Gacha / Scarborough Fair System Explained – NTE: Neverness to Everness

TL;DR

NTE’s gacha is called Scarborough Fair and works like a board game where you roll dice to move across reward tiles.
There is no 50/50 system. Every S-class character you pull from a Limited Board is the featured character, guaranteed.
Soft pity starts at 70 pulls. Hard pity hits at 90 pulls.
Pity carries over between limited banners, so no progress is ever wasted.
The weapon banner (Arc Research Program) uses Tri-Keys and has its own separate pity system.
Duplicates go into the Awakening system, which you can spec freely and re-spec at any time for free.

If you are coming from another gacha game, Neverness to Everness will surprise you right away. The summon system here does not work like a typical pull screen. Instead, it is an actual board game. Understanding how it works before you start spending your resources will save you a lot of confusion and help you plan your pulls much better.

This guide covers everything you need to know about the Scarborough Fair system in NTE, including how the board works, all the different dice currencies, how pity functions, how cosmetics are handled, the Arc Research Program, and the Awakening system for duplicates.

Table of Contents

What Is the Scarborough Fair in NTE?

The Scarborough Fair is the gacha system in Neverness to Everness. Instead of watching a standard pull animation, you roll dice and move a game piece called a Chuppa across a board filled with tiles. Each tile has a different reward. Wherever your piece lands after the dice roll determines what you receive.

Each dice roll moves your Chuppa between one and six tiles forward. This means you never know exactly which tile you will land on, but every move still brings you closer to guaranteed rewards through the pity system. The board layout is random each time, but the underlying drop rates are fixed. The visual presentation makes the experience more interactive than a standard pull screen, even though the outcomes are still based on set probabilities behind the scenes.

You can access the Scarborough Fair by tapping the dice icon in the upper section of the screen or through the main menu. You need to complete the Prologue quest before the system is available.

Board Types in NTE Scarborough Fair

There are two main board types in NTE.

Limited Board

The Limited Board features the currently available time-limited S-class character. It is only active for a set period of time. One roll on this board costs one Solid Die. Any S-class character you pull here is guaranteed to be the featured character. There is no 50/50 mechanic in NTE. This is a major advantage over most other gacha games.

Standard Board (Strange Encounters)

The Standard Board is permanent and does not change between updates. It features a rotating pool of standard S-class characters. One roll here costs one Fabricated Die. The Standard Board also has a beginner perk: your first one to five 10-roll sessions on this board cost only 8 dice instead of 10. After 50 total pulls, you get a one-time chance to select a standard S-class character of your choice for free.

All Tile Types on the Board

Not every tile is the same. Here is what you can land on during a Scarborough Fair session:

Apprentice Chest (purple): The most common tile type. Has a 0.2% chance to give the featured S-class character. Usually drops a B-class Arc (weapon).
Hero Chest (gold): Rarer than the Apprentice Chest with a 3% chance at the S-class character. Also awards 2 bonus Warp Pieces regardless of what you get.
Journey Together: Shows the portrait of a specific character. Landing here guarantees you receive that character with no further RNG. These tiles become much more common after soft pity triggers at 70 pulls.
Arc Light Mystery Box: Gives one random A-class Arc from the current banner pool.
Warp Pieces / Lost Pieces tiles: Directly award shop currencies. Some tiles give up to 50 pieces at once.
Roll Again: Awards one free dice roll. Found in the Secret Fair area, this tile gives five free dice instead of one.
Card Tile (A or S): Guarantees an A-class or S-class item. An S-class Card tile always gives the featured character.
Slumberland tile: Spawns a small guardian nine tiles ahead of you. You have three dice rolls to catch up with it. The guardian moves two tiles forward after each of your rolls. Catching it rewards 30 Warp Pieces, which is equivalent to roughly one extra pull worth of currency.

Every 10 pulls also guarantees a bonus A-class item on top of your ten normal rewards. This means a 10-pull technically gives you 11 prizes in total.

The Secret Fair

The Secret Fair is a special golden section of the board that you can access by landing on specific entry tiles. It has fewer total tiles but higher-quality rewards. Inside the Secret Fair you can find the five-free-dice tile, limited character cosmetics, vehicle skin tiles, and direct S-class character tiles. Think of it as a bonus round that activates during a regular session.

