Headhunting banners
| Headhunting | Banners | Trivia |
A list of headhunting banners in Arknights.
All Operators introduced on a headhunting banner will be available from all future banners after the one they were introduced in ends, with the exception to limited Operators; see below for more information.
Rate-up Operators are those who are more likely to appear than others.
- When a 6★ or 5★ Operator appears in a pull, there is a 50% chance that said Operator will be the rate-up one(s).
- In regular Limited banners, the rate-up 6★ Operator(s) have a higher chance of 70% to be the 6★ Operator that appears in a pull. For Limited banners after the one they were introduced on, the previous limited Operators have a 30% chance to be the 6★ Operator that appears in a pull.
- In crossover Limited banners:
- The rate-up 6★ Operator have a 50% chance to be the 6★ Operator that appears in a pull as in regular banners, but they are guaranteed to appear in any of the first 120 pulls (i.e. if the rate-up 6★ Operator do not appear after 119 pulls, then they will appear in the 120th pull).
- If there are two rate-up 5★ Operators, should either appears in a pull, the next (and only the next) 5★ Operator that appears are guaranteed to be the other rate-up 5★ Operator.
- When a 4★ Operator appears in a pull, there is a 20% chance that said Operator will be the rate-up one(s).
All Standard and Limited banners feature 4★ and higher Operators introduced after Illusions of the Past,[note 1] while the Kernel banner solely features 4★ and higher Operators introduced up until and including Illusions of the Past.[note 1]
List
- Limited Operators of the primary rate-up are denoted by red names, while those of the secondary rate-up are denoted by orange names.
- Operators available in the Store as part of the Standard Pool and Kernel banners are denoted by yellow names.
Current
| Banner/Date | Rate-Up Operators |
|---|---|
By My Will  CN: November 1, 2023 – November 15, 2023 Global: April 30, 2024 – May 14, 2024 |
|
Standard Pool #114 (Global)  May 10, 2024 – May 24, 2024
|
|
Kernel #13 (Global)  May 7, 2024 – May 21, 2024
|
Upcoming
- Main article: Headhunting/Banners/Upcoming
| Banner/Date | Rate-Up Operators |
|---|---|
Joint Operation #12  CN: November 21, 2023 – December 5, 2023 Global: June 5, 2024 – June 19, 2024 |
Former
- Main article: Headhunting/Banners/Former
Overview
Headhunting banners are divided into four categories: Standard, Limited, Kernel, and Newbie Pool.
Standard
Standard Pool
Standard Pool banners include the previously introduced Operators and always have two rate-up 6★ Operators and three rate-up 5★ Operators, one from each rarity is available in the Distinctions Store for 180 
and 45 , respectively, who can be easily identified by looking at the banner's image: the 6★ Operator is the one who uses their base artwork while the 5★ Operator is the one in the middle of rate-up 5★ Operators. Standard Pool banners are updated every two weeks.
Initially the Global and TW server's Standard Pool rotation follows the CN server's until the third and fourth, which are switched, and differs from the fifth onwards.
Special
Special (officially limited-time, but the Arknights Terra Wiki uses "Special" to avoid confusion with Limited banners, explained below) banners are always up alongside Side Story, most Vignette, and Main Theme episode release events, which includes the Operators introduced in the respective content, always having one new 6★ and 5★ Operator (as well as 4★ on Main Theme ones), and one previously introduced 5★ Operator as the rate-up ones.
Joint Operation
Joint Operation (JO; known as Joint Action in the CN server) banners are always up alongside most Contingency Contract seasons and includes four 6★ Operators and six 5★ Operators as the rate-up ones, all of which are previously introduced ones. Unlike in most other banners, the 6★ and 5★ Operators that appear on a pull in the JO banner will always be the rate-up ones.
The Front That Was
The Front That Was (TFTW) banners always precede Main Theme episode releases since Episode 11 Warm-Up and includes three 6★, 5★, 4★ Operators, all of which are introduced with previous Main Theme episodes with the newest ones replacing the oldest ones, as the rate-up ones. Unlike in other banners:
- The 6★ Operators that appear on a pull in TFTW banners will always be the rate-up ones.
- The 5★ and 4★ Operators that appear on a pull in TFTW banners have a 60% and 45% chance, respectively to be the rate-up ones.
