Arknights Integrated Strategies Guide
Familiar with the roguelike game mode in Arknights? If these sound good, great! Step right in and have a good time! If not… Perhaps this introduction may elucidate Doctors to the virtues of Integrated Strategies, allowing for a more informed decision. The in-game resources rewards are very generous, with shiny prizes like the exclusive cosmetics like the home screen backgrounds. But the real prize are the memories made along the way with recruited Operators.
To enjoy the best audio-visual performance, we recommend playing Arknights: Dark Nuns on PC and Mac with MuMuPlayer Emulator! For more guides, please review the list below:
- Arknights tier List
- Operation Recording Tutorial for Arknights
- Arknights Best Beginner Operators Guide
Gameplay Step-by-Step Run Flow
Gameplay generally goes as follows
1.Pick a squad with appealing bonuses
2.Assemble the party
3. Progress through a series of stages
4. Collectibles dramatically boost teams
5. Mysteries with interesting decision choices and questlines
6. Challenge a mighty boss stage at the end of the run
7. Permanently buff future runs using score points
8. Unlock exhibits and lore to solve the mystery of the scenario
However, there is one major caveat. Aside from the occasional Temporary Recruitment Operators, Doctors will be drafting from their own pool of Operators. Operators will also be limited to the levels one has upgraded them to.
Not as big an issue for established Doctors who have upgraded their Operators. Newer Doctors would stand to benefit from knowing where to focus precious resources on. More details about this aspect in a future guide to come.
Regardless of whether a doctor is established or not, it would be wise to plan out the order in which Operators are recruited, due to certain core mechanics of the mode listed below.
Hope
Hope is used to recruit Operators. Runs start with 6 hope by default. Certain difficulty modifiers, collectibles and starting squad options may affect the cost to recruit, but the base Hope costs are as follows:
★★★★★★ - 6 to recruit, 3 to promote.
★★★★★ - 3 to recruit, 2 to promote.
★★★★ - 2 to recruit, 1 to promote.
★★★ - 0 to recruit, cannot be promoted.
Furnaceside Fables Integrated Strategies has a different Hope cost as follows:
★★★★★★ - 6 hope to recruit, 3 to promote.
★★★★★ - 2 to recruit, 1 to promote.
★★★★ - 0 to recruit, 1 to promote.
★★★ - 0 to recruit, cannot be promoted.
Temporary Recruitment Operators cost 0 to recruit, costs their respective ★ level to promote.
Doctors are encouraged to use ★★★ and ★★★★ Operators to fill out teams, as it gets rather costly to use only ★★★★★ or ★★★★★★ Operators.
Certain setups can pull it off, but generally using a variety of Operators is the way to go. A good opportunity to utilise some Operators whom one may not be familiar with yet. There are more layers of efficiency to weigh decisions with after all.
Perhaps one might choose to recruit two ★★★★★ Operators, instead of a single ★★★★★★ operator. Or assembling hordes of ★★★★ and ★★★ Operators to save for ★★★★★★ Operators.
There are many ways to build. Certain Squad modifiers and Collectibles may greatly influence decision making. Experimenting with teams and trying out Collectibles is a big appeal to this mode!
Recruitment
Operators may be recruited from the corresponding class recruitment vouchers. Additionally, there are also certain events that allow Doctors to recruit Operators. Such events function the same way as vouchers.
- Vanguard recruitment vouchers let Doctors recruit any of their Vanguard Operators. Sniper recruitment vouchers let Doctors recruit Snipers, if Doctors have the Hope required for it.
- Temporary Recruitment Operators of the respective class can occasionally appear during recruitment and they cost 0 hope to recruit. Therefore, it is worth checking every free voucher or free recruitment opportunity.
- There are certain recruitment vouchers that enable Doctors to recruit from multiple classes, including an Elite HR Recruitment Voucher that allows Doctors to recruit from any class.
Because of the voucher mechanic, special attention should be paid to how Doctors build teams. One might encounter difficulty recruiting certain classes to fill roles. Versatile Operators that are fuss-free and can perform multiple roles are especially valuable in Integrated Strategies.
It is possible to end up with a team that doesn't have enough Operators to block enemies with, or a team without sufficient anti-air. Such deficiencies can cost Doctors the run and each of the different Integrated Strategies stages and bosses demands different things out of their parties. Improvise, Adapt, Overcome!
Promotion System
Operators are limited to Elite 1 and their skills are limited to level 7, unless they are promoted. Operators may be promoted via the Recruitment system. Certain events and Collectibles may promote operators directly. Promoted operators are upgraded to Elite 2, up to the levels doctors upgraded them to, along with all the skill masteries and modules unlocked for them.
Temporary Recruitment Operators have their levels, masteries and modules maxed out. Very high value!
There are many factors to consider when it comes to which operators to promote. Some factors to weigh are:
- Hope & Voucher that could have been spent recruiting or promoting another operator.
- How much HP, Attack and Defense stats are increased.
- Skill mastery levels and modules.
- How badly does one wish to gaze upon the Elite 2 art.
Another thing that makes promoting operators more valuable, is the Squad and Deployment Limits:
Squad Limit
Runs generally start with a squad limit of 6. This means only 6 operators can be fielded unless the limit is increased. Squad Limits can be increased through certain events, leveling up and Collectibles. Doctors may still recruit beyond Squad Limits.Midway through a run, it is unlikely for doctors to be able to utilise all the operators recruited. Therefore it is recommended to focus on raising a few powerful operators once the team is properly fleshed out. Squad Limits favour few powerful operators over many less powerful ones.
Deployment Limit
Determines how many operators and certain summons one can have on the field. The limit rules function the same as the base game. Unique to Integrated Strategies, deployment limits can be raised by events that affect it, or by certain Collectibles. Note that deployment limits do not increase with level ups. Do note that following the base game’s rules, certain summons like Deepcolor's tentacles consume 1 deployment slot, but Beanstalk's Iron Crabs or Weedy’s Reserve Water Cannon do not.
Life
Leaking enemies costs Life points. Most enemies will cost 1 life point per leak, some of larger ones can take up 2 or 4 life points. A boss can cost as much as 20 life points! Losing some lives is not the end of the world however. The game is quite generous with sources of life. It may be worth it to leak certain troublesome enemies if doctors can’t handle them.
Experience the smoothest Arknights experience on MuMuPlayer
Utilise MuMuPlayer frame rate breakthrough technology to go beyond 60 FPS!
Frame Rate Optimization on MuMuPlayer
1. Click on the context button at the top right corner.
2. Click on Settings.
3. Click on Display tab in Settings.
4. Adjust desired frame rate limits accordingly.
Mini-Mode for Multitasking on MuMuPlayer
Try MuMuPlayer mini-mode and pin to top functionality to multi-task more efficiently!
1. Press ALT + G hotkey. Alternatively, click on the context chevron.
2. Click on the Mini mode icon.
3. The game is now conveniently shrunk. Clicking on the pin button will keep the MuMuPlayer window on top. Convenient for multi-tasking while watching videos or browsing the net!
Conclusion
That's all for the guide for now. This should arm any doctor enough to give the mode a good attempt! Tune in next time and together we’ll be going over some strategies, tips and priority rankings to level up the performance of any doctor in Integrated Strategies! Integrated Strategies… Can you solve the mystery? Begin with nothing. Venture into the unknown. Face your fears. Lose it all. Build the future. Do it again. End with everything. Solve the mystery.
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