Arknights: In-depth Review - Cantabile

Cantabile is the future 5★ Agent Vanguard featured in the Great Axe and Pen Nib banner, which will run alongside the Ideal City event. Cantabile is the first Operator in the Agent archetype, which somewhat competes with Flagbearers in their laser-focus for DP generation, realized differently in this new archetype. How does it compare to the usual Vanguard powerhouses? Let’s find out!

Agent Vanguards are a powerful new archetype that draw inspiration from Executor Specialists’ fast-redeploy capabilities mixed with the top-tier DP generation of Flagbearer Vanguards. Their most commonly intended usage relies on utilizing their naturally lower redeploy timer of 35 seconds to constantly move them around the map to generate DP (as they need to be attacking to do so), which gives them a large degree of versatility and a more active role compared to Flagbearer Vanguards. Agent Vanguards also have a two tile long range directly in front of them, and can both perform ranged attacks and target aerial enemies such as drones.

This also means Operators in this archetype are unlikely to ever be a liability in combat as, unlike with the other popular DP printers, their off-skill time is either impactful or nil. Not only that, but their Skills being tied to both Attack boosts and very quick DP generation also means they are somewhat capable of holding against weaker enemies, though this may not be so desirable.

Due to their reliance on attacking (not killing!) to generate DP, Agent Vanguards may sometimes run into the unfortunate situation of wasting their Skill durations by killing their targets too quickly, effectively cutting their DP printing short unless the specific Skill is using some sort of ammo or charge system. Keeping them at low investment levels like Kafka is also not possible, as their Mastery gains are very important. A good enough compromise is sacrificing their levels to offset the damage-related Mastery gains by keeping them at Elite 2 Level 1, but this is a drastic measure most players will not need to take unless they plan to optimize for the usage of Agent Vanguards.

Cantabile (and by extension this archetype as a whole) falls somewhere in the middle of Pioneer and Charger Vanguards of her same rarity, sporting similar HP and higher Attack than the former, but lower than the latter. She has the lowest Defense amongst her same rarity (with the exception of the Tactician Vanguard Blacknight), but also a halved redeployment timer of 35 seconds. Finally but definitely not least importantly, Agent Vanguards rank amongst the lowest DP cost per rarity archetypes in the game (1 DP cost lower than Flagbearers), only beaten by Bards, Merchants and Executors.

When Cantabile is not blocking enemies, her Attack Speed increases by 12 (+2 at P5). If she is blocking enemies, her Attack increases by 12% (+2% at P5) instead.

This Talent is fantastic for Cantabile, though only half of its effects are truly desirable. Generally speaking, Agent Vanguards as a whole are disproportionately affected by Attack Speed modifiers as their Attack Interval is integral to their DP generation, and thus players will want to place Cantabile in such a way that she’s unlikely to block enemies, or that she’s hitting enemies blocked by other Operators.

In terms of pure DP generation, a Potential 5 Cantabile utilizing her first Skill will generate 3 more DP when the Attack Speed effect is active than when the Attack one is, while if she’s at lower Potential she will generate just 1 more. Additionally, since the Attack bonus is quite low, she will have both better DPS and total damage with the Attack Speed effect, making it desirable in every single aspect.

Agent Vanguards follow the tradition of Flagbearer Vanguards in that they benefit massively from Potentials. Cantabile herself gets pretty noticeable boosts with every single one of her Potentials, so consider this when pulling for her.

When deployed, Cantabile’s Attack will increase by 100% and will generate 1 DP per attack, even if it is dodged. This Skill lasts 20 seconds.

Ignoring the increasing DP costs per redeploy and her DP refund rates, this Skill grants Cantabile an outstanding 0.45 DP/s at P5 if her Attack Speed effect is active. This is lower than every Flagbearer Vanguard’s first Skill (around 0.5 for both Elysium and Saileach), but not by enough that players will feel any shortage of DP when using Cantabile.

The reality is a bit more complex, however, as the DP cost increase mechanics do impact Cantabile in a very significant manner. At P6 with her maximum deployment cost and ideal circumstances, Cantabile will consume 16 DP to generate 23, then return 8 when retreated. In total, this amounts to a net generation of 15 DP over 51 seconds which translates to approximately 0.295 DP/s. While this number may look quite low in comparison to the 0.52 that Elysium’s first Skill can reach, Agent Vanguards overcome the hurdle by having significantly better versatility due to their redeploy-heavy playstyle and more active roles in combat.

Another extremely important factor of this Skill comes from its activation style. Being an automatic Skill that triggers on deploy means it has no use for initial SP, somewhat alleviating the lack of a high-potential Bagpipe for players who may yet not have one.

Overall, this skill is definitely worth investing into if you want to boost your DP generation even further and open up a new, more proactive playstyle.

When activated, Cantabile will obtain Camouflage, a 40% Attack boost, 50 extra Attack Speed and 18 ammo. Every attack Cantabile performs will generate 1 DP until she runs out of ammo, and the Skill can be deactivated manually. This skill has a SP cost of 25, and an initial SP of 20.

The potential DP generation of this Skill is lower than the on-skill performance of the first one, but it definitely has its place in Cantabile’s kit. The combination of the extra Attack Speed with the Ammo system means she will be generating DP more reliably than her first Skill and not punish suboptimal gameplay as much, allowing for more positions to be deployed in. The Camouflage also means Cantabile will no longer have to worry about her rather low defensive stats or getting one-shotted by ranged enemies in the content she’s generally going to be more valuable in, High Risk Contingency Contract. As a result, this might sometimes be Cantabile’s only viable option for a stage, and definitely still worth bringing even if the raw DP generation is somewhat hindered by a focus on higher consistency.

Paired with Bagpipe's second Talent, this Skill can be fired immediately even without any Potentials, so it can act as a perfect helidrop to generate DP if you want to go that route and need the Attack Speed or Camouflage enough that the first Skill is not an option.

All in all this Skill is also worth looking into for many players, I would usually recommend focusing on the first one as it can have a significantly stronger effect in many strategies, but it is undeniable that it requires a set of circumstances that may not be possible to met. Be it because you need the leniency the Attack Speed boost or the Ammo system can provide or because you need the Camouflage effect to let Cantabile survive, S2 still has a very strong presence in her kit and is definitely worth using. Skill 1 may be the Skill you use when you need the most optimized Cantabile, but Skill 2 is the one you use when you need her to work.

So, should I pull for Cantabile? Are the rumors of her being as strong as Myrtle true? Are we entering a new era of DP generation? The answer is DEFINITELY YES. Cantabile is incredibly versatile and can print DP about as well as Flagbearer Vanguards, while sidestepping the very passive playstyle of that archetype and opening up new strategies via her redeploy focus. Cantabile is an incredibly powerful Operator that will continue seeing meta-usage for a long while, and still be rather powerful for more casual playstyles, making every single Operator in her banner worth pulling for. The only reason any player should consider not pulling for Cantabile is if their funds are already low and being reserved for the future meta-defining Operator Mlynar, and even then you will be missing out on not only her, but also Pozëmka and, to a lesser extent, Gavial the Invincible.