When Arknights Endfield launched globally across PC, mobile, and console in early 2026, thousands of new players joined the franchise’s first open world entry. If you’re one of those players searching for clear, no-fluff advice for how to play Arknights Endfield, you’re in the right place. I’ve logged over 120 hours in both the closed beta and live release, and I’ve put together all the tips I wish I had when I first started, no gacha shilling or unnecessary jargon included.
Start With the Core Gameplay Loop First Before Exploring Open World
It’s tempting to run off and explore the vast deserts of Talos-II as soon as you finish the 10-minute opening cutscene, but that’s one of the most common mistakes new players make. You won’t unlock fast travel, base camp, or the full operator recruitment system until you complete the first three main story chapters, so hold off on side content for your first two hours of play. 3-star completion of main story chapters also gives you free premium currency and operator shards that you can use to build your first team far faster than grinding open world collectibles.
For your first login in particular, there are three small tasks you should knock out first before doing anything else:
That means you won’t waste time running around the open world with underleveled units that get one-shot by random overworld enemies. You can go back to explore all the hidden chests and side quests once you have a stable team and fast travel unlocked, which will cut down on travel time by 70%. Don’t worry about missing out on limited time collectibles, all launch period open world items will stay available through all 2026 updates.
How to Play Arknights Endfield: Build Your First Balanced Team Correctly
Unlike the original Arknights, Endfield only lets you bring 4 units into combat at a time, so team balance matters far more than stacking as many high-rarity operators as possible. A standard well-rounded team for all early and mid-game content includes one defender to absorb damage, one healer to keep your team alive, one physical DPS, and one elemental DPS. You don’t need any 5 or 6-star units to clear 90% of the first 10 chapters of the main story, so don’t feel pressured to pull on every banner that comes out.
Operator rarity doesn’t equal usability for most early game content. For example, the 3-star defender Grani is available for free for all new players in 2026’s launch event, and she has higher base defense than most 5-star defenders up to level 50. I made this exact mistake during my first week playing back in the closed beta, where I dumped all my enhancement materials into a 6-star sniper, only to get stuck on a stage with heavy AOE damage because I had no leveled healer. I had to wait almost a week for the weekly resource reset to get enough materials to fix my team.
You also don’t need to level every operator you pull. Stick to leveling your core 4 units to level 40 first, then raise a second team of 4 for specialized stages and weekly boss fights. You’ll save hundreds of rare enhancement materials that you would have otherwise wasted on units you’ll never use. You can always level niche operators later once you have a stable resource income from your base camp.
Manage Your Resources to Avoid Wasting Rare Items in 2026’s Meta
One of the biggest pain points for new Arknights Endfield players is running out of rare resources right when they need them to progress through a difficult stage. The 2026 launch meta doesn’t require you to hoard every single item you get, but there are a few rules of thumb you can follow to avoid running out. You don’t have to follow these strictly if you’re playing casually, but they’ll save you a lot of frustration if you want to progress at a steady pace.
Originium shards, the game’s premium currency, should never be spent on standard banner pulls. Save them for limited banner pulls, battle pass levels, or extra stamina refills during event periods where you can farm exclusive limited materials. A lot of new players blow all their originium shards on the standard banner in their first week, then miss out on limited edition operators that only come around once every 6 months. The 2026 roadmap has already confirmed 3 limited banners dropping this year, so holding onto at least 120 shards will let you guarantee the limited unit you want.
Your base camp upgrades should always prioritize resource production buildings first before cosmetic items or quality of life upgrades. The ore production and stamina regeneration buildings will give you passive resources every day, so upgrading them first means you’ll have far more materials to work with long term. I skipped this step on my first account, and I was getting 30% less ore per day than players who prioritized these upgrades, putting me weeks behind on progression. You can add all the decorative furniture you want once your production buildings are maxed out.
Don’t forget to do your weekly boss fights every reset. They drop exclusive skill enhancement materials that you can’t get from any other stage, and you only get 3 attempts per week. Missing these runs means you’ll have to wait 7 days to get the materials you need to unlock higher tier operator skills, which will slow down your progression significantly. I set a phone reminder every Sunday to run these fights so I never forget.
Master Combat Mechanics to Beat Hard Stages Without Whaling
Arknights Endfield’s combat system is a mix of the original game’s tower defense positioning and open world action RPG mechanics, and a lot of new players miss out on key mechanics that make hard stages way easier. Positioning matters way more than high stats for almost every challenging stage, so don’t just drop your units in one spot and leave them there. You can reposition your operators at any time during combat for no cost, so move them behind your defender when long range enemies spawn, and spread them out when AOE enemies show up.
The 2026 launch version’s elemental reaction system is also way more powerful than most players realize. Elemental attacks have a 1.5x damage multiplier against enemies weak to that element, so a level 50 4-star fire operator will do more damage to an ice boss than a level 70 6-star physical operator. Always check the enemy element list before entering a stage, and swap out your DPS to match the enemy weakness if you’re struggling to clear it. I beat the first endgame boss 10 levels earlier than recommended just by swapping my physical sniper for a free 4-star fire caster.
You also don’t need to use your operator’s ultimate skill as soon as it’s off cooldown. Save them for large waves of enemies or boss phase changes where you need to burst down high health targets fast. I used to waste my ultimate skills on small trash mobs all the time, then get stuck when the boss spawned and I had no burst damage left to take it down before it wiped my team. If you time your ultimates correctly, you can beat most boss stages with units 5 to 10 levels under the recommended level.
At the end of the day, Arknights Endfield is designed to be accessible for both casual players and hardcore gacha fans, so don’t stress too much about min-maxing every part of your account. If you follow these simple tips, you’ll have no trouble figuring out how to play Arknights Endfield and progressing through all the 2026 launch content without spending a penny. There are new maps, operators, and events dropping every month, so building a solid foundation now will set you up to enjoy all the future content without frustration. The best part of the game is exploring the world and finding your favorite team comps, so don’t forget to have fun with it.