Industrial Explosives are one of the most important utility items in Arknights: Endfield. They are used to destroy Blight cores, clear blocked corridors, and access chests and hidden paths that are otherwise unreachable. Several quests and puzzles, including Dusty Old Files in the Originium Science Park, cannot be finished without them.
What Industrial Explosives Are Used For
Industrial Explosives are a consumable exploration item. You place them in the world to destroy specific environmental obstacles that cannot be broken with normal attacks.
The most notable use is removing Blight. For example, in the Dusty Old Files side mission beneath the Originium Science Park, a large Blight patch blocks the route to Kitt’s data files. Only Industrial Explosives can break the Blight core and open the path. Similar destructible objects also hide chests, Aurylene deposits, and routes needed for 100 percent completion in several regions.
Because of that, a steady supply of explosives is crucial once you move deeper into Valley Pass, Originium Science Park, and later areas.
Industrial Explosives crafting requirements
Industrial Explosives are crafted at your AIC using two main components:
- Aketine – a plant resource that grows naturally in Valley Pass and can later be farmed in your AIC and Eco Farm.
- Amethyst Parts – a manufactured material used as the other input for the recipe.
The production line also relies on three types of AIC units working together:
- Seed Picker – processes Aketine plants into seeds.
- Planter – grows Aketine plants from seeds.
- Filling Unit – combines Aketine and Amethyst Parts into Industrial Explosives.
You do not need to understand the full factory meta to get your first few charges, but once you want continuous explosives for completion runs, you will rely heavily on automated Aketine production.
How to get Aketine for explosives
Aketine is the limiting ingredient for most players. Early on, you can only harvest it in the open world; later, you can mass-produce it inside your AIC and the Eco Farm.
Natural Aketine locations in Valley Pass
The first Aketine nodes appear in the Valley Pass: Abandoned Trail area, which you reach during the main story. There are two distinct spawn points there:
- One node sits along the eastern lower path of the Abandoned Trail.
- The second node lies slightly to the north, on the way toward the larger open clearing.
Aketine regrows over time, and you can return to Abandoned Trail to harvest more. However, you can only gather a small number of plants from these wild spawns at any one time, so this method alone is not enough if you are burning through explosives while combing every corner of the map.
Unlocking AIC planting tech for Aketine
To scale up your supply, you need to start growing Aketine inside your AIC by unlocking basic planting technology.
Step 1: Progress the story until you can upgrade your AIC to Basic AIC Level Two. Story progression naturally unlocks this level; there is no separate side condition beyond continuing the main missions.
Step 2: Once Level Two is available, enable the Planting Tech tree. This gives you access to the Seed Picker and Planter units used for plant loops.
Step 3: Construct one Seed Picker and one Planter in your AIC layout. Place them so their inputs and outputs can connect to your depot or directly to each other, depending on how you prefer to route materials.
With these two units built, you can turn a handful of wild Aketine plants into an effectively infinite supply.
Setting up an Aketine production loop
The goal of the loop is to turn each Aketine plant into more seeds than you started with, then feed those back into the system while siphoning off the surplus for explosives.
Step 1: Send harvested Aketine plants into the Seed Picker. One plant is converted into two seeds, so every cycle doubles your count at this stage.
Step 2: Route the Aketine seeds into the Planter. The Planter grows seeds back into full plants, returning your resource to the plant form required by the Seed Picker and some crafting recipes.
Step 3: Connect the Planter’s output back into the depot or directly back toward the Seed Picker. This closes the loop and lets seeds and plants circulate continuously.
Step 4: Periodically divert some Aketine plants out of the loop into storage for Industrial Explosives crafting. The loop continues to grow the plant stock while you remove a portion for use.
Because each Seed Picker cycle gives you more seeds than you started with, the total amount of Aketine in the system grows quickly. If the Seed Picker becomes overloaded, you can install a second unit to handle more throughput and generate seeds even faster.
Using the Originium Science Park Eco Farm for Aketine
Later in the game, another Aketine source opens up inside the Originium Science Park.
Step 1: Complete the relevant Outpost quests to restore and unlock the Infra-Station in the Originium Science Park. This progression grants access to the Eco Farm feature in that region.
Step 2: At the Eco Farm, combine Aketine seeds with Carbon to create an Aketine Plot. This plot represents a planted batch rather than an instant harvest.
Step 3: Wait for the Aketine Plot to mature. Growth takes roughly 12 hours of real time before the plants can be collected.
Eco Farm plots are slower than the AIC loop but operate in the background while you play. Used together, the AIC loop and farm plots keep your warehouse stocked for heavy explosive crafting sessions.
Producing Industrial Explosives in the AIC
Once you have a reliable stream of Aketine, you can begin converting it into explosives inside your AIC.
Step 1: Ensure you have enough Amethyst Parts in storage. These are the non-organic half of the recipe and are required alongside Aketine for every batch of explosives. If you are short, run the relevant production lines or content that awards them.
Step 2: Build or assign a Filling Unit in your AIC. This unit is responsible for combining Aketine with Amethyst Parts into finished Industrial Explosives.
Step 3: Route Aketine plants and Amethyst Parts into the Filling Unit. Use depot links or belts so that both inputs reach the unit consistently. Avoid mixing in other plants or parts that would clog the recipe.
Step 4: Configure the Industrial Explosives recipe on the Filling Unit, then start the line. The unit will consume Aketine and Amethyst Parts and output Industrial Explosives to your depot.
Step 5: Monitor throughput. If the Filling Unit is starved for one of the ingredients, adjust your Aketine loop or Amethyst Part production so both inputs arrive in roughly balanced amounts.
After a short production run, you should have enough explosives stored to tackle multiple Blight patches and blocked paths without worrying about running out mid-dungeon.
Equipping and using Industrial Explosives in the field
Crafted explosives do nothing while they sit in storage. You must move them into your exploration loadout before they can be deployed.
Step 1: Open your backpack or exploration inventory at a hub or safe point. Locate the Industrial Explosives item in the consumables section.
Step 2: Add Industrial Explosives to an active slot in your exploration toolkit. This makes them selectable while moving around the world.
Step 3: When you encounter a Blight core or destructible barrier that regular attacks cannot damage, select Industrial Explosives from your quick-use wheel or item menu.
Step 4: Place an explosive at the highlighted interaction point on or near the core or obstacle. Confirm the placement to arm it.
Step 5: After detonation, the Blight or structure is destroyed, clearing the path. Any connected Blight patches that depend on that core also vanish, exposing new rooms, shortcuts, or collectibles.
Every use consumes one charge of Industrial Explosives, so make sure you have several on hand before diving into Blight-heavy areas like the underground section of Originium Science Park.
Why Industrial Explosives matter for exploration and quests
Industrial Explosives are more than a niche utility item. They directly affect how much of the game you can actually see.
- They are required to finish certain side missions, such as Dusty Old Files, where a Blight wall stands between you and the quest objective.
- They unlock access to chests and rare materials that sit behind fragile rock, Blight growths, or similar obstacles.
- They help push regions toward 100 percent completion, especially in zones with SOS Bot puzzles and hidden routes gated by destructible objects.
Once the Aketine loop and Eco Farm are in place, it is worth keeping a buffer of Industrial Explosives in your inventory. That way, when you stumble onto a blocked passage or Blight cluster, you can deal with it immediately instead of marking the spot and returning later.
The upfront effort to set up production pays off quickly: exploration becomes smoother, quests progress without hard stops, and map completion no longer depends on a single rare consumable.