Pity System in NTE: Soft Pity and Hard Pity

The pity system in NTE is one of the most player-friendly in the gacha genre right now. Here is how it works.

Soft Pity (Board Modification) – 70 Pulls

If you have not pulled an S-class character after 70 dice rolls, the board changes into a Modified Board. The screen takes on a reddish tint to signal this. Journey Together tiles, which directly show and guarantee a specific character, start replacing regular reward tiles all over the board. The effective S-class rate jumps to roughly 19.59% per roll during this phase, compared to 1.87% at the base rate. The board stays in this modified state until you land on an S-class tile.

Hard Pity – 90 Pulls

If you reach 89 pulls without getting an S-class character, your 90th roll is a guaranteed S-class. The dice roll itself is skipped and the featured character is awarded automatically. Since there is no 50/50 in NTE, this is always the featured unit and never a random character.

Pity Carryover Between Banners

This is one of the best features in NTE. Your pity counter does not reset when a Limited Board ends. If you do 65 pulls on one banner without getting an S-class character, you start the next Limited Board at 65 out of 90 pity. You never lose pull progress, and every single roll counts toward your eventual guarantee. This makes planning your pulls across multiple banners much easier and far less frustrating than most gacha games.

You can check your current pity count at any time. It is displayed under the board name in the Scarborough Fair menu, and also in the top-left corner of the board screen itself.

How to Check Your Pity Count

Open the Scarborough Fair menu and look under the name of the board you are rolling on. Your current A-class item pity and S-class character pity are both shown there. You can also see both counters in the top-left corner while you are on the board screen during a rolling session.

Gacha Currencies in NTE Explained

NTE has several currencies tied to the gacha system. Here is a breakdown of what each one does:

Annulith: The main premium currency. One pull costs 160 Annulith. Works on both Limited and Standard boards. Earned through gameplay, events, and daily or weekly activities.
Solid Dice: Used exclusively for Limited Board pulls. You can buy one Solid Die with 160 Annulith. Save these for limited characters you want.
Fabricated Dice: Used for Standard Board pulls. Also costs 160 Annulith per die.
Tri-Keys: Used for the Arc Research Program (weapon banner). Each 10-pull on the Arc banner costs 10 Tri-Keys. You can also buy individual S-class Arcs for 25 Tri-Keys each. Earn them through the Lost Piece shop when it refreshes monthly.
Warp Pieces: Earned from Hero Chests, Slumberland tiles, and duplicate A-class characters. Used in the Warp Exchange shop, which has no purchase limit. Good for buying extra materials and pull currencies.
Lost Pieces: Also earned through the Scarborough Fair. Used in the Lost Exchange shop, which refreshes monthly and has a purchase limit. The most important monthly purchases from this shop are 5 Solid Dice, 5 Fabricated Dice, and 20 Tri-Keys for a total of 2,100 Lost Pieces. Prioritize these every month.
Riftcrystals: Paid currency purchased with real money. Can be converted into Annulith at a 1:1 rate or used to buy cosmetics in the Mall.
Fons: General city currency used for in-world purchases. Not directly tied to the gacha but can be used in the Mall for some cosmetics. Check out our guide on how to get Fons fast in NTE for efficient farming tips.

Arc Research Program (Weapon Banner) Explained

The Arc Research Program is NTE’s version of a weapon or signature gear banner. You pull here using Tri-Keys instead of dice, and every single pull on this banner gives you at least an A-class Arc. There is no soft pity on the Arc banner, but the hard pity is clearly defined and more forgiving than most weapon banners in similar games.

Here is how Arc banner pity works. After 6 out of 8 attempts (60 pulls total), the rate of getting any S-class Arc on a 25/75 rate-up increases. After 8 out of 8 attempts (80 pulls total), you are guaranteed to receive the limited featured Arc. So in the worst-case scenario, you need 80 pulls to guarantee the signature weapon you want. Your Arc pity also carries over to future banners, so no progress is lost between rotating weapon banners either.

You cannot do single pulls on the Arc Research Program. Every session is a condensed 10-pull.

