Zhuang Fangyi Pull Drought: 1.3 Saving Strategy | Endfield

The gacha conversation around Arknights: Endfield has hit a fever pitch this week, and if you’ve spent any time scrolling through r/Endfield or the official Discord lately, you’ve probably noticed a familiar pattern emerging. Players are split into two distinct camps right now, and the divide between them tells us something important about how Endfield’s pull economy actually functions. On one side, commanders are casually mentioning 200, 300, even 380 pulls saved up. On the other, the players who chased that elusive P1 Zhuang Fangyi are staring at a near-empty Oroberyl tab with three potentially exciting banners looming on the horizon.

So which group made the right call? And more importantly, what does this reveal about how you should be approaching the Endfield pull system as we head into Patch 1.3 and beyond? Let’s break it all down.

TL;DR - Key Points

The community is split into four pull archetypes — Disciplined Savers (120-380 pulls banked), Strategic Pullers (~100-140 left), Pity Tax Victims (30-50 left), and Dupe Chasers (zero and regrets)
Going for dupes is the worst Oroberyl ROI in Endfield right now — one P1 can cost a full 120-pull spark, which is an entire new operator’s worth of currency for a marginal stat bump
Patch 1.3 is loaded — Mi Fu, the Ses’qa vampire (Camille/Camus), and the 13th Feranmut Proxy are all on the radar, plus a potential half-anniversary reconvener
F2P pull income is 40-70 per patch — light spenders pull 90-110, both numbers depend heavily on event participation and free-multi banners
Maintain a 120-pull floor — the disciplined savers in the community all share this rule because it makes you immune to surprise banners
Skip signature weapons unless you’re already buffered — the gap between sig and battle pass weapons is real but rarely decisive
The Fest of Brilliance gotcha matters here too — 80 and 120 pity do not carry from regular banners onto reconveners, so chasing Fangyi did not bank pity toward a Gilberta or Laevatain rerun

Related read: Zhuang Fangyi Team Optimization: Electric Meta Analysis goes deeper on zhuang fangyi.

Zhuang Fangyi was never going to be just another six-star release. She was teased since the 1.0 Wuling storyline arc, her ascended form generated months of speculation, and Hypergryph’s marketing leaned into the buildup harder than any banner since launch. The result was a perfect storm of FOMO that even seasoned gacha veterans struggled to resist. Players who normally hold themselves to strict pull discipline found themselves rationalizing “just one more multi” deep into hard pity territory.

The pattern repeated across the community with almost mathematical predictability. Commanders who had previously skipped Tangtang, Yvonne, or even Laevatain suddenly found themselves emptying their banks for Fangyi. Some chased her signature weapon Lone Barge. Others pushed for P1 just to get the enhanced illustration on Dijang and the small Sunderblade cap bump. A few brave souls went all the way to P5, dropping a full 480 pulls and even buying out double Originium packs from the in-game shop to make it happen.

The fallout is what we’re living through now. The community has sharply divided between the “loaded and ready” crowd and the “completely tapped out” survivors who are praying that 1.3 does not drop a must-pull operator in the first banner slot. If you want the mechanical breakdown of what people actually pulled for, our Zhuang Fangyi complete guide has the rotation and team math. This post is about the budget math.

Reading the Room: The Four Endfield Pull Archetypes

What’s fascinating about the current state of the community is how starkly the experiences differ depending on pull strategy. Looking at the broader conversation, you can essentially sort players into four recognizable archetypes:

Archetype	Pulls Banked	Pull Behavior	Position Heading Into 1.3
Disciplined Savers	120-380	Skipped Fangyi entirely	Multiple guarantees ready
Strategic Pullers	100-140	Got Fangyi early (40-60 pulls)	Comfortable buffer
Pity Tax Victims	30-50	Lost 50/50, ground to hard pity	Must skip one banner
Dupe Chasers	0-15	Pushed for P1+ or sig+P0	Starting from zero

The Disciplined Savers

These are the players who decided early that Fangyi did not fit their team composition, did not pull on her banner, and now have multiple guarantees ready to deploy on upcoming operators. Many of them are eyeing the Feranmut Proxy, Mi Fu, and the so-called Ses’qa vampire coming in 1.3 with the confidence of someone who has options. A few outliers in this group are sitting on 300+ pulls because they have been saving since Yvonne’s banner and never blinked.

