Arknights: Should You Pull? Standard Banner: Archetto and Siege

The new Standard Banner features the following Operators:

Featured Operators:

Rarity	Operator
6★	Archetto - Marksman Sniper Siege - Pioneer Vanguard
5★	Blue Poison - Marksman Sniper Broca - AoE Guard Projekt Red - Fast-Redeploy Specialist

• Based on previous patterns, it is likely but not 100% certain that the Operators for purchase in the Distinction store will be Siege and Broca
• 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★

No.

Siege is still a reliable Operator, but she has been notably powercrept since release, and Archetto has yet to find a notable niche in the current Arknights meta. Blue Poison and Projekt Red can be useful, but not useful enough to pull for unless you are very lacking in Anti-Air Snipers or Stun options.

As with all banners, a 5★ or higher Operator is guaranteed in the first 10 rolls. Should you pull for that? Again, probably not. Blue Poison and Projekt Red are both solid Operators, but there are lower-rarity units that can sufficiently do their job into endgame, where higher-rarity Operators will typically outclass them. Broca is a fine AoE Guard but often overlooked, mostly due to the fact that fellow 5★ Specter is generally a stronger meta unit. 

That being said, newer players with intermediate rosters could potentially find use for these Operators. If all three options would be an improvement to your roster, getting the guaranteed pull is worth considering. With so many limited banners featuring even stronger Operators on the horizon, however, using pulls for 5★ Operators is not particularly advised.

Marksman Sniper

+ Usual archetype strengths: Low DP cost, fast ASPD

+ Talent 1 generates SP for Snipers equipped with [On Attack] Skills while Archetto is deployed (i.e., Blue Poison, GreyThroat, Meteorite)

+ Talent 2 blocks the first hit Archetto would take after she is deployed and gives her a chunk of SP when activated

+ S1 is good for keeping groups of weak enemies under control

+ S2 resets Archetto’s attacks and can ricochet to hit enemies that are out of her attack range

+ S3 increases Archetto’s attack range and spams multiple hits against multiple targets within that range

- Usual archetype weaknesses: requires buffs to deal noticeable damage to high-DEF enemies, since she deals multiple weak hits instead of singular strong ones

- Talent 1 is only useful for Snipers who have [On Attack] SP-charging Skills, which is not very many of them

- Talent 2 rarely gets much value, since it only activates once per deployment and Anti-Air Snipers are typically deployed to avoid aggro in the first place

- Even with her Talent, Archetto’s Skills can be slow to charge (especially S3)

- The ricochet from S2 and S3 can be hard to predict

Pioneer Vanguard

+ E1 Talent buffs ATK and DEF of allied Vanguards while deployed

+ E2 Talent recovers SP when an enemy dies adjacent to her

+ Has strong, consistent AoE physical damage from her S2

+ S3 inflicts very high single target damage and Stun, allowing Siege to duel some pretty hefty enemies

- Lacks Bagpipe’s synergy with Standard Bearer Vanguards and is less reliable than Saga, who has manual activation on her S2

- Her DP cost may not seem high, but it is for a Vanguard; sometimes she can’t be deployed first on maps because of her DP cost, and later deployment means slower DP gain

- S2’s automatic activation means she doesn’t generate DP if there are no enemies to attack

- S3 doesn’t create DP at all

Marksman Sniper

+ Usual archetype strengths: low DP cost, fast ASPD, and prioritizes aerial enemies

+ Both of her Skills deal high damage to multiple targets; she’s good at killing single targets as well as small groups

+ S1 charges extremely quickly at M3, dealing high damage to multiple targets at a machine-gun pace

+ S2 causes her attacks to strike multiple targets multiple times, absolutely destroying groups of enemies

= The Arts damage from her Talent gives her a little extra oomph against high-DEF enemies, but their DEF still blunts her direct damage so heavily that it doesn’t count for much

- Extremely squishy, so placing her can be difficult on some maps, especially ones with ranged enemies or automatic crossbows

- Really needs to be E2 with an M3’d Skill to show her true value, which is a lot of investment

AoE Guard

+ Usual archetype strengths: attacks a number of enemies equal to his Block count

+ An AoE Guard with easy access to Arts damage (both S1 and S2)

+ Increases his attack range and Slows enemies with S2

= Usual archetype caveat: he gains Block-3 when promoted to E2, but he has to be promoted to E2 before he really shines

= Skills have large potential ATK boosts but have to be M3’d before they become impressive

= S2 self-Stuns Broca upon completion, which can be advantageous or game-ruining

- Comparatively squishy for an AoE Guard because he lacks strong defensive options (he can get a small DEF boost from his Talent, but that’s about it)

- S2 has to be carefully timed, because it Stuns him after completion

Fast-Redeploy Specialist

+ S1 offers bonus damage and survivability, making her a good assassin for squishy single targets

+ S2 offers AoE damage + Stun; drop her on enemies for the quick Stun, pull her back, and do it again

- Typical Fast-Redeploy weaknesses: mediocre base stats, DP cost can become expensive after multiple redeploys

Archetto believes that the Lord helps those who help themselves. And she’s quite willing to help herself to anything she needs, especially more SP for her allies, more arrows for her giant bowgun, and more alcohol for the post-battle celebrations. Archetto synergizes best with other [Attacking Enemy] Snipers, as she passively grants them more SP while she actively rains splitting, ricocheting arrows onto her foes.

