Arknights: Should You Pull? Unstrained Liquor, Pellucid Heart: Ling

:Note:

• This is a [Limited Headhunting · Festival] Series Headhunting.
• [Limited Headhunting · Festival] Series banners are [Limited Headhunting] banners.
• New operators [Lee], [Blacknight] will permanently join the [Standard Headhunting] pool after the banner ends
• New operator [Ling] is a limited operator in [Limited Headhunting · Festival] Series, and won’t join any [Standard Headhunting].

If you have any interest in Ling, then Yes.

The limited Operator, Ling, is an absolute steamroller of a unit—or rather, her dragon minions are. She’s not a bosskiller in the same way that Chalter or Surtr are, but she’s very widely usable (and particularly excellent for low-Op clears) due to the strength of her summons.

Lee and Blacknight are also decent consolation prizes, although you probably won’t be pulling for them if you’re not interested in Ling. Lee can bully light enemies like nobody’s business, and Blacknight is a vital component for Sleep-focused strategies. Note that Nian and Dusk, Ling’s sisters and fellow limited units, also have a chance to be pulled off this banner (although the chance is fairly low and should not be relied upon).

Keep in mind that, while Ling is strong, her gameplay will not be for everyone. She’s easier to use than most Summoners (which can be a pro or a con, depending on your preferences), but there’s still a learning curve to using her, and she can feel clunky or micromanage-y even once you understand how she works. You should not pull on this banner just because Ling is limited. Be aware of what these Operators do and whether you really want them before you make your final decision.

Summoner Supporter

+ Usual archetype strengths: Great for low-Op clears, trust farming, or any content that limits your squad size (i.e., Challenge stages or early IS#2 maps)

+ S2 is relatively spammable, does decent multi-target Arts damage, and Binds enemies for several seconds; this can stall multiple enemies in different locations, depending on where Ling and her dragons are deployed

+ S3 dragons can fuse together into a giant dragon that has high stats and Block-4

+ At present, Ling can only make 2 fusion dragons at a time (because she can only deploy 3 dragons at once and it takes 2 to make a fusion), but her upcoming Module increases her deployment limit to 4, allowing her to create up to 3 fusions!

+ S3’s active gives Ling and her dragons a large ATK and DEF buff and causes her dragons to deal constant Arts damage to all enemies around them for the duration

= When using S1 or S3, summons can only be deployed on melee grids; when using S2, summons can only be deployed on ranged grids

= When using S1 or S3, Ling can generate new summons but cannot retrieve existing ones; when using S2, she can retrieve low-HP summons but cannot generate new ones

- Usual archetype weaknesses:

• Monopolizes DP and deployment slots to deploy her dragons (more even than other Summoners, considering the high DP cost of S3 dragons)
• Summons cannot be healed by normal means
• Losing summons can be troublesome because they take time and Skill usage to replace (and their loss is permanent if Ling is using her S2)

- Not all players will enjoy her playstyle, either because Summoners are too tricky (can’t heal summons, takes up lots of deployment slots, etc.) or because Ling is simpler to use than other Summoners (set up fusion and watch things die, in comparison to the more nuanced Magallan)

DP-Drain/ Merchant Specialist

+ Usual archetype strengths: Good stats, very low DP cost, quick redeploy timer

+ E1 Talent increases his ASPD and reduces the ASPD of whichever enemy Lee is Blocking; great for dueling

+ E2 Talent consumes DP when Lee would be targeted by a Stun or Freeze effect in order to negate that effect and Stun the inflictor

+ S1 is a permanent Skill that gives Lee bonus ATK and Arts Evasion; can be helpful around Arts DPS enemies

+ S2 is a DPS Skill that passively gives Lee bonus ASPD and manually applies a Taunt + an AoE explosion to the target

+ S3 is a permanent Skill that gives Lee a ton of dueling buffs (attack range, ATK, DEF, Taunt, and Physical/ Arts Evasion against attacks coming from outside his attack range) and causes him to Push away all enemies within range except his target when attacking

= Usual archetype dilemma: Can only Block-1 (although S3 means lightweight enemies aren’t getting past him regardless of his Block count)

= His E2 Talent’s Stun negation can be useful, but it also uses up even more DP than his archetype already consumes; this Talent can really eat through your DP pool if it keeps getting triggered

= S2’s Taunt can be helpful, but it can also distract allies from other important targets if used carelessly

- Usual archetype weaknesses: Consumes 3 DP every 3 seconds, essentially negating passive DP gain (and actively cutting into your DP pool on stages where DP regeneration is slowed)

- A lot of his utility (inflicting Taunt, self-Taunt, long-distance Evasion, AoE Pushing, etc.) can be gimmicky more often than it is useful

- S3’s Push strength never increases, regardless of Skill Level, so the list of enemies he can actually Push away is rather limited

Summoner/ Tactician Vanguard

+ Usual archetype strengths: Able to attack at range but also Block on the ground with her minion, which costs no DP to deploy and does not count against the unit limit for a map

+ Excellent synergy with other Sleep-inflicting Operators

+ S1 puts Blacknight’s minion to Sleep; the minion recovers HP while asleep, and if attacked, it wakes up and gets a large ATK and ASPD buff for several seconds

+ S2 puts all ground enemies around Blacknight’s minion to Sleep and changes the minion’s attacks to Arts splash attacks that deal bonus damage to Sleeping targets

= As usual, Sleep can be a double-edged sword, since most Operators cannot attack Sleeping targets

- Usual archetype weaknesses: Lower DP generation rate than many other Vanguard archetypes, can only deploy her minion within her attack range

Ling is the cool-headed, gregarious big sister of Nian and Dusk. Her capacity for holding her liquor is renowned, as is her capacity for holding down the battlefield with the dragons she summons from her magical lantern-staff. Her dragon minions can Block ground foes, spit Binding flames, or fuse together into colossal sword-wielding titans that split the very ground asunder! (Note: ground sundering may not be included.)

Lee, the lee-der of Lee’s Detective Agency, has final-lee taken to the field to support his e-lee-te agents Aak, Hung, and Waai Fu. Between his Stun-negating Talent and the multiple forms of Evasion he gains through his Skills, this savvy duelist has a lot of lee-way in combat, but he doesn’t extend the same lee-se on life to his foes. No lightweight enemy will ever lee-k again once the Pushing force of S3 is underway!

Blacknight is a mercenary and the answer to every insomniac’s prayers. She travels with a “Badlands Long-nosed Slumberbeast,” an adorable mythological tapir with the power to make people fall instantly asleep. Blacknight commands this power in various ways—she may give her Slumberbeast a healing nap, or she may put her enemies to Sleep so the Slumberbeast can feed on their dreams. Violently.