Games Arknights

[SirSamuel016]

Name: Arknights
Release: Jan 2020 (Worldwide)
Official Website: https://www.arknights.global/​

I wanted to make this thread to highlight Arknights as I've been sinking as much time as I can into it recently, and thought there might be others here who would also find it as enjoyable as I have. A few things I'll highlight about the game:

- The game is a Strategic RPG that basically plays as a Tower Defense game, and has gacha elements to it like other games such as Fate/Grand Order etc.
- Summoning for units in this game is in two sections: Recruiting, and Headhunting. Headhunting is your stock standard gacha summoning feature, with rates being 40% chance for a 3 star Operator (unit), 50% for a 4 star Operator, 8% for a 5 star Operator, and finally 2% for a 6 star Operator. Up to 50 rolls (singles), or 5 10x summons, these rates will stay the same. But for every summon after the 50th roll, the % of summoning a 6 star Operator increases by 2% until it reaches 100% and you are guaranteed a 6 star operator. Recruiting is another form of summoning that doesn't require the gacha currency, but recruit permits. These allow you to search for Operators with different tags relating to their abilities and you can set an amount of time for the search to happen with the longer the search time the better your chances of getting a rarer unit. Tags for recruiting and their possible results can be found here.
- Unit rarity isn't everything. Having rare units is certainly nice, but the focus of Arknights is really on gameplay and the roles that are needed to be filled to complete a level. Doesn't matter what rarity the unit is, if it fills the roll and is of an appropriate level then you can get through it. This makes the game a lot easier to be a Free-to-play player, and with the game being weighted more towards gameplay than gacha, it doesn't make you feel like you're stuck in a rut because you don't have the fancy new 6 star unit.

Not sure if anyone else has picked this up, but I reckon it's worth a look if you can spare the time and phone space :P Tagging @Jammin @Nii @Belserion @Kato756 and @Rikudou King to try and get things started

 

[Belserion]

I'll check it out. Need another option on phone other than Fate and Temple Run (don't judge me).

 

[SirSamuel016]

I'll check it out. Need another option on phone other than Fate and Temple Run (don't judge me).

Haha no judging here :P Let me know if you need any pointers, the game is good at explaining most things but some things can be a bit ambiguous as you go on. Can also recommend some content on YouTube from people like Tectone who have made some handy video guides.

 

[Kato756]

Couldnt find it on APKPure for Android...any help?

 

[avensis]

Very good game, mixing Fallout Shelter, Tower Defense and many other things in one. Intriguing and beautiful characters, amazing scenario, wonderful soundtrack ... The game is really easy to start, because the tutorials are detailed and very useful

 

[Jammin]

I played a bit of this while I had the flu. Not sure if I'm going to keep playing or not but my EX rank luck is certainly intact. I pulled four six stars in that time. Ekusia, Beast, Shining, and Skadi.

 

[Kato756]

Bull girl is best waifu.

Sharing my drops later

 

[SirSamuel016]

Couldnt find it on APKPure for Android...any help?

I had to download it through the site initially when the Google Play store was scuffed over Chinese New Years haha, hopefully you've worked it out though!

I played a bit of this while I had the flu. Not sure if I'm going to keep playing or not but my EX rank luck is certainly intact. I pulled four six stars in that time. Ekusia, Beast, Shining, and Skadi.

Ayy Skadi gang My luck has been very good recently, and good overall. In terms of the rarer units I have:
6 star: Skadi (x3), Saria (x2), Exusai, Angelina, Nightingale
5 star: Skyfire, Texas (x2, Amiya (your F2P 5-star x2), Projekt Red (x3), Grani (the current event free 5 star), Savage (another Free one), Specter, Firewatch, Platinum, Cliffheart (free), Zima, Ptilopsis, FEater, Warfarin, Blue Poison, Nearl, and Nightmare.

Safe to say I've been playing a lot and had great luck Favourite units so far are Texas, Skadi, Saria, Skyfire and Specter. Really hoping I can land units like Lappland, Indra and Seige someday.

 

[Nii]

Heard and read about this a lot, and it actually looks like a fun game, but I don't think I have the time for another gacha game =/ Thanks for the tag though, Sam!

