Arknights: Endfield is Hypergryph’s next-generation RPG set in the Arknights universe, mixing action-based combat, elemental synergy, gacha characters, and base & world exploration systems. Compared to classic Arknights, Endfield plays more like a third-person action RPG while still keeping deep team-building and resource management.
This guide is written for new players and covers everything you need to understand early on:
- Characters and stats
- Combat skills and SP
- Leveling, caps, and upgrades
- Weapons, equipment, and essences
- Exploration, energy, and daily progression
Topics like gacha banners, advanced team synergies, factories, and ship management are intentionally saved for separate guides.
Let’s start from the basics.
Table of contents
- 1. Understanding Operators (Characters)
- 2. Attributes & Stats
- 3. Combat Skills Explained
- 4. Leveling & Level Caps
- 5. Skill Trees & Upgrades
- 6. Weapons System
- 7. Equipment (Armor & Sets)
- 8. Potentials & Duplicates
- 9. Exploration & World Systems
- 10. Energy & Daily Farming
- 11. Resource Nodes & Owl Stations
- 12. Missions & Account Progression
1. Understanding Operators (Characters)
When you open a character’s profile in Arknights: Endfield, you’re presented with several key pieces of information. Knowing how to read this screen properly will save you a lot of wasted resources.
Rarity (Stars)
Operators come in 4★, 5★, and 6★ rarities.
A significant thing to understand early: Lower-rarity characters are not necessarily bad.
Many 4★ operators fill specific niches and are extremely useful in certain team compositions. Because they are easier to obtain duplicates for, their potential upgrades are also much easier to max out, making them very cost-efficient early and mid-game.
Elements (Arts Types)
Endfield uses five elements, often referred to as Arts types:
- Physical
- Fire
- Ice
- Lightning
- Nature
Each element applies elemental effects when attacking enemies. Repeated application of the same element can lead to elemental bursts, while combining different elements can trigger elemental reactions.
Most optimized teams:
- Focus on one element, or
- Combine two complementary elements
Trying to spread too many elements usually results in weaker synergy.
Roles
Every Operator has a defined role, which explains what they contribute to a team.
DPS Roles (Top Row)
- Guards – Physical damage dealers that apply physical effects
- Casters – Elemental damage dealers that apply Arts effects
- Strikers – Do not apply elements themselves, but exploit existing elemental effects for massive damage
Support Roles (Bottom Row)
- Vanguards – Generate SP, the most important combat resource
- Defenders – Protect the team, provide defensive buffs or healing
- Supports – Heal and apply offensive or utility buffs
A strong team usually balances damage + SP generation + survivability.
2. Attributes & Stats
Each Operator has four attributes:
- Strength – impacts Max HP
- Agility – impacts Physical Resistance
- Intellect – impacts Arts Resistance
- Willpower – impacts amount of treatment received
These attributes influence multiple stats, but the game highlights what really matters:
Primary & Secondary Stats
- Primary stat → shown in gold
- Secondary stat → shown in gray
Increasing these directly boosts the Operator’s attack power.
- Primary stat = huge increase
- Secondary stat = smaller increase
Example:
- A caster like Yvonne has Intellect as her primary stat → massive damage scaling
- Some characters have passives that make non-primary stats more important
⚠️ Always read passives before investing stats blindly.
3. Combat Skills Explained
Each Operator has four active skills and two passive skills.
Active Skills
1. Basic Attack
- Automatically used by all Operators
- Only the controlled Operator can perform a finisher
- Finishers:
- Generate SP
- Deal high stagger damage
Basic attacks are usually low priority to upgrade, unless:
- The Operator heavily scales off basic attacks
- You actively control that character in combat
SP is shown as yellow bars and is generated by:
- Basic attacks
- Finishers
- Vanguard abilities
A good team rotates skills between characters instead of spamming one.
2. Battle Skill
- Costs 100 SP
- No cooldown
- Can be used repeatedly as long as you have SP
3. Combo Skill
- Does not consume SP
- Has a cooldown
- Activates only when specific conditions are met
Combo skills are the core of team synergy.
If your team creates the right conditions, an icon appears on screen and you can trigger a powerful combo effect.
4. Ultimate Skill
- Strongest ability
- Requires a full energy bar
Energy is generated by:
- Performing combo skills (character-specific energy)
- Using battle skills (team-wide energy)
Passive Skills (Talent)
- Not unlocked by default
- Must be unlocked via progression
- Usually upgraded 1–2 times
Some passive skills are extremely strong.
