Characters / Arknights Casters

aka: Arknights Casters A To M

Arknights Characters
Operators: Vanguards (A-M | N-Z) | Snipers (A-M | N-Z) | Guards (A-H | I-Q | R-Z) | Defenders (A-M | N-Z) | Casters (A-G | H-M | N-Z) | Medics (A-M | N-Z) | Supporters (A-M | N-Z) | Specialists (A-M | N-Z)
Factions: Rhodes Island | The Reunion Movement | Dublinn | The Military Commission of Kazdel | Allied Factions | Enemy Factions | Miscellaneous factions & characters | Nation States (A-M | N-Z) | Enemy Units Index

Casters are a Sniper's answer to sturdy high-DEF opponents. Whereas the latter are more comfortable with mowing down lightly-armored targets, the former are very well suited in dealing with Stone Walls, who are often very lacking in RES. However, Casters tend to have less range than Snipers (at least when unpromoted). They are capable of hitting aerial enemies similarly to Snipers, but they usually do not prioritize attacking them. While their ATK is great, their HP and DEF are normally bad, so do take that in consideration when deploying them. Their DP Cost is typically high, and their ASPD ranges from slow to normal and is below that of most Snipers. Casters are classified based on their targeting range and behavior.

Core

Default DP cost range (without potential upgrades): 12 - 21 DP

Core 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 Zerg Rush of low-HP enemies, due to their single target focus.

• 6★ Operators of this archetype: Ceobe, Eyjafjalla, Ho'olheyak
• 5★ Operators of this archetype: Absinthe, Amiya, Nightmare, Tomimi, Qanipalaat
• 4★ Operators of this archetype: Haze
• 3★ Operators of this archetype: Steward
• 2★ Operators of this archetype: Durin

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• Jack of All Stats: Compared to other Caster subclasses, they're the most balanced of the bunch.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Detailed further in the entry below, but since Eyjafjalla belongs to this archetype, her fellow members suffer especially from this. All Casters of this archetype who were introduced with or slightly after Eyjafjalla had the unfortunate position of having to compete directly with her (in the eyes of almost all players), causing pretty much all Casters in this archetype to be a Support Party Member on the side, focusing on other things than just plain ol' Arts Damage, like Ceobe having three different targeting priorities, Tomimi being capable of short-range melee physical damage, Qanipalaat and Ho'olheyak being able to Levitate enemies.

Chain

Default DP cost range (without potential upgrades): 31 - 33 DP

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 Decel Binder Supporters. Their raw ATK is higher than Core Casters of comparable levels and rarity, but lower than Splash Casters.

• 6★ Operators of this archetype: Passenger
• 5★ Operators of this archetype: Astgenne, Leizi
• 4★ Operators of this archetype: Pudding

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• Chain Lightning: This is what their attacks obviously do, given the archetype name.
• Shock and Awe: All of the Chain Casters released so far use electrical Arts to smite their foes.

Mech-Accord

Default DP cost range (without potential upgrades): 20 - 22 DP

Mech-Accord Casters are accompanied by a drone that will launch additional attacks at their targets, initially dealing low damage that ramps up as the drone continously attacks one target. They often have skills that release their drones to lock onto targets independently of their own attacks. They have the highest attack speed, but conversely the lowest attack power, of all the Caster archetypes. Other than that, they're functionally similar to Core Casters.

• 6★ Operators of this archetype: Goldenglow
• 5★ Operators of this archetype: Kjera, Minimalist, Rockrock
• 4★ Operators of this archetype: Click

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• Death of a Thousand Cuts: Don't be fooled by their very low attack power for a Caster, their quick attack speed combined with their drone can rack up damage surprisingly fast. Furthermore, due to the way their damage scales - they have a second attack via their drone and their drone continues to scale in damage the more it hits the same enemy - even slight number buffs on ASPD or ATK can end up having significant effects. One only needs to get a relic-buffed Goldenglow in Integrated Strategies to watch her tear the entire map to shreds in a brutally quick manner.
• Loophole Abuse: If any Caster of this archetype is frozen, bound or stunned while their drone is released, then the drone is still able to attack once it's released. This is likely because attacks from their drones do not count as an attack from the Caster themselves. The drones can even attack targets outside of the Caster's range if the locked-on enemy moves away.

