Building your first effective team in Arknights: Endfield feels overwhelming when you're staring at operator stats and elemental reactions. Here's the thing: you don't need gacha luck to dominate early content. The free operators you unlock through story progression and login rewards form the backbone of several powerful compositions that'll carry you through the opening chapters and beyond.
What most players miss is that team building in Endfield isn't about collecting the rarest operators. It's about understanding how Combo Skills chain together and which roles your squad needs to function smoothly. Master these fundamentals with your starter roster, and you'll breeze through content while others struggle with poorly synergized five-star teams.
How Do Combo Skills Work?
The combat system revolves around triggering Combo Skills between your operators. Think of it like a fighting game where landing specific moves sets up devastating follow-ups. Each operator has conditions that activate their Combo Skill, and when these conditions align with your team's abilities, you create efficient damage chains.
You'll spend Skill Points (SP) to activate these combos, so efficiency matters. If your first operator applies a DEF Reduction state and your second operator's Combo Skill triggers bonus effects against enemies with DEF Reduction, you're maximizing damage per SP spent. Random teams where everyone's trigger conditions conflict? That's just wasting resources.
Tip
Check each operator's Combo Skill requirements in the skill menu. Look for overlapping conditions like "triggers on enemies with Vulnerable" or "activates when target has Electrification."
Combo skill requirements display
Which Free Operators Should You Prioritize?
Your early investment decisions determine whether you cruise through story missions or hit frustrating walls. Let's break down the must-builds versus the bench-warmers.
Tier 1: Invest Immediately
Endministrator arrives as your story-unlocked protagonist and serves as your primary Physical damage dealer. You'll deal solid damage with his Crush applications, and his ultimate costs just 70 Energy, making it perfect for frequent burst windows. Level him first, upgrade his weapon second, and balance his skill levels evenly.
Ardelia becomes available after three login days and transforms your team's survivability. She's the only six-star healer in the current version, but her value extends beyond healing. Her resistance-shredding effects boost your entire team's damage output, making her essential for both Physical and Arts compositions. Prioritize her healing and debuff skills immediately.
Chen Qianyu unlocks through story progression and applies Vulnerable stacks faster than any other free operator. Her Lift effects enable your main DPS to hit significantly harder. Even when you eventually pull higher-rarity Physical operators, her early contributions justify the investment.
Tier 2: Situational Value
Perlica provides straightforward Electric damage with instant-cast skills. If you're running an Electric team or need Arts damage coverage, she fills the gap adequately. Her simple mechanics make her beginner-friendly, though specialized Electric operators will eventually replace her.
Akekuri becomes critical if you pull Laevatain from the launch banner. Her rapid skill cycling generates the Heat applications that Heat teams require. Without Laevatain, however, she offers limited value.
Antal works as a flexible support when you need a second buffer for Electric or Heat compositions. He's not mandatory, but his teamwide damage amplification helps in longer encounters.
Tier 3: Bench for Now
Fluorite's Nature support abilities lack the stability needed for consistent clears. Catcher's counter-attack mechanics underperform in the current meta. Estella only shines in Cryo teams, making her too specialized for early investment. Snowshine provides Cryo application and shields, but her narrow focus limits her usefulness outside specific compositions.
Important
These operators aren't bad—they're just resource-inefficient when you're building your first team. Save them for later when you have surplus materials.
What Makes a Balanced Four-Operator Squad?
Every team needs four distinct roles working together: one main damage dealer handling primary DPS, one sub-DPS or element applier triggering combo chains, one support buffing damage or applying debuffs, and one survival specialist keeping everyone alive.
Your main DPS occupies the field most often, dealing consistent damage while others rotate in for their combo contributions. The sub-DPS applies elemental states or debuffs that enable your main DPS to trigger powerful effects. Your support amplifies team damage through buffs or enemy debuffs. Your healer ensures you survive long enough to execute your strategy.
Building a Physical Starter Team
The Physical composition centers on Endministrator and Chen Qianyu, creating a reliable foundation that requires zero gacha luck. This approach focuses on stacking DEF Reduction layers, then capitalizing with high-multiplier Physical skills.
Start fights with Chen Qianyu applying Vulnerable stacks through her Lift effects. Switch to Endministrator once enemies have multiple Vulnerable layers, then unleash his Crush-enhanced attacks. The damage amplification from Vulnerable makes each hit count significantly more.
Add Perlica for Arts damage coverage, preventing enemy resistances from shutting down your offense entirely. Ardelia rounds out the composition with healing and resistance shredding, further boosting your damage output while maintaining survivability.
This lineup handles early story content smoothly because every operator serves a clear purpose. Endministrator deals damage, Chen Qianyu enables bigger damage, Perlica covers elemental variety, and Ardelia keeps everyone healthy. No wasted slots, no conflicting mechanics.
Pro Tip: Rotate operators frequently to maintain combo chains. Don't leave Endministrator on-field permanently—swap to Chen Qianyu for Vulnerable applications, then return to Endministrator for the payoff.
Can You Build Effective Element-Focused Teams?
