The time has come – Doctor –

Hello – Doctor – it has been some time since you were asleep, but now that you’re awake we can celebrate your return, I also enlisted Amiya and Dr. Kaitsit to participate. Today I’ve come up with a guide that will help every Doctor get a good start while returning to the field as you might still be woozy or have forgotten some details. Some of the things that I’ve covered in past times of our meetings will come back again in case you’ve also forgotten them also. So for now let’s take you to the thing that most new Doctors will be doing once you begin your new job here.

Table of contents:

Rerolling and Starter units

Free 5* exchange ticket choice

Other Starter units

Recruitment

Certificate Shop

Headhunting/Gacha

Supplies

Class Chips

Unit upgrading

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Rerolling and Who to get

Once new Doctors come in you’ll be asked to sign in and make an account. Here is where I’ll tell you it’s best to first sign in as a guest. This will allow you to reroll your account a lot easier to get the units you want. After that, you’ll be sent to a practice mission where you’ll learn basic combat. Then you’ll be told to acquire a new operator from the headhunt station. Afterward, you will be asked to put the newly acquired operator into your team, then be sent to your next mission. Once you get into the mission you can click on the top left button to leave then go back to the main menu. In the main menu you’ll see the third icon from the left you’ll see the mail icon click on that and you’ll see the rewards that will be sent to you to celebrate the full release of Arknights.

In-game screenshot

Here are the full rewards that you’ll be getting in the mail and maybe more due to all the new Doctors signing up.

Rewards Link

Thanks to all 1,000,000 Doctors, everyone deserves to get this, so once you claim everything you can, start rolling for the other operators. For now, I’m not sure that you’ll be able to fully roll the full 20 pulls from the beginner headhunt pool.

CBT In-game Screenshot

If you are able to fully roll the 20 pulls then go ahead and roll in this banner. Like I’ve said before in our other meeting you’re guaranteed a 6* unit in the banner and a 5* unit. Then after you’ve finished your rolls and you’ve gotten the units that you wanted then good. Head back to the menu and click on the top left icon for settings. You’ll find the account bind setting, use it to bind your account. Then head out and finish some missions. Enjoy the game while you do some of the lessons. If you didn’t get the units you wanted and you wanted to reroll and try again: close the game and go to the app data, then clear the game data but NOT the data cache. Start the game and repeat the same steps once you get the units you want to keep, then follow the steps above to bind the account. If you don’t know who to really look for, the 6* Units I recommend would be Exusiai, Silverash, Siege. These three really stand out.

★★★★★★ Star Sniper Unit – Exusiai

Our slogan is “Long live the Penguin Empire”. Are you our client? You can call me Exusiai. I’m nothing like that Lupo ice queen. I’m always down for some fun!

Voiced By Manaka Iwami

Illustrated by 幻象黑兔

Exusiai is a very strong DPS sniper unit which will be helpful in almost every mission in the game early on. However later on there will be more armored units and she’ll drop off unless you upgrade her. With her skill mostly being auto triggered you won’t have to spend time activating her skill and can leave her be. With her Elite 2 or E2 for short she’ll get her last skill which makes you really strong and deals a lot of damage.

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★★★★★★ Star Guard Unit – Silverash

I, SilverAsh, have joined your cause as a sworn ally. Whatever you may plan, do not disappoint me.

Voiced By Katsuyuki Konishi

Illustrated by 竜崎いち

Silverash is already a unique unit. He’s a guard unit that has ranged attacks and can block two units. Now he’s very strong but there is one thing that I must say – Doctor – Silverash has the same problem as Exusiai where they’re at their strongest when fully upgraded to Elite 2. Silverash can be your DPS and can help your defender with his ranged attacks. Now when Silverash reaches E2 he gets his last skill and it’s what makes Silverash strong. By increasing his attack range and dealing damage to more than one enemy he is able to clear most waves of enemies.

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★★★★★★ Star Vanguard Unit – Siege

I’ve passed the strength test, right? So assign me some missions to do—my hammer is getting bored! My code name? They call me the Siege. Curious name, but it’s got a nice ring to it.

Voiced By Ayako Kawasumi



Illustrated by Infukun

Siege is really good for a number of things, of the other two, she shines more due to two main things. One being her vanguard Class which is really needed for the Annihilation Mode missions for you to gain deployment points over time due to her first skill. The second being that she’s more of a farming type unit and you save more resources when building her. Let me explain this part, Siege doesn’t need to be E2 due to how strong her second skill is. All you’ll need to do is E1 her and unlock her second skill. Once you do that, level it up a bit and you’re good to go. You’ll be using Siege in mostly supply missions like LS and CE to get EXP cards and LMD.

