Quick answer: The best build for Snowshine uses the Finishing Call Great Sword combined with the LYNX gear set to maximize her healing output and damage reduction capabilities. Prioritize leveling her Combo Skill first.
Snowshine acts as a specialized 5-star Defender in Arknights: Endfield who leans heavily into a support and healer role rather than acting as a traditional tank. Her kit revolves around reactive gameplay, triggering powerful healing effects when teammates drop to critical health and applying Cryo control effects to enemies. Because her healing scales with her Will attribute, building her correctly requires a focus on specific stats that differ from standard damage dealers.
While she acts as a solid emergency button for any team, she shines brightest when paired with other Cryo units or characters that capitalize on the Solidification status effect. This guide covers the optimal equipment, stats, and team compositions to get the most out of Snowshine.
Best Weapons for Snowshine
Snowshine wields a Great Sword, and her weapon choice should prioritize boosting her healing throughput or adding defensive utility like shields.
Finishing Call (Best-in-Slot & F2P)
This is Snowshine's signature weapon and generally her best option. It provides a massive boost to the HP treatment effect of Combo Skills, directly enhancing her primary method of healing. Since Finishing Call acts as a standard reward available to all players (often via pre-registration or early progression), it is highly accessible. It provides reliable stats without requiring complex trigger conditions.
Former Finery (Healing Focus)
If you need Snowshine to function purely as a dedicated healer, Former Finery serves as a strong alternative. It increases Will—her primary scaling stat for healing—and grants additional Treatment Efficiency. Its passive effect restores HP to operators under the Protection status when they take damage, creating a synergy with Snowshine's Battle Skill.
Thunderberge (Defensive Utility)
For players prioritizing survival over raw health restoration, Thunderberge adds a shielding layer to Snowshine's kit. Its effect generates a shield based on the wielder's Max HP whenever a Combo Skill provides healing. This turns her reactive heal into a defensive buffer that can prevent subsequent one-shots in harder content.
Best Gear Sets
Gear choices for Snowshine should reinforce her role as a sustainer. The LYNX set stands out as the definitive endgame choice, while other sets serve as stepping stones.
LYNX (Best-in-Slot)
The LYNX set is tailor-made for Snowshine. The 3-piece effect increases HP Treatment Efficiency by 20%, directly boosting her healing numbers. Additionally, when she heals an ally, that target gains 15% damage reduction for 10 seconds. If the heal overheals (exceeds Max HP), the damage reduction doubles to 30%. This set transforms her from a simple healer into a damage mitigation support.
- Armor: LYNX Heavy Armor
- Gloves: LYNX Gauntlets
- Kit 1 & 2: LYNX Connector T1 (or Redeemer Seal T1 for quicker ultimate uptime)
Eternal Xiranite (Offensive Support)
If survival is not an issue, the Eternal Xiranite set shifts her utility toward offense. This set buffs teammates' Attack after Snowshine uses her Battle Skill. It is useful in speed-clearing content where extra damage is more valuable than extra safety.
Mordvolt Resistant (Early Game)
For players still progressing through the early zones, the Mordvolt Resistant set provides a flat Will bonus and increases healing effects when Snowshine's own HP is low. It serves as a decent placeholder until you can farm LYNX pieces.
Skill Priority and Potentials
Snowshine is a low-maintenance character who often stays off-field until needed. Her skill leveling priority reflects this reactive playstyle.
- Combo Skill (Polar Rescue): Upgrade this first. It triggers automatically when the controlled operator drops below 60% HP, delivering a massive instant heal followed by continuous healing. Leveling this ensures your team survives critical moments.
- Ultimate (Frigid Snowfield): Level this second. It creates a zone that deals Cryo damage over time and forces Solidification on enemies. This crowd control is vital for setting up Shatter combos with other characters.
- Battle Skill (Saturated Defense): This skill raises a shield and counters attacks with Cryo damage. While useful for generating SP and applying Cryo, its damage scaling is secondary to her healing duties.
- Basic Attack (Hypothermic Assault): Leave this for last. Snowshine rarely stays on field to perform basic attack chains.
Key Potentials
Vertical investment (duplicates) is not strictly necessary for Snowshine to function, but Potential 1 (Cold Shelter) offers significant value. It allows her Battle Skill to block Arts Inflictions on protected operators, a powerful utility against specific elemental enemies. Other potentials mostly offer minor stat bumps or cooldown refunds that do not fundamentally change her gameplay.
Team Comps
Snowshine fits best in teams that need a safety net or want to exploit Cryo reactions.
Shatter / Mono-Cryo Team
Snowshine pairs exceptionally well with Last Rite, a character who deals increased damage to frozen or solidified enemies. Snowshine's Ultimate guarantees Solidification, creating a perfect window for Last Rite to execute high-damage burst attacks. Adding Xaihi or Estella to this core ensures constant Cryo application and Shatter triggers.
F2P Standard Team
For a completely free-to-play setup, Snowshine works as the defensive anchor alongside the Endministrator (Main DPS), Chen Qianyu, and Perlica. While characters like Akekuri might offer more offensive utility, Snowshine ensures the team remains healthy through difficult story bosses.