Absolutely. If you pull certain operators from your beginner rolls, element-focused compositions become viable alternatives to the Physical approach. For those interested in exploring different team archetypes beyond just the free operators, check out our Arknights: Endfield Ultimate Beginner's Guide for comprehensive coverage of all team-building options.
Heat Team (Requires Laevatain Pull)
The Heat composition revolves around Laevatain as your core damage dealer, supported by free operators who apply Combustion stacks. Akekuli cycles skills rapidly, generating the Combustion layers Laevatain needs. Ardelia provides healing and damage amplification. The fourth slot flexes between Antal for more buffs or another survival operator.
This team offers the smoothest early-game experience if you secure Laevatain from the launch banner. Her crowd-clearing ultimate combined with fast Combustion application creates an "easy mode" for story content. The investment is reasonable—only Laevatain requires six-star resources, while your supports are all four-star operators.
Electric Team (No Six-Stars Required)
The Electric approach prioritizes Avywenna as your main DPS (if you pull her from standard rolls). Arclight generates SP for the entire team when enemies have Electrification, enabling smooth rotations. Perlica initiates fights by applying Electrification through her tactical skill. Ardelia or Estella handles healing while adding Corrosion effects that reduce enemy defense.
This composition works entirely with five-star operators if Avywenna eludes you—simply substitute Endministrator as your main DPS. The Electric reactions provide consistent Arts damage, and Arclight's SP generation keeps your skills flowing.
What Should You Avoid When Building Teams?
New players make predictable mistakes that hamper progression. Don't invest heavily in operators whose Combo Skill conditions conflict with your main DPS. If your damage dealer needs enemies with Vulnerable but your support applies Freeze instead, you're creating inefficiency.
Avoid spreading resources across too many operators initially. Focus on four core units, get them to level 40-50, then expand. A fully upgraded four-operator team outperforms eight mediocre ones.
Don't ignore elemental coverage. Pure Physical teams struggle against high-DEF enemies, while pure Arts teams falter against high-RES opponents. Include at least one operator covering the opposite damage type.
Warning
Resist the urge to build operators just because they're high rarity. A well-synergized team of free operators beats a random collection of six-stars every time.
How Do You Transition Beyond Your Starter Team?
Your initial composition isn't permanent. As you pull new operators and unlock advanced content, you'll gradually replace free units with specialized alternatives. The key is identifying when upgrades genuinely improve your team versus when you're just chasing rarity.
Keep Ardelia in almost every composition—her healing and debuffs remain valuable throughout the game. Endministrator transitions from main DPS to sub-DPS role as you acquire stronger damage dealers. Chen Qianyu stays relevant in Physical teams even after you pull six-star alternatives.
Watch for operators whose Combo Skills synergize perfectly with your existing setup. If you pull a Heat specialist and you're already running Akekuli, that's a natural upgrade path. Random six-stars that require entirely different team structures? Bench them until you have resources to build around them.
The beauty of starting with free operators is that they teach you fundamental mechanics without the pressure of optimizing rare pulls. You'll learn combo chains, rotation timing, and role balance using accessible units, then apply that knowledge when upgrading your roster.
When Should You Invest in Weapons and Skills?
Weapon upgrades provide immediate, noticeable power spikes. Prioritize your main DPS weapon first—the damage increase directly translates to faster clears. Support and healer weapons matter less initially since their primary value comes from utility rather than raw stats.
Skill levels follow a similar priority: max your main DPS combat skills first, then level support skills that enable combos. Healing skills need sufficient levels to keep pace with incoming damage, but they don't require maxing immediately.
Don't neglect passive skills that improve combo generation or reduce skill costs. These quality-of-life improvements make rotations smoother and reduce the mechanical execution required for optimal play.
The Long-Term Plan
Your starter team carries you through early story chapters, but endgame content demands specialized compositions. Physical teams evolve by adding operators who stack Vulnerable faster or provide better burst windows. Heat teams optimize around Combustion application speed and ultimate timing. Electric teams focus on maintaining Electrification uptime while maximizing SP generation.
The progression path looks like this: build your free operator core, clear early content, accumulate resources, pull strategically for operators that complement your existing team, gradually replace free units with specialized alternatives, and eventually maintain multiple teams for different content types. Don't rush this process. A solid foundation with free operators teaches you more about the game than randomly pulling and building six-stars. You'll understand why certain operators work together, how to identify synergies, and when upgrades actually matter.
The meta shifts with new operator releases and balance changes, but the fundamentals remain constant: build teams with clear roles, ensure Combo Skills chain efficiently, cover multiple damage types, and maintain adequate survivability. Master these principles with free operators, and you'll adapt easily to any meta developments.
Start with the Physical composition using Endministrator, Chen Qianyu, Perlica, and Ardelia. This team requires zero gacha luck, teaches fundamental mechanics, and clears early content reliably. As you pull new operators and accumulate resources, you'll naturally identify upgrade paths that enhance your playstyle. That's when team building transforms from following guides to creating your own optimized compositions.