Welcome back again. Have you been enjoying IS#2? Because I sure have. Nearly forgot there's other content to even discuss!
Didn't we just have a limited anyway? It's that time of year I suppose. Luckily this is a pretty interesting banner to discuss. Ling is a monster of a unit, but one that I think there's a good bit of nuance to. Personally, I'd suggest reading the FAQ if you aren't sure about pulling. Don't worry. It's nowhere near the drama that Ch'alter was. Still though, my opinion on Ling is a tad off-meta which always leads to some fun feedback. Can't wait.
A small note, I've been quite busy this summer with real life stuff. Although I've still kept tabs on upcoming content, please excuse me if I have a little less detail than usual or if I miss anything!
This article specifically covers the new units from the Invitation to Wine event, You can find the full version of the guide here , or on the banner below which covers all of the other noteworthy masteries in the game
A: Most articles you read will say an emphatic yes. They aren't wrong either, but I do not feel nearly as strongly about it. There's some pretty important nuance to this banner and some very strong alternatives on the horizon. It is absolutely fine to blow your bank here, but I think it's worth advising some caution. There's going to be some people who will spend a ton on this banner only to find a minimal amount of personal value and missed opportunity down the road.
So for the sake of discussion, if we assume that Ling is not a must pull (see the next question for more detail on that), then we end up with a fairly average limited banner. Both Lee and Blacknight tend towards being more finesse options that won't appeal to a lot of people, especially when you have upcoming units like Goldenglow and Horn that are more overtly overpowered. Much of the pull value here is based around what you feel Ling's value is, and for me at least, I hesitate to call Ling a "must pull".
Q: Why do you not call Ling a "must pull"?
A: To clarify again before I dive in, I am not saying Ling is a bad unit or that you shouldn't pull for her. She is a great unit and a lot of people will be very happy with her. This discussion I'm writing here is more to help you understand what it is exactly you're getting and why I don't think she is a slam-dunk "must pull" like a Surtr or Thorns type unit is.
The thing is that Ling's meta value is really rather unique compared to the other top meta units. No other unit can solo all of the story stages like Ling can. Not Thorns, not Surtr, and not Ch'alter. Not even combined can those three do what Ling can.
But... so what? Certainly Ling's ability to solo 95% of the game is worth noting, but that isn't exactly a niche that is either needed or one that is particularly fun for most people.
To the first point, most of the content Ling can solo was not terribly difficult in the first place. Not to say all of the stages across the game are easy. There have been plenty of examples that are difficult for even established players. Yet Ling doesn't solve anything that a regular team can't already do. She doesn't make it particularly easier, either. It may seem blindingly obvious to say "A full meta team is stronger than Ling and her summons" but to me that just illustrates the issue where Ling does not bring a value that blends with traditional team building that most people enjoy in this game.
Which lends to the second point of fun. Ling's playstyle is rather monotone and eliminates the need to run anything but maybe a few support units. That may sound nice from a purely statistical point of view, but it removes one of the greatest strengths of Arknights (in my opinion) which is its characters. I have a hard enough time fitting my favorites into a team of 12! Playing the game with a single character (as much as I love her character design) just isn't an appealing proposition.
And to add even more fuel to the fire, she is a very easy unit to borrow on Support. Since most of what she does best, she does alone, she doesn't have the same issue of "you can only Support one unit" that can be a problem with other top meta units! (If you think you need Ling to setup trust farms just... don't. Trust me, that is not a good use of resources.)
To be very clear though, Ling is an extremely powerful unit. There will still be many people who find a ton of value in what she brings and will enjoy using her. If you think she looks fun to use, don't let me stop you! Instead this is aimed more at people on the fence about the banner. If you feel like you only planned to pull here because you're 'supposed' to, I would definitely encourage you to save.
To those people, this banner can be actually pretty unappealing. Ling plays a certain way and will eventually collect dust in the back of your roster if that doesn't appeal to you. The other units are also quite good, but hardly can't miss units either (Lee especially). Add on some very appealing banners coming up between Goldenglow and Horn and you get a situation where skipping actually makes sense!
