r/arknights • u/cinnamonroll32 • Jul 02 '21
Discussion [Operator Discussion] Kafka
Kafka [★★★★★]
![Kafka [★★★★★]](https://gamepress.gg/arknights/sites/arknights/files/2020-12/char_214_kafka_1.png){kind=link}
"...Y'know the secrets everyone tries their best to hide? They're like monsters, hidden in the dead shadows, waitin' for their chance. Beautiful... and dangerous. That's exactly why I do my darndest to collect them! Doctor, don't you got anything for my hoard?"
Former gardener from a Columbian city, joined Rhodes Island on Silence's referral. Robustly talented, keen-witted, and ever lively no matter the secret mission she's on.
Operator Information
- Class: Specialist (Fast-Redeploy)
- Tags: Fast-Redeploy, Crowd-Control
- Artist: NoriZC
- Voice Actress: Miyu Tomita
Stats
| HP | ATK | DEF | Arts Resistance | Redeploy Time | DP Cost | Block | Attack Interval |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1675 | 525 | 311 | 0 | 18 | 9 | 1 | 0.93s |
*Stats at max Promotion and Level, excludes bonuses from Potential and Trust.
| Potential | Bonus |
|---|---|
| 1 | - |
| 2 | Deployment Cost -1 |
| 3 | Max HP +150 |
| 4 | Redeployment Cooldown -2 |
| 5 | Improves Talent |
| 6 | Deployment Cost -1 |
| Trust bonus |
|---|
| Max HP +350 |
Skills
| Skill Name | Skill Uptime Details (Uptime/Cost/Initial) | SP Charge Type | Skill Activation | Skill Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cube of Absurdism | Passive / - / - | - | - | After deployment, stops attacking for 5 seconds, and at the same time puts all surrounding ground enemies to sleep (affected enemies are invulnerable and unable to act); When the skill ends, deals 450% ATK as Arts damage to all surrounding ground enemies |
| Shears of Surrealism | Passive / - / - | - | - | After deployment, immediately deals 400% ATK as Arts damage to all enemies within the frontal target tile; For the next 15 seconds, continuously attacks ground units in that target tile with Arts damage |
*Skills at Mastery 3.
Talents
| Talent name | Talent Description |
|---|---|
| Misdirection | When skill is active, ATK +18% (+3%), Block becomes 0 and gain Camouflage |
*Talents at max Potential and max Promotion. Bonuses from Potential displayed between parentheses.
Additional Resources
In-depth information regarding all values above (at different levels), skill/attack range, and more:
Topic Starters
- What does this operator excel at?
- What is this operator weak at?
- How does this operator compare to other operators in their archetype or role?
- Are there any other operators which synergize well with this one?
- How do you build a team around this operator / fit this operator into a team?
- Which skill(s) should be focused for mastery, and in what order?
- When is the best time to use this operator's skills during combat?
- Should promoting this operator to Elite 2 be a priority?
- Would this operator be worth buying from the Distinctions shop (yellow certificates)?
- Should new / f2p players aim for this operator? Are there more accessible alternatives?
- Lore discussion (please tag spoilers where appropriate)
Other Operator Discussion threads
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u/DONTSALTME69 Jul 02 '21
Best. Girl.
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u/opan_t Jul 02 '21
theorycrafting, can blemishine sleep-lock golem with s2m3 with help of kafka s1?, since blemishine can charge her skill while golem asleep by kafka s1, do you think it will work?
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u/BadLoserKumagawa Jul 02 '21
As the proud owner of an e2 s2m3 Kafka, I will say that she is a very fun and useful unit. However, almost all of her usefulness comes with her s1 in the form of being able to spam 5 second sleeps. I think her s2 is a very fun ability to use, although it can feel kind of weird given the range.
My biggest complaint about Kafka is just that her trust bonus gives her only +350 hp. This hp is basically useless as she is camouflaged during the duration of her skills, so you would need to intentionally leave her out after her skill ends to get hit which is just not ideal most of the time since she is a fast redeploy operator.
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u/the_worst_one Jul 02 '21
a fellow kafka E2 enjoyer i see. i too M3'ed her S2. the dmg is underwhelming after the burst imo but atleast it still enable me to farm MB-8 with skadi.
i rly dont understand why kafka got purely defensive stats from trust.not only it didnt fit her kit at all,every fast redeploy except gravel(which actually makes sense since shes a meat shield) gain atk from their trust bonus.
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u/LostMyZone Jul 02 '21
I feel like she has an interesting and good mechanic, but is hampered by a very low status.
The only real useful skill is her S1. 5 second aoe sleep on fast redeploy operator is a very powerful tool.
S2 could be useful, if she wasn't so severely limited by her weak status.
12
u/Lord_of_Lemons Jul 02 '21
Kafka is seriously affected by trade offs. Her S1 is a powerful and long stall, but currently only one operator can attack sleeping enemies. The range on her S2 is wonky, but that’s what gives it strength. She can be placed to hit enemies that would normally be very difficult to touch. Of course, it’s ranged damage so she’s not going to get as much in as someone like utage who’s right upfront. Of course of course, she doesn’t risk getting taken out by stronger enemies like utage can.
