Arknights Guide to Getting Started | Tips and Advice

Arknights is a great success, and for good reason, this game is very appreciated by its community (the 4.7/5 rating on the Play Store, for 120,000 reviews, speaks for itself...). Released in May 2019 in China, the mobile game Arknights landed on all servers worldwide in January 2020. The game immediately established itself as a good classic tower defense game with very attractive graphics. But it's not easy to get used to it right away, so there's nothing like a good article full of tips and tricks.
In this Arknights guide to getting started, you'll find all the tools to progress in the game. We explain how to progress in the story, the different game modes, how to optimize your base. Finally, we explain everything you need to know about the operator recruitment system, which ones are the most useful, we tell you everything about the classes and how to build the best team possible. Come on, follow the guide, we have work to do! 😅

What is Arknights in practice?

Arknights is a beautiful anime-style game that combines RPG and strategy elements to great effect.
You take on the role of an amnesiac Doctor of Rhodes Island and must fight a deadly infection that is spreading and repel an invasion. With the help of your boss Amiya, you recruit Operators, train them and assign them to various missions to protect the innocent and resist opponents. You will have to thwart the plans of countless infected from a horde called the Reunion so that it does not invade your city.
The game is exclusively in English, but with this Arknights guide for beginners, you will have no more worries.
Finally, we will also note the superb music of the game, a delight! What do we like? The free-to-play aspect is really present, you can play for free without any worries. But also, the lore, the very endearing characters, and the strategic aspect of the tower-defense game.

📱 Available on Android, iOS and you can even play Arknights on PC with a little trick.

Types of currencies in Arknights

First of all, it is important to know the different types of currencies in Arknights and what they are used for.

Name	Icon	Description
LMD (Lugmen dollars)		This is the main money of the game, you will need it for any upgrade.
Orundums		A currency used mainly for the recruitment of operators.
Originiums		The basic paying currency, but sometimes obtained in the adventure for free. This currency can also be transformed into Orundums if there is a lack of them for the purchase of Operators or for various purchases.

Progression through the story and the different modes of Arknights

First of all, you will have to progress in the story mode! At first, we advise you not to systematically try to get the 3 stars at each level. Afterwards, you can farm the stage to collect resources if necessary. So move forward as much as possible without looking back too much.

As you progress through the story, you will unlock Operators for free throughout the adventure and some will be essential to progress and in this Arknights guide. You will find the list of these Operators at the end of the guide.

💡 Tip: If your energy gauge is empty and you want to continue playing, you can recharge it with 1 Originum (consume in moderation, unless it is a recover sanity offered by the game, as they are consumable for 11 days maximum).

Mode Supplies

If you are stuck in the story, this means leveling up your operators. Upgrade their skills and get them promoted to elite, once the character's maximum level is reached. To do this, you have to go through the Supplies mode in which several modules are available to you. So stuff it when you need it!

• Tactical Drill: Module for earning XP cards to be awarded to Operators.
• Aerial Threat: This is used to obtain cards needed to upgrade your Operator's skills.
• Resource Search: This will be used mainly to increase your base.
• Tough Siege: Useful to get Shop Vouchers if needed, I let you discover it with experience or in the Certificate part of the Store.
• Cargo Escort: To earn money (Lugmen Dollars) which is the main currency used for all practices in this game.

Chips mode

Later in the game, you will have to promote your operators. Here too, several modules are available, but they do not open every day. Take a look at the crunchy " Chips " section, which will allow you to earn tokens according to the class of the Operator you want.

• Unstoppable Charge: To get Vanguards or Supports tokens.
• Fearless Protection: For Guards or Specialists tokens.
• Solid Defense: Same for Defenders and Medics.
• Fierce Attack: This time for Casters and Snipers.

This allows your Operators to get promoted and therefore become stronger. This is called the elite level, but you will be told about this in due course in the story (Episode 2, Stage 2-12).

