Arknights: In-depth Review - Pozyomka

Pozëmka (or Pozyomka) is the future 6★ Heavyshooter Sniper featured in the Great Axe and Pen Nib banner, which will run alongside the Ideal City event. Pozëmka is widely regarded as one of the most powerful upcoming Operators, to the point where many claim she’s a direct powercreep to another one, but how true is this? Let’s find out!

Pozëmka’s main comparison is the other 6★ in the archetype, Schwarz. Pozëmka is often considered to be a direct powercreep to the feline, and this statement is not without credit at all.

Pozëmka benefits massively from a mechanic that has propelled many other Operators before her into meta territory: her deployable. Deployables that don’t consume Deploy Limit on use are an inherently powerful mechanic, and most 6★ with powerful enough kits to abuse the versatility these can provide are almost instantly elevated into meta territory thanks in no small part to them. Be it ubiquitous meta beasts like Nightingale or Skadi the Corrupting Heart, or incredibly unique support options such as Weedy, rarely does such a powerful mechanic not make an Operator shine in at least one strong niche.

Pozëmka’s niche is, simply put, massive Burst DPS. We will discuss the implications of this further when we get to her first Talent.

In general, Pozëmka’s stat spread is unsurprisingly similar to Schwarz’s, boasting very high Attack values without limiting herself to the very slow Attack Speeds of Deadeyes, Artillerymen and Besiegers

Pozëmka can deploy a Typewriter with slightly different stats than her own and a separate redeployment timer that will copy Pozëmka’s Skills. The Typewriter lasts 25 seconds.

Wait, what?

Yes, you read that right, Pozyomka can deploy a slightly (and I do mean slightly) worse version of herself to any ranged tile on the map, and it will mimic her Skills accordingly. similarly to Phantom’s clone. This Typewriter does not consume any deployment slots, costs 5 DP to deploy, has a redeployment timer of 40 seconds and a three tile long straight line range.

Even better yet, the Typewriter cannot be targeted by enemies in any way, much like Weedy’s Industrial Water Cannon, so it is free to wail on enemies from anywhere in the map with extremely high DPS while Pozëmka remains safe elsewhere. This lets Pozëmka very safely snipe more dangerous threats without taking on a risky position, and if need be you can even double down on tougher bosses to take them down easily.

While somewhat of an exaggeration, this is what people mean when they say Pozyëmka is “like two Schwarzs at once”, or that “she can deploy a second, invincible Schwarz”. It is simply an incredibly powerful ability that throws all balance to the wind and comes out with unreal DPS numbers.

Finally, keep in mind that this deployable cannot receive any direct buffs.

The Typewriter’s attacks will reduce the target’s Defense by 18% (+2% at P5) for 4 (+1 at P5) seconds on hit. If the Typewriter is right next to Pozëmka, this reduction will be of 23% (+2% at P5) instead.

As if Schwarz wasn’t scared for her life already, her niche as a Defense shredder is also threatened by the mighty Typewriter. The latter's Defense debuff is slightly worse when it’s not close to Pozyëmka, and slightly better when it is. All in all, however, Pozëmka can abuse this ability significantly better by double dipping onto an enemy, exploiting the Defense decrease twofold.

Pozëmka’s attacks against enemies directly ahead deal 105% damage and ignore Dodge.

Pozëmka’s attacks against enemies directly ahead deal 105% damage and ignore Dodge.

Talent 1: Now summons a stronger Typewriter (+50 Attack total)

Pozëmka’s attacks against enemies directly ahead deal 105% damage and ignore Dodge.

Talent 1: Now summons a stronger Typewriter (+70 Attack total)

The basic branch of this Module is quite powerful, and likely worth obtaining as a means to ignore dodgy enemies and pummel them with strong burst DPS options. Keep in mind, however, that the Typewriter itself will not inherit any of these benefits.

The advanced stages of this Module are very simple, but still quite powerful. Given that the Typewriter is a constant source of damage for Pozëmka, reaching at least the second stage will give her a decent spike in damage. I recommend getting at least there if only because Pozëmka is already an incredibly strong Operator you’re likely to use very often.

When automatically activated, Pozëmka’s Attack will increase by 60%, and her attacks have a 40% chance of dealing 225% damage. This Skill has an SP cost of 20 and an infinite duration.

