Standard Banner: Bagpipe & Ch'en
The new Standard Banner features the following Operators:
Featured Operators:
| Rarity | Operator |
| 6★ |  Ch'en - Dualstrike Guard
 Bagpipe - DP-On-Kill Vanguard
|
| 5★ |  Istina - Slower Supporter
 Warfarin - ST Medic
 Franka - Duelist Guard
|
- Based on previous patterns, it is likely but not 100% certain that the Operators for purchase in the Distinction store will be Ch'en and Warfarin.
- 6★ Rate-Ups have a 50% chance of appearing when pulling a 6★
- 5★ Rate-Ups have a 50% chance of appearing when pulling a 5★
Should You Pull?
Bagpipe is on this banner, so the answer is yes.
It doesn’t hurt that the other options on this banner are pretty good. Ch’en is a good nuker and Warfarin is one of the strongest buffers in the game. Istina and Franka are usually overlooked in favor of other options (higher-star options for Istina, lower-star options for Franka) but both can pull their weight. There’s no denying that Bagpipe is the star of this banner, though.
As a reminder, Bagpipe’s efficiency as a Vanguard jump-starter goes up dramatically if you can get her to Potential 5 and improve her second Talent. For most players, this is overkill, but if you’re the type who likes to crack into super-high-Challenge-rating content during CC events, Pot-5 Bagpipe is basically required. Keep this in mind when figuring out how much you want to pull on this banner.
Assuming you’re Bagpipe’d out from the last time she was available, it may still be a good idea to do Headhunt x1 until you pull a 5★ or higher Operator, since one is guaranteed in the first 10 rolls.
Quick Overview
+ Her DPS is through the roof
+ Can attack multiple targets (E1 Talent)
+ Has great burst damage, which is useful for getting kills and generating DP
+ S3 greatly increases her DPS and her durability, gives her Block +1, and charges pretty quickly
+ E2 Talent gives all allied Vanguards extra Initial SP (amazing when paired with Skill-DP-Recovery or Utility Vanguards)
= The effect of her Pot 5 Talent improvement can be huge, but that means pulling multiple copies of her
- Technically suffers the flaws of her archetype: Block-1 (though S3 helps with this) and unreliable DP generation (though the benefit of her E2 Talent outweighs this)
+ Talent 1 regularly generates SP for allies with the [Attacking Enemy] and [Getting Hit] SP charge types
+ S2 is a strong AoE burst damage strike that does both Arts and Physical damage and can hit aerial enemies as well. At M3, it has full SP on deploy, allowing Ch’en to use it immediately upon deployment (an awesome assassination or “oh crap” button)
+ S3 is great for assassinating multiple weak enemies or one strong enemy
= As is typical for the archetype, Ch’en’s attacks hit twice, but she has lower ATK to compensate; this makes her strong against low-DEF enemies but is a drawback against high-DEF enemies
= Although her attacks hit twice, they still only charge 1 SP for her [Attacking Enemy] Skills
= Her burst damage potential is very high thanks to her Skills, but her sustained damage is less impressive
- Even with her Talent, her [Attacking Enemy] Skills can take a while to charge
+ The usual advantages of her archetype: Arts damage attacks in a different range from Caster archetypes, low DP cost, and passive Slow debuffs on her attacks
+ Talent increases her ASPD, making her a pretty reliable Slower
+ S2 is very powerful: multi-target capability, wide range, and a nice ATK buff
= Has much lower damage output than 6* Supporter Angelina, but can be a more consistent Slower because of the way Angelina’s S2 and S3 stop her from attacking
- Usual Slower Supporter weaknesses: low DPS
- Her Talent lowers her DEF, making her extremely fragile
- Uptime for S2 is pretty low
+ Talent gives SP to Warfarin and a random ally for each enemy that dies within Warfarin’s healing range
+ S1 gives a BIG boost to Warfarin’s healing that synergizes beautifully with bulky units like Defenders
+ S2 grants a large ATK buff to Warfarin and one random ally within her healing range
- Maximizing her Talent/ S2 effects requires careful positioning, which can impede her healing coverage
+ E1 Talent gives her a chance to ignore enemy DEF, so she’s great against high-DEF enemies
+ Talent activation chance is greatly increased by Skill 2
- Skill 2 also lowers her DEF to 0, making it a double-edged sword (haha)
- Usually, Arts damage is an easier way to counter high-DEF enemies
Bagpipe
Bagpipe is meta-defining. Usually, when you think of Vanguards, you think of units that generate DP—providing fuel for the rest of your squad. Bagpipe is a unit who provides fuel to her fellow Vanguards just by being a member of the squad. Her E2 Talent gives all Vanguards a boost to their initial SP, allowing them to activate their Skills several seconds earlier in a battle. This may not sound like much, but it’s literally a gamechanger. Being able to get DP from units like Myrtle or Texas earlier in a fight jumpstarts any and every strategy. It means getting your units down on the field faster so they can start charging their own Skills and decimating the enemy team that much more quickly.
