Standard Banner: Angelina & Magallan
The new Standard Banner features the following Operators:
Featured Operators:
| Rarity | Operator |
| 6★ |  Magallan - Summoner Supporter
 Angelina - Slower Supporter
|
| 5★ |  Iris - Charge Caster
 Texas - Pioneer Vanguard
 Asbestos - Arts Protector Defender
|
- Based on previous patterns, it is likely but not 100% certain that the Operators for purchase in the Distinction store will be Magallan and Texas
- 6★ Rate-Ups have a 50% chance of appearing when pulling a 6★
- 5★ Rate-Ups have a 50% chance of appearing when pulling a 5★
Should You Pull?
No.
Angelina and Magallan are definitely strong and fun 6★s, but they’re not meta-defining enough to be worth diverting your resources away from the upcoming Ch’en the Holungday banner.
- Angelina is an AoE Caster/ Slower Supporter fusion, and her S3 especially is a unique and powerful option in challenging content. However, most of the time damage-focused Operators will be a better choice for damage, and new players may struggle to use her in general content since she doesn’t attack unless her Skills are active.
- Magallan is a whole army in one unit, but her strongest use is crowd control. Outside of this role, players are typically better off using stronger, more specialized Operators.
As with all banners, a 5★ or higher Operator is guaranteed in the first 10 rolls. Should you pull for that? Definitely not. Texas is good but available to players for free, Asbestos is niche, and Iris is mechanically unsound.
Quick Overview
+ Offers a ton of passive utility for her allies: ASPD, HP regen, and (while S3 is active) reduced enemy weight
+ S2 is excellent damage + perma-Slow against a single enemy
+ S3 produces great AoE Arts damage that rivals many AoE Casters
+ Good duration and great cooldown on Skills means they can be used quite often
+ Very helpful for Challenge stages that restrict Casters (due to her powerful Arts damage) or Medics (due to her E2 Talent), or where her S3 can be utilized to support Shift Specialists
- When equipped with S2 or S3, she can't attack unless the Skill is active
- Fairly weak until you E2 her and invest heavily in her Skills
+ Usual archetype strengths: Great for “Limited to a smaller Squad of Operators” Challenge Modes, Contracts in CC events, or the “Integrated Strategies” roguelike event
+ Incredibly versatile; covers various roles and types of damage depending on her Skill
+ Very strong crowd-control when using S1 (her strongest use in the meta)
+ Offers heavy ST and AoE Arts damage with S2
+ Provides physical AoE damage with S3
+ Gives her drones Camouflage when they are deployed, allowing them to attack enemies undetected for several seconds
= Her drones have Block-0 regardless of what Skill she uses, which is sometimes useful and sometimes inconvenient (contrast with Mayer, whose summons have Block-1)
= S2 drones can only be deployed on ground grids and S3 drones can only be deployed on ranged grids, which can limit their usefulness on some stages
- Usual archetype weaknesses: Monopolizes DP and deployment slots to deploy her drones
- Drones are fragile and easily killed off by ranged enemies after the Camouflage wears off
- Cannot recover drones that are killed by enemies unless she retreats and redeploys
+ Usual archetype strengths: Unusual attack range for a Caster, extremely high base ATK, “charges up” when not attacking to unleash a stronger hit later
+ Relatively low SP costs for her Skills
+ S1 is a quirky Skill that can be used to hit distant targets, attack quickly for a few seconds, or rapidly amass a full charge (since her ASPD determines her charge speed)
+ S2 puts 2 enemies in her range to Sleep and deals AoE Arts damage when they wake up; the Sleep also gives Iris time to “charge up,” so she disables enemies for a while and then releases massive burst damage on them afterwards
= Sleep can be a double-edged sword for most team compositions
- Usual archetype weaknesses:
- VERY slow ASPD, dramatically reducing her actual damage potential
- Amassing a charge counts as an “attack,” causing delays in her ability to actually attack if enemies walk into her range while she’s charging, further slowing her actual DPS
- It’s easy for her to waste charges on overkilling weak enemies, since she can’t “save” them for strong targets
- S1 has a VERY short duration and can reduce the damage of a full-charged attack if timed incorrectly
+ Respectable damage output
+ The bonus initial DP from her E2 Talent is a big help on maps with fast start requirements
+ S2 combines DP generation, AoE Arts damage, and crowd control
= Her S2 can force tough choices when you need DP but there aren’t many enemies around; do you use it anyway and risk not having it later, or hold onto it and hope you can manage without the DP?
