On the 6th, GRYPHLINE hosted a preview special program ahead of the Version 1.6 "Sanctuary of Ink" update for Arknights: Endfield. In addition to Producer Lowlight and Designer Lua, several key developers appeared on the stream to reveal a wide array of upcoming content, starting with a new main story chapter and region, two new Operators, a massive overhaul of the industrial system, new challenge content, various quality-of-life improvements, 1st anniversary events, and future updates.
A Mysterious Realm Imbued with Ink Painting Aesthetics: New Region "Painting of Si"
In this main chapter update, the new region "Painting of Si" is fully unlocked. It is a hidden realm where unique Eastern-style visuals and the fluid art style of traditional ink paintings are woven throughout the field—a world within a painting ruled by Si, the agent of the Behemoth. There, the journey unfolds as players seek clues to cure the Endministrator, who suffers from a supernatural mark, and resolve the anomalies.
Fitting for a world inside a painting, various interactive mechanics related to this theme are introduced. Players can use a brush to draw and restore broken paths, or revive withered trees and collapsed pavilions to their original state. Additionally, activities such as solving Xiangqi (Chinese chess) puzzles inside pavilions are added.
New types of enemies will also appear in the new region. Chichang and Muliang, transformed from objects within Si's world of painting, attack the Endministrator's party by spitting ink. Each hit from ink builds up stacks, and once a certain threshold is reached, Muliang becomes stronger, requiring careful combat management.
Cold-Synergy Freezing Supporter "Si", High-Mobility Electric Striker Guard "Mingha"
Following that, detailed information was revealed for the version's new banner Operators, Si and Mingha.
Featured in the first-half Headhunting banner, Si is a 6-star Cold Supporter. When using her Battle Skill "Landscape in a Single Brushstroke," she deals damage to enemies, inflicts Brush Intent, and applies an Infusion based on the element of the Operator in Slot 1 of the team. Brush Intent records a portion of the damage taken by the enemy and, upon expiration, deals wide-area True Damage equal to the recorded damage amount. After use, her Battle Skill is replaced for a set duration with "Raise the Brush," which extracts an Ink Soul from the target afflicted with Brush Intent. All damage and status effects taken by the Ink Soul are redirected to the target itself, and if the original body falls while its Ink Soul is extracted, it connects to another enemy, inflicting Brush Intent on them instead. While the Ink Soul is active, her Battle Skill switches to "Withdraw the Brush," returning the Ink Soul to its main body while triggering an explosion to deal damage.
Her Combo Skill "Ink’s Destiny Foretold" can be activated after an enemy's Cold Infusion or Heat Infusion stack is consumed or absorbed, summoning an Ink Dragon to deal massive damage. The damage of the final attack increases according to the number of Infusion stacks consumed or absorbed. Triggering her Ultimate "Who Dares Spoil the Mood" summons a giant Ink Dragon that deals AoE Cold damage while granting Cold Amplification and Heat Amplification to the entire team for a period of time. It also reduces the Combo Skill cooldown of the Operator in Slot 1, allowing players to execute continuous combos.
Headlining the second-half Headhunting banner, Mingha is a 6-star Electric Guard Operator. Her Battle Skill "Shadow Subjugation" deals AoE physical damage and launches enemies into the air. After triggering her Combo Skill, her Battle Skill changes to "Galloping Thunder," dealing Electric Infusion, Electrocution, and 1 stack of Defenselessness. Her Combo Skill "Star's Trajectory" triggers when an enemy is Defenseless, dealing multiple hits of Electric damage and applying Electric Infusion. Thus, the Shadow Subjugation -> Star's Trajectory -> Galloping Thunder combo rapidly stacks Defenselessness and Electrocution, allowing players to quickly chain follow-ups with Electric and Physical Operators. Furthermore, her Talent "Sky-Cleaving Lightning" increases all damage taken by enemies when Electrocution is applied and grants Thunder equal to the stack count, enabling massive burst damage in coordination with teammates.