 

[Jammin]

I had to download it through the site initially when the Google Play store was scuffed over Chinese New Years haha, hopefully you've worked it out though!



Ayy Skadi gang My luck has been very good recently, and good overall. In terms of the rarer units I have:
6 star: Skadi (x3), Saria (x2), Exusai, Angelina, Nightingale
5 star: Skyfire, Texas (x2, Amiya (your F2P 5-star x2), Projekt Red (x3), Grani (the current event free 5 star), Savage (another Free one), Specter, Firewatch, Platinum, Cliffheart (free), Zima, Ptilopsis, FEater, Warfarin, Blue Poison, Nearl, and Nightmare.

Safe to say I've been playing a lot and had great luck Favourite units so far are Texas, Skadi, Saria, Skyfire and Specter. Really hoping I can land units like Lappland, Indra and Seige someday.

Ah, by "Beast" I meant "Seige" not sure why I always call her that. Probably because of all the lions. My favorite unit is probably Skyfire. Sharing a VA with Rin Tousaka is enough in and of itself. The rain of meteors is also nice.

The reason I can't quite fully commit to this game though is the lack of story. I mean, there is a story. But it definitely isn't the focus.

 

[Kato756]

Ah, by "Beast" I meant "Seige" not sure why I always call her that. Probably because of all the lions. My favorite unit is probably Skyfire. Sharing a VA with Rin Tousaka is enough in and of itself. The rain of meteors is also nice.

The reason I can't quite fully commit to this game though is the lack of story. I mean, there is a story. But it definitely isn't the focus.

Id say it gets better, there is a wordld but it kinda feels they dont want to show it to us. It isntuntil the end of chapter 01 we know of mobile cities. Also random free units. But the lack of character expression really hurts

 

[SirSamuel016]

Ah, by "Beast" I meant "Seige" not sure why I always call her that. Probably because of all the lions. My favorite unit is probably Skyfire. Sharing a VA with Rin Tousaka is enough in and of itself. The rain of meteors is also nice.

The reason I can't quite fully commit to this game though is the lack of story. I mean, there is a story. But it definitely isn't the focus.

Ahh, lucky lucky haha. And I thought Skyfire sounded familiar

It does get better as it goes on, but we're in the very early stages at the moment and I think some of the background stuff is explained more in loading screens as you load the game up, and on the website more than anything which is a bit oof.

 

[Rikudou King]

From the artwork I've seen, I really want to play, but between the two gachas I'm already playing and the mass of other games I got that I haven't finished, gonna have to wait to play this.

 

[SirSamuel016]

I've gotta say I'm loving the strategy elements of Arknights right now. I'm at a point (Chapter 4-7) where I've hit a wall which means I need to grind up levels somewhat and re-think my approach, but I appreciate that it isn't brainless like a lot of other games. Of course, it can be frustrating to have hit this wall but it's also nice to have a challenge that I need to triumph over. With Chapter 5 coming soon, I'm hoping I'll be able to clear Chapter 4 in time.

On that note, with Chapter 5 comes a new Banner which brings 4 new units with the 6-star being Ch'en, an amazing Guard operator who would be a great pick-up if you are considering rolling for someone. Of course, there are also fantastic units on the current banner with Ifrit and Eyjafjalla (6-stars) and Lappland, Mayer, and Silence (5 stars) so there's definitely good pick-ups on the gacha side of things.

Has anyone given Arknights a bit more of a go? And what are your thoughts if you have? @Belserion @Kato756 @Jammin

 

[Jammin]

I'm still playing.

My thoughts are kind of the same as before. The art looks great, and I do like tower defense, but the story doesn't have it's hooks into me. But I'm still playing it. I don't have anything E2'd yet. Because I'm just not willing to do that grind. I'll just wait for events probably.

In terms of game play... it's fine. I've noticed it gets considerably more fun when you have powerful units. As a tower defense it's also a bit slow for me but otherwise it's quite enjoyable. They need like a x5 or x10 button. I'm also a little unsure of where the game is going to go in terms of difficulty.

 

[SirSamuel016]

I'm still playing.

