A lot of players boot up Endfield thinking it'll be all pulls and stamina, then the game hits you with a full factory sim. Even if you've already sorted your squad and even picked up Arknights endfield accounts to get rolling faster, the real "oh wow" moment is the Automated Industrial Complex. The pipes, belts, and power lines look messy at first. Give it an hour or two, though, and you'll start treating it like a little side hobby—set a line, fix a bottleneck, head back out to explore, and come home to a base that's actually produced something useful.

Start with exploration, not perfection

Early on, people waste time trying to build a perfect layout with nothing unlocked. Don't. Push story beats, roam the map, and grab Data Loggers whenever you spot them. Those are what feed the AIC Index, and the Index is what hands you the templates for machines, processing blocks, and upgrades. No templates means no real progress, just a lot of empty foundations. Once blueprints are in your pocket, you'll still need the usual pile of parts—Amethyst components and whatever else the zone is dropping—so keep a mental note of what you're short on before you sprint back to base.

Power is the first real bottleneck

If your setup feels "broken," it's usually power. Everything drinks electricity, and it's not shy about it. You'll be snapping miners and processors onto Electric Pylons, then stretching the grid with relay towers when the good nodes are way out in the wild. People often build the mining site first and forget the grid, then wonder why nothing moves. Build the line like this: source, power route, machine, output route. Also, unlock the Thermal Bank as soon as you can. It's the difference between logging off and losing momentum, versus logging in to a stash of materials that's already waiting.

Squads: roles matter more than vibes

Operators aren't just "pick whoever's cute." Each class has a job, and you'll feel it in tougher fights. Guards tend to carry your physical pressure and debuffs. Casters make the elemental stuff happen and punish clustered enemies. When things go sideways, Defenders and Vanguards are what stop the wipe—one holds ground, the other stabilizes the opening so you're not instantly behind. Upgrading stats is where people quietly throw resources away. Stick to what the kit wants. If an Operator scales off Strength, don't get tempted by side stats just because the numbers look nice.

Promotion spikes and smart shortcuts

Level caps come quick, and promotions are where the game really opens up: 40, then 60, then 80, with a long road to 90. The materials grind is real, but the passive talents you unlock are the kind of power that changes how a whole team plays. On the factory side, you don't need to reinvent layouts every time, either. Use the Blueprint System, copy something proven, and tweak it once you understand what's choking your throughput. And if you're trying to save time on gearing or stocking up on essentials, plenty of players use U4GM for game currency and items so they can spend more sessions exploring and fighting instead of staring at an empty storage box.