Introduction

The holidays are over. Sadge. January is always the worst time of year. It’s cold and dark, and there’s nothing to really be excited for. That’s why I actually like where our summer event lands because it’s a rare thing that makes me feel warm during this downtime of the year. This event happens to be pretty awesome in terms of design too, plus the units are fun to write about, so I’m excited.

Oh ya, I guess there’s some weird new game called Endfield too this month, but who cares about that?

Avy baby, I’ll be home soon!

Ahem, anyway, right, Ato.

As always, you can find the full Mastery guide here.

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Announcements

Sanity;Gone Version

Welcome to the Sanity;Gone version of the Mastery Guide! Why is this here you may be wondering? Is LD going away? Thankfully not (yet), but when GP crashed I was homeless for a while. I’ve always done this guide for love of the game and to be helpful, so it just makes sense to spread my footprint out. S;G has a more active development team too, plus better integration with kits and skills, so it’s a match up that works well!

For the foreseeable future, I’ll be publishing the article updates here, on LD, and on Reddit, and all will be linked off the the main Google Sheets guide here. I hope you’ll enjoy whichever you choose to follow.

Guide Update Complete!!

I’m very excited to announce that after five months and over 100,000 words, I have completed the general guide update! I pushed the tuning pass just a few days ago, and with that, I am totally and 100% done! Every single unit has been touched up, fixed, or entirely rewritten. I almost can’t believe it. It’s something I’ve wanted to do basically since I started doing article updates all those years ago, and I can’t believe it’s finally completed.

You can find the fully updated guide over here and please let me know if you spot any mistakes. While the general update is done, the work never is, and the guide will continue to grow for as long as it needs to!

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Ok, now we can finally get onto the patch!

Should You Pull and Pull Related FAQ

Probably yes, but it’s a complicated yes. This is a strong banner (probably the best summer banner so far) and both units are great. The problem is we’re in the middle of the worst of the power creep, and while we are a step off of the very peak that was Tragodia and Exu2, we’re still about three to four months from the end. Hoshiguma the Breacher is great unit chock full of utility, bulk, and damage, and Haruka is the best healer in the game! But, and it’s a big but, there’s a super strong collab limited DPS unit almost immediately after this, and another super strong limited banner shortly after that, and this is after two of the strongest banners ever in the game’s history!

So basically, while this is a very strong banner that is absolutely worth pulling on, with a unit that any meta-minded account will want to own, there’s a lot of reasons that skipping might be a consideration too. It’s the sort of situation where there isn’t an easy answer to give non-spenders because everyone is so strong! Really, it all comes down to playstyle, saved pulls, risk-appetite, and what you personally find appealing. So here’s some more rambling that may help you decide.

Q: Should I pull for Hoshiguma the Breacher or save for Togawa Sakiko?

A: Simply put, there isn’t a good answer to this question. They are both great units and the difference in them comes down to intangibles. Personally, if I could only choose one while ignoring FOMO, I’d take Hoshi2. There’s just so much DPS these days, that I like the more unique value of Hoshi2, especially since HG doesn’t release tanks like this very often (meaning she’s likely to remain good for a long time). However, that isn’t a universal opinion and there are many people out there who would prefer Sakiko and her insane DEF/RES ignore!

Perhaps more importantly though, Sakiko is a “true” limited. While it’s technically possible, it’s unlikely she’ll ever be rerun. You should assume this will be the only chance to obtain her¹. Her banner is higher value too since the guarantee is lower (120 and solo rate-up vs 300 and shared rate-up), so it can make sense for some people to skip Hoshi2, take Sakiko on the lower guarantee, then save for SilverAsh the Reignfrost instead.

¹ Hoshi2 isn’t that much better in terms of availability since summer banners are only once a year and are usually weaker than the anniversary banners. I still don’t have Gavial the Invincible and have never come close. Still, low odds are better than no odds.

Q: How many pulls do I need at the end of this banner to be able to guarantee Sakiko?

A: We don’t know the exact number as I write this, but you’ll likely need around 80-85 as the Hoshi2 banner ends¹. There isn’t likely to be a lot of time between the end of this banner and the start of the collab. At most, there’s likely to be a couple of weeks. This means we’re looking at only around 15-20 pulls from the end of Hoshi2 banner to the start of Sakiko banner.

