Standard Banner: Pallas & Hoshiguma
The new Standard Banner features the following Operators:
Featured Operators:
Pallas
Hoshiguma
GreyThroat
Leonhardt
Whisperain- Based on previous patterns, it is likely but not 100% certain that the Operators for purchase in the Distinction store will be Hoshiguma and Leonhardt
- 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.
Pallas and Hoshiguma are in awkward spots with today’s Arknights meta. Pallas is a Support/ Instructor Guard (already a bad sign) with extremely conditional utility. She has very respectable DPS and her buffs can be strong if used well, but even if you satisfy all of her conditions she’s rarely the best choice for a given situation. Hoshiguma is a very sturdy Defender with decent AoE damage on her S3, but at this point there are many Operators who can hold a lane just as well as she can (if not better), and she isn’t sturdy enough to absorb the highest levels of boss-level DPS. Neither 6★ Operator is worth your resources, especially with a limited unit on the horizon.
As with all banners, a 5★ or higher Operator is guaranteed in the first 10 rolls. Should you pull for that? No. These 5★ Operators aren’t bad, but their roles can typically be handled by lower-rarity or other more meta options without much problem.
Quick Overview
+ Usual archetype strengths: Longer attack range than most Guards (1x3), has Block-2, and attacks quickly
+ Does bonus damage to enemies she isn’t personally blocking
+ E1 Talent gives Vigor buff (ATK up when HP is high) to all Minos Operators
+ E2 Talent heals Pallas and the ally in front of her every time Pallas attacks, providing decent sustain
+ S1 scales multiplicatively with her other buffs, and the double hit triggers her healing talent twice, resulting in a competitive DPS + sustain combo
+ S2 has good uptime, extended range, and the potential to “Stun-lock” enemies who have slow ASPD by canceling their attack animations
+ S3 buffs Pallas (ATK up, attacks hit multiple targets) and the ally in front of her (enhanced Vigor buff, DEF up, Block count +1); if there is no ally in front of her, Pallas gains all of the buffs herself
= High DEF but low HP
= Compared to previous members of this Archetype, her kit emphasizes her own damage potential over her support capability. This increases her usefulness for players with smaller rosters but limits her appeal at higher levels (“jack of all trades, master of none” syndrome).
- Usual archetype weaknesses: Can’t hit aerial enemies; as a hybrid DPS/ support unit, she is usually less effective than fielding either a dedicated DPS or a dedicated buffer
- Needs a lot of investment to reach her full performance; she can’t heal allies or buff non-Minos Operators until E2
- The 80% Max HP threshold for her Vigor buffs (E1 Talent, S3) can be hard to maintain if the Operator is blocking
- Application of her E1 Talent is limited because there aren’t many Minos Operators in the game yet (and most of them are not very strong at present, either)
- S1: Has very consistent damage against low-/ mid- DEF enemies, but “facing low-/ mid-DEF enemies” is not a very threatening combat situation and can be easily handled by many other Operators
- S2: Between the low damage modifier, brief Stun duration, and high-but-not-100% Stun activation chance, S2 is a purely tech-based Skill that is surpassed by existing alternatives (i.e., Mountain, Weedy, Phantom, Eunectes)
- S3 only works on melee allies deployed directly in front of Pallas, and the Vigor buff does not stack with her E1 Talent, yet the damage increase and flexibility is less impressive than other strong buffing options (i.e., Skalter, Aak, Warfarin)
+ Excellent Defender who has both high durability and high DPS through her S3
+ E1 Talent has a chance to resist incoming Physical or Arts damage
+ E2 Talent buffs DEF of other Defenders
+ S2 reflects damage (can be used to counter invisible enemies, especially ranged ones)
+ S3 has very high AoE DPS and also increases Hoshiguma’s DEF for the duration; it also has decent uptime for such a powerful Skill
- Lack of Shields, immortality, or other heavy-duty survival techniques means she can’t survive the DPS of the most heavy-hitting bosses, despite her high base durability
- Vulnerable to Arts damage; she has 0 base RES and none of her Skills mitigate Arts damage (though her Talent does help)
- Lacks extra utility or team support (other than her E2 Talent)
+ Skills allow her to fire multiple shots at once
+ Her multiple-hit Skills synergize perfectly with her crit-chance Talent
- Talent is very RNG-dependent
- S2 has the [Attacking Enemy] SP charge type, so it doesn’t charge between waves
+ High potential AoE burst damage because his S2 can store multiple charges
+ Has exceptionally wide AoE because his S2 increases his attack range for one hit and targets all enemies within that range (it’s a true AoE, not splash damage)
+ Talent increases his ATK when multiple enemies are within his range; this is ideal, since AoE Casters are usually used to counter swarms
+ S2 debuffs enemy RES, enhancing his own damage and that of other Arts-DPS Operators
- Usual AoE Caster weaknesses: slow ASPD and high DP cost
+ Archetype strengths: Larger healing range than other Medic archetypes
+ Talent regenerates HP for allies within Whisperain’s attack range who have the Status Resistance buff
+ S1 is an automatic Skill that grants a stronger heal and the Status Resistance buff to an extra target within range (triggering her Talent for extra regeneration)
+ S2 is a permanent buff that increases Whisperain’s healing speed, increases the regeneration from her Talent, and causes every heal she dispenses to grant Status Resistance (so every time she heals, she’ll trigger her Talent)
= Very useful on stages where enemies are causing Cold, Freeze, or Stun because of her Status Resistance buff, but less appealing outside of this niche
= A lot of her healing potential is tied into the “healing over time” from her Talent; without it, her direct healing is not very strong
- Usual archetype weaknesses: Lower base ATK than ST Medics, healing is reduced on far-away targets
- S2 takes a long time to charge
Pallas
Pallas cultivates an aura of mystery, grace, and dignity, as befits a priestess from the land of Minos. It’s all an act. Pallas is drunk on the heroism of combat (and also on alcohol) and determined to burn the deeds of Rhodes Island into the records of history. Whether she gains personal glory from flagellating enemies with her chain-on-a-stick or grants the glory to others through her HP-dependent Vigor buffs doesn’t matter to her. The only important thing is glorious, glorious battle! And getting drunk afterwards!
