The OMV Dijiang serves as your mobile headquarters in Arknights Endfield, functioning as the nerve center for Endfield Industries operations. This impressive spacecraft houses critical facilities for manufacturing materials, investigating the world’s mysteries, and interacting with your Operators. At the heart of the Dijiang sits the Control Nexus, which determines how many facilities you can access and how efficiently they operate.
Initially, the Control Nexus comes with significant restrictions that limit your base’s productivity. Upgrading it removes these bottlenecks and unlocks powerful new features like the Growth Chamber. For more guidance on managing your base and resources, check out our Arknights Endfield guides hub.
Upgrading the Control Nexus
Quest Requirements
Control Nexus upgrades unlock through the “Dijiang Upgrade and Maintenance I” quest, which triggers automatically as you progress through the main story. Expect this mission to appear around Authority Level 23, though exact timing may vary slightly depending on how quickly you complete other content.
You’ll receive a notification from Xaihi when you become eligible for this upgrade quest. She’ll send a message explaining that the Control Nexus is ready for enhancement, which serves as your signal to start gathering the necessary materials.
Required Materials
The quest itself provides you with an Algorithm Expansion Chip, the specialized component needed for the Control Nexus upgrade. However, you’ll need to collect the remaining materials through normal gameplay:
Aerospace Materials These components come from your Recycling Station, which generates them daily. By default, the station produces Aerospace Material I. If the upgrade requires higher-tier materials, you’ll need to upgrade your Recycling Station first to unlock Aerospace Material II production. Our Aerospace Materials guide covers the full details of farming these resources efficiently.
T-Creds The standard currency requirement can be accumulated through regular gameplay activities. Make sure you have enough banked before attempting the upgrade.
Completing the Upgrade Quest
Once you’ve gathered everything:
- Open your Mission tab
- Locate “Dijiang Upgrade and Maintenance I” under the Important section
- Select Track to activate quest guidance
- Follow the marker to OMV Dijiang
- Complete Xaihi’s instructions to finalize the upgrade
The quest walks you through the process step-by-step, so you won’t miss any critical steps. After completion, your Control Nexus immediately gains access to expanded functionality.
Unlocking and Using the Growth Chamber
What the Growth Chamber Does
The Growth Chamber becomes available immediately after upgrading your Control Nexus. This facility lets you cultivate rare materials that would otherwise require extensive farming or random drops. Materials like Red Bolete become farmable on-demand, which significantly improves your ability to upgrade characters consistently.
The cultivation system works through a seed extraction process. Take one unit of a rare material, extract it into three seeds, then plant those seeds in the Growth Chamber. Each seed eventually grows into a full material, effectively tripling your initial investment. The catch? Growth takes substantial real-time, making this a long-term resource generation system rather than a quick farming method.
Optimizing Growth Times
Raw cultivation times can stretch painfully long without intervention. Fortunately, the Growth Chamber supports Operator assignments that dramatically reduce these wait periods.
Certain Operators possess Manufacturing Base Skills specifically designed to accelerate growth. These skills unlock as you promote characters through their upgrade paths. For details on character progression, see our leveling and promotion guide.
Da Pan serves as a perfect example—her Manufacturing Base Skill reduces growth time for fungi materials like Red Bolete and Pink Bolete. Assigning her to the Growth Chamber when cultivating these specific materials cuts down production time considerably.
When selecting Operators for assignment, match their specialties to what you’re currently growing. Some characters accelerate specific material types, while others might provide universal time reductions. Experiment with different combinations to find the most efficient setups for your needs.
Managing Operator Stamina
Assigned Operators don’t work indefinitely. Each character has a stamina bar that depletes during their shift. Once exhausted, they automatically take a break to recover, then return to work once rested.
The system handles this rotation automatically, but the downtime creates gaps where your growth buffs temporarily disappear. To maintain constant acceleration, manually swap tired Operators with fresh ones. Keep a rotation of several characters trained with relevant Manufacturing Base Skills, letting you maintain maximum efficiency around the clock.
This stamina management becomes particularly important for long cultivation cycles where even small efficiency gains compound into significant time savings over days or weeks.
Additional Control Nexus Facilities
The Growth Chamber isn’t the only benefit from upgrading your Control Nexus. The enhanced facility unlocks or expands several other critical areas:
Reception Room This space lets you assign Operators to gradually increase their trust levels. Higher trust unlocks additional character stories and can provide minor stat bonuses, making it worthwhile to rotate your roster through the Reception Room regularly.
MFG Cabin Similar to the Growth Chamber, the MFG Cabin produces materials through Operator assignments. Different characters provide different bonuses depending on what you’re manufacturing.
Assignment Slots Each Control Nexus level increases the number of simultaneous assignments you can run across all facilities. More slots mean more materials producing at once, which directly translates to faster account progression.
These facilities work together to create a comprehensive base management system. For additional resource optimization strategies, check out our guides on battery production and blueprints.
Strategic Planning
Upgrading the Control Nexus represents a significant milestone in account development. The Growth Chamber alone justifies the investment, as cultivating rare materials eliminates major progression bottlenecks.
Focus on upgrading Operators who have Manufacturing Base Skills relevant to materials you need most frequently. If you’re building characters who require specific fungi materials, prioritize getting Da Pan or similar Operators promoted and assigned. For other material types, research which Operators provide bonuses and plan your character development accordingly.
The stamina system encourages building depth in your roster rather than focusing exclusively on your main combat team. Even Operators who don’t see battlefield use can contribute meaningfully through base assignments, making it worthwhile to invest some resources into a broader range of characters.
As you continue leveling the Control Nexus beyond the initial upgrade, you’ll unlock additional assignment slots and facility enhancements. Each level compounds the benefits, making the Dijiang progressively more efficient at generating the resources you need.
If you’re working on building specific characters, you might find our character-focused guides helpful, like the Endministrator build guide or Last Rite build guide.
You can start your journey with Arknights Endfield by downloading from the Google Play Store or Epic Games Store. For tips on managing duplicate characters and converting them into useful resources, visit our extra Tokens guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I start preparing materials for the Control Nexus upgrade?
Begin stockpiling Aerospace Materials and T-Creds as soon as you hit Authority Level 20. The quest appears around level 23, so having materials ready beforehand lets you upgrade immediately rather than waiting for daily Recycling Station production. Start upgrading your Recycling Station early if you need higher-tier Aerospace Materials.
Which Operators should I prioritize for Growth Chamber assignments?
Focus on characters whose Manufacturing Base Skills match the materials you need most urgently. If you’re bottlenecked on fungi materials for character upgrades, Da Pan becomes a top priority. Check each Operator’s skills after promotion to discover their base specialties, then plan assignments around your current material shortages.
Can I speed up Growth Chamber cultivation without assigning Operators?
No direct speedup options exist beyond Operator assignments. The system is designed as a passive, long-term resource generation method. The best approach is maintaining constant Operator coverage through stamina rotation, ensuring your growth buffs remain active continuously rather than having gaps between shifts.
How many Control Nexus levels are there, and what does each unlock?
The Control Nexus has multiple upgrade tiers, each expanding your assignment slots and occasionally unlocking new facility features. The first upgrade grants access to the Growth Chamber and additional slots. Subsequent upgrades primarily focus on increasing capacity and efficiency rather than adding entirely new facilities. Continue upgrading whenever possible to maximize your base’s productivity.
