The Border Guard is a six-star Operator in Arknights: Endfield , wielding a sword and dealing physical damage. He is considered one of the strongest Operators in the game due to his versatility and outstanding effectiveness as a top-tier damage dealer.
It’s also crucial for generating a large amount of SP for your team—a battle currency that allows you to use skills more often. This guide covers early progression, gear selection, and starting teams for the Border Guard.
The best weapons and essences for the Border Guard
His signature weapon, “No Respite ,” is directly tied to his ability to generate SP. While this weapon is your ultimate goal when leveling up as an Operator, there are other options along the way that also complement his playstyle well.
| Name of the weapon | Rarity | Stat types | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Without a break” | 6 stars | Will, Attack Boost, Flow | This is the Border Guard’s signature weapon. Not only does it grant Willpower —his primary attribute—but it also increases his attack damage whenever his skills generate SP (which happens often), thanks to the Flow: Rebirth perk . This buff then spreads to the entire team. |
| Thermal cutter | 6 stars | Will, Attack Boost, Flow | Like No Respite, this weapon provides flat Willpower (more damage for the Border Guard) and a Flow stat line, which is also tied to SP generation. Flow: Thermal Burst means that after generating SP, the entire team gains a 5% damage boost. |
| Cutting steel | 5 stars | Dexterity, Physical Damage | This is a decent 5-star weapon, cheaper to obtain than a six-star one, and still very good for a Border Guard. It provides a flat bonus to Dexterity and damage , and also has the Battle: Hymn of Ash perk , which grants an additional flat 5% attack bonus and an additional 7.5% if you’ve recently inflicted a physical status on an enemy. While the Border Guard isn’t primarily a Dexterity operator, it’s their secondary attribute. |
| Emergency measure | 4 stars | Dexterity, Physical Damage Boost | This is the Border Guard’s starting 4-star weapon. This sword grants Dexterity, but there are no other good Willpower sword options early on . |
How to farm essences for Border Guard weapons
Weapon essences are earned through daily activities in Alluvium. Selecting the right task for farming is quite simple.
Daily “Energy Alluvium” quests unlock as you progress through Arknights: Endfield . They can be found on the map and visited to spend daily Santian and obtain weapon essences. To learn exactly what a specific weapon requires, open the Combat Manual and see which “Energy Alluvium” is required for your weapon.
For No Respite (the Border Guard’s signature weapon), you can visit the Energy Alluvium located in the Hub , as it is the recommended place to farm weapons with the right perks and stat lines.
You can use Vale Engraving Permits to select specific essence stat lines for farming. These permits are purchased through the Inventory Distribution Service .
The Best Gear Sets for the Border Guard
The Frontiersman has one standout gear set worth striving for— a full three-piece gold set called the “Frontier Gear Set .” Farming gear in Endfield is relatively easy (it’s completely free), but it’s time-consuming, so you might want to choose one of the slightly less powerful sets to support the Frontiersman during the leveling phase.
| Set name | The best parts for the Border Guard | Set bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Frontier Equipment Set | T2 Armor, Corruption Resistant Gloves, Additional Oxygen Tube | This set was chosen for the Border Guard because it heavily focuses on SP generation. A full three-piece six-star set reduces the cooldown of combo skills by 15% and increases the entire team’s damage by 15% each time the Border Guard’s skills restore SP. This is a more support-oriented set. |
| The Legacy of Aburrey | Light Armor, Gauntlets, Sensor Chip | This simple mid-game set provides Will and Agility (the Border Guard’s core stats), as well as a set bonus that increases the Border Guard’s skill damage by 24% . As an additional bonus, using a combat skill, combo skill, or ultimate also grants an additional 5% damage for 15 seconds . |
| Mordvolt-resistant | Vest, Gloves, Wrench | This is a cheap early-game starter set that provides Will and a healing buff to keep the Border Guard alive, allowing them to continuously generate SP and buff the team. This set is a middle ground between Ferrium and Crystone gear. Crystone gear is the level 50 gear you’ll ultimately gravitate toward in the late-mid game. |
Three items are required to activate the set bonus . The fourth piece of equipment should be chosen based on the stat line that best suits the operator . For the Border Guard, this is primarily Willpower , as it is their primary attribute.
Best Commands for Border Guard
The Border Guard is one of the best operators in the game and can be used in almost any team. However, for maximum effectiveness, he’s best teamed with operators who can capitalize on his SP generation and buffs, as well as cover his weaknesses.
Here are some examples of strong teams with Border Guard:
Arknights: Endfield’s combat system is built around character combinations. You enter battle with a squad of four Operators , controlling one of them to deal damage based on the stun meter (the white bar below the enemy’s primary health bar) .
The Border Guard often plays a support role, generating SP and providing damage buffs to the entire team. Their playstyle is more focused on physical damage, and their goal is to accumulate vulnerability by applying physical damage skills .
Best Team Review for Border Guard
For our best team, we chose a combination of Border Guard, Administrator, Da Pan, and Lifen. In this combination, we recommend starting with Lifen, as he can initiate combos independently using his Combat Skill and Finishing Move.
- Lifen applies stacks of vulnerability with his combat skill, then initiates a combo with his final attack. This allows the Administrator to engage with his combo skill to deal additional physical damage.
- Da Pan can be used to apply Raise (another effect from physical damage skills), while Border Guard can enhance other combos and provide team buffs.
Alternative free command
Once you get the Border Guard, this free variation allows you to assemble a physical team without spending money on other characters. Both Chen Qianyu and the Administrator are available for free from the start .
- Chen Qianyu provides more physical damage skills to build vulnerability stacks.
- Ember is needed to add more physical damage , and she also acts as a support along with the Border Guard.
Border Guard Abilities Overview and Upgrade Priorities
The whole point of the Border Guard is to generate SP.
The whole point of the Border Guard is to generate SP.
- Full Moon Strike is a Border Guard combo skill that activates when any Operator on the team inflicts the Breach or Crush status . The skill deals additional damage for each stack of Vulnerability on the target.
- Crushing Front is a Border Guard combat skill. It inflicts the Breach status and restores SP based on the number of Vulnerability stacks on the enemy.
- The Border Guard’s ultimate, Shieldbearer’s Banner , unlocks the character’s full potential. It creates five stacks of Shield’s Oath , which causes the spectral soldier to attack an enemy whenever your team inflicts a physical status effect on them, such as Breach or Crush .
The priority for leveling up skills is as follows: first the ultimate ability, then the combat skill, and only after that the combo skill.
