Contingency Contract Re-Ignition Strategy

Contingency Contract: Re-Ignition Experimental Operation is live. As of June 19, 2026 at 12:00 (server time), the first full CC event in Arknights: Endfield is open, and the in-game Release Details have filled in the gaps the pre-launch infographic left blank. Two of those details are new and worth your attention before your first run: a profile-facing Sanctuary Rating display that activates the moment you clear at any difficulty, and an event-exclusive engraved medal tied to specific conditions. This post is the launch-day playbook: what to do in your first session, how to read the Test Criteria board, which rewards to chase first, and how to bank the prestige markers before the event closes.

Re-Ignition Experimental Operation, Endfield’s first full Contingency Contract challenge event, opens June 19 and runs through the version update on June 26.

TL;DR - Key Points

It is live now — Re-Ignition opened June 19, 2026 at 12:00 server time (UTC+8 Asia, UTC-5 Americas/Europe), before the version update and maintenance.
The whole event refreshes June 26 — the Event Update Time is June 26 at 12:00, when the day-8 Test Criteria batch arrives. Treat launch week as round one.
New: Sanctuary Rating — clearing any challenge with a Total Test Criteria of at least 1 activates a profile rating shown on your Friends screen, active only for this event.
New: engraved medal — meeting specific in-event conditions earns an event-exclusive engraved medal, a permanent collection piece.
Reward currency is Vitrified Coins — earn them from missions, then spend at the Secret Sanctuary on Oroberyls, an Advanced Progression Selection Crate I, and cosmetics.
Hard deadline July 23 at 04:00 — the Secret Sanctuary outlives the event, but all unspent Vitrified Coins are wiped when it closes.
Low entry bar — Authority Level 30 and the Chapter I Process II: Paving the Way mission are all you need to walk in.

Re-Ignition Is Open: The Launch-Day Window

The event went live June 19, 2026 at 12:00 (server time), layered onto the current build rather than bundled into a patch. The Release Details are explicit that launch happens before the next version update and maintenance, so you have a clean run at the launch-week content right now.

The first calendar marker that matters is the Event Update Time: June 26, 2026 at 12:00 (server time). That is the day-8 refresh, when a fresh batch of Test Criteria is added and the cycle-mission cadence has had time to stack. The practical read is that Re-Ignition is a two-act event. Act one is everything available from launch; act two opens June 26 and raises the ceiling. Do not treat the first week as the whole event.

If you want the full mechanical breakdown of every system (the scoring model, Locked and Key Criteria, the Sharing Code feature), our Contingency Contract Test Criteria meta breakdown covers the announcement end to end. This post assumes you have read that and focuses on what to actually do now that the mode is playable.

First Session: Get In and Clear One

Your first job on launch day is not a high score. It is a single clean clear at minimum difficulty to confirm your team and rotation function inside the CC ruleset. Here is the launch-day sequence:

Confirm you qualify. You need Authority Level 30 and the main mission Chapter I Process II: Paving the Way completed. Both are early-account milestones, so most active players are already in.
Run the baseline first. Enter with the lowest Total Test Criteria you can, clear all four waves, and learn the encounter rhythm before you stack anything punishing.
Activate your Sanctuary Rating immediately. A clear with Total Test Criteria of at least 1 flips on your profile rating (more on that below). Bank it on day one so the flex is live for the whole event.

The combat itself is unchanged from the announcement: each challenge is four waves on a countdown timer, you must defeat every enemy before the clock expires, and you fail if the timer runs out or your whole team is reduced to 0 HP. A failed run restarts from wave one, so there is no checkpoint cushion.

The Sanctuary Rating: Endfield’s New CC Flex

The headline new system in the Release Details is the Sanctuary Rating display. This is distinct from the Sharing Code feature and worth understanding on its own.

Successfully completing a challenge with a Total Test Criteria of at least 1 activates the event-exclusive Sanctuary Rating, which can be displayed on your Friends screen.

Two things stand out. First, the activation threshold is trivially low: any non-zero Total Test Criteria clear turns it on. You do not need a monster score to participate in the social layer, which fits Re-Ignition’s whole low-floor design philosophy.