- Lower HP and DEF means she dies fairly easily vs stronger enemies
- Available as a welfare Operator from the pinboard, and thus may not be worth spending resources to pull
+ Ultimate anti-Arts damage Defender
+ Gains bonus SP when hit by Arts damage
+ Does Arts damage herself when her Skills are active
+ S2 is a big offensive and defensive buff with the added benefits of dealing Arts damage, increasing attack range, and causing splash damage
- Not nearly as resistant to Physical damage as she is to Arts damage (S1, in particular, offers no physical damage mitigation whatsoever)
- Loses out on her bonus SP gain if she isn’t getting hit with Arts damage
Angelina
Angelina may be listed as a Supporter, but her potential Arts damage is so crazy that she outperforms some Casters in the role. The massive burst potential of her S2 and AoE destructiveness of her S3 have to be seen to be believed. Throw in a host of passive buffs for her team and the Slowing effect of all her attacks and it’s not hard to see why Angelina is such a popular Arknights Operator.
That being said, Angelina’s S2 and S3 come with a huge drawback: when Angelina is equipped with either Skill, she only attacks while the Skill is active. The rest of the time, all she brings to the table is her passive buffs! Fortunately, Angelina’s Skills charge quickly and are very spammable, so she can usually apply her powerful DPS when it counts. However, this makes Angelina more timing-dependent than most Operators, which is important to keep in mind when using her.
I recommend pulling for Angelina, but not on this banner, and only if you understand whether she will be a good fit for your playstyle.
Magallan
Magallan has an army of flying drones at her beck and call, and she’s equipped them to handle a wide variety of tasks. With S1, they exude some of the most consistent CC in Arknights. With S2, they drill into enemies’ vulnerable pates with powerful melee Arts damage. And with S3, they open fire on enemies from afar with ranged AoE missiles.
Magallan takes the strengths of a Summoner Supporter to a whole new level, but her complex robotics are not easy to utilize. Her drones are aerial, so they can’t Block, and each one uses both DP and a unit slot when deployed. Her Skills are very powerful, but they recall all of her active drones when the duration ends, forcing you to deploy them again. And the only way to recover drones that are killed by enemies is by retreating and redeploying Magallan herself, so making a mistake with her can really screw you over.
I recommend pulling for Magallan, but not on this banner, and only if you understand whether she will be a good fit for your playstyle.
Iris
Iris walked out of a literal fairy tale to return a radio to a Rhodes Island Operator who had left it with her as a child. How is it that Iris hasn’t aged since she first took that radio decades ago? Magic? Dreams? Iris isn’t talking. But she certainly is contributing, bringing one of the highest ATK stats in all of Arknights, a special damage-charging Trait, and the power of the Sleep ailment to bear against those who would threaten the children of the world.
It’s hugely satisfying when Iris has the time to build up a full charged blast and fling it out for massive damage. However, it takes her so long to build up a full charge that she’ll rarely get to do this, and even when she does, she may waste it on small fry just before the boss comes into her range. Her Skills can also be awkward: S1 can greatly speed up her charge time but can also neuter the damage of the charged attack, and S2 involves Sleep, which is always a tricky ailment to work with.
I don’t recommend pulling for Iris.
Texas
Texas is a famously popular Operator, and it’s not hard to see why. Not only does she have a great visual design, but she has an outstanding S2 that deals Arts damage in an AoE, Stuns all enemies hit, and generates a bunch of DP in the bargain. What more could you ask for?
Texas is an appealing Operator for many, but it’s unlikely you’ll want to pull for her. Recently Texas became available through the pinboard missions, making her a welfare Operator that every Doctor can obtain without spending resources. On top of that, she’s not the best Vanguard in every situation: with her low HP and DEF, sometimes Texas can’t hold the frontline long enough for other Operators to be deployed, even with S2’s Stun to help her buy time.
I don’t recommend pulling for Texas, especially since she is available for free. However, she is worth investing in when you get her.
Asbestos
Asbestos is designed to make Arts damage enemies wish they had never been born. Her Talent increases her base RES and grants her SP when she gets hit by Arts damage, and her S1 is an effective Arts damage soak. Her S2 doesn’t have anything to do with resisting Arts, though. It just boils her enemies alive en masse.
When you’re up against a lot of Arts DPS enemies, Asbestos is an absolute ace in the hole. She’s one of the best Defenders to soak Arts damage, and her S2 gives her some noticeable offensive presence as well. However, there are a lot more Physical enemies than Arts ones, and Asbestos loses a lot of her luster when she isn’t benefiting from her RES or getting bonus SP from her Talent.
I don’t recommend pulling for Asbestos, but she may be worth raising if you get her. She’s situational, but every Doctor should have some kind of answer to Arts enemies.
