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

Vanguards

Vanguards primarily exist to generate DP so you can get the rest of your team out faster. Most of them offer additional utility like damage, tankiness, crowd control, or debuffs, which sometimes enables them to stay on the field for an entire fight.

Pioneers

Trait: Blocks 2 enemies
Also known as: DP-on-skill or 2-block vanguards
Difficulty: Beginner

Pioneer vanguards are the most well-rounded of the vanguards. Their stats are pretty evenly distributed, they can block 2 enemies, and all of them (except Vanilla and Yato) have a first skill that generates DP automatically. The 4 stars and above (and Vanilla) have other skills that offer utility in addition to DP generation.

Chargers

Trait: Obtain 1 DP after this unit defeats an enemy; Refunds the original DP Cost when retreated
Also known as: DP-on-kill or 1-block vanguards
Difficulty: Beginner

Charger vanguards are extremely offensively-oriented, with high attack at the cost of DP generation - they can only generate DP when they kill an enemy. However, they're the only archetype that refunds their entire base DP cost when retreated, which effectively makes them free. They come in handy for helping your pioneers kill things or briefly plugging up holes if you're a few DP short for a stronger operator.

Standard Bearers

Trait: Cannot block enemies during the skill duration
Also known as: Flag, flagbearer, or sunflower vanguards
Difficulty: Intermediate

Standard Bearer vanguards are capable of pumping out DP incredibly fast, but they can't block while their skills are on. Even when their skills are off, they have very little combat ability because they can only block 1 enemy and have relatively poor stats. New players should build Myrtle, but she doesn't really shine until you get later into the game.

Tacticians

Trait: This unit can designate one Tactical Point within attack range to call Reinforcements; ATK is increased to 150% when attacking enemies blocked by Reinforcements
Also known as: Ranged or summoner vanguards
Difficulty: Advanced

Tacticians are the only ranged vanguards. Their stats are similar to marksman snipers, and they can summon a melee unit (reinforcement) to help them in combat. The reinforcement can be placed anywhere in their range, and tacticians do 50% more damage to enemies blocked by their reinforcement. If the reinforcement is defeated, it will respawn in the same place after a certain amount of time. Tacticians can't generate DP as fast as pioneers or standard bearers, and they're harder to use effectively because you can't move or retreat their reinforcement once it's placed.

Agents

Trait: Has reduced Redeployment Time, can use ranged attacks
Difficulty: Intermediate

Agent vanguards have high attack but low defense and HP, but they make up for this by having short redeployment cooldowns (35 seconds) and a 2-tile range that allows them to attack aerial enemies. Their DP generation is tied to their attacks, which means they can either generate DP extremely quickly or not at all.