If you want to get more fine grained, I would suggest this site.

¹ Collab units are guaranteed by pull 120, but we get 20 free pulls (1 10x day one, 1 10x day eight). This differs from normal limited units.

Q: What about Hoshiguma the Breacher vs SilverAsh the Reignfrost?

A: Again, there isn’t a clear answer on this one. They are both very powerful and do very different things, and in the meta context, you’ll want both (and Sakiko)! If you asked 100 meta players, I’d bet you get an even split between them. That said, I’d personally pick Hoshi2. SA2 is a great unit and a super fun unit, but I value Vanguards lower, especially with Ines already out there. In comparison, we really do not have any other meta-caliber tanks (neither Shu or Yu are really tanks)!

However, that said, SA2’s banner is more valuable. Pramanix2 is arguably even more valuable than her limited brother, and is significantly more valuable than Haruka!

So yea, there’s no easy answers here between the three banners. And speaking of Haruka…

Q: If I get Hoshi2 early, should I continue pulling for Haruka?

A: Probably not. Haruka is a really great unit too, but healing, even insane healing, is just very replaceable. Further, Haruka isn’t a limited unit. When compared to Hoshi2, SA2, and Sakiko, it’s really not all that close. Hoshi2 is the primary reason to consider pulling on this banner.

Q: You often mention opportunity cost (rolling on first available) in situations like this. How does that come into play here?

A: The reason I didn’t mention it is that Sakiko’s a true limited collab unit without much of a gap. If it was only Hoshi2 vs SA2, I’d probably have it as a much greater consideration. However, Sakiko is a huge factor in the ultimate decision, and she doesn’t leave a lot of room for recovery. I usually suggest rolling on first available because it opens up better outcomes. That’s true here, but the bad outcomes (missing a powerful collab unit) are worse than usual for these scenarios.

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FAQ and Discussion

Q: What’s so great about Hoshiguma the Breacher?

A: Hoshi2 is a unit I like to describe as greater than the sum of her parts. She does a lot of individual things, and does it all well, and it comes together in a powerful total package. This is especially true because so many of the top meta units now are DPS oriented, and while Hoshi2 does do great DPS herself, it’s helpful to fill other roles too, and Hoshi2 does that in spades. She does great damage. Often overlooked, she has a great range. She has one of the most powerful self-sustain skills. She is nearly unkillable, especially against Arts, and can do it on her own. She has utility in her invulnerability share. She’s even the best reflect tank in the game with better uptime than Penance (while also being a lot better overall). While any one of those things individually would have made her a solid unit, she does them all, which just makes her a very valuable problem solver.

Q: You were initially pretty down on Hoshiguma the Breacher. What changed?

A: Honestly, I think it’s mostly that we’re now behind Tragodia and Exu2. Now that I’ve had some time to reflect on her a bit, I think my main issue was people comparing Hoshi2 to them. While my opinion of Hoshi2 has gone up, I still think putting her on the same tier as them is an insane take. Basically, there’s a big difference between possibly being the best unit ahead of us and being maybe a distant third to fifth best.

Q: I’m confused how Hoshiguma the Breacher’s Talents work.

A: Depending on the translation, Hoshi2 can be a little confusing. Basically, she has two health bars. The first is totally normal and behaves like any other unit. The second is a unique state she enters when she reaches 0 normal HP (instead of being retreated) and is represented by a red health bar. This state has 200% of her normal HP, after which she finally dies for real. The red bar fills in reverse compared to normal HP, representing accumulated damage instead of available HP. However, she can’t be healed by others during this state. Instead, she regenerates after not taking damage (for a pretty solid total).

Her second Talent is a relatively standard Tenacity Talent, but the notable interaction here is that the Tenacity is only based on her regular HP. If she is in the red state, she automatically has the highest Tenacity bonus!

As far as skill interactions, the +HP on her S3 improves both states since her red state is a percentage of her HP. Additionally, the sustain on her S2 does heal her in the red state.

This essentially makes Hoshi2 very hard to kill. While she can’t be healed out of her red state, her regen is very strong, and she has a huge amount of RES and HP. It all gives her a lasting power far beyond any other tank currently available (although some DEF tanks win out in certain situations against Physical threats like the ch16 bear).

