Arknights: Endfield tier list and best characters

Laevatain

Rarity: Six-star
Class: Heat Striker

This heat-based damage-dealer is one of the best in the game and a meta pick for fire teams. This is thanks to her Twilight ultimate, which transforms her basic attacks into wide-ranging fiery slashes, and she particularly shines when fighting lots of enemies due to this AoE damage.

Ideally, you pair her with other characters who can easily apply Heat Infliction, like Wulfgard, since she absorbs it through her Scorching Heart talent and turns it into Melting Flame, a resource she uses to trigger Combustion on enemies with her battle skill. Combustion also triggers her combo skill, both of which provide ultimate energy.

Yvonne

Rarity: Six-star
Class: Cryo Striker

This gun-toting damage-dealer is one of the top picks for cryo teams and one of the strongest single-target DPS characters in the game. This is mainly down to her ultimate’s crit rate and damage buff, which gets even bigger against enemies with Cryo Infliction or Solidification (freezing) once she unlocks her Freezing Point talent.

Yvonne is all about applying Solidification to enemies through her battle skill by consuming stacks of either Cryo or Nature Infliction, for which she gains ultimate energy. She also gains ult energy from her combo skill which triggers on final strikes against frozen opponents, further enhanced when she gets her Barrage of Technology talent, making the next attack after applying Solidification a final strike.

Yvonne is best paired with characters who apply Cryo Infliction, but it’s optimal for her to apply the Solidification herself, since this charges her ult. As she effectively turns into a turret during her ult, bringing a Cryo Defender like Snowshine might also be sensible.

Gilberta

Rarity: Six-star
Class: Nature Supporter

Despite being a nature character, Gilberta is the best support in the game for all arts teams, whether cryo, heat, or electric, thanks to her ability to apply Arts Susceptibility (increasing arts damage) with her AoE ultimate, while also giving the team access to Corrosion via the Nature Infliction she applies with her battle skill. Corrosion reduces enemy resistances, so it’s particularly valuable in tough battles. The Arts Susceptibility she applies is also enhanced based on vulnerability stacks, which she can inflict with her combo skill via the Lift physical status.

Gilberta can even heal once you unlock her Late Reply talent, provided you hit multiple enemies with her skill or combo. Essentially, she’ll slot well as an amplifier into any team except a physical one.

Last Rite

Rarity: Six-star
Class: Cryo Striker

Similar to Yvonne, Last Rite is a very strong cryo DPS character, focusing on enhanced final strikes. When active, her battle skill means that when the controlled operator performs a final strike, Last Rite summons mirages who attack the enemy and apply Cryo Infliction. Similar to Da Pan with his vulnerability stack-based combo skill, Last Rite’s triggers when an enemy has at least three Cryo Infliction stacks, gaining additional damage and ult energy for each. Once you unlock her Hypothermia talent, she’ll also apply Cryo Susceptibility for each stack, and her Cryogenic Embrittlement talent will enhance that effect when she uses her ult.

Since Last Rite doesn’t freeze enemies, she can actually work alongside Yvonne, though you might find them battling each other to consume Cryo Infliction. In general, Last Rite will benefit from characters who apply Cryo Infliction so she can consume it with her combo skill and recharge her massive damage ult.

Ardelia

Rarity: Six-star
Class: Nature Supporter

The best healer in the game, Ardelia is a super versatile support character who can inflict the valuable Corrosion reaction with her combo skill (lowering enemy resistances) but also consume said Corrosion with her battle skill, turning it into Physical and Arts Susceptibility.

While her healing primarily comes from her ult, which creates a bunch of sheep you can collect for HP, once you unlock her Friendly Presence talent, her skill will also spawn a few sheep you can collect for healing. As a healer, she’ll slot just about anywhere, but will shine in teams that can easily apply Corrosion for her to take advantage of.

Avywenna

Rarity: Five-star
Class: Electric Striker

Avywenna is the strongest electric damage-dealer in the game as of launch, with has a simple playstyle that revolves around throwing Thunderlances into the ground with her combo skill and ultimate, then using her battle skill to return them, creating arcs of electricity that damage enemies in their path. Once she unlocks her Expedited Delivery talent, she can also regain ult energy when a Thunderlance hits an enemy, or even apply Electric Susceptibility with her ult upon getting her Tactful Approach talent.

Since her combo triggers on final strikes against targets with Electric Infliction or Electrification, you’ll want to run her with electric characters who apply either, like Perlica and Arclight.

Xaihi

Rarity: Five-star
Class: Cryo Supporter

This supporter is both a strong healer and amplifier for cryo teams. Her skill summons a two-charge crystal which heals the active operator on final strikes, providing some nice synergy with Yvonne, but especially Last Rite and the mirage attacks from her skill. If HP is full, they instead gain a stack of Arts Amp, increasing damage. Her ultimate also applies either Cryo Amp or Nature Amp to the whole team, further buffing damage.

Though her Auxiliary Crystal can be a little fiddly as a mechanic, Xaihi is definitely the best dedicated cryo support character in a game where cryo is currently one of the strongest team comps.

