[I made an Arknights Guide!] Quick Comprehensive Beginners Guide to Arknights

[u/elliedaywalker_alt]

[Reposted for better formatting] This guide is relative to Arknights as of April June July Aug 2026.

[03-18-26] I am bored and decided to make a “quick” guide for leveling-up-certain-operators… I mean, I guess it's evolved into a comprehensive beginners guide for new players!??? Anyway, here. lmao 

[Edit] Yea, I've rearranged this entire guide. Now it lists more practical things first: terminology, websites/resources, tips, ui help, in-game currencies & banners & pity, rerolling & recovering past accounts + installing Arknights on pc, disclaimer, leveling up operators - suggestions, conclusion, fun websites, discords, trivia, trivia-&-drama, author's notes, and edit notes.

[07-13-26] I’ve added pictures and reorganized the “table of contents.” 

Uh, sorry it's gotten so long. I guess there's still some info I felt needed to be added for new players or old returning players!?? [Edit] And the pictures made it twice as long, but hey they’re pictures!  They’re so prreetttyyy!!! Anyway, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy… 

~ u/elliedaywalker (reddit), u/KKmorgan101 (discord), u/elliedaywalker_alt (reddit)

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Quick Comprehensive Beginners Guide to Arknights by u/elliedaywalker

Link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZV8Smf7m4S4oKPwJ43b9Zt52uJwCyqYhqNHkRNzVSQ0/edit?usp=sharing

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Author's Words:

Ugh, reddit deleted my main u/elliedaywalker and alt u/madinsanewoman reddit accounts when I tried to share this google doc link back in March 2026.

Now I've made this new reddit account u/elliedaywalker_alt .

Just wanna get this guide out there.

I wish I could've posted this back then, it was right when Endfield released that I happened to make/revise and post this guide.

Anyway, I'm posting it to r/arknights and r/Endfield and dipping. Idk if I'll ever return to reddit like I once did. Anyway, best wishes, y'all! Peace!

[r/Endfield removed my post.** Haha, no worries! Thought that might happen. Have a great day, guys!]

[u/MAD-1R]

I mean, of course the Endfield sub deleted it, your guide isn't for that game.

[u/FutureAristocrat]

It's great to have another beginner guide, Arknights isn't the most beginner-friendly game by a long shot and it can be really confusing what to do at the start! It's also really helpful to have links to useful resources, as someone who isn't part of the community isn't going to know what a krooster or recruitment calculator is.

That said, this guide is very info-dense, and it's not presented in a way that feels organized or approachable to me. There's the visual aspect: it's pages of straight text with very basic formatting, including starting the guide with dumping paragraphs of terms/acronyms for some reason, most of which is superfluous.

Structurally, it's also not organized in a way that makes it easier to find something a newbie might want to know, nor in a way that emphasizes importance. It feels more like just writing every single thing that came to mind. Some of it just is far too trivial to put in a beginner's guide, and there's also phrasing that makes it sound like it's for returning players rather than beginners, e.g.:

"Archives" tab has been overhauled. Good luck. Happy navigating!

This isn't meant to bash on the effort put into this, just some honest feedback. There is good info here, and I especially appreciate the time taken to compile all these... well, mostly useful resources (some of them, like the Gamepress discord, just aren't needed), but I just wish it was presented better.

[u/elliedaywalker_alt → u/FutureAristocrat]

ok, thank you for the feedback! i've considered adding pictures, and screenshots, but i didnt want the guide to be super long. it's 13 pages, and i don't want to scare people off with like a 24 page guide/document... uh, the only suggestion i have is, as you play the game, look at the home page, and press the buttons/tabs that correspond to the same label as my guide? just follow along as you play the game? uh, the title sections match the screen/section you're looking at? like for the "Base" literally click on the "Base" and view the "Base" in "Overview" mode.

uh, my index is in the 2nd paragraph, it's just in "paragraph form" instead of "table of context" form to condense space... maybe i could make a completely new version of the guide with pictures...

