Arknights: Endfield features a real-time action combat system that blends fast-paced gameplay with strategic depth. Unlike the original Arknights tower defense mechanics, Endfield offers direct character control, dynamic positioning, and complex elemental interactions. This guide covers everything you need to master combat.
⚡ Combat Fundamentals
Real-Time Action
Control characters directly in real-time. Dodge attacks, position strategically, and time your skills for maximum impact.
3-Character Squads
Deploy up to 3 characters in battle. Switch between them instantly to adapt to any situation.
Character Switching
Swap characters mid-combat. Off-field characters regenerate health and energy slowly.
Energy Management
Build energy through attacks to unleash powerful Ultimate abilities.
🔮 Arts Elements System
Endfield features five elemental Arts types, each with unique properties and strengths:
Heat Arts
Deals high sustained damage over time through burning effects.
Best Against: Enemies with high HP pools, shielded targets
Weak Against: Heat-resistant enemies, fast targets
Cryo Arts
Slows enemy movement and attack speed, provides crowd control.
Best Against: Fast-moving enemies, agile bosses
Weak Against: Cryo-resistant enemies, stationary targets
Electric Arts
Chains between multiple enemies, excellent for crowd clearing.
Best Against: Grouped enemies, swarms
Weak Against: Single targets, electric-resistant enemies
Physical
Reliable damage with no elemental resistance concerns.
Best Against: Armored enemies, all-purpose damage
Weak Against: High DEF enemies without armor break
Nature Arts
Focuses on healing, regeneration, and support effects.
Best For: Team sustain, long battles
Weak Against: Burst damage scenarios
💥 Arts Reactions (Elemental Combos)
Combining different Arts elements triggers powerful Arts Reactions that amplify damage and effects:
Vaporize
Removes Solidification and deals massive burst damage
Superconduct
Reduces enemy Physical resistance by 40%
Overload
Creates AoE explosion dealing damage to nearby enemies
Burning Bloom
Extends Heat DoT duration and increases tick rate
Shatter
Deals bonus damage to Solidified enemies
Quicken
Increases attack speed and reduces skill cooldowns
💡 Pro Tip: Reaction Timing
Arts Reactions have a 1-second cooldown per enemy. Plan your rotations to maximize reactions without overlap. The element that triggers the reaction (second element applied) determines whose stats scale the reaction damage.
💫 Stagger System
Every enemy has a Stagger Gauge. Fill it to break their stance and create openings:
Building Stagger
- Normal attacks: Low stagger buildup
- Heavy attacks: Medium stagger buildup
- Skills: High stagger buildup
- Ultimates: Massive stagger buildup
Stagger Break Effects
- Enemy stunned for 5-8 seconds
- +50% damage taken during stagger
- Interrupts enemy attacks and abilities
- Gauge resets after recovery
Strategic Uses
- Save stagger break for boss ultimate casts
- Coordinate team bursts during stagger window
- Use Ultimates to guarantee stagger breaks
- Stagger breaks remove some enemy buffs
Stagger Gauge Example:
Start of Battle
After Several Hits
Stagger Triggered
🎯 Character Roles & Team Building
Understanding character roles is key to building effective teams:
DPS (Damage Dealer)
Primary damage source. Focus on maximizing damage output through rotations and reactions.
Top Characters:
- Laevatain: Heat DPS, highest burst damage
- Last Rite: Physical DPS, consistent damage
- Chen Qianyu: Electric DPS, AoE specialist
Tip: Keep DPS on-field as much as possible. Only swap for emergency healing or reaction setups.
Tank (Defender)
Absorbs damage and protects team. Draws aggro and provides shields.
Top Characters:
- Gilberta: Shield specialist, team protection
- Snowshine: Taunt tank, crowd control
- Wulfgard: Counter tank, damage reflection
Tip: Use tanks to group enemies for AoE damage. Time shields to block boss ultimates.
Healer (Medic)
Keeps team alive through healing and buffs. Essential for sustained battles.
Top Characters:
- Ardelia: Best healer, AoE healing + cleanse
- Perlica: Healing + damage hybrid
- Lifeng: Burst healing, emergency saves
Tip: Switch to healer when HP drops below 50%. Most healers provide off-field passive healing.
Support (Buffer)
Enhances team performance through buffs, debuffs, and utility.
Top Characters:
- Yvonne: Cryo support, crowd control
- Antal: ATK buffer, team-wide bonuses
- Pogranichnik: Energy battery, cooldown reduction
Tip: Rotate through supports to maintain buff uptime. Support skills often have short cooldowns.
🧩 Sample Team Compositions
🔥 Heat Vaporize Team
Strategy:
Apply Solidification with Yvonne, then trigger Vaporize with Laevatain's Heat attacks for massive burst damage. Ardelia provides healing and can trigger Burning Bloom for extended DoT.
⚡ Electric Chain Team
Strategy:
Use Gilberta to taunt and group enemies. Apply Cryo with Yvonne, then unleash Electric chain attacks from Chen for massive AoE damage and Superconduct debuffs.
🗡️ Physical Shatter Team
Strategy:
Apply Solidification and Superconduct with Yvonne to reduce Physical resistance. Last Rite triggers Shatter for bonus damage. Pogranichnik provides energy for faster ultimates.
🛡️ Beginner Friendly Team
Strategy:
All-free team perfect for beginners. Snowshine tanks, Ardelia heals, Endministrator deals consistent Physical damage. Forgiving and easy to pilot.
💡 Advanced Combat Tips
1. Master Dodge I-Frames
Dodging provides 0.5 seconds of invincibility. Use it to avoid boss ultimates and reset positioning without taking damage.
2. Energy Management
Don't use ultimates on cooldown. Save them for stagger breaks, boss phases, or when you need burst healing/damage.
3. Off-Field Healing
Characters not currently active regenerate 2% HP per second. Switch out low-HP characters to let them heal passively.
4. Combo Chain Timing
Heavy attacks have longer animations. Cancel them with skills for faster DPS, but lose stagger buildup.
5. Boss Tells
Red glow = unblockable attack (must dodge). Yellow glow = blockable attack (tanks can shield). Blue glow = interruptible (use high-stagger skills).
6. Elemental Immunity Phases
Some bosses become immune to certain elements during phases. Always have a Physical damage dealer as backup.
7. Reaction Priority
If multiple reactions are possible, prioritize: Vaporize > Shatter > Overload > Others. Damage varies significantly.
8. Stagger Window Maximization
Coordinate ultimates during stagger breaks. The +50% damage bonus applies to all damage, including reactions.
🎥 Combat Showcase
Watch this official combat demonstration to see these mechanics in action:
🚀 Ready to Master Combat?
Practice makes perfect. The training grounds unlock at Account Level 5 to test team compositions and practice rotations.