Q: Does Hoshiguma the Breacher’s future Module change anything?

A: In case you missed it, Hoshiguma the Breacher gets her Module in the “Retracing Our Steps 1101” event, expected sometime this spring. It’s a good Module too, with a large improvement to her DPS. Her Tenacity bonus is based only on her main health bar, meaning it’s very easy to get the extra ATK. It will be a high priority upgrade when it comes around! However, it doesn’t change anything here. She’s a limited unit, so it’s not like you can wait, and she’s really good with or without her Module, so the fact she has a great upcoming Module shouldn’t factor into your decisions.

Q: Anything to say about Haruka?

A: Not really? She’s 6★ Quercus, and Quercus is good so there isn’t a lot else to say on her that’s not covered in the SYP and Mastery sections. Her Bubbles are mostly flavor. They really just provide Sanctuary and healing, so they aren’t actually that special mechanically (compared to Hoshi2 anyway).

I guess I will comment that I do love her design. I usually hate idol stuff, but the whole vibe of this event is immaculate. Haruka’s callback to the more 90s style of idol makes her feel a lot more soulful than I expected, so instead of being a slop bait entry, she’s the great design that I love Arknights for. I wish we could get characters like this in Endfield…

Q: Should I raise Matsukiri?

A: Proooobably not. He’s a very cool unit, and pretty solid, but doesn’t quite meet the standard of the 5★ Agents or Standard Bearers. We’ll have to wait for SA2 before we get to must-raise territory of the Strategists. However, Matsukiri is one of the better “off-meta” options in recent memory and if your favorite units happen to be Supporters or Defenders, he can be a solid consideration. For example, in my 5★ clears, two of my most used units are Croissant and Quercus so I’ll be getting a ton of use out of him! If you really love Hoshiguma and Haruka here, he’s practically made to pair with them! He’s a great 5★ that a number of people will get a lot of use out of, but not a must have unit either.

Q: Should I raise Kichisei?

A: Ugh. No. I’m actually flabbergasted. When she was announced I was kinda excited. Pinecone has long been the low-rarity standout among the Spreadshooters, with the 5★s being notably shitty. So imagine how grumpy I was when I found out she’s much closer to Aosta than she is to Pinecone. She is such a B-team design. So many 5★s are good lately, including Matsukiri in this patch who is incredibly well designed. So it really gives a feeling of different teams, one of who doesn’t have a fucking clue what they’re doing. It’s especially frustrating because most new 5★s are either new archetypes or new takes on old archetypes (or are at least decent if they aren’t) yet here we are with an old archetype that does nothing new but a pointless gimmick. At least Nowell is decent at his job! It’s just so disappointing because her character design is really cool too. Siiiiiigggghhhhh…

OK rant over. Don’t raise Kichisei. You probably knew that already too, I just really wanted to rant about her. The next six months of 5★s are great, so I gotta get out a rant while I can!

Q: Which skill is the best to spend the M3 ticket from IS on (a.k.a. shilling one of my other projects)?

A: I mentioned this a few updates ago, but I think it’s worth promoting again given the M3 ticket in the IS#6 rewards this month. After all, it’s literally what I made it for!

Basically, I created a Sheet that you can find here which calculates the material sanity cost of all skills. The goal is for exactly this situation; to figure out what the best skills to spend the M3 tickets on. There’s a whole page of caveats that you should read, but most notably, it doesn’t suggest skills based on meta value, so cross-reference it with the guide here and the lookahead!

The tl;dr though, Hoshi2’s S2 is the best 6★ skill this patch to spend the ticket on if you balance meta value and sanity value. Haruka’s S3 and Hoshi2’s S1 are both more expensive, but are off-meta secondary skills you may not want to do. However, the actual best investment is Sakiko’s S3 next patch which is very expensive and her best skill, so that’s the best target if you can be patient.

The sheet also calculates shop pack efficiency, if that’s your thing. I’ll update it for the Ato packs as soon as we have the official data.

Q: Any Module thoughts for this patch?

