Arknights: Integrated Strategies Operator Preparation Guide

Maybe you are here because you want to improve on your previous Integrated Strategies-related records, maybe you’re just curious, or maybe you missed the first season of this event and are wondering what the fuss is all about. In any case, welcome! This article will hopefully act as a guide to your Integrated Strategies (Also known as IS) needs, assuming you already know how the event works and some of the mechanics (though this article will explain everything you need to know). If you don’t or are in need of a refresher, I recommend you read the following article!

Now, you probably still have a lot of questions, and might even be wondering what even is the point of this article, seeing as the event is long gone. If that’s the case, then I have good news for you! The event got a second season in the Chinese server after the rerun of the Maria Nearl event, this time centered around Operator Phantom instead of Ceobe, with beautiful gothic aesthetics. Additionally, much like Contingency Contract, Hypergryph has decided to make this exciting gamemode permanent, with seasonal events to spice things up. Hooray!.  Details and differences of the second coming can be found here:

You might, however, still wonder why this article has been published now, instead of when the date of the event draws closer, and the answer is a bit more complex. While in general events and more endgame-oriented ones like Contingency Contract the “meta” generally stays the same (meaning powerful 5 and 6★ Operators remain just as powerful), Integrated Strategies events have a completely different playstyle that shakes things up to the point where a roster full of high rarity units is not guaranteed to win you the game, at least not instantly.

Instead, IS encourages players to diversify their rosters even more and not rely as heavily on their powerful 6★ Operators to clear everything. Players are expected to expand their available selection among different rarities, raising powerful and versatile 3 and 4★ Operators as well. This is due to the roguelike-aspect of the event, which heavily limits options as recruiting and promoting your Operators for use in runs requires a scarce resource: Hope. This resource can only be obtained through events inside the run and is consumed in greater quantities by recruiting operators with higher rarities, plus the cost of actually promoting them to Elite 2, since the first time they’re recruited they are capped at Elite 1 Max. This limits access to third skills and masteries, heavily “nerfing” operators that rely on those such as Thorns, SilverAsh and Surtr.

Due to this shaken-up meta, this article will be published now to give players enough time to get a diverse roster up to speed!

Before we commence, I feel it is important to note that the specifics of this event might change in the future, and all the information here will be extracted from the first season of this event, Ceobe’s Fungimist, and information on how the current season is evolving in the chinese server with Crimson Solitaire. Without further ado, let’s get into the best lower-rarity operators to raise for a good Integrated Strategies preparation!

Yato is a decent option for this gamemode. Her reduced redeployment time allows her to act as a pseudo-Fast Redeploy/Executor with Block 2. In an environment where both DP and blocks are a huge constraint, she manages to be of help for a tiny amount of investment, even if her stats leave much to be desired and she’s eventually replaced by other, better operators.

Spot sports both a workable DP cost and very high versatility and support for the party. While he’s particularly squishy by Defender standards, his ability to act as both a 3-blocker and give occasional heals (which also gives him some self-sustainability) can ease the pressure on your limited squad building resources by a decent amount. Due to this and his null hope cost, he's often one of the most picked Operators.

High range, low cost, cheap “Arts” source early on. What’s not to love about Midnight? Even if he’s quickly replaced by many other operators once you get a run going, he can easily kickstart some and remains useful due to his archetypal long range.

Kroos remains a very powerful unit for IS due to her high damage output, low cost and free recruitment (almost the same as the main story!). Early on, when the enemies are weaker, she can very easily act as your DPS carry, and even later on she can still chip away at them or deal with the often not-so-dangerous drones we saw in the first iteration of this event.

There’s not much to say about him, but that doesn’t mean Steward is bad. His consistent Arts damage is similar to that of Amiya’s but with none of the cost of recruiting the latter and a unique targeting priority that may prove to be quite handy. He can easily cover the Arts needed for a while until you get enough Hope for game-winners like Eyjafjalla or Ceobe.