Others are not worth unlocking at all.
Always evaluate passives before spending resources.
4. Leveling & Level Caps
Operators level from 1 → 90, gaining:
- Attack
- HP
- Defense
- Attributes
Level Caps
Every 20 levels, a cap must be broken:
- 20
- 40
- 60
- 80
Levelling up requires:
- Tickets
- Level 1 – 60 Requires – Grey, Green and Blue Tickets.\
- Level 60 – 90 Requires – Purple and Gold Tickets.
To break Level Cap go to the Ability Matrix screen. At the bottom of the screen you will see the different level caps you can break.
Breaking Level Cap Requires:
- Triangle-shaped materials (farmed or explored)
- Nature resources (plants, mushrooms)
Higher caps require higher-rarity materials.
The Most Important Cap: Level 60
Breaking the Level 60 cap is the single most important milestone.
- Unlocks gold equipment
- Enables real builds
- Massive power spike
5. Skill Trees & Upgrades
From the skill menu, you unlock and upgrade passives and actives.
Passive Upgrade Rows
- Top row → Main stat increase (very important for DPS)
- Middle rows → Unlock and upgrade passive skills
- Bottom rows → Base/ship efficiency (only upgrade if using them for management)
Active Skill Upgrades
- Level 1–6 → Blue Rarirty Prisms – Protoprisms and Vitrodendra Plant
- Level 6–9 → Purple Rarity prisms – Protohedron and Vitrodendra Plant
- Level 9–12 (Epic levels) → Mark Of Perseverance
Upgrade relevant skills only:
- DPS → damage skills
- Support → buff or utility skills
6. Weapons System
Each weapon provides:
- Base attack
- Attribute bonus (best if matching primary stat)
- Bonus stat (crit, elemental damage, etc.)
- Weapon skill
Weapons:
- Level from 1–99
- Have level caps at 20 / 40 / 60 / 80
Breaking caps increases attributes, not just attack.
Weapon Skills & Dupes
Weapon skills normally improve via:
- Duplicate weapons
- Burning copies
Essences (Endgame System)
Essences are socketable orbs that:
- Add stats
- Upgrade existing attributes
- Can even upgrade weapon skills
They are very expensive to farm and mostly an endgame optimization system.
7. Equipment (Armor & Sets)
Equipment is crafted through the factory system and comes in sets.
Important Advice
- Ignore early equipment
- Focus on reaching regions where gold equipment is unlocked
Equipment sets:
- 4 pieces total
- Set bonuses activate at 3 pieces
- Some set effects do not stack
Always read set descriptions carefully. You can improve stats by burning duplicates and by using special materials.
8. Potentials & Duplicates
Duplicate Operators unlock potential nodes (up to 5).
Key points:
- 6★ potentials are not game-breaking
- 4★ characters max potential very fast
- Duplicates give shop currency
- Excess duplicates give bonus currency for materials and pulls
No heavy pressure to whale — at least for now.
9. Exploration & World Systems
Exploration gives:
- Upgrade materials
- Gacha currency
- Chests
- Quests
Maps are semi-open and often puzzle-like.
Important Exploration Tips
- Some chests require story progression
- Electric barriers need power pylons
- Rocks need explosives (unlocked later in the second region)
👉 Do not over-explore early.
Progress the story first, then return.
10. Energy & Daily Farming
Energy:
- Regenerates daily
- Has a cap so use it before it regenerates
- Must be spent efficiently
Farming stages offer:
- EXP tickets
- Skill materials
- Weapon materials
- Currency
Always do the highest difficulty you can, as the energy-to-reward ratio is better.
11. Resource Nodes & Owl Stations
Resource Nodes
- Plants, mushrooms, minerals
- Max of 8 per node
- Regenerate 2 per day
Check them occasionally so they don’t overcap.
Owl Stations
- Upgradeable up to level 4
- Give daily ship/base materials
Use the map’s red indicators to know when something is ready to collect.
12. Missions & Account Progression
Daily Missions
- Easy to complete naturally
- Give EXP and rewards
- Always do them
One-Time Missions
- Track long-term progress
- Give large rewards
- Complete naturally while playing
Don’t rush them — story progression comes first.
Final Thoughts
Arknights: Endfield looks complex at first, but most systems unlock gradually and logically. Focus on:
- One or two elements for your team building focus
- Breaking the level 60 cap
- Skill synergy over raw stats
- Spending energy efficiently
Videogames.
Gym.
My dog.
Sneakers.
Manga.
In that order.