Mystic

Default DP cost range (without potential upgrades): 23 - 25 DP

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 up to 3 charges instead of firing, allowing them to multiply the damage dealt with their next attack.

• 6★ Operators of this archetype: Ebenholz
• 5★ Operators of this archetype: Delphine, Harmonie, Iris
• 4★ Operators of this archetype: Indigo

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• Mighty Glacier: They attack very slowly, even slower than Splash Casters, but with their extremely high ATK and their charging mechanic, their attacks are going to hurt.

Splash

Default DP cost range (without potential upgrades): 24 - 34 DP

Splash Casters have lower attack speed compared to their Core 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 Artilleryman Snipers, their damage is splash-type (also known as 'burst' or 'false AoE'), but some of their skills can deal true AoE.

• 6★ Operators of this archetype: Dusk, Mostima
• 5★ Operators of this archetype: Lava the Purgatory, Leonhardt, Santalla, Skyfire
• 4★ Operators of this archetype: Gitano, Greyy
• 3★ Operators of this archetype: Lava
• 2★ Operators of this archetype: 12F

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• Awesome, but Impractical: With the sole exception of 12F, Splash 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 rather squishy, all things considered, and the tiles that they are usually placed on leave them vulnerable to enemy missile units, but with ample Medic coverage, they will make your life very easy. Losing a Vanguard may feel fine if you have a replacement, but lose an expensive Splash Caster and you will feel it.
• Mighty Glacier: Splash 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.

Blast

Default DP cost range (without potential upgrades): 32^note No 4-star operator released yet to have this lower bound cost - 34 DP

Blast Casters have a long reaching, but very narrow attack range, making them useful for attacking distant targets or defending narrow chokepoints they are overlooking, 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.

• 6★ Operators of this archetype: Ifrit
• 5★ Operators of this archetype: Aroma, Corroserum

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• Difficult, but Awesome: Their unusual attack range makes it quite difficult to place them effectively in some maps, but proper positioning can turn them into huge menaces.

Phalanx

Default DP cost range (without potential upgrades): 22^note No 4-star operator released yet to have this lower bound cost - 24 DP

Phalanx 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 a Bard Supporter, a skill that can expand said range for its uptime, and a regenerating factor which may either be constant or in burst.

• 6★ Operators of this archetype: Carnelian, Lin
• 5★ Operators of this archetype: Beeswax, Mint

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• Discard and Draw: If you want them to deal damage to begin with, you have to give up their defensive properties, except in the case of Carnelian's first skill.
• Stone Wall: Their main job aside from dealing damage. A fully maxed Beeswax can tank Patriot's spear, just to name an example, and this also makes them the only ranged operators who can potentially tank Aak's third skill unbuffed when idle.

Primal

Default DP cost range (without potential upgrades): TBA

Primal Casters are similar to Core Casters, but are innately capable of inflicting elemental damage without any outside assistance. However, their main specialty is actually exploiting openings caused by elemental damage rather than building it up, making them the damage-dealing cousins of Ritualist Supporters.

• 5★ Operators of this archetype: Diamante, Warmy

Shared Tropes:

