Arknights Beginner's Guide - Tips & Tricks

Getting Started

Arknights is a free-to-play tower-defense and strategy RPG developed by Hypergryph. Unlike traditional tower defense games, Arknights requires you to carefully place units on a grid to manage enemy flow, utilizing class-specific mechanics, cooldown management, and terrain to your advantage. Before diving into your first operation, there are a few initial setup steps you need to understand to ensure a smooth start.

The Gacha System and Your First Pulls

Arknights does not have traditional character creation. Instead, your "identity" is defined by the roster of Operators you recruit through the game's gacha system, known as the Banner system. When you first start the game, you are given a guaranteed free 6-star Operator of your choice from a specific pool. This is the most important decision you will make as a beginner.

The top recommended picks from this selector are Surtr, an incredibly powerful AoE Caster; SilverAsh, a versatile and devastating Guard; Exusiai, a rapid-fire Sniper; or Shamare, a useful Support unit. If you are entirely unsure, SilverAsh or Surtr will carry you through almost all early and mid-game content with minimal investment.

Following the selector, you will also receive a free 5-star Sniper, Adnachiel, simply by completing the tutorial. Hold onto your premium currency, Originium Prime (OP), and do not spend it on standard banners until you understand the game's pity system and upcoming rate-up events.

Understanding Rarity

In Arknights, star rarity ranges from 2-star to 6-star. A critical concept for beginners to grasp is that lower-star Operators are not useless. In fact, 2-star and 3-star Operators are incredibly efficient to level up because their upgrade materials are practically free. Operators like Orange (3-star Vanguard), Melantha (3-star Guard), and Adnachiel (5-star Sniper) are mainstays even in endgame "Low-Investment" or "Auto-Deploy" strategies. Do not dismantle low-rarity units; keep a copy of every 2-star and 3-star Operator you get.

Core Mechanics

At its heart, Arknights is about managing two primary resources during a battle: Deployment Points (DP) and Skills. Every Operator you place on the grid costs DP. DP generates passively over time, but the best way to generate it quickly is by deploying Vanguard units, who generate DP every time they attack or are hit.

The Eight Classes and Their Roles

Mastering Arknights requires understanding the eight core classes and how they synergize on the battlefield:

• Vanguard: Your DP generators. Place them first to build your economy. They are generally fragile, so you will often replace them later in the battle. (e.g., Zima, Siege, Fang)
• Guard: Your primary melee damage dealers. They block 1 to 3 enemies and come in various sub-types (Arts damage, AoE physical, pushing). They are essential for holding the line. (e.g., SilverAsh, Mite)
• Defender: High-health, high-defense units meant to absorb damage and block multiple enemies (usually 3). Some Defenders heal themselves or provide crowd control. (e.g., Croissant, Spot)
• Sniper: Ranged physical damage dealers. They are crucial for eliminating flying enemies, which melee units cannot reach, and for picking off high-threat targets from a safe distance. (e.g., Exusiai, Rosmontis)
• Caster: Ranged Arts (magical) damage dealers. They are necessary for enemies with high physical armor, as Arts damage ignores physical defense. (e.g., Surtr, Lava)
• Medic: Your healers. They keep your front-line units alive. Some heal single targets quickly, while others heal multiple targets at once but much slower. (e.g., Myrtle, Gavial)
• Support: Specialists that manipulate the battlefield. Summoners create temporary blocking units, while Artificers (like Shamare) slow enemies or deal AoE Arts damage.
• Specialist: The "miscellaneous" class that handles unique mechanics. This includes Pushers (knock enemies back), Pullers (drag enemies forward), Fast-Redeploys (drop in, attack, retreat instantly), and Executors (high-mobility Guards). (e.g., Projekt Red, FEater)

Blocking, DP, and Redeployment

Pay close attention to an Operator's Block Count. If an enemy has a weight of 3 and your Defender only has a block count of 2, the enemy will walk right past them. Positioning is everything. If an enemy slips through your defenses, they will drain your Life Points. Letting enemies leak is the primary way players fail a mission.

Additionally, when you retreat an Operator, it takes time for their "Redeployment Cooldown" to reset. Fast-Redeploy Specialists have very short cooldowns, allowing you to use them as emergency roadblocks or assassination tools.

Early Game Tips

The first 24 to 48 hours of playing Arknights can feel overwhelming due to the sheer number of menus, currencies, and game modes. Here is exactly what you should prioritize to build a strong foundation.

