Let’s be real: it’s 2026, and Arknights has thrown so many shiny new operators at us that it’s easy to forget the absolute weirdos who’ve been carrying my squads since the Lungmen days. I’m talking about Specialists — that grab bag of misfits whose job descriptions range from “throws a clone of himself” to “pushes enemies so hard they take True Damage”. While everyone’s hyping the latest 6-star, I’m still here cackling as my Specialist lineup turns maps into tactical playgrounds. Here’s my love letter to the ones who just refuse to become irrelevant.

Take Aak, the first Ranged Specialist. On paper he’s a fennec fox with an attitude problem, but in practice he’s a fennec fox who injects your best DPS with pure chaos. His base ATK is already stupid high for his subclass, and he attacks so fast you’d think he’s trying to speedrun a medication error. He’s deceptively tanky, too — still needs a Medic though, because 10 RES alone won’t save you from your own hubris. What makes him a permanent fixture in my team is his third skill: a massive ATK boost that turns Surtr or Młynar into apocalypse machines. I’ve lost count of how many times Aak has turned a “this stage is impossible” into “what boss?”. Just remember to bring Liskarm for the SP battery shenanigans, and suddenly the game becomes a fireworks display of orange numbers.

Then there’s Gladiia, who has mastered the art of politely inviting enemies into a blender. As a Puller, she already shoves people around like a disgruntled bouncer, but her third skill is the reason I keep her on every squad that involves chokepoints. She drops a giant whirlpool that sucks in anything with a weight of 3 or below (which, thanks to synergistic weight reduction, becomes basically everyone) and holds them there while my AoE operators giggle. The HP regen from her talent means she can off-tank in a pinch, and pairing her with Weedy on a long corridor is basically me recreating that scene from 300 but with more Arts damage.

Speaking of corridors, Weedy exists to remind you that physics is a lie and water cannons are deities. Most Push Specialists rely on environmental hazards to secure kills, but Weedy just generates so much force that she turns any tile into a lethal hazard. Her third skill fires a cannon blast that deals True Damage based on how far enemies get yeeted, which means lining up a perfect hallway push can one-shot elites. I’ve spent entire Contingency Contract rotations building little Weedy bowling alleys just to watch enemies slide into oblivion. Bonus: her temporary Water Cannons also push stuff, so you can literally create a chain of “get out of my lane” without deploying extra ops.

Now, if I’m going to talk about survivability, I have to mention Specter the Unchained. Dollkeepers were a stroke of genius to begin with — an operator who doesn’t die when killed? Yes please. Specter Alter uses her HP as a resource, preventing death and then swapping into a Substitute that slows enemies and deals Arts damage. It’s like having two operators in one, and her third skill turns her into a multi-target blender perfect for holding lanes against the tide of slugs and hounds that never goes out of style. The Abyssal Hunter synergy is just icing on the cake; I run her with Gladiia for the extra HP boost, and suddenly my front line is just a bunch of tragic sea-themed immortals.

Let’s not forget the Executor squad. Phantom became my go-to problem-solver years ago and still is. The ability to deploy a clone that has the same skills essentially gives you two fast-redeploy assassins for the price of one. Need to snipe a caster in the backline? Deploy Phantom and his clone on opposite sides, pop the second skill, and watch the target cease to exist. He’s also saved countless blind runs where I accidentally leaked something and needed an emergency delete button. In 2026, with all the power creep, Phantom’s simple elegance remains unmatched — he doesn’t need a PhD in skill timing, just a finger on the retreat button.

But if you’re broke on DP and still want to stall the apocalypse, say hello to Gravel. Her entire identity is “I will body-block this threat and then leave before my shield runs out.” Deploy her on top of Sarkaz Casters, exploding slugs, or that one boss attack that would otherwise wipe your main tank — she just eats it and retreats. The minimal DP cost and low redeploy time mean I’ve turned many a crisis into a cartoon of Gravel repeatedly throwing herself at danger until it gives up. It’s not glamorous, but it works.

The trap queen herself, Dorothy, deserves a mention for turning every stage into a game of minesweeper. Her resonators occupy no deployment slots but can stun, debuff, or just flat-out explode anyone dumb enough to step on them. In Integrated Strategies mode, where deployment limit is a precious resource, Dorothy becomes a goddess of map control. I’ve cleared entire waves by chain-reacting traps that feel more like a Rube Goldberg machine than a tower defense game.

Finally, a shoutout to Texas the Omertosa, who’s been powercreep-proof since her release. She apparates, deals instant Arts damage, debuffs RES, then stuns everything on the tile with micro-stuns, and disappears. The low redeploy time means she’s basically a Swiss Army knife for every situation — panic button, boss debuffer, or just a stylish flex. I once juggled three lanes with her and Phantom simultaneously, and honestly it felt like I was playing an RTS instead of a gacha.

In 2026, the Arknights meta has evolved, but my trust in these Specialists hasn’t wavered. They’re not just operators; they’re jigsaw pieces that turn a normal formation into a hilarious disaster of crowd control and burst. Next time you’re building a squad, give the weird ones a slot — you might just rediscover why this game is so damn fun.