Cosmetic Milestones and Banner-Specific Outfits

Each Limited Board has three exclusive outfit cosmetics you can earn at specific pull milestones: 50 pulls, 120 pulls, and 200 pulls. These can also drop early from specific board tiles at a low base rate of 0.33%, which rises to 0.68% once pity is active.

The cosmetic milestone counter is separate from character pity and does not carry over between different Limited Boards. However, it is saved for that specific banner when it returns in the future. So if you do 199 pulls on a banner and miss the 200-pull skin, you only need one more pull when that banner reruns to claim it.

Awakening System: What Happens to Duplicates

When you pull a character you already own, the duplicate does not go to waste. It converts into a Mind Shard, which is used to unlock Awakening Levels for that character. Awakening Levels are power-up nodes that make characters significantly stronger.

What makes NTE’s Awakening system stand out is its flexibility. Unlike most gacha games that force you to unlock nodes in a fixed order, NTE lets you choose which Awakening power-up to unlock first, regardless of where it sits in the chain. You can also re-spec your selected Awakening nodes at any time at no cost. This means you can freely adjust your character builds for specific bosses or team compositions without needing additional duplicates.

Once a character reaches three Awakening Levels, they unlock a bonus called a Resonance Effect, which adds an extra layer of power. The second Resonance Effect unlocks at six Awakening Levels. Every character can get up to two Resonance Effects total.

To learn how to build characters properly around their Awakenings, check out our individual build guides. Some good starting points are the Nanally build guide, Skia build guide, and Chiz build guide. Also check out guides for Hathor, Haniel, Adler, Daffodil, and Esper Zero.

Free Characters at Launch

NTE is very generous with free characters compared to most gacha games at launch. Every new account receives the A-class support Haniel for free. You also get the S-class DPS Chiz with all her Awakening copies and her signature weapon by progressing through the City Tycoon mode. There is also a 14-day login track that rewards another A-class character with a signature Arc. This gives every player a solid foundation to build from without spending anything.

To see every playable character and how to unlock them, visit our full guide on every playable character in NTE and how to unlock them. You can also grab a free S-class character through the game’s systems by following our guide on how to get the free S-class Arc in NTE.

Tips for Spending Your Pulls Wisely in NTE

Save Solid Dice for Limited Boards. These are your most valuable pull currency. Never spend them on the Standard Board when Fabricated Dice can be used there instead.
Buy the monthly shop bundle every reset. The 5 Solid Dice, 5 Fabricated Dice, and 20 Tri-Keys from the Lost Piece shop are the best-value purchases in the game. Do this every single month.
Do not panic-pull near the end of a banner. Pity carries over, so you can stop at any point and your progress follows you to the next banner. There is no reason to rush.
Use Warp Pieces for Solid Dice first. The Warp Exchange shop has no purchase limit. Solid Dice are the priority since they are used for limited characters.
Check your pity before deciding to pull. If you are at 60 or higher pity on a banner, you are close to soft pity territory and it is usually worth pushing through to the S-class character.
Remember that Awakening nodes are flexible. Do not worry too much about getting specific duplicate counts early. You can re-spec at any time, so invest in the node that helps your current team and adjust later.

For codes that give you free Annulith and other resources to help fund your pulls, check our updated NTE redeem codes page. Once you know which characters you want to build, visit our best team compositions guide for NTE to figure out how to use them together effectively. For cartridge and module farming to gear up your pulled characters, see our guide on how to get cartridges and modules in NTE.

Where to Play Neverness to Everness

You can play NTE on PC through the official NTE website, on Android via the Google Play Store, and on PlayStation through the PlayStation Store.

Final Thoughts

The Scarborough Fair is one of the most player-friendly gacha systems available in the genre right now. No 50/50 system, pity that carries between banners, a flexible Awakening system, and generous free characters at launch all work in your favor. Once you understand how the dice, tile types, and currencies connect, managing your resources becomes straightforward. Plan your pulls ahead, buy your monthly shop items, and you will be in a strong position to pull the characters you want without excessive spending.

For more helpful NTE guides, check out how to unlock all map areas in NTE, how to own a café in Neverness to Everness, and everything about the City Tycoon mode where you earn Chiz for free.