ARKNIGHTS: ENDFIELD WEAPON TIER LIST
Table of Contents
This tier list ranks 32 six-star weapons across the current Version 1.3 Arknights: Endfield meta, sorted into SS, S, and A tiers and grouped by weapon type. The rankings consider far more than the number on the weapon: base ATK matters, but so do Essence interactions, the conditions that trigger each Weapon Skill, and how cleanly a weapon's passive lines up with the operators who can actually equip it. A weapon that idles for half a rotation will always lose to one whose passive is live every few seconds, even if the second weapon shows a lower raw stat line.
The single biggest change for Version 1.3 is Camille's arrival as a Heat Vanguard and the debut of his signature polearm, Blessing of Lustrous Carmine. It headlines the SS tier because it turns Camille from a Heat enabler into a team-wide buff engine, and it is the clearest example of why this list is organised around operator pairings rather than abstract weapon power. The rest of the SS tier is split between meta-defining signatures and a handful of universal best-in-slot options that hold up in almost any composition.
Use this page alongside the weapon recommender, which matches weapons to a specific operator by stat scaling, and the operator builds page, which exposes the simulated per-operator DPS that feeds these tiers. Because weapons are not bound to operators, a single pull frequently covers several roster slots: many SS-tier signatures still perform well on non-signature users of the same weapon type, so you rarely need a separate weapon for every character.
Refreshes ship once per version, with mid-patch updates whenever a new weapon or operator reshapes synergies. Anything not yet validated against current endgame content is held back rather than guessed at, so the "Updated" date in the header is the authoritative freshness signal for the ordering you see below. If a brand-new weapon is missing, it is usually because there is not yet enough live data to place it confidently.
Quick Answer
There is no single best weapon, only a best weapon for a given operator. The top signature right now is Blessing of Lustrous Carmine for Camille, which buffs the whole team's ATK on SP recovery and DMG dealt on Heat application. For a frontline carry with no dedicated signature, Sundered Prince is the most flexible melee pick and works for any Strength-scaling carry, while Detonation Unit applies the strongest Arts vulnerability debuff in the game and is the default Arts support. Free-to-play players should grab Eminent Repute from the Arsenal Exchange, which covers most Vulnerability-stacking teams without a banner pull.
The current meta breaks down to 12 SS-tier, 14 S-tier, and 6 A-tier six-star weapons. If you are deciding where to spend, the safe priority is operator first, then a generic 6★ weapon, then a signature; match weapons to the roster you already own rather than chasing the highest tier on the page. The weapon recommender turns that principle into a stat-matched shortlist for any operator.
How to Read These Rankings
SS tier is meta-defining or signature: best-in-slot armaments for the strongest carries, with unmatched scaling or team-wide utility. S tier is high-impact and versatile, covering the best non-signature options and strong elemental specialists that slot into many builds. A tier is niche but flexible: solid six-star choices, often available through the Standard Arsenal banner or direct exchange, that remain good picks whenever the meta does not demand a signature.
Within each tier, weapons are grouped by type (Sword, Greatsword, Polearm, Handcannon, Arts Unit) so you can scan straight to the slot you are filling. The "Best for" line on each card names the operator or archetype the weapon is tuned around, and the note beneath it explains the specific passive or scaling that earns the placement. If you want stat-matched picks for one operator instead of a tier overview, the weapon recommender is the faster tool.
SS Tier
SS-tier weapons are the ones worth restructuring a pull plan around. Each either lifts a current top-meta operator's ceiling by a wide margin or provides utility broad enough to justify a slot in nearly any team. Camille's Blessing of Lustrous Carmine leads the Polearms here as the newest Version 1.3 signature, joined by carry signatures like Mi Fu's Amaranthine Tassel and universal options such as Sundered Prince and the Arts-support staple Detonation Unit.
If you only chase one weapon this patch, take it from this tier and pair it with the operator it was built for. The further a signature drifts from its intended user, the more of its value evaporates, so an SS placement assumes you own (or are about to pull) the matching operator.
