With Arknights: Endfield launching this week, a lot of players are asking the same question: Which characters are actually worth pulling and investing in early on?
Endfield’s roster at launch is fairly large, but resources are not. Levels, materials, and duplicates add up fast, and pushing everyone to level 99 simply is not realistic for most players. The smart play early on is knowing who gives the best long-term value, not just who hits the hardest on day one.
At launch, you will have access to a total of 23 characters of different rarity:
- 4★ – 5 characters
- 5★ – 9 characters
- 6★ – 9 characters
It is also good to know that lower rarity does not mean weak in Endfield. Several 4★ and 5★ characters are genuinely strong and can carry teams with proper investment.
The Safest Investments at Launch (Long-Term Supports)
If you want characters that are very unlikely to fall off anytime soon, these are your best bets.
Akekuri (4★ – Heat)
One of the most valuable units in the entire game, regardless of rarity. She is a perfect SP battery currently available, restoring huge amounts of skill points and smoothing out rotations for almost any team. Easy to use, flexible, and incredibly efficient.
If you are F2P, Akekuri is definitely worth investing in.
Ardelia (6★ – Nature)
The best healer at launch, but more importantly, a damage amplifier. She applies Corrosion to reduce enemy resistances and boosts team damage, and at the same time keeps everyone alive. Extremely easy to slot into any composition.
Gilberta (6★ – Nature)
One of the most universal supports in the game. Grouping, damage amplification, Corrosion, and elemental synergy all in one kit. She fits almost anywhere.
Pogranichnick (6★ – Physical)
If you are touching Physical teams at all, this unit is very good. Massive SP generation, damage amplification, and rotation control. Very hard to replace and likely to remain core for a long time.
Perlica (5★ – Electric, Free)
Easily one of the strongest “starter” characters Endfield gives out for free. She applies Electrification almost permanently, boosts damage, and deals strong off-field DPS herself.
Best DPS at Launch (Strong, but Expect Power Creep)
These characters hit extremely hard right now, but DPS characters are always the most vulnerable to future releases. Most of the time, they do get powercreeped pretty fast compared to support characters.
Laevatain (6★ – Heat, Limited)
The best Heat DPS at launch, especially for AoE and farming. She scales with Heat stacks and deletes groups quickly. However, she requires Wulfgard to function properly, and that limits flexibility.
Yvonne (6★ – Cryo)
Arguably the best single-target DPS in the game. Incredibly strong in boss fights, scales uniquely with crit, and feels very rewarding to play. Weak in multi-target content and very team-dependent.
Last Rite (6★ – Cryo)
Explosive burst damage when consuming Cryo stacks. Very strong early on, especially in optimized Cryo teams, but likely to be overtaken by future Cryo DPS units.
Endministrator (6★ – Physical)
Your main character. It is one of the best main Physical DPS. He can consume all vulnerable stacks from enemies to apply Crush and deal massive damage.
Solid Picks With Good Potential
These characters are strong now and perfectly usable, but may be replaced later as the roster expands.
- Antal (4★) – Excellent F2P Electric and Heat support. Very good if you do not intend to pull Gilberta
- Avywenna (5★) – Fun Electric DPS with solid damage
- Lifeng (6★) – 6-star version of Chen, BiS in Physical teams, but not very useful outside of it
- Chen Qianyu (5★ Free) – Core Physical debuffer early on
- Wulfgard (5★ Free) – Essential Heat applicator for Levatain teams
- Xaihi (5★) – Cryo support with healing and buffs
- Estella (4★) – Strong F2P-friendly character that can apply Cryo and vulnerability to Physical DMG
- Alesh (5★) – Cryo SP battery, good support for both Cryo and Physical
- Arclight (5★) – Electric SP battery and buffer
Characters You Can Safely Skip Early
Not bad characters, but poor return on investment compared to alternatives:
Final Advice for Launch Players
If you want the easiest start in Arknights: Endfield, you want to prioritize supports over DPS. DPS characters will always be replaced quite fast compared to supports. Do not underestimate 4★ and free characters either. You can get some very good ones, especially for the early game! You also want to start by building characters that enable SP generation and debuffs, as this can be quite useful during the early game.
Keep also in mind that tier lists are guidelines, not rules, and Endfield rewards smart team building far more than chasing raw damage numbers. The characters that help your whole team function will always outlast damage dealers.
For more guides and information about the game, check out our latest news!
Source: AlexYuki
