Arknights Endfield First 24 Hours Progression Route for New Players
Arknights: Endfield’s first 24 hours are all about rushing core unlocks (story and AIC), setting up passive production, and locking in one main squad instead of spreading resources. A focused route saves sanity, time, and upgrade materials while keeping you ahead of daily and weekly caps.
Hours 0–3: Story Push and Core Unlocks
Your opening session should be a straight, efficient sprint through the early story until core systems are online. Multiple launch guides agree that unlocking sanity usage, dailies, and AIC matters more than wandering or grinding.
- Clear early main story missions until sanity (stamina) and basic resource stages unlock, following the tutorial prompts closely.
- Keep your team small: level only your default Endministrator squad plus one extra DPS or defender while you learn stagger and burst windows.
Hours 3–8: Rush AIC and Factory Setup
Once you reach the AIC (Automated Industry Complex) content, it becomes the invisible engine of your account. The earlier it runs, the sooner you start printing XP, credits, and materials in the background.
| Step | Priority action | Why it’s in the first 8 hours | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Push main story to at least early–mid Chapter 3 | This unlocks more of the AIC and core production options. | Day 1 Starter Guide |
| 2 | Build power poles, relay towers, and basic production lines | Without stable power, later factories and storage upgrades stall. | LDShop day one guide |
| 3 | Avoid building in corrosion zones | Generators placed there lose durability over time and become a resource trap. | Day 1 progression tips |
Hours 8–16: Sanity Spending, Exploration, and Rare Nodes
After systems are unlocked and your factory is running, you pivot into a loop of smart sanity use plus targeted exploration. This block is where most new players either surge ahead or quietly fall behind.
- Spend sanity on the highest‑value XP and material stages you’ve unlocked, focusing on what your current four‑unit squad actually needs (promotions, core weapon materials).
- Sweep the nearby zones for rare gatherable materials and special map nodes, which respawn on a timer and can bottleneck upgrades if ignored.
Creators highlight that rare gatherables and map‑based upgrade items take a long time to grow back, so picking them up in the first daily cycle accelerates every promotion afterward.
Hours 16–24: Daily Reset Prep and Routine
By the back half of day one, your goal is to line everything up so you never waste sanity, production time, or limited daily rewards going into day two. Think of this as setting your “permanent” routine.
| Focus | What to do before the first daily reset | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Dailies & missions | Clear all unlocked daily quests and claim early battle pass/mission rewards so nothing expires unused. | Day 1 / Week 1 launch route |
| Sanity | Spend remaining sanity on your best material nodes; avoid capping at full sanity during the reset. | Start Strong beginner guide |
| Factory | Queue long‑duration production jobs (XP mats, credits, base materials) to run while you are offline. | Early progression tips |
| Exploration | Grab remaining rare materials and puzzle‑gated nodes near your current story region so they can start respawning on the next day. | LDShop early game guide |
Gacha, Team Size, and Common Traps
Throughout the first 24 hours, a few habits make the difference between a clean early game and a stalled account.
- Do not level too many operators at once; keep upgrades focused on one core squad that covers frontline, ranged damage, and basic sustain.
- Use your initial pulls on the newcomer or beginner banner that guarantees a 6‑star within a fixed number of summons, and then stop pulling until you have a plan.
If you can commit roughly 3–5 efficient hours on launch day following this route, community testing suggests you stay comfortably on pace without needing to “no‑life” the game.