My thoughts are kind of the same as before. The art looks great, and I do like tower defense, but the story doesn't have it's hooks into me. But I'm still playing it. I don't have anything E2'd yet. Because I'm just not willing to do that grind. I'll just wait for events probably.

In terms of game play... it's fine. I've noticed it gets considerably more fun when you have powerful units. As a tower defense it's also a bit slow for me but otherwise it's quite enjoyable. They need like a x5 or x10 button. I'm also a little unsure of where the game is going to go in terms of difficulty.

Yeah I'm the same on not having anything E2's yet, although I'm close with Lappland which I got on the banner from a single after my lone 10-pull haha.

Have to say my luck is absurd in the game given how I've gotten a good amount off the odd couple of singles every now and again. Will hopefully finish pursuing Lappland E2 tonight/tomorrow, and then I might try and build up Mayer to make good use of her.

I do wish there was more depth to the story but given what they've done so far I'm okay with how it is. Hopefully Chapter 5 can bring more to the table.

 

[Jammin]

Nice. Are you aware that Mayer is voiced by Jeanne/Jalter/Da Vinci voice actress Chiwa Saitou?

Mayer is sort of an example of a gameplay issue I have with the game early on. I really wanted to use her when I got her but, the way stages are designed in Arknights, they are all built with a few very specfic solutions in mind. And they funnel you toward them. Which is a problem when you have units like Mayer who seems awesome but aren't really usable until your units are strong enough offset the penalties for not beating levels in the intended way.

It isn't a game where you can just make your team and form your own strategy. Because unit placement is limited and unit numbers are capped.

I really think this would be a better tower defense game if all spaces on the map where open for operator placement and there was no max unit limit (you are capped but the number you can have in you squad anyway) They are unnecessary restrictions that limit the creativity and usefulness of the cool weird units like Mayer.

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 25, 2020, Original Post Date: Feb 25, 2020 ---

Like I would have loved to build a whole team around Mayer, but I can't because her robo otter summons count against the unit cap. So to use her you need to be able to play the maps with less units than intended.

 

[SirSamuel016]

Nice. Are you aware that Mayer is voiced by Jeanne/Jalter/Da Vinci voice actress Chiwa Saitou?

Mayer is sort of an example of a gameplay issue I have with the game early on. I really wanted to use her when I got her but, the way stages are designed in Arknights, they are all built with a few very specfic solutions in mind. And they funnel you toward them. Which is a problem when you have units like Mayer who seems awesome but aren't really usable until your units are strong enough offset the penalties for not beating levels in the intended way.

It isn't a game where you can just make your team and form your own strategy. Because unit placement is limited and unit numbers are capped.

I really think this would be a better tower defense game if all spaces on the map where open for operator placement and there was no max unit limit (you are capped but the number you can have in you squad anyway) They are unnecessary restrictions that limit the creativity and usefulness of the cool weird units like Mayer.

--- Double Post Merged, Feb 25, 2020, Original Post Date: Feb 25, 2020 ---

Like I would have loved to build a whole team around Mayer, but I can't because her robo otter summons count against the unit cap. So to use her you need to be able to play the maps with less units than intended.

I did not know that/realise that haha. Did think she sounded familiar though

I'd disagree with that sentiment, the further on you go and if you look at the more challenging stages, like annihilation stages and other material farming stages then there's a huge amount of possibilities. I for one have seen things like a 4-unit annihilation 2 run using Mayer to get it done, and just that level of strategy to do it perfectly was great to see. I reckon that with the right units and the right amount of thought into it, you can create your own solution that is out of the box.

The unit limit is what it is, while it limits creativity it does mean you can't just bruteforce it with everyone on the map too.

 

[Jammin]

Well I think the further you get in the game the less of an issue it is because once you've got teams of E1 lvl50+ you can actually do creative things because your units start being OP enough to just plow through it anyway.

Like you can use Mayer's exploding otters to do all kinds of cool stuff. But it's not the most efficient way to do things. And to do it right you need to run the level a couple times to figure out what's spawning from where.

I couldn't really start playing around until I got powered up units like my Siege and Exusia to E1 lvl 80. Now I can afford to make mistakes.