Forgeborn Scathe
★★★★★★ATK 510Best for: Laevatain
+120% Basic ATK DMG after Ultimate; adds flat Heat DMG for sustained burn rotations.
Thermite Cutter
★★★★★★ATK 490Best for: Universal / Alesh
Permanent team-wide ATK buff on SP recovery or Link application — works in any composition.
Amaranthine Tassel
★★★★★★ATK 510Best for: Mi Fu
Mi Fu's V1.3 signature; +44.8% Physical DMG with Arts Intensity payoff on Susceptibility, and a massive Crush-scaling buff (+25.2% + 8.4% per Vulnerability stack consumed).
Khravengger
★★★★★★ATK 505Best for: Last Rite
Massive Cryo DMG scaling based on Infliction stacks; the defining Cryo greatsword.
Sundered Prince
★★★★★★ATK 490Best for: Universal Melee
Massive Strength boost; enhances Final Strike and Stagger damage for any frontline carry.
Blessing of Lustrous Carmine
★★★★★★Best for: Camille
Camille's V1.3 signature polearm; Flow: Absolver of Guilt grants the whole team ATK on SP recovery and DMG Dealt on Heat application, turning Camille from a Heat enabler into a team-wide buff engine.
Mountain Bearer
★★★★★★ATK 500Best for: Lifeng / Physical Teams
Shreds Vulnerable enemies and provides a stackable boost to all attributes.
Artzy Tyrannical
★★★★★★ATK 505Best for: Yvonne
High Cryo Crit scaling; stacks Cryo DMG on battle skill crits.
Brigand's Calling
★★★★★★ATK 505Best for: Tangtang
Enhances Skill DMG against Solidified targets; buffs Cryo and Arts DMG.
Lone Barge
★★★★★★ATK 510Best for: Zhuang Fangyi
Version 1.2 signature — massive Electric DMG buffs during Ultimate.
Detonation Unit
★★★★★★ATK 490Best for: Antal / Perlica
Best-in-slot Arts support; applies long-lasting Arts vulnerability debuffs to enemies.
Dreams of the Starry Beach
★★★★★★ATK 495Best for: Ardelia / Arts DPS
Significantly increases Arts damage taken by enemies for sustained team-wide support.
The spread across weapon types is deliberate: every melee and ranged slot has at least one SS option, so no role is forced down a tier just to find a top pick. Note how many SS entries are tied to a single operator, which is exactly why the tier list and the recommender complement each other rather than compete.
S Tier
S-tier weapons are high-impact and versatile. This is where most players actually spend, because it holds the best non-signature options and the strong elemental specialists that perform across multiple builds. Beacon of Duty, Camille's accessible Protocol Pass Heat polearm, lives here as the budget alternative to his signature, alongside picks like Exemplar for Physical greatswords and Wedge for skill-heavy Arts casters.
If a banner does not happen to feature the exact signature you want, an S-tier weapon of the right type usually closes most of the gap. Several S-tier choices are reachable without a featured pull at all, which makes this tier the practical backbone of a developing account.
Umbral Torch
★★★★★★ATK 490Best for: Laevatain (Heat / Electric)
Ramps elemental DMG against Combustion targets — best alternative for Heat dealers.
Never Rest
★★★★★★ATK 500Best for: Pogranichnik
Substantial Physical DMG boosts that scale as the team recovers SP.
Rapid Ascent
★★★★★★ATK 495Best for: Chen Qianyu
Maximizes burst DMG against Staggered enemies — best-in-slot for stagger windows.
White Night Nova
★★★★★★ATK 505Best for: Arclight
Flat 33.6% Arts DMG bonus — Arclight's preferred blade.
Phantom Pain
★★★★★★ATK 490Best for: Da Pan / Physical Greatsword
Protocol Pass alternative to Exemplar; stacking +15.4% Physical DMG (up to 3 stacks) on every battle or combo skill, plus Arts Intensity for Crush synergy.
Exemplar
★★★★★★ATK 500Best for: Da Pan / Physical DPS
Stacking Physical DMG buff on every skill hit; top-tier Physical greatsword.
