Chen Qianyu Build Guide

Chen Qianyu Akekuri Ardelia Endministrator

Good F2P Starter team using 3 free Operators + Akekuri. Endministrator and Chen synergy is really good and a solid Physical Core for any team. Akekuri can also be replaced by any of the 6 Star Physical characters - Ember Pogranichnik Lifeng or even Da Pan

Estella Alesh Chen Qianyu Endministrator

Alesh and Estella form the Cryo-Physical Hybrid core, as Estella can apply Cryo Infliction for Alesh, which is exactly what he need to solidify enemies and that’s also what Estella needs to trigger her Combo Skill that applies Physical Susceptibility to enemies, increasing both Chen and Endmin’s damage output.

Chen Qianyu Da Pan Lifeng Pogranichnik

A more premium team that uses Pogranichnik to consume Vulnerable stacks and generate more SP for your team. That team is harder to play as it requires multiple setups to fully stack debuffs on enemies. Da Pan consumes Vulnerable every other rotation for big damage. