fine to do if you have one that you personally want.  However, from a value perspective, you will get much better value spending those pulls on any of the upcoming banners.  On average, you will get significantly more good units by spreading those 300 pulls over Degenbrecher, Ray, Shu, and Ela than you will spending them on a single banner for even the best old limited.

That said, it is still reasonable to push to 300 if you end up close to there naturally or have a special waifu in mind.  Just don't feel that you *have* to because Texas the Omertosa is broken.  There are many broken OPs still to come!

In addition to Virtuosa, Viviana, and Bassline, the units available to spark on this banner are W,  Rosmontis, Skadi the Corrupting Heart, Nearl the Radiant Knight, Specter the Unchained and Texas the Omertosa.

Spark Priority Order:

1)  Texas the Omertosa

2)  Skadi the Corrupting Heart

3/4)  Nearl the Radiant Knight or Specter the Unchained

5/6)  W or Rosmontis

NOTE If you do not have enough to spark an old limited, it is usually suggested to spark copies of the 5★.  Assuming they are already max pot, the additional copies are worth 13 Gold Certificates each.  The additional gold certs you get from the duplicates are more valuable than the materials.

NOTE Muelseye is NOT yet available to spark.  She will be available to spark on the next celebration limited banner in six months.  Also note that summer limiteds and Sui sibling limiteds are also NOT available on this banner.  They can only be sparked on their respective banner types.

NOTE Although the above limiteds are available to get from pulls, the odds of it are extremely low.  If you want to get an old limited, you should plan on needing the full 300 pulls to spark as the statistically average number of pulls to get an old limited is significantly higher.  Older limiteds such as W and Rosmontis have even lower odds.

Virtuosa

Arturia, codename Virtuosa is the most recent meta-caliber unit to come to global, in a seemingly endless stream of them.  She is our first 6★ Ritualist, and makes an impressive showing of both the archetype and Necrosis damage.  For a full rundown of how the Necrosis damage works, check out my guide to Elemental Damage linked just below this writeup.  However, the super short version is that Virtuosa applies Necrosis damage which triggers some special effects when enough of it is dealt.  This effect inflicts an ATK debuff and deals 800 damage per second for 15 seconds.  This damage is effectively True Damage since enemy RES and DEF don't apply, making Virtuosa a reliable way to bypass virtually all enemy defenses!

Interestingly, she is not reliant on her skills like a vast majority of units are.  Most of her Necrosis damage is dealt via her Talents.  Without ever touching a skill, Virtuosa will inflict that Necrosis effect to all enemies in her range in as little as 15 seconds (this time will vary with potentials and level)!  In total it makes her a potent, inexpensive, and easy to use wave clear.  But her use isn't limited to just trash!  The 12000 damage is enough for most elites on her own, and being effectively True damage allows her to significantly contribute to even the most dangerous boss enemies in the game.

The main downside to keep in mind with Virtuosa is that, while her damage is very valuable, her DPS is actually on the lowside.  She deals mostly negligible damage outside of the Necrosis, and that Necrosis is capped at a fairly low 800 DPS, with a 10 second cooldown on top where more Necrosis can’t be applied.  Additionally, there are *possible* enemy defenses to this damage.  As of this writing, no enemy has these defenses above 0, but that could change in the future and would greatly hurt Virtuosa's effectiveness.

The main skills to look at for Virtuosa are S3 for that all important wave clearing, and S1 for focusing on bigger singular targets, helidropping, and overall map consistency for when S3’s downtime is too long.  Her S2 is notable as well, although she's so effective at applying Necrosis herself that it is only really useful for the possible range extension via another Operator.

Viviana

The popular Candle Knight finally makes her way to Rhodes Island!  But instead of arriving to the fanfare she deserves, she instead limps in as a forgettable shared rate-up to the more imposing Virtuosa.

Well, that's being a tad dramatic.  Viviana is not an awful unit by any means.  However, she is not a special one either.  Her kit ultimately doesn't bring anything unique to the table and she isn't terribly effective at her designed role.  So she is usable if you like her, but is never the best choice either.

Viviana is a duelist.  She's meant to take on harder enemies, with both of her Talents providing significant mitigations to damage from Boss and Elite enemies, while also gaining significant bulk from her skills.  She does this on top of short cycling and strong Arts based DPS.

