Arknights: Endfield is closing out its first six months with its biggest update yet, as GRYPHLINE announced that Homecoming arrives on July 16, 2026. The update doubles as the game’s half-year celebration and features the largest map expansion since launch, two new playable Operators, a major factory system expansion, and a stack of free anniversary rewards. Endfield was one of our most anticipated games of 2026 heading into its January launch, though most of us have stopped playing a few months in.
Homecoming pushes the Wuling storyline to what GRYPHLINE calls a decisive milestone. Set ten years after the Very Large Rift destroyed the Wuling Science Station and displaced its residents, the update sees players reunite with Arcane and join the people of Wuling in reclaiming their homeland, with co-founder and level designer RUA describing it as the story’s “darkest and most thrilling chapter.” Two new main story maps carry the campaign: Yinglung Pass, where players meet a mysterious Feranmut Proxy named Si, and the North Wuling Exclusion Zone, a ruined homeland consumed by Blight Miasma. New Blightshade enemies, described as remnants of people and emotions preserved by Æther, roam the region, while the boss Alleikhreos, Chiliarch demands special battlefield mechanics to interrupt certain attacks. A new personal device equipment category adds exploration tools with practical effects as well.
Arcane herself headlines the new Operators as the captain of the Yinglung Special Task Force and the flagship character of the update. She’s the first caster whose combat form shifts based on the balance between her Intellect and Will attributes, with Array Arcana: INT leaning into frequent skill use, area damage, and Corrosion, while Array Arcana: WILL focuses on grouping enemies, stronger debuffs, and spreading Arts Infliction. Joining her is Liino, a rising idol known as the Morning Star of La Fantoma who mysteriously disappears before a concert in Valley VI. She’s an Electric support who swaps between Vocalist Stance and Cosmovoice Stance to sustain attack boosts and healing across a variety of team compositions.
Factory players get plenty of new toys, with the AIC system adding gas as a third industrial material state alongside solids and liquids. Players can collect Inergen and Xiragen and convert materials between states, which can bypass entire production stages, like producing Xiranite directly from Carbon and Clean Water in an Inergen environment to skip three intermediate processes. The update also introduces the Pyrrolite Component, more precise logistics controls, and the Xiranflow Cloudseeder Station outpost. On the activities side, Echoes of War debuts as a permanent seasonal combat mode with rotating stages, three difficulty levels, and displayable seasonal titles, with all Oroberyl rewards earnable on normal difficulty. Limited time offerings include the two-Operator HEAT RAGE! MEGA ARENA! and the timed exploration activity The Rooted Realm, plus new Umbral Monument challenges and six puzzle maps for Delver of the Cryptic.
The half-year celebration rewards are generous, headlined by a three-day login campaign offering 3,000 Oroberyls, five Basic HH Permits, and the free six-star weapon Farsight. An in-game mail package adds 2,000 more Oroberyls, 14 Fortune Connect-and-Win attempts guarantee at least 5,000 Oroberyls, and two seven-day login campaigns each provide five limited HH Permits. Quality-of-life improvements round things out, including an expanded photo mode, remote retrieval of outdoor equipment, preserved conduit connections in blueprints, and expanded graphics support with DLSS 4.5, PSSR2, and FSR 3. Newer players also get an early unlock option that opens Wuling after an early main story requirement, so nobody has to rush Chapter One to join the reclamation on July 16.
