Cog in the Wheel is an early side mission in Arknights: Endfield, sitting inside Valley IV under the “The Hub” section of the quest list. It is grouped with other operational errands such as Rumors about Tech, Had to Be Done, The Road is Rough, Alluvial Cleaning, AIC Manager, and Morale Booster.
While the exact in-mission objectives vary with your story progress and choices, its place in the structure of Valley IV is fixed. Understanding that structure helps you know when to expect Cog in the Wheel to show up and what you need to have done first.
Where Cog in the Wheel sits in the mission list
Arknights: Endfield divides content into three broad mission types: Main Missions, Side Missions, and Exploration Missions. Valley IV is one of the earliest open regions, and its local tasks are broken down by sub‑area. Under Region 1: Valley IV → The Hub, the mission list runs in this order:
- Rumors about Tech
- Had to Be Done
- The Road is Rough
- Alluvial Cleaning
- AIC Manager
- Morale Booster
- Cog in the Wheel
Cog in the Wheel is therefore not a starter quest. It appears after you have already spent some time stabilising The Hub, cleaning up the surrounding area, and interacting with the local AIC systems and morale‑related errands.
What you must complete before Cog in the Wheel
The mission ordering inside The Hub is a reliable indicator of prerequisites. To reach Cog in the Wheel, plan around clearing the earlier tasks in this sub‑region first.
How Cog in the Wheel relates to other Valley IV missions
Valley IV’s missions are spread across several named sub‑regions besides The Hub: Valley Pass, Aburrey Quarry, Power Plateau, Origin Lodespring, and Originium Science Park. Each of those areas has its own short chain of side content, for example:
- Valley Pass with tasks like Where Are Thou My Love and OD Project: Refugee Camp I.
- Aburrey Quarry with Quarry Rescue and Fix the Super Crane.
- Power Plateau with Outpost: Reconstruction HQ and Lone Wolf.
- Origin Lodespring and Originium Science Park, each with their own sets of rescue, repair, and outpost‑focused missions.
Cog in the Wheel is part of the Hub‑centric line, not those satellite areas. You do not need to grind out every mission in Valley Pass or Aburrey Quarry to see it, but moving the main story forward and keeping up with Hub missions ensures it appears in a timely way.
Ensuring you can access Cog in the Wheel
Because Arknights: Endfield is structured around both combat and base‑building, some missions only become available once the operational side has reached a certain point. If Cog in the Wheel has not yet appeared in your list under The Hub, the most reliable actions are:
Once Cog in the Wheel is unlocked in your Valley IV → The Hub list, treat it as part of the early stabilisation layer of Arknights: Endfield. Clearing it, alongside its neighboring errands, helps bring the region’s logistics and support network in line with the main story’s push deeper into Talos‑II.
