History Characters / ArknightsCasters

'''Operatives:''' [[Characters/ArknightsVanguards Vanguards]] ([[Characters/ArknightsVanguardsAToM A-M]] | [[Characters/ArknightsVanguardsNToZ N-Z]]) | [[Characters/ArknightsSnipers Snipers]] ([[Characters/ArknightsSnipersAToM A-M]] | [[Characters/ArknightsSnipersNToZ N-Z]]) | [[Characters/ArknightsGuards Guards]] ([[Characters/ArknightsGuardsAToM A-M]] | [[Characters/ArknightsGuardsNToZ N-Z]]) | [[Characters/ArknightsDefenders Defenders]] ([[Characters/ArknightsDefendersAToM A-M]] | [[Characters/ArknightsDefendersNToZ N-Z]]) | '''Casters''' ([[Characters/ArknightsCastersAToM A-M]] | [[Characters/ArknightsCastersNToZ N-Z]]) | [[Characters/ArknightsMedics Medics]] ([[Characters/ArknightsMedicsAToM A-M]] | [[Characters/ArknightsMedicsNToZ N-Z]]) | [[Characters/ArknightsSupporters Supporters]] ([[Characters/ArknightsSupportersAToM A-M]] | [[Characters/ArknightsSupportersNToZ N-Z]]) | [[Characters/ArknightsSpecialists Specialists]] ([[Characters/ArknightsSpecialistsAToM A-M]] | [[Characters/ArknightsSpecialistsNToZ N-Z]]) \\

* [-'''6★ Operators of this archetype:''' Passenger, Goldenglow-]

** Ifrit has a unique narrow and long-reaching attack pattern, along with a huge ATK and debuff, making her useful when she's facing down a narrow chokepoint and enemies are funnelled into entering it.

* [-'''6★ Operators of this archetype:''' Passenger-]

'''Factions:''' [[Characters/ArknightsRhodesIsland Rhodes Island]] | [[Characters/ArknightsReunionMovement The Reunion Movement]] | [[Characters/ArknightsDublinn Dublinn]] | [[Characters/ArknightsOthers Miscellaneous factions & characters]] | [[Characters/ArknightsNations Nation States]] | [[Characters/ArknightsEnemyIndex Enemy Units Index]]]]-]]]

'''Factions:''' [[Characters/ArknightsRhodesIsland Rhodes Island]] | [[Characters/ArknightsReunionMovement The Reunion Movement]] | [[Characters/ArknightsOthers Miscellaneous factions & characters]] | [[Characters/ArknightsNations Nation States]] | [[Characters/ArknightsEnemyIndex Enemy Units Index]]]]-]]]

** Mostima, Dusk, Passenger, and Carnelian have a kit offering crowd control (with the latter three having some DPS mixed in), allowing them to take on the role of a pseudo-Decel Binder Supporter with superior damage than dedicated slowers via their skills. The nature of Passenger's skills (particularly his third one) in tandem with his class traits can allow him to reach faraway threats that no other Casters (not even Eyjafjalla) could.

'''Mystic''' Casters have a very high attack power, but are very slow, even moreso than Splash Casters. When not attacking enemies, they will gradually build up charges, allowing them to multiply the damage dealt with their next attack.

* [-'''6★ Operators of this archetype:''' Durin-]

'''Chain''' Casters have a lower attack speed compared to regular Single Target Caster and are more DP expensive, but their regular attacks have the ability to "jump" to additional enemies, up to three (four at Elite 2), though the chain damage weakens for each consecutive jump. Their attacks can also slow down enemies, akin to Slow-type Supporters. Their raw ATK is higher than Single Target Casters of comparable levels and rarity, but lower than [=AoE=] Casters.

'''Mech-Accord''' Casters are accompanied by a drone that will attack enemies independently from the unit, but can deal additional damage if they and the host unit are attacking the same enemy unit. They have the highest attack speed, but conversely the lowest attack power, of all the Caster archetypes.

'''Blast''' Casters have a long reaching, but very narrow attack range, making them useful for attacking distant targets or defending narrow chokepoints, but conversely less effective when enemies can easily evade their range. Their attacks can hit all enemies in range simultaneously, thus being an example of true [=AoE=].