The Strategic Pullers

This group got Fangyi within their first 40 to 60 pulls, perhaps grabbed her signature weapon with their Arsenal Tickets, and is now sitting in a comfortable middle ground with 100 to 140 pulls available. They did not chase dupes, did not lose every coin flip, and they’re going into 1.3 with breathing room. Statistically, this is the second-largest cohort in the community right now.

The Pity Tax Victims

These commanders lost their 50/50 going for Fangyi, ground all the way to hard pity at 120, and walked out with 30 to 50 pulls left. They can probably afford one more character if they grind hard, but they will need to skip at least one upcoming banner. This is the most numerically common outcome based on the math; 50/50 loss rate is exactly 50%, after all.

The Dupe Chasers

The Dupe Chasers are the players who went deep, pushing for P1 or higher, often combining that with weapon pulls. These commanders are basically starting from zero, and the wave of regret in the community discussions has been palpable. Several have publicly counted their losses at over $400 in real-money spending on Originium packs, only to walk away with a P1 they admit was not worth the cost.

The Hard Truth About Dupes in Endfield

Here’s where the conversation gets uncomfortable for anyone who emptied their reserves chasing potentials. The prevailing community sentiment, echoed by veteran players who’ve been around since launch, is that going for dupes in Endfield is one of the least efficient uses of Oroberyls in any current gacha title.

The reasoning is straightforward. Endfield’s endgame content, at this stage of the game’s lifecycle, simply does not demand maxed potentials to clear. Players running P0 operators with base weapons are obliterating Umbral Monument content and clearing all available challenges without issue. The gap between P0 and P5 for the vast majority of operators amounts to quality-of-life improvements rather than meaningful power scaling.

Dupe Cost vs Benefit Ranking

The cost calculation tells the whole story. A single dupe potentially represents another 120 pulls in the worst case scenario, which translates to roughly 60,000 Oroberyls if you hit hard pity. That’s an entire new operator’s worth of currency disappearing for a marginal stat increase.

Dupe Level	Worst-Case Cost	Real DPS Gain	Verdict
P1	~120 pulls	5-12% (op-dependent)	Rarely worth it
P2	~240 pulls	+3-5% (utility tweaks)	Almost never worth it
P3	~360 pulls	+5-8% (small ramp)	Whale territory
P4	~480 pulls	+3-7% (filler)	Strictly cosmetic value
P5	~600 pulls	15-25% capstone	Whale prestige play

The exception is Fangyi specifically, where P5 unlocks 15 Electric RES Ignore, which is a real multiplier that scales linearly through the entire fight. Our Potential 5 worth tier list ranks every operator by P5 ROI, and Fangyi sits at five stars precisely because of that ignore mechanic.

But “P5 Fangyi is good” does not mean “P5 Fangyi is worth 600 pulls for an F2P.” The veterans of the original Arknights have been particularly vocal about this. The HG lineage has always rewarded patience and selective pulling over potential maxing, and Endfield is continuing that tradition. The path to happiness, as one frequently-upvoted comment put it, is patience.

What’s Actually Coming in Patch 1.3 and Why It Matters

The reason the current pull drought is causing so much anxiety is that the upcoming patches are loaded with operators that have generated significant hype. Hypergryph has not officially confirmed the order, but the community consensus based on datamines and leaks looks like this:

Banner Slot	Operator	Element / Role	Hype Level
1.3 First Half	Mi Fu	Electric, ZF synergy	Very high
1.3 Second Half	Camille (Ses’qa Vampire)	Heat/Physical, polearm Guard	Very high
1.4 First Half	13th Feranmut Proxy	TBD, design-driven	High
1.4 Second Half	Arcane / Sui Shisan	Caster, Endmin successor TBD	Medium-high
Half-Anni?	Reconvener banner	Existing-roster catch-up	Variable

Mi Fu

Mi Fu is drawing massive interest, particularly from players who suspect she’ll synergize with Zhuang Fangyi’s electric team. The narrative threading in the main story has set up an expectation that she’ll slot into Fangyi’s squad mechanically, which makes her a priority pull for anyone who invested heavily in the electric archetype. Skipping Mi Fu after pulling Fangyi is the kind of decision that looks reasonable on the spreadsheet and miserable in actual gameplay.