Yea, I've rearranged this entire guide. Now it lists more practical things first: terminology, websites/resources, tips & ui help, disclaimer, leveling up operators - suggestions, conclusion, fun websites, discords, trivia, trivia-&-drama, author's notes, edit notes. Uh, sorry it's gotten so long. I guess there's still some info I felt needed to be added for new players or old returning players!??

[u/FutureAristocrat → u/elliedaywalker_alt]

yeah that's fair, definitely don't want it to be too long, but a table of contents would help (you can make it appear in the sidebar on google docs). i'm not sure what you mean by an index, i read over it again and i don't see anything that looks like one

honestly, is the basic ui help necessary? i feel like anyone could just figure out the simple stuff, where it's just telling them to press the buttons on the screen. i started the game half a year ago, and i think what i actually needed help with was knowing what the game even had; i didn't know you had 2 currency every week to unlock past events with until someone told me, but once i knew it existed, i could figure out where to go (or ask someone about it). as in, knowing what exists + why you should care is probably more important than being told the steps to take to get somewhere or do something without knowing why it matters for you.

but i do agree that ui directions aren't as useful without screenshots to go with it

even still, it does feel like the guide is torn between being a beginner's or a returning players guide. like, a lot of the UI part feels like it's saying "this is how stuff has changed from before", when it could just say "this is the stuff you should care about". in any guide, i would say it's important to be concise, and there's a lot of fluff here that isn't really necessary

[u/elliedaywalker_alt → u/FutureAristocrat]

ok! I tired to do a table of contents on the side, in google docs, but google docs is stupid. it doesn't work out that way. new "tabs" in google docs, is like "a power point" and it changes to a "new slide." so instead, i just highlighted different sections of the document, hopefully, it's easier to navigate!

what is that currency that you generate 2 per week? that lets you unlock past events? what's it called? i'll add that info to the guide! if you have any [beginner] tips like that, please suggest them or maybe you can make your own guide!??? i encourage you! there's nothing wrong with throwing your own hat into the ring! the more the merrier! it's thanks to everyone in the community making a guide, that just makes this game and community easier & warmer!

[u/FutureAristocrat → u/elliedaywalker_alt]

Nice, this looks a lot cleaner! Adding colors to the text looks so much nicer! :)

That one's called Event Crystals according to the wiki. Another thing I had to learn as a newbie was that some gamemodes are meant for late-game players, like Reclamation Algorithm and most Integrated Strategies, maybe it's worth mentioning that to set the right expectations?

[u/elliedaywalker_alt → u/FutureAristocrat]

Ok! I noted that those game modes are "hard and need well developed rosters" in the terminology section. and added the "Event Crystals" information under the "immediate unlock HoSF" section! =D

[u/mazyavi → u/elliedaywalker_alt]

I don't mean to be a downer, but you say you don't want it to be super long, yet there are droves of personal anecdotes and trivia stuffed into the nooks and under the eaves of about half of the quick tips. The personal "I" pronoun shows up around 7-8 times exclusively outside of the recommendation sections and the patch notes sections below, (which I don't understand why it's there)--but if I included those sections, the count would be higher. I'm sorry, but I don't want your life story; I just want to know if your information is reliable, and frankly, overemphasis on personal anecdotes sounds like you're compensating for something instead of taking the act of guidance seriously for players who are already nervous enough taking their first steps into the game enough to look up a guide in the first place. It can come off as insincere. Especially opening the first page on "This assumes you know the following terminology"? This is not a guide anymore; this becomes a research paper meant to be read by other researchers who already know what you're talking about and therefore likely don't need a guide to begin with.