Her Ultimate "Skyfall" dashes forward while dealing continuous Electric damage to enemies ahead, then leaps into the air to deal Electric damage and apply 1 stack of Electric Infusion. Finally, she plunges her spear into the ground, dealing AoE Heavy Impact and Electric damage. Heavy Impact detonates the Thunder stacked via Electrocution, making it possible to easily overpower enemies with burst damage following a combo.
Improved Cultivation, Inn Management Experience, and Powered-Up Tournament Event
In addition, after unlocking the "Painting of Si" region in the Version 1.6 update, the limited-time inn management event "Bond Sealed in Flames" will open. Starting from tilling fields and raising Originium Slugs, players manage and operate an inn in this simulation event by setting menus, preparing ingredients, welcoming guests, and serving orders as requested. Successfully fulfilling customer orders raises the inn's star rating and yields greater rewards, which can then be reinvested into equipment to manage the inn more efficiently.
Alongside the inn event, the cultivation content used to supply ingredients will undergo a comprehensive improvement. First, players can plant crops in top-down view mode, placing them side-by-side with no gaps. Fertilizing can also be sped up with the help of Operators. Furthermore, automated agricultural machinery that automatically sows and harvests crops from a distance will be unlocked. As players progress through the story, automated agricultural placement will also unlock in the Wuling Cultivation Area, reducing the tedium of farming tasks.
Additionally, the "Diverse Martial Arts" event, which inherits and enhances the plate-draw and combat mechanics of the previous tournament, will be held. While the system of determining combat difficulty and final rewards via plate draws remains the same, combat power point limits have been removed, allowing players to risk higher difficulty for immediate, greater rewards. Extra patterns and combinations have also been added, enabling players to aim directly for high rewards beyond simple tough enemy placements.
Besides this, the landscape photography event "Carly's Tale of Flowers and Herbs" will be introduced, while new series will be added to permanent modes such as Umbral Monument, Traveler of the Hidden Zone, and Echoes of War.
Along with the Version 1.6 update, players can claim rewards such as 5 limited Headhunting Permits for each banner period via log-in events. In the second half, Mingha's story event "Into the Wild" will open. Furthermore, Tangtang's Headhunting banner will rerun from October 29 to November 19.
Additionally, 5 new equipment sets craftable using active equipment parts will be added, alongside the commemorative event "Colors Blooming from Ink." Completing event missions in "Painting of Si" during the event period allows players to exchange points at the Talosight Exchange for various rewards, including Tangtang's "Power of the Evil Eye" photo pose.
Upgraded Quality-of-Life and Conditions: Contingency Contract Season 2 "Operation Ash Experiment"
Version 1.6 also marks the launch of Season 2 of "Contingency Contract"—a core feature since Arknights—titled "Operation Ash Experiment." Reflecting feedback from Season 1, the mission risk preset load feature has been improved to allow selecting multiple risk tags at once. In addition, even if secret risk tags are deselected, previously selected locked tags are temporarily saved and automatically reselected when secret tags are activated, reducing the hassle of picking them individually.
Three new secret risk tags have also been added. The new secret tag "Environment: Lockdown" increases Combo Skill damage, but every time 2 Combo Skills are used, Combo Skills are locked for a set duration. "Environment: Silence" increases Skill Gauge regeneration speed and amount, but after an Operator uses a Battle Skill, Battle Skills cannot be reused until every Operator on the team has used their Battle Skill once.
In addition to secret tags, various other risk tags have been added to offer players diverse challenges. The broadcast introduced tags such as "Environment: Dissipation," which drains the Ultimate Gauge of all party members the moment any single Operator uses an Ultimate; "Operation: Congestion," where enemies regenerate HP every second unless afflicted with Defenselessness or Arts Infusion; and "Environment: Focus," which causes enemies to prioritize attacking the main Operator. Many other tags will also debut in Season 2.
Presets, Targeting Tweaks, and Deployment Straight from Storage Without Carrying Buildings in Your Bag
Optimization details were also shared. A preset feature has been added, and craftable equipment with good synergy/combinations will be displayed at the top. Additionally, adjusting the target quantity of equipment directly allows players to complete Precision Forging all at once.
