I made every mistake possible in my first week of Arknights Endfield. Wasted pulls on banners I couldn’t guarantee. Let sanity cap while I explored instead of farming. Built my factory completely wrong and had to tear it down twice. Sixty hours later, I’ve figured out what actually matters and what the game explains poorly.
This guide covers the fifteen things I wish someone had told me before I started. Whether you just downloaded Endfield or you’re planning to try it soon, these tips will save you hours of frustration and weeks of wasted resources.
Let’s get into it.
1. Master the dash-jump immediately
The game barely explains movement, and regular jumping is terrible. You’ll miss platforms, fail to reach chests, and generally feel clumsy for no reason.
Here’s the fix: dash immediately before you jump. This gives you significantly more horizontal distance and lets you reach platforms that seem impossible with a normal jump. I spent my first three hours thinking certain areas were locked behind story progression. They weren’t. I just didn’t know how to move properly.
Practice this combo early. You’ll use it constantly for exploration and chest hunting.
2. Never pull unless you have 120 saved
This is the single most important tip for free-to-play players. Endfield’s gacha system punishes partial commitment harder than most games.
Here’s how pity works: soft pity starts at 65 pulls with increased six-star rates. You’re guaranteed a six-star at 80 pulls, but it’s a 50/50 chance for the featured character. If you lose the 50/50, your next guaranteed six-star is the featured unit at 120 pulls total.
The critical part: that 120-pull guarantee does not carry over to the next banner.
If you spend 70 pulls, lose the 50/50 at 80, and can’t reach 120 before the banner ends, you’ve wasted everything. Either commit to 120 pulls or don’t pull at all. I learned this the hard way on the launch banner. Our full review covers whether the gacha is ultimately fair for free-to-play players.
3. Spend your sanity daily without exception
Sanity is your primary gating resource. It regenerates over time, but if you hit the cap, that regeneration stops. Every minute you sit at max sanity, you’re losing potential progress.
In my first few days, I hoarded sanity thinking I’d need it for something special later. There is no something special. Spend it on skill materials, promotion materials, or whatever your operators need most. The efficiency loss from capping adds up fast.
Check your sanity before logging off. If it’s going to cap overnight, burn it on something useful first.
4. Claim your free six-star Ardelia on day three
The game gives you a powerful six-star healer named Ardelia just for logging in on your third day. Don’t miss this. She’s a legitimate end-game viable character, not a throwaway freebie.
Beyond Ardelia, the login rewards during the launch period are genuinely generous. Between pre-registration rewards, login bonuses, and exploration, I accumulated around 130 pulls in my first two weeks without spending money. Take advantage of launch generosity while it lasts.
5. Pick up every new resource manually at least once
This tip sounds weird, but it’s crucial for factory efficiency later. When you encounter a new resource type, pick it up manually the first time. After that, your AI squadmates will automatically gather that resource type when you’re nearby.
I ignored gathering for hours, thinking I’d handle it later. Then I realized my team was walking past valuable materials because I’d never manually collected them. One quick pickup per resource type, and your passive income multiplies.
6. Learn the stagger system before anything else
Combat in Endfield revolves around stagger. Every enemy has a white gauge beneath their health bar. Fill that gauge, and they become staggered, which lets you trigger a massive damage finisher.
The key detail: the final hit of your basic attack combo is called a Dive Attack, and it builds stagger significantly faster than normal hits. Don’t just mash attack. Complete your combos and land those Dive Attacks to stagger enemies quickly.
Once I understood stagger timing, fights that felt impossible became manageable. It’s the combat system’s backbone.
7. Your whole team shares the skill point bar
This confused me for way too long. All four operators share a single three-segment energy bar for battle skills. When you use a skill, it drains from that shared pool regardless of which character used it.
This means skill order and timing matter enormously. Don’t spam skills randomly. Think about which abilities combo together and which operator needs the energy most at any given moment. Burning all three segments on one character’s skills leaves your other operators unable to contribute.
8. Build one team around a single damage type
Endfield has two main damage approaches: Physical and Arts. Mixing them randomly creates a team that does neither well.
Physical teams focus on applying the Vulnerable status through abilities tagged with Lift, Knockdown, Crush, or Breach. You stack Vulnerable, then trigger Crush or Breach to consume the stacks for massive burst damage.
Arts teams stack elemental effects to trigger Arts Reactions, which create powerful combination effects based on which elements you’re mixing.
Pick one approach and build your starter team around it. My first team was a mess of random favorites. My second team, built entirely around Physical damage, cleared content my messy team couldn’t touch.