If that upside discussion seems short... well, that's because it is.  There's only so many ways to dress up those basic facts.  She's got good bulk and she's got good damage, and several ways to do both.

That all seems well and good, but her kit comes together awkwardly and ineffectively at the role, ultimately leaving her without any particular place in the meta.  On the downsides, she completely lacks any sort of way to mitigate enemy RES.  Lots of units, including some very good ones, lack that.  However, Viviana's kit is focused towards dueling Elite and Boss enemies, which makes that exclusion quite odd.  Elite and Boss enemies typically have the highest RES, meaning Viviana ends up with ineffective damage against the very enemies she's meant to take on!  Worse still, she is vulnerable when her skill is not up, a problem compounded by her lack of killing potential.  Further, the game design has tended towards not blocking Boss enemies in the first place.  As mechanics get more complex, the fights become more "gimmicky" where the best strategy is usually not to block them at all, if it's even possible.  Consider, for example, IS#4 where Viviana is completely ineffective against all four boss encounters!

Bassline

Bassline is a solid 5★ who is very similar to the launch 5★, Nearl but he trades some of her healing ability for bulk instead.  He's a notable upgrade over Gummy, both in terms of his bulk and healing efficiency.  He is a solid middle-ground Defender, mixing reasonable bulk, sustain, and utility.

However, along with the other comparisons to Nearl, he suffers the same value question that has plagued her since launch.  Is what he brings worth twice the resources of Gummy?  Since the game tends to be DPS forward, that answer is usually no.  While top-of-the-game Guardians like Shu and Saria do so much that justifies the cost increase, Bassline and Nearl are just incremental upgrades that also lack long-term value.  While Bassline is certainly a solid unit, especially for his rarity, it will be generally better to put your resources elsewhere unless you're a niche player

Especially notable for niche players is his S2 which is one of the best stall skills available.  While usage for it is very fringe, a 60 second duration, over 800 HPS, and only 7 SP required for initial activation, he can last nearly an entire redeploy cycle which is a remarkable improvement over existing options, even at higher rarities.  Bassline also deserves a special note for his Module, which allows him to grant RES to friendly units.  He is only the second unit since the launch of the game who can do this!

These units are NOT available in the gacha.  Lessing is the welfare unit, given out for free as part of the event rewards.  Diamante and Caper are available to purchase for Red Certificates.  Although these units should not affect your pull decisions, I have included their summaries here for those that are interested.

Lessing

Lessing continues the trend of awful 6★ welfares.  You would think that you would want these headline units on your biggest events of the year to be at least usable, but what do I know?  Instead we just get units that cost more to promote while also being nearly completely useless.

Lessing harkens back to the OG Skadi, before she got a great Module and all those Abyssal Hunter buffs, when she was largely considered to be the worst 6★ in the game.  There's no value in Arknights in a 1-block unit who deals bad Physical damage on bad cycles, and I will never understand why Hypergryph thought to repeat that four year old mistake.

On the upside though, HG at least had the decency to give Lessing a niche, which at least makes him better than Vigil.  With his S3 he becomes immune to status effects.  He can even uniquely activate his S3 while already under those effects to break free of them!  That's a decent gimmick to have, and gives a silver lining to an otherwise bad unit.

However, that silver lining is very small.  Game design in Arknights never requires specific units to solve even advanced situations.  That means there will always be other, and better, ways to solve problems that niche addresses.  Even if removing status effects is required, Lumen, who is likewise a Welfare unit (and a very solid one) can do it for everyone.

Lessing should not be raised by anyone, unless you have a fetish for bad units.  For most players, he will be a waste of resources with almost no upside in return.

Diamante

The basic concept behind a Primal Caster is rather dead on arrival.  Unit combos in Arknights are very rarely good.  Because Arknights has limits on deploy space and team space, a combo needs to be better than just bringing a separate unit instead.  This is the same problem that has plagued buffers since launch, and it's a fundamental that greatly limits what a Primal Caster will manage (at least within the 4 and 5★ design space).

