I didn't really invest in a lot of defenders, so I felt like I can't really pull it off and was also annoyed I can't give them chance to shine. Was thinking Eunectes would be perfect here, but didn't invest in her yet and didn't have luck in fishing for her in support. By the end of it, turns out outside of Blemishine and Mudrock, I didn't really need other defenders. Mudrock and Ceobe easily handled left side on their own, leaving me a lot of leeway to handle right one.
This made me realize I did not post about my risk 18 clear with Eunectes. I also used a Defender/Caster core and I had more fun with it being able to use the THICC snek to take out the Bladehelm and the Archer Knight on the right side (as in I was able to activate her skill twice). I did have Ash there to help too. Meanwhile my left side was Mudrock and the BBQ pair.
Also finally decided I don't feel like playing FGO anyway and gacha games are way too time consuming for how frustrating playing them can be, so I'm now a dedicated AK player. AK is generous enough and doesn't waste my time nearly as much, so I stuck to it and in fact unlike with other gacha I played I genuinely enjoy gameplay and recently had a blast redoing some of my old autos, so I'm definitely not quitting it anytime soon and if I do, that's the last gacha or gacha-like game I'll ever play. It's funny how back then I needed entire team to kill Patriot and now I managed to do it with just 4 operators xD Not even using the typical ones.
Glad you're liberated from one gacha hell. Well, if you don't mind my 2 cents, don't let yourself feel obligated towards a game. As long as you're still having fun, which you did say you are enjoying Arknights, then it's all good.