This Skill is generally not worth using on Pozëmka for any reason. While the Average DPS it can provide are not bad, it simply does not take any advantage of her inherent strengths in Burst DPS. It can beat both Schwarz’s first and second Skills in terms of Average DPS when paired with her Typewriter with optimal Defense debuffs, but otherwise doesn’t bring anything unique or interesting to be worth using.

When equipped, the Typewriter’s Redeployment Timer is reduced to 50% passively. When activated, Pozëmka will immediately fire three shots for 230% Physical damage on a single target. This Skill can hold up to two charges, has an extra tile of frontal range, and an SP cost of 9.

This Skill acts as Pozëmka’s most immediate source of Burst DPS, reaching extremely high damages per activation of up to 7600, with an extra 6400 from the Typewriter shots. Numbers like these are unheard of in typical instant-damage Skills such as these, and even moreso if Pozëmka double dips with her deployable, but overall the usage case of this Skill is very limited in comparison to her third, more sustained-burst oriented one. 

Still, that doesn’t mean this Skill has no niche to speak of. While the majority of players will naturally gravitate towards her next Skill, some may find use in this Skill to constantly and consistently remove medium to high threats in the battlefield if there’s no prioritary boss to burst down.

Finally, keep in mind this Skill needs a viable target within range to be cast. The Typewriter itself can hit targets outside of Pozëmka’s range, but she won’t be able to activate the Skill unless there’s an enemy in her field of view, without counting her deployable’s. This somewhat hinders the versatility and map control that this Operator is lauded for, and streamlines its usage more into double-dipping on a single enemy. Consequently, this lets Pozëmka take advantage of her second Talent more reliably (or, more accurately, often forces it to happen), giving it an edge against enemies with higher Defense.

When activated, Pozëmka’s range will increase by 1 tile straight ahead (Core Caster range). Additionally, her Attack Interval will be reduced by 0.6 seconds (to 1 attack per second under normal circumstances), and her attacks will deal 200% damage, increased to 255% to enemies in the three tiles directly ahead of her. This Skill has an SP cost of 35, and a 30 second duration.

This Skill is Pozëmka’s answer to Schwarz’s Final Tactics. It’s a massively powerful, short cooldown spike of pure Burst DPS designed to take down boss enemies with ease. By herself, Pozëmka cannot really hope to achieve the incredibly high damage numbers of Schwarz (both in term of pure Burst DPS and in DPH), and she falls off significantly more against Defense, but she has the advantage of not being locked into a specific range and having a longer Skill duration for hardier bosses (but worse overall uptime!).

Pozëmka, however, is never “by herself”. It is evident that this skill was designed with the Typewriter in mind, giving it significantly less power than Schwarz to compensate and avoid direct powercreep, but her in-game performance paints a different picture. Under the worst possible circumstances, with Schwarz triggering every single one of her additional effects and Pozëmka none, the latter’s Burst DPS will already surpass the former’s by slightly over 700 at 600 Defense (over 1.5k at 0 Defense), but factoring in Pozëmka’s additional effects there’s absolutely no contest. At 600 Defense, Pozëmka and her Typewriter will have around 1600 more Burst DPS when double dipping on a single enemy compared to Schwarz.

In case that wasn’t clear enough, when paired up with her deployable and against boss-tier levels of Defense, Pozëmka will be around 60% better than Schwarz, with more lenient sideways range and an essentially invincible deployable to do half of her job for her. The amount of damage this Skill can output by itself is simply unreal and, with one notable exception, will not be matched in the near future, certainly not by other ranged Operators. Simply put, Pozëmka is undeniably THE boss killer of the new meta thanks to this insane Skill.

So, should I pull for Pozëmka? Is she really that much better than Schwarz? Will she be the versatile yet strong boss killer I’m looking for? The answer is DEFINITELY YES. Pozëmka takes the inherent versatility of “free” deployables and pushes it one step beyond, granting herself unmatched DPS numbers without sacrificing on a single ounce of versatility. As much as it pains me to have to say this, Doctors with this Operator will find it extremely hard to come up with excuses to use Schwarz. The only real reason any meta-oriented player should reconsider pulling for Pozëmka is if their pulls are already saved for upcoming meta-defining Operator Młynar. Even then, this means missing out on not only Pozëmka, but also Cantabile and Gavial the Invincible. Unless you are extremely short on pulls and need to save for Młynar, pulling for Pozëmka is a no-brainer.