News and Guides for Arknights
Arknights Beginner's Guide - Best Starting Operators
Hey there, it’s kukkikaze here, bringing to you my first ever publicly written article! I’m an Arknights YouTuber (https://www.youtube.com/c/kukkikaze) and Twitch live streamer (https://www.twitch.tv/kukkikaze).
Do hop by if you’re interested in knowing all the exciting things of Arknights and want to be part of an amazing community! In this article, I’ll be talking about which operators are best to start with when you’re first playing Arknights!
What is Arknights?
Arknights is a real-time, tower defense, strategy game. It is a golden standard, exceptional choice of a starting gacha game you should be playing! People often shun gacha games, believing them to be inherently predatory by nature. Predatory refers to how the game is thought to instill a great sense of need in players to pay (a lot), either to attain the best experience of the game or to become one of the best players in the community.
Arknights however, is a pristine hidden gem, very different from other gacha game titles you would have known of. There are no PVP elements to the game (at least at the time of this written article and not in the near foreseeable future). This game is your own personal adventure that you create, which by no means needs to be compared with others.
Even after two years of runtime, it still offers countless of exciting, original updates, adding new game modes, game technicians that redefined the genre of tower defense, never running low on new characters, constantly reshaping the way we play. If you’re looking for great gameplay, high replayability, a game that offers refreshing content, there’s no better time to start Arknights than today!
The game is six years old? Will I not be set back if I play the game now?
There is absolutely no trouble at all even if you play the game right now. Surely, your progress may seem further behind those who played the game, but this will not make your experience less worthwhile than the veteran players. Arknights is a very carefully crafted game that ensures that a new player entering at any point in time can still gain a great load of enjoyment.
They take extreme care towards all types of players, the casuals, the dolphins and the whales, new and old players alike. They are keen on growing their player base as large as can be, and therefore, if you are still in consideration to join the game, I can assure you that you are well taken care of in starting your new journey.
With Arknights being a gacha game, does that mean I need the highest rarities to play the game properly?
It is usual for people to mention how they feel certain gacha games require the SSR’s or the five stars, six stars to properly let you play the games. That is NOT the case for Arknights at all. When the main producer of Arknights, Hai Mao was interviewed, he was asked “How to adjust the balance while you design stages?” He answered that their game designers and stage designers will “use low-star or free to obtain operators to test the stages”.
This still holds true till today as every content in the game could be beaten without even using any of the operators you would pull via the gacha system. The characters you obtain from gacha simply add to the quality of life of the game, raising your own satisfaction and happiness through the playtime. Without them, the game remains to be fully playable. All it takes is a good strategy whenever you try to complete every level of the game!
Hence, you do not have to fear the need to obtain the highest rarities to play Arknights. They can make the game easier, lower the amount of thinking, but if you’re up to the challenge, you would not be needing them. Even if you’re going to come in starting off as a free-to-play, the money shall not lock you behind the wonders you can discover here!
I’m going to give the game a try, but where should I begin or how should I begin?
Whenever you’re ready, jump straight into the game and play through their tutorials to start your learning journey. The game’s tutorials are clear and in-depth for you to understand the basics. When you’ve completed them, go ahead and fiddle with the user interface.
Play through some of the stages, do a few pulls, set up your base. It won’t be long before you’d eventually want some tips and guidance as to how to move on through the game. Hence, I would recommend you to watch some of the guides that I’ve created to help you through the game!
kukkikaze’s Arknights Beginner’s Guide:
I’ve watched the beginners’ guide, but now, who should I be building?
Great! As the title of this article states, this is about fantastic, recommended operators that you can build when you first start the game. Before I do so, please note this very important general advice!
1.Before you promote an operator to Elite 1, ensure that they are Skill Rank 4 first.
2.If you wish to promote an operator to Elite 2, they must be Skill Rank 7 first!
This is because skills are more important than levels in this game. An operator that is maxed out on their levels and promotions in this game is far weaker than a low-levelled operator with very high skill ranks! Skill Rank 4, Skill Rank 7 are ‘breakthrough’ points where the jump in an operator’s abilities is significant, making them especially important, else you would be putting their promotion to waste.
Alright, let’s run through who are great operators to start building with!
2025 Update – Free Welfare Operators You Should Raise
For the best Arknights operators, I have picked the top welfare operators that are easy to get and available early in your gameplay. These are the best welfare operators from this Arknights beginner's guide:
Highmore
Highmore is a 5-Star melee DPS welfare operator within Arknights tier list, who excels at dealing high AoE damage while taking hits from enemies. Her S1 increases her damage with consecutive attacks, and her S2 boosts her ATK, lets her block 2 enemies at once, and recovers her HP, making her durable on the frontline while dealing huge damage.
Furthermore, Highmore is especially strong in Integrated Strategies stages like IS2, IS3, and IS5 stages, and she can also help allies survive by countering effects like corrosion and necrosis. So, she is one of the best frontline welfare operators and also a solid choice for other game modes like story mode and for special events.
How to Get Highmore: Get her free by reaching IS3: Crimson Solitaire Level 25 Ecosequence, or by using the Record Restoration feature to unlock her Personal Letters.
Heidi and Clivilla Eterna
Heidi is a 5-star operator who is easy to get and one of the earliest Bard supporters in the game. She can protect allies within her range by blocking attacks. Her Skill 2 is very useful because it increases the Max HP and DEF of nearby allies, making her a great supporter for any team.