Beacon of Duty
★★★★★★ATK 485Best for: Camille / Heat Vanguard
Protocol Pass Heat polearm; +22.4% Physical / Heat DMG on Heat Infliction and a +11.2% team-wide buff on Heat Susceptibility.
JET
★★★★★★ATK 500Best for: Avywenna
High Arts DMG uptime through Skill and Combo usage.
Valiant
★★★★★★ATK 495Best for: Physical / Status Teams
Triggers massive Physical DoT (336% ATK) when applying Physical status effects.
Clannibal
★★★★★★ATK 490Best for: Elemental Reaction Squads
Applies Arts vulnerability debuffs after Arts Reactions; core for reaction-heavy comps.
Wedge
★★★★★★ATK 500Best for: Fluorite / Skill-Heavy Casters
Universal Arts damage amplification for skill-heavy operators.
Delivery Guaranteed
★★★★★★ATK 500Best for: Gilberta
Boosts Nature DMG and grants team-wide Arts buffs when enemies are Lifted.
Oblivion
★★★★★★ATK 495Best for: Perlica
Increases Crit Rate and Arts DMG after casting Ultimate or Combo skills.
Wild Wanderer
★★★★★★ATK 411Best for: Electric Teams
Consistent Physical and Electric DMG bonuses when Electrification is applied.
Read the "Best for" line carefully in this tier: an S-tier weapon paired with its intended operator often outperforms an SS weapon forced onto the wrong character. That is the whole reason a stat line alone cannot settle these rankings.
A Tier
A-tier weapons are niche but flexible. They are solid six-star choices, frequently available through the Standard Arsenal banner or direct exchange, and they shine on the specific teams they were designed for even if they do not redefine the meta. Eminent Repute is the standout free-to-play pick here, scaling with Vulnerability consumption and covering most Vulnerability-stacking carries without a featured pull.
Treat this tier as the safety net for accounts still building breadth. None of these weapons are traps; they are simply narrower than the tiers above, and several are perfectly fine long-term homes for budget or off-meta operators.
Grand Vision
★★★★★★ATK 500Best for: Burst DPS
Massive burst DMG on the next Skill or Ultimate cast.
Eminent Repute
★★★★★★ATK 490Best for: Vulnerability-Based DPS
Vulnerability consumption scaling — strong on teams that stack Vulnerable stacks.
Glorious Memory
★★★★★★ATK 490Best for: Rossi (Budget)
Budget option for Rossi and similar Twilight-essence operators.
Navigator
★★★★★★ATK 490Best for: Nature / Cryo Teams
Nature and Cryo buffs activate after Corrosion or Solidification triggers.
Chivalric Virtues
★★★★★★ATK 485Best for: Healing-Based Teams
Team-wide ATK buff triggered by healing — strong utility for sustain comps.
OBJ Arts Identifier
★★★★★★ATK 411Best for: Budget Arts Support
Budget support utility for Arts compositions.
If you are free-to-play, the A tier plus a couple of well-chosen S-tier weapons will carry you through current endgame content comfortably. Save signature pulls for the one or two operators you intend to invest in deeply.
Ranking Methodology
Rankings reflect Version 1.3 endgame combat: high-difficulty story stages, Frontier Codex, and Arena content, where weapon passives swing results far more than they do in early progression. Four factors drive every placement, weighted by how much they move real-fight damage rather than tooltip numbers.
The criteria are damage scaling against current endgame content, synergy with the top-tier operators in play, versatility across the Heat, Cryo, Electric, Physical, and Arts archetypes, and availability through the signature banner, standard banner, or Arsenal Exchange. Within that framework, SS marks weapons that are meta-defining or signature (best-in-slot scaling or team-wide utility), S marks high-impact and versatile options, and A marks niche but flexible picks, often reachable via the Standard Arsenal banner or direct exchange.
