Arknights: Endfield Charactes - How to Play Them

Technical Alpha of the long-awaited Arknights: Endfield started on January 12th at 3 AM UTC and Anime Corner had the pleasure of partaking in the test and getting to see how the game works and what characters were included in the initial version.

So far the game has 9 playable operators and in this article, we’ll go through them 1 by 1, explaining who they are and what they can bring to the table during intense combat situations. Throughout the article, you might find the term “elemental orb”. Some skills have a chance to create an elemental orb of various elements. If the orb is created and then one of your skills passes through the orb, it creates an AOE dealing damage of that element and applying some stagger on the enemies it hits.

Endministrator

Endministrator is the protagonist of the Arknights: Endfield. In Arknights lore, information about the technology behind them is highly classified. There are many legends and rumours surrounding this character but it’s known that Endministrator was a key figure for Enfield Industries.

Endministator – Skills Overview and Tips

True Strike (Operator Talent) – Deals increased damage to Broken (basically staggered) enemies.
Pursuit Attack – After casting her Active Skill (effect does not apply if you switch operator before unleashing the Pursuit Attack), the Endministrator’s next attack deals increased damage.
Slashing Dash/Cleaving Dash (Active Skills) – Both skills have the same cooldown but Slashing Dash allows Endministrator to dash to a selected position dealing damage to all enemies along the way inflicting a Knock Down effect upon hit. Cleaving Dash, on the other hand, lets the Endministrator dash towards the selected position, but unlike Slashing Dash it inflicts damage around the destination area knocking the enemies back.
Sequential Shock (Ultimate) – Endministrator big deal damage in a cone in a chosen direction. If the skill is used on the enemy’s back, it deals 1.5x damage.

Endministrator uses a sword in battle and, as of the moment, is the only character that has two variations of their active skill. I recommend using their Active Skill to interrupt enemy attacks. Ultimate on the other hand is used best when you manage to get at your enemy’s back.

Perlica

Perlica is the second playable character we encounter in Arknights: Endfield. She’s the Supervisor of Endfield Industries and can access the company resources with efficiency and ease. She is a disciplined yet amiable and open-minded leader. Operators look forward to working in her team as it usually involves generous bonuses, plenty of leave days, and opportunities to learn something new throughout the missions.

Perlica – Skills Overview and Tips

Cartesian Protocol (Operator Talent) – Hitting full-health enemies with the main skill increases the chance of creating a Pulse Orb.
Pursuit Attack – After casting her Active Skill (effect does not apply if you switch operator before unleashing the Pursuit Attack), Perlica’s next attack deals increased damage.
Protocol Ω-Strike (Active Skill) – Perlica immediately hits the target dealing damage. Hitting the target has a chance to create a Pulse Orb.
Protocol E-70.41K (Ultimate) – Perlica bombards all enemies in the target area dealing big damage and creating a Pulse Orb in the area.

Perlica uses a staff to fight and she’s a ranged damage dealer. She provides a mix of single target DPS with her Active Skill and an AOE damage with her Ultimate. Perlica is quite squishy so I recommend swapping to her only to use her skills and then swap back to your tank unit to avoid getting severely damaged.

Chen Qianyu

The next character we encounter in our adventure is Chen Qianyu. She has outstanding physicals and reflexes. For combat, she uses various types of traditional martial arts, and she can suppress her opponent with a rapid flurry of strikes. She is determined to hone her combat techniques and is more than happy to spar with others.

Chen Qianyu – Skills Overview and Tips

Sky Sweep (Operator Talent) – Xaihi deals increased damage to enemies that are lifted.
Pursuit Attack – After casting her Active Skill (effect does not apply if you switch operator before unleashing the Pursuit Attack), Xaihi’s next attack deals increased damage.
Ascending Strike (Active skill) – Chen instantly teleports to the target dealing damage and launching them up in the air for 1 second. If you break the target’s status with this skill, there’s a chance to create a Lattice Orb.
Blade Gale (Ultimate) – Chen launches the target up in the air and unleashes a flurry of 8 hits with each of them dealing damage.

Just like the Endministrator, Chen uses a sword to fight her opponents. Chen provides a lot of single-target DPS. Her Active Skill can instantly interrupt the enemy’s attack and deal quite a lot of single-target damage, same with her Ultimate. Like with every DPS operator, I recommend swapping to her to use her skills and swap back to the tank you have in your party.

