Arknights: Should You Pull? Episode 13 - Hoederer

Hello there.  TacticalBreakfast here.  You may know me from my Mastery guides, however long time readers of the "Should You Pull" article series will more likely know me as definitely NOT being the long time writer of the series, Luninareph.  I'm sad to say that Luni has retired from Arknights articles.  This has left a hole in the staff, but somewhat fortunately, I already wrote similar topics as part of my banner discussions in the Mastery guide.  So I'll be stepping in to write these articles, at least for the time being.

The last thing I want to do is add a lot of work to my already full plate, so two things to keep in mind.  First, I'll be updating the format a bit from what Luni did.  This is mainly to make it compatible with what I'm already doing, and thus lessen the new work required.  If you feel anything is lacking or missing, please let me know.  The best place to give feedback is the #ak_site_suggestions channel in the official GP Discord.  Second, I don't think I will be the permanent writer for this article.  If someone steps up, I'll be glad to hand it off.  That said, I do think it's an important article so I'll continue to write it as long as necessary.

Now, without further ado, on to why you came here.

Should you pull on this banner?  No.  Hoederer came out at the wrong time.  In another era he'd probably be a pretty top unit.  However, in this era of heavy powercreep he is instead nothing special.  He is yet another Guard who hits hard with some utility, but a fundamentally flawed one thanks to being a Crusher.  The 6★ design space allows a lot of that to be made up (especially compared to Wind Chimes and Quartz) but it's still present.  With a dozen other better Guards available and Degenbrecher on the very close horizon, there's just better value out there than dealing with Hoederer's flaws.

That said, if you're a big fan of the Darknights Trio, which many people are, then he is still a pretty good unit.  That general theme (waifu before meta) is something that comes up a lot in my articles.  Often it applies to some especially bad unit where you really need to stretch the justification to spend the rolls.  That's not entirely the case with Hoederer.  This article may seem harsh, but he's still a good unit.  It's just a consequence of the dramatic rise in overall power.  His damage is up there and he has enough sustain to overcome a lot of that bad Crusher body.  The problem is more all of the other upcoming banners.  There's just so many better units ahead that there's little reason to spend the pulls here.

Hoederer

Hoederer is far from a bad unit, but he is a victim of competition.  There's just too many better options these days and too many better banners ahead.  Especially notable is Degenbrecher who is one of the best Guards in the game and is only around a month away, so Hoederer isn't even worth it for people who don't have those competitive units already.

On the upside, Hoederer has good DPS, a massive HP pool which makes him unique among tank options, good self sustain, and some surprisingly good control.  While many other 6★ Guards far outdo him in that all-important DPS category, his ancillary value still sees some unique usage out of him.

On the downside, he has long (or unusual) skill cycles along with that all too fatal Crusher flaw of 0 DEF or RES (although his Shelter Talent does mitigate that a bit).  Despite all his sustain and HP, he's still fairly fragile, made worse by all his sustain being tied to attacking which is a huge problem on some stages.

It all leaves Hoederer as a mixed bag.  Powerful, with the potential to be the best option in spots, but with significant downsides that hold him back.  If anything, I'd say Hoederer is one of the most well-balanced recent units.  However, balance doesn't pay the meta bills, and there are much better options coming very soon to spend your pulls on.

New players should be especially cautious of Hoederer.  While it can be tempting to think that a solid Guard is a good addition to an empty roster, the Crusher flaws will stand out more in the early going, especially before his more expensive promotions.  Along that line, he's also an expensive unit, with all 3 of his skills being potential Mastery options without the standout skill most units have.  Hoederer is a demanding unit, both on your resources and your strategy.  With Degenbrecher on the horizon, even new players won't find a lot of value here.

Vendela

Like most 5★s these days, Vendela doesn't compare well to existing units.  She's much weaker than Hibiscus the Purifier, nor is she powerful enough to justify the resources even if you don't have Hibiscus.  Her taunt utility is better accomplished by smart planning and deployment, her reflect doesn't do enough damage to be worth it most of the time, and the extra healing from her Talent is too situational.  Incantation Medics are natively decent enough to use if you like her, but none of Vendela's parts are enough to justify the promotion costs.

Verdent

Verdant is a bad unit.  His design is very poorly thought out.  His damage is barely comparable to other 4★s while also having no utility and he kills himself in the process!  For the other Dollkeepers, that's not usually a bad thing since their dolls usually have some form of utility.  However, Verdant's doll does nothing and just artificially extends his cycle time by another 20 seconds.  If that all weren't bad enough, there is a freely available Dollkeeper, Bena, available from Record Restore.  Verdant is nothing but a throw away spot on the banner, not even worth the text space in this article.

While new players shouldn't be rolling on this banner anyway, Verdant actually lowers the banner value even further for them by significantly polluting the 4★ pool with his rate-up, which otherwise has some valuable starting units in it.

NOTE:  This section will not preview every single upcoming unit.  That would take too much space and time.  Instead, this section will call out special notes or updates, rather than rewriting the whole thing every patch.

NOTE:  These suggestions only account for meta value.  They do not give weight to ancillary value such as niche value, support possibilities, or limited FOMO.

Must Pull:  Degenbrecher, Ela (limited), Shu (limited)

Strong Pulls:  Ray, Zuo Le, Virtuosa (limited), Reed2 (rerun)

Probably Pass:  Viviana, Hoederer, Ash (rerun)

A few quick notes.

