Arknights: In-depth Review - Iris

Iris is the future 5★ Charge Caster featured in the The Wheat And The Anthem banner, which will run alongside the Beyond Here mini-event. This cute gal brings with her kit yet another new caster archetype, but how good is she really? Let’s find out!

Iris is the first operator of her archetype, Charge Casters, so to understand how she works, first we must understand what this new role means.

Charge Caster’s attack range is similar to that of Boomstick Snipers, but extends one tile further. Together with their own tile, these new casters can attack in a 3x3 square in front of them (but not to their sides!). Another important factor of this new sub-archetype and the reason for their name is their Charging mechanic: if it would be time for the unit to attack but not valid target can be found within range, they will instead create one Charge (up to a maximum of three), signified by a small magic particle appearing on the tip of their weapon. Afterwards, when an enemy is found within range, they will shoot all the stored charges at once towards the same enemy, dealing high damage.

Additionally, Iris also specializes in the ever-elusive Sleep status ailment, letting her put (most) enemies into slumber for a long period of time in which they will be (mostly) immune to all damage.

The one thing that should be obvious when you first look at Iris is her absolutely insane attack stat, which is, in fact, the highest among every single caster in the entire game, almost doubling Eyjafjalla and beating Ifrit by over 400. It is clear that Charge Casters are aiming for massive damage outputs, as this is a trait she shares with her future 4★ counterpart, Indigo.

The other very notable thing is, however, her absolutely massive attack interval. At a sluggishly slow three seconds per attack, Iris is the slowest attacker in the entire game, even slower than an AoE Caster.

Apart from that, Iris’ stats are very similar to all other single target caster, just boasting a slightly higher deployment cost at 24 instead of the 21 of Ceobe or Eyjafjalla.

This talent directly makes use of her abilities as a Charge Caster to grant her a direct +30% damage boost to all stored attacks. It’s as simple as that.​​​​​​​

During this skill’s 5 second long duration, Iris’ range changes to a 4 tile long straight line in front of her, much like Schwarz S3. Additionally, her attack interval will be reduced by a fifth of her base one (meaning an attack interval of 0.6), but it also halves her attack.

This skill is, simply put, bad. The completely unnecessary range change, the weird interval alteration for this type of caster, the attack halving, and the 5 second duration for a 15 second long charge timer, everything seems really strange and almost arbitrary. Do not use, do not invest.

Iris’ second and last skill brings her sleep abilities to her skillset. After a 30 second long charge timer, Iris will be able to fire a slumbering shot that will put up to two enemies to sleep for a grand total of 7 seconds, and when they wake up, all the enemies around them will receive 300% Arts damage, which, scaling off of Iris’ insane attack stat, is a lot of damage.

If you’ve read her review, you’ll immediately see some similarities with Kafka’s first skill. Indeed, they are almost the exact same, but with two main differences. First, Iris is still able to attack after this skill has been triggered (though not the sleeping enemies!), and second, she is still able to charge SP after firing the shot. 

Far more interesting, though, is to think about what the sleeping status effect means for her archetype, particularly her talent. During those 7 seconds and if no other enemies enter her range, Iris will charge up two whole magic charges, which she will shoot immediately as the enemies wake up. This not only means the 300% nuke from the skill itself, but also a giant single target attack for 260%. That’s a lot of damage!

So, should I roll for Iris? Do we finally get a good, noteworthy 5★ Caster? Will she compliment my Eyjafjalla nicely? The answer is, sadly, a disappointing NO. While her gargantuan attack may make Iris look like a more than competent Caster, the unfortunate attack interval values tied to it make her fall short of even Amiya, who would have a better average DPS than her with S2. Still, if the idea of burst massive enough to down bosses in a couple attacks interests you, or if you love her incredibly cute artstyle and voice, you could consider pulling for her. Don’t come crying when she doesn’t meet your expectations, though.