Arknights Endfield Limited vs Standard Banners – How to Plan Long-Term Pulls

Planning long-term pulls in Arknights: Endfield starts with understanding that standard (Basic/Beginner) banners give long-horizon value and selectors, while limited/Chartered banners demand full 120-pull budgets to safely target rate-ups. Mixing both correctly keeps your roster growing without wasting pity or losing guaranteed units.

Banner Types at a Glance

• Limited / Chartered banners (rate-up characters):
  • Feature new or spotlight 6★ operators with 50/50 rate-up and a 120-pull featured guarantee.
  • Rotate roughly every 2.5–3 weeks.​
• Standard banner – Basic Headhunting:
  • Permanent banner with a fixed pool of five standard 6★s, shared pity with limited banners, and a 300-pull 6★ selector.
• Beginner / New Horizons banner:
  • One-time starter banner with discounted pulls and a guaranteed 6★ + 6★ weapon ticket; disappears once cleared.
• Weapon (Arsenal Issue) banners:
  • Separate pity and currency (Arsenal Tickets), with guarantees at 40/100/180 pulls and no carryover between banners.

Character banners share some pity behavior; weapon banners are isolated and treated as a luxury.

Limited/Chartered Banners – How They Work and When to Pull

Limited (Chartered) banners are how you get most new, meta-defining 6★s.

• Rules and guarantees:
  • 6★ base rate: 0.8%, 5★: 8%.
  • Soft pity at 65 pulls, then +5% of base per pull; hard pity at 80 pulls guarantees a 6★.
  • When you hit a 6★ on a rate-up banner, there is a 50% chance it is the featured unit and 50% chance it is a standard/other 6★.
  • At 120 pulls on the same banner, you are guaranteed the featured 6★ (the “120-pull guarantee/spark”).
• Important limitations:
  • The 0–80 6★ pity counter carries over between character banners.
  • The 120-pull featured guarantee does NOT carry over; progress resets when the banner ends.

Long-term planning rule: only commit to a limited banner if you are prepared to reach 120 pulls, otherwise you risk leaving without the rate-up unit and losing that spark progress.

Standard Banners – Slow but Safe Value

Standard banners are your low-hype, high-safety backbone.

• Mechanics:
  • Same 6★ rate (0.8%), soft pity 65, hard pity 80, and 10-pull 5★ guarantee as limited banners.
  • There is no 120-pull featured guarantee on the Basic banner.​
  • Every 300 pulls total on Basic Headhunting grants a Select Designation – a one-time selector for any of the standard 6★s in that pool.
• Why they matter long term:
  • The shared 0–80 pity means even casual pulls here contribute to your next guaranteed 6★ across all character banners.
  • The 300-pull selector is effectively a super-late fail-safe to fill missing roles (e.g., picking Ardelia/Ember/etc.) without chasing them on time-limited banners.

Standard banners are best for spare pulls over time, not big bursts, unless you are specifically aiming at the 300-pull selector.

Beginner Banner – First Priority for New Accounts

New Horizons/Beginner is the one banner you should always clear once on any account.

• It offers discounted pulls and guarantees at least one 6★ from the standard pool within its cap, plus a 6★ weapon choice after clearing.
• Once it is gone, it never returns; missing it is a permanent value loss for future pulls.​

Planning tip: do Beginner → then move into your first limited banner once that is finished.

Long-Term Pull Strategy: How to Mix Limited and Standard

A sensible, low-regret plan for F2P/low-spend players looks like this:

• 1. Always finish Beginner (New Horizons).
  • Lock in your first 6★ and weapon selector, then treat that as your starting core.
• 2. Anchor around key limited banners at 120-pull intervals.
  • For any limited you truly want, start pulling only once you have (or will have) ~120 pulls ready in that patch.
  • If you hit the featured 6★ early, stop and start saving again for the next major limited; do not keep chasing dupes unless you whale.
• 3. Use standard banner sparingly as a pity-builder and long-term safety net.
  • Toss in occasional pulls (e.g., from free Basic Permits) to climb toward the 300-pull selector while also advancing your shared 0–80 pity.
  • Do not drain all currency into Basic unless you are extremely close to the 300-pull milestone and have no urgent limited target.
• 4. Treat weapon banners as ultra-luxury.
  • Weapon pity is expensive and never carries between banners; guides recommend pulling weapons only when you already have the corresponding 6★ built and your operator roster is comfortable.

In practice, this means you plan around milestones (Beginner clear → each 120-pull limited cycle → occasional 300-pull standard selector), rather than pulling impulsively each time a new face appears.

Quick Rules of Thumb for Planning

• Do:
  • Always clear the Beginner banner once.​
  • Save in blocks of 120 pulls for limited banners you really want.
  • Use free/extra Basic Permits to slowly climb toward the 300-pull standard selector.
• Do not:
  • Stop at 90–110 pulls on a limited if the banner is ending soon; you will lose the 120-guarantee progress.
  • Dump large amounts into weapon banners early; focus on characters first.

Following these rules turns Endfield’s limited vs standard split into an advantage: limited banners for targeted new power spikes, standard for safe backfill and pity-building, all without wasting pulls or guarantees in the long run.