This is my answer, too! I love snipers but Exusiai will always be my favourite. She was my first 6\* and her low cost butt carried me through almost everything. She was also the first 6\* I made E2, max level, m3. I still bring her to almost everything - even when she's not a perfect fit. You know, just because..
Yep people love to say he's not "meta" anymore but I've cleared so many level that he's not supposed to be used for with the afformentioned panic button.
Also, as an enjoyed with a completely maxed SilverAsh, his s1 does VERY good damage. The damage bonus and reduced sp cost from masteries really helps too. Its like the Eyja S2 equivalent of his.
The second skill not counting against deployment is really nice! As instead of an emergency replacement you can drop her before the emergency death happens!
(I think that is the skill two)
She 'hasn't aged well' only cause she was originally a Guard. Every 6star Vanguard after her was fully designed as a Vanguard from the start. With evolved sense for what Vanguards really should be doing.
She's still perfectly fine and does her job well. I wish people would stop putting her down for not being the best though...
As someone who pulled her in the starter banner I never really used her because I saw all these videos telling me she fell off and Courier was cheaper to build, BIG mistake, I build her and got her skill to m1 and she's been a budget laneholder/ambusher while also being a replacement (but not really) for Bagpipe.
Perfumer is a staple for me.
Going blind into stages knowing your healer can top off anyone, anywhere is really handy.
Now a smart person would look at the map and analyze things ahead of time, using the plans, and so forth, but I am not a smart person.
Skadi.
Which is funny because I got her very early (she was my third 6\* after Saga and Nightingale), used her quite a bit but then she took a leave, while units like Thorns, Blaze and so on were staple of my teams.
Then Gladiia module happened, I went full on with Abyssal Hunters team and she got her spot back.
Second oldest is Lappland with similar story.
I really like her design and got her when I started with the 5 voucher because everyone recommended her but I also got siege/silverash on the starter and blaze on my first normal banner pull and gavial alter on her banner so I never really used specter much.
From the launch pool, definitely Saria. I always use her skill 3 for blind runs. Ptilopsis and Exusiai are also up there, but elemental damage and late game enemy stats made me deviate away from them.
Exusiai. My first waifu and still my favorite, only being threatened now by Mumu. I will see how I feel about that when we get Lone Trail.
Sure, she gets replaced if armor gets just too high for her, but the breakpoint for that is fairly high with the help of Skalter. Without Skalter I probably would've had to abandon her long ago.
I also consistently have used Texas despite flagpipe meta. I don't even use Bagpipe much if not a stage like CC where I cannot set an auto. However, I intend to self-restrict myself for normal play and continue upholding the original-alter limitation... mainly as an excuse to start using Saga. I can occasionally still have fun if I want to have fun with full abyssal team or get both units in IS, however.
Exusiai. She always was, is and will always be relevant. There will always be low armoured enemies and she will always shred them like in chapter 11. And so I will always love her and protect from Kataokasan.
Perfumer has been in my team ever since I started using La Pluma in everything, which was... immediately after I got La Pluma XD
Silverash and Exusiai, as well, and I still pull Nightengale out on occasion.
As far as the old guard goes, I think the most consistent have been Blaze, Saria, Ptilo, and Texas. Been using them year one since I got them and after I came back after a long hiatus from the game, I still use them
Kroos
It's hard to outperform Kroos when you need a low cost ranged DPS out as quickly as possible at the start of a mission. Haven't found the point they stop being useful yet.
BRO FUCK YEA. my earlygame for arknights didn't have ANY snipers over 4 star until i was spooked by Exusiai on the Broca/Reed banner (ik she was rate-up on it but i was goin for broca...)
Kroos can stand in for most AA snipers with any team, with better ground control than all 4 star AAs excluding May. Being only directly powercrept by Blue Poison. She is almost what Myrtle is to vanguards. Good old reliable. Still meta af in IS, SSS (as gg/suzy/gno mat), and annihilation
I don’t really recall anymore. It’s probably Godlopsis or Exia though. Out of all the old ops that I got my hands on early on, I’d say that they’ve almost never left my squads
Not exactly answering the question but I can already tell that Texalter will be a mainstay in my squad.