Annihilation Mode

A game mode for those who love to fight, with many rewards and an important currency called Orundum (limited to 1,250 per week).
This currency is very useful for the recruitment of Headhunts. We will talk about it in the rest of this Arknights guide for beginners.

Arknights guide: mission boards

Remember to do your missions as regularly as possible! They will allow you to earn some rather satisfying rewards to progress a little faster.
There is, as a potential and interesting gain, a headhunter license, which will allow you to recruit a character for free in the Operators highlighted in the "Headhunt" section.

The Arknights base

The game offers a very good tutorial, especially concerning the base. Basically, your base is your generator of time-consuming resources. It includes :

Control Center

Central unit of the base, it will be used to expand your base but also your production.

Trading Post

Used to transform Gold obtained in the Factory into LMD. Also used to make Originiums.

Factory

To make various resources, such as Gold or XP cards or other. Often works in conjunction with the Trading Post.

Power Plant

Used as a generator for your base. It will be used, among other things, to increase it (in addition to the drones). By the way, the drones regenerate automatically.

Dormitory

The Dormitory is the resting place for your Operators after a long working day. It is possible to have 3 Dormitories in your base. Here, the morale of your troops regenerates by itself, with time.
But you can also customize your Dormitory to increase the atmosphere inside and allow your Operators to regenerate faster!

Workshop

The Workshop will serve as a crafting table for items to improve the base, your Operators, etc.

Reception Room

The Reception Room is the place to entertain your friends in the game and earn credits in the Credit Store.

Office

The Office will be used for recruitment. With each upgrade, you will get + 1 recruitment available simultaneously in the recruitment section.

Training Room

This place will be used later to train your Operators.

Tips 💡
Building Mode: To enlarge and improve your base.
Overview Mode: A shortcut to managing your base.

Store tab

The Store tab is a must for every 5 levels (lvl 5, 10, 15, etc.). Indeed, if you want to stay in the Free-to-Play optics, every 5 levels, a free Pack is to be picked up.
Also, for 5 Originiums, you can buy the Pro Enhancement Pack which is very profitable considering the number of resources it offers.
Small bonus: in the Outfit Store part, remember to pick up the freeskin for Fang. It's always a good thing! 😉

Certificate

By recruiting Operators, you earn commendations which you can spend here. Shop Vouchers can also be farmed to buy other resources not available by drop.

Furniture Store

The Furniture Store is used to customise your Dormitory in the base, to increase the ambience of the place, and thus, allow your Operators to recover more quickly.

Credit Store

Credits are earned by visiting friendly bases or daily. Don't hesitate to buy the items on special offer. Generally, they are much more affordable.
However, beware of the daily reset when collecting your credits. Above the limit of 300 credits, they will be lost.

Part Recruits in Arknights

In this Arknights guide, we reveal the secrets of recruiting Operators. And there are many things to know.
Prefer the longest searches which last 9 hours for more rarity, with the possibility of tagging up to 3 tags to have more chances of having a targeted character.
Example: I want a duplicate of Fang in order to improve her. In my search, I will tag(Vanguard, DP Recovery) to increase my chances of finding her.
Tip: It is possible to refresh the tags to get a better combination.

Headhunts game

The second important part of recruiting Operators is the "HeadHunts" tab. It will allow you to recruit large Operators as the adventure progresses.
At the beginning, you will be able to do Headhunts with Orundum that you will be given at the beginning of the adventure. Do it without hesitation! Arm yourself with Orundum, especially when you go through the Annihilation mode.

Note: This is where we spend our freshly earned Headhunts Passes by doing the daily missions, without spending the 600 Orundums required for a recruitment.
Tip: If you have no luck in recruiting, ride the 3 or even 4 star Operators.

Part Operators Management

Initially, play with the free Operators you get with 3 or 4 stars. These Operators are easier to build, but will be less and less useful as you progress through the adventure.
If you spent Orundum on Headhunts, you may have been lucky enough to get large Top Tier Operators. These Operators are 5 or even 6 stars, equal in power to weak Operators at the beginning of the adventure (depending on their skills). On the other hand, they turn out to be pretty good picks once the Operator's elite level is obtained.

