Arknights: Endfield Beta Test II operator tier list and top picks

Arknights: Endfield’s second beta already has a clear early meta. While numbers will shift before launch, the core patterns are visible: certain Strikers and Supports sit far ahead of the pack, a few Defenders quietly carry runs, and several 4★ operators punch well above their rarity.

Tier overview (Beta Test II)

Operators in Beta Test II fall broadly into the following power bands:

Strikers like Laevatain and Last Rite currently anchor the highest-damage teams, while Ardelia and Pogranichnik act as universal enablers that remain relevant in almost any lineup.

S‑tier operators in Arknights: Endfield Beta Test II

Ardelia – Nature Arts Support (6★)

Ardelia, previously known as Eyjafjalla, is the most complete support in the beta. She combines wide-reaching debuffs with flexible healing and has strong scaling into future content.

• Role: Nature Arts support who amplifies both Physical and Arts damage.
• Skill: Consumes Corrosion on enemies to apply both Physical Susceptibility and Arts Susceptibility, making them take more damage from nearly everyone.
• Combo Skill: Quickly adds Corrosion for emergency debuff coverage when you have no stacks prepared.
• Ultimate: Summons multiple “Mr. Dollies” that deal Nature damage; dolls from the Ultimate also leave behind Shadows that heal whoever picks them up.
• Talents:
  • Lets her Skill spawn extra Mr. Dollies, increasing uptime on both damage and healing pickups.
  • Automatically redirects the Shadow heal: if the unit picking it up is already at full HP, the heal jumps to a wounded ally.
  • Allows her Skill to chain between multiple Corroded enemies, spreading debuffs through packs.

Why she’s S‑tier: she fits into almost every Arts-focused or mixed team, massively raises team DPS through universal susceptibility debuffs, and provides comfortable, low-management healing.

Laevatain – Heat Striker DPS (6★)

Laevatain is a Heat Striker and the single most threatening sustained DPS in Beta Test II, especially in Heat and Corrosion compositions.

• Role: Heat Arts Striker and primary carry.
• Skill: Calls down a Magma Fragment, dealing Heat damage and building Melting Flame stacks; reaching four stacks triggers an additional AoE Combustion hit.
• Combo Skill: Accelerates Melting Flame stacking on targets already suffering Combustion or Corrosion, and speeds up energy gain for her expensive 300‑cost Ultimate.
• Ultimate: Temporarily converts her Basic Attacks into Heat-inflicting attacks and enables large chained Heat hits, turning rotations into long periods of amplified damage.
• Talents:
  • Lets her gain Heat Infliction from Final Strikes or Finisher hits, bypassing some setup requirements.
  • At four Melting Flame stacks, reduces or ignores a portion of enemy Heat Resistance.
  • Grants a 90% damage reduction shield when below 40% HP, plus gradual self-heal for 8 seconds, on a 2‑minute cooldown.

Laevatain pairs especially well with Ardelia, who feeds her susceptibility debuffs and Corrosion to shred resistant enemies.

Last Rite – Cryo Striker (6★)

Last Rite brings a new Striker style focused on Cryo and Stagger, shredding single targets while staying surprisingly safe during her Ultimate.

• Role: Cryo Arts Striker with strong Stagger and burst windows.
• Basic Attacks: Naturally generate high Stagger, making it easier to control priority enemies.
• Skill: Enhances her next Final Strike by spawning a homing mirage clone that echoes the attack and refunds SP; also adds Cryo Infliction.
• Combo Skill: Consumes three Cryo Infliction stacks on the target to deal a concentrated Cryo Arts hit, accelerating energy generation toward her Ultimate.
• Ultimate (240 cost): Grants invulnerability during three huge Cryo Arts slashes. Combined with fast Combo energy, she reaches this state regularly in longer fights.
• Talents:
  • Applies unstackable Cryo Susceptibility any time she inflicts Arts status, further raising her own and allied Cryo damage.
  • Boosts Ultimate damage by 50% against Cryo Susceptible targets, turning her Ultimate into one of the most lethal nukes in the beta.

Last Rite works best alongside Electric and Nature operators who can help maintain status chains and capitalize on Cryo Susceptibility.

Pogranichnik – SP Vanguard (6★)

Pogranichnik (Hellagur in the main Arknights timeline) is the premier SP battery and physical debuffer. He enables faster rotations for nearly every team archetype.