Second, the Sanctuary Rating is active only for the duration of this event. It is a seasonal badge, not a permanent profile fixture. When the event ends, the rating goes dark. That makes it a time-boxed prestige marker: the number you display is a snapshot of how deep you pushed this season, and it disappears when the season does. If you care about the flex, the value is in pushing your displayed rating up while the board is still live, not in clearing it once and walking away.

Marker	Activates At	Lifespan	Where It Shows
Sanctuary Rating	Any clear, Total Test Criteria 1+	Event duration only	Friends screen
Engraved Medal	Specific event conditions	Permanent	Medal collection
Portrait / Frame	Mission completion	Permanent	Profile cosmetics

The Engraved Medal: Bank the Permanent Reward

The second new detail is the event-exclusive engraved medal. The Release Details state that during the event you can “meet specified conditions to obtain the event-exclusive engraved medal.” Unlike the Sanctuary Rating, a medal is a permanent collection piece that stays on your account after Re-Ignition closes.

This is the inverse of the Sanctuary Rating’s value proposition. The rating is a loud, temporary number; the medal is a quiet, permanent trophy. For collectors and completionists, the medal is the more durable prize, because it is the thing that proves you were here for Endfield’s first CC long after the event currency is gone.

The exact unlock conditions are not spelled out in the Release Details, which is normal for engraved medals in the franchise: they usually gate behind a difficulty or completion milestone. Until the conditions are confirmed in-game, the safe play is to push your clears steadily across the event rather than assuming a single baseline clear covers it. Watch the Contract Missions and Sanctuary Rating thresholds, since medal conditions in this style of event tend to ride on top of those.

Reading the Test Criteria Board on Day One

Test Criteria are the difficulty modifiers you stack before each fight, rated 1☆, 2☆, or 3☆, and they fall into three buckets: weakening your operators, buffing enemies, or warping the combat environment. Your Total Test Criteria is the sum of everything you select, and it is the score the whole mode keys off.

The single most important strategic note carries straight over from launch prep: Total Test Criteria is not the true measure of difficulty. Two loadouts with the same number can play wildly differently depending on which Criteria you picked relative to your team.

Loadout (example)	Total	Real Difficulty
3☆ off-element ban + 3☆ off-element ban	6	Easy if your carry’s element is untouched
2☆ + 2☆ + 2☆ (all hit your kit)	6	Brutal, same score, every modifier bites
3☆ your-element ban + 1☆	4	Lower score, but can hard-wall the wrong roster

The day-one move is to scout with the Integrated Intel panel (open it before and during a run), read the enemy composition, then stack the Criteria your specific team barely notices. Push the number with “free” modifiers first; only eat the Criteria that actually hurt once you have to. The team you stress-tested in the Trial of Swordmancy permanent combat mode is the same flexible roster that thrives here.

Locked Criteria and the June 26 Second Act

Not every Test Criterion is available immediately. They are organized into regional Criteria Sets that unlock as you clear at higher Total Test Criteria, and some are Locked Criteria that only appear once you select a specified Key Criterion first. The mode gates its nastiest modifiers behind proof you can handle the milder ones.

The Release Details add a sharp clarification on the day-8 batch: new Test Criteria arrive on day 8, but they cannot be selected if their Criteria Set is still locked. In other words, June 26 does not hand everyone the new modifiers automatically. If you have not unlocked the relevant Set by clearing at sufficient difficulty, the new Criteria stay greyed out for you. That makes launch-week climbing a prerequisite, not an optional warm-up. Players who coast at minimum difficulty through week one will hit June 26 and find the new content gated behind unlocks they never earned.

The takeaway: spend launch week pushing your Total Test Criteria high enough to unlock the later Criteria Sets, so that when the day-8 batch drops you can actually select it.

Contract Missions and the Cycle Cadence

The reward grind runs through Contract Missions. The structure is the recurring Cycle Missions plus milestone objectives, and the cadence is the detail that punishes binge players:

A new cycle mission is added every 3 days during the event.
There are 7 cycle missions in total, and all of them remain available until the event ends.
Completing missions earns the cosmetics and the event currency, Vitrified Coins.

