In Arknights: Endfield, a lot of players are rushing quests, building their AIC, and unlocking new systems. But there is one progression part that is easy to miss early on, and those are the upgrade materials from rare map resources.
Rare growths and rare ores might look optional at first glance, but they are not. They are a core part of both Operator promotions and weapon upgrades, and they are a little bit locked behind “time”.
Rare Growths and Ores: What Makes Them Special
Unlike standard gathering nodes, rare growths and rare ores:
- Appear in limited spots on the world map
- Have a long respawn timer (around 3 real-life days)
- They are used directly for promotion and upgrading Characters and Weapons
This means that once you collect those ores, you will need to wait as they gradually respawn one by one over time. It takes about 3 days for them to be fully refilled. This means that if you miss them when they are back, you might end up stuck on character or weapon progression and have to wait for the mats to be gathered again.
You will not feel the pressure immediately at low levels, but once you start promoting Operators, costs ramp up fast. Here is what Operator promotions look like:
- Promotion I (Lv.40 cap)
- 8 Protodisk, 3 Pink Bolete, 1.6k T-Creds
- Promotion II (Lv.60 cap)
- 25 Protodisk, 5 Red Bolete, 6.5k T-Creds
- Promotion III (Lv.80 cap)
- 24 Protoset, 5 Ruby Bolete, 18k T-Creds
- Promotion IV (Lv.90 cap)
- 36 Protoset, 20 Metadiastima Photoemission Tubes, 8 Bloodcap, 100k T-Creds
Many of these materials are either directly gathered from rare nodes or crafted from resources that depend on them. Missing a few cycles early can quietly slow everything later.
Weapons Run Into the Same Issue
Weapons also have a “promotion” system, but they have their own needs, and it is just as rare material-hungry. Weapon upgrades require large quantities of rare Ores. Similar to the specific mushrooms you need for characters, those grow in a few places over the map, and take the same amount of time to refill completely.
By the time you are pushing weapons past level 60 or 80, the material demand becomes very noticeable, especially if you skipped rare nodes earlier and now need to wait days for respawns.
Finding Rare Nodes Is Easy
The good news is that Endfield is pretty fair here.
- Rare growths and ores have distinct map icons
- You can track them directly, just like objectives
- Once you know the icons, they are hard to miss
It is also good to know that when you select the icon on the map, it gives you all the information you need. This means the time left before everything has respawned, the amount you can collect there, and the specific items it is. No need to walk back and forth if you forgot how much time passed or not since they were last collected, and if you only need one specific material, you know which node to go to.
Here is an overview of the rare growth. Some rare growths are different items, such as other types of fungi, but you need them all either way. As mentioned, if you click on the nodes on your map, it will show you the specific item available on that node.
And here is how it will look for the weapon’s rare ores:
Because these nodes are “time-gated”, skipping them is not just “missing some mats”. It is:
- Slower Operator promotions
- Delayed weapon upgrades
- Sudden progression walls later on
If you plan to raise multiple Operators or keep several weapons upgraded, rare nodes quietly become one of the most important things to stay on top of.
The Simple Habit That Saves You Later
You do not need to min-max or route everything perfectly. Just keep in mind the following few tips to make it a part of your daily routine in the game:
- Open the map every day and hover over the rare grows to make sure they are not fully reset
- Look for rare growth and ore indicators when you unlock a new part of the map. There are a few spots in each zone, not just the hub
- Track and collect them when they are up
It is a small routine now that prevents very real frustration later.
It is easy to ignore rare nodes early on, but they are one of those systems that only hurt when you forget them. A quick map check every few days goes a long way toward keeping your Operators and weapons on track.
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