Arknights: Endfield’s version 1.1 update, “Old Deep Water Dies, by Rising Tide It is Denied” rolled out on March 12. While players have been diving into all the new features it has to offer (and using them to build good old, man-made horrors), there’s also been some new-found appreciation for existing items in the game. Specifically, players in Japan have woken up to the tremendous benefits of Jincao in the AIC.
Jincao is a natural resource used as a material for various healing consumables. It’s found in Wuling, and can be considered a higher-tier counterpart to the Buckflower from Valley IV. While its role in producing stronger healing items was already widely known, players have become aware of another, less obvious advantage.
Namely, plants from Valley IV yield only one Carbon per unit when processed in a Refining Unit. By contrast, Jincao and other plants like Yazhen can produce two Carbon per unit. The Carbon can then be refined further into Stabilized Carbon, which serves as a key material for crafting Xiranite. Since Xiranite production requires the Forge of the Sky, a facility with a placement cap, optimizing your production efficiency becomes especially important. Meaning, the ability to generate two Carbon from a single unit of Jincao ultimately enables players to streamline and compress their Xiranite production lines, which is why it’s gaining so much attention all-over again.
Notably, the fact that Jincao yields 2x Carbon is not explicitly explained in any in-game tutorial, which makes it a bit of a “hidden recipe.” As a result, it’s a mechanic that players are unlikely to notice unless they test it themselves in the Refining Unit. While some players were quick to catch on and are probably thinking “you’re only finding out now?” many have been using materials like Buckflower for Carbon production this whole time, and have suddenly realized they need to rebuild their production lines.
These days, gameplay tips and strategies tend to spread quickly, and Endfield even includes a blueprint-sharing feature that makes it easier for things to circulate. Despite that, it’s amusing that a “trick” like this remained relatively unknown to a portion of the playerbase for nearly two months after release.
That said, as mentioned earlier, Xiranite production lines can still be built using alternative materials like Buckflower. Endfield’s new update also introduces new resources such as Cuprium Ore, along with additional AIC features like conduits for underground piping.
Arknights: Endfield is available as a free-to-play title on PC (official site/Epic Games Store), PS5, iOS, and Android.