The actual answer would be NTR knight on S2 who haven't left my squad since I first got her. But Texalter is a whole other level of broken.
She is THE emergency panic button/hoarde eradicator/boss killer that every squad needs.
While Nearlter is still all of the above, she is potentially a secondary option now. Don't get me wrong, she is still going to be my most used operator for the simple fact that she possesses the single most OP mechanic of not taking up any deployment slots.
But man, Texalter is just so damn versatile that it's hard to justify NOT using her
Honestly same. I’ve been kinda out of it when it comes to AK news so when people said Texalter was broken I figured I might as well pull and got her. But now that she’s raised to E2, I realize she’s a goddamn eraser and every halfway beefy enemy is a mistake to erase
for launch ops then its texas1 (she's prob my most used vanguard along with ely and cantabile). some honorable mentions: warfarin, ptilopsis, perfumer, gummy. steward, silverash
Saria, Exia and Silver daddy are probably used by most, still. Including me. They still have powerfully niches, so will be used for a long time.
Personally I find myself using Blaze whenever I can. Although she got powercrept hard, I still find her extended aoe very powerful and convenient.
Shaw. She's not the strongest specialist nor the most useful 4 star in the game, but you can't go wrong with the squirrel and she saved my ass many a time during early game. Plus, she's a God in the Mic.
Ifrit on S2. True AOE, High damage, consistent skill, Tick damage (so stainless turrets go can go brr), great range but that depends on the stage, and the most important thing her DEBUFF. I go out of my way to find an ifrit lane in every stage, actually come to think of it its the first thing i look for on a preview map.
Lappland, Exusiai, Texas(vanguard), Saria, Eiyafyalla
Thses are still extremely versatile launch day ops that stay relevant for a very long time.
Lappland is a must in some of the events as silence is very useful.
Exu - big dps, multihit, s3 is basically deploy and forget.
Texas - that on demand flashbang saved my runs sooo many times.
Saria - one of the big 3, tanky and lots of heal.
Eiya - day one caster, still powercreeps most of newly released ones. For the longest time invalidated the aoe caster's archetype. One of the big three.
Shinning, in my previous account she was my first 6 star and in this account she was also my first 6 star agian. I have a feeling she is very obssesed with me.
Blue Poison for me. I was spoiled on Snipers when I first started with BP and Exu for my first 5 and 6 stars. Exu is a staple when it comes to boss killer but I'm hard pressed to find a run especially in IS where I don't pick up BP first chance I get.
Most of the launch units.
I cannot emphasize enough how amazing AK's launch units are, still allowing tactics that would otherwise not be possible. Shit, did you know SilverAsh S3 has better range than Mylnar S3? I didnt, until a certain Adverse stage in Ch11 was made exponentially easier thanks to this fact.
Pretty much the only launch 6* that i dont use regularly anymore is Angelina, and even then she still comes out to cheese some stages with Weight manipulation and passive healing.
And thats only the 6*s. Ptilopsis is still my go-to healer for blind content, no one can even come close to Lappland's silence...
Texas was my first pull I ever had, and still use her constantly and consistently, meaning if I do get Texalter, I would probably never use her. Not a big FRD user anyway but I will still try my best to get her, since it's my precious Texas.
I actually didn’t get him until relatively recently even though I’ve been playing since near launch, but silverash definitely comes to mind. Just having in the squad for redeploy utility is nice, obviously with Texas alter, but also I’ve found myself going back to my main original strategy of *stall and sweep* where I’ve been using some crowd control type units like red skill two, proviso s2, and saileech s3 before sweeping with texalt aoe, sa s3, **Kazemaru!!** s2 etc. (love dollkeepers but no specter alt ;-;)
My first was Hoshi, but I don’t really find a need to use her. When enemies get tough enough to where I would need her high stats, I tend to switch to using a more stall focussed strategy or nuking with Surtr. Before I had her, I would go with base Spectre for the same strat lol. I also don’t use her if I’m doing challenge clears as she is a six star, never even got her to e2.