• Glass Cannon: Casters have high-ish RES and okay HP, and they are all a reliable source of Arts Damage; on the other hand, their Physical DEF is rather low. While this isn't normally an issue due to most mooks being melee-based, the odd ones that can deal Physical ATK at range like Crossbowmen will snipe them down very quickly if given the chance. The aforementioned Phalanx Casters play with this a bit, as they are only this when their skills are activated (with the exception of Carnelian's first skill).
• Magic Staff / Magic Wand: 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 with just a point of a finger), or Dusk (with her sword, which she somehow uses to sling shockwaves).
• Overshadowed by Awesome: In the current meta, almost all Casters are outclassed by Eyjafjalla in many cases. Eyjafjalla has extremely powerful AoE skills that allow her to deal with enemy hordes, but since she is classified as a low-cost Core Caster, she is not shackled by the high DP cost and slow attack speed that make Splash Casters Awesome, but Impractical. 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 certain situations:
  • Ifrit has a unique narrow and long-reaching attack pattern, along with high ATK and a massive RES debuff, making her useful when she's facing down a narrow chokepoint and enemies are funnelled into entering it. Her debuff faciliates her own attacks and helps other Arts damage dealers simultaneously, whereas Eyjafjalla simply would be dealing Scratch Damage against enemies with high RES, which Ifrit will never do because of this specific quirk.
  • Mostima inflicts a permanent movement speed slow in her range and can also globally slow enemies with her Module, as well as having a massive stun on her S2 and an S3 that almost totally immobilizes everything in a huge range while pushing them back, giving her crowd control to offset her lacking damage.
  • Passenger, Carnelian, and Goldenglow have kits offering crowd control mixed with DPS, 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 and Goldenglow's skills (particularly their third ones) in tandem with their class traits can allow them to reach faraway threats that no other Casters (not even Eyjafjalla) could.
  • Ceobe's skillset focusing on rapid-fire attacks that scale in potency with enemy DEF makes her dedicated towards higher single target tank-shredding damage, sometimes letting her outdamage Eyjafjalla against enemies with high DEF, especially in contexts like Contingency Contract.
  • Dusk combines crowd control, damage, and summoning in one package with her S3 and area-of-effect burst damage in her S2 making her a very versatile option. In particular, the Freelings she summons with her trait and her S3 are very useful in their ability to bog down enemies in killzones and draw ranged attacks away from her and allies.
  • Ebenholz is geared towards dealing massive single-hit damage against bosses and elite-grade enemies without accidentally wasting them on weak mobs due to his talent and S3's enemy filter, making him excellent at one-shotting intermittent tough enemies without giving them a chance to retaliate or cause problems, as well as skipping health thresholds.
  • Lin's skillset revolves around defense, being a ranged-tile tank who can soak up massive amounts of physical attacks that would kill other Casters ten times over, while dealing area damage in return once her skill is up.
  • Ho'olheyak focuses on inflicting the Levitate status with her skills and weakening aerial targets, and passively inflicts Weightless to increase the effectiveness of Levitate and Shift effects.
  • Non-6-star example; Amiya's third skill is one of the few reliable sources of True damage in the game, meaning that there is no resistance against it. This makes her particularly suited to killing tough and durable bosses or enemies with very high RES.

Operators

• A through G
• H through M
• N through Z

Integrated Strategies operators

These operators can only be "recruited" when playing the Integrated Strategies mode and are unavailable elsewhere. Their unlock conditions are the same as any operator in this mode, but are recruited already at max level, though Integrated Strategies' promotion limiting still applies.

Caster Reservist

Rarity: ★★★

ID: No. 505

Subclass: Core

Tags: DPS

Skills: N/A

Talents: N/A

Afiliation: Rhodes Island

Race: Cautus

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Pith

Pith

Introduced: Integrated Strategies 1: Ceobe's Fungimist
Voiced by: Asami Yaguchi (Japanese), Rebecca Hansen (English), Jenny (Mandarin Chinese)
Artist: Cornelies

Rarity: ★★★★★

ID: No. 509

Subclass: Splash

Tags: AoE

Skills: "All For Me"

Talents: "All That I See"

Afiliation: Rhodes Island

Race: Liberi

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• Animal Motifs: Birds, due to her Liberi race. While the exact animal she's patterned off is unknown due to her having no Elite 2 art, her cape mimicks a perching bird's wings.
• Armor-Piercing Attack: Being a Caster, she already bypasses DEF, but her talent makes her ignore a certain amount of RES as well, similar to several operators including Surtr, Ifrit and Goldenglow.
• Family of Choice: Came to consider Theresa and the other members of Babel this, and became one of the first operators when Babel was reformed into Rhodes Island.
• Military Brat: She is the daughter of a Gaul military officer, and enrolled in a military academy with her family's blessings.
• Power Copying: Unlike most Casters, Pith doesn't have a signature Arts technique of her own. Instead, she has an ability to learn, master, and then freely use almost any Arts skills she sees, turning her into a Master of All.
• Riches to Rags: Was kicked out of the Victorian military after getting infected, then decided to cut ties with her family before joining Babel at the recommendation of her Sarkaz mercenary friends.
• Stern Teacher: Acts as the senior Arts instructor in Rhodes Island, and if Kal'tsit having to beg her to let Rosmontis be an Elite Operator is anything to go by, she's very strict and protective of her students.
• Support Party Member: Pith functions best if there are other Casters on the field, as her skill also boosts their ATK aside from her own.

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