Reporting For Duty!
In Arknights there are two ways to recruit new Operators. The first is Headhunting, which is the traditional gacha mechanic of using premium currency and tickets to pull a random assortment of allies. The second method is Recruitment, where players use a Recruitment Ticket and LMD to get a semi-random Operator based on some inputs chosen by the player. Even 6* Operators can be recruited!
Recruitment Inputs
The following are the parameters chosen by the player that determine the outcome of the recruitment.
Tags
Each recruitment will be assigned 5 random Tags that describe various traits of Operators. The player can choose from 0-3 tags to influence the outcome of the recruitment. The Operator recruited will have the Tags chosen by the player unless:
- The Tag is lost over the Recruitment Period, which can happen at random.
- The player selects mutually exclusive Tags (for example, Medic Class Tag and Guard Class Tag)
There are four Tag Classifications, listed here in bold case followed by the potential Tags in that category:
Qualification: Starter, Senior, Top Operator
Position: Melee, Ranged
Class: Vanguard, Medic, Guard, Supporter, Caster, Defender, Sniper, Special
Affix: Debuff, Support, Slow, DPS, Healing, DP-Recovery, Survival, Defense, AoE, Fast-Redeploy, Shift, Summon, Crowd-Control, Nuker, Robot
Recruitment Period
The amount of time spent recruiting can be set between 0 and 9 hours, at 10 minute increments. Choosing longer recruitment times removes the chance of getting lower rarity Operators and lowers the chance that one of the Tags is removed from the search. However, the LMD cost of the recruitment increases with the length of time.
Recruitment Strategy
- Whenever possible, the player should choose a combination of Tags that guarantees either a high-rarity Operator, or one they are specifically looking for. When a desirable combination is found, Recruitment Time should be set to the maximum 9 hours to reduce the chance of losing a Tag. Tags that guarantee recruitment-only Operators and combinations that guarantee 4*s or above are listed later in this guide.
- If no set of Tags guarantees a desired Operator, the player can save LMD on recruitment costs by setting the Recruitment Time to 7:40:00, which is the shortest time that guarantees at least a 3*. For recruiting Robots, the time should be set to 3:50:00, which is the longest time that does not remove 1* Operators.
- Senior and Top Operator are rare Tags that guarantee high rarity Operators. Obviously, prioritize these when they appear, and choose the maximum Recruitment Period to reduce or eliminate the chance that these Tags are dropped.
- Building the HR Office in the base will produce chances to re-roll Recruitment Tags and allow unlocking of additional Recruitment slots, up to 4 in total. Most players will find 3 Recruitment slots sufficient, as that enables easy completion of the daily quest: “Recruit 3 Times”. Pace the use of Recruitment Tickets to ensure 3 are available each day!
- For early game, if you don’t have a Tag combination guaranteeing a 4 star or above, focus on trying to maximize the potentials of your useful lower rarity Operators. It should be noted that the Tags guaranteeing the Robots (Lancet-2 and Castle-3) are relatively rare, so, until their potential is maximized, you may want to choose to recruit one of them over a 4* already at maximum potential.
Operator Recruitability
Some Operators are not recruitable, while others are only obtainable through Recruitment. Below are lists of each type. Any Operator not on one of these lists is obtainable through both Headhunting and Recruitment.
Operators Only Obtainable Through Recruitment
Since these Operators are only available through recruitment, they are high priority if Tags are available to guarantee their recruitment. Here is a list of all of them, their Rarity, and their Tags. Below the table we address in more detail the 4* and above Operators.
| Name | Star Rarity | Tags |
|---|---|---|
| Lancet-2 | 1 | Medic, Ranged, Healing, Robot |
| Castle-3 | 1 | Guard, Melee, Support, Robot |
| 12F | 2 | Caster, Ranged, Starter |
| Noir Corne | 2 | Defender, Melee, Starter |
| Durin | 2 | Caster, Ranged, Starter |
| Yato | 2 | Vanguard, Melee, Starter |
| Rangers | 2 | Sniper, Ranged, Starter |
| Adnachiel | 3 | Sniper, Ranged, DPS |
| Estelle | 4 | Guard, Melee, AoE, Survival |
| Indra | 5 | Senior, Guard, Melee, DPS, Survival |
| Vulcan | 5 | Senior, Defender, Melee, Survival, Defense, DPS |
4* and Up Recruit-Only Operators
Estelle (4* Guard)
An AoE Tag combined with any of the following Tags: Melee, Guard, or Survival, will guarantee the recruitment of either Estelle or Specter (a 5* Operator).