Clivilla Eterna, on the other hand, is a 6-star Bard supporter. She can heal allies around her and boost their stats for a long time. She can also deal true damage with her skills. Both Heidi and Clivilla Eterna are easy to obtain and perform very well in IS5, IS3, and main story stages.
How to get Heidi: Reward from story chapter 10.
How to get Clivilla Eterna: Reward from Story Chapter 14
Vigil
Vigil is a 6-star welfare operator and a Tactician Vanguard. He can summon wolf packs using his skills, which help block enemies and can stack shadows to block up to 3 foes at once. When Vigil is equipped with his Module, he becomes even stronger, improving his crowd control abilities.
He may not be the strongest attacker, but his balance of blocking, support, and survivability makes him a great operator for early-game stages.
How to Get Vigil: Unlock by clearing the 5th stage of II Siracusano.
Honeyberry
Honeyberry is a 5-star ranged healer who can remove elemental damage effects like Corrosion or Necrosis from allies. She has a wide healing range, allowing her to heal many allies at once. She is especially useful in stages with elemental enemies, such as IS2 and IS5.
As a welfare operator, Honeyberry is very useful even if you don’t need an elemental healer. She is still a great healing option for your team, especially if you don’t have another premium healer like Mulberry is available.
How to Get Honeyberry: Buy her from the in-game shop using 600 Red Certificates.
Tin Man
Tin Man is one of the best starting welfare operators from our Arknights beginner's guide. He is a versatile hybrid caster who can deal AoE Arts damage and heal nearby allies with his skills. His Skill 2 gives AoE healing, while Skill 1 lets him deal steady damage without needing many hits to charge for making her a valuable operator.
He is very strong in IS5, where his mix of damage and healing works perfectly. Even outside that mode, Tin Man is a great choice for any team that needs both extra healing and area damage.
How to Get Tin Man: Earn him by reaching 5450 points in Hypotheses Compilation in IS5.
Gladiia
Gladiia is a 6-star welfare Specialist and a Hookmaster operator. She is one of the strongest puller units in the game, making her one of the best starting operators. Her pulling skills deal high physical damage, provide crowd control, and work especially well with Abyssal Hunter teams, making them stronger and tougher.
When you equip her Module X, Gladiia becomes even better, gaining stronger defense and improved pulling abilities, making her a reliable welfare Specialist for both damage and control, especially for early-game stages.
How to Get Gladiia: Clear SV-5 in Under Tides (Intermezzo event). Buy her Tokens in the event shop for Potential.
Lumen
Lumen is one of the easiest 6-star Medic operators to get in Arknights and a very strong operator even without any Modules. His Skill 3 makes him very valuable, as it provides powerful AoE healing and removes stun effects from allies. This makes him extremely useful in modes like IS2, where stuns and other impairments can stop your team from fighting.
He is also a great choice for early story stages, thanks to his strong healing bursts and ability to remove stuns, making him one of the best starting operator healers in the game.
How to Get Lumen: Unlock by clearing the 5th stage of Stultifera Navis.
Ethan
Ethan is one of the best 4-star operators in Arknights right now. He is a great starting operator and can be obtained by collecting Red Certificates. He is a Specialist Ambusher who deals high Arts damage with his Skill 1, while Skill 2 increases his ATK and gives a higher chance to bind enemies as a superb crowd controller.
With his Module and some attack speed buffs, Ethan can keep enemies almost permanently immobilized, making him excellent for controlling large groups in early stages. He is cheap to build, easy to use, and very effective in early and mid-game, making him one of the best starter operators.
How to Obtain Ethan: Buy him from the in-game shop using 150 Red Certificates.
Kroos
Kroos is a 3-star welfare operator from this Arknights beginner's guide as one of the best starting operators. She is also one of the best free snipers in the game. Kroos is especially useful against flying or hovering enemies, as she can stun them to deal more damage and defeat them quickly.
She becomes even stronger with attack buffs from relics or other units, allowing her to deal continuous damage while keeping enemies under control. Kroos is a reliable and versatile sniper that works well in almost any free-to-play team.
How to Obtain Kroos: Unlock by clearing the 4th stage of Invitation to Wine.
Medic Amiya
Medic Amiya is considered one of the strongest welfare operators and a very unique operator in the game. Even though she is a 5-star Medic, her main strength comes from dealing true damage, which ignores enemy defense and resistance. She can hit multiple enemies at once and heal allies while attacking with her special skills. This makes her a powerful damage dealer with healing abilities, and she is easy to get, making her a great starting operator in Arknights.
How to Obtain Medic Amiya: E2 your Amiya first, then clear 14-22 with the basic Amiya. She will become Medic Amiya.
Multi-instance + Sync: Create multiple instance and execute the same operation simultaneously, upgrade your kingdom quickly
Ultra-Wide Screen: Get a full view of the battlefield and seize the strategic opportunities.
Keyboard Mapping: Constructe buildings, place combat units and release skills more convenient and accurately
Landscape: Widen vertical screen by landscape, with a wider field of view and smoother operation for SLG games.
Conclusion
These are the best starting Arknights operators I found while playing the game. All of these are welfare operators, which means you can easily get them either from the in-game shop or by clearing story chapters. They are perfect for early-game teams and will help you win battles more easily.
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