Arknights Endfield Tier List: Best Operators, 29 Total

This Arknights Endfield tier list covers who's actually worth pulling for right now: twenty-nine operators total, one of them free from the moment you start the game, and a July 16 patch that just added a dual-form hybrid sitting at the top of every ranking published since. It also covers a roster-size claim worth double-checking against whatever number you saw elsewhere.

TL;DR: Arknights Endfield tier list: Arcane, added in the July 16 Homecoming patch, leads the current meta as a dual-form DPS/support hybrid. Zhuang Fangyi (raw damage), Gilberta (crowd control), and Tangtang (a full-screen time-stop ultimate) round out the top tier. The roster sits at 29 confirmed operators as of July 20, 2026, with a 30th, Liino, confirmed but not obtainable until her August 9 banner. Team elemental synergy matters more here than in most gacha tier lists: a lower-ranked operator in the right composition can outperform a top-tier pick in the wrong one.

Arknights Endfield tier list: quick answer

Arcane is the top pick in the current meta, followed by Zhuang Fangyi, Gilberta, and Tangtang. All four are worth prioritizing if you're building toward the strongest available squad. The roster stands at 29 confirmed operators, not the 28 you'll still see cited on guides written before July 16.

Key takeaways

• Arknights Endfield is a free-to-play action RPG from Hypergryph, published by GRYPHLINE, released January 22, 2026 on PC, PS5, iOS, and Android. It is not on Steam.
• The roster grew from 28 to 29 confirmed operators with the July 16, 2026 "Homecoming" patch, which added Arcane. A 30th operator, Liino, is confirmed but locked behind an August 9 banner.
• Endministrator, the playable protagonist, is a free 6-star Physical Guard everyone receives automatically and isn't part of the gacha pool at all.
• Combat runs on elemental reactions, which means team composition can outweigh raw tier placement more than it does in most character-collector games.

What Arknights Endfield actually is

Hypergryph built its name on Arknights, and Endfield is the studio's move into a full action RPG rather than a tower-defense strategy game, published under GRYPHLINE. It launched January 22, 2026 across PC, PlayStation 5, iOS, and Android, skipping Steam entirely in favor of the Epic Games Store and its own Windows launcher on PC. It's free-to-play, with an optional $9.99 special edition bundle for players who want cosmetic extras rather than a paywall.

The operator roster is what most players actually track, and it's grown steadily since launch. As of today, July 20, 2026, that count sits at 29 confirmed, obtainable operators. Several guides still circulating cite 28: that number was accurate as of June 5, 2026, but the July 16 Homecoming patch added Arcane, pushing the total up by one. A 30th operator, Liino, a 6-star Electric Supporter, is already confirmed in the current version's data but isn't actually pullable yet: her banner, Good Morning From Your Dawnstar, doesn't open until August 9, 2026. If you're reading a tier list that ranks her already, it's either speculative or working from unreleased data.

One operator doesn't fit the gacha framing at all. Endministrator, the game's playable protagonist, is a free 6-star Physical Guard that every player receives automatically at the start of the game, with a purely cosmetic choice between a male and female version (swappable anytime, on a 24-hour cooldown). It's not a placeholder starter unit either: as an all-rounder sword user with a combo skill built to set up other operators, it holds a real place in a working squad rather than getting replaced the moment a gacha pull lands.

Official key art from the "Back to the North" preview trailer, part of GRYPHLINE's ongoing operator rollout since the January launch.

S tier: Arcane, Zhuang Fangyi, Gilberta, and Tangtang

Arcane is the operator every tier list published since July 16 leads with, and the reason is the dual-form kit: she switches between a damage-focused form and a support-focused form mid-fight rather than locking you into one role for the whole encounter. That flexibility is why she sits above operators with a higher raw damage ceiling but no way to adapt when a fight's demands shift.

Zhuang Fangyi is the pick when a fight just needs more damage, full stop. She doesn't bring Arcane's flexibility, but her output ceiling is currently the highest in the roster for players building around a dedicated damage-dealer role.

Gilberta covers something the top tier is otherwise short on: reliable crowd control paired with Arts debuffs. Fights that go sideways because enemies close distance too fast are usually a Gilberta problem waiting for a Gilberta solution.