!!!'''Operators of this archetype:''' Carnelian, Beeswax, Mint

* OvershadowedByAwesome: In the current meta, almost all Casters are outclassed by Eyjafjalla. Eyjafjalla has extremely powerful [=AoE=] skills that allow her to deal with enemy hordes, but since she is classified as a Single Target Caster, she is not shackled by the high DP cost and slow attack speed make [=AoE=] Casters AwesomeButImpractical. This gives Eyjafjalla insane burst damage potential that no other Caster can match. While the other 6-star Casters may not be able to match her in terms of overall DPS in general situations, they can offer some unique utility that Eyjafjalla cannot replicate in [[SituationalSword certain situations]]:

** Mostima, Dusk, Passenger[[note]]Post-Dossoles Holiday[[/note]] and Carnelian have a kit offering crowd control (with the latter three having some DPS mixed in), allowing them to take on a role of a pseudo-Slow Supporter with superior damage than dedicated slowers via their skills.

->'''Subclass:''' ST Caster

->'''Subclass:''' [=AoE=] Caster

* ArmorPiercingAttack: Being a Caster, she already bypasses DEF, but her talent makes her ignore a certain amount of RES as well.

!!!'''Operators of this archetype:''' Ceobe, Eyjafjalla, Absinthe, Amiya, Nightmare, Tomimi, Haze, Steward, Durin

!!!'''Operators of this archetype:''' Passenger, Leizi, Pudding

!!!'''Operators of this archetype:''' Kjera, Click

!!!'''Operators of this archetype:''' Iris, Indigo

!!!'''Operators of this archetype:''' Dusk, Mostima, Lava the Purgatory, Leonhardt, Skyfire, Gitano, Greyy, Lava, [=12F=]

!!!'''Operators of this archetype:''' Ifrit, Corroseum

** Mostima, Dusk, Passenger[[note]]Post-Dossoles Holiday and his Module equipped[[/note]] and Carnelian have a kit offering crowd control (with the latter three having some DPS mixed in), allowing them to take on a role of a pseudo-Slow Supporter with superior damage than dedicated slowers via their skills.

!!'''Single Target'''

'''Single Target''' Casters have good attack speed and power, making them an optimal choice for taking down beefy, low-RES enemies, especially with proper support from Slow-type operators. However, they are usually ill-suited for dealing with a ZergRush of low-HP enemies, due to their single target focus.

!!'''Burst'''

'''Burst''' Casters have a very high attack power, but are very slow, even moreso than [=AoE=] Casters. When not attacking enemies, they will gradually build up charges, allowing them to multiply the damage dealt with their next attack.
!!'''[=AoE=]'''

'''[=AoE=]''' Casters have lower attack speed compared to their Single Target counterparts, along with a higher DP cost to boot. In return, they are capable of blasting multiple clustered enemy units in one attack, making them useful in helping clear out groups of reasonably sturdy foes. Like [=AoE=] Snipers, their damage is splash-type (also known as 'burst' or 'false [=AoE=]'), but some of their skills can deal true [=AoE=].
* AwesomeButImpractical: With the sole exception of [=12F=], [=AoE=] Casters are the most DP-hungry operators in ''Arknights'', with or without Challenge modifiers, with the typical unit costing somewhere around 30DP just to deploy them the first time. With the price hike of some challenge maps, you might as well forget about deploying them entirely, but they make up for this with their ability to flatten groups of mobs with the flick of a finger, and pound high-DEF targets into putty before they could do the same to your melee units. These Casters tend to be [[SquishyWizard rather squishy]], all things considered, and the tiles that they are usually placed on leave them vulnerable to enemy missile units, but with ample [[Characters/ArknightsMedics Medic]] coverage, they will make your life very easy. Losing a Vanguard may feel fine if you have a replacement, but lose an expensive [=AoE=] Caster and you will ''feel'' it.
* MightyGlacier: [=AoE=] Casters deal great damage and can hit a lot of enemies at once, but are plagued with an uncomfortably slow attack rate (2.9 seconds) that prevents them from just casually mowing the Reunion lawn with their Arts. Mostima's S2 in particular sidesteps this, as its damage and time stop is applied per second, regardless of her own [=ASPD=].

!!'''Idle'''

'''Idle''' Casters, unlike the other Caster archetypes, will ''only attack when their skills are active'', which will hit all enemies in range by way of true [=AoE=]. When not attacking, they will assume a defensive stance which will greatly boost their DEF (+200%) and RES (+20), making them almost as tanky as Defenders. They also typically have the range of an Idle Supporter, a skill that can expand said range for its uptime, and a regenerating factor which may either be constant or in burst.