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Exchange ticket

Now regarding the exchange ticket that you’ll also be getting on the launch of Arknights, you’ll get the chance to pick one of these 4 operators.



Now – Doctor – again the choice is up to you but I’d like to give you some information on them before you make your decision. You can get these in the beginner headhunt pool, so if you get one of them then you’re already set. Now if you were to ask me who would the best pick I wouldn’t be able to give you a straight answer. First, it depends on what you rolled in the beginner headhunt pool, but I’ll surprise you – Doctor -. I think even after your 10-20 rolls you’ll get a good defender, Medic, or Supporter so I think the specialist unit Projekt Red is your safest pick. Now if you got Projekt Red from the beginner headhunt banner then I’d go with Liskarm or Silence cause they’re both strong.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Star Specialist Unit – Projekt Red

I, Projekt Red, wolf hunter, smell wolves.

Voiced By Ami Koshimizu



Illustrated by Infukun

Let me explain – Doctor – you see Projekt Red is a one of a kind unit for now. It won’t be untill later that we get another unit like her, so for now she has that title. First up she’s an assassin type unit that has a very low deployment point cost or DP and has a really fast redeploy time as well. All her skills are activated once he gets deployed and for a short time she’ll deal high damage or will use CC on her enemies. Due to this she’s a powerful assassin unit but it does take some skill to use her correctly. Then once she’s done you can just retire her and call her again when needed to kill another target.

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★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Star Defender Unit – Liskarm

Defender Liskarm, waiting for your orders. I’ve participated in multiple special operations—for example being the bodyguard of important figures, attacking strongholds, rescuing hostages, and clearing out threats. Right now, you are my mission, so I will protect you with everything I have.

Voiced By Yui Ishikawa

Illustrated by TOKI



Liskarm is mainly used as a late game unit and is really important at that time due to her talent to give her and allies SP. This allows her and her allies to use their skills faster by filling up their arts meter for each time she gets hit by a enemy unit. With this you can setup a strong frontline against your enemy and can hold out till the end. You will also realize that in the later missions it would be best to have a caster unit next to Liskarm to charge their SP meter to be able to use their skill. You’ll kill the units that Liskarm is blocking or more. Her skills are also good: her first skill makes her more tanky while the second skill gives her magic damage and higher DPS at the cost of her being stunned for a while.

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★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Star Medic Unit – Silence

I am Olivia Silence, an Originum researcher from the Rhine Lab Medical Research Institute. My hope is to rid the world of Oripathy… even if it means risking my life in the process.

Voiced By Akari Kitō

Illustrated by NoriZC

Silence is a single target medic unit that at E1 she gets the talent which increases other medic’s attack speed. Meaning more healing for your other units when she’s on field, but what makes Silence Unique is her 2nd skill. The 2nd skill she has lets you deploy a healing drone that will heal allies that are within it’s range. This turns Silence into a single/AoE medic which allows you in the early game to only use her for a while as your main healer untill you reach late game. Another thing to note is that the drone will not take up a max unit DP so you can have the maximum number of units out and still deploy it.

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★ ★ ★ ★ ★ Star Supporter Unit – Pramanix

Shh, I sneaked out—oh, um, hi, HR Director! I… I’m here to lend my powers to Rhodes Island. Pramanix, Karlan Saintess, at your service. Bless you, my friend.

Voiced By Saori Hayami

Illustrated by 竜崎いち



Pramanix is a weird one of the 4 units that you can get – Doctor – she can lead your team to do very high damage, but it’s the way she does it. First you must E1 her to get her talent that makes enemies under 40% health take more damage from attacks. The enemies must also be in her attack range for this to affect them. This isn’t a problem due to her wide spread attack range that grows wider once she’s E1. Then her skills are de-buffs that can lower the enemies’ attack speed while she attacks 2 enemy units at the same time. She also decreases the enemies’ defence and magic defence within her attack range. Pramanix is best during mid to late game due to all the armored units that will come to attack you.

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Other Good Starter Units

The following four units you’re likely to get due to their star rating, one of them being a reward for a mission and the other being a gift. These units have a role that they do really well even if they’re not a 5* or 6* unit, two of these I have already talked about before with you – Doctor -. So again here’s Melantha, Shaw, Kroos, and Savage they will also make your start.