A: I’ve been skimping a bit on this section in the last few updates and… it’s gonna happen again. Gomen. For me, this section has the lowest importance (it’s irrelevant to the main guide and is mostly just a place for me to yap) so it’s easy to cut when I’m busy. While the holidays and the main guide update are done, I still have a daunting amount of work in the immediate future (and I put off this update), so this section once again will be a bit cut down. Mal’s article will go in much more depth on the EN Modules, so definitely check that out for more details.

I should probably just stop doing them entirely, but man I love to yap.

EN - Ato

• Haruka - In general, the 6★s have had solid Modules lately, which makes it weird that Haruka’s is actually kinda bad. Her base effect is solid, so you’ll want to grab that, but the upgrades are perplexingly bad. It’s a low RNG chance to gain a single SP. Pass on the upgrades unless you’re a simp.

• Kichisei - The 5★s have been really solid for a while now, but Kichisei is a reminder how that could change at any time. She is an awful unit (probably the worst since Lucilla) and her Module doesn’t help. It’s more damage, but not a lot, and mostly plays into her map-dependent gimmick. If you’re considering raising Kichisei, you’re beyond my advice, but it’s a mediocre Module on a bad unit, in case it wasn’t clear.

• Primal Casters (Blaze the Igniting Spark, Nymph, Diamante, Miss.Christine, Warmy) - It’s rare I can run through all units in an archetype with a single summary. Lucky for me, but unlucky for the Primal Casters. Basically, Primal Casters are a flawed archetype in that they are fundamentally reliant on another unit (except for Nymph’s S2, and Mantra in the future). All of them got a Module that has really strong damage increases, so if you like to use any of them, even the 5★s, these are great Modules. However, they don’t address the fundamental flaw of the archetype, so none of them are meta considerations either.

  I wrote a bit more about each individual ones here if you’re interested, but there’s no reason to rehash them again here. Grab the mod3 if you like them, otherwise don’t bother.

• Ch’en the Holungday’s 2nd - Ch’en2 has rather infamously had a useless first Module, so this is a rare situation where her second was almost guaranteed to be better. And yea, that’s exactly what happened. It’s not an absurd Module by any stretch. Ch’en2 is still comparatively weak in the modern meta, but the base effect and total damage added are both really strong. It’s definitely worth getting if you still use her.

• Swire the Elegant Wit (IS) - Swire2’s IS Module is notable for being one of the very few “mid” ones. It’s nowhere near Dusk or Ho’olheyak bad, but it’s not up to the standard of the high end ones either. With it, she can reach some seriously high ATK, but doesn’t have any of the absurd control utility that other top end ones do, made worse by being stuck on the giga-strong Specialist ticket. If you like Swire or already have her raised, the low cost makes it absolutely worth getting. However, I wouldn’t go out of your way to obtain or promote her if you’re only looking for top meta-strength upgrades.

• Pepe (RA) - I have no idea why HG keeps giving us RA Modules if we aren’t going to get RA3. Worse, this one is pretty bad from a design perspective. It bypasses one of the core mechanics of the mode, which was already pretty trivial once you got rolling. However, it’s found some unusual value. While the effects of these Modules are mode specific, the stats actually aren’t and in Pepe’s case, her RA mod gives her a ton of DEF. Of course, she loses the offense and SP of her normal mod, but for only 3 Mod blocks, it’s worth grabbing. Further, it’s a solid alternative if you skipped her first Module entirely since that one is relatively mediocre for a high cost.

CN - Unrealized Realities

• Nasti - Her mod3 effect is a nice QoL thing. I actually wonder why it’s not just a base part of her kit, aside from there not being an obvious alternative upgrade besides a meaningless Sanctuary improvement. However, it’s not essential given how much it costs. On most maps, you’ll have perfectly fine results without it. Like Nasti herself, how far to go with her Module will depend on how much you really want to get out of her.

• Chain Medic base - The base effect here is a nice HPS improvement. The bounce reduction can actually be pretty severe, and the base effect improves it by a significant degree. Only Mon3tr is worth anything, but the base effect is a nice upgrade on any of them if you actually use the others.

• Mon3tr - Her upgrades are pretty straight forward, granting an additional 5% ATK to her buff at each level, plus some better bounce healing at mod3. That’s not exactly a must have, but since Mon3tr is really strong, it’s still a nice upgrade.

