This guide for Arknights: Endfield offers some insight and tips in order to raise Outpost Prosperity to its current limit.

Raise Outpost Prosperity

You can check out the video guide here.

On the Refugee Camp screen in Outpost Management under Regional Development, you can view the current Outpost Prosperity at the top. At level 1 it will require a mere 12,000 points to advance. First, look for the relevant button prompt in order to Select Operator Liaison for maximal effect from trading. Next, select goods from the right side to trade for Stock Bills, which has the added bonus of raising Outpost Prosperity in a 1:1 base ratio, as well as any additional bonuses that may be provided by the appointed Operator Liaison.

The ideal goods for trade are those of high individual value, however in the early game large quantities of relatively low value materials will also suffice. Origocrust should get you to the initial requirement of 12,000 Outpost Prosperity quite comfortably, and requires not much work in terms of mining and production lines.

The slider allows you to select a quantity up to the maximum amount you own of the given material. Do not exceed the amount required to reach the current limit of Outpost Prosperity, as it does not carry over, and will essentially be wasted. You are going to need every bit of Outpost Prosperity that you can extract via trading for levels 2 and 3, which require 163,000 points and 917,000 respectively.

The storage capacity limit for Origocrust is 8,000 units, but trade it in small chunks of a few thousand until you achieve the required Outpost Prosperity. This is done in order to account for any additional bonuses earned via the Operator Liaison, but which you will only see after the trade is actually done, and the goal meter is updated.

Maintain this methodology as you scale up trading with more high value materials such as Batteries.

Select An Operator Liaison

Certain operators offer specific bonuses to the Outpost when assigned, based on their Faction, Hobbies, or Expertise. These are highlighted in yellow when viewing the Operator Liaison selection screen. Look for ‘SAR Response’ to be triggered in particular, as it grants a 20% chance to earn 1 bonus point of Outpost Prosperity when earning them via trading, which is the primary method you will be using to earn these points.

The ‘Rhodes Island’ Faction trait will provide this, and Ardelia, Snowshine, and Pogranichnik all have it.

Other Assignment Effects include ‘Turn Scrap to Treasure’ which has a 20% chance to earn 1 bonus Stock Bill per Stock Bill earned while trading, and ‘Survival Knowledge’ which has a 20% chance to earn an additional Stock Bill per Stock Bill earned by the Outpost in the regular course of business. Neither of these will serve your particular needs for bonus Outpost Prosperity points, although they are still useful traits for an outpost to have.

Be sure to assign an Operator Liaison before performing any trade to avoid wasting the opportunity to earn bonuses.

Those are all the specifics regarding raising Outpost Prosperity to its current limit in Arknights: Endfield.

This guide for Arknights: Endfield is all about gathering the promotion materials your operators will need in order to level up beyond the caps at 20 and at 40.

Pink Bolete

Pink Boletes are an operator promotion material of which you will require 3 for each character you wish to promote to E1. This color of Bolete has multiple sources for you to make use of:

• Rare Gathering Sites at The Hub, Valley Pass, and Originium Science Park in Valley IV
• Pink Bolete Mycelia cultivation in the Growth Chamber at OMV Dijiang

In The Hub, two of the Pink Bolete Rare Growths are located just south of the Old Power Plant but a short distance from one another. The third is located in the Rockhill Passage, but requires embarking on a main mission.

The sole Pink Bolete Rare Growth in Valley Pass is located in the Arsenal, which is situated south-west of Valley Transfer.

In Originium Science Park you will find two Pink Bolete Rare Growths: one in the south-east corner of The Depression, and the other in the north of Cliffside Trail.

Every location will respawn Pink Bolete each day, and both this rate and the maximum cap on spawned Bolete are dependent upon your Exploration Level.

Check out video guide here.