Diamante has two roles, depending on his skill, but both come across rather gimmicky due to that replacement value problem.  With S1, he can apply Necrosis himself.  However, unlike Ritualists such as Valarqvin and Virtuosa, his Necrosis damage applies after enemy RES, which makes him much less suited to the task.  Further, Necrosis can't stack with itself, so there is little reason to bring his S1 over Valarqvin at the same rarity (who also costs less to obtain).

His S2 meanwhile, applies additional damage to enemies already under the Necrosis effects.  That can be somewhat nice since the extra damage operates similarly to True Damage, and has the potential to be valuable in niche clears.  Unfortunately though, it isn't an impressive amount of extra damage.  That replacement value comes to a head here.  Why not just bring a different Caster instead, especially when considering he costs a whopping 600 Red Certificates on top of the usual promotion costs?

Note that although his S1 also has a component of extra damage, it is worse than S2 and since he is not effective at applying Necrosis himself, there is rarely any benefit to it, even on his own.

Ultimately, there's little reason to use or promote Diamante.  Anything he brings is better done by other units who are readily available and less expensive.  He's an interesting unit, and creative players may find him to be worth playing with, but for most, he's just a design oddity, who isn't worth the extra costs.

Caper

While our first Primal Caster (Diamante, discussed above) doesn't leave a high opinion of the archetype's future, our first Loopshooter sure does.  Caper is a capable unit, especially for her rarity, featuring a solid all around kit with good stats and some unique uses.

She features a relatively high ATK value which is further enhanced by her Talent.  With her short base attack interval, she has some solid DPS!  That interval does increase with range, but is still fairly good overall, especially for her rarity.  Then she has an expansive range and is relatively bulky on top!

Her attack interval is 1 second, although that only applies in the closest tiles to her.  Further out, her effective interval becomes longer since she has to wait for the projectile to return.  This ends up having a unique effect where ASPD buffs and debuffs have a lesser impact on Caper.  Those changes to ASPD only change her animation, but not the projectile speed.  While this can be a downside in IS or SSS, it's also a great boon against any sort of ASPD debuff.  While such debuffs can completely neuter most DPS units, Caper is barely affected!  For a 4★, that's a pretty solid niche!

Now, of course, as a 4★ DPS unit that costs an additional 150 Red Certificates, Caper is ultimately nothing special in the meta sense.  She lacks utility outside of her ASPD debuff mitigation, and while her DPS is good, it's only good for her rarity.  She probably isn't even worth the extra costs to new players.  However, she is a rare modern example at the lower rarities of a unit who is off to a good start and should be very usable for anyone who favors even slightly off-meta approaches.

NOTE:  This section will not preview every single upcoming unit.  That would take too much space and time.  Instead, this section will call out special notes or updates, rather than rewriting the whole thing every patch.

NOTE:  These suggestions only account for meta value.  They do not give weight to ancillary value such as niche value, support possibilities, or limited FOMO.

Must Pull:  Degenbrecher, Ela (limited), Shu (limited)

Strong Pulls:  Ray, Zuo Le, Virtuosa (limited), Reed2 (rerun)

Probably Pass:  Viviana, Ash (rerun), Ascalon

A few quick notes.

Ascalon - Whether Ascalon is a Strong Pull or a Probably Pass will likely depend on how the 5th Anniversary pans out.  She's not a bad unit and has a good mix of damage and strong control.  However, her damage isn't meta caliber and she has some stiff competition in the control realm.  She'll be reasonable to roll for, but with a big limited right after, Ascalon will be a pass for most people.

Shu - I feel I'm a touch lower on Shu than the general consensus.  She is a great unit, don't get me wrong, but I have a slightly tough time putting her on the same level as DPS units.  However, for the granularity of my list here, she does belong on the top tier.  I only note it here to point out I'd consider her third on the "must pulls" and she's somewhere between the two tiers for me.

Ela - Ela is an insane unit with ridiculous damage and utility.  She has a great value prospect as well.  The collab banner means she has a hard pity at 120, and the banner has 20 free pulls.  So guaranteeing a unit of her caliber at 100 pulls is incredibly good value.  There's also the fact she's a collab limited who won't be available to spark and may not have a timely rerun.  I think Degenbrecher is still the top unit ahead of us, but Ela is the better value.