9. Don’t ignore the factory system
The Automated Industry Complex sounds optional. It isn’t. Factory automation produces materials you need for upgrades, and the sooner you start building production lines, the faster your account progresses.
I avoided the factory for my first week because it seemed complicated. When I finally engaged with it, I realized I’d been grinding materials manually that my factory could have produced passively. Start simple with basic ore processing, then expand as you unlock new regions and resources.
The factory building genuinely hooked me once I gave it a chance.
10. Level caps are tied to story progression
Your operators and weapons have level caps that increase as you advance the main story. The initial cap is level 20, then it raises at certain story milestones to 40, 60, and eventually 80.
This means you can’t just grind your way to power if you’re stuck on a story fight. You need to actually progress the narrative to unlock higher levels. If you’re hitting a wall, check whether you’re at your current level cap. Sometimes the answer is pushing story forward, not farming more materials.
11. Gear sets need three pieces to activate bonuses
Gear in Endfield comes in sets, but the set bonuses only activate when you equip three pieces from the same set. You can equip one armor piece, one gloves piece, and two kit pieces, which means you need to be strategic about which slots get which sets.
Early on, don’t stress about perfect sets. Focus on getting gear with the right main stats for your operators. Set bonuses matter more in mid-game when you have options. Forcing a bad set bonus over good individual stats will hurt your damage.
12. Learn to cancel heavy attack animations
Heavy attacks deal significant damage but lock you into long animations. During those animations, you can’t dodge, which means you’ll eat hits you could have avoided.
The solution is animation canceling. You can interrupt heavy attack animations with dodges or skill activations. This lets you get the damage without committing to the full vulnerable recovery window. Watch your operator’s animations and experiment with timing. Once you get it, combat feels much smoother.
13. Weapons come from a separate gacha
Operators and weapons use different banner systems. You pull operators with Headhunting Permits, but weapons require Arsenal Tickets. The good news: you earn Arsenal Tickets primarily from pulling on operator banners, so you’ll accumulate them naturally.
Weapon pity mirrors the operator system with a guarantee at 80 attempts. Don’t feel pressured to pull weapons early. Focus on operators first, and let Arsenal Tickets build up. Your free and craftable weapons are sufficient for early content.
14. Check the Endfield Database for tutorials and free rewards
The in-game Database contains tutorials that reward you with currency just for reading them. I discovered this embarrassingly late and left free Headhunting Permits on the table for days.
Navigate to the Database from the main menu and work through the tutorials. You’ll learn mechanics the game doesn’t explain well and earn pull currency simultaneously. Also check each Operator’s profile for their specific Operator Guide, which provides additional rewards.
Free resources are free resources. Don’t leave them unclaimed.
15. Exploration rank rewards are worth the detours
As you explore Talos-II, you’ll notice an exploration rank that increases when you open chests, complete puzzles, and discover points of interest. Higher ranks unlock meaningful rewards including materials and premium currency.
It’s tempting to rush through story missions, but taking time to explore each region thoroughly pays off. Those awkward chests on distant ledges? They’re worth reaching. The exploration rank system rewards completionist behavior, and I’ve enjoyed the treasure hunting more than I expected.
Combine this with the dash-jump technique from tip one, and you’ll reach chests you initially thought were unreachable.
Quick reference checklist
Here’s the short version for quick reference:
- Dash before jumping for distance
- Save 120 pulls before committing to any banner
- Spend sanity daily, never cap
- Claim free Ardelia on day three
- Manually grab each resource type once
- Complete attack combos for stagger damage
- Remember skills share one energy bar
- Build teams around Physical OR Arts, not both
- Start factory automation early
- Push story to raise level caps
- Need three gear pieces for set bonuses
- Cancel heavy attacks with dodges
- Weapons use separate gacha currency
- Check Database tutorials for free rewards
- Explore thoroughly for rank rewards
Want deeper explanations? Our complete Endfield guide expands on each of these tips.
What to focus on first
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, here’s my recommended priority order for your first week:
Days 1-2: Complete the tutorial, claim all login and pre-registration rewards, pick up every resource type you see, and push story until you unlock the factory system.
Days 3-4: Claim Ardelia, build your first team around one damage type, set up basic factory automation, and continue story progression.
Days 5-7: Farm materials to level your main squad, expand your factory, explore previous regions for missed chests, and evaluate whether you can guarantee 120 pulls on the current banner.
After that first week, you’ll have a solid foundation and can focus on whatever aspect of the game interests you most. If you’re coming from Genshin Impact, the transition might be smoother than you expect.
Ready to start your journey? Arknights Endfield is free on PC, PS5, iOS, and Android. Download Arknights Endfield free and use these tips to avoid my early mistakes.