The Ses’qa Vampire (Camille)

The vampire-themed operator, frequently referenced as the “Ses’qa Vampire” or eventually confirmed as Camille, is expected to drop in the back half of 1.3. His kit has not been fully revealed at time of writing, but the design alone has generated enough interest that many players are pre-committing pulls before even seeing the numbers. He is also reportedly the first six-star male operator, which carries its own gravity for collectors. Our 1.3 expansion cycle roadmap has the early kit-leak rundown if you want the full picture.

The Feranmut Proxy

The 13th Feranmut Proxy is generating buzz primarily on design appeal, with players noting her aesthetic as a deciding factor for pulls regardless of kit performance. She’s the kind of banner that will catch out Disciplined Savers who thought they were immune to design-FOMO and discover otherwise.

Looking Further Ahead

Camille and Arcane are names that keep appearing in long-term saving plans. Players who skipped Fangyi specifically called out these two as their reasoning, with some commanders planning to skip three or four consecutive banners to guarantee one or both.

The Reconvener Banner Question

Adding another layer of complexity to the saving math is the question of a potential half-anniversary reconvener event between 1.3 and 1.4. Hypergryph’s pattern from the Fest of Brilliance rerun in 1.2 was instructive and brutal in equal measure: the Gilberta + Laevatain rerun ran on the Fest of Brilliance banner type, and critically, the 80-pull six-star pity and the 120-pull Character Selection Permit pity do not carry over to the next Fest of Brilliance banner.

In other words, the pity you accumulated chasing Fangyi sits useless on her chartered banner. It does not bank toward a reconvener. If a half-anni rerun drops between 1.3 and 1.4, players who burned through their reserves on Fangyi could face an impossible choice: skip the rerun of a previously missed operator like Gilberta or Laevatain, or skip new content entirely.

This is exactly why the Disciplined Savers in the community are emphasizing the 120 to 240 pull buffer strategy. Maintaining at least one full pity worth of currency at all times means you’re never blindsided by surprise banners, character announcements, or design reveals.

Pull Income Math: What You Can Actually Earn

Before we get to strategy, you need to know what you’re working with. Here’s the realistic Oroberyl accumulation by player type during an average ~50-day patch cycle, based on community-reported numbers and our own pull-tracking spreadsheet:

Income Source	F2P	Battle Pass	Battle Pass + Monthly	Whale
Daily missions	~12 pulls	~12 pulls	~12 pulls	~12 pulls
Weekly contracts	~6 pulls	~6 pulls	~6 pulls	~6 pulls
Story / one-time content	5-15 pulls	5-15 pulls	5-15 pulls	5-15 pulls
Event rewards	10-15 pulls	10-15 pulls	10-15 pulls	10-15 pulls
Free banner multi	10 pulls	10 pulls	10 pulls	10 pulls
Battle pass premium	0	15 pulls	15 pulls	15 pulls
Monthly pass (30 days)	0	0	~25 pulls	~25 pulls
Originium packs	0	0	0	50-200+
Total per patch	43-58	58-73	83-98	120-300+

Numbers vary by event participation and story completion state. If you have not finished Wuling or the Marker Stone Outpost story content yet, you have extra one-time income waiting for you. Knock those out before 1.3 to bank pulls you might otherwise miss.

Practical Pull Strategy by Archetype

If you’re one of the players currently sitting on minimal currency, here’s the realistic path forward based on the patterns the community is reporting.

If You’re a Disciplined Saver (120+ pulls banked)

You earned this position. The trap now is over-confidence. Resist the urge to splurge on the first 1.3 banner before you see what’s coming in 1.4. Pick one of the two 1.3 banners (Mi Fu or Camille), commit fully, and rebuild your buffer before 1.4 drops. If both 1.3 operators look mandatory, accept that you will exit 1.3 at zero, but only do that if both are confirmed to fit your existing teams.

