Arknights Operator Leveling Guide: The Most Resource-Efficient Leveling Method and Pitfall Avoidance Guide (2025 Update)

In Arknights, Operators don't level up through battles like traditional RPG characters. Instead, players rely on experience points (EXP Battle Tickets) and Lungmen Coins (LMDs) to advance.

For Operators (elite Operators), efficient leveling not only boosts combat effectiveness but also gives you an advantage in Events, Crisis Contracts, and challenging levels.

This guide will detail Operator leveling mechanics, resource acquisition methods, promotions, and skill mastery, and provide tips for avoiding pitfalls, helping you maximize your combat effectiveness with minimal resources.

1. Operators and Classifications

In Arknights, Operators are divided into eight main classes:

Vanguard: Low deployment cost, excels at fast deployment and cost recovery.

Sniper: Long-range physical damage, counters low-defense, high-health units.

Spellcaster: Ranged spell dealer, effective against high-defense enemies.

Guardian: Versatile melee fighter, combining damage and defense.

Defender: High defense and health, responsible for taking damage.

Medic: Restores teammates' health.

Specialist: Utility Operator, offering special abilities like movement and summons.

Supporter: Provides buffs, debuffs, or summons.

Operators are also categorized by rarity, ranging from 1 to 6 stars. Higher rarity requires more resources to upgrade and advance, but also offers greater potential in later stages.

2. Core Mechanics of Operator Upgrades

2.1 Experience Gaining - Combat Logs

In the game, Operators cannot gain experience directly through combat; they must rely on combat logs to level up. There are four types of combat logs:

Type Experience Earned Description

Drill Combat Logs 200 EXP Easiest to earn in the early stages

Frontline Combat Logs 400 EXP Common upgrade materials for the mid-game

Tactical Combat Logs 1000 EXP High-efficiency upgrade resources

Strategic Combat Logs 2000 EXP Core materials for later-game training

Upgrading operators requires a significant amount of LMD (Longmen Coins). The higher the level and the more promotions you receive, the more LMD you'll need.

2.2 Efficient ways to obtain EXP and LMD

(1) Tactical Exercises (Gaining Experience)

Recommended level: LS-4 (Efficiently produces strategic battle records)

Recommended for beginners: LS-3 (low difficulty, stable income)

Features: Open all week, suitable for long-term farming

(2) Cargo Escort (Gaining LMD)

Recommended level: CE-5 (Single output close to 6000 LMD)

Opening hours: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday

Tip: Plan your stamina in advance and concentrate on farming on the open days

(3) Shop and event exchange

Event shops often have battle records and LMD exchange, which is extremely efficient

Event levels often have better AP income than daily levels

(4) Top-up

If you want to quickly upgrade your operator level, you can purchase resource packs or monthly passes by top-up. Top-up on platforms such as Treabar can enjoy up to 22% discounts, and the funds will be credited to your account within 3 minutes, which does not affect the game rhythm.

3. Operator Promotion (Elite) Mechanism

Promotion is a key step in improving an operator's strength. Promotions can:

Increase the Operator's level cap

Unlock new skills and talents

Significantly improve basic attributes

Promotion Level Requirements (Elite 0 → Elite 1 → Elite 2)

Rarity: E0 → E1 Level Requirements: E1 → E2 Level Requirements

1★ 30 —

2★ 30 —

3★ 40 55

4★ 45 60

5★ 50 70

6★ 50 80

Promotion Cost:

Large amounts of LMD

High-level materials dropped from designated levels

For 6-star Operators, the demand for promotion materials is particularly high; it is recommended to prioritize core members.

4. Skill Upgrades and Mastery

Operator skills are divided into two stages: Standard Upgrades (Levels 1 and 7) and Mastery (M1 and M3).

Standard Skill Upgrades: Increase skill multipliers and reduce cooldowns, offering a high cost-effectiveness ratio.

Mastery: Further enhance skill effectiveness, especially at M3, where the improvement is significant.

Skill Upgrade Recommendations:

Prioritize frequently used skills.

Focus on developing the core skills of your main operators.

Utilize M1 "breakpoints" for low-cost upgrades.

5. Leveling Pitfalls and Leveling Planning

Many players easily fall into the trap of wasting resources when upgrading their operators:

Over-focusing on a single operator.

Newbies often make the mistake of allocating all resources to a single operator, resulting in a team lacking the diversity to handle different levels.

Recommendation: Prioritize developing one or two core operators while also considering a multi-class configuration.

Ignoring Skill Upgrades

High levels do not necessarily mean high combat power; skills are the key to improving combat efficiency.

Recommendation: Upgrade commonly used skills to Level 7 before considering promotion to E2.

Blindly Upgrading

After reaching E2, if your skill levels are too low, the actual combat power increase will be limited.

Recommendation: Upgrade your skills to Level 7 before promotion and prepare resources for subsequent mastery.

6. Summary

Operator upgrades aren't simply a matter of leveling up; they're a systematic process involving resource allocation, skill optimization, and promotion planning.

Efficiently earn EXP and LMD through tactical exercises and cargo escorts.

Rationally prioritize promotions based on team needs.

Prioritize resources on key skills for core Operators.

Avoid over-focusing and blindly promoting Operators.

Master these methods and your Arknights Operators will reach peak combat performance in the shortest possible time, ready for any challenging challenge.