Getting a 6 Star character early should feel great. In Arknights: Endfield, it often does too, unless you want the signature weapon. Then it only lasts for about five seconds. After that, a lot of players realize that if you were lucky early and you want the character’s weapon, you are a little bit in a tough situation.
And that is where the banner system starts to feel a bit off.
Getting the 6-Star Early Means Hitting a Wall
Let’s say you pull the featured 6-star early on the character banner. Great, that should be the best possible outcome, but it turns out it is not. If you want the signature weapon, you now run into a problem:
- Weapon currency is tied to pulling
- Once you already have the character, pulling more is usually a bad idea
- But if you stop pulling, you will not have enough currency for the weapon
So the game puts you in an awkward position where you either have to be smart and stop pulling, or keep pulling after you already “won”, just to afford the weapon. But the second option means you spend pulls on a banner you do not need anymore.
Since the pity does not carry over, you can’t even tell yourself “worst case, it is pity for the next Operator.” This can quickly become a problem, especially for F2P players.
In most cases, the optimal answer is simply that you should not pull more. Skip the signature weapon. Often Operators have at least one valuable lower-rank weapon.
Weapon Banner Odds Do Not Help Either
Even if you do decide to go for it, the weapon banner itself is not very forgiving.
- Only 25% chance to get the featured weapon
- Very easy to walk away with nothing useful
- No strong safety net to soften bad luck
You do get it guaranteed after a certain number of tries, but the issues that you will not have enough currency for it if you got your Operator early. You are basically encouraged to overspend after success, not before. For future characters, the solution is most likely to skip some weapons and save up the currency for one that you really need, but this is also not optimal.
Right now, experienced players are already coming to the same conclusion:
- Pull for the character
- Stop once you get them
- Use a non-signature weapon if you know you do not have enough, and move on
That is the most logical and efficient way to do things for the time being. But it is also kind of sad that the best advice is “do not engage with part of the banner system.”
A Banner Design That Could Use Some Changes
Right now, most players agree that even if the banner system in Arknights: Endfield is quite good overall, the weapon system could benefit from a few changes. A good banner system should:
- Reward luck, not punish it
- Reduce pressure after success
- Make optional upgrades feel achievable, not manipulative
The game is still early, and this is exactly the kind of feedback that can (and should) be addressed over time. But for now, players should be aware of how the system works before committing pulls they might regret.
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