Even though Texas acts as a standard DP recovery unit in Arknights, she is commonly used for her unique skill, Sword Rain.
Arknights is a free-to-play tower defence mobile game set in the dystopian, post-apocalyptic future setting of planet Terra. It is believed that the people on the planet show kemonomimi features and have animal characteristics or mythological races.
The in-game natural disasters have left behind a valuable mineral Originium, which enables the use of Arts, a form of magic. It also infects people with the Oripathy disease. Due to the 100 percent death rate, and the high infectivity at the time of death, the unfriendliness towards the infected quickly became widespread. This led to a mass quarantine and an expulsion by governments worldwide. Thereafter, tension arose between the infected and non-infected
Players are invited to take on the role of the amnesiac Doctor. They are in command of a team of Operators on Rhodes Island. It is a medical, pharmaceutical and self-defence organisation. As the disease spreads, the team searches for a cure while defending themselves against threats, such as the Reunion Movement.
Arknights features over 200 operators that players can obtain. It can thus be very confusing to know which character is worth having. The characters are divided into eight different classes: Specialists, Snipers, Supporters, Defenders, Medics, Casters, Vanguard and Guards.
It is also important to note that each class features multiple sub-classes. Each sub-class has its own unique abilities and skills. The units are ranked by stars; one-star units are the most common and are usually very easy to obtain, while the six-star units are the best and the most sought-after units. These units are very difficult to obtain as they are quite rare. However, they are the strongest units in Arknights.
Texas
One of the five-star unit’s players can obtain is Texas. She is an employee of Penguin Logistics. Texas’ duties include covert communications and armoured vehicle transport. It is believed that she is, in fact, a messenger. Penguin Logistics has recently assigned her to Rhodes Island, where she assists with various operations.
Texas forms part of the Vanguard class. It is a class that specializes in generating Deployment Points (DP) to facilitate faster team deployment. Units in this class are usually deployed first, and are retreated once the DP needs are satisfied.
As a Vanguard, Texas takes on a melee position, and deals physical damage. However, she falls into the skill-DP recover sub-class. These Vanguards generate DP through the use of skills and abilities. This means that they can consistently generate DP throughout a battle. Additionally, they are able to block two enemies.
Texas’ abilities
The following table indicates Texas’ skills, talents, base skills and a description of each:
| Name of ability | Description |
| Talent: Tactical Delivery | When Texas is in the squad in Elite one, the initial DP will increase by one. |
| Talent: Tactical Delivery | If Texas is in the party during Elite two, the initial DP will increase by two. |
| Skill: Charge Y | The skill is automatically triggered. The squad will instantly gain 12 deployment points. |
| Skill: Sword Rain
|
When activated, the squad immediately gains nine deployment points. Additionally, it deals two 105 percent attacks as Arts damage to all nearby enemies. It also stuns all enemies for two seconds. |
| Base skill: Tacit Understanding | When Texas is assigned to the same Trading post as Exusiai, the morale consumed will be decreased every hour by 0.3. |
| Base skill: Feud | If Texas is assigned to the same Trading Post as Lappland, the morale consumed each hour will increase by 0.3 and order acquisition efficiency will increase by 65 percent. |
Overview
Texas specializes in area-of-effect (AoE) crowd control (CC) and Deployment Point (DP) recovery. Even though she acts as a standard DP recovery, she is mainly used for her unique skill, Sword Rain. The skill provides a large AoE guaranteed stun and command, that deals Arts damage while granting DP. Texas’ talent that offers additional DP at the start of the map can also be very useful for difficult content that requires fast starts.
Her crowd control offers flexible utility to the team, from buying precious time against tougher enemies, or preventing Wraiths from slipping past. The Arts damage will hit enemies with high defences, while the stun provides more time for the squad to attack.
It is important to note that using Sword Rain requires careful timing. Outside of optimal situations where both its effects are needed, Sword Rain’s cooldown as an opportunity cost that can prove fatal if mistimed.
Additionally, Texas’ statistics are a bit lower than the rest of Vanguards. This means that she requires careful skill usage and healing to stay alive. Despite the two downsides, the value of her crowd control cannot be understated. This makes Texas a strong pick for a variety of stages in Arknights.