How to Level Up and Promote Characters in Arknights Endfield – Complete Guide

Stepping into the shoes of the Endminstrator—awakening memory-less on a planet as hostile as Talos-II—the tutorial only hints at the dangers ahead. Once Chapter 1 kicks off and you’re tasked with restoring technology alongside Endfield Industries, the reality sets in: upgrading your Operators isn’t just a side quest; it’s your lifeline.

Leveling up and promoting your squad directly dictates your battlefield dominance. Higher levels provide the HP needed to tank brutal boss strikes, while boosting core attributes like Strength, Agility, Intellect, and Will allows you to unlock an Operator’s true build potential. Whether you’re optimizing a top-tier unit like in our [Laevatain best team comp guide] or building a balanced starter team, mastering these progression systems is fundamental to conquering the frontier.

For more deep dives into Talos-II, visit our [Arknights Endfield guides hub].

How to Level Up Your Characters in Arknights Endfield

The leveling process in Arknights Endfield follows the familiar structure of action-adventure RPGs, but with its own specific resource requirements.

Accessing the Level Up Screen

First, you’ll need to unlock the Operators menu. This becomes available after completing the “Rally and Unite” quest in Chapter 1. Once unlocked, click the mannequin icon in the top-right corner of your screen to open the Operators section, then navigate to the Level Up screen.

Leveling Priority Order

Before spending any resources, it’s important to know what to level in the right order. Here’s the priority sequence for maximum efficiency:

1. Operator Level — Always prioritize this first. It directly increases all base stats and gates everything else including promotions and skill unlocks.
2. Ability Matrix (Skills) — Once your operator is at a comfortable level, invest in skill upgrades. Promotions unlock new skill panels for Combat Skills, Talents, and Base Skills.
3. Gear / Outfitting — Required alongside promotions (detailed below). Equipping higher-rarity gear significantly improves survivability.
4. Weapons — A meaningful but secondary stat boost. Best invested in once your operator’s level and skills are already performing well.
5. Operator Potential (Tuning) — Lowest priority. This requires duplicate copies of the same operator obtained through gacha pulls, so it’s largely out of your control early on. Each operator can have up to 5 Potential enhancements, requiring 6 total copies to max out.

Using Combat Records (Levels 1–60)

Character progression from level 1 to 60 runs on Combat Records—consumable items that grant experience when used. Think of them as your primary leveling currency for the early and mid game.

Where to Get Combat Records:

• Exploring the Talos-II planet during open-world activities
• Clearing Protocol Space: Operator EXP rifts (repeatable content designed for farming — requires Sanity/stamina)
• Trading at the AIC Quota Exchange
• Opening chests, defeating enemies, and completing quests during exploration

Combat Record Types and Values

Not all Combat Records are created equal. There are three tiers, each providing different experience amounts:

Combat Record Type	Experience Gained
Elementary Combat Record	200 EXP
Intermediate Combat Record	1,000 EXP
Advanced Combat Record	10,000 EXP

Advanced Combat Records are the most efficient, but you’ll accumulate all three types naturally through gameplay. Don’t hoard them—use them strategically on your main damage dealers first. Save Advanced records for the expensive level 60–90 range where experience requirements spike significantly.

Using Cognitive Carriers (Levels 61–90)

Here’s a crucial detail many guides miss: Combat Records only carry your operators to level 60. To push past that cap and level up to 90, you’ll need a different resource entirely — Cognitive Carriers. Make sure you’re farming the right material before you hit that wall.

Cognitive Carriers are obtained through higher-level Protocol Space content and endgame activities, so start accumulating them as you approach the level 60 threshold.

For stat optimization insights, check our stats guide to understand which attributes matter most for different operator classes.

Understanding the Level Cap System

Here’s where Arknights Endfield adds a twist: the maximum level is 90, but you can’t rush straight there. The game implements a level cap system that gates your progress at specific milestones called Elite Promotions.

How It Works:

1. You level freely until you hit level 20
2. At level 20, you must perform an Elite Promotion (E1) to raise the cap to 40
3. This pattern repeats — hitting the cap at levels 40, 60, and 80 requires promotions E2, E3, and E4 respectively
4. Each promotion unlocks the next tier: Level 40 → Level 60 → Level 80 → Level 90

You can’t skip promotions or level past a cap without completing the required promotion first. This system ensures steady progression and ties gear improvements to character levels—preventing the classic RPG problem of high-level characters running around in low-tier equipment.

How to Promote Your Characters in Arknights Endfield

Elite Promotions aren’t just about raising level caps—they fundamentally strengthen your operators by unlocking higher-rarity gear slots, increasing base stats, and opening new skill panels for Combat Skills, Talents, and Base Skills.

Accessing Promotions

Once you reach level 20 on any operator, the promotion option becomes available in the same Level Up screen where you use Combat Records. After completing your first promotion, subsequent promotions unlock only when you’ve:

1. Maxed out the current level cap
2. Completed the required Outfitting upgrades (explained below)

Promotion Requirements and Costs

There are four promotion tiers total. Each requires specific materials and T-Creds (the game’s primary currency). Note that some specific materials may differ slightly depending on the individual operator:

Promotion I / E1 (Unlocks Level 40):

• 8 Protodisk
• 3 Pink Bolete
• 1,600 T-Creds

Promotion II / E2 (Unlocks Level 60):

• 25 Protodisk
• 5 Red Bolete
• 6,500 T-Creds

Promotion III / E3 (Unlocks Level 80):

• 24 Protoset
• 5 Ruby Bolete
• 18,000 T-Creds

Promotion IV / E4 (Unlocks Level 90):

• 36 Protoset
• 20 Metadiastima Photoemission Tube
• 8 Bloodcap
• 100,000 T-Creds

Notice how the costs escalate significantly, especially for Promotion IV. This final promotion represents a massive resource investment—100k T-Creds alone is substantial. Plan your promotions carefully, prioritizing your main DPS operators and essential supports first.

