The New Horizons beginner banner in Arknights: Endfield is the first real fork in the road for your account. Clearing early story missions gives you up to four ten-pulls on a time-limited banner that only contains standard pool operators, and those pulls guarantee at least one 6-star across the set.
Those 6-stars are Ardelia, Ember, Last Rite, Lifeng, and Pogranichnik. All five are playable and strong enough to carry you through early content, but they don’t offer the same value for every type of player. The key is understanding what each does, how they fit around the free roster, and how New Horizons interacts with the rest of Endfield’s gacha system.
How the New Horizons beginner banner works
New Horizons is a one-time beginner Headhunting banner that unlocks as you progress through the opening chapters. You earn four separate ten-pull tickets from story quests such as Break the Siege, Rally and Unite, Secure Sanctuary, and Paving the Way. Each ticket can only be used on New Horizons.
The banner uses standard character rates, with a 0.8 percent chance for a 6-star on any single pull, 8 percent for 5-stars, and 91.2 percent for 4-stars. Across the four multis, there is a built-in safety net: if you haven’t pulled a 6-star by the time you finish all 40 pulls, the last ten-pull guarantees one.
That guarantee can only trigger once. If you get a 6-star on an earlier ten-pull, there is no extra pity on the later ones. Any duplicate copies you hit convert into the usual quota points and tokens you can spend in the in-game shop.
Finishing the banner also grants a separate weapon crate that lets you pick one 6-star weapon designed for the same standard roster. This matters for one specific operator: Last Rite, who scales very hard with her tailored weapon, Khravengger.
Why rerolling for the beginner banner is optional
Endfield technically allows rerolling, but it is far more time-consuming than in many other gacha games. Unlocking Headhunting requires finishing the prologue fights and a story-heavy epilogue sequence, which takes around half an hour even if you rapidly click through dialogue.
On top of that, the best units in the game at version 1.0 are on the Limited Chartered banners, not in the standard pool. Laevatain, Gilberta, and Yvonne all sit at the top of early tier lists, and Limited pulls are not plentiful in the first few hours. Trying to reroll on Limited is a grind with very low return.
By contrast, New Horizons is straightforward but still slow to access repeatedly. You need a new account for each attempt, then repeat the same quest chain to reach the story missions that award its pulls. You can use salted Gmail addresses (adding periods to the same base address) to register multiple accounts into one inbox, but that only solves the email problem, not the time cost.
For most players, it is more efficient to accept your first New Horizons 6-star and focus on progressing the campaign, collecting currency, and targeting Limited banners later. Rerolling starts to make sense only if you are very committed to a specific standard unit or want to optimize for long-term meta from day one.
Ardelia: the best standard unit you do not need to chase
Ardelia is a Nature Support operator with a kit that does nearly everything an early account wants. She heals, applies Corrosion to enemies, and then converts that Corrosion into both Physical and Arts susceptibility, amplifying any team’s damage regardless of element.
In current tier evaluations, Ardelia sits in the very top bracket. She is consistent, flexible, and doesn’t need specific teammates to function. She simply increases the throughput of any damage dealer you bring, from basic 4-stars to Limited powerhouses.
The catch is availability. Ardelia is being distributed for free as part of the launch celebration, so everyone receives a copy just by playing. Pulling her as your New Horizons 6-star doesn’t give you access to a new role, it just upgrades her to Potential 1 slightly earlier.
If you value roster depth, Ardelia is the one standard 6-star you generally do not want as your guaranteed beginner banner pull. She is still excellent if you hit her, but rerolling specifically for her is a poor use of time when that same effort could secure a character you cannot otherwise guarantee.
Pogranichnik: the engine for Physical teams
Pogranichnik is a Physical Vanguard and one of the strongest picks from New Horizons for players who like straightforward melee teams. His value comes from three pillars: strong SP generation, decent personal damage, and support buffs for Physical allies.