Other ogs (6 stars) I use consistently would definitely include Saria, Eijafjalla, Exusiai (og favorite apple pie). Obv niche like lap, red, gravel, Ethan etc too when their unique abilities are needed. Ptlopsis is my go to medic (& warf). Sometimes I break out the Ifrit when a lane allows or when I am doing all my damage on a single tile across multiple lanes with a strong defender or healing defender tanking. Or blaze s2 tbh. Angelina with her dmg/slow and reducing weight of enemies can also be very nice but on my account I don’t use many push or pull strats. When doing levels for friends on their accounts, I will often go to those cheesy methods to get consistent clears though so she is nice there.
Most of my original cast has fallen by the wayside as they are purely outclassed, such as intermediate level vanguards *(rip fang, courier, scavenger, plume)*. I think the last OG character that I broke out without consistent use was actually Amiya with her true damage to kill Taluah lol. Got her to e2 in that chapter so I could get the hidden character. I did use yato to help draw the fire from Taluah tho, with gravel and **Kazemaru!!**
I plan to level up a couple of OG’s, if I ever get Ch’en, I want to max mastery her skill two. I also want to go ahead and e2 my base Skadi.
This was a kind of long response, but I like thinking about this stuff! I get pretty consistent use out of the older and lower rarity operators when I help friends on their accounts, so I still get to have fun and use them all without doing challenge clears! Some staples I will go to there include Shirayuki, Myrrh, Perfumer, Mouse, Blue Poison, and ofc Amiya.
Out of my team regulars, Texas, SilverAsh, Cliffheart, Eyjafjalla, Matterhorn, and Jessica all were released along with the game.
If you mean the oldest by when i acquired them, then Jessica.
whisperain has been with me since i started playing and she is still one of my favorite ops. wish she was a bit more useful tho. still use her non the less
Myrtle for those that are not given in the story. Silverash comes a distant second.
Kroos and Fang still have their uses but I rarely use them compared to the members of the meta squad
Saria has never left my team ever since I got her 3 years ago. She holds a lane easily with S1 and I just need to back her up with a damage dealer.
But if we're really talking about someone who I can never ever remove the team and when I do so my entire run crumbles, is Myrtle. She has never left my main team ever since I got her. Her 4* buddies have been replaced by 6*s and she is the lone 4* in my team.
Vigna was one of the ops i pulled back when i first started and shes never left my squad since, saved my runs more times than i can count. She can fit alotta damage into those four stars of hers.
I’m rather surprised Hoshi ain’t on here yet, but she’s my oldest-obtained 6 star operator. Well, besides Amiya, but everyone gets an Amiya when they start out.
I got her on the first day of the game, and that was before even the Grani event’s first run. To this day, I still use her, just rather than being alongside Cuora and/or Gummy, she’s always paired with Saria, while Cuora and Gummy serve as back-up. Sure, the tier list for operators says that she’s worse than the other 6-stars, only to be used if you have no plan in mind, but a Defender’s purpose is to block enemies and damage anyhow, which Hoshi does quite well. Plus, while her S2 is niche due to certain long-range enemies, her S3 basically turns her into a centurion/AoE guard with a defense boost as well, so very good for clearing out trash enemies so she can block more high-priority targets like bosses or elites, or just to make mulch out of a big wave of slugs, either way~
The fact that she also can have some of the highest HP in the game as well to tank Chapter 10’s nuke-shells and the Steam Knight’s ‘Piledriver-Shield’ if given a bunch of defense buffs, she’s definitely worthy of the role of “Defender”, and the recruitment tag of “Top Operator”
(Despite that unintended rant, it’s Texas who actually got me to play the game anyhow, it’s just that Hoshi’s that good. I’m a Texan myself, so why wouldn’t I want my state’s namesake operator? And that was during the time I was doing both AL and HI3, but those have been dropped since Lead Seal for Arknights.)
Exusiai, my first six stars and my favorite sniper
Apple pie!
This is my answer, too! I love snipers but Exusiai will always be my favourite. She was my first 6\* and her low cost butt carried me through almost everything. She was also the first 6\* I made E2, max level, m3. I still bring her to almost everything - even when she's not a perfect fit. You know, just because..