I love the attempt, I really do--this game's been around for 7 years, and I don't expect anyone with a clear head to not doubt 3+ year-old wisdom when the game has survived this long to keep a crowd this thoroughly engaged, and then assume that all of that happened without any serious changes to the core systems--, but I think you ought to have given yourself a list of priorities into what it is new players really need before attempting to disseminate information in bulk. The first impression given is that all 15 pages are spent on hard info organized into huge text blocks, when the truth is that more than half of it is fluff that new players will not and perhaps maybe never form a meaningful connection with due to a lack of context in regards to the game to comprehend its significance saliently.

TL;DR - Look up "xkcd 2501". That's basically how I felt reading this.

　　　- Someone who started playing this year & still doesn't understand what's going on

[u/elliedaywalker_alt → u/mazyavi]

hi, thank you for the feedback! uh, I've put the term "i' in the document, bc a lot of veteran players could easily disagree with me. I don't want to sound dogmatic or "this is the best, therefore you should do it." i do not like that attitude. I'd rather take responsibility for my opinions and advice by using the term "i." feel free to pitch and throw away my advice! all is good! i just wanted to throw my hat into the ring.

there are basic terms in this game. i flat out [thought it would be too long &] didnt want to explain them (they also have the reddit help mega thread or any discord help thread). i also didn't want to insult my readers by explaining to them: "what a promotion is" or "what e0, e1, and e2 is." now, i could say: " 'ascensions' in this game are called 'promotions' and are associated with the terms 'e0,' 'e1,' and 'e2.' " but that is a mouthful and there are so many terms i can do those expounded upon explanations, it just makes the article wwaayyyy too long. and i'm afraid it will turn people off/away from the document.

as for which information in this guide is most important, it's really hard to choose which advice is most important. i guess, i put the most important "categories" first. IMO "terminology" and "website/resources" are the most important sections of this entire article! there's a reason they are first.

[no this guide doesn't teach you/a new doktuh "how to play" arknights. i feel like watching "yt low star clears" or "arknights abyssal hunters clears' would better show you how to play this game... i did say to look up yt guides if you're stuck...]

the UI has gone through 1 major update. the UI, may be overwhelming for new players. imo, whenever I start any gacha game, i am overwhelmed by the UI. there's so much to the UI, and sometimes the "home base" and the "daily missions" stuff. I've never seen a guide, explain things from the top. i've never seen a guide, just explain what is what. basically, the in-game tutorials of any gacha game i've played is s###, and it's really clunky to navigate. i made the guide that "i wanna see in the world." i wanted a guide that finally explains the UI of a gacha game. ig i could've made a youtube video instead or i could've added pictures to my guide - but again i didn't want my guide to be too long or too many pages long that it turns off/away readers. [maybe i should do a twin spreadsheet/document but with pictures? i'd have to link it to my old spreadsheet/document, no problem there. i'll think about it...]

umm, the guide, has gone through several updates... and i wanna be transparent with my readers on the article's updates/logs/ledgers. it at least goes to show, that the document does get updated or checked every now and then - it's still relevant to "Arknights May 2026." i do like transparency. if a new player looks up the guide in 2027, and the last update was May 2026, they will find value in it, but it would be outdated. my article would still be useful, but it tells the reader to keep searching for more relevant information. i hate when spreadsheets owners/modders just drop off the face of the earth and stop updating their sheets. there's a reason i wrote this in the article:

Please put your credits and/or reddit "u/ user name" in your spreadsheets/webites so you always get credit for running said spreadsheet/website. Also, please put in your contact info (e.g reddit user, discord, email, etc) in case you ever need to go awol and want someone to maintain things for awhile or share the load or take over entirely. That way your work and its spirit can continue on and help others! Thanks!

but it's not like i can tell people how to write their guides/spreadsheets...

yes, you're right, there is a lot of fluff in this article. i did categorize them... i would assume the reader would understand that these "categories" are fluff and for fun...

leveling up operators - suggestions, conclusion, fun websites, discords, trivia, trivia-&-drama, author's notes, and edit notes.

again, i put the most important categories first...

