Arknights Vector Breakthrough #3 "Pseudo-Ecology" Guide: 12-Floor Core Breakthrough Squads and Special Front Tactics
The rule that defines this entire event: every stage sets your protection objective to 1 HP. One leaked enemy and you restart. So the correct squad-building goal is "never leak" first and "deal damage" second. Shift, block and crowd-control operators carry far more value here than they do in a normal stage.
Arknights Vector Breakthrough #3 Dates and Rewards
When it runs and how to unlock it
The only unlock requirement is clearing Main Story 2-10. A new account can enter as soon as chapter two is done. The "Resource Collection" stages also run open all day for the whole event window (Sep 29 16:00 - Oct 20 03:59), which makes that period far better than usual for LMD and battle records.
What the Breakthrough Milestone actually gives
The Breakthrough Milestone stays open three days longer than the stages, closing October 23 at 03:59. Headline rewards include the outfit "Times Series - Lazy Humming - Scene" , event furniture, module development materials, high-tier development materials, battle records and LMD.
Inside that pool, module materials are the scarce item. LMD and battle records have permanent farms plus the open-all-day Resource Collection stages as a backstop; module materials only see concentrated drops during events like this one. Recommended redemption order: module data and high-tier development materials first, battle records second, LMD and furniture third, outfits last.
Arknights Core Breakthrough Mechanics: 12 Floors and Misery
Floor progression and the difficulty curve
Floors 1-5 unlock when the event opens; floors 6 and up require clearing the previous floor first. The 1-HP protection objective applies across the board, which invalidates the old habit of brute-forcing with high-HP stalling squads.
Two details matter for pulling off high floors. First, instructor Misery appears on floors 4, 8 and 12, where both the instructor and the adds scale up and the instructor gains extra abilities . Second, repeat clears of floors you have already finished still pay a small amount of the event currency, "Slippery Floor".
That second point is the most underrated efficiency play of the event. Low floors have stable clear times and low failure rates, so farming floors 1-9 on repeat can out-produce stubborn attempts on floors 11 and 12 in terms of currency per hour.
Arknights Special Front: Seize Control and Battle Supplies
The 180-second rule and garrison requirements
Special Front unlocks after you clear floor one and its stages unlock in four batches. Tapping "Seize Control" lets you bring a small squad - no support operators allowed - and you must defeat the enemies inside the node within 180 seconds and then leave an operator to garrison it.
Two restrictions shape everything. No support operators means your own roster depth decides the node difficulty. Garrisoning means an operator parked in a node cannot appear in your Core Breakthrough squad, a hidden manpower tax. Send your permanent benchwarmers to garrison and keep main carries and key controllers at home.
How Battle Supplies are meant to be used
Battle Supplies grant extra buffs inside Core Breakthrough and the higher-difficulty Full Power mode. They exist to lower Core Breakthrough's difficulty, so the correct order is: clear Special Front first, spread the supplies, then come back for Core Breakthrough's upper floors. Doing it in reverse means ramming a stage that was designed to be attempted with buffs using a bare squad.
Arknights Vector Breakthrough #3 Squad Recommendations
Three squad setups
| Squad | Operators | Equipment / modules | Skill order |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hold-fast (low investment) | 2 vanguards, 1 defender, 2 medics, 3 DPS | Defender module first | Vanguards generate DP, defender plugs the main lane, medics follow, DPS clears side lanes |
| Shift control (mid-game) | 2 shifters, 1 slow supporter, 2 snipers, 2 medics | Shift-operator module | Push enemies into pits, slow the second wave, snipe high-HP targets |
| High-end speed | Caster carry, elemental healer, AoE control, 2 finishers | Damage modules on carries | Control locks the field, caster bursts, finishers clean up, medic stabilizes |
Placement principles
Do not commit every deployment slot at the start. With a 1-HP objective, a single uncovered lane ends the run. Holding 1-2 slots in reserve for a surprise wave is safer than a full opening board. All three squads can clear floors 1-9; for floors 10 and up, fill out your Battle Supplies first.
Arknights Vector Breakthrough #3 Operator Investment Priority
Who to mastery-train
Prioritize by usage frequency, not rarity. A six-star who only appears in this one event has diluted mastery value; a four- or five-star who is used in every event amortizes the investment across months. For this event, push mastery levels on your control and shift operators first and leave the carries at a sufficient level.
Modules versus skill levels
Module data blocks are the main bottleneck. My rule: unlock modules that change skill rotation first, and push pure stat modules back. A rotation-changing module alters where and when you deploy; a stat module only changes whether you kill something in two hits or three. Under a 1-HP objective, the first kind is worth more.
Arknights Directed Selection Banner Advice
Picking three of six six-stars
The pool lets you self-select three six-stars from Mon3tr, Pramanix the Prerita, Bellone, Mantra, Degenbrecherand Blaze the Igniting Spark (6-star rate: 2%). Once locked in, the only six-stars that can appear on that banner are your three picks, and together they account for 100% of the six-star rate.
That makes this a no-loss banner. Prioritize operators who fill a missing role and are unlikely to return soon. If two of your three picks are operators you already own, you are effectively lowering your own expected value.
The 60% five-star rule
On the five-star side you can pick from arknights-mitm, arknights-kichisei, arknights-surfer, arknights-paprika, arknights-cairn and arknights-ripresa (5-star rate: 8%). Five-stars you did not pick can still appear; your three selected five-stars together account for 60% of the five-star rate. That 60% figure is stated plainly in the first-party announcement, yet many players read it as 100%. The expected cost of chasing one specific five-star is higher than it looks, so do the math before committing.
