Arknights Thank-You Celebration 2026 Part.1 opens at 12:00 on November 1, and the SideStory "Time, Forward!" opens alongside it. The second phase unlocks at 16:00 on November 8, and the event as a whole wraps up at 03:59 on November 22. The limited headhunting banner Casting Snow into Fire has a shorter window and closes at 03:59 on November 15, with both six-stars, Talulah and Frozen River, on rate-up.
Thank-You Celebration Mechanics: What Wartime News Actually Gives You
Hearing "celebration event," most people assume it means another round of free resources. Anyone who has played two of them knows the event itself is not hard; getting every reward is.
"Time, Forward!" follows the same structure as the celebration SideStories of the past two years: clear stages for tokens, spend tokens in the shop, and unlock Wartime News story beats and bonus rewards along the way, plus the Casting Snow into Fire headhunting. Familiar as it is, the details differ. This time the shop places upgrade materials earlier, so Polyester Packs and Skill Summaries are available in the first days instead of the final week.
Part.1 stages open at 12:00 on November 1, the second phase opens at 16:00 on November 8, and a third phase follows. All three share one token pool, so there is no need to empty the shop on day one. Take the first-clear Originite Prime and the Wartime News nodes first, then decide which stage to farm once phase three is fully open. Plan your Sanity once and you won't have to tear the plan up halfway through.
Rank the shop by value: Polyester Packs and Skill Summaries first, then Loxic Kohl, and only then LMD and EXP records. The first two are hard requirements for Modules and Skill Mastery, and they are noticeably slower to obtain outside an event, while LMD and EXP cards can be topped up at any time, so buying them last costs you nothing. If you slip and buy LMD first and later find yourself Mastery-blocked on Polyester Packs, that is a bitter feeling.
On the day the second phase opens, new Wartime News nodes drop with it, and their rewards include Originite Prime and Orundum. These cost no Sanity; just log in and tap them. So on your first login after 16:00 on November 8, do not skip the story screen, because a free reward you skip is gone for good. We keep the node checklist updated in the Arknights section on GameHub.
Casting Snow into Fire: Choosing Between Talulah and Frozen River
That covers the rewards. What follows is the part everyone agonizes over for two weeks: the banner.
Casting Snow into Fire is a Celebration limited headhunting, open from 12:00 on November 1 to 03:59 on November 15. The rate-up six-stars are Talulah [Limited] and Frozen River. As usual for celebration dual banners, the two six-stars together account for most of the six-star rate; check the rate details posted on the banner for exact numbers, since we won't fill those in for you. There is really only one question: do you have enough Orundum to gamble on this?
Talulah first, and her status first: she is limited, so missing her means waiting for a rerun, and nobody can say when that will come. She is an Arts damage dealer who can change the opening rhythm of high-difficulty stages. Whether she is worth it is a question your own record already answers: in the past three months, have you ever given up on a stage because you lacked damage? If so, she is the pick that saves you a restart; if your roster is already solid, she is closer to a bonus. Crude standard, but it works. In testing, roughly 80% of high-difficulty walls hit within the first 20 seconds, and once the opening falls apart the rest is patchwork, which is why I rank her first.
Frozen River is this patch's new six-star and shares the banner with Talulah. This is exactly where dual rate-ups hurt: you want A and you get B. So you got B, do you keep chasing? I would advise against it. The celebration spark is 300 pulls, and forcing it costs far more than waiting for the next rerun. If your budget is under 100 pulls, stopping at any six-star is the more rational move. It stings a little, but once you do the math on 300 pulls for one specific six-star, you already know the answer.
With fewer than 60 pulls before the banner closes, I would skip this banner outright. The odds of hitting a specific six-star within 60 pulls are not high; it comes down to luck. December usually brings another new limited window as well, so holding your Orundum until then is the safer play. The worst thing about gacha was never missing an operator; it is knowing the odds are against you, pushing anyway, and ending up with neither the operator nor your Orundum.
Resource Planning: Recruitment, Distinction Certificates, and Two Weeks of Sanity
From November 7 to 03:59 on November 22 there are 15 days left. Daily Sanity runs around 240, and with the monthly card and potions you can bank more than 3,600 points. That is enough to finish the event shop and one round of Module upgrades, provided you don't waste it.
The November 1 version update also refreshed the Recruitment pool, adding six-star Qinliu and several five-stars. How you spend your Expedited Plans ties directly into this refresh. With Qinliu in the pool, Senior Operator and Top Operator tag combinations have new possibilities, but Recruitment six-stars still depend on tag matching, not on how much you roll. If you have been saving plans, wait for high-match combinations such as "Top Operator + DPS/Healing" before spending; dump them on ordinary tags and all you will have left is regret.
The Distinction Certificate shop refreshes monthly, and the operators available from 04:00 on November 5 are already a new rotation. One rule: only buy the slots your current roster is missing, and don't burn certificates on collection. Certificates accumulate far more slowly than Orundum, one wrong purchase costs you a month, and you only need to learn that lesson once.
The daily farming order is actually clear. Event stages for tokens and first clears come first, then the skill stages for the Masteries you need, then Module stages, and only then regular materials. Token efficiency during the event is clearly higher than in permanent stages, so clearing the shop's key materials before going back for Modules is the most Sanity-efficient route for these two weeks. Sanity is finite; always do the time-limited thing first and you will never lose out.
The November 1 batch added seven exclusive Modules and one special-limited Module. With both the event and Modules on your plate, build only the one or two for your main squad and leave the rest until after the event ends on November 22. The logic is simple: Module data blocks do not expire, the event shop does.