Akekuri

Rarity: Four-star
Class: Heat Vanguard

Akekuri is one of the most valuable free-to-play operators in the game right now, acting as a simple yet versatile skill point recovery character for pretty much any team. Her ult provides straightforward SP regen, and her combo skill also recovers SP. Since this triggers on Stagger versus a specific arts-based condition, it also doesn’t really matter who her teammates are. Her skill does apply Heat Infliction, so she’s optimally used in a heat team with Laevatain, but she’ll be a very useful battery just about anywhere.

Pogranichnik

Rarity: Six-stars
Class: Physical Vanguard

Arguably the strongest character for pure physical teams right now, Pogranichnik is the only operator who can apply the Breach status with his skill, which increases physical damage taken by the target. He also gains SP based on how many vulnerability stacks this consumes. His combo skill triggers when Breach or Crush consumes vulnerability stacks, granting bonus SP and attacks based on how many. His ult is also absurdly fun, summoning Shieldguards who attack whenever you inflict a physical status or use his combo skill, with five overall charges.

Pogranichnik is best used with characters who apply vulnerability via physical statuses, and consume them with Crush, such as Chen and Lifeng for the former, or Endmin and Da Pan for the latter.

Antal

Rarity: Four-star
Class: Electric Supporter

Antal is a very valuable four-star support character who really shines in Electric parties. This is because his battle skill applies Focus to an enemy, giving them Heat and Electricity Susceptibility, while his ult applies Electric Amp and Heat Amp to the entire team, making him a great support for either art.

Antal gets his combo when an enemy with Focus takes a physical status or any arts infliction, upon which he adds another stack, making him useful in a wide range of team comps. That said, you’ll ideally want to use him in an electric party alongside Avywenna, Perlica, and Arclight.

Wulfgard

Rarity: Five-star
Class: Heat Caster

Wulfgard is a particularly valuable support and sub-DPS character in a heat-based team with Laevatain. This is due to how good he is at applying Heat Infliction with his skill, plus it can also consume Combustion to deal extra damage, a reaction Laevatain is great at procc-ing. His combo skill occurs upon any arts infliction, applying Heat Infliction to nearby enemies with a grenade, while his ult forcibly applies Combustion, which also procs Laevatain’s combo skill. With the limited number of heat characters, Wulfgard is invaluable in fire-based teams, but less useful outside of them.

Perlica

Rarity: Five-star
Class: Electric Caster

One of the most valuable free characters the game will give you, Perlica shines in electric teams due to how easily she can apply Electric Infliction and Electrification to enemies with her skill and combo, which occurs on any final strike against an enemy.

This makes her great alongside Avywenna, but in particular, Arclight, whose combo occurs on Electrification and regens SP. Arclight’s skill also deals additional damage and gets more SP if it hits an enemy with Electrification. You can do an effective 1-2-1-1 where Arclight final strikes, Perlica electrifies, Arclight combos to get SP, and then uses her skill to consume said Electrification for more SP and damage.

Ember

Rarity: Six-star
Class: Heat Shielder

The best Defender in Endfield, Ember has a particularly powerful combo skill that activates when the controlled operator is hit. She jumps at the enemy, inflicting Knock Down and healing you. She can also provide shields for the whole team with her ult, based on her max HP, making her the best shielder in the game.

Ember’s level of survivability is overkill in most situations, especially as she takes up a team slot that could otherwise be occupied by a support character, but if you want to guarantee staying alive, she’s extremely valuable.

Lifeng

Rarity: Six-star
Class: Physical Guard

Another strong character and enabler for physical teams is Lifeng, thanks to his ability to apply Physical Susceptibility if his skill hits an enemy with no vulnerability stacks. He also combo skills on final strikes against enemies with Breach or Physical Susceptibility, granting Link to the party, which buffs the next ult or battle skill cast. His ult also deals two stacks of Knock Down and can consume the Link for massive damage.

Though not quite as valuable as Pogranichnik, Lifeng is still a very good dedicated physical support character and sub-DPS, though will be less useful outside of a physical team.

Endministrator

Rarity: Six-star
Class: Physical Guard

Protagonists in gacha games are usually not that strong in my experience, but Endmin is a decent physical damage-dealer. This is because of their ability to activate the Crush physical status with their skill, consuming vulnerability stacks for big damage. They also combo after any other operator gets theirs, applying Originium Crystals that immobilise enemies, and can be consumed by physical statuses or their ult for additional damage.

If you like the idea of a physical team, Endmin is a decent character, but the problem with pure physical is that it’s not free-to-play friendly, requiring Pogranichnik or Lifeng to be optimal.

However, you could use Endmin in a cryo/physical team alongside Estella or Alesh, using physical statuses to Shatter enemies with Solidification. Chen is also a very good free character for applying vulnerability to enemies, which will help Endmin perform better early on.

Arclight

Rarity: Five-star
Class: Electric Vanguard

As mentioned in Perlica’s entry, Arclight is the ideal battery for Electric teams, providing SP recovery through her battle skill and combo. She pairs very well with Perlica, due to her ability to apply Electrification, which procs Arclight’s combo, and she can consume with her skill for additional damage and SP. Ideally, you use her with Avywenna, Perlica, and Antal as one of the most free-to-play friendly, yet quite strong, team comps in the game. Outside of Electric teams, though, I’d go with Akekuri instead.

