How to Upgrade Your Weapons in Arknights Endfield

What to know

• Weapons improve through leveling, tuning, potential, and essences
• Leveling increases stats but is capped until tuned
• Duplicate weapons raise potential
• Essences enhance weapon skills and can be swapped

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In Arknights: Endfield, weapons are not static equipment. They are long-term investments that scale alongside your operators and your overall progression. Simply equipping a strong weapon isn’t enough—if you don’t upgrade it, its effectiveness quickly falls behind as enemy health, defenses, and mechanics become more demanding.

Weapon progression in Endfield is split into four interconnected systems: Leveling, Tuning, Potential, and Essences. Each system serves a distinct purpose, and understanding how they work together helps you avoid wasting resources while maximizing combat performance.

This guide walks you through how to upgrade your weapons step by step, explains where materials come from, and highlights common mistakes beginners make.

Weapon upgrade systems in Arknights Endfield

System	What it affects	Why it matters
Leveling	Base stats like attack	Core power increase
Tuning	Level cap and skills	Unlocks further growth
Potential	Final skill strength	High-end optimization
Essences	Skill bonuses	Flexible customization

How weapon leveling works in Arknights Endfield

Weapon leveling is the foundation of weapon progression. Every weapon has its own level, separate from the operator using it.

To level a weapon:

1. Open the Operator Overview screen
2. Navigate to the Weapons tab
3. Select the equipped weapon to open its details

From here, you can view stats, skills, and upgrade options.

How to increase weapon level in Arknights Endfield

Weapons gain levels through Weapon EXP. You can provide EXP in two main ways:

• Using Weapon EXP materials
• Consuming other weapons as EXP sources

Each level gained increases the weapon’s base stats, most notably its attack bonus, directly improving combat damage.

Weapon level caps explained in Arknights Endfield

Every weapon has a level cap. Early on, this cap is relatively low (for example, level 20). Once the weapon hits this limit, it can no longer gain EXP until you perform a tuning upgrade.

Excess EXP is not wasted—any overflow is returned to you as Weapon EXP materials, allowing you to reallocate it later.

How weapon upgrades work in Arknights Endfield

Weapon progression is split into four interconnected systems. You’ll interact with all of them over time, but not all at once.

Leveling weapons through EXP

Weapons gain EXP from combat or by consuming Weapon EXP materials and unused weapons.

• Open the Operator Overview
• Go to the Weapons tab
• Select Level Up (+) to add EXP

Each level increases stats like Attack, but weapons stop leveling once they hit their current cap.

Tuning to raise the level cap

When a weapon reaches its level limit, you must Tune it.

• Tuning raises the level cap
• It also improves weapon skill levels
• Requires weapon-specific tuning materials

Tuning is essential for long-term progression.

Increasing weapon potential

Potential upgrades strengthen a weapon’s final skill.

• Requires duplicate copies of the same weapon
• Some rare patterns can substitute duplicates

This is best saved for weapons you plan to use long-term.

Enhancing skills with Essences

Essences are reactive substances dropped by enemies. Each essence carries bonuses tied to specific weapon skills or effects.

When infused, an essence enhances compatible weapon skills.

How to infuse a weapon with an essence

From the weapon menu:

1. Select the weapon
2. Open the essence or skill enhancement section
3. Choose an essence from your inventory
4. Infuse it into the weapon

The effect applies immediately.

Swapping and reusing essences

One major advantage of essences is flexibility.

• Essences can be removed
• They can be transferred between weapons
• No permanent commitment is required

This makes essences ideal for experimentation and adapting to different combat scenarios.

Where to get weapon upgrade materials

Weapon progression depends heavily on consistent material acquisition.

Common material sources

• Exploration: Enemy drops and world loot
• AIC Trading: Resource exchange options
• AIC Technology: Unlocks new material access
• Combat encounters: Reliable essence drops

Balancing exploration with industrial systems ensures a steady upgrade flow.

How to upgrade weapons correctly in Arknights Endfield

Upgrading everything at once is rarely optimal. Smart prioritization matters.

Focus on core weapons first

Invest in weapons that:

• Match your most-used operators
• Scale well into mid-game
• Have versatile skill sets

Spreading resources too thin leads to underpowered gear across the board.

Level before tuning, tune before potential

A reliable upgrade order is:

1. Level the weapon to its cap
2. Tune it to unlock further growth
3. Resume leveling
4. Invest in potential once confident
5. Add essences for fine-tuning

This prevents wasted materials and ensures steady power growth.

Common mistakes to avoid

Feeding upgraded weapons as EXP

Using a leveled weapon as EXP destroys its invested value. Only do this if you are certain the weapon is permanently obsolete.

Ignoring tuning requirements

Many players stockpile EXP without realizing tuning is the bottleneck. Always plan material farming around upcoming tuning stages.

Overcommitting duplicates early

Duplicate weapons are rare. Spending them too soon on potential can limit flexibility later.

How often should you upgrade weapons?

There’s no strict schedule, but a good rule is to:

• Level weapons whenever EXP materials pile up
• Tune as soon as a weapon hits its cap
• Review essences after major enemy shifts
• Reassess potential upgrades during progression milestones

Regular maintenance prevents sudden difficulty spikes.

Upgrading weapons efficiently in Arknights Endfield

Upgrade type	What it improves	Requires
Leveling	Base stats	Weapon EXP
Tuning	Level cap & skills	Tuning materials
Potential	Final skill power	Duplicate weapons
Essence	Skill bonuses	Enemy drops

Focus first on leveling and tuning your main weapons, then invest in potential and essences later. Smart upgrades make combat smoother without wasting resources.

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We hope this weapon level upgrade guide for Arknights: Endfield offered all the clarity you were looking for and made your experience smoother. If you have any feedback, suggestions, or questions, drop them in the comments below. We actively read and respond, so feel free to reach out whenever you need extra help or guidance.