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★ ★ ★ Star Guard Unit – Melantha

Err… I-I’m Melantha… From now on, my blade is yours.

Voiced By Yûko Hara

Illustrated by 一立里子

Melantha is a boss killer unit as a single target guard unit. She fills this roll with her high HP count and high attack. You’ll use her very early and will switch her out in the later missions, but until then she’ll deal with enemies like the Senior caster. If there was a unit to kinda compare her to it would be Projekt Red but Melantha is a watered down version. She’s easy to level up and E1 due to her 3* rank only needed LMD to upgrade her not materials like you’ll need for units higher star units.

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★★★★ Star Specialist Unit – Shaw

Pleasuretomeetyou, Chief. IamShaw oftheLungmenFireDepartment, reportingforduty!

Voiced By Ryō Hirohashi



Illustrated by 阿鬼

Shaw is going to be a very fun unit for you to use and will help you in your missions. Shaw is a Specialist unit that can move enemy units in front of her which can lead you to instant kill your enemies. Once you get Shaw as a reward from completing a mission I ask you all to level up her skills – Doctor -. Her skills allow her to push enemies but it also depends on the enemy’s weight. The heavier the enemy the more the skill needs to be for Shaw to be able to push them. You’ll mostly use Shaw in the maps that have traps that will allow her to push enemies into the traps that kill your enemies if they fall in. You’ll also use Shaw in the Annihilation Mode due to the number of traps in the missions and how close the enemies get.

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★ ★ ★ Star Sniper Unit – Kroos

Hi-hiii~ I’m Kroos~ I might be inexperienced, but I’ll do the best I can~

Voiced By Azusa Tadokoro

Illustrated by 下野宏铭



Kroos is a really good starter sniper unit, she is like Exusiai in that she a has a skill that will fire two shots when SP is full. Also she will target air units first then ground units which makes her really important at the start. She also has the talent that gives her a 20% chance to increase her attack power every time she attacks, giving her good damage for a 3* unit. With her you won’t need to worry about anything cause she’ll always be here…..wait where is she?



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★★★★★★ Star Guard Unit – Savage



I’m Savage, from Rim Billiton. As soon as I got the message from you and Amiya, I rushed right over to see what I could do. Huh? Doctor? You don’t remember anything? Wow!

Voiced By Ayumi Fujimura



Illustrated by TOKI

Savage is a unit that will be given to all new Doctors as a gift for surpassing the pre-register goal. As a unit Savage is a guard unit that deals splash damage meaning she’ll attack all the units that she is currently blocking. With a starting block count of 2 she’ll be able to defend for a good time but once you E2 her it goes up to 3. Now Savage’s skills are also powerful, the first one deals more damage on her next attack. While the other one can hit enemies upto 3 tiles away from her and once you level up the skill the number of enemies hit also increases. Since you get her for free I say you should only E1 her to unlock her 2nd skill. You don’t really need to E2 her cause she’s fine without it.

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Open Recruitment / Certificate Shop

Another way that you’ll be getting units is with this system the Open Recruitment which can be found next to headhunting.

CBT In-game Screenshot

Then once you click on it you’ll be sent to the menu for the Open Recruitment and will be asked to fill some things out.

CBT In-game Screenshot

CBT In-game Screenshot

CBT In-game Screenshot



Ok so once you get here – Doctor – you’ll have to set a timer in the top box which starts at 1 hour and can go up to 9 hours. Then you can click on up to three tags to try to get a unit that fits your needs. You can also reset the tags, but not until later. Also the longer you put the timer the higher the star level and the more likelihood that the unit will follow the tags. To use this system, first you’ll need some LMD and the item Recruitment Permit which starting Doctors will be gifted 9 of at the start. You can also instant finish the current pending recruitment by using the item Expedited plan. This is also something new – Doctor – will get as a gift, and you’ll get 15 of these Expedited plans. Then after some time you’ll get a unit after your long wait or instant with the Expedited plan. This is the F2P way of getting new units as it’s also possible to get a 6* unit.

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Certificate Shop

Now as your roster grows you’ll get Green or Yellow Certificates, with these you’ll be able to get other units as well. There are also 2 other shops that can give you units, the friend point exchange and another one I’ll talk about later. Now in the Green Certificate shop there are three tiers to it, to advance to the next tier you must first buy out the whole tier first. This is also reset over some time so you’ll always have resources to exchange for.

