# Arknights

> Tower-defense RPG by Hypergryph, released in China in 2019 and globally in January 2020. Uses an escalating-rate pity (2% base, rising 2% per pull after 50 without a 6-star) and added a 300-pull spark to limited banners in 2024.

- Canonical URL: https://gachawiki.com/arknights
- Type: game hub (this game also has a dedicated wiki, indexed below)
- Verification status: verified (facts checked 2026-07-09)
- Last updated: 2026-07-09
- License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Attribution: "Arknights", GachaWiki, https://gachawiki.com/arknights

Arknights is a free-to-play tower-defense RPG developed by Hypergryph in Shanghai. It launched in China on May 1, 2019, and worldwide on January 16, 2020, with Yostar publishing the global, Japanese, and Korean servers. [[1]](#ref-1) It is mobile-only and is known for a gacha design that predates the HoYoverse pattern and works differently from it.

## Pull system

*Main article: [Headhunting](/arknights/wiki/headhunting)*

Pulls are called headhunting, and operators are the playable units. The published rules: [[2]](#ref-2)

| Parameter | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Base 6-star rate | 2% per pull |
| Escalation | if 50 pulls pass without a 6-star, the rate rises by 2% per pull (4% at pull 51, 6% at 52, and so on, reaching 100% by pull 99) |
| 5-star floor | a 5-star or better is guaranteed within the first 10 pulls on each banner |
| Cost per pull | 600 Orundum (or 1 Headhunting Permit) |

This escalating-rate design is the main alternative to the fixed hard pity used by HoYoverse games: instead of a cliff at pull 90, the odds climb quickly after a dry streak, which caps bad luck at 99 pulls in the worst case and produces an average close to 34.6 pulls per 6-star (a widely cited community computation from the official rules). The escalation counter carries over between successive standard banners but is tracked separately on limited and collaboration banners. [[2]](#ref-2)

The featured guarantee is weaker than in most peers: on standard banners each 6-star has a 50% chance of being one of the two rate-up operators, with no loss protection. Limited banners guarantee a rate-up limited operator on the first 6-star after 150 pulls (once per banner), and collaboration banners guarantee the featured 6-star within 120 pulls. [[2]](#ref-2)

## Spark system

*Main article: [Headhunting Data Contracts](/arknights/wiki/headhunting-data-contracts)*

Starting with the "Cremation Last Wish" limited banner in 2024, limited banners grant one Headhunting Data Contract per pull. 300 contracts can be exchanged for the banner's rate-up limited 6-star (75 for a rate-up 5-star). Contracts expire when the banner ends and convert into a small amount of shop currency, so the [spark](/wiki/spark) does not carry between banners. [[3]](#ref-3) In 2025 the exchange cost for much older shop operators was reduced from 300 to 200 contracts. [[3]](#ref-3)

## Service status

*Main article: [Release history](/arknights/wiki/release-history)*

The game is in active service as of July 2026; its global sixth-anniversary event ran in January and February 2026 with a limited banner using the 300-contract spark. [[2]](#ref-2) Its console-and-PC successor project, [Arknights: Endfield](/wiki/arknights-endfield), launched in January 2026 as a separate game while the original continues.

## Pages in this game's wiki

- Headhunting: https://gachawiki.com/arknights/wiki/headhunting.md
- Headhunting Data Contracts: https://gachawiki.com/arknights/wiki/headhunting-data-contracts.md
- Release history: https://gachawiki.com/arknights/wiki/release-history.md

## References

1. Arknights (release history) (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arknights (accessed 2026-07-09)
2. Headhunting rates and escalation rules (community documentation of in-game disclosure) (Arknights community wiki): https://arknights.wiki.gg/wiki/Headhunting (accessed 2026-07-09)
3. Headhunting Data Contract (spark) rules (Arknights community wiki): https://arknights.wiki.gg/wiki/Headhunting_Data_Contract (accessed 2026-07-09)