• Paprika and Papyrus - Neither has upgrades which really change anything. Pure healing 5★ Medics are just super low value. Paprika’s upgrades are OK if you like her though, but you shouldn’t be doing either.

• Ray’s 2nd - Ray’s 2nd Module does more damage than her first. You lose the Sandbeast rotation from her 1st, which does mean it’s still situationally better, but her 2nd is the far better one most of the time. Ray has slipped a little meta-wise since she isn’t especially good in IS#6 and now has competition from Lemuen, so for as much as a bunny simp as I am, I can’t really call this a must have Module. If you like Ray, then it’s great, and if you only do one Module, it should be her 2nd. However, if you already did her 1st Module, I wouldn’t fuss about it.

Q: Anything new to say on Endfield?

A: Nope. I’ll be playing it, and probably doing a little writing for it, but I don’t want to get wrapped up in negativity (again). Instead, I’ll just quickly say how insane it is that CCBP#4 is the same week as the Endfield launch. That’s gonna be like the least played CC ever, right? I wonder if HG would have made a different decision if they were in charge of the global schedule or not, or if they’d just consider the event to be a lost cause. I know I personally will probably only be doing the minimum and dip, especially with the Ato EX stages the same week also, and I’m one of the more hardcore players out there too.

Masteries for Ato

Hoshiguma the Breacher

Rarity: 6Limited

Hoshiguma The Breacher

Defender

Arts Protector

MeleeMelee

Skill

Mastery

Story

Advanced

地狱变相

Manual TriggerPer Second Recovery

Mastery

Story

Advanced

S3M3

Breakpoint

S++

S++

无始无明

Auto TriggerOffensive Recovery

Mastery

Story

Advanced

S2M3

S+

S

恶业苦果

Auto TriggerDefensive Recovery

Mastery

Story

Advanced

S1M3

B

B

Rounding out the LGD summer alters, Hoshi2 is a powerful unit. She has an awful lot crammed into her kit that makes for a flexible unit who covers a lot of ground, which makes her uniquely valuable. She is the sort of unit that will end up on almost every team because she solves so many problems, often in ways that other meta units can’t. However, units like this do tend to be expensive, and Hoshi2 is one of the strongest M6s in the game, and even potentially an M9.

Both of her main skills are potential starting options, but I would favor her S3, even if you tend to favor AFK gameplay. That is a frequent general suggestion in this guide, but to be clear, her S2 is a great skill that’s worth doing! Simply though, the effects of her S3 are more impactful, more unique, and harder to replace. There’s a lot going on with it which can be daunting, but it is the source of her burst damage and utility. Easy to overlook too is the range which is notably huge for a melee unit. The DPS gain is on the average-side over Mastery, however there’s two more subtle benefits that keep it highest priority. First is the HP improvement, which is also easy to overlook, but blends with her Talent for a huge bulk increase. Second is the wind-up cost which drastically improves from 19 SP to just 8, and makes a huge difference in usability. Make special note of an S3M1 breakpoint which adds an additional attack target, and should be grabbed even if you are a heavy-duty AFK-only player.

Speaking of her AFK skill, her S2 is a remarkably powerful skill. This guide doesn’t tend to favor either AFK or laneholding skills, but in Hoshi2’s case, her S2 is so powerful that it is absolutely worth Mastery even for the sweatiest of end-game players. There are so many lanes and stages she can hold all on her own simply by existing that the power can’t be ignored. Effectively, every ~15 seconds she does very strong AoE Arts damage, which results in consistently strong sustain (since the damage is Arts damage), on top of her Talent that makes her nearly unkillable in the first place. Mastery gains on it are strong as well. While the DPS gain is slightly below average, the gain double dips on her sustain. Most important though, at S2M2 it drops the SP cost, which adds a huge amount of consistency.

Last, her S1 may be worth a look as well. It’s a cool callback to her original’s signature skill, but souped up to modern standards. The wind-up is very short, and gives her some really strong stats and a huge reflect that can trivialize some stages. However, there’s a couple flaws that suppress its value compared to her other skills. For one, reflect damage is map dependent and you’ll get better results on most maps with her other skills. For two, she doesn’t have any taunt like Penance or Młynar, which means she needs a lot more planning for those troublesome global range enemies. It’s ultimately a solid skill with some strong gains, but a relative luxury and third in line on an already expensive unit.