Alesh

Rarity: Five-star
Class: Cryo Vanguard

Alesh really shines in hybrid physical/cryo teams since he can consume Cryo Infliction with his skill to apply Solidification to enemies, recovering SP based on the stacks. Since his combo skill occurs when either an arts reaction or Originium Crystals are consumed, recovering SP, he’s a good combo for the Endministrator as well. He freezes enemies and Endmin Shatters them with Crush; a straightforward yet effective combo.

Though he’s a cryo battery, the fact that he consumes Cryo Infliction (which both Last Rite and Yvonne want) and applies Solidification to targets (which Yvonne ideally does for ult energy) means he’s less ideal in a lot of cryo team comps. Still, he’s an effective SP recovery and free-to-play friendly character if you’re running a cryo/physical team with Endmin early on.

Chen Qianyu

Rarity: Five-star
Class: Physical Guard

Chen is a great character early on thanks to her ability to inflict vulnerability through Lift with her skill, and combo whenever an enemy becomes vulnerable, meaning she can support Endmin’s skill-based Crush, which consumes vulnerability for extra damage. She’ll also be useful in a physical/cryo hybrid team, where physical statuses applied to enemies with Solidification, Shatter them, dealing extra damage. Her ult also deals decent damage, but if you’re planning to move away from a physical team, she’ll be less useful.

Estella

Rarity: Four-star
Class: Cryo Guard

Despite being a cryo character, Estella is a little like Chen, but more specialised as a sub-DPS character in a physical/cryo team. She pairs well with Alesh since she can apply Cryo Infliction with her battle skill, and her combo occurs when a target gets Solidification, applying Lift to them for added vulnerability, but also inflicting Physical Susceptibility if they happen to be frozen.

Her ult also gets a bonus against targets with Physical Susceptibility, applying Lift to them as well. Once she unlocks her Commiseration talent, she refunds SP on her next battle skill use after she Shatters an enemy, so yeah, she’s focused towards cryo/physical Shatter teams and will provide limited use outside of them.

Fluorite

Rarity: Four-star
Class: Nature Caster

As the only non-six-star Nature character currently available in the game, Fluorite has her uses, such as applying Slow and Nature Infliction with her skill, so you can proc Corrosion to reduce enemy resistances. She also has a fairly versatile combo skill and ult, which both apply an additional stack of Cryo or Nature Infliction if the enemy already has two of either.

Funnily enough, this makes her a fun pairing for Last Rite. Fluorite’s combo activates when an enemy has two stacks of Cryo Infliction, adding another, which activates Last Rite’s combo skill in turn. This does have a 40s cooldown for Fluorite, so you might not want to build around it, but it’s just one of the fun possibilities she can open up.

Snowshine

Rarity: Five-star
Class: Cryo Defender

Snowshine is a cryo tank, less effective than Ember, but still pretty good since she provides healing. Similar to Ember, when an operator gets hit and drops below 60% HP, she’ll deploy an AoE that heals all characters within it for a short duration. She can also create a cryo AoE with her ult that applies Solidification to enemies.

Though Xaihi is a better overall healer/support hybrid for cryo teams, Snowshine can use her skill to grant Protection, which is pretty useful for Yvonne when she’s stuck in turret mode for her ult. You could also use Snowshine in a cryo/physical team, freezing enemies with her ult for Shatter, or stacking Cryo Infliction with her skill’s parry so someone like Alesh can consume it for more freezes.

Da Pan

Rarity: Five-star
Class: Physical Striker

Though Da Pan is the only Physical Striker currently in the game, in many ways he feels worse to use than Endmin. He gets access to the same physical status, Crush, but only through his combo, which requires four stacks of vulnerability to trigger and has a 20-second cooldown. This is significantly more annoying than just activating Crush when you want with Endmin’s battle skill.

He does still have a skill and ult that inflict Lift, and the latter also applies Lift and then Knock Down, so he’ll still offer plenty of vulnerability and be decent in a physical team. His combo skill also does lots of damage, it’s just a bit annoying having to wait for four stacks and a cooldown, versus using Crush on demand and consuming any number of vulnerability stacks when you want.

Catcher

Rarity: Four-star
Class: Physical Defender

Catcher is a jack of all trades, master of none. He can provide protection for himself and nearby operators, but he’s a worse shielder than Ember, and he doesn’t have healing like Snowshine does. He can deal alright damage and he’s the only character who can apply Weaken with his ult, which reduces enemy damage, but for me, his combo is kind of a let down for a Defender. It only triggers when the controlled operator drops to 40% HP or when an enemy starts charging a skill, and even then, it only applies a shield to him and one other teammate—pretty lacklustre compared to Ember and Snowshine’s healing.

You can boost his shield strength by stacking defence, and thanks to his Resilient Defense talent, every 10 Willpower equates to 1 Defence, but by the time you need a shielder, you’ll likely have Snowshine, who is a much better option, even in physical parties thanks to her applying Solidification for Shatter.

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