- Damage scaling against Version 1.2 endgame content
- Synergy with current top-tier operators
- Versatility across team archetypes (Heat / Cryo / Electric / Physical / Arts)
- Availability — signature banner, standard banner, or Arsenal Exchange
Availability is part of the score on purpose: a slightly weaker weapon you can actually obtain is more useful to most rosters than a marginally stronger one locked behind a rerun that may be months away. That is why a few Arsenal Exchange picks rank above flashier limited weapons for free-to-play planning.
How the Tier List Is Produced
Weapons are ranked by simulated full-fight DPS contribution rather than by raw stat alignment. The scoring engine pairs each weapon with the operator best positioned to use it, runs the operator's full rotation against a standardised endgame combat scenario, and records the total damage dealt over the scenario window. The weapon's tier is the result of that simulation: a high tier means the weapon meaningfully lifts an operator's damage ceiling on at least one current endgame fight; a low tier means even with the right operator, the weapon underperforms equivalent-rarity alternatives.
Tiers are not stable across patches. A balance change to an operator's scaling, a new boss with a different damage profile, or a rebalance of weapon passives can move tiers in either direction. The list is re-baked after every major patch and after any rebalance that touches the involved weapons or operators. The "last updated" line at the top of the page is the authoritative freshness signal for the current tier ordering.
Why simulation beats substat-only ranking
The weapon recommender ranks weapons by how well their two substats align with an operator's stat priority list, a fast proxy that ignores weapon active-skill effects. The tier list on this page accounts for those active skills, which are usually the dominant damage contributor at the high end. A high-stat weapon with a passive that does not fit the rotation can lose outright to a lower-stat weapon whose passive fires constantly; the tier list captures that, the stat-alignment score cannot.
Reading the tier ladder
An SS placement marks a meta-defining weapon: either a signature for a current top-meta operator with a passive that lifts that operator's ceiling by 15% or more, or a generic weapon that slots into multiple top-meta builds. These are worth pulling for if you own the operator who scales best off them. An S placement is a strong weapon that lifts one specific operator into top-tier performance with slightly narrower scaling, worth a single pity-guaranteed pull but not a deep investment.
An A placement is a solid alternative: these weapons enable specific build paths or cover an operator's secondary stats well without moving the ceiling significantly, so pull them as a side effect of chasing a featured operator on the same banner rather than for their own sake. Anything below the A tier is included for completeness, either superseded by newer weapons or only viable on early-progression content; standard-pool weapons in that range are still fine on early operators.
Banner cycle context
Standard-pool weapons appear on every weapon banner and can be wished for at any time; their tier ranking reflects their general utility across the roster. Limited weapons appear only on featured-banner reruns, usually tied to a specific operator's banner window. A Limited weapon's tier ranking assumes you also have (or will have) the signature operator to pair it with, and if you do not own that operator the weapon's effective tier drops, because most of its passive value depends on the pairing.
When to pull for a weapon
The community consensus pull priority is operator first, then a 6★ generic weapon, then the signature weapon. A 6★ operator without a signature weapon typically performs at 75 to 85% of a fully kitted build, while a 6★ signature weapon on the wrong operator is often weaker than a well-chosen 5★ alternative. Signature weapons matter most once you have already invested heavily in the signature operator (E2 or E4 promotion) and want to push competitive Cinder Arsenal timer challenges. For most players, the practical sweet spot is one signature weapon per main DPS, then breadth over depth on supporting roles.
Tier movement caveat: small tier moves between patches (S to A or A to S) often reflect simulator noise as much as real shifts in power. Treat large tier moves as decision-grade signals; treat single-tier slides as informational. The operator builds page exposes the per-operator simulated DPS that feeds into this tier list, so drill in there if you want the underlying numbers for your specific build.
Frequently Asked Questions
That is the full Version 1.3 arsenal picture: 32 six-star weapons sorted by how much they actually lift an operator in current endgame content, with Camille's Blessing of Lustrous Carmine headlining the new SS additions. Before you spend, run your roster through the weapon recommender for stat-matched picks, then cross-check the numbers on the operator builds page so every pull lands on the operator who gets the most out of it.