• Role: Vanguard focused on SP generation, Physical Vulnerability, and sub‑DPS.
• Skill: Applies Breach stacks that increase Physical Vulnerability, making it easier for Physical carries to cut through armor.
• Combo Skill: Layers more Physical Vulnerability and grants extra SP when triggered with good timing.
• Ultimate: Summons Shieldguards that keep up pressure by repeatedly applying vulnerability effects while also adding defensive presence on the field.
• Talents:
  • Grants temporary ATK and Arts intensity buffs to himself after he has generated enough SP with his Skills.
  • Shares half of that Talent buff duration with any ally who triggers his Ultimate’s Shieldguard effects.

Teams built around Physical DPS like Endministrator benefit enormously from Pogranichnik’s constant SP feed and vulnerability stacking.

Snowshine – Cryo hybrid Defender (5★)

Snowshine is a Defender that behaves like a frontline healer, crowd controller, and safety net for tight clears, with strong synergy for both Physical and Arts teams.

• Role: Cryo Defender with protection, retaliation, and strong emergency healing.
• Basic Attacks: Chain into high Stagger hits, helping lock enemies down in melee.
• Skill: Grants Protection to allies while active (damage reduction), refunds some SP, and causes Cryo Infliction retaliation when she or protected allies are hit.
• Combo Skill: Automatically triggers when the active operator drops below 60% HP, delivering a large instant heal to that operator and then a smaller heal-over-time to the rest of the team.
• Ultimate: Slams Cryo damage in an area and creates a Snow Zone that Solidifies enemies for several seconds, effectively freezing them in place.
• Talents:
  • Increases healing output toward allies under 45% HP, reinforcing her role as a crisis stabilizer.
  • Lets her Skill restore Ultimate energy whenever a retaliation hit lands successfully.

Snowshine’s mix of Solidification, heals, and Protection makes her especially appealing in teams that want to chain Cryo or Nature reactions through operators like Fluorite.

Antal – Electric support (4★)

Antal is a standout 4★ Electric Arts Support, notable for offering high-end debuffs and team damage amplification at a low rarity.

• Role: Electric/Heat reaction enabler and team buffer.
• Skill: Applies a long-lasting Focus debuff to a single target, increasing damage taken from both Electric and Heat sources.
• Combo Skill: Creates an Electric explosion when a Focused enemy is hit by either a Physical status or any Arts Infliction, turning other operators’ status applications into damage triggers.
• Ultimate: Grants Amplified Damage to all Heat and Electric operators, stacking on top of their own multipliers.
• Talents:
  • Heals Amplified teammates when they use their Skill, with an internal cooldown of 30 seconds per ally.
  • Gives Antal 30% Physical damage immunity and self-healing that scales off his Strength stat.

Antal is a core piece of many Heat/Electric squads thanks to Focus and Amplified DMG, and is one of the highest-value low‑rarity pickups in the beta.

A‑tier operators in Arknights: Endfield Beta Test II

Endministrator – Physical Guard (6★)

Endministrator is a straightforward Physical Guard who thrives in comps that already push Physical Vulnerability. He converts that setup into large single-target and crowd-control value.

• Skill: Applies Crush, a Physical Vulnerability status that enables stronger Physical hits from himself and allies.
• Combo and Ultimate: Manipulate Originium Crystals to bind enemies, providing AoE crowd control instead of raw damage only.
• Talents:
  • Increases his ATK when Originium Crystals are consumed.
  • While Crystals exist, debuffs enemies to take more Physical damage from all sources.

Endministrator pairs naturally with Pogranichnik and Lifeng to build layers of Physical Vulnerability, then cash them out with his Crush interactions.

Ember – Heat hybrid Defender (6★)

Ember is a Sankta Defender mixing Physical damage, Heat coverage, and team shielding. She relies on others for consistent Heat Infliction but provides robust frontline control.

• Role: Hybrid Physical/Heat Defender and bruiser.
• Basic Attacks: High Stagger output, useful for interrupting enemy charges.
• Skill: Releases a fan-shaped Heat ground attack with Knock Down and extra Stagger if the enemy hits her while she is casting.
• Combo Skill: Protects the active operator by knocking down and damaging the attacker, then healing the active operator based on Ember’s Will.
• Ultimate: Deals area Heat damage around Ember and grants Shields to the entire team, scaling with her HP.
• Talents:
  • Reduces damage taken during Skill casts by around half and lowers interruption chance.
  • Stacks a self ATK buff up to three times each time she takes damage.

Lifeng – Physical Guard polearm (6★)

Chen Lifeng is a Physical Guard focused on setting up damage windows for the whole team while also contributing respectable DPS on her own.