If You’re a Strategic Puller (100-140 pulls)

You have one guaranteed pull available with a small margin. Spend it on whichever 1.3 operator best fits your roster. Skip the other and rebuild for 1.4. Do not pull on signature weapons in 1.3; you cannot afford the gamble.

If You’re a Pity Tax Victim (30-50 pulls)

You have to skip a banner. The math is unforgiving. Save aggressively through 1.3 first half, then evaluate whether 1.3 second half is worth your accumulated stack plus the rebuilt buffer. Most commanders in this position should target Mi Fu or Camille but not both.

If You’re a Dupe Chaser (Near Zero)

Accept that 1.3 is a rebuild patch for you. Grind every available source, finish all story content you have skipped, and aim to enter 1.4 with at least 120 pulls. You will miss something in 1.3, and that is fine. The character will rerun, eventually.

Common Mistakes to Avoid Heading Into 1.3

Pull discipline is mostly about not making the same handful of mistakes everyone else makes. Here are the patterns that keep showing up in community post-mortems:

Pulling on a signature weapon before securing the operator. Signature weapons are 10-20% upgrades over battle pass alternatives. Operators are the actual unit. Always finish the character pity first.
Chasing P1 for the illustration alone. It is genuinely cool and genuinely not worth 120 pulls. Screenshot the Dijang from a YouTuber’s video and save yourself the currency.
Pulling at hard pity 3 a.m. local time. Sleep-deprived gacha decisions are the single biggest predictor of regret in the community surveys. Set a hard rule: no pulling after midnight unless you’ve already passed the 50/50.
Assuming the next operator will rerun “soon.” Endfield has had exactly one rerun banner in its entire history. The expected cadence is “eventually,” not “next patch.”
Treating Arsenal Tickets like premium currency. Arsenal Tickets only work on the active weapon banner. Hoarding them across banners loses you free pulls.
Forgetting that 80-pity does not protect you from losing 50/50. Hitting the 80-pull soft pity guarantees a six-star, not your six-star. Plan for 120 every time.
Pulling on Fest of Brilliance reconvener with under 120 stored. The pity does not carry. If you cannot afford a full spark, you cannot afford the banner.

For a wider survey of veteran-tested gacha rules, our gacha veteran’s guide covers the foundational mechanics including spark math, weapon currency, and battle pass value.

The Watch List: What Could Change This Plan

The strategy above assumes the 1.3 roadmap holds roughly as datamines and leaks suggest. Several signals could change the math materially, and you should watch for them:

Endgame mode announcement. A Contingency Contract-style permanent endgame mode in 1.3 would dramatically raise the premium on team-completeness. If announced, expect dupe value to shift upward for off-meta supports.
Mi Fu’s kit reveal. If her kit explicitly scales off Electric Infliction or Sunderblade stacks, she becomes a near-mandatory pull for Fangyi owners and the saving math compresses fast.
Camille’s element confirmation. If he turns out to be Heat-element rather than Physical, the Heat team archetype gets a major boost and Ardelia/Laevatain pullers may want to prioritize him.
A surprise reconvener slot. If Hypergryph announces a Yvonne, Last Rite, or Endmin rerun before 1.4, players who skipped those will need to re-budget.
Free-multi banner extensions. Hypergryph occasionally adds 10-20 free multis to anniversary events. Half-anniversary in particular could add a meaningful chunk to your reserves.
Originium pack discount events. Anniversary discounts on double-purchase Originium have historically appeared at half-year and full-year marks. Light spenders should watch for these.

Forward-looking content like this is exactly why the Disciplined Savers maintain a buffer. Flexibility costs pulls. Pulls are stored optionality.

The Player Experience Divide

What’s perhaps most interesting about the current community conversation is how it reveals two fundamentally different relationships with the game. Some players are treating Endfield as a long-term commitment where every pull decision needs to be optimized across a multi-year roadmap. Others are pulling based on emotional connection to specific characters, accepting the resource cost as part of the entertainment value.