Red Bolete

Red Boletes are an operator promotion material of which you will require 5 for each character you wish to promote to E2. This color of Bolete has multiple sources for you to make use of:

• Rare Gathering Sites at Origin Lodespring and Power Plateau in Valley IV
• Red Bolete Mycelia cultivation in the Growth Chamber at OMV Dijiang

In Origin Lodespring you can find three Red Bolete Rare Growths: one in the southern end of the Logistics Area, another on the eastern end of Blightcliff Observation Post, and the third down a path south-west of Mountain Passage. This last one requires the use of explosives in order to reach the general area.

The sole Red Bolete Rare Growth in Power Plateau is located in the northern section of the Old Dorms.

Every location will respawn Red Bolete each day, and both this rate and the maximum cap on spawned Bolete are dependent upon your Exploration Level.

Check out the video guide here.

Those are all the locations and methods for farming the Pink Boletes and Red Boletes required in order to level up past 20 and 40 respectively in Arknights: Endfield.

This guide for Arknights: Endfield is about how to use Blueprints, as well as make and share some of your own.

Create Blueprints

From the hub, navigate to Blueprints, and then the ‘My Blueprints’ tab at the top. In the bottom middle you will find the ‘New Blueprint’ button and prompt you can use.

This overhead view has a number of functions and prompts that you can use to select relevant, fully constructed facilities for inclusion in your Blueprint. You can go so far as to save the layout of the entire AIC Factory if you wish to replicate it elsewhere.

Save the Blueprint from the overview, and then verify the name, tags, and description. Next, select ‘Submit for Review’ for a near instantaneous check for issues, after which the button will morph into a ‘Share’ function. Done.

Remember that Blueprints are not just great for saving full AIC Factory layouts, but also individual production line modules that you want to quickly replicate for deployment in order to ramp up output of some material.

Check out the video guide here.

Share Blueprints

In order to share Blueprints, navigate to ‘My Blueprints’ and select ‘Share’ in the top-right corner. This allows you to either share it directly with friends from a simple Friends Overview window, or share it with others.

‘Share with Others’ will allow you to view the schematic itself as well as provide you with a ‘Sharing Code’ in the bottom left corner, with a handy copy button for that code.

You can then simply hand the code out on social media or any websites hosting Blueprints for the public.

Import Shared Blueprints

In order to import a Blueprint for which you have a code, select the ‘Import Blueprint’ button in the bottom middle of the screen. Next, paste the code in the popup using the handy little button there, then ‘Confirm’.

A Blueprint will display the layout as well as list all the facilities required for it on the right. After reviewing it, you still have to ‘Save to Shared Blueprints’ from the bottom right corner.

Unlock System Blueprints

You can collect System Blueprints by going through simulations to learn AIC Factory knowledge and acquiring each one by one. Access the Endfield Database, then Item Files, and select a relevant material such as Ferrium Parts. In the bottom right corner you will find the ‘System Blueprints’ button that will take you to the Simulation screen where you can learn how to use the relevant facility.

Completion of the simulation unlocks the System Blueprint itself.

Use Blueprints

When you want to use a custom Blueprint, simply navigate to ‘My Blueprints’ for your own creations, ‘System Blueprints’ for default layouts, and ‘Shared Blueprints’ for those that you have found codes for, either from friends or strangers online. If you do not own all or some of the facilities featured in the Blueprint already, you can hit the ‘Construct’ button to create just the ones you are lacking.

Once ready, select ‘Place’ to switch to the overhead view and place the layout at your discretion.

Be aware that Blueprint codes are region or server locked to the creator strangely, should you find a code that does not work for some reason.

That is everything there is to know about creating, sharing, importing, and using Blueprints in Arknights: Endfield.

This guide for Arknights: Enfield details how you can raise the power cap of your base above and beyond its starting limit.

Thermal Bank

First you will need to unlock and research the ‘Power I’ technology from the tech tree. This is located in its second tier or Basic AIC II under the Power column. The technology unlocks the Thermal Bank for construction which is powered by either Originium Ore or Batteries. They will have to be connected to the power grid in order to function correctly. Crafting requirements are 10x Amethyst Parts and 10x Origocrust.

Check out the video guide here.