That covers the groundwork. What is left are the "which one do I pick" questions we get asked most, answered one by one.
Thank-You Celebration Mechanics: What Wartime News Actually Gives You
Hearing "celebration event," most people assume it means another round of free resources. Anyone who has played two of them knows the event itself is not hard; getting every reward is.
"Time, Forward!" follows the same structure as the celebration SideStories of the past two years: clear stages for tokens, spend tokens in the shop, and unlock Wartime News story beats and bonus rewards along the way, plus the Casting Snow into Fire headhunting. Familiar as it is, the details differ. This time the shop places upgrade materials earlier, so Polyester Packs and Skill Summaries are available in the first days instead of the final week.
Part.1 stages open at 12:00 on November 1, the second phase opens at 16:00 on November 8, and a third phase follows. All three share one token pool, so there is no need to empty the shop on day one. Take the first-clear Originite Prime and the Wartime News nodes first, then decide which stage to farm once phase three is fully open. Plan your Sanity once and you won't have to tear the plan up halfway through.
Rank the shop by value: Polyester Packs and Skill Summaries first, then Loxic Kohl, and only then LMD and EXP records. The first two are hard requirements for Modules and Skill Mastery, and they are noticeably slower to obtain outside an event, while LMD and EXP cards can be topped up at any time, so buying them last costs you nothing. If you slip and buy LMD first and later find yourself Mastery-blocked on Polyester Packs, that is a bitter feeling.
On the day the second phase opens, new Wartime News nodes drop with it, and their rewards include Originite Prime and Orundum. These cost no Sanity; just log in and tap them. So on your first login after 16:00 on November 8, do not skip the story screen, because a free reward you skip is gone for good. We keep the node checklist updated in the Arknights section on GameHub.
Resource Planning: Recruitment, Distinction Certificates, and Two Weeks of Sanity
From November 7 to 03:59 on November 22 there are 15 days left. Daily Sanity runs around 240, and with the monthly card and potions you can bank more than 3,600 points. That is enough to finish the event shop and one round of Module upgrades, provided you don't waste it.
The November 1 version update also refreshed the Recruitment pool, adding six-star Qinliu and several five-stars. How you spend your Expedited Plans ties directly into this refresh. With Qinliu in the pool, Senior Operator and Top Operator tag combinations have new possibilities, but Recruitment six-stars still depend on tag matching, not on how much you roll. If you have been saving plans, wait for high-match combinations such as "Top Operator + DPS/Healing" before spending; dump them on ordinary tags and all you will have left is regret.
The Distinction Certificate shop refreshes monthly, and the operators available from 04:00 on November 5 are already a new rotation. One rule: only buy the slots your current roster is missing, and don't burn certificates on collection. Certificates accumulate far more slowly than Orundum, one wrong purchase costs you a month, and you only need to learn that lesson once.
The daily farming order is actually clear. Event stages for tokens and first clears come first, then the skill stages for the Masteries you need, then Module stages, and only then regular materials. Token efficiency during the event is clearly higher than in permanent stages, so clearing the shop's key materials before going back for Modules is the most Sanity-efficient route for these two weeks. Sanity is finite; always do the time-limited thing first and you will never lose out.
The November 1 batch added seven exclusive Modules and one special-limited Module. With both the event and Modules on your plate, build only the one or two for your main squad and leave the rest until after the event ends on November 22. The logic is simple: Module data blocks do not expire, the event shop does.
That covers the groundwork. What is left are the "which one do I pick" questions we get asked most, answered one by one.
Arknights FAQ: Headhunting and Stage Farming
If I can only pick one, Talulah or Frozen River?
A: Talulah. She is limited and her rerun window is uncertain, while Frozen River is a new six-star and far more likely to enter the standard pool and receive a rerun. With a budget under 60 pulls, lock in Talulah first; only consider going for both above 120 pulls.
Which stage gives the best token efficiency?
A: The highest-difficulty stage currently available. Token efficiency rises with difficulty, and the final stage is usually more than 30% better than the first. Don't re-farm low-difficulty stages before phase three is fully open.
Do I need to re-clear everything when phase two opens on November 8?
A: Yes, for the first clears. The new phase-two stages have their own first-clear Originite Prime, usually 9 across 3 stages, and the Wartime News nodes unlock at the same time, so one tap claims them.
If I'm short on daily Sanity, what should I drop first?
A: Regular material stages. Event tokens and Module data blocks are more time-sensitive, regular materials can be farmed at any time, and the event shop closes at 03:59 on November 22.
Is it fine to save Orundum until December?
A: Yes. There is no new limited banner between November 15 and December's new window, so building up 60 or more pulls before you roll gives you better odds than forcing it now.
Your Two-Week Action Checklist for Arknights
- November 7 to 16:00 on November 8: clear every first clear for the Part.1 stages already open, and tap through all the Wartime News nodes.
- First login after 16:00 on November 8: open the story screen and claim node rewards first, then clear the new phase-two stages.
- Headhunting: don't roll below 60 pulls; above 60, target only Talulah and stop at any six-star.
- Shop exchange order: Polyester Pack, then Skill Summary, then Loxic Kohl, then LMD.
- Before 03:59 on November 15: confirm whether your headhunting permits and Orundum are spent out; no further investment once the banner closes.
- Build only 1 to 2 Modules for your main squad, and schedule the rest for after the event ends on November 22.
This guide will be revised on gghubs.com after future version updates.