Combat mechanics have been optimized as well. On PC, targeting enemies via holding the mouse wheel has been improved: players can turn the camera to aim at an enemy, and upon releasing the wheel, it automatically targets the enemy closest to the reticle. The existing target-lock and target-switch functions remain intact.
Previously, when multiple Operators met the conditions to trigger Combo Skills simultaneously, they would activate strictly in team order; a priority adjustment feature has now been added, allowing players to customize the trigger sequence. An auto-use feature for limited-time Sanity potions has also been added, automatically converting expiring potions into Sanity, with any excess above the cap stored as Concentrated Sanity Potions.
The Integrated Industrial System and inventory backpack have been optimized: starting in Version 1.6, players can directly deploy structures in the wild using items from storage or consuming materials on the spot, without needing to carry facilities in their inventory. For Cargo Transport Requests, applicants will sequentially complete assigned orders after 2 to 3 hours, preventing orders from sitting unattended until expiration. Additionally, order capacity per region has been increased to reduce the need for constant refreshes.
Furthermore, Operators can be assigned to Shift A and Shift B, allowing instant squad-level shift rotations. Friend visits now feature a button to jump straight to the next friend's landship, alongside batch-claiming for clues gifted by friends. Controller controls for Operator and weapon management have also been refined to make character progression smoother and faster.
Rhodes Island's Arrival and 1st Anniversary Events Teased in 'Endfield' Roadmap
Finally, ahead of introducing future updates, a PV featuring Rhodes Island—the key faction from the original game—was revealed. The story of Rhodes Island, former pharmaceutical company and rescue organization on Terra, traveling to Talos-II to assist Endfield Industries Operators with pioneering and construction will unfold in future versions. Furthermore, Operator Warfarin, a familiar face to players of the original game, appeared at the end of the PV, drawing enthusiasm from fans.
A brief overview of the new region, Cretaceous Frontiers, followed. Endless wasteland and quietly sleeping prehistoric ruins characterize this land where ancient tribes reside, holding key clues to solving the mysteries of Talos-II. Following the conclusion of the journey through Si's world of painting, players will head to Cretaceous Frontiers, teasing a whimsical mushroom-world adventure alongside Rhodes Island Operator Kerr.
Meanwhile, a new array technology called "Luminous Circuit" will be added to the Integrated Industrial System. Supplied with Gas Feedstock, Luminous Circuit activates to project an array field; materials passing through this zone undergo mutation under specific array effects to produce new products. These mutated products will be used in rebuilding the Northern Forbidden Zone opening in a future version, allowing players to stockpile materials in advance to accelerate progress unlock. Additionally, feedback regarding having to tear down existing production lines in every new patch was addressed: a new Integrated Core Hub will be provided so new facilities can be built without replacing existing setups. New industrial facilities will be utilized for Northern Forbidden Zone reconstruction, and new equipment will use existing active equipment parts rather than new ones.
A new series, "Exposed Atrocities," will also be added to Umbral Monument. Featuring powerful boss encounters, it allows players to experience various combat mechanics. As high-difficulty content, richer rewards will be provided. In addition, a friend card game event "Lucky Radish Oddities" and "Destroyed Protocol"—which evokes the Integrated Strategies mode from the original game while offering distinct fun—were also teased.
Beyond in-game events and content, additional news was announced. First, an official short comic exploring Si's past, "The Beginning of the Tale: Origin," alongside a special online concert "Echoes of the End," will be released in the near future. The Steam version is scheduled to launch on October 15, and in collaboration with NAVER Webtoon, an Endfield fan creation contest will run from October 13 to November 8. Players can participate by creating illustrations, emoticons, or webtoons based on Endfield and posting them on social media with designated hashtags or submitting them via the event page.
Finally, an offline 1st Anniversary Festival will be held at KINTEX in Ilsan on January 9 and 10, 2027. Recruitment for fan creation booths will run from the 6th to November 15, along with various events designed to help fans capture memorable moments.
News on Arknights: Endfield Version 1.6 "Sanctuary of Ink," as well as future updates and events, can be found on the official Lounge.