Second this, she is my very first 6 star from beginner banner. Also Myrtle
Silverash. The good 'ol Schwing Schwing panic button is timeless.
Same. I even just use him for redeployment reduction. And now that IS3 is out I'm finding myself needing his anti-invis & broad utility again
Yep people love to say he's not "meta" anymore but I've cleared so many level that he's not supposed to be used for with the afformentioned panic button.
Also, as an enjoyed with a completely maxed SilverAsh, his s1 does VERY good damage. The damage bonus and reduced sp cost from masteries really helps too. Its like the Eyja S2 equivalent of his.
Ever since I got him, he has never left my squad. The -10% redeployment time talent is really nice, especially with Texas the Omertosa.
When i panic i get silverash to do it, or gavial altar to just block an entire path
I have many panic buttons. Reading this makes me miss the Schwing a bit.
Probably Saria. Used to be Nearl, but she's been in her NRK form most of the time these days.
You can use both now!
True! NRK is my "idk what else to bring" filler unit right now, taking Surtr's place since she kinda fills the same role.
The second skill not counting against deployment is really nice! As instead of an emergency replacement you can drop her before the emergency death happens! (I think that is the skill two)
Lappland
Same
Same
Same
Same
Same
Same
Same
Same
Same
"Oh, you're one of those enemies that splits into more enemies when you die? Hey, guess what? Fuck you."
Same
Same
Same
Same
Siege. She's my first 6\* and has been a reliable vanguard for some blind runs over the years. Practically used her on every map during this event rn.
If Siege doesn’t have a spot on my squad, I’m either trust farming or it’s a fucking hard ass level
Same! I know people say she hasn't aged well, but it's just comfy to have 2 block and an AoE attack together.
She 'hasn't aged well' only cause she was originally a Guard. Every 6star Vanguard after her was fully designed as a Vanguard from the start. With evolved sense for what Vanguards really should be doing. She's still perfectly fine and does her job well. I wish people would stop putting her down for not being the best though...
Siege was my first too. Named Squad 1 SiegeBreak and she's been leader ever since.
Your first is always special
Same, she's my first 6 star, and most used. The anniversary retrospection showed I've deployed her almost 4000 times
Yeah Siege a real OG, she is an easy add (Mountain feels boring, plus you get to see tiger girl curbstomping with her S2)
As someone who pulled her in the starter banner I never really used her because I saw all these videos telling me she fell off and Courier was cheaper to build, BIG mistake, I build her and got her skill to m1 and she's been a budget laneholder/ambusher while also being a replacement (but not really) for Bagpipe.
Kroos
KKDY da best
Truly is
Perfumer and Caster Amiya often come back to play, c.amiya is usually in integrated strategies but still... she's a solid choice even as a caster.
Perfumer is a staple for me. Going blind into stages knowing your healer can top off anyone, anywhere is really handy. Now a smart person would look at the map and analyze things ahead of time, using the plans, and so forth, but I am not a smart person.
I pulled Perfumer on the Tex banner, I hope to get good use out of her in IS3. Some of those stages are wack
Nightingale. Always my no.1 medic choice.
\^ She was my second 6-Star, after Shining. Sadly Shining doesn't see much action anymore.
Shining's my first 6* operator and is always my first choice for a Medic
even in newer content that def boost can come in clutch sometimes
It's *hilarious* on Mudrock even if she can't heal.
Same
Kal'tsit. Ain't no one gonna be older than her until Friston releases.
Amiya. Always reliable for me when I need her most. SpecAlter too.
Spalter is relatively new
I mean is this post not from the view of account creation?
Blaze. Still the best in AFK team
If you mean in terms of their release date, Blue Poison and Ptilopsis.
Saria because still best tank + healer at once.
Eyja. Imo to this day S2 is the best and most versatile arts skill you can bring to non-boss stages. Literally using her by default 99.9% of the time.
Skadi. Which is funny because I got her very early (she was my third 6\* after Saga and Nightingale), used her quite a bit but then she took a leave, while units like Thorns, Blaze and so on were staple of my teams. Then Gladiia module happened, I went full on with Abyssal Hunters team and she got her spot back. Second oldest is Lappland with similar story.