Originium Ore

By this point you will have plenty of Originium Ore at your disposal. Once placed in a Thermal Bank, each ore will provide you with 50 power for a duration of 8 seconds. This is the more straightforward option for increasing power output, but is somewhat lacking in the amount of power supplied.

LC Valley Battery

LC Valley Batteries will require additional research, construction, and processing in order to set up a reliable supply chain for your Thermal Banks, but will provide you with a huge 220 additional power each, for a duration of 40 seconds. Production of LC Valley Batteries requires the unlock and research of the ‘Packaging Tech’ technology from the tech tree. This is located in its second tier or Basic AIC II under the Processing column. The technology unlocks the Packaging Unit for construction which can auto-produce formulas including the LC Valley Battery.

The LC Valley Battery itself requires 5x Amethyst Parts and 10x Originium Powder for production, and which are respectively processed from Amethyst Fibers by a Fitting Unit, and Originium Ore by a Shredding Unit.

SC Valley Battery

SC Valley Batteries are an improvement upon LC Valley Batteries and will provide you with a massive 420 additional power each, but for the same duration of 40 seconds.

The SC Valley Battery itself requires 10x Ferrium Parts and 15x Originium Powder for production, and which are respectively processed from Ferrium by a Fitting Unit, and Originium Ore by a Shredding Unit.

HC Valley Battery

HC Valley Batteries are an improvement upon SC Valley Batteries and will provide you with an astounding 1100 additional power each, but for the same duration of 40 seconds.

The HC Valley Battery itself requires 10x Steel Parts and 15x Dense Originium Powder for production, and which are respectively processed from Steel by a Fitting Unit and Originium Powder with Sandleaf Powder by a Grinding Unit.

LC Wuling Battery

LC Wuling Batteries are an improvement upon HC Valley Batteries and will provide you with a staggering 1600 additional power each, but for the same duration of 40 seconds.

The LC Wuling Battery itself requires 5x Xiranite and 15x Dense Originium Powder for production, and which are respectively processed from Stabilized Carbon with Clean Water by a Forge of the Sky, and Originium Powder with Sandleaf Powder by a Grinding Unit.

That is everything there is to know about exceeding the power limit of 200 in your base in Arknights: Endfield.

This guide for Arknights: Endfield is all about gathering the promotion materials your operators will need in order to level up beyond the cap at 60, up to the next cap of 80.

Protosets

Protosets are an operator promotion material of which you will require 24 for each character you wish to promote to E3 and E4. These are relatively more difficult to obtain than the various colored Bolete resources.

There are multiple sources for Protosets:

• Story missions, side missions, and other quests
• Randomly through opening chests while exploring and gathering
• Rewards for the completion of limited-time events
• Acquisition Center: AIC Trading
• Completion of Protocol Space: Promotions

The latter is the most reliable source for farming Protosets, but exerts a toll on Sanity. You can find the relevant Protocol Space: Promotions in The Hub, with a reward of 8 Protosets for Level 3 Option B.

Check out the video guide here.

Ruby Bolete

Ruby Boletes are the other operator promotion material of which you will require 5 for each character you wish to promote to E3. This color of Bolete has two sources for you to make use of:

• Rare Gathering Sites at Jingyu Valley in Wuling
• Ruby Bolete Mycelia cultivation in the Growth Chamber at OMV Dijiang

The Ruby Bolete Rare Growths are located close to the Tele-Protocol Point near the Treadway. From this TP Point, the first growth is just a few steps away to its south-west. The next is just across the bridge directly west of the TP Point. Once on the opposite side of the river, head south while staying close to the water’s edge to find the second growth.

Both locations will provide you with a bounty of 10 Ruby Boletes each the very first time you come across them, followed by a cap of 1 Ruby Bolete each, per day.

Check out the video guide here.

That is all there is to farming the Protosets and Ruby Boletes required in order to level up past 60 in Arknights: Endfield.

Cue the least obvious segue into Arknights ever, and as beloved as it’s been for its community, the tower defense formula isn’t for everyone. That’s one of many reasons why Arknights: Endfield has been so anticipated, especially for those who know the brand but want something more high-budget and action-packed. And Endfield sort of delivers on that promise with many caveats, and even then, it has a long road ahead before being able to compete with the best.