Neither approach is wrong, but they lead to very different experiences. The optimizers are going into 1.3 with options and flexibility. The character collectors are going in with the satisfaction of having their favorites but limited choices ahead. The truth is that Endfield, as a relatively young title without an established meta and with content that rarely demands optimal builds, gives you unusual freedom to pull based on preference rather than necessity. That’s actually a positive design feature, even if it makes the discipline conversation more complicated.

If you treat your pull strategy as a personal preference rather than a moral question, you can hold both positions without contradiction: pull what you love, but understand the cost.

Final Read

The Zhuang Fangyi banner has become a case study in gacha discipline, and the lessons it offers will continue to apply as Endfield’s roster expands. Going broke for a character you love is a valid choice. Going broke for a P1 illustration on a character you already own is a choice you might regret in six weeks when an even better operator drops.

The community has spoken with remarkable consistency on this point. Save aggressively. Pull selectively. Skip without guilt. Maintain a 120-pull floor as a hard rule. Never pull while sleep-deprived. And never assume the next reconvener is just around the corner, because Endfield’s track record says it is not.

Patch 1.3 arrives in roughly three weeks. The clock is ticking on your currency accumulation, and the operators on the horizon are not going to wait. Plan accordingly, Commander.

FAQ

How many pulls do I need to guarantee a six-star in Endfield?

The hard guarantee is 120 pulls per Chartered banner. The 80-pull soft pity gives you a guaranteed six-star but does not guarantee the rate-up character (50/50). Always plan for 120 if you want certainty.

Does pity carry between banners in Endfield?

The 80-pull six-star pity carries between most Chartered banners, but does not carry between Chartered and Fest of Brilliance reconvener banners. The 120-pull Character Selection Permit pity is banner-locked and never carries.

Should I pull for Zhuang Fangyi dupes after getting P0?

No, unless you are a long-term whale or specifically targeting P5. Her P1 through P4 levels are quality-of-life improvements. Only P5 (15 Electric RES Ignore) provides a transformative damage multiplier, and the cost to reach it is roughly 600 pulls in the worst case.

Is Mi Fu worth pulling if I already have Zhuang Fangyi?

If leaks about Electric synergy hold, yes, particularly for players running Fangyi as their main DPS. If the kit ends up being a standalone Electric DPS rather than a Fangyi support, the calculation shifts and skipping becomes more reasonable.

When does Patch 1.3 release?

Hypergryph has not officially confirmed a date, but the community projection based on the standard 50-day patch cycle is early June 2026. The current 1.2 patch ends roughly when the Fest of Brilliance rerun concludes, with 1.3 following directly.

Should I use my Originium on signature weapons or operators?

Operators first, always. Signature weapons provide a 10-20% performance bump over battle pass alternatives, which is meaningful but not transformative. Battle pass weapons clear all current Endfield endgame content without issue.

Can I clear Endfield endgame as F2P with P0 operators?

Yes. Current community clears of Umbral Monument, Turbidity Manifest, and side challenges regularly feature P0 operators with battle pass or factory-crafted weapons. The content is built around accessible builds, not whale builds.

How much can I realistically save between Patches 1.2 and 1.3?

F2P players can expect 40-70 pulls during the final weeks of 1.2 if they have finished all story content and are participating in events. Battle pass holders see 60-90 pulls, and Monthly Pass holders see 90-110 pulls. These numbers assume zero leftover currency at the start.

Will Zhuang Fangyi rerun in a future reconvener event?

Almost certainly yes, but the timing is unpredictable. Endfield has had exactly one rerun banner so far (Gilberta + Laevatain in 1.2.5), so the expected cadence is at least one patch but likely several. If you missed Fangyi, plan for a wait of three to six patches minimum.

Not officially. The community is anticipating one based on Hypergryph’s pattern from other titles, but no announcement has been made at time of writing. Maintain pull discipline through 1.3 so you’re not blindsided if it appears.

Stay tuned to Endfield Hub for the 1.3 banner reveal coverage as soon as Hypergryph publishes the official roadmap. The next livestream is expected within the patch announcement window.

ZHUANG FANGYI PULL DROUGHT: 1.3 SAVING STRATEGY | ENDFIELD