A practical launch explainer for Arknights: Endfield on PC, PS5, and mobile – covering its ARPG plus factory-sim structure, day one content, how the gacha and pity systems work, the 135-pull launch rewards, and what players need to know about the PayPal payment problem and current safeguards.
Arknights: Endfield is finally out on PC, PS5, iOS, and Android, and it is not just "3D Arknights." It is a hybrid of real-time ARPG combat and surprisingly deep factory management, wrapped in a new story that sits alongside the original tower defense game rather than replacing it.
This guide is aimed both at curious newcomers and veteran Doctors. It walks through how the game actually plays, what you get on day one across all platforms, how the gacha and pity systems work, what the headline "135 free pulls" really means, and what is going on with the PayPal payment issue so you can spend safely.
ARPG plus factory sim: how Endfield actually plays
Endfield drops you into Talos-II as the Endministrator, leading small squads in fully 3D zones instead of on flat tower defense maps. Combat plays in real time: you control your main operator directly, swap between party members, and fire off skills on cooldown. Positioning and crowd control still matter, so it feels tactically familiar to Arknights fans, but the moment-to-moment flow is closer to an action RPG.
Runs into the wilds are not just about fighting. Many missions and open areas feed into a production and logistics layer centered on the Autonomous Industrial Construction (AIC) system. You capture resource nodes, build and upgrade facilities, and lay out supply lines that keep your frontier bases powered and productive. Over time you unlock new production chains, automated transport, and optimization levers that feel more like a compact factory sim than a mobile side mode.
Original Arknights players will recognize echoes of the base and manufacturing systems, but Endfield treats this as a co-equal pillar. Clearing combat content feeds the factory with new blueprints and materials, and a strong industrial setup in turn spits out the resources and crafting materials you need to build equipment, tune operators, and keep climbing the difficulty curve.
Day one content on PC, PS5, and mobile
Endfield launched as a full cross-platform title on PC (via Epic and the standalone client), PlayStation 5, iOS, and Android, with account progress shared across devices as long as you bind your account. The launch build is functionally the same on all platforms in terms of story, modes, and events.
On day one you can expect:
Story chapters that introduce Endfield Industries, the Endministrator, and Talos-II's frontier zones, with voiced cutscenes and repeatable combat missions that double as farming spots.
Exploration zones with world events, optional encounters, and resource nodes that plug back into your AIC network. These areas give you reasons to revisit regions beyond just clearing main quests.
The full AIC factory layer unlocked gradually through early progression. You start with a handful of basic buildings and soon open up power, material refining, and more specialized production that supports higher-end gear.
A first slate of combat challenges, side missions, and early endgame style encounters that encourage experimenting with party compositions and weapon loadouts.
Feature parity across PC, PS5, and mobile is a launch priority. The main differences are performance, visual options, and control schemes, not content. If you are a returning Arknights player on mobile and thinking about trying the PS5 or PC version, you are not missing event phases or banners by switching devices.
Launch rewards: how the "135 free pulls" work
Endfield's pre-registration campaign blew past its targets, and Gryphline is front-loading a lot of gacha currency as a result. Across login campaigns, milestone rewards, and pre-reg gifts, early adopters can claim rewards equivalent to roughly 135 headhunting pulls, spread across different banner types.
Those 135 pulls are not handed to you as a single stack of tickets. Instead, they are broken up into specific banner permits, premium currency, and sign-in bundles. You will receive New Horizons permits for the one-time Beginner banner, Basic permits and Oroberyl that can be funneled into the Standard and Limited character banners, and access to the Weapon banner once you start earning Arsenal Tickets from your character pulls.
The practical takeaway is that, even if you do not spend, you can meaningfully engage with multiple banners at launch: secure your guaranteed six star from the Beginner banner, start building a core roster on Standard, and push toward a key Limited operator if you plan your pulls carefully.
Banner structure and pity systems explained
Endfield's gacha is more intricate than the original Arknights. There are separate banners for operators and weapons, and each banner type has its own pity rules.
The three character banners
Character recruitment is split across three headhunting banners: Limited, Standard, and Beginner.
The Limited banner is where new, time-limited six star operators debut. It uses Chartered headhunting permits and Oroberyl. The base rate for a six star is 0.8 percent, five stars are 8 percent, and four stars make up the remaining 91.2 percent. A five star is guaranteed at least once every 10 pulls.
Pity on Limited works in layers. From 65 pulls onward you enter soft pity, with the six star chance rising by 5 percent with every subsequent pull until a six star drops. At 80 pulls you hit hard pity, which guarantees a six star, but not necessarily the featured one. That 80 pity six star follows a 50/50 style split: half the time it will be the featured Limited unit, the rest of the time it can be one of the previous Limited operators or a standard pool six star.
The true safety net for Limited is the 120 pull guarantee. Once you have made 120 pulls on a given Limited banner, you are guaranteed to obtain the featured six star operator at least once, regardless of how the earlier 50/50s went. On top of that, each Limited banner also offers a second 120 pull guarantee, so by 240 pulls total you are guaranteed two copies of the featured unit. Soft and hard pity counts carry between Limited banners, but the outcome of a lost 50/50 does not transfer to the next banner.
There is one more twist: hitting 60 pulls on a Limited banner grants a Headhunting Dossier, a special item that converts into a free 10 pull on the next Limited banner. It is only awarded once per banner and expires if left unused on the following Limited. It is a nice bonus if you are already pulling for the current Limited unit, but not worth chasing 60 pulls you did not plan.
The Standard banner is the permanent pool, built for long term roster building. It features several standard six star operators, shares the same six star and five star rates as the Limited banner, and uses Basic headhunting permits instead of your premium Chartered ones.