Ash - Note that Ash's rerun banner does NOT get the 20 free pulls that Ela does.  You will need all 120 pulls to guarantee her.  That's still good value, however Ash is just nothing special in the modern meta.  She's certainly usable if FOMO matters to you since she likely won't be available ever again, but strictly in terms of meta value, it makes more sense to put your pulls elsewhere.

NOTE:  Dates here are an estimate.  Please do not take them as gospel.  We rarely know the exact dates until the banners are here and re-ordering is fairly common.  The further out they are, the more likely they are to be inaccurate.

NOTE:  Standard and Kernel Banners are not predictable.  This section only covers non-Standard banners.

NOTE:  Be very careful with Joint Operation Banners.  They can be appealing if you don't have any of the units, but if you own even one, then the odds are likely much worse than you probably think.  The open pool of units is much more valuable compared to a guaranteed dupe.  The solo-rateup new unit banners are far more valuable.

CCBP#1 Joint Operation Banner - Mizuki, Suzuran, Pozemka, Surtr

Type:  Normal pity, but no off-banners

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  Low

Expected:  After the Virtuosa banner.

The Sojourner - Degenbrecher, Leto

Type:  Normal

Will Be Rerun?:  Yes

Priority:  MUST PULL

Expected:  June

Comments:  Degenbrecher is the single best unit ahead of us.  Skip her at your own peril.

To Bloom from a Dim Flame RERUN - Reed the Flame Shadow, Harmonie

Type:  Normal (rerun)

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  High

Expected:  June

Celebrate and Recollect (Kernel)

Type:  Separate pity.  First 6★ is a kernel unit you don't already own.

Will Be Rerun?:  Usually run once a year.

Priority:  Low

Expected:  Difficult to say, but sometime around Shu's banner.

Celebrate and Recollect (Standard)

Type:  Separate pity.  First 6★ is a standard unit you don't already own.

Will Be Rerun?:  Usually run once a year.

Priority:  Low

Expected:  Difficult to say, but sometime around Shu's banner.

Ray of Light - Ray, Warmy

Type:  Normal

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  High

Expected:  early-July

Comment:  Bnnuy!

Reap of Millenia - Shu, Zuo Le, Grain Buds

Type:  Limited

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  MUST PULL (Shu)

Expected:  late July (note this banner acts as the global half anniversary, so the date is relatively definite)

Comments:  Shu is the best unit on the banner, but Zuo Le is also a high-tier unit so this banner is especially valuable.

TN#4 Joint Operation - Mountain, Swire the Elegant Wit, Qiubai, Mlynar

Type:  Normal pity, but no off-banners

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  Low

Expected:  After Shu banner

Storm-Reinforce-Missions Cycle - Ela, Iana, Doc

Type:  Collab Limited, Ela is guarnteed on the 120th pull.

Will Be Rerun?:  No*

Priority:  MUST PULL

Expected:  September

Comments:  This banner is incredibly good value.  Not only is Ela one of the best units in the game, but we get 20 free pulls meaning only 100 are needed to guarantee her.

* Note that there is a good chance this banner will be rerun someday since the Ash banner was rerun.  However, we have no idea when or if.  It took nearly four years for Ash to rerun, so it is best to plan as if Ela will not be rerun.

Attack-Defence Tactical Collide RERUN - Ash, Blitz, Frost

Type:  Collab Limited, Ash is guarnteed on the 120th pull.

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  Low

Expected:  After Ela banner

Comments:  We do NOT get the free 20 pulls with this rerun banner.  You will need all 120 to guarantee Ash.

CCBP#2 Joint Operation - Pozemka, Mudrock, Jessica the Liberated, Passenger

Type:  Normal pity, but no off-banners

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  Low

Expected:  October

The Front That Was 4 - Stainless, Hoederer, Ines

Type:  Normal pity, but no off-banners

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  Low

Expected:  Late October

Comments:  Although Ines is a meta unit and the odds of her are technically higher than a Standard banner, Stainless and Hoederer, along with no off-banners, bring the overall value of the banner way down.

Like Ending, Like Death - Ascalon, Aroma, Lutonada

Type:  Normal pity, but no off-banners

Will Be Rerun?:  Yes

Priority:  Low

Expected:  Late October

Comments:  Coming right before an Anniversary limited, Ascalon would have to be really special to attract your pulls.  As it is, she's just OK so will probably be a desire only pull in the face of better options.