Wolfgard

Wulfgard is the 4th playable encounter entrusted to the player. He’s a former member of the Landbreaker band known as “The Pack”. Landbreakers are one of the enemy factions players encounter in the game so a lot of Endfield employees couldn’t understand why Supervisor Perlica would invite this dangerous man into their company. Perlica, however, clearly stated that she appreciates Wulfgard’s abilities and believes he’s well worth their long-term investment.

Wulfgard – Skills Overview and Tips

Predator (Operator Talent) – If Wulfgard lifts an enemy, the duration of the lifted status is increased.
Pursuit Attack – After using an Active Skill Wulfgard’s next attack becomes a leap and deals additional damage.
Lonewolf’s Blood (Active Skill) – Wulfgard cleaves downwards, cracking the ground along the direction of the skill dealing damage, and throwing enemies up in the air for 1 second.
Fury of the Pack (Ultimate) – For the next 5 seconds, Wulfgard creates a storm around him dealing damage to enemies in range every second. Nearby enemies get thrown up in the air, increasing Wulfgard’s Ulitmate damage by 1x multiplier.

Wulfgard is the first playable character, that the player gets to play as, who wields a greatsword during the battle. He acts as a tank in the party. I recommend using his skills at the correct moment as he’s a tank. Just use the DPS skills of other operators and swap back to him. Since he is the one taking damage you’ll have more than enough time to find the correct moment to use his skills.

Fjall

Fjall is one of the Arknights: Endfields playable characters. He is a field surgeon who’s a reliable professional in clinical diagnostics and demonstrated pathological analysis. He is a fierce and courageous combatant capable of filling the offensive role for his team.

Fjall – Skills Overview and Tips

Compound Medication (Operator Talent) – Fjall’s healing abilities heal allies below a certain percentage of health with an amount increased by a percentage.
Pursuit Attack – After casting an ability, Fjall’s next basic attack becomes a 3-hit combo dealing increased damage.
Terminal Disassembly (Active Skill) – Fjall advances along the target location, unleashing 2 attacks along the way with the second one dealing more damage than the first. If the attack hits the enemy, the operator with the lowest percentage of HP recovers health equal to 30% damage dealt by this skill.
Hyperdose Formula (Ultimate) – Fjall treats all operators, recovering their health. For the next 10 seconds, operators also have their attack increased by a certain percentage.

Fjall uses a sword to fight his enemies in combat and supports fellow operators with his Ultimate skill and the healing from his Active Skill. I recommend using Fjall’s Active Skill to interrupt enemy attacks. If you manage to position Fjall correctly, his Active Skill can stop enemy attack twice. For his Ultimate I recommend using it when your party members are either low or have their Ultimate skills ready for huge damage output.

Angelina

Angelina, my favorite DPS available in the game, is a Rhodes Island liaison stationed at Endfield Industries. You might know her from the previous Arknights game. She mastered the extremely rare gravity aspect of the Originium Arts and offered critical support for many key projects pursued by other divisions.

Angelina – Skills Overview and Tips

Adaptive Field (Operator Talent) – While Angelina is casting her Active Skill, she heals nearby operators by a certain percentage per second.
Pursuing Attack – After hitting enemies with her Ultimate ability, Angelina gets her basic attacks empowered for the next 8 seconds. Her empowered attacks deal damage that’s increased against opponents that are lifted in the air. Swapping operators during those 8 seconds will remove the basic attack empowerment.
Arcane Staff: Overload Mode (Active Skill) – After selecting a target location, Angelina casts her skill for 3 seconds, dealing high damage to all of the enemies in the area of effect. A hit with this ability will also lift enemies in the air for 1.5 seconds. The skill has a chance to create a Thermal Orb in the center of the AOE.
Arcane Staff: Gravity Field Mode (Ultimate) – Angelina creates a Gravity Field that lasts 5 seconds. All enemies inside of the AOE suffer speed reduction and take high damage when the Field appears. If any enemies in the Gravity Field are lifted in the air, they will not fall until the Gravity Field ends.

Angelina uses a staff in combat and is a ranged DPS. She is very squishy but can heal her teammates a bit while casting her Active Skill. I recommend staying very far from combat. Angelina is very squishy but deals incredibly high damage. Sometimes it’s hard to land her Active Skill since it takes 3 seconds to cast, but when it does land it deals insane damage. Same with her Ultimate, cast it and be sure to stay on her for the next few seconds as her Pursuing Attack deals a lot of damage.

Ember

Ember, who on the other hand is my favorite Tank/Support character in the game so far, is an outstanding warrior with years of combat experience and a talent for military affairs. Although she is proficient in fighting, Ember is unskilled in day-to-day communication, and fellow Endfielders are advised to practice care and avoid misunderstanding when talking to her.

