Archetype Guide

Arknights has a large number of classes and subclasses, possibly to the extent of being confusing for new players. To add to the confusion, there weren't official subclass names until fairly recently, so there's a lot of information that uses fan-designated names that might not line up with the official ones. This is an attempt to address all of that.

Click on a class below:

Vanguards Guards Defenders Snipers Casters Medics Supporters Specialists

Supporters

Supporters are a mixed bag of primarily ranged operators that can... support your team in various ways. Many of them have respectable damage as well.

Decel Binders

Trait: Deals Arts Damage and Slows the target for a short time
Also known as: Slower supporters
Difficulty: Beginner

Decel Binder supporters slow enemies for 0.8 seconds when they attack. They have decent attack, average attack speed, and a range that allows them to attack behind them. They're essential for holding back enemies who you'd rather not block (or can't be blocked at all, like Wraiths) so your ranged DPS can finish them off. Some of them also have DPS that rivals that of casters, while others offer other debuffs in addition to slowing.

Summoners

Trait: Deals Arts Damage; Can use Summons in battles
Difficulty: Advanced

Summoner supporters come bundled with extra melee or ranged units that can be placed anywhere on the battlefield. These summons are subject to some caveats: they count towards your deployment limit, they can't be redeployed after being retreated or killed, and the Summoner can only hold so many at once. Summoners are very versatile and can even solo many maps in the game, but they're notoriously difficult to use. All of them rely heavily on skill timing, so they require a lot of practice and micromanaging.

Hexers

Trait: Deals Arts Damage
Also known as: Debuffer supporters
Difficulty: Advanced

Hexer supporters specialize in applying various debuffs to enemies. Common to all of them is the Fragile debuff, which amplifies all damage taken by enemies afflicted with it. They have a large attack range and decent attack and attack speed, and they can do a surprisingly nontrivial amount of damage with the help of their debuffs. They have low defense, but their RES is the highest of any ranged unit, which can make them an appealing option for an Arts tank. Hexers aren't particularly hard to use, but they're pretty overkill in regular content, so casual players probably won't see any use for them. (Gnosis is a notable exception, as he can be used as a bootleg caster in a lot of situations.)

Bards

Trait: Does not attack but continuously restores the HP of all allies within range (the HP restored per second is equal to 10% of self ATK). Self is unaffected by Inspiration
Also known as: Aura supporters
Difficulty: Intermediate-advanced

Bard supporters don't attack but can continuously heal and buff allies. Their buffing comes from their trademark status effect, Inspiration, which gives allies a flat stat increase based on the Bard's own stats. Flat attack increases are incredibly powerful for operators with low base attack like Marksman snipers. Also, their healing works on enmity operators (Juggernauts, Mushas, Reapers), so they can be a valuable tool for keeping them alive.

Abjurers

Trait: Deals Arts Damage; When the skill is active, attacks instead restore the HP of allies (heal amount is equal to 75% of ATK)
Also known as: Buffer supporters
Difficulty: Advanced

Abjurer supporters are the defensive counterpart to Hexers, as they can heal and buff allies with their skills. All of them reduce ally damage taken via the Sanctuary buff, which compensates for their healing output being weaker than a medic's. This often requires more micromanaging than a medic, which makes them overkill for most regular content.

Artificers

Trait: Blocks 2 enemies; Can use Support Devices in battles.
Difficulty: Advanced

Artificer supporters are currently the only melee supporters, and the only ones to do Physical damage. As such, they can block 2 enemies, and their HP and defense are the best among the supporters, allowing them to be used as makeshift tanks. More notably, they can summon support devices with unique capabilities for each operator. Unlike Summoner supporter summons, support devices don't count as ally units and thus can't be targeted by enemies or count towards the deployment limit. The support devices still require quite a bit of micromanagement. They're also support devices, which means they need help from the rest of your team to reach their full potential.