If you’ve spent any time messing around with the closed beta or endless theorycrafting threads for Hypergryph’s upcoming 3D open-world RPG, you’ve probably already hunted for a reliable Arknights Endfield character list to plan your first team roll. Unlike the original tower defense Arknights, Endfield swaps tile-based placement for real-time action combat, so unit roles and synergy matter way more than you might expect if you’re coming from the older title. I’ve spent over 40 hours playing the latest closed beta build, so I’ve put together every confirmed playable character released so far, plus breakdowns of what they do best, and which ones are worth prioritizing when you first pull.
Full Arknights Endfield Character List: Confirmed Playable Units
As of the latest closed beta update, there are 21 confirmed playable characters, split between 3, 4, 5, and 6-star rarities. 6-star units are the rarest and most powerful, but don’t sleep on lower rarity picks either — many 4 and 5-star characters have niche skills that outperform higher rarity units in specific mission types. Below are the most popular and high-performing units from the beta, sorted by combat role:
You’ll notice a lot of familiar faces from the original Arknights on this list, but their skills and playstyles have been fully reworked to fit Endfield’s real-time combat system. Don’t assume a character will play the same way they did in the first game, even if they share the same name and design. For example, SilverAsh’s signature True Silver Slash skill now has a shorter cooldown but smaller AoE, so you’ll need to position him much more carefully than you did in the tower defense title.
How to Sort the Arknights Endfield Character List for Your Playstyle
A lot of new players make the mistake of only picking the highest rarity characters they pull, regardless of how they fit their preferred playstyle. If you love rushing into fights and getting up close with enemies, you’ll want to prioritize high-damage guards and durable defenders first, even if you have a 6-star caster sitting in your roster. If you prefer a more passive, backline-focused playstyle, snipers and casters should be the first units you level up.
You also don’t need to have one of every role for every mission. For example, if you’re running a mission with no flying enemies, you can swap out your sniper for a second caster to melt high-armor ground targets faster. Many beta players have reported clearing even the hardest S-rank missions with full 4-star rosters, as long as their team fits the mission requirements and their units are properly leveled.
That means you don’t have to reroll 100 times to get a specific 6-star unit when the game launches. Most of the early story content is balanced around low-rarity teams, so you can take your time pulling for your favorite characters without feeling like you’re falling behind other players.
Key Stats to Prioritize for Each Character Type
When you’re browsing the character list to decide who to level up first, there are a few core stats you should pay attention to, depending on the unit’s role. For damage dealers like snipers, guards, and casters, attack power and skill charge speed are the most important, since they let you deal more damage faster and use your ultimate abilities more often. You can ignore defensive stats for these units for the most part, as they should always be positioned behind your tanks to avoid taking damage.
For tanks, max health and defense are non-negotiable, though you can also pick tanks with high magic resistance if you’re running missions with lots of spellcasting enemies. Some tanks also have passive healing abilities, which can take a lot of pressure off your healer in long, drawn-out fights.
For healers, heal amount per second and heal range are the most valuable stats, especially if you run a spread-out team with lots of ranged units. Don’t waste upgrade materials on stats that don’t matter for a unit’s role. For example, upgrading a healer’s attack power won’t do anything for their heal output, so you’re better off saving those materials for a damage unit instead. That’s a mistake I made in my first 10 hours of the beta, and I wasted almost a week worth of upgrade materials on units that didn’t get any noticeable power boost from them.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Building Your Team From the Character List
Even if you have the best possible characters from the list, you can still struggle with missions if you make common team building mistakes. The first mistake is running too many of the same damage type. If all your damage dealers are physical, you’ll get stuck on missions with high-armor enemies that take 90% reduced physical damage. Mixing physical and magical damage units ensures you can handle any enemy type you run into.
Another mistake is ignoring low-rarity units. A max level 4-star unit will outperform a level 1 6-star unit every single time, and low-rarity units are way cheaper to level up and ascend. You can easily use 4-star units as placeholders until you pull the 6-star unit you want for a specific role, and you won’t feel like you wasted any resources when you swap them out.
The last big mistake is not testing units before you invest heavily in them. Most characters have a trial mission available that lets you play them at max level with all their skills unlocked. Run those trials first to see if you actually like how a character plays, instead of wasting materials on a unit you end up never using. I did this with a 6-star defender I pulled early in the beta, and I realized I hated their slow playstyle before I spent any resources leveling them up.
At the end of the day, there’s no “perfect” team you have to build from the Arknights Endfield character list, and the best units for you are the ones that fit your playstyle and help you clear the missions you want to run. Take the time to test different units, mix and match roles, and don’t stress too much about pulling every 6-star unit right away. Even with a roster of low-rarity units, you can clear almost all content in the game as long as you level them properly and build a team with complementary skills. As more characters get added with future updates, we’ll keep this list updated with all new units, their skills, and our recommendations for who to prioritize.