Ember – Skills Overview and Tips

Brand of the Oath (Operator Talent) – If Ember knocks down an enemy, she has a chance to reduce the enemy’s defense by a certain percentage for some time.
Pursuit Attack – After casting her Active Skill (effect does not apply if you switch operator before unleashing the Pursuit Attack), Ember’s next attack deals increased damage.
Corona of Light (Active Skill) – Ember unleashes a powerful cleave in the target direction dealing damage to all enemies in a cone and knocking them down for 1 second.
Sanctum of the Flame (Ultimate) – Ember deals damage to nearby enemies and knocks them down for 2 seconds. All allied operators also receive a shield that lasts for 5 seconds. Operators with the shield take reduced damage and recover a percentage of their max HP when the shield deactivates.

Ember uses a greatsword and acts like a tank with an Ultimate that supports all operators in the party. As usual with tank units, if you have Ember in your party, you’ll be mostly using her actively in combat. You can spam her skill as soon as it’s up since you want to make sure she has her Ultimate up as frequently as possible.

Avywenna

Avywenna has quite a reputation as an Armed Messenger in the frontier. She is extremely familiar with the geography of the wildlands as she worked going back and forth between the frontier and the Civilization Band. Avywenna is a seasoned combatant and became an Endfielder with the recommendations of the company’s longtime headhunting partner.

Avywenna – Skills Overview and Tips

Blazing Arc (Operator Talent) – If Avywenna triggers an elemental fusion, she has a chance to not consume the elemental orb.
Pursuit Attack – After casting her Active Skill (effect does not apply if you switch operator before unleashing the Pursuit Attack), Avywenna’s next attack becomes a 2-hit combo dealing increased damage.
Lightning Tempest (Active Skill) – Avywenna spins around with her lance dealing high damage to all enemies nearby and knocking them back.
Lance Fulminata (Ultimate) – Avywenna leaps into the air and throws a lance to the target location dealing high AOE damage. The lance lasts for 10 seconds and can trigger elemental fusions as it acts as if it is a Pulse Orb.

Avywenna is currently the only one among Arknights: Endfield characters that use a lance in combat. She acts as a DPS while allowing her party members to trigger elemental fusions consistently with her Ultimate. Avywenna’s Active Skill can mess up the enemy positions a bit since she knocks them back, be sure to not throw out enemies from any area you’re currently casting a skill at. Her Ultimate, however, allows you to keep staggering your enemies as every skill thrown in the direction of her ultimate triggers the elemental fusion effect. Be sure to land her Ultimate close to as many enemies as possible.

Xaihi

The last (but not least) of the Arknights: Endfield playable characters so far is Xaihi. She is a professional Originium Circultry technologist with a vast and unique knowledge of Originium communications technology as well as software and hardware engineering. She is calm and gentle and she acts with knowledge that far exceeds her age. Often, while conversing, her use of technical vocabulary goes beyond layman’s understanding.

Xaihi – Skills Overview and Tips

Trapdoor Passage (Operator Talent) – Xaihi’s pursuit attacks have a chance to create a lattice orb.
Pursuit Attack – After casting her Active Skill (effect does not apply if you switch operator before unleashing the Pursuit Attack), Xaihi’s next attack deals increased damage.
Side-Channel Attack (Active Skill) – Xaihi deals damage to the selected target. Hitting the target has a chance to create a Lattice Orb.
Stack Overflow (Ultimate) – Xaihi condenses a Lattice Sphere that orbits around her. Whenever a nearby enemy takes skill damage from operators in the party, the sphere also attacks the target dealing damage. The sphere lasts for 15 seconds and leaves a Lattice Orb at its location when it disappears.

Xaihi uses a staff and acts as a supporting DPS in the party. Personally, I didn’t like Xaihi that much, she felt a little bit underwhelming compared to other characters. However, her Ultimate adds a lot of DPS to the skills all of your characters land. Be sure to cast her Ultimate when all of your characters have their skills up or if they are very close to getting their Ultimate up for huge damage.

As of now, those 9 characters are the only ones that are playable in the Arknights: Endfield Technical Alpha. The game’s release date is yet to be announced. In the current state game feels amazing to play. The visuals are beautiful, the English voice acting is superb and the combat, most of the time, feels fun. There are some changes I would love GRYPHLINE to introduce, such as the ability to dash in order to dodge/position operators better or slight improvements to exploring movement, but let’s remember that the game is currently in Technical Alpha state and a lot might change in the future!

Arknights Arknights: Endfield