Haruka

Rarity: 6

Haruka

Supporter

Abjurer

RangedRanged

Skill

Mastery

Story

Advanced

幽隙栖萤

Manual TriggerPer Second Recovery

Mastery

Story

Advanced

S2M3

S-

S-

夏末游鳞

Manual TriggerPer Second Recovery

Mastery

Story

Advanced

S3M3

B-

B+

Like Quercus before her, Haruka bypasses the main problem Abjurers suffer from. The toggle nature of Abjurers makes them very unreliable as healers, but when their skill durations are infinite, that’s not so much a problem! Haruka then amps it up with the modern power-creep 6★ numbers, resulting in one of the best and easiest to use healers in the game. This makes Haruka a relatively high priority upgrade, but a bit lower than others of her caliber. Healing is the lowest priority of the core roles, and the easiest to optimize out, so for as great at the job as she is, Haruka ends up less essential than many recent 6★s.

Haruka’s main skill, and far and away her best investment, is her S2 which has that mentioned infinite duration. The low SP cost means it comes online much more reliably than many similar skills like Eyja2’s or Quercus’ S1s, and the effects when it comes fully online are very strong. Mastery gains are on the low-side, with only an approximately 12% improvement to HPS and a negligible SP improvement (since the wind-up is already so fast), but for skills of this caliber, value isn’t a huge consideration. Even a modest improvement on one of the best healing skills is still worthwhile, although it does reinforce the idea of treating Haruka on the low-end of the high-tier units.

Meanwhile, Haruka’s S3 is a slightly weird skill. It has an extremely good effect, but hasn’t proven to be all that valuable. The primary reason for this is that it falls into the old trap Abjurers typically do, but made worse by an extremely long SP cost. While she is slightly better than other Abjurers during skill downtime thanks to her Bubble Talent, she is still much lower value during skill downtime than regular Medics, which means there’s a high opportunity cost to use her S3. So her S3 is a surprisingly low priority investment for the impact of the effect. It will likely be worthwhile for niche players and simps, since it has an absolutely massive burst HPS and strong control, but for meta-minded players, sticking with just her S2 is sufficient.

Finally, pass on her S1. The effect is decent, but in addition to the Abjurer downtime problem, the effect isn’t all that different from her S2, meaning there’s very few places it’s the best choice, even for simps.

Kichisei

Rarity: 5

Kichisei

Sniper

Spreadshooter

RangedRanged

Skill

Mastery

Story

Advanced

吉星高照！

Manual TriggerPer Second Recovery

Mastery

Story

Advanced

S2M3

None

None

欢迎您来！

Manual TriggerPer Second Recovery

Mastery

Story

Advanced

S1M3

None

None

In the context of her contemporary 5★s, who are overall rather solid, Kichisei is remarkable… in a bad way. She’d be awful even by the standards of the worst era of 5★ design, but by modern standards, she’s as close to irredeemable as it gets. On top of the high DP cost and low DPS that generally saddles the archetype, Kichisei only brings some poor-uptime and inconsistent control as an “upside”, which means she has basically no value, even in niches. Further, a good chunk of her damage is locked behind an unnecessary map-dependent gimmick, so she is tough to use even for waifu players. Quite the shame since her design is so cool!

If you’d like to try to make her work anyway, both skills are options, but both have flaws so there isn’t really a clear answer. S1 will generally be the better DPS skill since her interval is slightly shorter and her DPH slightly higher, but the ramp up for her damage is perplexing since the DPS isn’t even good at full potential. Meanwhile, her S2 has that mentioned control, but the rotational nature of it (the control cycles through each type in order) and the very long interval makes it frustrating to use. Even some fairly large gains on both Masteries barely warrants mention. Ultimately, the only good choice with Kichisei is not to bother in the first place.

