When you first boot up Arknights Endfield, you don't need to drop cash on gacha pulls to build a capable team that can clear story missions, event stages, and even high-difficulty endgame content. A lot of new players make the mistake of sleeping on Arknights Endfield free units, assuming they're weaker than limited gacha options, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I've put over 120 hours into the global release, cleared every available endgame challenge without spending a cent, and most of my core team is made up of no-cost characters you can get through regular play. This guide will break down everything you need to know to get the most out of these free picks, no gacha luck required.
All Arknights Endfield Free Units You Can Unlock Right Now
You don't have to rely on random pulls to get solid units for every role in your team. Every free unit available right now falls into one of a few easy-to-access categories, and you can unlock all of them within your first 20 hours of play if you prioritize the right content. I've listed the highest-value free picks below, along with their core roles so you can start planning your team immediately:
There are a handful of other minor free units you can get from limited time event login rewards, but the four listed above are permanent unlocks that won't go away if you join the game later. You don't have to grind for hundreds of hours to get them either, most players will unlock all four within their first two weeks of casual play.
How to Optimize Your Free Units for Endgame Content
A common myth I see new players spread is that free units can't hold up in endgame content, but that's only true if you don't build them correctly. Even the best gacha units are useless if you don't level their skills, upgrade their potentials, and equip them with the right gear, and the same rule applies to free picks. The first thing you should prioritize for all your core free units is leveling their skills to level 7 before you start investing in higher rarity gacha units. Skill upgrades make a far bigger difference to a unit's performance than raising their level past 50, and they cost far fewer resources too. That means you can get 80% of a unit's maximum power for 20% of the cost if you focus on skills first. You also want to prioritize unlocking their potential levels, which you can get from duplicate copies of the unit. For free units, you can earn duplicates from event shops, weekly mission rewards, and the permanent core shop, so you don't have to spend anything to max out their potentials. A max potential free unit will often outperform a low potential 5-star gacha unit in most regular content, so don't sleep on these upgrades. The final optimization step is picking the right module for each unit. All free units have access to the same module system as paid gacha units, and many of them have modules that completely change how they perform. For example, Liskarm's first module reduces the cost of her skill by 2 deployment points, which lets you deploy her far earlier in stages where you're tight on points. You don't have to unlock modules immediately, but they're a great long-term investment for your core free team members.
Free Unit Team Comps for Every Playstyle
One of the best things about the Arknights Endfield free unit pool is that it has enough variety to support almost every common playstyle, so you don't have to change how you like to play just because you're not spending money. If you prefer a slow, defensive playstyle where you hold a single chokepoint and wear enemies down, you can build your team around Grave as your main tank, pair him with Podenco for healing and slow, and add Ambriel for long-range damage to take out enemies before they get close to your line. I used this exact comp to clear all the first wave of emergency mission stages, and I didn't have to restart a single stage more than twice. If you prefer a more aggressive, fast-paced playstyle where you deploy units deep into enemy territory to clear objectives quickly, Liskarm is your core unit. Her ability to generate extra deployment points lets you bring in more damage dealers faster, and she can hold her own against most common enemy types without a dedicated healer for short periods of time. You can pair her with the free Cutter unit you get from the event shop for extra melee damage, and Ambriel to take out flying enemies that slip past your front line. No matter what playstyle you prefer, you don't need to copy meta team comps made by players who spend hundreds on gacha pulls to be successful. The free pool has every role covered, and you can mix and match units to fit whatever stage you're trying to clear. I regularly swap out members of my free unit team depending on the stage's enemy composition, and I've never run into a stage that required a paid unit to beat.
Common Mistakes to Avoid With Free Units
I've seen a lot of new players waste resources or miss out on the full potential of their free units because they follow bad advice from online forums, so I wanted to break down the most common mistakes you should avoid. The first and biggest mistake is feeding your free units to higher rarity gacha units as upgrade material. Even if you get a 5-star unit that seems to fill the same role as one of your free units, you should never use a free unit as fodder. Many free units have unique niches that no gacha unit fills, and you might need them later for specific stage mechanics that your paid units can't handle. The second mistake is only investing in one type of unit. A lot of new players pour all their resources into damage dealers, but they forget that supports, tanks, and healers are just as important to a functional team. You should spread your resources evenly across all roles, and make sure you have at least one fully built free unit for every core role before you start investing in niche damage dealers. The third common mistake is ignoring event rewards that give you free unit duplicates or upgrade materials. Many events give you enough materials to max out a free unit's skill level in just a few hours of play, which would take you weeks to get from regular story farming. You don't have to clear every event stage, but even completing the first half of most event mission sets will give you more than enough rewards to be worth your time. Finally, don't write off a free unit just because it has a lower rarity rating. Rarity only indicates a unit's maximum potential, not how useful it is at base investment levels. Many 3-star free units are far more useful for new players than 5-star gacha units, because they cost far fewer resources to build and have lower deployment costs. Lower rarity free units also have lower deployment costs, which makes them perfect for tight early-stage setups where you don't have a lot of points to spend.
At the end of the day, Arknights Endfield is designed to be fully playable without spending any money, and that's largely thanks to the deep, high-quality pool of Arknights Endfield free units available to all players. You don't need gacha luck or a big budget to clear every piece of content the game has to offer, you just need to know which units to prioritize, how to build them correctly, and how to fit them into a team that matches your playstyle. If you're just starting out, focus on unlocking the four core free units we listed first, level their skills before you raise their levels, and don't waste your free units as upgrade fodder for higher rarity picks. If you follow those simple rules, you'll have a team that can hold its own against any content the game throws at you, no spending required.