Indra (5* Guard)
The following Tag Combination will guarantee the Recruitment of Indra:
- Senior, Guard, DPS
Outside of that, the combinations of Tags most likely to get her are as follows, in order of best chance. These represent the minimum set required.
- Senior, Guard
- Senior, Survival
- Senior, DPS, Melee
- Guard, DPS
Vulcan (5* Defender)
The following Tag Combinations will guarantee the Recruitment of Vulcan:
- Survival, Defense
- Survival, Defender
Outside of that, the combinations of Tags most likely to get her are as follows, in order of best chance. These represent the minimum set required.
- DPS, Defense (guarantees Vulcan or Liskarm)
- DPS, Defender (guarantees Vulcan or Liskarm)
- Senior, Survival, DPS
- Senior, Protection
- Senior, Survival
- Senior, Defender
- Senior, Melee, DPS
- Senior DPS
- Senior Melee
- DPS, Survival
Operators Not Obtainable Through Recruitment
Some Operators cannot be obtained through recruitment. They are either gacha-only, purchased in shops, or given as rewards.
- Amiya
- Sora
- Franka
- Deepcolor
- Lappland
- Skyfire
- Eyjafjalla
- Gavial
- Courier
- Cardigan
- Savage
- Angelina
Tag Combination Guarantees
6 Star
- Top Operator: Any Recruitable 6*
5 Star and Up
| Tags | Possible Operators |
|---|---|
| Senior | Any Recruitable 5* |
| Medic + Support | Ptilopsis, Warfarin |
| Vanguard + Support | Zima |
| Defender + Survival | Vulcan |
| Defender + DPS | Liskarm, Vulcan |
| Defender + Shift | Croissant |
| Supporter + DPS | Istina |
| Supporter + Debuff | Pramanix |
| Special + Slow | FEater |
| Special + Survival | Manticore |
| Special + DPS | Manticore, Cliffheart |
| Summon | Mayer |
| Nuker | Firewatch |
| Crowd-Control | Texas, Projekt Red, Mayer |
| Ranged + Support | Ptilopsis, Warfarin |
| Healing + Support | Ptilopsis, Warfarin |
| DP-Recovery + Support | Zima |
| Defense + Survival | Vulcan |
| Defense + DPS | Liskarm, Vulcan |
| AoE + Debuff | Meteorite |
| DPS + Shift | Cliffheart |
| Shift + Defense | Croissant |
4 Star and Up
| Tags | Possible Operators |
|---|---|
| Guard + AoE | Specter, Estelle |
| Guard + Slow | Frostleaf |
| Defender + Healing | Nearl, Gummy |
| Sniper + Survival | Jessica |
| Sniper + Slow | ShiraYuki |
| Sniper + AoE | Meteorite, ShiraYuki |
| Special | Projekt Red, Manticore, Cliffheart, FEater, Gravel, Rope, Shaw |
| Shift | Cliffheart, FEater, Croissant, Rope, Shaw |
| Debuff | Meteorite, Pramanix, Haze, Meteor |
| Fast-Redeploy | Projekt Red, Gravel |
| AoE + Melee | Specter, Estelle |
| AoE + Survival | Specter, Estelle |
| Melee + Slow | FEater, Frostleaf |
| Slow + DPS | Istina, Frostleaf |
| Defense + Healing | Nearl, Gummy |
| Melee + Healing | Nearl, Gummy |
| Survival + Ranged | Jessica |
| AoE + Slow | ShiraYuki |
| DPS + Support | Doberman |
| Support + > 4h | Zima, Ptilopsis, Warfarin, Doberman |
Source : gamepress.gg