Arknights Vector Breakthrough #3 FAQ
Q: When does Vector Breakthrough #3 run?
A: Stages are open September 29 16:00 to October 20 03:59; the Breakthrough Milestone continues to October 23 03:59 .
Q: What do I need to unlock the stages?
A: Clear Main Story 2-10. There is no other prerequisite, so finishing chapter two is enough.
Q: Do repeat clears still pay out?
A: Yes, but only a small amount of "Slippery Floor". The bulk comes from first clears, so repeat low floors only to close a gap.
Q: Can the Directed Selection banner give me a six-star I did not pick?
A: No. Once you pick three six-stars, only those three can appear, and they total 100% of the six-star rate.
Action checklist
- Push Main Story to 2-10 and confirm the event stages are unlocked
- Farm the all-day Resource Collection stages early for battle records and LMD
- Clear Core Breakthrough floors 1-5 to unlock Special Front's first batch
- Fill out Battle Supplies in Special Front before returning to Core Breakthrough above floor 6
- Repeat low floors for "Slippery Floor" when stuck, rather than grinding floor 11-12
- Double-check your three six-star picks for duplicates before pulling on Directed Selection
This guide will be revised as the event progresses. More Arknights coverage lives on GameHub.
Game Guides
- Reverse: 1999 4.0 Gatekeeper Guide: Insight Teams, Red Arrow and Rhapsody 37 Builds
Reverse: 1999 version 4.0 "Gatekeeper" opened on September 24, 2026 as the 2026 Box Cruise celebration patch. Launch character Red Arrow evolved into Witch-Hunter Red Arrow and entered as the core damage dealer of the new Insight system, while 37 received a Rhapsody upgrade - together they form the patch's strongest team shell.
- Love and Deepspace Memory and Core Guide: Stats, Deepspace Trial Teams and Bond Planning
Love and Deepspace splits progression across two tracks: the combat track of Memories and Cores, and the relationship track of Home and Bonds. Getting the order right saves real money. Memory levels and Core substats are raw power, while Home is where the patch concentrates its most reliable Diamond income - the 6.0 Home system alone offers more than 6,000 Diamonds in total rewards.
- Honkai: Star Rail 4.6 Pearl Guide: Elation Ice Teams, Relic Stats and Memory of Chaos
Pearl is Honkai: Star Rail 4.6's limited 5-star, an Ice character on the Elation Path who spends her own Good Show stacks to shield the entire party from part of the incoming damage, and can enter a Deep Learning state that copies a chosen ally's combat data to gain an enhanced attack.
- Genshin Impact 7.1 Vesna Build Guide: Star Swirl Carry Artifacts, Weapons and Abyss Teams
Vesna is Genshin Impact 7.1's new 5-star Anemo Sword character and the on-field carry for the Star Swirl reaction, with her full core kit available at C0. Her banner partner, Voyanisha, is a 5-star Hydro Catalyst who heals the whole party, shreds three elements and applies off-field Hydro - and she wants HP on everything.
- Wuthering Waves 3.7 "Mirror-Locked Illusion" Guide: Hsin Build, Echo Stats and Tower of Adversity Teams
Wuthering Waves 3.7 "Mirror-Locked Illusion, Heart's Illumination" launched on September 30, 2026 and closes out the Xuanfang storyline. The new 5-star Hsin is an Electro Rectifier with a dual-mode kit built on "Electromagnetic Effect plus Unison", and the patch adds three new Echo sets alongside a new region, the Meng Zhou Simulacrum Nexus.
- Zenless Zone Zero 3.2 Claret Guide: Fortis Defense Scaling, Drive Disc Stats and Endgame Teams
Claret Flint is Zenless Zone Zero's first Fortis agent - an S-rank Electric character whose damage scales off DEF. The practical consequence is blunt: push crit rate to roughly 100%, then dump every remaining substat into DEF instead of chasing attack. Version 3.2 "Her Hidden Past" went live on September 9, 2026, and she headlines the first half of the banner.
- Reverse: 1999 4.0 Gatekeeper: Two Free Six-Stars
Reverse: 1999 4.0 "Gatekeeper" opened September 24, 2026, and the version hands out two free six-star characters: the Wonder Invitation grants a guaranteed-new six-star, and Chest Friendship grants a self-selected Euphoria six-star. Pull priority inside the version runs SP Crossbow, then Beryl, then Drake . Anniversary-style versions change the reward structure, and 4.0 loads free characters, login pulls, and Euphoria upgrades into the same window, which is exactly when players spend resources they meant to hold. This guide sequences the claims from the official event overview, breaks down Drake's role and Psychube, and splits resources between the Insight and Afterglow archetypes.
- Love and Deepspace Late September Freebies Guide
three time-limited items in Love and Deepspace deserve priority before October. The Ten Days With You cumulative login runs September 28, 05:00 to October 16, 04:59 and grants the 4-star Memory Qin Che - Autumn Light in Your Eyes after 10 days; the in-game survey runs September 26, 05:00 to October 10, 04:59 and pays one Wish Ticket on submission; and the Sugar Waffle 3-claw machine rate-up runs September 28 to October 11. If your main story progress is still short of Under the Deep Space 2-15, fix that first, because the survey entry does not appear otherwise. What follows is the order to do these in and the diamond budget to protect.