CBT In-game Screenshot

This is what the Green Certificate shop looks like, you’ll be able to get 2x Headhunting tickets which equals 2 single pulls from the Headhunting banner. Then you can get a max total of 600 Orundum which equals a single pull from the Headhunting banner. After that there’s LMD which is the main game currency, and furniture parts to make things for your base’s break room. Then a max of 15 Recruitment Permits to equal 15 rolls from Open Recruitment to give you 15 units. After that you’ll get 15 Gold exp cards which well level up your units by a good amount. The last thing to buy will be the Pure Gold that you’ll be using in your base to trade for LMD.

CBT In-game Screenshot

The Yellow Certificate shop above shows you the units that you’re able to buy. The unit that you’ll see on the top left is always a 6* star unit with the bottom one being a 5* unit. Then you’re able to get more Headhunting tickets to the point that you can also get up to a full 10 pull of tickets. There are also Expedited plans that you can buy that will help you get units faster from the Open Recruitment. Now for the tokens, this I say you shouldn’t worry about them until late game due to needing more than 1 to upgrade your units.

CBT In-game Screenshot

Now we have the Friend Exchange shop, this changes every day now once you hit the Claim button you’ll get some friend points. After that you can start spending it on the items here which are all random except the top left which will be a unit. This will be a good 4* unit which are Courier and Gavial the other items will also be on sale sometimes.

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Headhunting Gacha Banner

CBT In-game Screenshot

Above is what the Headhunting Banner looks like, on the bottom right you’ll see the tracker for your guaranteed 5* unit. You can just do single rolls till you get the 5* unit then stop rolling and wait till the next banner. Now if you want to roll the banner to get a 6* unit here are the chances:

6* Unit 2% chance after 50 pulls this will go up by 2% for pull after so after 100 pulls in total

you are guaranteed a 6* unit.

5* Unit there’s an 8% chance to get one

4* Units are 50%

3* Units are 40%

This makes up the rates for the main gacha in Arknights, with a fail safe in place you won’t have to worry if you have enough Orundum. Also, another thing to note is that all of your pulls will carry over all your banners. Now – Doctor – you may ask, how can I get Orundum? Well there are some ways to get them without spending anything, which are to do the weekly Annihilation Mode, this will net you a good amount. Then there are the daily and weekly missions that you can do to get some Orundum. The other way is to 3* your mission and acquire the material Originite Prime which can be exchanged for 180 Orundum. That being said Originite Prime is also a currency that you can buy with IRL money which you use to roll the gacha or buy skins for units. You are also able to buy a monthly pass to get 200 Orundum and a sanity potion every day. That’s how you can get some Orundum to roll the banner to get higher units to help you.

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Supplies

Now – Doctor – here’s where you’ll spend more of your time strengthening your units. In the Supplies tab, you will be able to go on 5 missions to gather materials to help you with the game, so let’s start with each one.

CBT In-game Screenshot

Tactical Drill here is where you’ll go to farm for EXP cards to level up your units and max them out. The higher the stage you do the higher tier of EXP card you’ll get at the cost of more stamina and difficulty. Another thing to note is that this is always open during the full week so you can do it whenever you want.

Aerial Threat missions from here will give you skill books that will let you upgrade your units’ skills. One thing to note about missions for this map is that it’s mostly meant for ranged units like sniper, Caster, Supporter. There will mainly be air enemy units that will come to attack you and you must beat them down from the sky. This is only open on Tue/Wed/Fri/Sun. Other than those days, it will be closed and you won’t be able to do it.

Resource Search, these missions will give you the materials you’ll need to upgrade your base. You’ll need to do these missions if you want to max out your base and increase your income. You’ll likely do these missions in your spare time while you wait for other missions to open. The days these open are Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat. I’d say Monday will be the best day to do these missions due to the other open missions not being as important.

Tough Siege, now here I’ll have to say that you need to bring some AoE healers due to the map dealing bleed damage to your units. After some time, once you deploy a unit you’ll see that they will take damage over time, in later missions this damage increases. Now what you get from these missions are the Shop Vouchers which can get you some items in the last shop. This shop has two units that you can buy and items to level up your units. Missions here are open on Mon/Thu/Sat/Sun, so when you can, complete some of these missions to get a unit or the get the Chip Catalyst. Chip Catalysts are needed to make the final type of Class Chip to fully upgrade your units.

