Game Modes Overview

Learn Arknights game modes like Annihilation and Events to maximize rewards and Doctor potential. Get strategies for efficiently farming items.

Arknights offers a rich tapestry of game modes, each designed to challenge your strategic prowess and reward you with essential resources. Understanding these modes is crucial for efficient progression and maximizing your Doctor's potential. This guide will break down the core game modes, offering actionable steps, strategies, and insights into the valuable items you can acquire.

Main Story Operations

The heart of Arknights' narrative and your primary source of initial progression. Main Story Operations are divided into chapters, each presenting a series of stages with increasing difficulty.

Walkthrough Steps:

1. Progress Systematically: Start from Chapter 0 and advance sequentially. Each stage unlocks the next, and completing a chapter often unlocks new game features or operators.
2. Achieve 3-Stars: For every stage, aim to clear it without any leaks (enemies reaching your base) and without deploying more than the allowed number of operators. Achieving 3-stars permanently unlocks Auto Deploy for that stage, a massive time-saver for farming.
3. use Support Units: Don't hesitate to borrow a high-level Support Unit from your friends or random players. A strong borrowed operator can often turn the tide on a difficult stage, especially in early game.
4. Farm Essential Materials: Once you've 3-starred a stage, use Auto Deploy to farm materials needed for operator promotion, skill upgrades, and base construction. Look for stages that drop

   Battle Records

   (for EXP),

   LMD

   (for currency), and

   Skill Summaries

   .

Key Locations & Items:

• Early Chapters (e.g., 0-1 to 1-12): Focus on obtaining basic

  Battle Records

  and

  LMD

  . These are fundamental for leveling up your starter operators.
• Later Chapters (e.g., 2-1 to 3-8): Begin farming for common promotion materials like

  Polyester

  ,

  Sugar

  , and

  Orirock Cube

  . Consult community-made farming guides for optimal stages.
• Challenge Modes: Unlocked after clearing certain story stages, these offer increased difficulty and often provide

  Originium Prime

  as a first-clear reward.

Resource Operations

These are daily and weekly rotating stages designed to provide specific, high-demand resources. They are crucial for operator development and base expansion.

Walkthrough Steps:

1. Prioritize Based on Need: Check your operators' promotion and skill upgrade requirements. Focus on the Resource Operations that drop the materials you currently need most.
2. Clear Highest Difficulty: Always aim to clear the highest difficulty available for each Resource Operation. Higher difficulties yield significantly more rewards per Sanity spent.
3. Daily Rotation Awareness: Each Resource Operation type has specific days it's available. Plan your Sanity usage accordingly.

Key Locations & Items:

• Tactical Drills (EXP): Available daily. Drops

  Battle Records

  of various tiers. Prioritize the highest

  Tactical Drill

  stage you can clear.
• Cargo Escort (LMD): Available daily. Drops

  LMD

  . Essential for all upgrades and purchases.
• Chip Search (Chips): Available on specific days. Drops

  Operator Chips

  and

  Dualchips

  needed for Elite 1 and Elite 2 promotions, respectively. These are operator class-specific.
• Skill Summary (Skill Books): Available on specific days. Drops

  Skill Summaries

  (T1, T2, T3) for upgrading operator skills.
• Annihilation (Orundum): A weekly challenge. Clear specific maps to earn

  Orundum

  , the gacha currency. Maximize your weekly Orundum cap by clearing the highest Annihilation stage you can consistently auto-deploy.

Contingency Contract (CC)

A recurring, high-difficulty event mode that tests your roster's depth and strategic flexibility. CC features unique challenges and rewards.

Strategies:

• Risk Management: CC involves selecting "Contracts" that add various debuffs to your operators or buffs to enemies. Start with low-risk contracts to understand the stage mechanics, then gradually increase risk.
• Specialized Operators: Certain operators excel in CC due to their unique utility or high damage output. Look for guides on recommended operators for each CC season.
• Daily Stages: Complete the daily rotating CC stages for

  Contract Bounties

  and

  Permanent Map Rewards

  .
• Permanent Map: This map remains throughout the event. Push for the highest Risk level you can achieve to earn exclusive rewards from the

  Secret Sanctuary

  shop.

Key Items:

• Contract Bounties: Currency used in the

  Secret Sanctuary

  to purchase materials, operator modules, and exclusive furniture.
• Exclusive Operator Skins: Often available in the CC shop for

  Contract Bounties

  .
• Operator Modules: Special items that unlock powerful enhancements for specific operators.

Integrated Strategies (IS)

A roguelike game mode where you build a squad from scratch and navigate through a series of random encounters, gaining buffs and new operators along the way.

Walkthrough Steps:

1. Initial Squad Selection: Choose your starting operators carefully. A balanced team with early-game utility is often best.
2. Relic Synergy: Throughout your run, you'll acquire "Relics" that provide powerful buffs. Try to build synergies between your operators and the relics you find.
3. Pathing Decisions: Decide which paths to take on the map. Different nodes offer different rewards (e.g.,

   Recruitment Tickets

   ,

   Hope

   ,

   Collectibles

   ,

   Emergency Operations

   ).
4. Hope Management:

   Hope

   is the currency used to recruit new operators or promote existing ones during an IS run. Manage it wisely.

Key Items:

• Collectibles (Relics): Temporary buffs that significantly impact your run.
• Candle Knight's Coin: Currency earned from IS runs, used in the

  Rhodes Island Supplies

  shop for permanent upgrades and rewards.
• Monthly Squads: Special starting squads that rotate, offering unique challenges and strategies.

Event Stages

Temporary game modes that introduce new stories, operators, and unique farming opportunities. Events are a primary source of new content and valuable resources.

Strategies:

• Farm Event Currency: Most events feature dedicated stages that drop event-specific currency. Prioritize farming these stages to clear out the event shop.
• Event Shop Priorities: Always prioritize limited-time rewards like new operators, operator tokens, and exclusive furniture. After that, focus on rare materials that are difficult to farm elsewhere.
• Challenge Stages: Events often include high-difficulty challenge stages that offer

  Originium Prime

  or other premium rewards for first-time clears.

Key Items:

• Event Currency: Used in the event shop to exchange for various items.
• New Operators: Many events introduce new operators, often obtainable for free by progressing through the event story or shop.
• Limited-Time Furniture: Exclusive furniture sets to decorate your base.
• Rare Materials: Events are excellent sources for hard-to-get promotion and skill materials.