Material Farming Locations

• Protodisk: Common drops from enemies and exploration activities throughout the early game
• Protoset: Farm from Protocol Space (The Hub, Option B Level 3 rewards 8 Protosets per run) — note this costs Sanity
• Pink Bolete: Found near the starting area hub. Up to six spawn per location and respawn every 24 real-time hours
• Red Bolete: Found in the Origin Lodespring area (Chapter 2 zone)
• Ruby Bolete: Found in Jingyu Valley. Two spawn locations near the Treadway Tele-Protocol Point — the first is a short walk south-west, the second is across the bridge to the west. Both yield 10 Ruby Boletes on first visit, then cap at 1 per day each
• Bloodcap: Rare material from endgame content and specific boss encounters
• Metadiastima Photoemission Tube: Obtained through advanced crafting or special events

If you’re looking to maximize your resource gathering efficiency, our best settings guide can help optimize your gameplay performance.

Understanding Outfitting Upgrades

Here’s the crucial detail many players miss: Outfitting upgrades and promotions are interconnected systems. You cannot advance to the next promotion without first completing the required Outfitting upgrade.

What Are Outfitting Upgrades?

Outfitting upgrades are gear enhancement milestones that expand your operator’s equipment capabilities. Each upgrade allows your characters to equip higher-rarity gear pieces, which provide better stats and defensive bonuses. Think of them as two sides of the same coin: promotions raise your level cap and stats, while Outfitting upgrades ensure your gear quality keeps pace. Neglecting either one will bottleneck your operator’s overall power.

Weapon Leveling

Weapons are an important but often overlooked part of operator building. The weapon level cap is currently 90, matching the operator level cap. Here’s what you need to know:

• Weapon EXP materials: Use Arms Inspector parts, found through quest rewards, exploration, Protocol Space missions, and AIC trades. You can also feed other weapons as EXP fodder (Tier 3 weapons give 500 EXP; Tier 4 give 1,500 EXP; and so on).
• Max weapon materials: The crafting materials needed to push a weapon to level 90 are only available through endgame Protocol Space daily tasks. Use the Operations Manual to match your weapon to its specific Protocol.
• Weapon Potential: You can raise a weapon’s Potential by crafting with other copies of the same weapon.

When to invest in weapons: Don’t rush weapon upgrades early. Treat weapons as multipliers — they matter most once your operator’s level and core skills are already performing well. Main DPS operators benefit most from weapon investment, while supports and utility operators can make do with minimal weapon upgrades until late game.

This system ties directly into building optimal loadouts—check our guides on Laevatain’s best build to see how gear and weapon choices interact with character progression.

Progression Strategy: What to Prioritize

With limited resources, especially in the early game, strategic prioritization is essential. A good rule of thumb is to build a focused core team of 4 operators and push them hard before spreading resources to others.

Early Game (Levels 1–40)

• Build a reliable core of 4 operators — enough to cover DPS, healing, and utility without over-extending resources
• Focus on your main DPS operator first (get them to 40 immediately)
• Level your healer/support to 20–30 for sustainability
• Keep other team members at level 20 until your core is stronger
• Rush the story to unlock Protocol Space and AIC — these are your primary farming engines

Mid Game (Levels 40–60)

• Push your main DPS to 60
• Promote your primary support/healer to at least 40
• Begin leveling your second DPS or sub-DPS to 40
• Start farming Cognitive Carriers now so you’re ready to push past 60
• Begin investing in Ability Matrix (skills) for your most-used operators

Late Game (Levels 60–90)

• Only push characters to 80–90 who are permanent team fixtures
• Promotion IV is expensive — reserve it for your absolute best operators
• Diversify your roster breadth before maxing depth
• Now is the time to invest in weapons and maximize Outfitting for endgame content

Understanding team synergies helps you decide who deserves investment—our characters guide covers various operators and their roles.

Resource Management Tips

Combat Record Efficiency: Don’t waste Advanced Combat Records on low-level characters. Use Elementary and Intermediate records for levels 1–30, saving Advanced records for the expensive 60+ range where experience requirements spike. Remember: past level 60 you’ll need Cognitive Carriers, not Combat Records.

Sanity Management: Protocol Space runs — your best source for both Combat Records and Protosets — all consume Sanity (the game’s stamina resource). Plan your daily sessions around your Sanity cap and don’t let it overflow.

T-Creds Conservation: T-Creds are used for everything—promotions, crafting, shop purchases. Budget carefully and avoid impulse spending on cosmetics or unnecessary items early on.

Bolete Stockpiling: Boletes have real-time daily respawn timers. Make it a habit to collect them every day even before you need them — having promotion materials banked when you hit a level cap means zero progression downtime.

For additional free resources, check our redeem codes guide and Twitch Drops guide.

Getting Started

Ready to begin your journey? Download Arknights Endfield on Google Play or the Epic Games Store to start building your operator roster.

New players should also review our reroll guide to potentially secure strong operators early, and our gacha system guide to understand pull mechanics. If you’re interested in playing with friends, our multiplayer and co-op guide covers collaborative features.

Understanding elemental reactions will also help you maximize your leveled operators’ effectiveness in combat.

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