Arknights: Endfield - F2P Physical Team Composition Guide

I. Core Mechanisms of the Physical Team

Simply put, the core mechanic of a Physical team is to inflict Physical Anomaly effects to stack the "Armor Break" status. Armor Break can stack up to four times. Once fully stacked, you use "Heavy Strike" or "Armor Shred" type skills to consume these stacks all at once, dealing burst damage.

Once you understand this logic, the team-building strategy becomes very clear. 

II. Core Trio (Free-to-Obtain Characters)

Ardelia

Support DMG Boost: QTE (Switch Skill) can inflict a "Physical Vulnerability" debuff on enemies, increasing subsequent Physical DMG taken.

Chen Qianyu

Defense-Break Stacks: Both skills and QTEs can stack defense-break layers

Admin

Main DPS: Responsible for consuming Defense Break stacks; their skills can consume these stacks and convert them into massive damage.

III. Fourth Player Position Selection

The fourth slot requires a character capable of inflicting Physical Anomaly to accelerate the stacking speed of Defense Shred. Recommended Characters:

Li Feng: Simple to operate, skills directly stack defense reduction

DaPan: Simple to operate, skills directly stack Defense Shred

Catcher: Stacks are only triggered after blocking enemy attacks, making the operation slightly complex

Note: Catcher's Defense Shred stacking is triggered "after blocking an enemy attack." In actual combat, you need to actively position yourself to take a hit from the enemy's normal attack to trigger it. This makes the operation slightly more troublesome compared to Lifeng and DaPan.

IV. QTE Rotation Demonstration (Using LiFeng as an Example)

Phase 1: Applying Debuffs at the Start

1.Administrator Heavy Strike → Triggers Ardelia QTE

2. Ardelia uses QTE to apply Physical Vulnerability to monsters

Phase 2: Stack Break Defense Layers

4. After Ardelia's QTE ends → trigger the Admin's QTE to deal a burst of damage

5. Weave in Lifeng's skills during this period to put the monster into a shield-broken state and continue applying Physical Impair.

6. The monster enters a Defense Break state due to Li Feng's skill → Trigger Chen Qianyu's QTE to continue stacking Defense Break layers

Phase Three: Burst Damage

7. Because the enemy has Physical RES reduction applied, the Admin performs a Charged Attack again  → triggering LiFeng's QTE

8. During this period, use Chen Qianyu's skill to continue stacking layers

9. Basically, three stacks of Defense Break are enough. Use the Admin Skill to burst it down in one go, maximizing your damage output

Phase Four: Wait for energy to recharge and repeat the process

After completing a full rotation, basically every Operator enters QTE cooldown and their SP is depleted. Use Basic Attacks to recover, then cycle into the next round of damage output

💡 Tip: The Admin's Ultimate Skill can be cast immediately after triggering a QTE to deal an extra burst of damage, yielding high returns.

Substitute Role Description

If you don't have Lifeng, you can swap in DaPan or Catcher. The overall rotation logic remains largely the same, but the timing of the fourth member's skill usage will need minor adjustments based on their specific traits. This is especially true for Catcher; remember to actively take a hit from an enemy to trigger stack accumulation, rather than just standing still.

Team Pros and Cons

Pros: Low difficulty in obtaining characters, F2P friendly, and the damage output is perfectly sufficient

Disadvantages: Pay attention to the rhythm of QTE skill transitions

V. Equipment Recommendations

Admin (Main DPS)

🟡 Gold Set: Æthertech

3-piece set effect: Wearer's ATK +8%. After the wearer applies Vulnerability, the wearer gains Physical DMG +8% for 15s. This effect can reach 4 stacks. If the target already has 4 stack(s) of Vulnerability, the wearer gains an additional Physical DMG +16% for 10s. This effect cannot stack.

🟣Purple Gear: Roving MSGR

🔵 Blue Gear: Roving MSGR

3-Set Effect: AGI +50. When the wearer's HP is above 80%, Physical DMG dealt +20%.

Chen Qianyu & Fourth Seat

🟡 Gold Set: Swordmancer (Quickly Stack Unbalance)

3-Piece Set Effect: Increases the equipper's Daze application efficiency by +20%. Upon inflicting Physical Anomaly, the equipper deals additional Physical DMG equal to 250% of their ATK [and applies 10 points of Daze]. This effect can trigger at most once every 15s.

🟣 Purple Gear: Aburrey Light 

🔵 Blue Gear: Aburrey Light 

3-Set Effect: AGI +50. When the wearer's HP is above 80%, Physical DMG dealt +20%.

Ardelia (Support)

🟡Gold Set: LYNX Connector

Biological Support (3-piece Set): Increases the user's Healing Efficiency by 20%.
When the user heals an ally, that ally takes 15% less Total DMG for 10s. If the healing overflows, the ally takes 30% less Total DMG instead. These effects cannot stack.

🟣Purple Gear: Mordvolt Resistant

🔵Blue Gear: Mordvolt Resistant

Galvanic Shielding (3-Pc Set) Intellect +50 for the equipper. When the equipper's HP is above 80%, Magic DMG dealt +20%.

That concludes the explanation of the mechanics and skill rotation demonstration for the F2P Physical Team. I hope this helps you.