Pity rules on the Standard banner mirror Limited up to a point. You still get soft pity from 65, hard pity at 80, and a guaranteed five star at least once every 10 pulls. The key difference is that there is no 120 pull guaranteed featured operator, because these are not time-limited units. Instead, if you reach 300 pulls on the current Standard banner focus without pulling the operator you want, you receive a selector that lets you choose them directly.
The Beginner banner is a one time on-ramp for new accounts. It is a variant of the Standard banner that uses New Horizons permits you earn from early story progression, and it is far more generous. The crucial breakpoint here is a guaranteed six star operator by 40 pulls. Finish out the Beginner banner and you also receive a six star weapon selector, letting you pick a top tier weapon for your new carry or for a future favorite. Once you clear all its pulls, the Beginner banner disappears permanently.
The weapon banner and Arsenal Tickets
Weapons sit on their own banner, and the way you access them is quite different from typical gacha weapon systems. Instead of feeding premium currency straight into weapon pulls, Endfield uses Arsenal Tickets, a secondary resource mostly earned by pulling characters.
Every time you pull a four star or higher operator on the character banners, you gain Arsenal Tickets: 20 for a four star, 200 for a five star, and 2000 for a six star. A 10 pull on the weapon banner costs 1980 Arsenal Tickets. You can convert the premium Oroberyl into Tickets at a poor exchange rate, but the system is clearly designed so that most players let weapon progress ride on their natural character pulls.
Weapon gacha rates are significantly higher for top rarity: six star weapons sit at 4 percent, five stars at 15 percent, and the rest are four stars. As with operators, you are guaranteed at least one five star weapon every 10 pulls.
Pity on the weapon banner is structured around several guarantees. At 40 pulls on a given weapon banner you are guaranteed a six star weapon, but only a 25 percent chance that it is the featured one. At 80 pulls that becomes a 100 percent guaranteed featured six star weapon. The pity progress does not carry between weapon banners, so you should only commit Tickets here when you can reasonably reach a desired waypoint.
Beyond that first featured at 80 pulls, there is a long term ladder: at 100 pulls you earn an Arms Offering, which is a selector that lets you pick any non featured six star weapon from the pool. At 180 pulls total you get another guaranteed copy of the featured weapon. After that point the banner alternates every additional 80 pulls between granting another Arms Offering and another guaranteed featured weapon.
The upshot for both new and veteran players is that Endfield's gacha is complex but also fairly predictable if you track your pull counts. Beginners are strongly incentivized to clear the Beginner banner first, lean on Basic tickets and passive selectors for the Standard banner, and reserve Oroberyl and Chartered permits for Limited banners where the 120 pull guarantee really matters. Weapons should come naturally through Arsenal Tickets unless you are a spender chasing specific loadouts.
What happened with PayPal payments at launch
Endfield's launch has been overshadowed somewhat by a serious problem affecting PayPal transactions.
Shortly after launch, players began reporting that PayPal purchases inside Arknights: Endfield were behaving abnormally. Some users saw charges for amounts that did not match the items they bought, others claimed they had transactions appear on their PayPal account for in game purchases they never made. In some reported cases, players said entire PayPal balances were wiped by chains of unauthorized charges linked back to Endfield orders.
Gryphline responded by taking PayPal payments offline for the game while it investigates. In a statement reported by Eurogamer, the company described the affected cases as a small number of PayPal transactions where there was an inconsistency between the order and the item delivery, and stated that it was working with the payment partner to identify the cause. The important practical detail is that, as of now, PayPal is not available as a payment option in Arknights: Endfield while the investigation continues.
Other payment methods, such as card and platform wallets on PS5 and mobile storefronts, have not been suspended. Gryphline has advised players who encounter suspicious charges to contact both PayPal and the game's customer support with full transaction records so that they can be traced and resolved.
Navigating monetization safely right now
For players, especially original Arknights fans used to long term gacha grinds, the combination of an intricate pull system and a payment scare can be intimidating. There are some simple, concrete steps you can take to minimize risk while still enjoying the launch period.
First, avoid using PayPal for Endfield until the service is explicitly restored and you see a fresh, dated statement from Gryphline or the official channels confirming that the issue is resolved. The developer has already disabled PayPal inside the game, but if you previously linked PayPal on certain platforms or through a browser, do not approve any lingering billing agreements or one click purchases without checking what they are tied to.
Second, favor platform level payment safeguards. On PS5, iOS, and Android you can set purchase confirmations, passwords, or biometric checks through the system settings. On PC stores you can lean on wallet balances and card authorization rather than linking PayPal directly. These extra prompts make it much easier to spot something that looks wrong before a charge goes through.
Third, monitor your transaction history closely during the launch window if you ever attempted a PayPal purchase in Endfield. Both PayPal and your bank provide dispute and refund channels, but they rely on you catching abnormal charges quickly and documenting them. If you see anything tied to Endfield that you do not recognize, file a report with PayPal, contact your bank if needed, and open a ticket with Gryphline support providing order IDs and timestamps.
Finally, remember that Endfield's launch generosity means you do not need to spend early to engage with the game. The 135 or so free pulls, the Beginner banner guarantees, and the long term selectors on Standard, Limited, and Weapon banners give you a lot of space to learn the systems, figure out which operators and playstyles you like, and decide later whether the game is worth real money to you.
Veteran Arknights players can treat Endfield as a familiar but distinct sister project, with a more action heavy core and an industrial layer that rewards planning over daily chore loops. Newcomers can treat this launch window as a low risk chance to explore a deep gacha RPG without committing a card. Either way, understanding how the banners, pity, and current payment safeguards work puts you in control of your own pace and spending on Talos II.