Because there are seven cycle missions dripping in every three days, and all Contract Missions close when the event ends, the worst thing you can do is ignore the mode until the final weekend. Seven missions plus their objectives stacking up at once is a brutal finish-line crunch. Log in across the run and clear cycle missions as they unlock.

The mission rewards named in the Release Details are Portrait: Ancient Contract, Portrait Frame: Contingent Inscription, and Vitrified Coins, with the engraved medal layered on top of specific conditions.

Mission Element	Detail
Cycle Missions	7 total, one added every 3 days, all stay open until event end
Headline cosmetics	Portrait: Ancient Contract, Portrait Frame: Contingent Inscription
Currency	Vitrified Coins (spent at Secret Sanctuary)
Closure	All Contract Missions removed when the event ends

Vitrified Coins and the Secret Sanctuary

The actual loot lives in the Secret Sanctuary, the exchange shop where Vitrified Coins convert into rewards. The Sanctuary runs June 19, 2026 at 12:00 through July 23, 2026 at 04:00 (server time), deliberately outlasting the combat event so you have buffer time to spend.

The Release Details name three Sanctuary exchange targets: the Sticker: Contingency Contract cosmetic, Oroberyls (premium currency), and an Advanced Progression Selection Crate I. Prioritize by what moves your account forward:

Oroberyls — premium currency is the highest-value, roster-agnostic pull. Clear it first.
Advanced Progression Selection Crate I — targeted operator progression materials, the second priority.
Sticker: Contingency Contract — a cosmetic flex; grab it once the materials are banked.

The hard rule, in bold because it costs players every event: when the Secret Sanctuary closes July 23 at 04:00, all unused Vitrified Coins are cleared. There is no carryover. Spend down to zero before the deadline.

Launch-Day Strategy by Player Type

Re-Ignition’s low entry bar means it serves very different players. Here is how to spend your first session depending on where you sit. For a deeper roster-readiness checklist, our endgame Contingency Contract prep guide covers the horizontal investment that makes any modifier combination survivable.

New / Early Endministrator (just hit Authority 30)

Clear the baseline, activate your Sanctuary Rating, then stop and breathe. One Total Test Criteria 1+ clear flips your profile badge on. That is your day-one win.
Add only 1☆ Criteria that dodge your weaknesses. Use Integrated Intel to read the enemies, then stack modifiers your team barely feels.
Chase cycle missions, not the leaderboard. The Vitrified Coins from missions are your real reward; Oroberyls do not care how high your Total was.

Mid-Game Player (established roster, some flex)

Push your Total high enough to start unlocking later Criteria Sets. This is the launch-week homework that makes the June 26 batch selectable for you.
Race the timer, not the HP bars. Most mid-game losses are timeouts. Once you know you can survive, prioritize burst and clear speed.
Spend Vitrified Coins on materials first: Oroberyls, then the Advanced Progression Selection Crate I, then cosmetics.

Endgame / Veteran (deep, flexible roster)

Treat June 26 as the real start, but unlock the gates now. The day-8 Criteria are locked behind Set unlocks; do the launch-week climbing so you can select them when they drop.
Map Key Criteria to Locked Criteria chains. The nastiest modifiers are gated behind designated Key Criteria; chart those dependencies to maximize score efficiency.
Push your Sanctuary Rating high while it is live. It is a seasonal badge that vanishes at event end, so the displayed number only matters during the run.

Common Mistakes to Avoid on Launch Day

Re-Ignition is generous on entry but punishes a handful of specific errors right out of the gate.

Forgetting to activate the Sanctuary Rating. It is a one-clear flip at Total Test Criteria 1+. Do it on day one so the badge is live for the whole event.
Coasting at minimum difficulty all week. The day-8 Criteria are locked behind Set unlocks you earn by clearing at higher Totals. Coast now and June 26’s content stays greyed out.
Chasing Total Test Criteria for the number alone. The Release Details reiterate the score is not the sole measure of difficulty. A team-hostile low score can be harder than a team-friendly high one.
Skipping Integrated Intel. Picking Criteria without scouting enemy details is gambling. Read the stage first, every time.
Hoarding cycle missions. Seven of them drip in every three days and all close at event end. Binge them at the finish line and you will leave rewards on the table.
Letting Vitrified Coins expire. The Secret Sanctuary clears all coins July 23 at 04:00. Spend on Oroberyls and the progression crate well before then.