"It’s weird because Hypergryph already offered a more compelling amnesiac set-up in Arknights. But no, our Endmin is as cool as a cucumber and about as flavorful in the early going."

Forget what you know about the Doctor – this time, it’s the Endministrator who’s the prerequisite saviour, capable of harnessing Originium (which certainly isn’t a concerning substance at all) to bring order to Talos-2. Set more than 150 years after Arknights, the Endmin’s tale begins 10 years after they went into hibernation – only to reawaken with no memories, everyone’s favorite trope. Obviously, this is meant to educate you on the world while keeping the plot moving, and teaching everything about the combat and Automated Industry Complex (or AIC) as they uncover more information about this vast, untamed world.

The problem is that after an ambiguous but still compelling opening, Endfield’s plot feels uninteresting and low-stakes. Keep in mind that this is with Catastrophes that have wreaked havoc across the moon’s surface, dangerous Aggeloi created by Anchors dropping from the sky, and a bandit group known as the Landbreakers, who have become better organized under the mysterious Nefarith.

And it’s not just because you’re stopped every so often for extensive conversations that could be summed up in a few lines to keep the pace rolling, or the fact that key information is repeated only seconds later. The writing itself sometimes feels too sterile. As excellent as the voice cast can be, whether it’s Chen Qianyu’s enthusiasm or the gruff Wulfgard, they can only do so much when the material isn’t flowing naturally, not feeling like how people would actually speak, or – even worse – just full of a bunch of extraneous details for the sake of fleshing out this setup.

Call it the curse of the genre, especially for a title like this, which is trying to flesh out an entire new world, systems, antagonists, mysteries, etc (especially while offering some connection to the original Arknights). However, years of memories lost, and the Endmin isn’t freaking out a little, much less experiencing an existential crisis immediately after waking up? It’s weird because Hypergryph already offered a more compelling amnesiac set-up in Arknights. But no, our Endmin is as cool as a cucumber and about as flavorful in the early going. Aside from Perlica, whose unshakeable stance can feel a little overdone, at least the other characters show some personality.

Things do improve when venturing to Wuling City, encountering the mysterious Ardashir and learning more about Chen’s past (and why she left), though once again, the dialogue feels unnatural. Not completely stilted or bad – it gets the job done, for sure, and has some notable moments – but not the most compelling or streamlined either.

"I also like how the development team didn’t opt for an open world – not just because it works better with the factory-building, but also due to how much more dense each region feels with content."

Where Endfield falls short in the writing, it makes up for it in world design and exploration. Oftentimes, the anime art style doesn’t always resonate with some people, but I love how developer Mountain Contour handled it here. Each character retains their anime aesthetic (and is brimming with incredible details and slick animation), but Talos-2 is the real star. Gorgeously rendered, there’s a heavy industrial flavor to the sci-fi trappings, which meshes very well with the wilder aspects in Valley 4. Seeing it twisted due to the Corruption, resulting in various anomalies, just makes it feel more ethereal yet desolate. By contrast, Wuling City is more modern Chinese architecture combined with bamboo trees that feels peaceful, but the heavy, humid atmosphere and its mugginess belie an air of mystery and foreboding.

I also like how the development team didn’t opt for an open world – not just because it works better with the factory-building, but also due to how much more dense each region feels with content. You won’t have to travel far to resolve crises. Some of them involve simply battling waves of enemies, which can become more intriguing at higher levels when you’re focusing on gear for specific stats while leveraging turrets and so on as support. There are puzzles to solve, anomalies to investigate, enemies – both Landbreaker and otherwise – to smack around, facilities to restore, side quests to complete – it’s an impressive smattering of content. Though the puzzles can sometimes feel a little too straightforward, going out and discovering new things is fun. It’s the same feeling as testing your limits in a Satisfactory or Factorio, which brings us to the two core gameplay aspects: Combat and factory-building.