Matsukiri

Rarity: 5

Matsukiri

Vanguard

策士

MeleeMelee

Skill

Mastery

Story

Advanced

万手成局

Manual TriggerPer Second Recovery

Mastery

Story

Advanced

S2M3

B

B

入场安排

Auto TriggerPer Second Recovery

Mastery

Story

Advanced

S1M3

C

B-

Vanguards have long been one of the most maligned classes in the game, and our first Strategist adds some new and much needed depth. The relative lack of early pressure has always devalued them, which has meant only Standard Bearers and Agents have really bubbled to the top. Strategists though mix things up with some interesting and new utility by buffing units before they’re even on the field!

Matsukiri himself is a solid first showing, although slightly too situational to be a general consideration¹. His effective DP generation is very strong, and he brings some solid buffs in the process, at least if you like to use Defenders or Supporters. That of course seems tuned to Hoshiguma the Breacher and Haruka in his same patch, but is solid for a variety of other players too like 5★ players or Fortress enjoyers.

If that applies to you, both skills are potential options, with the best choice being situational on the map/team and what you want out of him. S1 will generally produce effective DP better, while S2 is more unique for the people looking to get the most out of their Defenders.

Starting with his S1, the selling point here is how fast the effective DP gain comes online. The DP gain plus the cost reduction means he effectively generates 14 DP after only 10 seconds, which is among the fastest in the game for when every second and every DP matters. The “right-most” is abusable too because that includes support units which are always the right-most, making it very easy to target where needed! However, that’s all it does and Mastery only improves the initial wind-up, so how valuable you’ll find the skill will entirely depend on how much of a try-hard you are. For casual players, you’ll probably get much better use out of just using the ever-present Myrtle, even if she takes a little longer for the same effect.

Instead, consider his S2. The effective DP generation isn’t as strong since the gain is spread out over a typical skill uptime (but is still very strong), however it comes with some significant perks. His personal regen is noticeably strong, and he also gives a strong HP buff to your tanks. It’s the sort of skill where no individual aspect really blows you away, but all are strong and the net effect can be very powerful in certain team-comps and stages.

¹ Can’t have him showing up the 6★ like happened with Agents.

Pull Priority

Jan update: No big changes this time aside from adding in Nasti, who is mostly a gimmick. To reiterate, the top four here are all very powerful and there are many who would rank them differently. The rankings here are based on what I personally value here, and don’t account for pull value or FOMO (i.e. no extra credit for Sakiko for being a collab).

Strong Pull: Hoshiguma the Breacher (limited), SilverAsh the Reignfrost (limited)

Lean Pull: Togawa Sakiko (collab), Pramanix the Prerita

Lean Skip: Haruka, Mantra

Strong Skip: Vina Victoria (rerun), Nasti

Meta-value 4-5★s: None

Niche-value 4-5★s: Matsukiri, Wakaba Mutsumi, Misumi Uika, Yahata Umiri (welfare, graded with Sakiko only)

Pull Priority Blurbs

This is something new I’m trying, just a quick 1-2 sentences per OP to add some context for the pull priorities.

Hoshiguma the Breacher - Incredible tank with strong damage and utility. A great unit for both comfy casual use and advanced play. I think she’s the strongest unit ahead of us at our release since she covers so many vital roles in ways no other units do.

SilverAsh the Reignfrost - He’ll greatly raise the ceiling of any team he’s on and is the sort who will be tough to powercreep. However, a lot of his value depends on the rest of your roster, so newer players may still want to favor direct DPS. Vanguards, even absurd ones, also tend to be slightly less valuable in general.

Togawa Sakiko - Incredible damage and range with a huge amount of DEF/RES ignore allowing her to do good damage to almost any target. Her damage is strong enough she could be considered above the others in her tier, however, she has no utility beyond damage so is the most replaceable.

Pramanix the Prerita - She’s the new queen of AFK gaming with plenty of ceiling too. Great damage and a huge Slow field, plus the Phalanx bulk. However, there’s a lot of Casters now. She’s probably the second best one (I still give the favor to Logos) so well worth pulling for, but may be a bit more redundant on some teams compared to SA2 and Hoshi2.

Haruka - Sets the new bar for both AFK and burst healing along with some good control. However, healing is mostly a luxury compared to DPS.

Mantra - Very powerful in some situations, less so in others. She’s a great unit overall, but compared to the other DPS units isn’t quite as versatile and her control is mostly redundant to Tragodia.