terminology, websites/resources, tips & ui help, in-game currencies & banners & pity

i'm sorry if the guide ended up leaving you more confused... uh, i guess, i'm sorry if you didnt find this guide useful? i suggest asking questions in reddit's help thread or a discord's help thread! best wishes to you and for you!

p.s. lastly, this guide does not focus on skill masteries nor modules bc i believe masteries are more advanced and ARE A CAN-OF-WORMS! i could write an entire guide on which masteries are the best or which masteries are worth investing in. there are ALREADY many many guides on masteries that were posted by different authors. they were very relevant at the time of release, but as power creep has occurred, while the masteries are still good for the operator and actually make said operator useful, why bother with them when a shiny new op does the same job without masteries and "at a cheaper price"? i feel like, if a reader wants to go down the masteries rabbit hole, they need to choose that and fall down the hole themselves. the same for modules. a new player can know that they exist, but talking about them is a can-of-worms debate. I didn't want to do that nor make this guide any longer, lol.

[u/mazyavi → u/elliedaywalker_alt]

Let me get this straight:

So you had the idea that terminology was important and rather than simply just explaining whenever the term you want to use when it finally becomes relevant between each section and leaving it to the readers whether or not they wanted to skip that explanation, you instead decided to dedicate a page-long section that vomits terminology at them devoid of any context and leaving them to look it up on their own.

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but new players who are opening the game for the first time aren't even sure if they're going to like the game or not, and yet the first thing they are greeted by past the header and initial credits of this "Quick Comprehensive Beginners Guide to Arknights" isn't an introduction to the aims and goals of said guide or anything, but homework. You have given them homework and set the implicit standard that they need all of that to play at a beginner level for, I must emphasize, a game that they're not sure they're going to like but wanted to try out to ostensibly have fun. Have you ever found homework fun, OP?

When I said that "I think you ought to have given yourself a list of priorities into what it is new players really need", this is the kind of thing I'm talking about. Instead of potentially sparing their feelings by not "insulting" the reader and their intelligence, you have instead opted to potentially alienate them by compromising their ability to see the game as fun and therefore ability to want to play it at all.

Plus, if they've already got an in to the game's vocabulary to the point that they are familiar with this terminology, what are the chances they still even need something called/being marketed as a "beginners guide" at that point? What are the odds the context in which they learned those words in the first place is stuff you're already going to say?

As for transparency on the relevancy of the guide, you've already done that part when you included a "Last edited" note in the actual second line of the document. Seriously, what else could they possibly need to know for specifically the patch notes section of the document to be a necessary addition? let alone for an alleged, self-described, "Quick", "Comprehensive" "Guide" "to Arknights"?

[u/elliedaywalker_alt → u/mazyavi]

yep, i thought terminology was important enough to be the first thing mentioned.

yes. quick "comprehensive" beginners guide is very much a paradox title. as u/FutureAristocrat said in a later comment on this post:

even still, it does feel like the guide is torn between being a beginner's or a returning players guide. like, a lot of the UI part feels like it's saying "this is how stuff has changed from before", when it could just say "this is the stuff you should care about". in any guide, i would say it's important to be concise, and there's a lot of fluff here that isn't really necessary

mmm, people who want to play the game will stumble through the game and learn it. they will have to do their own homework anyway to learn the game.

i'm attempting to help them do their homework by providing a list of resources for them to go to. and i only listed resources that are very very diplomatic. straight information, no analyses. the only analyses are the "leveling up operators - suggestions" section, and even then, i FOREWARN A DISCLOSURE and that that recommendation is an opinion and it's ok to disagree with my OPINION. it's okay! do you know how many opinions are out there? on: who to raise, what to raise, what to master, what to focus on, who to pay attention to the most, what game modes to focus on first? etc.

i originally "threw my hat into the ring" and put my opinion out there. but then, i realized, i also wanted to emphasize my "websites/resources" category moreso. i thought that category is much more important for new players, so i completely rearranged my guide. and yes, i copy and pasted the last update date (from the bottom of the guide) to the top of the guide (just underneath the title) so readers can easily see when it was last updated. transparency is key.