!!!'''Operators of this archetype:''' Click, Kjera

!!!'''Operators of this archetype:''' Passenger, Leizi

!!'''Drone'''
!!!'''Operators of this archetype:''' Click

'''Drone''' Casters are accompanied by a drone that will attack enemies independently from the unit, but can deal additional damage if they and the host unit are attacking the same enemy unit. They have the highest attack speed, but conversely the lowest attack power, of all the Caster archetypes.

!!'''Linear-ranged [=AoE=]'''
!!!'''Operators of this archetype:''' Ifrit

'''Linear-ranged [=AoE=]''' Casters have a long reaching, but very narrow attack range, making them useful for attacking distant targets or defending narrow chokepoints, but conversely less effective when enemies can easily evade their range. Their attacks can hit all enemies in range simultaneously, thus being an example of true [=AoE=].

'''Factions:''' [[Characters/ArknightsRhodesIsland Rhodes Island]] | [[Characters/ArknightsReunionMovement The Reunion Movement]] | [[Characters/ArknightsOthers Miscellaneous factions & characters]] | [[Characters/ArknightsEnemyIndex Enemy Units Index]]]]-]]]

* MagicStaff / MagicWand: Their weapon of choice tends to be either, though some Casters use other forms of apparatus to fire spells, such as Amiya (with her bare hand), Passenger (with his mechanical turret, or can summon bolts of lightning from above), or Dusk (with her sword, which she somehow uses to sling shockwaves).

* MagicStaff / MagicWand: Their weapon of choice tends to be either, though there ''are'' exceptions like Amiya.
* OvershadowedByAwesome: In the current meta, almost all casters are outclassed by Eyjafjalla. Eyjafjalla has extremely powerful [=AoE=] skills that allow her to deal with enemy hordes, but since she is classified as a single target caster, she is not shackled by the high DP cost and slow attack speed make [=AoE=] casters AwesomeButImpractical. This gives Eyjafjalla insane utility that no other caster can match, with the only other meta casters being those with very specific niches like Ifrit with her unique attack pattern, huge ATK and debuff, Mostima with her crowd control abilities, and Ceobe with her higher single target DPS and tank-shredding properties.

'''Idle''' Casters, unlike the other Caster archetypes, will ''only attack when their skills are active'', which will hit all enemies in range. When not attacking, they will assume a defensive stance which will greatly boost their DEF (+200%) and RES (+20), making them almost as tanky as Defenders.

'''Single Target''' Casters have good attack speed and power, making them an optimal choice for taking down beefy, low-RES enemies, especially with proper support from Slow-type operators. However, they are usually ill-suited for dealing with a ZergRush of low-HP enemies, due to their single target focus. This archetype consists of Eyjafjalla, Ceobe, Amiya, Absinthe, Nightmare, Tomimi, Haze and Steward.

'''Chain''' Casters have a lower attack speed compared to regular Single Target Caster and are more DP expensive, but their regular attacks have the ability to "jump" to additional enemies, up to three (four at Elite 2), though the chain damage weakens for each consecutive jump. Their attacks can also slow down enemies, akin to Slow-type Supporters. Their raw ATK is higher than Single Target Casters of comparable levels and rarity, but lower than [=AoE=] Casters. This archetype consists of Leizi and Passenger.

'''Drone''' Casters are accompanied by a drone that will attack enemies independently from the unit, but can deal additional damage if they and the host unit are attacking the same enemy unit. They have the highest attack speed, but conversely the lowest attack power, of all the Caster archetypes. This archetype only consists of Click.

'''Burst''' Casters have a very high attack power, but are very slow, even moreso than [=AoE=] Casters. When not attacking enemies, they will gradually build up charges, allowing them to multiply the damage dealt with their next attack. This archetype consists of Iris and Indigo.

'''[=AoE=]''' Casters have lower attack speed compared to their Single Target counterparts, along with a higher DP cost to boot. In return, they are capable of blasting multiple clustered enemy units in one attack, making them useful in helping clear out groups of reasonably sturdy foes. Like [=AoE=] Snipers, their damage is splash-type (also known as 'burst' or 'false [=AoE=]'), but some of their skills can deal true [=AoE=]. This archetype consists of Mostima, Dusk, Leonhardt, Purgatory, Skyfire, Gitano, Greyy, Lava and [=12F=].