Vina Victoria - Vina is relevant at times due to the strength of True Damage, but she’s much more clunky than the others. While still decently strong, she’s by far the most situational of the upcoming banners.

Nasti - A fun unit that can break some stages, and best friends to Ifrit and Pram2, that also doubles as a strong SP battery, but ultimately a bit too gimmicky.

Lookaheads

No thoughts on the Titi patch yet. It only just came out as I write this, but since I know some people will ask, Titi looks decent but maybe a bit too niche to be generally useful (somethingsomethingsleepbad).

The lookaheads from last time can be found in their usual spot here.

Nasti

Like the previous Artificers, Nasti is a very cool unit that does some very cool things. However, the way Arknights is designed tends to devalue units like this. While her mobile ranged tile is very unique and can trivialize some stages, it is simply never necessary. Specific solutions are never required in this game, which ultimately means that for as cool as she is, she’s a luxury and many people will see her as a much needed easy skip after a huge wave of intense meta-powercreep.

If you’re one of the very based people who love cool units more than broken DPS, then Nasti will be a great unit though. S3 is quite obviously her main skill which gives her that special ability to create a ranged tile. Not to be missed, it also has a very strong buff to the unit deployed on it. It’s not shown in game, but this buff is actually the main benefit to Mastery which is otherwise on the weaker side. S2 is a reasonable secondary skill, capable of giving a big burst of SP. However, it requires a good amount of planning to use since the device only starts with 3 “charges” and only recovers them at a pace of 1 per 7 seconds. Pass on her S1. It might have some use now and then, but is the least useful of the three.

tl;dr S3 (A-tier) > S2 (B or C-tier). S1 ungraded. All skills have low-ish Mastery gains.

Cairn

If I ignore the 6★ powercreep, I absolutely love Cairn’s design as a unit. NI is very strong, so it seemed likely that a 5★ Ritualist/Primal Defender was going to either be absurdly good, or gimped to the point of uselessness, but HG solved it in an interesting way. Essentially, Cairn can easily trigger NI on enemies she herself is blocking, but needs two S2 activations if she’s not. This is a rather elegant solution for a powerful mechanic since it was incredibly unlikely the rarity was going to get a unit like Tragodia! Of course, this means Cairn isn’t a general promotion consideration. For as powerful as NI is, she doesn’t work well with Tragodia nor is she worth the resources for those who don’t have him (despite how strong NI is). Instead, she’s mostly a solid niche unit for those that like playing with the lower rarities. To that end, S2 is her only skill really worth considering. With it, she can reliably trigger NI every 20-30 seconds on enemies she’s blocking which makes her a rather bulky blocker. The 4 and 5★ Protectors are already quite strong at this (Quaso my beloved), but Cairn does good Elemental damage too and can pull ahead on slow interval enemies like the Mudrock golems. Meanwhile her S1 is quite boring and probably won’t be worth considering for most people since it doesn’t influence her ability to apply NI (the whole reason to use her in the first place). However, she can crack 8k HP with it so it may be useful for the simps or extreme niche players.

tl;dr S2 (A or B-tier) only. Pass on S1.

Skybox

Skybox is one of the coolest designs we’ve gotten in a while. He’s basically a new-age Artilleryman (AoE Sniper) that takes advantage of the increasingly common Take Off mechanic. He’s pretty decent at it too, and the take-off will give him some decent niche value. However, as a mostly DPS 5★, there isn’t any meta-value either. Still, the 5★s have been decently strong lately so he is more than usable! S2 is his main skill. It’s nice to see HG hasn’t forgotten Overload, because it can be a pretty fun effect and Skybox can launch a big volley using it. His S1 is pretty good too and some people may find it preferable, but it is weaker. The fact it’s Auto Activation will often lead to suboptimal results, and he only gets 3 shots compared to S2’s SP cost. It also means he’s less valuable as an aerial blocker since the Auto Activation forces him to land.

It’s worth a quick note that he launched with a bug on his S1 where charges weren’t being consumed in some circumstances, so there’s some pretty insane clips out there. However, this has been fixed so don’t plan on it as part of your decisions.

tl;dr S2 (B or C-tier) > S1 (C-tier or None).