• Role: Physical DPS and enabler for team Skills and Ultimates.
• Skill: Has dual modes: one that inflicts Knock Down for Stagger, and another that applies Physical Susceptibility if no stacks are present.
• Combo Skill: Applies a Link debuff on Final Strike to enemies already under Susceptibility or Breach; the next team Skill or Ultimate used on that target gains bonus damage, with Skills benefitting the most.
• Ultimate: Consumes Link for a huge Physical hit in an area, including Knock Down.
• Talents:
  • Grants extra ATK scaling per point of Intellect or Will she has.
  • Adds bonus attacks each time she inflicts Knock Down.

Lifeng meshes well with Pogranichnik and Endministrator, forming a Physical-focused core that constantly layers Vulnerability and Susceptibility.

Arclight – Electric hybrid Vanguard (5★)

Arclight is a mobility-focused Vanguard that plays like a tempo unit, darting in and out to line up Electric reactions and help with SP.

• Role: Hybrid Physical/Electric Vanguard with SP support.
• Skill: Deals primarily Physical damage, but converts to additional Electric hits and SP refund when she strikes Electrified enemies.
• Combo Skill: On Electrification application or consumption, chains Physical slashes and restores SP.
• Ultimate: A directional AoE that either applies Electric Infliction or upgrades existing Infliction into Electrification.
• Talents:
  • Adds a minor team-wide Electric damage buff tied to her Skill and scaled by her Intellect.
  • Gives her a 30% chance to dodge Arts Infliction.

Perlica – Electric caster (5★)

Perlica is a core Electric Arts caster. She sets up Electrification for allies like Arclight and Wulfgard and punishes Staggered targets.

• Role: Electric Arts damage dealer and status engine.
• Skill: Small AoE that applies Electric Infliction.
• Combo Skill: Temporarily grants Electrification to the active operator’s Final Strike, making it easier to trigger Electric reactions.
• Ultimate: Large orbital Electric AoE that deals heavy damage to clustered enemies.
• Talents:
  • Increases her damage by 20% against Staggered enemies.
  • Allows her Combo Skill to chain an additional time on Vulnerable enemies.

Wulfgard – Heat caster (5★)

Wulfgard is a Heat Arts handcannon user built to stack Heat Infliction and force Combustion, serving either as a main or secondary DPS in Heat teams.

• Role: Heat Infliction stacker and Combustion trigger.
• Skill: Either builds multiple stacks of Heat Infliction, or if the enemy is already in Combustion or Electrification, deals a much larger Heat hit.
• Combo Skill: Splashes extra Heat Infliction whenever any Arts Infliction is applied to an enemy, making him scale with other Arts users.
• Ultimate: Fires chained Heat shots that guarantee Combustion on targets.
• Talents:
  • Gives an unstackable ~30% Heat damage boost every time he applies Combustion.
  • Refunds 10 SP whenever his Skill consumes an Arts reaction.

Fluorite – Nature caster (4★)

Fluorite fills the budget Nature caster slot, working especially well when Cryo is already in the party.

• Role: Nature damage dealer that interacts with Cryo and Slow.
• Skill: Places an Improvised Explosive that Slows enemies. After some time (or if the target dies), it detonates to deal Nature AoE damage and apply Nature Infliction.
• Combo Skill: Triggers when enemies have two stacks total of Cryo or Nature (or a mix), adding more Infliction and Nature damage.
• Ultimate: Four quick Nature hits, with extra damage if her Skill explosive is still active on the field.
• Talents:
  • Deals 10% more damage to Slowed enemies.
  • Has a 20% chance to ignore Arts damage and gains a 10% ATK buff.

Catcher – Physical Defender (4★)

Catcher is a straightforward but very effective Physical Defender, particularly attractive for players building around Physical cores on a budget.

• Role: Physical Protection and Vulnerability stacking.
• Skill: Grants Protection that reduces damage to himself and nearby allies; his Basics hit harder and he gains SP on retaliation while shielded.
• Combo Skill: Triggers when enemies start charging a Skill or the active operator is low on HP, dealing Physical damage and granting a shield to a nearby ally (prioritizing the active operator).
• Ultimate: Applies Weaken (general damage debuff) in an area, slamming Physical damage and Knock Down while also stacking pure Physical Vulnerability.
• Talents:
  • Passively raises his DEF based on his Will stat.
  • Improves his Ultimate with an additional shockwave and extra damage.