I’ll get the latter out of the way first, since it’s something I enjoyed more. There’s certainly a learning curve here, more so for managing the interface, but the factory-building and automation are good. If you’ve played any of the above games, it will look familiar – collecting resources, refining them, combining them, and so on, managing power requirements, and ensuring everything is running as efficiently as possible.

And while the applications, from producing resources for delivery to crafting your own gear, are manifold, you also branch out into the greater world with your creations, almost Death Stranding style. Constructing ziplines is the most obvious comparison, but you’ll also want to create relays to extend the AIC’s power to open closed-off sections and access chests, repair recyclers, and construct autonomous drills while you’re off gathering. And if you’re keen on the early going to mine yourself, good news – your party members help out, which is a great quality of life feature.

"Would I still recommend Arknights: Endfield, even with these caveats and the factory-building, which everyone may not gel with? Sure, especially with how many more systems there are to dive into, from building bonds and gifting characters to Artificing and truly min-maxing your gear."

As intimidating as the factory-building, which doesn’t quite reach the complexity of its peers, could be for some, there is an extensive array of tutorials available, and more than a fair number of rewards to obtain (especially in Region Management). I am a little worried about how Mountain Contour will stick to it in the long run, but the number of ways to expand on it is endless, from introducing new resources and structures to different challenges.

Unfortunately, that now brings us to one of my least favorite aspects of Arknights: Endfield – the combat. To preface, it’s not…bad, per se, but it is very repetitive, often boiling down to attacking enemies and then activating whatever combos become available. Oh, you can inflict different kinds of elemental statuses and Bursts, the latter dealing more damage, and crafting your team around both of those is the key (even if it means an overall restrictiveness to compositions – at this point, mono-element teams offer the best chance at success).

But the actual gameplay just doesn’t require any real tactical considerations. Unleash your party’s skills or Ultimates whenever available – it all results in the same loop, and that’s true whether you’re playing at level 20 or level 60. Don’t get me wrong – it can feel satisfying, and the addition of dodging helps ensure that Skill Points flow more readily while encouraging more reckless behavior. And yet, it needs some actual strategy to really shine.

Would I still recommend Arknights: Endfield, even with these caveats and the factory-building, which everyone may not gel with? Sure, especially with how many more systems there are to dive into, from building bonds and gifting characters to Artificing and truly min-maxing your gear. Just don’t expect too much from the combat, and prepare to really give the story time to become compelling. Even when not compared to other games, it’s an intriguing mix of action-RPG gameplay, automation and exploration with a stunning presentation. Whether it can build on all that to deliver something truly special within the space remains to be seen.

This game was reviewed on PC.

Of course, as someone who’s sampled their fair share of games throughout the years – Genshin, PGR, WuWa, HSR, Reverse: 1999, ZZZ, so on and so forth (we don’t talk about Tower of Fantasy) – there’s always something appealing about a fresh slate. A brand-new world to explore with stunning, hopefully interesting characters to meet and build out; a new combat system to master and cry about when I can’t clear the end-game; and, of course, a banger soundtrack. If it looks good enough, it’s worth a try – maybe I’ll invest dozens upon dozens of hours, maybe I won’t. What better entry point than “free” and plenty of ways to avoid commitment?

But it’s different with Arknights. I relished the world and its lore – the mysteries of Originium, the harshness of Oripathy, the many diverse factions living out their lives, the Calamity, and all the little stories inhabiting each character. As much as I enjoyed the tower defense machinations, I wanted something more. More dynamic with a presentation that would do this incredible setting and characters justice (and that’s taking the already incredible art style and music into consideration).

Endfield delivers that in droves, which is honestly impressive given that it takes place on a new planet over 150 years in the future. As the leader of Endfield Industries – the imaginatively named Endministrator – you’re responsible for a great many things. Helping the Terrans on Talos 2 after the Aethergate that led them there was destroyed over a century ago.

Exploring the wilderness while dealing with risks like the Aggeloi, a mysterious, hostile species, and the Landbreaker raiders. Utilising all the machinery that you developed. To name a few, of course. The only problem is you’ve – surprise, surprise – lost your memories. How? Why? That’s the greater mystery, and you can bet that it has something to do with Originium. It’s cliché, I know, but it’s only the start.