Even if that was all Bagpipe did, she’d be great, but on top of that, she’s a terrifyingly good fighter. Her DPS is off the charts, and her E1 Talent gives her a chance to spread her damage onto multiple targets. Her charge-based S2 is a workhorse for dishing out consistent DPS, and her S3 turns her into a monster, combining an ATK buff, a DEF buff, and Block count +1 with the ability to hit three times in one attack.
I definitely recommend pulling for Bagpipe.
Ch'en
Ch’en is a very popular character, and she’s also very fun to use. Her regular attacks strike twice, she generates SP for all allies who have [When Attacking] or [Getting Hit] Skills, and her Skills are big, flashy strikes that dish out massive burst damage to your unwitting foes. In particular, she’s known for her S2—at full mastery, her S2 has maximum SP as soon as Ch’en is deployed, allowing her to nuke multiple targets at a moment’s notice.
In certain team compositions and against certain enemy compositions, Ch’en can be wildly powerful. However, the double-hit nature of her attacks is a disadvantage against high-DEF enemies, and her sustained DPS isn’t as impressive as the burst from her Skills. Early in Arknights, Ch’en is an overwhelming force, but in high-level content, it can be trickier to unleash her full potential.
I don’t recommend pulling for Ch’en, but she’s well worth raising if you pull her.
Istina
Istina has a very one-track mind. Off the battlefield, she’s only interested in books, and on the battlefield, she’s only interested in using those books to kill people. Her Talent, Explorer, gives her increased ASPD in exchange for DEF, allowing her to shoot her Slowing spells at enemies with great consistency. Normally she can only Slow one target at a time, though, which is why she uses Literature Storm as her S2: an ability that buffs her ATK and allows her to shoot multiple bolts of magic at a time over an increased attack range, inflicting her Slow upon all of her victims. I mean—actually, no, “victims” sounds about right.
Istina is pretty strong, but she has big shoes to fill when compared to her 6-star superiors, Angelina and Suzuran. When Angelina was the only 6-star Supporter in town, Istina had a pretty reputable niche—Angelina can be tricky to use, while Istina is reassuringly simple and effective. Once Suzuran came out, however, she takes Istina’s abilities to the next level, which leaves Istina out in the cold.
That being said, if you don’t have Angelina or Suzuran, Istina is still an excellent choice. Boosted ASPD gives her pretty good DPS despite her low base ATK, and Literature Storm is tremendously powerful, even if its uptime isn’t the greatest.
I recommend pulling for Istina if you don’t have Angelina or Suzuran. If you have either, then she’s probably not worth pulling for directly, but she can still be worth raising to bring extra Arts damage and crowd control during Challenge stages.
Warfarin
Warfarin is a healer by trade, but she’s a damage-dealer by choice. Not that she does damage herself, you understand—oh no. Instead, she grants her allies one of the strongest ATK buffs currently existing in Arknights, boosting their damage potential to dizzying levels of destruction. On top of that, she also feeds her allies SP as they kill enemies, allowing them to activate their Skills and kill more enemies, which Warfarin turns into more SP. She’s very efficient like that.
Oh, and she heals, too. It’s not her preference, but hey, somebody’s got to do it.
The only thing holding Warfarin back is that her SP gifts and ATK buffs are applied to random targets within her healing range. You can work around this by positioning her so that there is only one ally within her range—thereby guaranteeing that she will assist that one ally—but this also means she can only heal that one ally. Striking a balance between her awesome offensive assistance and your team’s healing needs is the key to using Warfarin effectively.
I recommend pulling for or buying Warfarin. She can be tricky to use if you are trying to maximize her S2 buff, but she’s worth the effort.
Franka
Franka is a Duelist Guard who specializes in taking down high-DEF targets. Her Talent gives her a chance to ignore enemy DEF when attacking, and her Skill 2 greatly increases this Talent’s activation chance. Once that Vorpal Edge goes snicker-snack, heads are sure to roll.
In a vacuum, Franka is very powerful. Her issue is that her job is usually done more easily by units with Arts damage. Most players would rather raise the much cheaper 3* Melantha for their Duelist Guard needs and let their Casters handle high-DEF targets. If you invest in Franka, she can perform brilliantly, but it’s difficult to find a situation where she would be preferable to a Caster or an Arts Guard.
I don’t recommend pulling for Franka unless you are in urgent need of a unit that can counter high-DEF units.