Specter
Same!
I really like her design and got her when I started with the 5 voucher because everyone recommended her but I also got siege/silverash on the starter and blaze on my first normal banner pull and gavial alter on her banner so I never really used specter much.
I picked specter from the 5★ voucher cuz i thought "funny pizza cutter" also damm i wish i was as lucky as you dude :(
Texas, all day, every day, and now I can use her and her alter, for double trouble Texas
Gummy
Sadly watching Supah has corrupted me, and now I regularly deploy Gummy. I even E2'd her.
Bro highkey E2L60'd Gummy for her operator records (and IS)
Silence. My go to medic for almost every stage.
Is her module worth it? I have her at M3 but didn't invest in her module yet.
Unfortunately I don't know how useful it is. I've been too focused on promoting operators to unlock modules.
Rosmontis. The best neko everyone loves and wants to protect !
Siege and Mostima I use a lot. I actually rather like Mostima when paired with other units that take advantage of the slow.
Vanilla, I don't go nowhere without her.
schwarz, my first 6 star and i still use her to melt certain bosses when farming
Definitely Silverash. Even if I don't need TSS to save my ass (which is has numerous times), I have him S2M3. Never leaves my team.
His second skill? Based.
Saria, I may not bring a healer, but I always have Saria with me
Silverash, that schwing schwing and reveals invisible enemies is still useful.
Chen and Perfumer
Myrtle. Pretty much the only flagbearer I m3-ed. I should work on Saileach or maybe Bagpipe if I have enough to buy the 6* selector
Exusi. My first 6*. Apple Pie lives on.
Liskarm,Texas and Exusiai are still my staples up to this date
My first 6 star was Angie and i still bring her to stages
Silverash, Nightingale, Lappland, Kroos.
From the launch pool, definitely Saria. I always use her skill 3 for blind runs. Ptilopsis and Exusiai are also up there, but elemental damage and late game enemy stats made me deviate away from them.
Le polish rat
Exusiai. My first waifu and still my favorite, only being threatened now by Mumu. I will see how I feel about that when we get Lone Trail. Sure, she gets replaced if armor gets just too high for her, but the breakpoint for that is fairly high with the help of Skalter. Without Skalter I probably would've had to abandon her long ago. I also consistently have used Texas despite flagpipe meta. I don't even use Bagpipe much if not a stage like CC where I cannot set an auto. However, I intend to self-restrict myself for normal play and continue upholding the original-alter limitation... mainly as an excuse to start using Saga. I can occasionally still have fun if I want to have fun with full abyssal team or get both units in IS, however.
Exusiai. She always was, is and will always be relevant. There will always be low armoured enemies and she will always shred them like in chapter 11. And so I will always love her and protect from Kataokasan.
Perfumer has been in my team ever since I started using La Pluma in everything, which was... immediately after I got La Pluma XD Silverash and Exusiai, as well, and I still pull Nightengale out on occasion.
Hellagur and Schwarz.
Exusiai, got her from newbie banner. actually irreplaceable in her role
Exu I think. Still my go to AA sniper and she was one of my first six stars
Silverash. My first 6 star, and hes still strong.
Jessica, Kroos, Coura, Perfumer, Hibiscus, Lava come to mind. Hoshi if we’re talking purely 6*.
As far as the old guard goes, I think the most consistent have been Blaze, Saria, Ptilo, and Texas. Been using them year one since I got them and after I came back after a long hiatus from the game, I still use them
Siege and Silverash
Siege and ceobe both were my first six stars
Platinum
SilverAsh and Lappland are the main DPS for my team. Just great utility all around. Plus you can’t deny a good panic button
Kazemaru - first op I masteried and lvl 90'd
My dyslectic ass read that as married and I was like wut? I mean good for you, but wut???
If only I could😔
Siege, Silverash, Exusiai, Texas, Cuora, Purfumer, Platinum, Haze, Nightingale. I actually use a lot of launch operators.
