Arknights: Should You Pull? Standard Banner: Hellagur and Angelina (!)

The new Standard Banner features the following Operators:

Featured Operators:

Rarity	Operator
6★	Hellagur Angelina
5★	Projekt Red Ptilopsis Astesia

• Angelina is available for purchase in the Distinction store for 180 Certificates. Ptilopsis can be purchased for 45.
• 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★

YES, especially if you want to complete the CC#1 Pyrite event in the first week for the iridescent badge.

This is an extremely CC-oriented set of Operators. Angelina is one of the best units for Risk 18 and higher on CC#1. Hellagur and Astesia excel in the restrictive conditions of CC events, and Ptilopsis and Projekt Red are just generally useful in most content.

Even if you don’t care about CC#1 or its shiny badge, you might still want to do Headhunt x1 until you pull a 5★ or higher Operator, since one is guaranteed in the first 10 rolls.

Enmity Guard

+ Extremely high HP and ATK

+ Great for Contingency Contract (CC) events, like the one coming up soon

+ Can 1v1 most enemies with no help, even big nasties like Avengers and Rockbreakers (if RNG is on his side)

= Has Block-1 (typical of Enmity Guards)

- High DP cost

- Can't be healed directly (although passive regen, i.e., Angelina, does work)

- Rarely necessary outside of CC (when healing and Operator choices are less limited, and solo 1v1 Operators are less valuable)

Slower Supporter

+ 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 most AoE Casters

+ Good duration and great cooldown on Skills means they can be used quite often

+ Great for Challenge stages that restrict Casters (due to powerful Arts damage) or Medics (due to E2 Talent)

- Can't attack while S2 or S3 aren't active

- Fairly weak until you E2 her and level her Skills

Fast-Redeploy Specialist

+ Talent gives her decent minimum damage even against high-DEF enemies (she still prefers squishy targets, though)

+ 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 stats, Skills only activate when deployed, DP cost increases with multiple redeploys

AoE Medic

+ AoE healer

+ Charges [Per Second] SP for allies

+ Very strong and wide-range healing on S2

- S2 takes a long time to charge

Arts Guard

+ As a melee Arts unit, she’s great for Challenge stages and the Contingency Contract event

+ Very survivable; both her Skills increase her DEF, and she has innate RES

+ Turns into an AoE Arts Guard while her S2 is active

= LOOK AT THIS GORGEOUS SKIN, LOOK AT IT

- Typical Arts Guard weaknesses: mediocre base ATK and unimpressive ATK multipliers on her Skills

- Can be inefficient on stages where her niche of melee Arts damage isn’t important

Hellagur is a ferocious one-on-one killing machine. His crazy HP and ATK stats are backed up with powerful DPS Skills, healing every time he attacks, and HP regeneration when he isn’t Blocking to top him off before his next duel. Be careful, though: all this power comes at the cost of not being able to be directly healed by allies.

Hellagur can single-handedly defeat most enemies he comes across, and he doesn’t need the help of a Medic to do it, making him incredibly self-sufficient. He does have his limitations, however. Having Block-1 limits how many enemies he can realistically duel in one map, and the fact that he can’t be directly healed makes it difficult for him to fight enemies whose DPS outstrips his healing.

I don’t recommend pulling for Hellagur because he can be a bit niche outside of Challenge stages, but he’s well worth raising if you pull him, especially in preparation for CC#1.

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 (or buying!) Angelina, especially for CC#1. However, make sure you’re aware of her idiosyncrasies before you dedicate resources to her. She’s very powerful, but she takes foresight and careful timing to use well.

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’s worth raising if you pull her.

Ptilopsis is one of the most popular Medics in Arknights due to her Talent, which increases the rate of [Per Second] SP gain for all Operators while she is on the field. Allowing your Operators to use their Skills more quickly and more often would be powerful enough on its own, but Ptilopsis also brings all the healing power of an AoE Medic to the field, making her one of Rhodes Island’s most reliably useful support units.

I recommend pulling for or buying Ptilopsis, especially in preparation for CC#1.

Astesia fills her elegant rapier with the power of the stars, striking down enemies with melee Arts damage attacks rather than physical. Melee Arts damage is not usually necessary in regular stages (although it is often still helpful), but it’s a godsend in CC challenges that ban Casters or Supporters. Astesia is particularly good for this niche thanks to her sturdy base defenses and her powerful Skills (her S2 basically turns her into an AoE Guard).

I don’t recommend pulling for Astesia because she can be a bit niche outside of Challenge stages, but she’s well worth raising if you pull her, especially in preparation for CC#1.