Arknights: New Operator Spotlight - Saga

Saga is a new 6★ Skill-DP-Recovery Vanguard Operator who has just been released on the global Arknights server. Players have been waiting for Saga for a while—not because of her DP generation, which is pretty average, but because of the extra utility she brings to her team. What is this utility? Is it worth it? Is Saga worth it?

As stated above, Saga is the newest 6★ Skill-DP-Recovery Vanguard. This means she has Block-2 (as opposed to a DP-on-Kill Vanguard’s Block-1) and it also means she generates DP for her team with her Skills. You can see specifics about her Talents, stats, Skills, and more over on her Operator page.

Saga, however, has a very special Talent: Preaching, which inflicts the “Critically Wounded” ailment on enemies that Saga reduces to 0 HP. A Critically Wounded enemy cannot be blocked, moves at a reduced speed, and keels over dead 10 seconds after being afflicted. Furthermore, Saga will no longer attack them. If the Wounded enemy is killed by another Operator, however, that Operator gains SP!

• Being a Skill-DP-Recovery Vanguard, Saga is a great Operator to deploy early in a battle. She generates DP with all three of her Skills, so she helps get the rest of your army moving. She Blocks-2 and her DPS is good, so she can stand against the first wave or two of enemies. And, of course, her Talent can get rolling and start powering up the other Operators that follow her.
• The Preaching Talent makes Saga useful in a huge variety of circumstances. She can give SP to Flagbearers so they generate more DP, or feed kills to Operators like Dusk or Bibeak who get stronger when they defeat an enemy. And who wouldn’t like to use Truesilver Slash or Volcano more often?
• Saga’s second Talent, Clear Mind, triggers once per deployment when Saga gets low on health. The HP regen and Physical Dodge it grants Saga can save her from certain death.
• S2 (Cleansing Evil) is Saga’s bread and butter Skill. It deals damage to multiple enemies in a cross shape around Saga, executes all targets that were Critically Wounded, and generates 4 DP to boot. This Skill can hold multiple charges and is the only way for Saga to kill Critically Wounded opponents.

• S3 (Fierce Glare) is perfect if you’re primarily using Saga to feed SP to other Operators. It gives Saga a large ATK increase, an extra square of attack range, and the ability to attack multiple targets equal to her Block count. She will also perform an extra attack against targets with less than 50% HP remaining. Oh yes, and it generates DP as well.

• Saga is a good fighter, but she doesn’t have the DPS of a Guard or the survivability of a Defender. If you’re careless with her, she can easily be squished by powerful opponents.
• Preaching only triggers if Saga gets the killing blow on her target. If other Operators are stealing the kills from her or if Saga isn’t strong enough to handle her target, Preaching is virtually useless.
• Preaching is great for giving SP to allies, but it’s best for [Per Second] SP charge Skills. [Attacking Enemy] and [Getting Hit] Skills will usually get more of a benefit from directly engaging the enemy that Saga killed. Preaching can also be wasted by Operators who have triggered permanent Skills and are no longer gaining SP, but who are still attacking and getting the kills. Think carefully about how useful Preaching might be before slapping Saga into every team composition.
• Keep in mind that Preaching cannot give SP to Operators who don’t attack, such as Medics or Modal Casters.
• NEVER place Saga on the grid directly in front of your base panel. The ten-second duration of Critically Wounded is plenty of time for an enemy to walk past Saga and make it another grid or so. Some fast enemies, like wolves, may even make it farther. Try to place Saga far away from your bases so this is not a concern.

Arknights has had a 6* Skill-DP-Recovery Vanguard ever since release: Siege, the lion-themed, pipe-wielding gang leader. Now Saga has leapt into the ring to upset Siege’s position as king of the savannah—er, of the Skill-DP-Recovery Vanguards. Does Saga succeed? Which Operator is better?

• Stats: Saga and Siege have almost identical stats across the board. Saga has slightly more ATK and Siege has slightly more survivability. The differences are too minor to call this anything but a draw.
• DP Generation: This is a major part of using a Skill-DP-Recovery Vanguard, and it’s pretty one-sided here. Siege generates less DP with her S2 and must have an enemy present to use it, and she doesn’t get DP from her S3 at all. Saga’s S2 has a slightly longer charge time than Siege’s, but the other advantages more than make up for this. Point to Saga.
• ST Damage: Saga has higher base ATK and a higher damage multiplier on her S2. But Siege comes roaring back with her S3 and its crazy 380% ATK buff, giving Siege the clear advantage against single targets (even with the bonus attack against low-HP enemies from Saga’s S3). A clear win for Siege here.
• AoE Damage: Siege’s S2 charges more quickly than Saga’s (especially with her Crushing Talent in play). However, Saga’s S2 does more damage and, most importantly, can be triggered manually rather than automatically. Saga can save the charges of her S2 until she wants to use them to blow up a wave of enemies all at once; Siege will spam her charges against a single target and have nothing left for the wave that follows. Saga wins here (although both are strong).
• Utility: Siege grants all allied Vanguards a bonus to ATK and DEF while she’s deployed, and she can Stun enemies with her S3. This is good, but it’s hard to say it’s better than Saga being able to feed SP to SilverAsh/ Eyjafjalla/ Ifrit/ Mudrock/ etc. Heck, Saga can buff Vanguards by feeding SP to Zima, or Stun enemies by feeding SP to Mostima. The power of SP cannot be overstated: this win goes to Saga.

Short answer: Yes. Saga is better than Siege.

Siege has been getting powercrept for a while, but Saga really blows past her in a big way. Saga boasts terrific team utility, more control over her Skills, and more versatility in her DP generation than Siege, and Siege’s only advantage—the high damage and Stun from her S3—prevents Siege from gaining DP in any way if you choose to use it.

Siege can still be useful, especially if you’re bringing lots of other Vanguards to benefit from her King of Beasts buff, but there’s no question that Saga has taken her crown as the best 6* Skill-DP-Recovery Vanguard in Arknights.

Saga and Bagpipe are not the same type of Vanguard, so this is a hard question to answer. The question here is really: “Is Saga the new meta Vanguard, rather than Bagpipe and Myrtle/ Elysium?”

The answer is No. Saga is very strong, but her DP generation is nothing special. Bagpipe + Flagbearer is still the ultimate DP engine, which is why it is so strong in the current meta, and Saga is not going to change that.

If you already have Bagpipe + Flagbearer, consider Saga more of a support unit than a primary DP generator. Use her like Liskarm or Ptilopsis to give more SP to your team (consider S3 over S2 for this reason). If you don’t have Bagpipe, though, then Saga is a great choice for your primary Vanguard. She can feed SP to Myrtle or Elysium, accelerating their DP gain (albeit not as much as Bagpipe), while still taking point early on a map before you can deploy your stronger units.

Saga is an outstanding Vanguard who can fit into most team compositions and amplify a lot of key strategies in Arknights. She requires good positioning, both of her and the other Operators around her, and she can take some micromanaging to reach her full potential. However, she’s well worth the time and effort. If you’re pulling for her, we at GamePress wish you the best of luck—

Er, hold on a second—ahem—

Shouldst thou express interest in acquiring the noble service of this highly-spoken-of monk, she who hails from distant Higashi, land of the mountainous slopes and the twisted trunks of autumn maple, then we who labor in the employ of the established Press of Game doth bid you with a good will to endeavor in this pursuit, and ye, we collectively pray that Lady Luck may peek from behind her painted fan and shine a gleaming smile in your direction, bestowing only good tidings upon the crimson drops of Orundum thou may expend in this task. Huzzah, cousin! Huzzah!