Arknights has always been sci-fi. Heck, developer Hypergryph knows a thing or two about fully realizing a world in the throes of its own calamities, waiting for your amnesiac self to put the pieces back together (even if the solution isn’t what you expected). And yet, Endfield is a different breed of sci-fi. I’m talking about the horizons spilling forth, offering lush green fields to explore and get lost in. Wuling City – the one that we know of thus far – that’s more of a drastically sized-up campus, yet still bustling with life. It’s almost NASA-punk in a sense, especially as you venture more towards the industrial side (and you will in due time).

And while I’ve waited for the franchise to go beyond tower defense into full-blown action RPG territory, I’m impressed with how it’s not trying to ape the competition. Instead of a vast open world, Endfield consists of multiple large regions, each filled with unique activities that feed into the AIC Factory system. You’ve probably heard it compared to Satisfactory or Factorio – setting up elaborate production lines to harvest resources and refine them while optimizing the heck out of it. With the ability to copy other players’ blueprints, you can get as hands-off as you’d like with the whole automation process, but there are plenty of reasons to keep coming back to it.

The first and most obvious is exploration. Want to fast travel from one place to another? Build a network of ziplines, which especially comes in handy when delivering packages, Death Stranding-style (plus it’s just sick to look at). Earn enough Regional Stock Bills, and you can exchange them for gear and further upgrades.

The second is perhaps even more enticing – you can use the AIC to craft your own gear. For anyone who’s struggled tirelessly, trying to obtain that perfect Relic roll, this is a game-changer. Of course, you can reroll the stats to suit the unit in question, and there’s an entire end-game system, Artificing, that revolves around further upgrading. But removing such a frustrating mechanic in favor of something more deterministic is unprecedented.

Which brings us to combat. Ordinarily, in these types of free-to-play titles, you would have one character on the field at a time, but Endfield applies a more traditional RPG set-up where your entire team partakes in combat. While the age-old stagger mechanic is now present, stacking the same status effect can lead to a Burst of damage. Combine different elemental inflictions, and you’ll trigger Reactions.

What was once a fairly rudimentary system has evolved into one that prioritizes team-building to leverage Bursts, Inflictions and Reactions to quickly decimate foes. Plus, combat is just so much snappier now, as you trigger assists. Even the addition of a dedicated dodge button has proven very useful, since perfect dodges feed into SP recovery and more damaging attacks. The result is something that stays true to the spirit of Arknights – a well-built team will often succeed. At least, around launch – I wouldn’t put it past Hypergryph to add more premium units that power-creep the older ones, or even necessitate other premium units to unleash their full potential. I’ve played these games before.

However, the biggest selling point of Arknights: Endfield? It could have been released much sooner. There didn’t need to be another beta – with how successful the original is, Hypergryph could have easily unleashed this on fans desperate to play. However, it didn’t. Instead, it spent the time and money to rework significant portions of the story while massively improving the combat and factory systems. As noted in GameSpot’s preview from November, before the second beta went live, 40 to 50 percent of the level design had been overhauled, along with 80 to 90 percent of cutscenes and dialogue.

So much has changed since the last beta that it feels like a completely different experience (and that doesn’t include other improvements made since the second beta ended). The cynic in me wants to say that Hypergryph understands how the free-to-play market works – you only have one chance to make an impression, and it better count. After all, with the production values on display and the sheer amount of content – with 20 to 30 hours of story quests alone before the second major region opens up – it wants to deliver the highest quality experience to potentially rope in new players.

However, the Arknights fan in me feels a familiar sense of wonder, whether it’s of the art style or the world-building. The action RPG part wants to dive into combat more than ever, and the open-world enthusiast…well, I’ll appreciate dense regions that still offer plenty of content. With everything we’ve seen thus far, it remains to be seen if Endfield can compete with the titans of industry. Never mind upstart competitors like Where Winds Meet or future threats like Ananta or Silver Palace.