B‑tier operators in Arknights: Endfield Beta Test II

Alesh – Cryo hybrid Vanguard (5★)

Alesh is a Cryo-flavored Vanguard with interesting Solidification support, but some RNG in his buffs keeps him a step below top picks.

• Role: Physical-focused Vanguard with Cryo utility.
• Skill: In an area around him, either applies Solidification to already Cryo-inflicted targets or sets Solidification from scratch, and returns SP once per Skill use.
• Combo Skill: Grants bonus Physical damage and SP refund when he interacts with Arts Infliction or consumes Endministrator’s Originium Crystals, with a chance for a large damage buff.
• Ultimate: Large AoE Cryo damage and Infliction, restoring SP and granting bonus SP for each enemy killed.
• Talents:
  • Speeds Ultimate energy gain whenever he causes Solidification or when Endministrator consumes crystals, with doubled effect when he himself applies Solidification.
  • Raises the chance for his Combo Skill’s big buff based on Intellect, up to 30%.

He is best when paired with Endministrator, who naturally feeds his Originium interactions.

Chen Qianyu – Physical Guard (5★)

Chen Qianyu is a pure Physical DPS Guard centered on multi-hit Ultimate windows.

• Skill: Applies Lift vulnerability to targets, exposing them to further juggle and Stagger.
• Combo Skill: Spreads Lift vulnerability in an area and contributes heavy Stagger, quickly filling enemy bars.
• Ultimate: Multi-hit Physical finisher that scales well with Lifted and Vulnerable enemies.
• Talents:
  • Stacks ATK with each enemy hit.
  • Adds extra Stagger when he interrupts charging enemies.

Akekuri – Heat hybrid Vanguard (4★)

Akekuri acts as a Heat-enabling Vanguard who also manages SP flows, but lacks the raw output of top-end picks.

• Role: Early Heat Infliction and SP utility.
• Skill: Applies Heat Infliction on targets.
• Combo & Ultimate: Focused on restoring SP while maintaining Heat presence, keeping team rotations smooth.
• Talents:
  • Improves SP returns from her Combo Skill.
  • Grants a team-wide Link buff on Ultimate, letting the next Skill or Ultimate from each linked operator deal bonus damage.

Estella – Cryo hybrid Guard (4★)

Estella combines Physical damage with Cryo, rewarding proper Solidification setups.

• Role: Physical/Cryo hybrid guard.
• Skill: Thrusts in a direction with AoE coverage, applying Cryo Infliction and damage.
• Combo Skill: Against Solidified enemies, deals extra Physical damage and Lift; if the target is already Physical Susceptible, adds more Physical Susceptibility.
• Ultimate: Lifts all Physical Susceptible enemies and follows up with increased Physical damage.
• Talents:
  • Refunds SP when her Skill triggers Shatter.
  • Ignores the downsides of carrying Cryo Infliction herself while gaining a 10% Cryo damage boost.

Operators still under evaluation

Several operators appear in Beta Test II but do not yet have enough consistent data to assign firm rankings:

• Yvonne (6★ Cryo Caster)
• Gilberta (6★ Nature Support)
• Avywenna (5★ Arts Electric Striker)
• Da Pan (5★ Physical Striker)
• Xaihi (5★ Cryo Support)

These units may shift dramatically once more players experiment with their kits and more refined team archetypes emerge.

Rerolling and early priorities

Rerolling in Beta Test II has limited long-term impact because all data is wiped and the beginner 6★ takes several hours of play to unlock. At full release, rerolling decisions should revolve around a handful of high-impact pickups:

• If you want a top-end Striker: Aim for Laevatain or Last Rite.
• If you want a universal enabler: Ardelia is the highest value Support in the beta.
• For Physical-focused teams: Pogranichnik plus either Endministrator or Lifeng creates a robust core.
• On a low-rarity budget: Antal, Fluorite, and Catcher are excellent anchors for 4★ slots.

Pulls from the beginner banner overlap with the standard pool, so any units obtained there remain relevant beyond early game. With the current pity design, planning around 120 pulls for a specific rate-up remains the most reliable long-term strategy once the game launches.

Beta Test II already shows how tightly Arknights: Endfield ties damage, status effects, and SP management together. S‑tier operators like Laevatain, Last Rite, Ardelia, and Pogranichnik sit at the center of the strongest teams, while a deep bench of A‑ and B‑tier units fill specialized roles. Expect tuning on exact numbers, but the overall hierarchy of “who makes a team work” is unlikely to flip completely before release.