What to Watch After Launch Day

Several details are not fully nailed down in the Release Details and will be pinned by the community in the first week.

The Sanctuary Rating’s exact scoring scale. We know it activates at Total Test Criteria 1+, but how the displayed number escalates and whether there are visible tiers will surface fast.
The engraved medal’s unlock conditions. “Specified conditions” is vague; expect the exact Total Test Criteria or mission milestone to be datamined or confirmed within days.
The full day-8 Criteria list. The June 26 batch is confirmed, but its modifiers, star values, and which Sets they belong to are unknown until they go live.
Exact Vitrified Coin costs. The reward types are confirmed; the per-item prices and per-mission coin yields are not. A spending-priority sheet will follow.
Whether the version update changes the mode. The event launches before the version update and maintenance; watch for any mid-event adjustments when that patch lands around June 26.

Final Read

Re-Ignition is open, and the launch-day priorities are clear. Get in, clear one challenge at any non-zero Total Test Criteria to light up your Sanctuary Rating, then start the real work: pushing your Total high enough to unlock the Criteria Sets you will need when the day-8 batch arrives June 26. The mode rewards players who scout with Integrated Intel, stack the modifiers their roster shrugs off, and race the timer instead of chasing a leaderboard number.

The two new details reframe the long game. The Sanctuary Rating is a loud, seasonal flex that vanishes when the event closes, so its value is in pushing it up now. The engraved medal is the quiet, permanent trophy worth banking for keeps. Clear across the event rather than at the finish line, spend your Vitrified Coins on Oroberyls and the progression crate before the Secret Sanctuary closes July 23 at 04:00, and come back June 26 for act two. For the design theory behind why CC demands this kind of flexible, horizontal roster, our Contingency Contract deep-dive analysis connects the dots.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Contingency Contract: Re-Ignition live yet? Yes. It opened June 19, 2026 at 12:00 server time (UTC+8 Asia, UTC-5 Americas/Europe), before the next version update and maintenance. The Secret Sanctuary exchange stays open through July 23, 2026 at 04:00.

What is the Sanctuary Rating? A new event-exclusive profile rating that activates when you clear any challenge with a Total Test Criteria of at least 1. It displays on your Friends screen and is active only for the duration of this event, so it disappears when Re-Ignition ends.

How do I get the engraved medal? By meeting specified in-event conditions. The Release Details confirm the medal exists but do not list the exact requirements, which usually ride on top of difficulty or mission milestones. Push your clears steadily and watch for community confirmation of the conditions.

What do I need to participate? Authority Level 30 and completion of the main mission Chapter I Process II: Paving the Way. Both are early-account milestones, so the entry bar is intentionally low.

When does the new Test Criteria batch arrive? On day 8, with the Event Update Time set for June 26, 2026 at 12:00 server time. Note that the new Criteria cannot be selected if their Criteria Set is still locked, so unlock the relevant Sets during launch week.

How many cycle missions are there? Seven in total, with one new cycle mission added every 3 days. All missions remain available until the event ends, and all Contract Missions are removed at closure.

What can I buy with Vitrified Coins? At the Secret Sanctuary: Oroberyls, an Advanced Progression Selection Crate I, and the Sticker: Contingency Contract cosmetic. Prioritize Oroberyls and the progression crate, since all unspent coins are cleared when the Sanctuary closes July 23 at 04:00.

Does a higher Total Test Criteria always mean a harder fight? No. The Release Details state Total Test Criteria is the sum of selected modifiers but is not the sole measure of difficulty. A loadout that targets your team’s weaknesses can be far harder than a higher-scoring loadout your roster ignores.

What rewards come from the event missions? Completing mission goals earns Portrait: Ancient Contract, Portrait Frame: Contingent Inscription, and Vitrified Coins, with the event-exclusive engraved medal available for meeting specific conditions.

What happens when the event ends? All Contract Missions and combat challenges close, and the Sanctuary Rating goes inactive. The Secret Sanctuary stays open until July 23, 2026 at 04:00 so you can finish spending, after which all unused Vitrified Coins are cleared.

CONTINGENCY CONTRACT RE-IGNITION STRATEGY