ngl mostly i play arknights because of the character designs. i usually use KyoStinV's low-rank squad videos to clear missions just because I just want the story and I am TERRIBAD at strategy, even tower defence. like, outright just... abysmally bad.
Strategy? Pff, nah I just select my strongest units and chuck them at thingsuntil it works
but like
Jessica is a 4*, and she's a capable sniper unit, and she's just above average (as are MOST 4*s), but the unique exclusive outfit she has that's like... idk, some kinda cheongsam thing? It makes all her animations change from like "oh no i am nervous aaaa anxiety 200% charged plz help" to "oh my gosh i'm so happy nothing can go wrong i love this outfit" and it's just... so... so fuckin' lovely. and i adore it
then there's Myrtle and Durin who are both..... Durin. That's the name of the race. Durin, of the Durin (2* unit, kinda trash, but DIRT cheap to deploy) legit couldn't think of a codename, or didn't want to bother (her thing is she's constantly sleepy), so just chose her race's name as her codename.
Myrtle HAS a codename/name, and Durin said there was work that she could do, and she's like, what... 3 ft tall, and legit a good Vanguard operator (generates deployment points) esp for a 4* unit lol
also her backstory is literally just "Hi i'm a super cheerful li'l bean gal and I bring cheer wherever I go hence why I have this bigass banner flag to cheer people on with, let me at 'em! I'll do whatever it takes to make people happy!" basically, with ABSOLUTELY NO grimdark backstory or motivations, she's just "HI AM SMOL BEAN GIMME JOB I MAKE HAPPY :D :D "i fuckin' love it
then you've got, as I call them, The Lungmen Squad. Waai Fu (little on the nose there huh?), Jaye (recently released, hell yeaaaaah), Hung (GOOD DOGGO) and Aak (sus as fuck but somehow still knows his shit wtf) and like... that dynamic of all four is just... glorious.
Waai Fu is a martial arts prodigy. She kicks ass, takes names, and fights for truth, justice, and honour. She's also a tiger gal, and looks rad. And is absolutely 100% an anime character lol.
Aak is sus as fuck because he's a backstreet doctor, has the SNARKIEST fuckin' wit you have ever seen, is ALWAYS fuckin' smiling, and uh... he can hook you up with That Good Shit(tm) I guess. He is super high risk to deploy because either he will die rapid, or one of your OTHER units will.
As for Hung, he's just, The Goodest Boy. Huge, big, strong, buff as fuck defender who can heal, but also blocks 3 units I think, has a rad design, and is just... the nicest, purest, calmest dude you ever did meet. Like, no hidden dark side or anything.
Him and Aak are dating I'm sure of it. Waai Fu is the team mum.
Jaye on the other hand ooh boy ahahhaa i love his design i'm glad he's a unit now.
THIS motherfucker, god, I'm not sure how useful he is, I suspect he'll be similar to Aak in that he's high risk to deploy, but he'll probably output SHITtons of damage. His design though is amazing. He looks fuckin' ready to KILL people, and yet... his character is just "...really, I'm just a sushi cart owner, please, I just want to sell food, please stop getting me mixed up in mafia business i am not a criminal i swear oh my god this is why i can't get any good sleep holy shit"
his first appearnce is in an event storyline where he isn't even available as a character to get in headhunting, Waai Fu even thinks he's a mobster and it takes some convincing to even get her to admit that maybe he's POSSIBLY one of the "good ones" but still never fully trusts him hahaha.
Like his uncle he lives with and basically his only family absolutely is in deep with the Lungmen underworld, but has done his best to keep Jaye entirely out of it rofl.
He's also straight up a martial arts movie character too basically. like he finds out his uncle has been shaken down by some crooks looking to take over his town and he's so friggin furious about it he's legit gonna go find the people who did it and throw down without hesitation. He only doesn't get to because Waai Fu interrupts him and manages to call him away elsewhere so he doesn't get his ass killed or something.
Like, there's a shitton of really well designed 5 and 6* units, like Silverash, Pramanix, Hoshiguma (god I wish I could have gotten her recent exclusive outfit, the Wandering Ronin, she looks BADASS AS FUCK OMG), Skadi, Mostima etc...
but most of my favourites are "trash" units lol
Like Matoimaru, who is a guard operator, who can self heal, but she's 4* and her abilities are mediocre at best, so she's generally considered abad unit to use and invest in...
...I don't, but I DO love her design, to the point I use her as my "advisor", the character who greets you on the main screen (by default it's Amiya, the other main character besides yourself, a bunny girl of mysterious powers)
also there's Ansel who is a cute bunny boy Medic character who I completed an event to get his exclusive outfit for because it makes him even cuter, and he's a 3* operator, and he's basically trash, super cheap, not terribly effective though especially in later levels unless you got your strategy JUUUUST right, and have a backup plan, but god. i just...
aaa i wanna hug him <3
his deisgn is literally made to make him look like a serial killer or something but he's absolutely not. Sure he might by circumstance and just absolute coincidence happen to live, work around, and exist in underworld circles, heavily, but he's NOT as it turns out, actually a mobster or anything, even though because of his appearance everyone is convinced he is hahahah