Note: There is an Elite tier for 2 and 3 stars, two tiers for 4, 5 and 6 stars.

In your deck, it will be preferable to mount 1 or 2 Operators of each class depending on your needs to succeed in the stage. For example, a stage where you would rather have 3 Casters than Snipers because the enemies have a lot of armour.

Note that all characters have basic characteristics, skills and talents! Operators can be promoted, while learning new skills. They can also increase their potential by picking up a duplicate of that Operator during recruitment.

List of classes in Arknights

List of the 5 classes that will be essential in the long term to progress, the rest of the classes are optional depending on the mission.

Vanguards

They are the first Operators to be placed on the field. They will bring you DPs (Deployment Points) to then deploy your other units (each unit costs DPs). They have different powers, either they will give DP by doing kills, or they generate them automatically by placing them on the map, like Fang, for example! If you don't have any Vanguards on the field, defeat is almost guaranteed. However, towards the end of the stage, you can remove them if you have a lot of DP and take advantage of this to put big DPS instead.

Defenders

Defenders are the tanks of the game. They will also have a blocking ability of up to 3 enemies, usually placed behind the Vanguard to prevent enemies from getting through.
Depending on your preferences, there are several sub-classes, such as auto-healing, pure tank or DPS.
Place your Defenders behind your Vanguards when possible. Otherwise, adapt to the map.

Medics

The caretakers are to be placed within reach of the operators who will need care to run the hut.

Snipers

Indispensable for airborne enemies, they will be focused on instead of ground targets. Have at least one Mono-target Sniper and one AOE in your team. By default, they also shoot at grounded enemies. Don't panic!

Casters

Casters are the main source of magical damage, especially very powerful against enemy tanks or most bosses. As with Snipers, you need two in your team, one single-target mage and the other with AOE damage.

Arknights guide: team composition

Your team can contain up to 12 operators, including one support unit that can be taken from other players and you can make friends with them. One of them is a support unit that can be taken from other players and you can make friends with them.
A well optimised team should be composed as follows:

• 2 good Vanguards,
• 2 excellent tanks,
• 2 Multipurpose Medics,
• 2 Snipers (Mono and AOE),
• 2 Casters (Mono and AOE),
• As you can see, there are still 2 places left to accommodate whatever you want, depending on your needs.

The last 3 situational classes are

Guards

Guards are big damage dealers with a pretty good tanking in terms of hit points! There too, several specialities and there are many, AOE, Support, Melee, Magic damage or even ranged! Rather strong and versatile.

Supports

Supports can slow down the target and cause magical damage. Some can summon or buff allies or debuff enemies.

Specialists

Specialists push enemies, lure or control them, they are very situational too. They are especially useful when there are pits in the map to get rid of annoying monsters easily.

Useful free operators in Arknights

As a bonus, to finish this Arknights guide, here is a small list of the essential Operators for your beginning of adventure!

🌟 Fang

Fang is a Vanguard with a low deployment point cost, to be used at the beginning of the game. It generates 6 deployment points automatically every 30 charge points. Mandatory to mount and own, fortunately it will be offered to you at the beginning of the game!

🌟 F eather

Second Vanguard that works in duo with Fang. When she kills a unit, she gives 1 deployment point. Deploy to the line that gets attacked first.

🌟 Melantha

Very good early game guard, also free. It is recommended at low level, especially for inflicting heavy damage on opponents with weak armour.

🌟 Hibiscus

The single-target healer at the beginning of the game, very practical. But it will be quickly replaced if you manage to recruit a better Medic.

To conclude this Arknights guide for beginners in beauty, you should know that the game is a pure PvE game, which can very well be played in Free to Play and without any headache. No notion of PVP is present, you can progress at your own pace according to the time you want to spend.
Above all, this Arknights Guide will allow you to progress while being much less lost and to know the main guidelines to progress in an intelligent way.
Good game to all ! Have fun!