Shu - I feel I'm a touch lower on Shu than the general consensus.  She is a great unit, don't get me wrong, but I have a slightly tough time putting her on the same level as DPS units.  However, for the granularity of my list here, she does belong on the top tier.  I only note it here to point out I'd consider her third on the "must pulls" and she's somewhere between the two tiers for me.

Ela - Ela is an insane unit with ridiculous damage and utility.  She has a great value prospect as well.  The collab banner means she has a hard pity at 120, and the banner has 20 free pulls.  So guaranteeing a unit of her caliber at 100 pulls is incredibly good value.  There's also the fact she's a collab limited who won't be available to spark and may not have a timely rerun.  I think Degenbrecher is still the top unit ahead of us, but Ela is the better value.

Virtuosa - Arturia is a great example of the powercreep in the last six months.  She's gone from an insane pull option on her release down to a "weeeeeeelllll.....".  Of course, she is still extremely good and Limited.  A meta end-game roster will include her.  However, with how insane the DPS options are these days, that pseudo-True damage aspect of her isn't quite as ridiculous as it used to be.  Her DPS has always had a relatively low hard-cap on it so she looks a bit less appealing than she did six months ago, especially with Viviana dragging the banner down.  Keep in mind that her banner is likely to only be a 2-3 weeks after this article is published, so I'll expand more on this next update.

Ash - Note that Ash's rerun banner does NOT get the 20 free pulls that Ela does.  You will need all 120 pulls to guarantee her.  That's still good value, however Ash is just nothing special in the modern meta.  She's certainly usable if FOMO matters to you since she likely won't be available ever again, but strictly in terms of meta value, it makes more sense to put your pulls elsewhere.

NOTE:  Dates here are an estimate.  Please do not take them as gospel.  We rarely know the exact dates until the banners are here and re-ordering is fairly common.  The further out they are, the more likely they are to be inaccurate.

NOTE:  Standard and Kernel Banners are not predictable.  This section only covers non-Standard banners.

NOTE:  Be very careful with Joint Operation Banners.  They can be appealing if you don't have any of the units, but if you own even one, then the odds are likely much worse than you probably think.  The open pool of units is much more valuable compared to a guaranteed dupe.  The solo-rateup new unit banners are far more valuable.

By My Will - Virtuosa, Viviana, Bassline

Type:  Limited

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  High

Expected:  late-April to late-May

Comments:  The value of this banner is loaded on Virtuosa.  Once you have her, the banner value drops significantly.

CCBP#1 Joint Operation Banner - Mizuki, Suzuran, Pozemka, Surtr

Type:  Normal pity, but no off-banners

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  Low

Expected:  After the Virtuosa banner.

The Sojourner - Degenbrecher, Leto

Type:  Normal

Will Be Rerun?:  Yes

Priority:  MUST PULL

Expected:  June

Comments:  Degenbrecher is the single best unit ahead of us.  Skip her at your own peril.

To Bloom from a Dim Flame RERUN - Reed the Flame Shadow, Harmonie

Type:  Normal (rerun)

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  High

Expected:  June

Celebrate and Recollect (Kernel)

Type:  Separate pity.  First 6★ is a kernel unit you don't already own.

Will Be Rerun?:  Usually run once a year.

Priority:  Low

Expected:  Difficult to say, but sometime around Shu's banner.

Celebrate and Recollect (Standard)

Type:  Separate pity.  First 6★ is a standard unit you don't already own.

Will Be Rerun?:  Usually run once a year.

Priority:  Low

Expected:  Difficult to say, but sometime around Shu's banner.

Ray of Light - Ray, Warmy

Type:  Normal

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  High

Expected:  early-July

Comment:  Bnnuy!

Reap of Millenia - Shu, Zuo Le, Grain Buds

Type:  Limited

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  MUST PULL (Shu)

Expected:  late July (note this banner acts as the global half anniversary, so the date is relatively definite)

Comments:  Shu is the best unit on the banner, but Zuo Le is also a high-tier unit so this banner is especially valuable.

TN#4 Joint Operation - Mountain, Swire the Elegant Wit, Qiubai, Mlynar

Type:  Normal pity, but no off-banners

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  Low

Expected:  After Shu banner

Storm-Reinforce-Missions Cycle - Ela, Iana, Doc

Type:  Collab Limited, Ela is guarnteed on the 120th pull.

Will Be Rerun?:  No*

Priority:  MUST PULL

Expected:  September

Comments:  This banner is incredibly good value.  Not only is Ela one of the best units in the game, but we get 20 free pulls meaning only 100 are needed to guarantee her.

* Note that there is a good chance this banner will be rerun someday since the Ash banner was rerun.  However, we have no idea when or if.  It took nearly four years for Ash to rerun, so it is best to plan as if Ela will not be rerun.

Attack-Defence Tactical Collide RERUN - Ash, Blitz, Frost

Type:  Collab Limited, Ash is guarnteed on the 120th pull.

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  Low

Expected:  After Ela banner

Comments:  We do NOT get the free 20 pulls with this rerun banner.  You will need all 120 to guarantee Ash.

CCBP#2 Joint Operation - Pozemka, Mudrock, Jessica the Liberated, Passenger

Type:  Normal pity, but no off-banners

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  Low

Expected:  October

The Front That Was 4 - Stainless, Hoederer, Ines

Type:  Normal pity, but no off-banners

Will Be Rerun?:  No

Priority:  Low

Expected:  Late October

Comments:  Although Ines is a meta unit and the odds of her are technically higher than a Standard banner, Stainless and Hoederer, along with no off-banners, bring the overall value of the banner way down.