The Blue Archive 4.5 Anniversary brings one of the biggest updates yet, featuring powerful limited students across two special phases. With free 100 pulls, high-value FES banners, and game-changing new units like Rio, Himari, Aris, and Kei, players have a rare chance to strengthen their teams. Thinking about who you should pull? Then this guide will help you understand each character’s role and strengths so you can decide which student to prioritize during the anniversary event.

Events like the 4.5 Anniversary are also one of the best opportunities to start fresh accounts and chase powerful limited students using the free recruitment rewards. For players aiming to maximize their chances, OSLink's Multi-Instance Manager can help multiple reroll accounts progress simultaneously, making it easier to take advantage of the free pulls and work toward a stronger starting roster without repeating the same early-game process over and over.

Blue Archive 4.5 Anniversary Overview

The Blue Archive 4.5 Anniversary is one of the biggest celebrations in the game. This event is divided into two phases and introduces new limited-time banners featuring powerful Armed versions of popular students and also includes a special 100 Free Pulls event to help players recruit new characters more easily. Below is how the Blue Archive 4.5 Anniversary works:

The 100 Free Pulls Event

Event Duration: May 29, 2026 – June 19, 2026

This 100 Free Recruitment event is one of the best rewarding events during the Blue Archive 4.5 Anniversary. You can use these free pulls on the Phase 1 banner featuring the new limited students Rio (Armed) and Himari (Armed). This gives players a great chance to obtain one or both of these powerful units without spending any Pyroxenes.

Banners During the Anniversary

Phase 1 (100 Free Pulls Banner)

Duration: May 29, 2026 – June 9, 2026

The first phase features Rio (Armed) and Himari (Armed) as recruitable limited students. Players can use their free 100 pulls during this banner period. Toki (Armed) is also available as a welfare student during the event.

Phase 2 (Festival Banner / Fes Banner)

Duration: June 9, 2026 – June 16, 2026

The second phase introduces the 4.5 Anniversary Festival units Aris (Armed/Battle) and Kei (Tendou Kei). Festival banners usually have an increased 3★ drop rate of up to 6% and may also include powerful students such as Hoshino (Armed) and Shiroko Terror.

Special Tip: The free 100 pulls can only be used on the Phase 1 banner featuring Rio (Armed) and Himari (Armed). They cannot be used on the Festival Banner in Phase 2. Make sure to use all your free pulls before the Phase 1 banner ends to get the most value from the event.

Himari (Armed)

Himari is a limited Piercing-type Tactical Support (T.S.) unit who rides an all-terrain wheelchair. Himari helps her team by increasing allies' damage through her buffs while weakening enemies, making her a valuable meta choice as a Piercing support buffer in the game right now.

Role: Piercing Support Buffer + Debuffer (T.S. Unit)

Key Strengths:

• Strong penetration support: Gives extra penetration damage to an ally every 7 seconds, helping against high-defense enemies.

• Crit damage buff: When using EX skill, she boosts one ally’s critical damage while enhancing burst potential.

• Healing and debuff: Her wheelchair provides area healing and increases damage taken by Heavy Armor enemies.

• Good utility and sustain: The wheelchair shares a portion of incoming damage and helps recover skill cost, making her very useful in longer fights.

Pulling Priority: Highest Priority with free pulls

• Use your 100 pulls to try and get Himari (Armed) first. She is one of the most valuable units from the 4.5 Anniversary and can greatly improve many Piercing teams.

Rio (Armed)

Rio (Armed) is an Explosive-type Striker available during Phase 1 of the Blue Archive 4.5 Anniversary. She performs best as a reliable single-target boss killer and offers strong personal damage and Light Armor amplification, especially through her Sub Skill. This makes her a good choice for players who need a consistent focused DPS.

Role: Single-target DPS + Light Armor amplifier

Key Strengths

• High single-target burst: Rio’s EX Skill deals huge damage, making her great for quickly killing bosses or strong enemies.

• Crit damage boost: Normal Skill increases Critical Damage, helping her deal more damage.

• Light Armor amplifier: Rio’s Sub Skill can increase damage taken by enemies, making her useful as a debuffer in Light Armor fights.

• Flexible role: She can work as both a main DPS or sub-DPS, making team building easier for players.

Pulling Priority: High Priority for beginners.

• Rio is recommended for beginners as a good starting single-target Explosive DPS and works well in Light Armor boss fights. 

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Aris (Armed)

Aris (Armed) is one of the limited-time Blue Archive FES characters who arrives during the 2nd phase of the Blue Archive 4.5 Anniversary celebrations. She is a top-tier Mystic DPS with insane critical hits and burst, featuring a mech suit design and an energetic personality. Her kit is designed to deliver massive damage in battle, making her a strong pick for raid contents.

Role: High Burst Mystic DPS

Key Strengths

• Massive Burst Damage: Her EX Skill can deal high damage with Energy multipliers in a straight line toward the targeted direction. It is perfect for clearing waves and damaging bosses.

• Excellent Damage Multipliers: Sub skill boosts all damage and EX skill damage. This significantly raises her overall damage output.

• Strong critical hits: She can deal very high crit damage, especially with crit rate support.

• Good team synergy: Works well with Kei, who helps boost her crit rate and Mystic damage.

Pull Priority: High priority. 

• Excellent Mystic DPS choice for your teams.

Kei 

Kei is a limited unit released in Phase 2 of the Blue Archive 4.5 Anniversary from the FES banner. She is a powerful Mystic support buffer equipped with a heavy railgun for massive linear piercing damage. Her kit excels at providing strong AoE team buffs while ending her rotations with high-impact railgun attacks.

Role: One of the strongest Mystic supports in the game

Key Strengths:

• Powerful AoE Buffs: At only 2 cost, she boosts nearby allies’ Attack and Mystic Efficiency for multiple allies in a circle, massively increasing team damage output.

• Crit rate support: Gives allies extra Critical Rate, helping Mystic DPS units like Aris deal more consistent damage.

• Powerful railgun burst: Finishes with a strong piercing railgun attack that deals heavy damage based on stored energy.

• Team damage amplifier: Collects damage from allies and releases it in one big hit, making her an excellent team-wide enabler and meta support.

Pull Priority: Highest priority in Fes Banner. 

• Kei is one of the best supporters in the 4.5 Anniversary Fes banner. She provides strong low-cost buffs, crit rate support, and strong railgun damage.

Final Analysis for Pull Recommendations

With all the details of the students available in the Blue Archive 4.5 Anniversary, you can follow these pull recommendations:

• For the 1st Phase 100 Free Pulls banner, prioritize Himari (Armed) first as a strong universal support from free pulls, then Rio (Armed) as a reliable single-target DPS.

• For the FES banner, prioritize Kei as the top choice due to her powerful Mystic buffs and railgun support. After that, Aris is a strong Mystic DPS option with great synergy.

The table below provides the final analysis of who to pull among the Blue Archive 4.5 Anniversary Limited Characters.

Conclusion

This Blue Archive 4.5 Anniversary guide covers everything you need to know about Rio, Himari, Aris, and Kei, including their roles, strengths, and overall pull priority. Whether you're spending your free 100 pulls on the Phase 1 banner or saving resources for the powerful FES units in Phase 2, having a clear plan will help you get the most value from the event. If you're looking to improve your chances of starting with multiple top-tier anniversary students, OSLink's Multi-Instance Manager can help multiple reroll accounts progress together at the same time, making the search for that ideal account far more efficient during the celebration period.