While Pallas is probably a very fun drinking buddy, she’s a lot less fun to work with on the battlefield. As an Instructor Guard, her forte is supposed to be buffing her allies, but she’s extremely picky about who she’ll buff and when. Her Vigor Talent only works on Minos Operators and her HP regen Talent only works on the Operator directly in front of her. Her S3 only works on melee allies and its Vigor effect doesn’t stack with her Vigor Talent. Plus, Vigor stops working if the affected ally falls below a certain percentage of HP!
Even outside of her buffing abilities, Pallas is a finicky unit. Being an Instructor Guard also means she has increased attack range but can’t attack flying units. She does bonus damage to enemies, but only if she isn’t Blocking them herself. Her S2 gives her a chance to Stun enemies, but even at M3 the chance is not 100%, making it unreliable.
Taking full advantage of Pallas’s strengths requires satisfying a checklist of conditions a mile long, and even when the stars align for all of Pallas’s needs, she is unlikely to perform noticeably better than other units. Her DPS is surpassed by juggernauts like SilverAsh and Eyjafjalla, and her buffing potency is surpassed by stronger (and more reliable) options like Aak and Skadi the Corrupted Heart.
I don’t recommend pulling for Pallas.
Hoshiguma
Hoshiguma is sometimes called “the meat grinder” because of her S3, which deals AoE damage to all enemies in front of her. She’s pretty simple as far as Defenders go: she Blocks-3, randomly resists incoming damage, and blitzes enemies into bite-sized chunks when her S3 is activated.
Unfortunately, time hasn’t been kind to Hoshiguma’s place on the battlefield. Being a good tank in the current meta requires either Shields (to nullify damage), immortality (to soak an infinite amount of damage for the duration), or self-sustain (to hold lanes without support). Hoshiguma has none of these, and her high DEF and random chance to reduce damage doesn’t cut it anymore. She can still hold a lane fairly well when her S3 is up, but there are many better options for holding lanes, several of which don’t even need a Skill to do so.
I don’t recommend pulling for or buying Hoshiguma.
GreyThroat
GreyThroat is basically a mini-Exusiai, focusing on spraying multiple attacks into a single target as quickly as possible. Her E2 Talent gives her a chance to crit on attacks, and both of her Skills cause her to fire multiple shots at once, presenting multiple opportunities to crit per attack.
Because her Talent is RNG-dependent, GreyThroat needs some luck to hit her maximum damage potential, but when things go her way, she puts enemies in the ground like nobody’s business. (This shouldn’t impact Auto runs, thankfully, but it can be a problem when clearing new content.) Her S2 gives her the best chance to successfully roll crits, but her S2 is also an [Attacking Enemy] charge type Skill with a high SP cost, so don’t expect to use it too many times on most maps.
I don’t recommend pulling for GreyThroat.
Leonhardt
Leonhardt uses his Originium Arts for two purposes: exploding anything in his way to smithereens, and keeping those smithereens away from his designer wardrobe. If he’s got enough talent to keep dirt, mud, and monster parts off his expensive sneakers, you’d expect his Arts to be pretty strong… and you’d be right! Leonhardt is an AoE Caster who becomes stronger the more targets he has in his attack range, and he uses his S2 to blast all enemies in that range simultaneously while also reducing their RES in preparation for his next assault.
AoE Casters are a famously undertuned archetype—strong in the early game, usually unable to keep up later on—but Leonhardt is one of the better examples, especially if you missed limited unit Dusk. He’s perfect for blowing up hordes of weak units, and he also brings some support to other Arts Operators by reducing enemy RES. He still suffers from the usual AoE Caster issues of slow ASPD and outsized DP cost, though.
I don’t recommend pulling for or buying Leonhardt.
Whisperain
You know how a tiny stream of water can slowly erode away a boulder? Whisperain’s healing is like that. On its own, it doesn’t look like much: Whisperain has low ATK and her healing is less effective on faraway targets. The magic comes from pairing her Talent with her S2. With both active, Whisperain heals an ally, places the Status Resistance buff on them (so annoyances like Freeze and Stun wear off more quickly), and then passively heals them over time as long as the buff lasts. The combination of wide healing range, increased ASPD, and regeneration turns Whisperain into a cascade of constant healing, keeping multiple allies alive and healthy more easily than her stats would suggest.
This may sound like a dream combination for a Medic, but despite her strengths, Whisperain isn’t flawless. She lacks burst healing for dangerous situations and her only team utility is the Status Resistance buff, which is not useful when enemies aren’t inflicting status ailments on your Operators. Whisperain is certainly not well suited to keeping a Defender alive through boss-level DPS. However, she is good for providing solid healing across a wide area, and Status Resistance can be a godsend when you need it (we’ve all faced Infused Glacial Originium Slugs, haven’t we?)
I don’t recommend pulling for Whisperain, but she can be worth developing if you pull her.