CBT In-game Screenshot

Cargo Escort, I’ll tell you this right now – Doctor, – whenever this is open DO IT. The drops from these missions are LMD, the main currency of the game. I can’t stress how important you’ll need LMD. It’s needed to level your units, upgrade them, use Open Recruitment the list goes on. Even if you manage to save 200,000 LMD it will amaze you how quickly it diminishes. This is the main way you can get LMD, the other is by doing daily/weekly missions. Or from the trade center from your base but it will take sometime and you’ll need more LMD. These IMPORTANT MISSIONS are open on Tue/Thu/Sat/Sun. Do them – Doctor -, many of the other operators are really hungry for both EXP cards and LMD.

Class Chips

Just like the Supplies, these missions are also only open on some days in the week. The missions here will drop Class Chips which you’ll need to acquire in order to Elite your units. There are two classes in each mission and you’ll only have a chance to get one of so it can be grindy.

CBT In-game Screenshot

These Missions can be completed once you have some 4*-6* units that you want to Elite. Each mission tab not only drops different Class Chips, but the map is different as well. Each focusing on the Class that you’re trying to get Chips for, so bring some of the same Class units to make the missions better for you. Another thing to note is that for each Class tab there are only two missions in it, which gives two different types of chips. The first mission will give you tier 1 Class Chip which are very common but the second mission will give tier 2 Chips. With tier 2 Chips you’ll be able to make a tier 3 but there are some additional requirements. The first thing you’ll need is a tier 2 Chip, then from the Shop Vouchers you’ll buy the Chip Catalyst, then with a tier 3 Factory at your base you can then make the tier 3 Chip. These you’ll use to Elite 2 your 5*- 6* units which will take a lot of work to do for just the chips. Now how does it look to upgrade your unit? Let me show you how to upgrade your unit to at least E1 for now.

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Unit Upgrading

Let’s see how to level up a 6* unit with the unit being Siege and what will it take to make her an Elite 1.

CBT In-game Screenshot

Once you click on a unit you’ll be sent to their page, then when you hit the Promotion tab you’ll see what you’ll need to Elite 1 your unit.

CBT In-game Screenshot

It will tell you what is the required to Elite one your units, starting with the level needed. Then you’ll need the big payment of 30,000 LMD and that’s without adding the LMD needed to level her to 50. Then you’ll need 5 Vanguard Chips from the Chips mission when it is open for the day. Then it will tell you what other materials you’ll need to Elite 1. However, the location of the items are made easy for you to find, all you have to do is click on the item.

CBT In-game Screenshot

It will tell you where you can get the item and if you can craft it in your base. Let it be known that the drop rates are sometimes random, other times it’s fixed to a node. So after you farm everything you’ll be able to upgrade your unit.

CBT In-game Screenshot

Before you Elite your unit, you can see the skill and talent that they’ll get. Once you’re sure that you want to Elite the unit, hit the check tab. Then meet your new upgraded unit and see their new skill and how it works.

CBT In-game Screenshot

CBT In-game Screenshot

Now once you Elite 1 you should level up your skills to make your unit stronger. Each time you upgrade a skill it will upgrade all of the unit’s skills. However, once you get to level 7 you can only level each skill by itself by using the Complex’s training room. Now hit the skill upgrade tab and you’ll see what is needed to level up your skills. You’ll also see the increases to the skill, as well as how the skill can change effect.

Then once you go back to the Promotion tab you’ll see the shadow of the Elite 2 sprite and when you click on it you can see the details of the Elite 2.

CBT In-game Screenshot

CBT In-game Screenshot

As you can see the cost to Elite 2 a unit can be massive and will take a lot of time to get it. So for now I recommend that you only Elite 1 your 5* – 6* to get their second skill until you reach the mid to late game. Unless you have a 6* unit that needs Elite 2 to really be a good unit like Silverash or Exusiai.

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Conclusion



Well then – Doctor – I say let’s end this meeting here. I don’t want to drown you with any more details than I already have. So next time we meet – Doctor – I’ll brief you on the Complex and on team building as well. So for now take some of the information I’ve given you and do your best out there it’s been some time. But I’m glad to finally meet you – Doctor – and from all of us at Arknights, Welcome Home – Doctor – !

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Streamers / content creators

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All Images, designs, and characters belong to Hypergryph, Yostar

All links to artists may contain NSFW content

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