Quick answer

Start with the main-mission and exploration prompts currently shown on your account, not a copied universal build order. GRYPHLINE documents exploration, Basic Training, Operator Guide, operators, and the AIC Factory, but the sources reviewed for this guide do not establish one permanent upgrade, team, or factory order for every new player. Let the live client determine the exact sequence and available unlocks.

Start with the current tutorial, not a universal build order

Why the live client is the source of truth for sequence and unlocks

Official Endfield updates show that early missions, exploration-gated content, training, and AIC Factory systems can change over time. GRYPHLINE has also said that some content unlocks gradually as exploration progresses and directs players to the in-game version for the actual details.

The Arknights: Endfield hub keeps the current Endfield Guides together while this page stays focused on first-session orientation.

That means an old route can explain a system without being the right route for your account. In your first sessions, use the current objective, requirements, and prompts in the live client to understand what is available next.

This is not a request to optimise every decision immediately. It is a way to avoid treating an outdated mission route, team list, or factory plan as a permanent rule.

Understand the first systems you will encounter

Exploration, resources, and objectives

GRYPHLINE describes Arknights: Endfield as a Talos-II loop that combines exploration, gathering resources, operators, and AIC Factory production. Exploration and combat are both part of that documented loop.

Should beginners focus on combat or exploration first? Neither is a universal first priority. Your current objective and the live tutorial should determine what you explore next. The official sources reviewed for this guide do not establish one permanent combat-first or exploration-first route.

Treat the world, objectives, and resource activity as connected systems. Recognise the task in front of you before looking for an external priority list.

Combat, Basic Training, and Operator Guide

GRYPHLINE documents the existence of Basic Training and Operator Guide content. Use those learning surfaces when the current client presents them; this guide does not treat them as an immediate mandatory task, promise a menu path, or claim that every account sees them at the same time.

The useful beginner goal is simple: learn the controls, current objective, and operator concepts that the game is presenting before trying to copy an advanced combat routine. This guide does not provide a combat rotation, enemy order, timer target, or reward claim.

Operators and team decisions without a tier list

Official Endfield material refers to operator training, gear, skills, talents, and team-related progression surfaces. Those are different decision areas, and they can change with the version, available operators, and the activity a player is trying to complete.

For a new player, start by identifying the goal in front of you. A future team or investment decision should be tied to that goal and to current information, rather than to a generic list that calls one operator, team, weapon, or talent path permanently best.

This guide does not recommend a named operator, team, weapon, talent path, or investment amount.

Progression decisions: check the current requirement first

Exploration, missions, operator progression, and the AIC Factory can all expose requirements or options that are specific to your current state. Read the live requirement before you spend resources or make an upgrade decision.

That is a GoldCrit editorial safeguard, not an economic rule from GRYPHLINE. It does not mean “save everything,” “spend immediately,” or “farm one resource first.” The official evidence used for this guide does not support a universal currency, resource, upgrade, or progression-speed rule.

When to start paying attention to the AIC Factory

Learn the system before optimising it

Start paying attention to the AIC Factory when the live client introduces a relevant task, prompt, or requirement. This is an orientation point, not a claim about a precise official first unlock or a required timing.

GRYPHLINE has documented guidance prompts and connection feedback for AIC Factory systems, and later updates have changed placement, blueprint, and interface features. Learn what the current task is asking before copying a published solution.

This beginner guide does not provide a layout, blueprint, facility order, production formula, power configuration, or optimisation plan. Those are separate questions that need their own current factory research.

Early mistakes to avoid

These are decision mistakes to avoid, not official GRYPHLINE warnings:

  • Following an outdated mission route as if it were the current tutorial. Check the current objective and live requirements first.
  • Copying an old factory layout before understanding the task in your own client. Factory guidance and interfaces can change.
  • Treating an old operator banner or reward as current beginner guidance. Operator availability, events, and rewards are version-sensitive.
  • Spending or upgrading from an undated external rule. Use current requirements and a dated official source before acting on a claim.
  • Confusing beginner progression with server or account setup. Server choice and cross-platform progress are a separate decision covered in our Arknights: Endfield server choice and cross-platform progress guide.

A first-session checklist

First-session checks

Use these checks, not a mandatory build order

  1. Read the current main-mission and exploration promptsUse the live client to see which objective, requirement, and system is available on your account.
  2. Recognise the Talos-II loopExploration, resources, operators, combat, and AIC production are documented parts of the game; do not treat one as a universal first priority.
  3. Use training when it appearsBasic Training and Operator Guide content can help explain current controls and operator concepts when the client presents them.
  4. Separate operator decisions from generic rankingsSkills, talents, gear, and team choices should match a specific activity and current version, not an undated universal list.
  5. Use a Factory prompt as an orientation pointIf the client presents an AIC task, prompt, or requirement, learn the system’s purpose before copying any layout or production plan.
  6. Check a live requirement before committingRead current requirements before spending resources or making an upgrade decision; this is a safeguard, not a universal save-or-spend rule.

The checks above are deliberately unordered. They may not appear at the same time or in the same sequence for every account. Use them to understand the systems in front of you while the live tutorial determines what is available next.

More detailed Factory fundamentals and a versioned Factory layout remain separate follow-ups. For a broader discovery decision, see games like Arknights: Endfield; the Endfield-versus-Neverness comparison should be linked only when that page is live and still solves the reader’s next question.