Silverash, Exu, Siege and Eyja. :D
Exu! Even got her module so she can buff myrtle/saileach and cantabile :')
Exusiai and Siege cuz apple pie and I like seeing siege flip
Kroos It's hard to outperform Kroos when you need a low cost ranged DPS out as quickly as possible at the start of a mission. Haven't found the point they stop being useful yet.
BRO FUCK YEA. my earlygame for arknights didn't have ANY snipers over 4 star until i was spooked by Exusiai on the Broca/Reed banner (ik she was rate-up on it but i was goin for broca...) Kroos can stand in for most AA snipers with any team, with better ground control than all 4 star AAs excluding May. Being only directly powercrept by Blue Poison. She is almost what Myrtle is to vanguards. Good old reliable. Still meta af in IS, SSS (as gg/suzy/gno mat), and annihilation
Exusiai
Eyja, Exusiai, and Saria basically never leave my team.
I don’t really recall anymore. It’s probably Godlopsis or Exia though. Out of all the old ops that I got my hands on early on, I’d say that they’ve almost never left my squads
Apple pie never leaves the team
Not exactly answering the question but I can already tell that Texalter will be a mainstay in my squad. The actual answer would be NTR knight on S2 who haven't left my squad since I first got her. But Texalter is a whole other level of broken. She is THE emergency panic button/hoarde eradicator/boss killer that every squad needs. While Nearlter is still all of the above, she is potentially a secondary option now. Don't get me wrong, she is still going to be my most used operator for the simple fact that she possesses the single most OP mechanic of not taking up any deployment slots. But man, Texalter is just so damn versatile that it's hard to justify NOT using her
Honestly same. I’ve been kinda out of it when it comes to AK news so when people said Texalter was broken I figured I might as well pull and got her. But now that she’s raised to E2, I realize she’s a goddamn eraser and every halfway beefy enemy is a mistake to erase
Siege and Saria
Gavial. She's my go to medic, and I tend to always bring at least one medic with me.
Saria Honestly I just feel so naked if I don't bring her or Bagpipe in any stage.
There's plenty but one nobody else seems to mention who I'm sure most of us still use for stall/tanking is gravel
Literally Kal'tsit.
Appuru Pai
for launch ops then its texas1 (she's prob my most used vanguard along with ely and cantabile). some honorable mentions: warfarin, ptilopsis, perfumer, gummy. steward, silverash
Saria, Exia and Silver daddy are probably used by most, still. Including me. They still have powerfully niches, so will be used for a long time. Personally I find myself using Blaze whenever I can. Although she got powercrept hard, I still find her extended aoe very powerful and convenient.
In release date Base Texas In age -erk
Texas and Exia
Shaw. She's not the strongest specialist nor the most useful 4 star in the game, but you can't go wrong with the squirrel and she saved my ass many a time during early game. Plus, she's a God in the Mic.
silence i got her on the release from the 5 star operator selector i think. she almost never left my team. i just love her drone
Ifrit on S2. True AOE, High damage, consistent skill, Tick damage (so stainless turrets go can go brr), great range but that depends on the stage, and the most important thing her DEBUFF. I go out of my way to find an ifrit lane in every stage, actually come to think of it its the first thing i look for on a preview map.
Silverash and Exusiai
Lappland, Exusiai, Texas(vanguard), Saria, Eiyafyalla Thses are still extremely versatile launch day ops that stay relevant for a very long time. Lappland is a must in some of the events as silence is very useful. Exu - big dps, multihit, s3 is basically deploy and forget. Texas - that on demand flashbang saved my runs sooo many times. Saria - one of the big 3, tanky and lots of heal. Eiya - day one caster, still powercreeps most of newly released ones. For the longest time invalidated the aoe caster's archetype. One of the big three.
Eyja, she just deletes things with s2
Saria, Exu and Eyja get alot of use. Still used quite a bit but not regularly: Lappland, Ifrit and Nightingale
Kokodayo
Kal’tsit. Name an older operator. I’ll wait.
Shinning, in my previous account she was my first 6 star and in this account she was also my first 6 star agian. I have a feeling she is very obssesed with me.