To put it all another way, I think many people expect Ling to be Supporter-Thorns when instead, Ling is a Summoner who makes the rest of your team a few "two Popukars in a trench coat" (albeit, Popukars on heavy steroids).
Q: I've heard Summoners are for "Big Brain" players only and that doesn't appeal to me OR I've seen highlight clears of Magallan and Mayer and I find them intimidating. Is Ling still worth using?
A: Yes! Ling is way simpler to use than the traditional Summoners. Although I spent several paragraphs above giving reasons to not pull for Ling, do not use complexity as one of those reasons. Ling is not complex to use. Her dragons are massive 4-block stat-sticks that can easily be replaced and don't need to be cycled like Magallan drones and Mayer Meebos. If you can handle deploying Blaze, you can handle Ling.
Q: I'm struggling in IS#2. Is Ling worth pulling specifically for that mode?
A: Yes, though again I'll advise some caution. Ling is very strong in IS, but she is not a "complete" IS solution that some other OPs are. Summoner starts in IS are a strategy as old as the original mode, and Ling brings that to the extreme. However Ling suffers towards the end of a run where stages get more "gimmick-y". She is rather ineffective against all 3 of the bosses, for example. On top of that, most relics do not affect her Summons so those golden runs where all of the RNG falls your way aren't quite as golden either.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Ling is most often used as a starter option. This makes her incredibly easy to borrow on Support for this mode, which makes the costs involved close to completely unnecessary.
That all said, she very much hard-carries the first several floors. This gives you the flexibility to spend all that time building the rest of your team for the end which is very valuable. So if you have a fairly weak team and find yourself struggling to even get going, Ling will absolutely have tremendous value. But more established players will probably find "complete" OPs like the upcoming Goldenglow or Thorns (soon to be in the cert shop) to be more helpful overall.
Q: Should I pull for Blacknight if I don't care for either 6★?
A: I would say "maybe, leaning towards yes" which is a rare thing for a 5★, though with some advice specific to this banner. Blacknight is a core component of the current sleep stall pseudo-meta that has arisen. Given how hard it can be to get a 5★ after their initial release (5★ tickets are soooo far behind 6★ tickets, and the 5★ pool is way way bigger) and the higher odds on this banner compared to others, it can be appealing to go for her if you think you will ever make use of that at all. She is still not a must have though and outside of the sleep niche, Beanstalk will usually work just as well.
For this banner in particular, remember we get 24 free pulls. You have quite good odds of getting her in those 24 pulls so if you have no interest in Ling or Lee, I would wait until the final day before ultimately making the decision to pull for Blacknight specifically.
Q: Should I build Kroos the Keen Glint?
A: Despite both of her skills being graded, Alter Kroos is a unit that not everyone will find useful since she ultimately fits in similarly to the existing 5★ Marksman Snipers. That is to say, you just don’t need that many of them and Kroos doesn’t bring anything irreplaceable over the others (and the 6★s are way better). However, if your Marksman core is weak you will find Kroos to be tremendously valuable and I’d go as far as to say she is the best of the 5★ options.
More established players won’t get nearly as much use out of her, but she can still be appealing to build. Aside from the nostalgia factor for a launch unit, she does hold some small end game niches still with her Camouflage and high total damage which makes her an excellent unit for buff memes.
Q: Where is the update for Shalem and Nine-Colored Deer?
A: I don't usually make specific updates for one off units. Shalem and NCD especially are fairly off meta so there isn't a whole lot to say on either of them. None of their skills will be graded, but I will add normal writeups to their operator pages when I finish the off-meta guide. For now, for Shalem, do his S2 if you did any. For NCD... pick your poison as neither skill stands above the other.
Q: Looking ahead, any more new thoughts on the new SSS (tower) mode?
A: Last update I wrote a small bit about the topic and I initially said I don't expect any large changes. I still stand by that in general. The mode doesn't have the same impact that the roguelike does so I still do not intend to do an update specifically for the mode. Please do not use the Mastery guides as your sole source of information on the mode since it won’t completely reflect everything you need to know!