Medics are in a very weird spot in the IS metagame. While there’s no doubt that they are a necessity (I shudder just thinking about Poison Fog maps without one!), many units can take on their recovery role condensing it into a nice, versatile package, such as the aforementioned Spot or even an S2 Saria for the harder content, which sometimes makes it hard to justify spending your Hope on a Medic. That’s where Ansel comes into play. While his healing is undoubtedly mediocre, this is often all you’ll need for a single Medic, and for no Hope cost at all. The extra range on his skill is also surprisingly useful at times, making him better than Hibiscus at this specific role. Due to all these factors combined, Ansel ends up being one of the most picked Medics for all of IS, trailing just behind the game-carrying Kal'tsit.

Cardigan was another darling for IS players, boasting a more than decent defense stat, decently low cost, 3 blocks and pretty good self-sustain, letting her hold lanes for a competent DPS to take care of without needing the constant support of a Medic, easing the healing strain quite a bit.

Two blocks on a cheap, relatively durable unit that slowly generates DP for you. Unlike other units in this list, Fang falls off really quickly as the enemies soon start overwhelming her even during the earliest rushes, but she’s nevertheless a great carry for the first few stages where resources are incredibly limited, and later on for players who don’t want to spend hope on recruiting Myrtle.

I sometimes hesitate to recommend Popukar as an IS unit. She can provide great utility early on with her cheap cost and decent damage (specially when hitting 2 enemies at once, which heavily eases the pressure on herself and others), but she really doesn’t provide much else to a group and falls off quickly as enemies become too strong for her. It’d often be better to pick Midnight, but she’s still a solid option early on.

Orchid does not have an incredibly useful kit, but neither do most other Supporters for this gamemode. As a result, for players that don't want to spend the Hope needed for Skadi the Corrupting Heart or Suzuran, Orchid is a good 0-cost option with slowing support.

Large range, Arts on demand, multi-target and drone hatred for the few maps where those are a big threat. Arene practically has all that’s needed to make him an IS start when his time eventually comes. All that versatility and power carries him very far where other lower rarity guards can’t provide much anymore.

If you want cheap, low-rarity Arts damage that will last you the entire playthrough, there’s practically no one better than Click. Thanks to her unique archetypal traits and lower Attack Interval than Core/Single Target Casters she can very easily out-DPS them through the course of the stage, even if her burst capabilities are lower. In addition to all this, her continuous Stuns provide some support and can greatly aid in taking down important enemies, including Duck Lord and Gopnik.

Podenco may not be the most versatile 4★ out there, but she does her job incredibly well. Apart from having more than decent Arts damage, her spore clouds can help immensely with crowd control and deal pretty good damage over time. And if that wasn’t enough, she can silence the odd spider here and there, greatly easing the pressure those put on your team.

Cutter does one thing and one thing only: damage. Pure, incredibly high damage. Her first skill can very easily down most enemies and put a big dent on bosses. Her second skill gives her a tiny bit of versatility by opening up her usage to more dense waves or the few drone stages out there, but generally she’s too good at bursting down big targets to ignore.

I’ve already written an article focusing on her recently, and while that one focuses especially on her at Elite 2 and with full masteries, the message remains almost intact for this gamemode. With a nice combination of crowd control and more than decent damage, May is an extremely safe raise that carries her weight all the way to the end of the game.

While definitely nowhere near the same level as her 6★ alternative, Pinecone can provide some really high, on-demand true AoE damage to thin out waves and pierce through the defenses of more dangerous enemies. Even at later stages of the game, her ability to mow down multiple enemies at once will remain useful if you can afford the DP cost to place her down.

Similarly to Pinecone, Pudding is an expensive Operator to deploy with high damage and the ability to take down multiple groups of enemies at once, using some much more useful Arts damage instead.

Still, be careful if you do want to use Pudding, as she gainst a pretty significant boost from her Module and her second skill needs some more precise usage in order to get the most out of it.

Jaye is incredibly powerful. His quicker redeployment time makes him extremely versatile, and his high damage and healing capabilities but him a step aboive most other Specialists (he was more used than even Phantom during certain months!). Still, the same thing that applies to raising him for general content also applies here: he will permanently downgrade his base skills.

While I can only recommend him for IS, keep that in mind before you actually decide to raise him.