Tangtang brings a full-screen time-stop ultimate, which is as strong as it sounds against enemy groups that would otherwise punish a slow team composition. It's the kind of ability that turns a fight's pacing around single-handedly when it's up.

Also worth building around: Rossi, Camille, Laevatain, and Perlica

These four sit just below the top tier and are still genuinely strong pulls, particularly if your team's elemental composition favors what they bring over a top-tier alternative. Rossi and Camille both slot well into squads built around Endministrator's Physical Guard kit. Laevatain and Perlica round out teams that need more Arts-focused coverage than the S tier group alone provides.

Camille, one of the operators worth building around just below the top tier, in official art from her "Under My Breath" release video.

GODEEPER: Team-building around a small set of standout units instead of an individually-ranked full roster is a pattern worth understanding across tier-list guides in general. Sunderfolk Class Tier List: All 7 Heroes Ranked →

Step-by-step: building around elemental synergy, not just tier rank

1. Check your current squad's element coverage before chasing a top-tier pull. Endfield's combat rewards elemental reactions between operators, so a squad missing a specific element type benefits more from filling that gap than from adding a fifth Physical damage dealer.
2. Use Endministrator as your anchor, not a placeholder. Its combo skill is built to set up other operators, which makes it a genuine core piece rather than a unit you bench the moment your first S tier pull arrives.
3. Prioritize Arcane if you're starting from scratch. Her dual-form flexibility covers gaps a rigid single-role operator can't, which matters most for a newer roster that doesn't yet have deep bench options.
4. Don't pull for Liino yet. Her banner isn't live until August 9, 2026. Any currency spent chasing her before then is currency misspent on the wrong banner.

Tips for reading any Endfield tier list

• Check the publish date on any tier list you're reading. The jump from 28 to 29 operators on July 16 means anything written before that date is missing Arcane entirely.
• A lower-tier operator with the right elemental synergy for your specific squad can outperform a higher-tier operator that doesn't fit your composition. Tier lists rank raw potential, not your actual team.
• Don't sleep on Endministrator. It's easy to treat a free starting character as filler, but its combo-setup kit holds a real role in squads built around it.

GODEEPER: For a different take on ranking a class or character roster where the free options hold up against paid or rare picks, see how a similar tradeoff plays out elsewhere. Rune Dice Tier List: All Classes Ranked →

Frequently Asked Questions

How many operators are in Arknights Endfield? 29 as of July 20, 2026, up from 28 before the July 16 Homecoming patch added Arcane. A 30th, Liino, is confirmed but not yet obtainable: her banner opens August 9, 2026.

Who is the best operator in Arknights Endfield right now? Arcane leads the current meta as a dual-form hybrid who swaps between DPS and support roles mid-fight. Zhuang Fangyi, Gilberta, and Tangtang round out the top tier for raw damage, crowd control, and her screen-wide time-stop ultimate.

Is Endministrator worth using in Arknights Endfield? Endministrator isn't part of the gacha pool at all: it's the free playable protagonist, a 6-star Physical Guard everyone gets automatically. It's a genuinely solid all-rounder, not a placeholder starter character.

Is Liino available yet in Arknights Endfield? No. Liino, a 6-star Electric Supporter, is confirmed on the current version but her own banner, Good Morning From Your Dawnstar, doesn't start until August 9, 2026. She isn't pullable yet as of this article's publish date.

Does team composition matter more than tier rank in Arknights Endfield? Often, yes. Endfield's combat runs on elemental reactions, so a lower-tier operator with the right elemental synergy for your team can outperform a higher-tier operator slotted into the wrong composition.

Related Reading

• Sunderfolk Class Tier List: All 7 Heroes Ranked 2026: how a much smaller roster handles the same free-vs-premium tier question.
• Rune Dice Tier List: All Classes Ranked: another roster ranking where roster-count accuracy against patch updates matters as much as the ranking itself.
• Legionbound Tier List: All Classes Ranked: a comparison point for how class synergy can outweigh individual tier placement.

References

• Arknights: Endfield official site
• GRYPHLINE / Arknights Endfield on X
• Arknights: Endfield Preview Trailer on YouTube