One thing is for sure, though: It’s offering a premium experience, right out of the gate, while defying numerous norms. And that’s certainly more than something.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

It also dropped not one, not two, but three brand new trailers, including a cinematic-heavy one set to Starset’s “We Are Empire.” Set on Talos-2 in the future, the story focuses on the Endministrator, the leader of Endfield Industries. With the moon and its denizens facing unprecedented crises and calamities, you must initiate the Zeroth Directive to bring peace.

The problem? You’ve lost your memories, and no one else remembers all of the Directive’s details. No pressure, of course. Between managing a party of four in real-time hack and slash combat, you’ll also set up the Automated Industry Complex to refine resources, produce goods, and much more.

Arknights: Endfield launches on January 22nd for iOS, PS5, PC, and Android. It supports DualSense (including haptic feedback), DualShock, and Xbox controllers while offering DLSS Super Resolution and Frame Generation for improved performance. You can even look forward to 120 frames per second support. Check out our feature for everything to know before diving in.

It’s Been Heavily Reworked Since The First Beta

Arknights: Endfield has changed significantly since its first beta in January 2024. Prompted by player feedback, overhauls have come to combat flow, character movement, weight, pacing, camerawork, and special effects. The result is action feeling far more fluid, kinetic, and responsive; deliberately designed for real-time play rather than an experimental spin-off from Arknights’ tower-defence lineage. Ongoing technical and closed beta tests will continue to refine the game experience up to release, including new and redesigned battle system mechanics.

Exploration is Core to The Experience

The orbiting satellite of gas giant Talos, Talos-II is an untamed world beyond the human colonies that’re living in habitable bands. Throughout its unexplored wildlands, mysterious constructs called Ankhors create the Aggeloi – a war-waging threat that has persistently hampered colonial expansion. So, your explorations won’t just be sightseeing, but in coming face-to-face with the Aggeloi while seeking resources, planting traversal routes, and establishing outposts you’ll be building a better, safer homeland.

Expect Multiple Factions and Enemy Types

The protagonistic Endfield Industries – led by the Endministrator – seek to advance research, exploration, and industrial infrastructure across Talos-II. You’ll encounter numerous other factions throughout your experience, each with their own goals and ideologies: the militarised Order of Steel Oath fight to defend humanity from the Aggeloid threat; the Hongshan Academy of Sciences specialise in cutting-edge agricultural research to mitigate the spread of Blight (planet-wide corruptive anomalies which impede exploration). There’re more, each enacting their own philosophy on how best to stabilise Talos-II. Enemy-wise, expect the hostile Aggeloi – ranging from common, through advanced, to elite and boss tier – to be a tenacious nuisance for your defences. And, led by the enigmatic Nefarith, Landbreakers are humanoid raiders who’ve learned to showcase tactical knowledge through robbery and criminal activity. Each enemy type demands a different approach, whether that’s prioritising breaking posture, managing area control, or targeting the highest threats mid-fight.

This Is Not An Open World 

Despite its scale, Arknights: Endfield isn’t technically an open world. Its developers describe it as sandbox-like, comprising vast, interconnected regions rather than one huge, seamless map. This tighter structure was introduced following beta feedback, where players regularly got lost. The result is a world which still supports freeroaming while keeping combat zones, objectives, and factory settings logically tied together.

Combat is Real-Time and Highly Tactical

At its core, Endfield is a blistering, real-time action RPG where you’ll juggle light and heavy attacks, skill activations, evasive dodges, and positional awareness at breakneck speed. The combat here emphasises momentum, flow, and teamwork, with your squad relying on keeping pressure on enemies rather than playing defensively (defence is where summonable turrets come in – more on that later).

You Control Squads of Four Operators

In Arknights: Endfield you’re not a single hero, but in command of four-operator squads, with success depending on combining different roles, elemental interactions, and tactical synergies across the team. Whether working together to stagger enemies, setting up chain attacks, or managing skill point economy, squad composition plays a huge part in how encounters unfold.