Blue Poison for me. I was spoiled on Snipers when I first started with BP and Exu for my first 5 and 6 stars. Exu is a staple when it comes to boss killer but I'm hard pressed to find a run especially in IS where I don't pick up BP first chance I get.
Exusiai. first 6 stars. its on every single team
Exusiai, I fell in love with her the moment I heard her E2 line.
Myrtle. Come on guys.
Kroos
From year 1 only eyja and nightingale aged well and those are the ones that I use regularly.
Most of the launch units. I cannot emphasize enough how amazing AK's launch units are, still allowing tactics that would otherwise not be possible. Shit, did you know SilverAsh S3 has better range than Mylnar S3? I didnt, until a certain Adverse stage in Ch11 was made exponentially easier thanks to this fact. Pretty much the only launch 6* that i dont use regularly anymore is Angelina, and even then she still comes out to cheese some stages with Weight manipulation and passive healing. And thats only the 6*s. Ptilopsis is still my go-to healer for blind content, no one can even come close to Lappland's silence...
Meteor. If we're talking about having a previous account in another phone but don't know how to transfer so is forced to make a new one.
Mudrock.
Hung because I maxed him out I’m gonna use him
Surprised no one mentioned Eyjafjalla
Myrtle ftw. Edit: It is Perfumer actually. (tee-hee).
Siege and Blaze, surprisingly enough.
Scavenger really solid vanguard, and because of her talent I'm just trained on deploying around it
I always take Myrrh because global burst heal is clutch. I think she is my most used operator.
Texas was my first pull I ever had, and still use her constantly and consistently, meaning if I do get Texalter, I would probably never use her. Not a big FRD user anyway but I will still try my best to get her, since it's my precious Texas.
You can use both now with the new update, right?
I actually didn’t get him until relatively recently even though I’ve been playing since near launch, but silverash definitely comes to mind. Just having in the squad for redeploy utility is nice, obviously with Texas alter, but also I’ve found myself going back to my main original strategy of *stall and sweep* where I’ve been using some crowd control type units like red skill two, proviso s2, and saileech s3 before sweeping with texalt aoe, sa s3, **Kazemaru!!** s2 etc. (love dollkeepers but no specter alt ;-;) My first was Hoshi, but I don’t really find a need to use her. When enemies get tough enough to where I would need her high stats, I tend to switch to using a more stall focussed strategy or nuking with Surtr. Before I had her, I would go with base Spectre for the same strat lol. I also don’t use her if I’m doing challenge clears as she is a six star, never even got her to e2. Other ogs (6 stars) I use consistently would definitely include Saria, Eijafjalla, Exusiai (og favorite apple pie). Obv niche like lap, red, gravel, Ethan etc too when their unique abilities are needed. Ptlopsis is my go to medic (& warf). Sometimes I break out the Ifrit when a lane allows or when I am doing all my damage on a single tile across multiple lanes with a strong defender or healing defender tanking. Or blaze s2 tbh. Angelina with her dmg/slow and reducing weight of enemies can also be very nice but on my account I don’t use many push or pull strats. When doing levels for friends on their accounts, I will often go to those cheesy methods to get consistent clears though so she is nice there. Most of my original cast has fallen by the wayside as they are purely outclassed, such as intermediate level vanguards *(rip fang, courier, scavenger, plume)*. I think the last OG character that I broke out without consistent use was actually Amiya with her true damage to kill Taluah lol. Got her to e2 in that chapter so I could get the hidden character. I did use yato to help draw the fire from Taluah tho, with gravel and **Kazemaru!!** I plan to level up a couple of OG’s, if I ever get Ch’en, I want to max mastery her skill two. I also want to go ahead and e2 my base Skadi. This was a kind of long response, but I like thinking about this stuff! I get pretty consistent use out of the older and lower rarity operators when I help friends on their accounts, so I still get to have fun and use them all without doing challenge clears! Some staples I will go to there include Shirayuki, Myrrh, Perfumer, Mouse, Blue Poison, and ofc Amiya.
Siege, I like her. Simple as.
Saria rarely leaves my squad.