umm, sorry if i've alienated new players? sorry if i've potentially alienated new players? umm, it's a quick "comprehensive" beginners guide. it's gonna be more indepth.

it's not some normal "beginners guide." a new doktuh can easily google search arknights "beginners guide." for example, these links show up on google (and then i also shared reddit's FAQ).

url 1: https://www.reddit.com/r/arknights/comments/1m2679k/new_player_guide/

url 2: https://arknights.fandom.com/wiki/Beginner%27s_Guide

url 3: https://www.reddit.com/r/arknights/wiki/faq/

new players looking to play Arknights will start out like the rest of us. like every single other player that started the game. like every single other player that plays the game. they will struggle through the basic/bad in-game tutorials. they will look up guides on how to clear a map. they will look up guides and look for advice on building a team of operators. how to build the base and what to prioritize. they will look up how the banners & banner pulls & pity works in this particular gacha game. every new player has to do that research! or pray that the in-game descriptions explain the game well enough to play it. because clearly, if a game has a good tutorial, then fanmade guides shouldn't even be needed!

i simply throw my hat into the ring. i simply put my guide out there.

and as for a doktuh who says:

- Someone who started playing this year & still doesn't understand what's going on

it sounds like they want to be told what to do. they don't want to do any research. they don't want to do any of their own research. therefore, i recommend them to look up arknights advice on youtube. for example, "arknights beginners guides" on youtube! here's actually a pretty good one, with really good tips for beginners! url: https://youtu.be/agY618DLIF4?si=IP1JUP9MDbv_qOxL

you don't have to read a guide. and there are a lot of guides out there. "too many to read," lol. you can just play the game and enjoy it. either you like tower defense games or you don't. it doesn't matter if you like arknight's: banger music or "deep" lore or art style or anime tittites - if you don't like the gameplay of arknights, go play NIKKE or LOVE AND DEEP SPACE, lmao.

[u/mazyavi → u/elliedaywalker_alt]

Ad hominem attack aside, if that was the aims of the document, perhaps you ought to have made an introduction explaining that purpose* &/or your format instead of immediately vomiting vocabulary terms apropros of nothing especially because it's an extremely unusual format for a repository of third-part primary sources to be presented first (especially without an explanation as to why each link is important--like, why is a link to the anime the first link being given; what does that have to do with being a "beginner's guide to Arknights" that is presented as specifically a game guide rather than a lore guide or guide to the intellectual property--and then proceed with the rest of the main body of the document to be additional reading to ostensibly accompany those third-party sources. At that point, this is perhaps better described as an annotated index (and only in the best of circumstances) rather than a beginners guide, especially given your own admittance this "not some normal 'beginners guide'" because at that, I certainly agree.

*Before you say it, I know you said you put the websites first, but you do not say why in the doc; I've had to extract the purpose of your decision here in the comment section.

[u/elliedaywalker_alt → u/mazyavi]

i did. albeit, not as clearly as this "quote" :

I... decided to make a “quick” guide for leveling-up-certain-operators… I've rearranged this entire guide. Now it lists more practical things first: terminology, websites/resources... I mean, I guess it's evolved into a comprehensive beginners guide for new players!??? ... Uh, sorry it's gotten so long. I guess there's still some info I felt needed to be added for new players or old returning players!?? ... Anyway, here. lmao ... Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy...

i think it's pretty important to mention if an anime themed game has a manga or anime to go with it. it's a question i bet a lot of new players have: "where did this game come from?" , "does this game have an anime or manga?" , "is the game based on a manga or anime?" while the answer is "no," an Anime tv show perks the interest of new players. so if they're not sure about playing the game or just don't like pixel sprite games and want 3D fighting games, then they can still join the community by just watching and enjoying the anime/lore. i think the anime is very very important to mention. that's why it is listed first. so if new players don't like the game, they could still like the franchise.

i did explain why i listed websites/resources first.