That said though, there are some grades that will be adjusted as a result of the mode. I intend to roll them into the Story grades (since it is rewarded content) so in the coming months you'll see some significant story grade boosts to a few skills that were underused before such as Suzuran S2 or Horn S1. But many of the best skills already have good grades (Lappland S2 and Mudrock S2 for example) and likely won't be significantly adjusted.
There are very few absolute answers when it comes to prioritizing upgrades. A major determining factor is what exactly your goals are. Now, there are actually many more types of players than these three, but the most obvious delineation as far as which Masteries to think about comes down to the type of content you're most interested in clearing. If you only find value in first time story clears and risk 18 CC, then your goals will be different for someone looking to reach high-risk (25+) in CC.
Story - A story player is a player who is only interest in rewarded content. This means all normal stages and challenge modes (without added personal challenges), risk 8 on CC daily stages, and risk 18 on CC permanent stages
Advanced - An advanced player here is any player interested in non-reward topics such as higher risk CC and more min-maxed gameplay or specialty clears.
A note on the topic of the Advanced grades is that these grades should not be taken as specific advice for a specific CC. There may be an occasional specific note to provide some context or example, but the intention here is to be more general than a particular event and prioritize skills that will be broadly useful in multiple scenarios. A skill appearing once in a high-risk CC is not enough for inclusion here as CCs tend to lend themselves to niche scenarios that can't really be planned for. Further still, Advanced grades encompass all min/maxed gameplay and do not, strictly speaking, have to be about CCs.
Roguelike - These grades are specific to the Integrated Strategies game mode (aka, the Roguelike mode or IS#2). These grades are slightly different compared to the Story vs Advanced delineation since the same sort of pressures apply in the mode regardless of the type of player you are. These grades tend to be more "meta" focused than the others. For a lengthier discussion on why this is, please check out the main Roguelike mastery guide linked below. I've excluded most of the discussion from the main guide, simply because this guide is already long enough as it is.
Additionally, please check out the main Roguelike guide for more in-depth operator specific discussions specific to that mode. Although I have updated most write-ups in this guide to reflect all of the grades, some of the nuance on the best picks won't come across as well here, and the main Roguelike guide will provide a better analysis of who is a strong pick.
S - These Masteries are the cream of the crop. They are Masteries that everyone with the unit should do and give a high priority to. Units with S tier Masteries get an outsized value from them, either because the skill is incredibly powerful or because it changes how the unit is used. For the Roguelike mode, S-tier grades are reserved for the best skills on the most meta of units (whereas meta value is not necessarily a requirement in other mode grades).
A - These Masteries are powerful Skills that most players who have the unit should do. These are among the most powerful Masteries in the game, but less overtly overpowered than the S-tier Masteries.
B - These Masteries are reasonably powerful and worthy of consideration, but have a factor which hold them back. The impact may be relatively small for the cost, the unit may not be especially powerful already, the unit may not fit well into the meta, or there may be a better version available, among other examples.
C - These Masteries are strong enough to be noted, but should only be done by the most end game of players with nothing else to do. There's value in them, but most players will have something better to be doing.
Breakpoint - Not a true grade, but a designator given to an M1 that gives an unusually large benefit. In most cases, these should be prioritized immediately after the E2, thanks to their low cost and high value. Note that there are many M2 and M3 breakpoints but they are not considered breakpoints for this purpose as the cost is much more expensive. Also note that some breakpoints on valueless skills are excluded as well.
NG or None - Not a true grade, but these are sometimes used for Skills which are noteworthy but not worth Mastery. Either the skill or unit is not worth using, or the Mastery has very poor Mastery gains. NG stands for "No Grade".
Please remember all rankings here are considered independent of E2 priority, but do consider overall unit strength. And most importantly, these grades should be treated as guidelines rather than absolute requirements.
In addition to the new Dorothy's Vision units, I've also re-done Goldenglow, Horn, Specter, Lumen, and Erato.
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