Arknights Endfield Combo System and Chain Attacks Explained
Arknights: Endfield’s combo system revolves around basic attack chains that end in a powerful Final Strike, plus Combo Skills that trigger when specific conditions are met and can chain into other operators’ skills. Mastering these chains lets you build Stagger and Vulnerable efficiently, then cash out huge bursts with minimal SP.
Basic Attack Chains and Final Strikes
Every operator has a light attack string that ends in a Final Strike.
- Basic chain: Most operators have a 4–5 hit combo; the last hit is the Final Strike, which deals extra damage and Stagger and generates more SP than earlier hits.
- Finisher on staggered enemies: When an enemy is fully staggered, using a basic attack near them changes the Final Strike into a Finisher, dealing massive damage and refunding SP.
- Chain reset rules: The combo usually resets if you stop hitting enemies long enough, but there is a brief grace period—short dashes or animation‑tight actions can keep the chain alive, allowing you to resume at the next step instead of starting over.
Advanced players deliberately route combos so Final Strikes and Finishers land during Stagger windows, maximizing SP and damage.
Combo Skills and Chain Conditions
Each operator has a dedicated Combo Skill separate from their basic skill and Ultimate.
- Trigger conditions: Combo Skills only activate when certain conditions are met—examples include:
- Team synergies: The “Complete Team Building Guide” stresses that you should align Combo conditions across the team so one operator’s Combo sets up the next.
Endfield.gg’s combat guide notes that Physical teams, in particular, rely on a specific combo chain: use Lift/Knock Down to stack Vulnerable, then Crush/Breach to spend those stacks in one massive hit.
Perfect Dodge, Chains, and Final Strike Interaction
Dodging and combo chains are intertwined rather than separate.
- You can dodge during a combo without always breaking it; if you resume attacking quickly enough, the chain continues from the next step instead of resetting to hit 1.
- Perfect Dodge (timed against red telegraphs) not only avoids damage but also grants SP, effectively letting you keep combos going while refueling skills.
- Community analysis suggests Perfect Dodge can sometimes help you “skip ahead” toward Final Strike by preserving chain state during moments where a normal pause would reset it.
Putting this together, high‑level play weaves Perfect Dodges inside chains to maintain pressure, avoid damage, and rush to Final Strikes/Finishers as quickly as possible.
Physical vs Elemental Combo Playstyles
Endfield’s combo system supports two broad styles: Physical burst chains and elemental reaction chains.
- Physical teams:
- Elemental teams:
The combat and reactions guides emphasize that Physical teams rely more on timed combo chains and finishers, while elemental teams care more about skill order and reaction timing, with combos as the glue.
Practical Tips for Using Combos Well
To get real value from the combo system as a new player:
- Always try to finish chains with a Final Strike or Finisher on key targets; these hits give the best SP and Stagger.
- Learn each operator’s Combo Skill condition and build teams where one operator’s effect naturally sets up another’s Combo (e.g., Focus → Arts debuff → conditional Combo).
- Dodge inside combos rather than mashing dodge randomly, so you avoid attacks without constantly resetting your chain state.
- In Physical teams, treat Crush/Breach skills and Finishers as the “end of the chain,” planning your entire rotation around setting up that one huge hit.
By understanding how basic chains lead into Final Strikes, how Combo Skills depend on conditions, and how dodges preserve or extend chains, new players can turn Endfield’s action combat from button‑mashing into a controlled sequence of high‑value hits and reactions.