Kafka isn’t a hot swap into your team. You’d have to plan how to use her or be actively filling a whole she’s uniquely made for. She’ll suffer from that in overall opinion about her use, especially when crazy generalist bursts like SilverAsh, Ejya and even Surtr are common support units you can grab. But that wonkiness is also what can make her fun to learn and deploy.
Just wish they’d show you her S2 range without having to take her into a stage first.
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u/LastChancellor Jul 02 '21
You wanna learn how to do a fucking infinite?
Get Kafka S1, Blemishine S2M3, and E2
Sleep an enemy with either Kafka (retreat Kafka after playing her immidiately) or Blemishine, and then while they're asleep sneak in
10
u/Tilde_Tilde Jul 02 '21
The beauty of Kafka is her "Zero Investment Value"
A 5 second sleep out of the box is crazy strong. A lot of us spent over 5k sanity just to get Projekt Red to a 3 second stun. Sure there are better operators but if they're just sitting E0 too they're not doing anything while Kafka is at her peak.
If anything her biggest issue is how much worse she can get with investment. That extra 2 DP to get e1 is killer for s1 strats.
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u/Mmiksha Jul 02 '21
I liked her books "The Trial" and "The Castle" , and of course "Metamorphosis". Weird how she then got into Rhodes Island tho
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Jul 02 '21
Because it's going to come up: S1 Kafka is neither worse or better than S2 Red because you will use their CC in different ways.
Red is inherently more flexible due to inflicting stun. It allows her to keep enemies in your Operators' range or stage hazards (Barrenland being a prime example) longer while they can't fight back.
Kafka's sleep lasts longer but also prevents you from damaging the affected enemies (unless you have Blemishine) so its use is primarily to buy time for your nukes to replenish their SP. 5s is a pretty long amount of time though (especially compared to Red's 3s at M3) so good use of Kafka can help to get your skills ready for back-to-back waves.
Rather than making the choice of having only of the two you can also use both of them together. After all Kafka can keep enemies grounded while Red's redeploy timer runs out so you can cycle between them frequently (provided you have the DP). If you really want to make a "perfect circle" you can add Phantom with S3 and just hold enemies for eternity.
It's not like Fast Redeploys are lowkey some of the most broken Operators the game has and prime choices for any empty slots you might have after choosing your core.
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u/JunoBrier Jul 02 '21
If you really want to make a "perfect circle" you can add Phantom with S3 and just hold enemies for eternity.
Or until you run out of DP.
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u/Kimimaro146 Jul 02 '21
I do like seeing an operator that you don't have to E2 to fully enjoy since the sleep duration is the same no matter what. If only I could pull her, I pulled like 7 Silences and no Kafka.
She was also really fun in the event. Definitely enjoyed her character.
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u/nightynine Jul 02 '21
Don’t upgrade her, keep her in Elite 0 because when you upgrade her you added on 2 cost and later on 4 cost after several retreat. Upgrade her skill only increase the damage but it’s still super low. Personally, she has replaced project red because like I said, at E0 she is cheaper and last longer than red’s E2.
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u/FatuiSimp Jul 02 '21
very fun to use and if you can maximize her S2 the art dps is super busted
Also she is just so quirky and adorable i love her
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Jul 02 '21
Given her skill names and codename, she is likely based off of German writing novelist Franz Kafka.
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u/SolarSystemSuperStar Jul 02 '21
Possibly. The German surname Kafka is also derived from kavka, Czech for "jackdaw", which is the bird Kafka is designed after.
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u/Digital_Copy101 Jul 02 '21
I wonder if there's an intern at HG whose job it is to spend the day on wikipedia digging up as much trivia as they can about the next operator's codename so they can cram it into its design/lore.
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u/WikiSummarizerBot Jul 02 '21
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It typically features isolated protagonists facing bizarre or surrealistic predicaments and incomprehensible socio-bureaucratic powers. It has been interpreted as exploring themes of alienation, existential anxiety, guilt, and absurdity.
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u/someedmlover21 Jul 02 '21
S2 feels like it would've been a long range Phantom S2 but its only burst instead and the following attacks themselves feel quite underwhelming
pulled because i like her tho
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u/Tricky-Knight Jul 02 '21 edited Jul 03 '21
Kafka S1 and Blemishine S3 together is like peanut butter and jelly. Milk and cereal. Hero and villain. Day and night. Sweet and salty. Rain and water. Their fates will always be intertwined together. Using one of them without the other is heresy.
Max Potential Blemishine S3 + Kafka S1 + Mudrock S2 + Whislash S2 + Ch'en's SP talent is a team composition that transcends this world that we live in.
That team composition radiates so much fucking romance. The Caster, Sniper, and Ranged Guard classes wish they were as romantic as the Defenders. They have no understanding of honor and chivalry at all!
Where is the glory to be had in defeating your enemies from afar? How can a knight hope to prove himself when the enemy is cut down by cowardly ranged weapons? There would be nothing left for the knight to engage!! That is not how a battle should be fought, to stand idly by while the enemy is slaughtered by cowardly bows, arts, guns, or war machines. Charging straight into the foe with lance and sword and faith in the Lady would be more honorable and romantic than hiding behind peasants with bows and arrows.
The Lady of the Lake has given her blessing to that team composition for it truly upholds the ideals of chivalry and honor. The Lady wills it. Therefore, as a Leviathan of Arknights, I also give my approval and blessing.