'''Linear-ranged [=AoE=]''' Casters have a long reaching, but very narrow attack range, making them useful for attacking distant targets or defending narrow chokepoints, but conversely less effective when enemies can easily evade their range. Their attacks can hit all enemies in range simultaneously, thus being an example of true [=AoE=]. This archetype only consists of Ifrit.

'''Idle''' Casters, unlike the other Caster archetypes, will ''only attack when their skills are active'', which will hit all enemies in range. When not attacking, they will assume a defensive stance which will greatly boost their DEF (+200%) and RES (+20), making them almost as tanky as Defenders. This archetype consists of Carnelian, Beeswax and Mint.

!!!'''Single Target'''

!!!'''Chain'''

!!!'''Drone'''

!!!'''Burst'''

!!!'''[=AoE=]'''

!!!'''Linear-ranged [=AoE=]'''

!!!'''Idle'''

* AwesomeButImpractical: With the sole exception of [=12F=], [=AoE=] Casters are the most DP-hungry operators in ''Arknights'', with or without Challenge modifiers, with the typical unit costing somewhere around 30DP just to deploy them the first time. With the price hike of some challenge maps (e.g. Ifrit, who can theoretically cost upwards of a whopping ''102'' DP, had it not been for the enforced {{Cap}} of 99, to deploy at Elite 1 without potential upgrades), you might as well forget about deploying them entirely, but they make up for this with their ability to flatten groups of mobs with the flick of a finger, and pound high-DEF targets into putty before they could do the same to your melee units. These Casters tend to be [[SquishyWizard rather squishy]], all things considered, and the tiles that they are usually placed on leave them vulnerable to enemy missile units, but with ample [[Characters/ArknightsMedics Medic]] coverage, they will make your life very easy. Losing a Vanguard may feel fine if you have a replacement, but lose an expensive [=AoE=] Caster and you will ''feel'' it.

* MightyGlacier: [=AoE=] Casters deal great damage and can hit a lot of enemies at once, but are plagued with an uncomfortably slow attack rate (2.9 seconds) that prevents them from just casually mowing the Reunion lawn with their Arts. Mostima's S2 in particular sidesteps this, as its damage and time stop is applied per second, regardless of her own [=ASPD=].

'''Chain''' Casters have a lower attack speed compared to regular Single Target Caster and are more DP expensive, but their regular attacks have the ability to "jump" to additional enemies, up to three (four at Elite 2), though the chain damage weakens for each consecutive jump. Their attacks can also slow down enemies, akin to Slow-type Supporters. Their raw ATK is higher than Single Target Casters of comparable levels and rarity, but lower than [=AoE=] Casters.

'''Drone''' Casters are accompanied by a drone that will attack enemies independently from the unit, but can deal additional damage if they and the host unit are attacking the same enemy unit. They have the highest attack speed, but conversely the lowest attack power, of all the Caster archetypes.

'''Burst''' Casters have a very high attack power, but are very slow, even moreso than [=AoE=] Casters. When not attacking enemies, they will gradually build up charges, allowing them to multiply the damage dealt with their next attack.

'''[=AoE=]''' Casters have lower attack speed compared to their Single Target counterparts, along with a higher DP cost to boot. In return, they are capable of blasting multiple clustered enemy units in one attack, making them useful in helping clear out groups of reasonably sturdy foes. Like [=AoE=] Snipers, their damage is splash-type (also known as 'burst' or 'false [=AoE=]'), but some of their skills can deal true [=AoE=].

'''Linear-ranged [=AoE=]''' Casters have a long reaching, but very narrow attack range, making them useful for attacking distant targets or defending narrow chokepoints, but conversely less effective when enemies can easily evade their range. Their attacks can hit all enemies in range simultaneously, thus being an example of true [=AoE=].

'''Idle''' Casters, unlike the other Caster archetypes, will ''only attack when their skills are active'', which will hit all enemies in range. When not attacking, they will assume a defensive stance which will greatly boost their DEF (+200%) and RES (+20), making them almost as tanky as Defenders.

'''Single Target''' Casters have good attack speed and power, making them an optimal choice for taking down beefy, low-RES enemies, especially with proper support from Slow-type operators. However, they are usually ill-suited for dealing with a ZergRush of low-HP enemies, due to their single target focus.