Clear the Main Story (Episode 0 and 1)

Your immediate goal is to progress through the story missions. Clearing these stages unlocks base facilities, new game modes, and rewards you with Originite Prime (OP). You will need to complete specific stages to reach Player Level 19, which is when the game truly opens up and daily missions start generating meaningful rewards.

Build Your Base (The RIIC) Immediately

As soon as you unlock your base (the Rhodes Island Infirmary and Control Center), prioritize building the following rooms:

• Power Plant: Generates electricity for your other rooms.
• Trading Post: Generates LMD (the primary currency used for leveling up). Always keep this running.
• Manufacturing Station: Generates EXP materials and Skill Summaries. Set it to produce Battle Records (EXP) during the day, and Skill Summaries at night, or just leave it on whichever material you need most at the time.

Assign Operators to these rooms based on their Bonus Abilities. An Operator with a "Trading Post" trait will drastically increase the output of that room. Always check for the little icons next to an Operator's stats in the base menu before assigning them.

Level a Core Squad to Elite 1

Do not spread your resources evenly across 20 different Operators. Pick one Vanguard, two Guards/Defenders, one Sniper, one Caster, and one Medic. Focus all your early Battle Records and LMD into pushing these 6 units to Level 50 and Elite 1 (E1). Reaching E1 unlocks an Operator's second skill, which is almost always a massive power spike that will help you clear early content effortlessly.

When selecting which skill to use, look at the skill's description. Skills that deal damage, reduce enemy defense, or provide burst healing are generally the best choices for beginners. Toggle the skill to "Auto" so you don't have to micromanage it during early stages.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

New players often fall into several traps that can stall their progression or cause unnecessary frustration. Avoid these top mistakes to ensure a smooth experience.

• Spending Originium Prime (OP) on Refills: OP is the premium currency used for pulling new Operators. Never use it to refill your Sanity (the energy system used to play stages). Sanity naturally regenerates over time, and you will be swimming in Sanity Potions (from events and dailies) very soon. Save your OP for Limited Banners.
• Pulling on Standard Banners Blindly: Standard banners have a 2% chance for a 6-star. However, Arknights frequently runs Rate-Up banners where a specific 6-star has a 50% chance to be the one you pull. Pulling on standard banners means you are highly likely to get a 6-star you didn't want. Wait for rate-up banners for characters you actually need.
• Using Promote Vouchers on 4-star or 5-star Operators: To promote an Operator to Elite 2 (E2), you need a rare item called a Promote Voucher. These are incredibly scarce early on. Never use them on a 4-star or 5-star Operator. Save them exclusively for your most-used 6-star Operators.
• Ignoring Trust: Every Operator has a Trust level (max 200%) that increases by 1% every time you use them in a stage (except in base or special modes). Higher Trust provides flat stat boosts that are equivalent to giving the Operator free levels. Always bring your core team to battles to maximize their Trust.
• Sleeping on 3-Star Operators: Many beginners think 3-stars are trash and use them as upgrade fodder. Do not do this. Operators like Orange (Vanguard), Midnight (Caster), and Hibiscus (Medic) have incredibly strong, instant-cast skills that carry entire strategies when fully leveled. Keep a copy of every 3-star and never use them as "fodder" to upgrade other units.
• Rushing into Hard Content: If you hit a wall in the story, stop and take a breath. Arknights does not require you to clear stages immediately. Go level your units, upgrade their skills, unlock their potential (using duplicate tokens), and try again tomorrow. The level cap will carry you through difficulty spikes.
• Using Skill 1 on Every Unit: While Skill 1 is usually an auto-passive and requires no management, Skills 2 and 3 are often where an Operator's true value lies. An Operator with a weak passive Skill 1 can become a god-tier unit with an active Skill 2 or 3. Always read all three skills before deciding how to build a unit.

Essential Controls & Settings

While Arknights is fundamentally a mobile game, it is also available on PC via emulators or native clients. Understanding the settings and controls can drastically improve your gameplay experience.

PC Controls and Shortcuts

If you are playing on a PC client or an emulator (like BlueStacks or MuMu), you should immediately learn the hotkeys. They make the game significantly faster to play:

• 1 through 0: Selects the corresponding Operator in your deployment bar (left to right).
• Q: Toggles an Operator's Skill on or off.
• E: Speeds up the game (2x speed toggle). You can also click the speed button in the top right, but 'E' is much faster.
• Spacebar: Pauses the game. You can still place, retreat, and use skills while paused. This is the single most important key in Arknights. Pause the game to assess enemy spawns and place units without the pressure of a ticking clock.
• Escape: Cancels deployment or closes menus.

