Arknights: Endfield Base Building Guide: How to Optimize AIC & Resource Flow
In Arknights: Endfield, the AIC is your main base and the heart of progression. This is your big automated factory where you process ore, craft items, and generate power as you explore and fight. Because strong gear and well-managed outposts directly influence just how strong your Operators become, this guide will explain AIC basics, resource management, and tips for automation to help you create a smooth, self-sustaining system.
If you’re looking to get more information about Arknights: Endfield, feel free to check out the related guides below:
- Arknights: Endfield PC Settings Guide
- Arknights: Endfield Beginner Guide: Everything You Need to Know Before Playing
These guides can help you boost your progress and enhance your overall gameplay experience.
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Why the AIC Matters
The AIC is your personal factory and command center, It pulls in raw materials to transform them into the tools you need to survive. Even when you are out exploring, these automated lines keep running. Here is why the system is so important:
- Gear for Operators: As in any RPG, your characters will require equipment. Early on in the game, it isn't so important, but towards the end, gear is everything. The gear that's crafted gives massive stats and special buffs that turn your operators into beasts.
- Essential Consumables: You can craft your healing items and combat buffs at base. These can be equipped to your operators to use automatically, which is a lifesaver during difficult boss fights.
- Base Progression: In order to get better technology, one needs better materials. You have to construct and improve chains of production to make high-tier construction materials. Your base, without these-and most importantly, progress-will stall.
- Outposts and Rewards: As you move around, you can setup Outposts. These increase your base and give Convention Certificates, allowing you to trade them for rare materials, trust items for your characters, and even gacha pulls for operators.
Master the Power Grid
Before a single conveyor belt can move, you need electricity. Power in Endfield flows from your PAC or Sub-PACs (at outposts). Unlike other games where power is global, in Endfield, you have to physically bridge the gap between your power source and your machines.
The Connection Chain
To power a remote area, you have to build a chain:
- Relay Towers: These serve as your main conduits in the game. You can place a tower up to 80 meters away from a powered source to extend the grid.
- Electric Pylons: Relay Towers don't power machines directly; they give signal to Electric Pylons. Place a Pylon near your factories or mining rigs to feed wireless power to everything in its radius.
Tip: You can build towers in "reverse." If you find a remote spot you want to power, you can place unpowered towers back toward your base and connect them once you reach the grid. This is key in unlocking ancient machinery and gates in the overworld.
Streamlining Production Lines
A good AIC setup works best as a closed loop: every building is connected together smoothly. Every machine has input and output slots, and conveyor belts move items between them. The basic flow is simple: Mining Rigs collect raw ore, Smelters turn ore into bars, Factories convert bars into items, and Depots or PAC units store them.
Keep conveyor belts clean and well planned. Avoid crossing belts, since in most cases, it's just going to slow everything down. If, for some reason, a factory makes items faster than the amount the belt can carry said items, production will ultimately stop. Always make sure to set your PAC to send the exact amount of resources needed for the next machine.
Mastering Resource Harvesting
Automation starts with gathering raw materials. To fully optimize your flow, you need to know about the tiers of the resources.
Ore Extraction
Ore is the lifeblood of the AIC. These are what you need to get the most out of an ore vein:
- Originium Ore: Base material for early construction. Mined with any rig.
- Amethyst Ore: Used to make electronics and gear. Requires an Electric Mining Rig.
- Ferrium Ore: Needed for top-tier Outpost production. Needs an Electric Mining Rig Mk II.
- Xiranite Ore: Found in the Wuling Very Large Rift. This Needs Hydraulic Mining Rigs and must be integrated into a water-loop system for maximum output.
Mechanized Planting and Irrigation
Food and medicine are needed for survival. You can plant crops by hand, but Planting Units help in automatically growing crops. This ensures that you save time and keep your supply of food and medicine materials steady.
Once you get to the Jinlong region, you unlock automatic sprinklers. Those water the crops on their own, so you won't have to do it manually. Still, rare plants use manual plots, so keep a small area for them.
The VR Simulator and Factory Index
To get improved buildings, you want to earn some Factory Index points. These are picked up by finding VR Simulator stations dotted about Talos-II. These stations offer tutorials that, once completed, reward points to be spent in the AIC Plan (Press 'T').
Which one to unlock first:
- Tiers I & II - Resourcing & Logistics: These are required. They give access to the basic belts and miners needed to even begin a base.
- Processing: Smelters get progressively better, allowing higher-tier equipment to be crafted.
- Power: This enhances your tower range and increases the efficiency of a pylon, making exploration much easier.
- Combat & Exploration: Save these for last. As much as ziplines and turrets are fun, they do nothing to advance your economy.
Outposts for Passive Incomes
Outposts are "mini-bases" situated within different zones. These are the secrets to getting Convention Certificates, which buy gacha pulls, trust items, and rare progression materials.
Each outpost has "Supply Orders." These orders fill automatically every minute by connecting your production lines with the outpost's storage. Maximize your Outpost levels as fast as possible, and the rewards will be the most consistent way to power up your account without spending real money.
AIC as an Exploration Tool
The base is essential for creating items and making sense of the world.
- Shortcuts: use ziplines or bouncy gadgets to get past tough terrain.
- Reclaiming the World: There are many paths that are blocked by ancient tech. However, if you erect a power line of Relay Towers around such infrastructure, you can "reboot" the area and find new secret paths and zones.
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Conclusion
In Arknights: Endfield, the AIC is the core of your progression. A well-planned base supplies your Operators with gear, medicine, and power while you explore and fight. If you arrange the power, production lines, farming, and outposts correctly, it will be a system that works without intervention. Managing of AIC will make everything easier, earn you better rewards, and explore faster, keeping your Operators at strength for future challenges.
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