There’re 24 Playable Characters at Launch

At launch, Endfield will feature 24 operators, ranging from 4-star to 6-star rarity. Characters are divided into six classes which function as clear combat roles, each bringing unique weapons, and elemental Arts abilities to the fray. Whilst having better stats, higher rarity also unlocks stronger team synergies and more flexible skill interactions – although lower ranked characters are still more-than capable within the right squad setup.

Arts are Central to Combat – and Easy to Use

Arts function as elemental abilities that can be freely combined across your squad. Coming in five flavours – physical, heat, electric, cryo, and nature – each with their own effects and reactions, they’re designed to be intuitive; easy to combine, with no complex input commands or long cooldowns. Instead, Arts consume Skill Points, making resource management integral to maintaining the flow of combat more than timing windows.

Skill Point Management is Crucial

Effective Skill Point management is essential throughout Endfield’s skirmishes – fuelling Arts, powerful skills, and ultimate abilities. Some enemies will unleash furious attacks that must be disabled by using a skill point before a shrinking red ring vanishes, while others will have their posture damaged by well-timed skill executions. Up to three can be stored for each character, and they’re replenished by landing final attacks, performing perfect dodges, or maintaining successful combos.

Chain Attacks Bring Strategic Flair

One of Endfield’s standout combat mechanics is the ability to chain attacks between squad members. These cinematic, high-impact manoeuvres can be triggered once certain, character-specific conditions are met – landing a certain attack, or utilising a pre-determined Arts-string. Chain Attacks don’t use Skill Points, nor are they interrupted by dodging but they do possess cooldowns. Mastering the Chain Attack system is crucial to experiencing Endfield’s battling at its freeflowing best while maximising damage output.

Factory Building is Deep

Combat aside, Endfield also features a deep, fully-integrated factory simulation, where resource harvesting, processing, and crafting can be automated through modular production lines. Factory construction and management isn’t a light side-activity either, but a hefty slab of industrialisation tied directly to exploration and map control. And, be warned: your factories can be attacked, so you must work to defend them. Those tower defence elements we mentioned earlier? Well, here is where they can be executed dynamically in response to enemy assaults, with shields, turrets, and other defensive structures eliminating threats before they tamper with your infrastructure.

Structures Influence Traversal and Survival

Production lines aren’t the only structures you’ll build. No, you can also place traversal tools like ziplines, install power relay units to divert energy across the map, or build strongholds to support survival in especially hostile zones. Some of these structures have indirect multiplayer capability too, with other players able to benefit from your creations in a way that’s reminiscent of Death Stranding.

The Game Teaches You How to Build

Fully automated production lines look as spaghettified as they do streamlined, so it’s understandable if their appearance is, at first, intimidating. The devs know this, so have made sure Endfield eases players in with clear instructions, frequent tutorials, and unlockable blueprints that streamline construction once specific modules have been combined.

World Design Shapes Factory Strategy

The newly unveiled city of Wuling, for example, draws inspiration from nature and water cycles, blended with far-future tech. This design philosophy informs Xiranite, the game’s fictional material – and one of the foundations of its factory simulation – that’s central to crafting upgrades and consumables to assist you as you expand Endfield Industries’ control.

Procuring characters and Gear

Top-level characters and gear can be acquired without needing to spend money, and the game has not been designed as pay-to-win. How much grind will be required for the best equipment remains to be seen, but the studio’s intent is clear.

Considering it reached 30 million earlier today, that’s pretty impressive. Of course, more in-game rewards are unlocked as more players pre-register, including 30,000 T-Creds, 20 Advanced Combat Records, five Basic HH Permits, and Snowshine, a 5-star Operator. The next milestone is ten Basic HH Permits, so if reached, players should have 15 such pulls available at launch.

As a spin-off to the Arknights tower defense game, Arknights: Endfield takes place on a new location – Talos-2. Players control the amnesiac Endministrator, who commands Endfield Industries to effectively rally the moon’s survivors following a disaster over 150 years ago. Alongside team-based action RPG gameplay, it offers a robust factory-building system for resources and gear manufacturing.