Recommended Settings to Change

Before starting a mission, go into the settings menu and make a few adjustments:

• Auto-Skill Toggle: By default, skills must be triggered manually. You can click the skill icon to put a green ring around it, turning it to "Auto." This means the Operator will use the skill the moment it is off cooldown. Only use Auto for defensive or passive skills. Do not put offensive burst skills on Auto, as the Operator might waste it on a weak enemy right before a boss spawns.
• Grid Display: Ensure the grid lines are turned on. This helps you perfectly visualize enemy paths and your Operator's attack range (represented by red and white boxes).
• Camera Speed: If playing on PC, increase the camera pan speed to maximum to allow for fast map scrolling.
• Skip Animations: Once you are comfortable with the game, turning off certain attack animations in the settings can speed up stage clearing significantly, especially when grinding for materials.

Progression System

Arknights features a layered progression system that spans individual Operators, your account level, and your base. Understanding the hierarchy of progression prevents you from wasting time and resources.

Operator Leveling and Potential

Operators gain experience by using Battle Records. You earn Battle Records from the base, clearing stages, or exchanging currency in the shop. As an Operator levels up, their stats increase. However, every 10 levels (starting at level 30, then 70), they hit a cap. To break this cap, you must Promote them.

Promoting an Operator to Elite 1 (E1) requires specific base materials and increases their level cap to 50/80. It also unlocks their second skill. Promoting to Elite 2 (E2) requires rare materials and a Promote Voucher, raising the cap to 80/90 and unlocking their third skill (for most 5 and 6-stars).

Potential is a separate system. When you pull a duplicate of an Operator, they become a "Token." You can use this Token to increase the Operator's Potential, up to Potential 6. Each level of Potential reduces their deployment cost by 1 (up to -5) and slightly increases their stats. Potential is a nice bonus, but you should never pull on a banner specifically for duplicates (spooking) unless you are an advanced player.

Skills and Mastery

Leveling up an Operator's skill requires Skill Summaries (for levels 1-3) and specific stage-dropped materials (for levels 4-7, known as Specialization or Mastery levels 1, 2, and 3). Pushing a skill to Mastery 3 (M3) is the ultimate endgame grind. M3 drastically reduces skill cooldowns, increases damage, or improves duration. As a beginner, just focus on getting your core units' skills to level 4 or 5. Save your high-tier materials for Mastery until you are sure you love the Operator.

Account Level and Sanity

Your Player Level dictates your Maximum Sanity. Sanity is the energy required to play stages. At level 1, you have 100 Sanity. By level 120, you have 135 Sanity. Every time you gain enough Player EXP to level up, your Sanity completely refills. This is why you should never let your Sanity sit at max capacity while you are actively playing. If you are about to level up, burn your Sanity on a stage first to effectively double your energy gain.

Modules

Once you reach the later stages of the game and have an Operator at Elite 2 Level 80, you unlock the ability to equip Modules. Modules are unique items earned through specialized events or farming stages that provide massive stat boosts and alter an Operator's skills. Do not worry about Modules until you have a firmly established team of E2 80 Operators.

Resources & Where to Find Help

Arknights is notoriously dense. Its story is told through visual novel-style logs, and its mechanics are often poorly explained in-game. Relying on the community is not just helpful; it is practically mandatory for long-term success.

In-Game Help: The Index and Term Dictionary

Before looking outside the game, familiarize yourself with the in-game Index. Accessible from the main menu, the Index tracks every enemy type, environmental hazard, and Operator you have encountered. If an enemy has a strange icon next to their health bar (like a shield or a magic symbol), tap the enemy in the Index to read a detailed breakdown of exactly what that mechanic does. Additionally, the Term Dictionary in the settings explains game jargon like "Arts Damage," "Weight," and "Camouflage."

Essential Third-Party Tools

You will eventually need to use third-party websites to plan your resource farming:

• ArkPlanner (arknights.tools): This is the single most important tool for a beginner. You input which Operators you want to level up and what skills you want to master, and the website will generate a shopping list of exactly which stages you need to farm and how many runs it will take. Stop guessing what materials you need and use ArkPlanner.
• Penguin Statistics (penguin-stats.io): Arknights does not display the drop rates for materials in specific stages. Penguin Statistics crowdsources data from millions of players to calculate the actual drop rates of every item in every stage. If you need a specific material, check Penguin to see which stage currently has the best drop rate for your Sanity investment.
• Maa (Maa Assistant Arknights): An open-source automation tool available on PC. While using bots can