His skills interact with Vulnerable stacks and Breach. He can consume Vulnerable to ramp his own damage and accelerate SP income, then feed that SP into frequent skill and ultimate usage across the party. That pairs naturally with the free Physical units you already own: Endministrator (the main character) and Chen Qianyu, both of whom appreciate extra SP and Vulnerable support.
There are trade-offs. Pogranichnik’s kit is tuned around Physical compositions; he loses a chunk of value if most of your DPS are Arts or elemental casters. He also occupies a slot that can compete with Endministrator as a frontline bruiser, especially in smaller teams.
Even with those caveats, Pogranichnik is one of the most efficient ways to raise your early account ceiling. He is rated in the top tiers and is widely viewed as the standout standard 6-star for Physical squads.
Last Rite: Cryo DPS with huge upside if you take her weapon
Last Rite is a Cryo Striker who functions as a front-line DPS rather than a backline caster like Yvonne. She is built around stacking Cryo affliction to trigger a high-damage combo skill, and she can apply Cryo susceptibility to increase the damage all Cryo units deal.
Her ceiling is high in focused Cryo teams, and tier lists place her near the very top of early-game DPS, particularly for free-to-play accounts. She synergizes extremely well with Cryo supports such as Xaihi and the Limited DPS Yvonne, where she acts either as a main attacker or powerful sub-DPS that amplifies the team’s output.
However, Last Rite is more team dependent than a generalist like Pogranichnik. To unlock her full potential, you want consistent Cryo infliction from the rest of the party, and you need to plan rotations to line up her combo skill with Cryo stacks on enemies.
The other key piece is gear. Her signature 6-star weapon, Khravengger, is a substantial upgrade over generic options, and everyone can claim one 6-star weapon from the launch weapon selector that arrives after finishing New Horizons. If you choose Last Rite as your beginner 6-star and then pick Khravengger from that crate, you effectively lock in a fully equipped Cryo carry for free.
For players willing to build around Cryo and invest that weapon pick, Last Rite is one of the strongest and most future-proof beginner banner outcomes.
Lifeng: Physical DPS that overlaps with Chen
Lifeng is a Physical Guard who also wants Vulnerable and Physical susceptibility in play, similar to Pogranichnik, but from a pure DPS angle. On paper, he slots cleanly into the early game roster, since you already own Endministrator and Chen Qianyu as Physical damage dealers.
In practice, Lifeng competes directly with Chen for a team slot. Both operate as Physical melee DPS with access to Vulnerable and other Physical debuffs. Lifeng can push higher damage, but he expects stricter rotations and proper setup for both his combo skill and ultimate to land their full payoff.
This design makes him a fine, but not essential beginner banner hit. If you enjoy Physical melee gameplay and do not mind extra mechanical complexity, he can outperform Chen and give you more long-term upside. If you prefer a simpler roster, the overlap means you are spending your rare 6-star slot on a role that is already covered by free characters.
Current tier lists rate Lifeng well, but generally a notch below the absolute top when evaluating raw impact on most accounts. He is a “good if you like him” pick, not a must-reroll target.
Ember: flexible defender that shores up survivability
Ember is a Heat Defender with a hybrid tank and support kit. She can soak damage, generate shields and Protection, and apply Vulnerable stacks, effectively turning her into a pseudo-support who keeps your front line alive while debuffing enemies.
Her damage is not the main draw. She has some synergy with Physical support effects through Vulnerable, but her ultimate and battle skill deal Arts damage and she cannot fully exploit Vulnerable stacks in the same way a dedicated Physical DPS can. Compared to specialist DPS options, her personal numbers are modest.
That puts Ember in an interesting spot for New Horizons. She is not a top-tier carry, but she can make a big difference if your squad feels fragile or you prefer a slower, safer playstyle. Many players gravitate toward her simply because they like running a “real tank,” and she delivers on that fantasy.
From a pure optimization standpoint, Ember sits below the best beginner picks. If the goal is to maximize damage and clear speed, Pogranichnik or Last Rite add more power. If you value comfort or just really like her design, she is still a perfectly viable choice to build around.