Watching Archetto gatling-gun a million arrows across the field is a joy to watch, but the practicality of the strategy leaves something to be desired. There aren’t many Snipers yet who benefit from Archetto’s Talent, and her ricocheting attacks can fall flat if enemies don’t line up properly. With fan favorites Exusiai and Ash providing notably higher and more reliable single-target damage, Archetto has a hard time demonstrating her value in battle.

I don’t recommend pulling for Archetto, although she can be fun to use.

Siege takes an interesting spot on the sliding scale between “Vanguard” and “Guard.” Her S1 is pure Skill-DP-Recovery Vanguard, generating a large batch of DP at a time. Switch to her S2 and she becomes more offense-oriented—each S2 charge triggers an AoE physical attack that also generates DP, but only when enemies come into her range, limiting her DP generation when she’s not in combat. Switch to her S3 and Siege goes pure Guard: she stops generating DP at all, but she can activate her S3 to increase her damage and add a Stun effect to her attacks, turning her into a vicious duelist.

Having a sturdy fighter with AoE physical damage that you can deploy early in a fight can be a great asset. However, Siege faces stiff competition from fellow Vanguards Bagpipe and Saga. Bagpipe is also a very strong unit to drop in early, and her crazy synergy with Standard Bearer Vanguards creates a ridiculous source of fast DP. Meanwhile, Saga has similar stats, more controllable AoE damage, and better team utility by virtue of being an SP battery. It’s hard for Siege to compete with that kind of power.

I don’t recommend pulling for or buying Siege.

Blue Poison sprays arrows and corrosive venom everywhere she goes, striking multiple targets with multiple arrows that deal multiple ticks of Arts damage long after the initial arrow damage has been dealt. With her quick ASPD and fast-charging S1, Blue Poison is a constant fountain of toxins, rapidly wearing down her opponents from the inside out.

The main thing holding Blue Poison back is her shockingly bad durability. Even for a Sniper, Blue Poison is alarmingly delicate, with one of the lowest HP totals in Arknights and very unimpressive DEF to back it up. This can make it hard to deploy her on some stages, especially where there are ranged enemies or environmental hazards putting her at risk. (Curse you, Annihilation 3 crossbows!)

I don’t recommend pulling for Blue Poison. Lower-rarity Snipers like Kroos, May, and Vermeil can typically accomplish the same tasks with less investment.

Broca is a good Operator in a vacuum, but sadly, he tends to be overshadowed by other members of his archetype. AoE Guards tend to be some of the more powerful and versatile units in Arknights, in particular 6★ Blaze and 5★ Specter. Broca doesn’t have the outlandish DPS of Blaze or the death defiance of Specter, so he typically falls by the wayside in comparison.

That doesn’t mean he’s useless, however. This hunky husbando combines Block-3 (at E2) and multi-target attacks with easy access to Arts damage, making him surprisingly potent. He’s particularly good for stages where Casters or ranged units are banned, as he’s a reliable source of Arts damage who is deployed on ground grids. Be careful with his S2, however, which self-Stuns once the duration is up and might allow enemies to leak past Broca.

If you’re going to invest in Broca, it’s important to realize that he’s not a cheap date. AoE Guards need to be promoted to E2 to become Block-3 units, and Broca in particular needs to M3 his Skills before his ATK buffs become particularly impressive.  

I don’t recommend pulling for or buying Broca.

Projekt Red has a reputation as a stone-cold killer, but her real claim to fame is her ability to drop an instant AoE Stun when deployed with her S2. As a Fast-Redeploy Operator, you can drop Projekt Red on the field multiple times in a single fight, utilizing her Stun over and over to disrupt the enemy team. Plenty of other Operators can assassinate squishy targets, but few can crowd-control enemies so effectively in such quick succession.

Outside of her AoE Stun, Projekt Red is not as impressive as her reputation would have you believe. She does have assassination potential, but usually there’s a Guard who is better at the job, and she faces stiff competition from her fellow Fast-Redeploy Specialists, whose niches may be more useful for your current squad or map. None of this detracts from the power of that AoE Stun, however, which can be useful in just about any situation.

I don’t recommend pulling for Projekt Red, but she can be worth raising if you pull her, thanks to her reliable Stun.