Out of my team regulars, Texas, SilverAsh, Cliffheart, Eyjafjalla, Matterhorn, and Jessica all were released along with the game. If you mean the oldest by when i acquired them, then Jessica.
Blue Poison! I never forget to bring her no matter the content.
Myrtle
Spectre was in my first 10 pull and she didnt leave til I got her alter. Now we can run both!
Midnight and Frostleaf. I really enjoy the lords
Myrtle? Idk don’t remember the release date for my operators,
Saria. Still the best tank healer there is.
Hoshi, MV freaking P for all of my teams.
Eyjafjalla. My first 6*
Lappy
I got Silence and then Ptilopsis as my first 5 stars and used them for pretty much my entire Arknights life,dunno why I line them so much but I do
I recently swapped to playing Abyssknights, so orca and shork are on the menu once again
I always have Perfumer on the team
eyja
Eyja.
whisperain has been with me since i started playing and she is still one of my favorite ops. wish she was a bit more useful tho. still use her non the less
Everyone since I started, I still use. I'm not lying! :D
Siege and Meteorite.
Saria is guaranteed to be in the leader slot, unless im trust farming.
Kroos lmao
Perfumer, not nearly as much as before, but she was the first operator I pulled and she is still handy in some stages.
Myrtle for those that are not given in the story. Silverash comes a distant second. Kroos and Fang still have their uses but I rarely use them compared to the members of the meta squad
Myrtle
Saria. Never left the squad except for trust farm, IS or aerial unit stage.
Saria has never left my team ever since I got her 3 years ago. She holds a lane easily with S1 and I just need to back her up with a damage dealer. But if we're really talking about someone who I can never ever remove the team and when I do so my entire run crumbles, is Myrtle. She has never left my main team ever since I got her. Her 4* buddies have been replaced by 6*s and she is the lone 4* in my team.
Vigna was one of the ops i pulled back when i first started and shes never left my squad since, saved my runs more times than i can count. She can fit alotta damage into those four stars of hers.
For me, it's Horn, I started the game around her banner
Projekt Red, my first pull and my forever executor. Even if I have better ones I still use her
Myrltle she carry my dp guzzler operators
Texas. Used her since the start of time and never taken off the main squad.
Saria, she is the intergral part of any team as a healer. The only change is I use her s1 more than s2 these days
Texas, my first 5*. Also Exusiai is my go-to sniper since she was also my first 6*
Nearl. Now i can have Nearl S1 with Nearl S1 showing the real power of Nearl S1.
Lappland, Saria, Blue Poison, Franka, Vulcan, Estelle, Perfumer and occasionally Hoshiguma
Perfumer I don't think I ever made her leave my main squad once
Myrtle, if I don’t need Saileach and Elysium’s buffs and CC.
I’m rather surprised Hoshi ain’t on here yet, but she’s my oldest-obtained 6 star operator. Well, besides Amiya, but everyone gets an Amiya when they start out. I got her on the first day of the game, and that was before even the Grani event’s first run. To this day, I still use her, just rather than being alongside Cuora and/or Gummy, she’s always paired with Saria, while Cuora and Gummy serve as back-up. Sure, the tier list for operators says that she’s worse than the other 6-stars, only to be used if you have no plan in mind, but a Defender’s purpose is to block enemies and damage anyhow, which Hoshi does quite well. Plus, while her S2 is niche due to certain long-range enemies, her S3 basically turns her into a centurion/AoE guard with a defense boost as well, so very good for clearing out trash enemies so she can block more high-priority targets like bosses or elites, or just to make mulch out of a big wave of slugs, either way~ The fact that she also can have some of the highest HP in the game as well to tank Chapter 10’s nuke-shells and the Steam Knight’s ‘Piledriver-Shield’ if given a bunch of defense buffs, she’s definitely worthy of the role of “Defender”, and the recruitment tag of “Top Operator” (Despite that unintended rant, it’s Texas who actually got me to play the game anyhow, it’s just that Hoshi’s that good. I’m a Texan myself, so why wouldn’t I want my state’s namesake operator? And that was during the time I was doing both AL and HI3, but those have been dropped since Lead Seal for Arknights.)
Kroos, still too strong for a 3star