How these 6-stars rank for the beginner banner
Putting roles, synergy, and availability together, the standard 6-stars from New Horizons fall into clear tiers for most accounts.
| Priority | Operator | Role | Why to pick | Main drawbacks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highest | Last Rite | Cryo Striker DPS | Top-tier free DPS, scales hard with free Khravengger weapon, pairs well with future Cryo units. | Wants Cryo-focused team and some rotation planning. |
| Highest | Pogranichnik | Physical Vanguard support | Supercharges free Physical units, great SP generation, strong early and mid game. | Primarily benefits Physical comps and overlaps with Endministrator. |
| Medium | Lifeng | Physical Guard DPS | Powerful Physical DPS with strong debuffs, fits into early Physical teams. | Competes with Chen, stricter mechanical requirements to shine. |
| Medium | Ember | Heat Defender support | Sturdy frontline, shields and Vulnerable make runs safer. | Lower damage, limited to Physical synergy despite Heat typing. |
| Low (for rerolling) | Ardelia | Nature Support healer | Best general support, huge utility for any team. | Given for free; beginner banner copy only adds Potential. |
When it makes sense to reroll your beginner banner
Most players do not need to reroll at all. Story content and early events are tuned around a roster that largely consists of free characters, some 4-stars, and one or two 5-stars. Any of the New Horizons 6-stars will raise that floor enough to clear everything comfortably.
There are a few scenarios where rerolling can be justified:
- You want to anchor your account on a specific damage archetype. If you already know you want to main Cryo or Physical, starting with Last Rite or Pogranichnik sets you up cleanly for that plan.
- You are committed to long-term meta chasing. For min-maxers, front-loading a powerful standard DPS or support frees more pulls for Limited banners later.
- You plan to grind rerolls before investing time in base building or side content. Doing all the tedious setup once, with the intent to live on that account long-term, can be worth it.
Outside of those cases, the opportunity cost is high. Time spent rerolling could instead unlock more Oroberyl, a broader roster, and access to Limited banners where the true chase units live.
How the beginner banner fits into the wider gacha system
Endfield’s gacha design tries to spread value across different banner types.
The Chartered Headhunting banner hosts Limited characters such as Laevatain, Gilberta, and Yvonne. It shares the same 0.8 percent 6-star rate as New Horizons but adds an 80-pull hard pity, a rising soft pity after the 65th pull, and a 50/50 between the featured unit and a pool that mixes standard and recent Limiteds. If you reach 120 pulls without the featured character, you can directly claim them once from the banner interface.
The Basic Headhunting banner is the permanent standard pool, again using 0.8 / 8 / 91.2 percent rates. It lacks a featured unit but offers a long-term guarantee: after 300 pulls on this banner, you can pick any standard 6-star from its roster once. This is the long-view path to specific units you might miss on New Horizons.
The Arsenal Exchange banner is for weapons. It uses a higher 4 percent 6-star rate, counts ten-pulls as “Issues,” and guarantees a 6-star weapon every four Issues with a 25 percent chance to be the featured one. After eight Issues, the featured weapon is guaranteed. Arsenal Tickets for this banner come from Headhunting pulls, the premium battle pass tier, and direct shop bundles.
New Horizons is a small but important front-end to this system. It gives you one high-rarity standard operator and one matching weapon without touching your main currency, so you can treat the rest of your early Oroberyl as fuel for Limited banners or Basic pity as you prefer.
The beginner banner decision is not about finding the one “correct” character. All five standard 6-stars are functional, and Endfield’s combat design rewards team building more than individual stat monsters. If you care about raw efficiency, Last Rite and Pogranichnik stand out as the best long-term returns for most accounts, especially when paired with the free 6-star weapon selector.
If you care more about playstyle or character preference, lean into that. A familiar archetype you enjoy will keep you engaged long enough to reach the Limited banners where the game’s strongest operators reside. The New Horizons 6-star is a foundation, not a finish line.