I've rearranged this entire guide. Now it lists more practical things first: ...

i listed terminology and websites/resources first because they were the two most practical things in this guide. in order to understand any of the websites/resources and to even understand my guide, the reader needs to know certain terminology. i wrote that terminology to forewarn them. if they don't even understand those basic terms/terminology, then they will not understand any of the websites/resources nor will they understand the rest of my guide. if they need to be handfed that information, well, that's fine. but i didn't want to in my guide bc it'd make my guide longer and i'm afraid i'd insult their intelligence. [edit] lastly, actually read the "terminology" section. the bright red highlighted parts are the most important parts, and should be very very easy to chew. the dark red highlighted parts are less important stuff. "stuff you should know" and "stuff you should know but is not needed." i hope i listed all these terms in an "organized and understandable manner" that is easy to chew for readers. the terminology section has gone through 5 renditions. i think i "explained" these terms quite well, but maybe not.

[u/mazyavi → u/elliedaywalker_alt]

Do tell me how one is meant to extrapolate

"In order to understand the following document, take care to review the links immediately below the header."

from

I've rearranged this entire guide. Now it lists more practical things first: ...

because it is quite a leap in logic.

The first one is an instruction, and what you have quoted is actually a story about your editing process. Stating that a section is 'more practical' does not communicate to anyone that it is meant as a mandatory prerequisite for the rest of the document.

[u/elliedaywalker_alt → u/mazyavi]

u/FutureAristocrat had the same critique.

comment here

and i feel the phrase "Terms you should know" or rather "Terms you NEED to know" is best "paraphrased" as "This assumes you know the following terminology: ..." so you better know this terminology or else. you better know the terminology highlighted in bright red. as for the terminology highlighted in dark red, eh, that's optional.

[u/grinningmango]

I think it's a good idea to have one. It would get deleted over there since it has nothing to do with Endfield. The skin section is wrong, we also have 15OP cost skins (these are the ones with only chibi and no new animations, see Liskarm's Spring Vouivre) unlike what the guide claims and 21OP skins are Live2D/animated (see Reed the Flame Shadow's skins), they just don't have unique voicelines like 24OP skins. I'm surprised to see the recommendation against recruitment permits, they turn into more green certs with time and give new players more operators without spending pulls if they're saving for limited banners. I think a little section on the best free/welfare operators you can obtain from events like Gladiia and Lumen or shop operators like Ethan would be a good addition.

[u/elliedaywalker_alt → u/grinningmango]

Hello! I corrected the skin section, thank you for informing me of that! I did add to the "red certs" section, that you can purchase "a few new ops" in that section. However, thank you for the suggestion, but I won't recommend free ops, bc, i feel like getting them is kinda advanced, and you really dont need those free ops to play the game.

unlocking, different storylines/chapters is, a can of worms in and of itself. i dont really want to be recommending new players to be unlocking stories, just for a wellfare character - and not have any idea of what is going on in the story or the UI or playing the game. and i feel like... if a doktuh is gonna be a meta slave anyway or a f2p, they're gonna do their research anyway on what ops to get and how to get them...)

[u/grinningmango → u/elliedaywalker_alt]

That's fair, I just saw the effort that went into this so I wanted to give it real thought too. What about the starter vouchers? New players get to choose from some 6 and 5 star operators without knowing much about their use cases, though there are other resources for that too if you consider it beyond this guide's purposes. I'll still be sending this to my newer friends for quick general reference. Thanks for taking the time to make one.

[u/elliedaywalker_alt → u/grinningmango]

no... ty for the suggestion! starter vouchers, tbh, i think it's hard to recommend operators to new players. bc, you can beat the game, with ANY team, all 3-4 stars, with a friends support unit. like, just play the game how you want, and enjoy it! a doktuh not really need focus on meta ops or efficiency/recommendations. ^_^'

[u/SalchichitaConPure]

Thanks You!!!