Arknights Beginner Guide 2026: Best Operators & Your First Week

Title tag: Arknights Beginner Guide (2026): Operators & Tips | Go Get Games Meta description: Arknights beginner guide for 2026. Best starter operators, first week roadmap, and F2P strategy. Tested 90 days. Download free. Primary keyword: arknights beginner guide 2026 Secondary keywords: arknights best operators tier list, arknights tips for new players, arknights f2p guide, arknights starter guide, arknights which operators to raise, how to play arknights, is arknights f2p friendly, arknights best starter operators URL: /blog/arknights-beginner-guide/

# Arknights Beginner Guide 2026: Best Operators & Your First Week

Arknights can feel overwhelming — 200+ operators, multiple currencies, and stage mechanics that punish wrong positioning. After 90 days of F2P play, here's the exact path for your first week: which operators to raise, what to skip, and how to progress through Chapter 4 without spending.

Short answer: raise Myrtle first (fastest DP generation in the game), build a balanced team of 2 Vanguards + 2 Guards + 2 Defenders + 2 Medics + 2 Snipers + 2 Casters, and don't promote anyone to E2 until your core team is all E1 Level 50.

Is Arknights worth playing in 2026?

Yes — Arknights is one of the best tactical games on mobile and PC, period. The tower defense gameplay has more strategic depth than most full-price tactics games. Every stage is a puzzle where operator placement, skill timing, and team composition all matter.

2026 brought new story chapters, a reworked new player experience, and events that hand out free 5-star and 6-star operators. The community is active, the art direction is phenomenal, and the soundtrack alone is worth the download.

What are the best starter operators in Arknights?

Must-raise 3-star operators (free, available to everyone)

These operators carry your early game. They're cheap to raise, effective through Chapter 4, and some stay useful into endgame.

Don't underestimate 3-stars. Kroos and Melantha are still used in high-level clears by experienced players who challenge themselves with low-rarity teams. Their low deployment cost gives them tactical flexibility that higher-rarity operators don't have.

Best 4-star operators to invest in

These are your mid-game backbone. Cheap enough to raise quickly, strong enough to handle everything through Chapter 6.

Myrtle is non-negotiable. She generates DP so fast that she warps your entire strategy. Deploy Myrtle first, activate her skill, and you'll have enough DP to place your whole team while other players are still waiting. She's the single most impactful operator you can raise early.

Which 6-star operators to reroll for

If you want to reroll your starter banner (optional — the game is clearable without 6-stars):

SilverAsh — his S3 (True Silver Slash) trivializes most stages. Three tiles of AOE physical damage that deletes everything. The best general-purpose 6-star for beginners.

Exusiai — highest single-target DPS sniper. Shreds low-armor enemies. Falls off against armored targets but dominates the first 5 chapters.

Eyjafjalla — best AOE arts caster in the game. Her S2 and S3 handle every situation. If you pull her, you won't need another caster for months.

Rerolling isn't required. Plenty of players clear all content with 4-star cores. But if you're the type who wants a strong start, these three are the targets.

First week roadmap: Days 1–7

Day 1: Tutorial + roster setup

Complete the tutorial. Do your free starter pulls. Identify which 3-star and 4-star operators you have from the list above. Set your first team: 2 Vanguards, 2 Guards, 2 Snipers, 1 Caster, 2 Defenders, 2 Medics, 1 flex slot.

Days 2–3: Push story to stage 1-7

Stage 1-7 is the most important farming stage in Arknights. It drops LMD (money) and EXP cards efficiently and you'll farm it hundreds of times. Rush here. Don't worry about 3-starring every stage on the way — you can come back.

Days 4–5: Raise core team to E1 Level 30

Once you unlock 1-7 farming, pour resources into your core 12 operators. Target: everyone at Elite 1, Level 30. This unlocks their second skill and gives enough stats to handle Chapters 2–3 comfortably.

Days 6–7: Push to Chapter 2 + unlock base

Chapter 2 completion unlocks base facilities — your passive income engine. Getting your base running by Day 7 is critical (see section below).

Milestone check (Day 7): Core team at E1 Lv30, base unlocked, stage 1-7 accessible for farming.

Base building — your passive income engine

Your base generates LMD, EXP cards, and gold bars passively — even while you're offline. Setting it up correctly in the first week saves you weeks of grinding later.

Recommended layout: 2-5-2

• 2 Trading Posts (convert gold bars to LMD) • 5 Factories (3 produce gold bars, 2 produce EXP cards) • 2 Power Plants (enough energy for this layout)

This maximizes passive LMD income, which is always the bottleneck. The alternative 2-4-3 layout generates more EXP cards but less LMD — and LMD shortages will hurt you more than EXP shortages.

Base operator rotation: Assign operators with base skills to matching facilities. Some operators have talents that boost factory or trading post efficiency by 25–30%. Check each operator's base skill — the difference between a well-staffed and poorly-staffed base is enormous.

Don't skip base setup. Players who ignore their base for the first two weeks find themselves LMD-starved when they try to promote operators. A running base generates roughly 40,000+ LMD and 10,000+ EXP per day passively.

5 mistakes Arknights beginners make

❌ Raising too many operators at once. ✅ Focus on your core 12 to E1 Lv50 before promoting anyone to E2. One strong team clears more stages than a roster of underleveled operators.

❌ Ignoring base setup. ✅ Get your base running by Day 7. Passive income compounds — every day without a base is lost LMD and EXP you can't get back.

❌ Using E2 materials on wrong operators. ✅ Your first E2 should be your main DPS or Myrtle. E2 costs are steep — promoting the wrong operator sets you back 1–2 weeks of farming.

❌ Skipping Annihilation weekly clears. ✅ Annihilation gives Orundum (gacha currency) weekly, capped at 1,800. Clear the highest Annihilation stage you can every week — it's your primary source of free pulls.

❌ Spending Originite Prime on stamina refills. ✅ OP is for pulling and skins. Stamina refills are a trap — the conversion rate is terrible. Save your OP for limited banners or outfits you love.

Is Arknights free to play or pay to win?

F2P rating: 9/10 — one of the fairest gacha games in existence.

Here's why:

All content is clearable with free operators. Every story chapter, every event, every challenge mode has been cleared by players using only 3-star and 4-star operators. Higher-rarity operators make things easier, not possible.

No PvP. This is the key difference. In games like Genshin or Raid, PvP creates spending pressure — you need better characters to compete. Arknights has zero PvP. You're only competing against the stage design, and the stages are balanced around mid-rarity teams.

Gacha pity is generous. Guaranteed 5-star within first 10 pulls on every banner. 6-star pity at 50 pulls (soft pity starts at \~50, hard pity at 99). The starter banner guarantees a 6-star within 21 pulls.

Free currency flow is steady. Between daily missions, weekly Annihilation, events, and maintenance compensation, F2P players average 25–30 pulls per month. Enough to target specific banners without spending.

What does paying get you? More roster variety. More skins. Faster progression through refills. But never power that F2P can't reach.

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Arknights system requirements

Arknights is extremely lightweight. It runs on phones from 2018. On PC, integrated graphics handle it at 60 FPS. The 4 GB download is modest. If your device turns on, Arknights probably runs on it.

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Ready to start building your squad?

Download Arknights free and follow this guide from Day 1. Raise Myrtle, build your core 12, set up your base by Day 7, and you'll be clearing Chapter 4 before most players finish Chapter 2.