Limited
Limited banners are named such because they introduce limited Operators and being the only way to add them into the player's Operator roster. They always feature two new 6★ Operators, one of which is the limited one, up to three old limited 6★ Operators of the same series, and one new 5★ Operator as the rate-up ones.
Under this definition, Crossover banners, part of a collaboration event with a non-Arknights media franchise, can also be included as limited headhunting banners. They always feature one new 6★ Operator and at least one new 5★ Operator as the rate-up ones.
Celebrate & Recollect banners are also classified as a limited headhunting banner, but neither introduces nor features limited Operators. Instead, the first (and only the first) 6★ Operator that appears in a pull on said banner will always be a non-limited 6★ Operator that the player do not have yet in their roster up until a certain special headhunting banner (see above); if the player have all the specified 6★ Operator in their roster, then the one that appears will be randomly chosen from the specified ones. Celebrate & Recollect banners are always live prior to Festival events in the Global server or during New Years in the CN server.
Currently limited headhunting banners are divided into three series; note that the release of limited banners in Global follow a different schedule than CN.
| Series | CN schedule | Global schedule |
|---|---|---|
| Celebration #1 | November | Late April ~ early May |
| Festival | February | Late July ~ early August |
| Celebration #2 | May | Late October ~ early November |
| Carnival | August | Around January 16 |
- An exception to the scheduling above is Cremation Last Wish, which are released during the 1st Anniversary Celebration on January 2021.
In all limited headhunting banners, the pull count and increased 6★ Operator rate for the pity system are not carried over from non-limited banners, instead tracking them separately including from other limited banners.
When a limited headhunting banner ends, the limited Operator introduced in that banner will be available from future limited banners and the Headhunting Data Contract Store of the matching series except for those on the Celebration banners who will be available from the other next Celebration banner (e.g. Rosmontis is introduced in Forget Me Not and added to Celebration banners in Path of the Radiant rather than Deep Drown Lament), with the sole exception to W.
Contrary to popular belief, once a limited Operator is no longer included in limited banners, they are not removed from the banner altogether, but are as likely as non-limited Operators to appear in a pull on the banner and remains available in the Headhunting Data Contract Store.
From the Our Kind Celebration limited banner:
- The oldest limited Operator in the limited banner group at the time the new limited banner is released (in the case of Our Kind, W) has their Headhunting Data Contract price reduced from 300 to 200, making them somewhat more accessible for players who missed them.
- The limited Operator introduced in the limited banner is guaranteed to appear at exactly the 300th pull in the respective banner.
Kernel
Introduced alongside Episode 12, the Kernel banner only features 5★ and higher Operators that no longer appear in other headhunting banners (see above), which means pulling in this banner is only advisable if the player has missed out on any Operator in the Kernel banner. They also feature Headhunting Permits that can only be used in Kernel banners: 
Kernel Headhunting Permit and 
Ten-roll Kernel Headhunting Permit, and the pity system is independent from non-Kernel banners.
Instead of awarding Commendation and Distinction Certificates, obtaining Operators from the Kernel Banner awards 
Universal Certificate, and their Operator Tokens differ from the regular ones in which they are exchanged for Universal Certificates.
Like Standard Pool banners (see above), Kernel banners are rotated every two weeks and one of the rate-up 6★ and 5★ Operators (all on the left of Operators of the respective rarity shown in the banner) are available for purchase in the Universal Certificates Exchange Area, costing 2000 
and 500 , respectively.
Kernel Locating
Every ~3 months starting from Lone Trail, which coincides with the weeks after Celebration, Festival, and Carnival events, the Kernel Locating banner will be featured in place of regular Kernel banners, where the player will be able to choose which 6★ and 5★ Operator would appear as the rate-up ones, including in the Certificate Store. Note that once the rate-up Operators are chosen, they cannot be changed for the rest of the Kernel Locating banner's period, so make your decision wisely.
Newbie Pool
The Newbie Pool banner is always available and has a discounted price of only 380 
per pull instead of 600 , but are limited to 20 pulls for each account; once this limit is reached, the banner can no longer be accessed from the Headhunting menu.
A 6★ and 5★ Operator is guaranteed to appear in the first ten pulls and any of the twenty pulls within the Newbie Pool banner, respectively, which makes it the best choice for new players.
- Rate-up Operators
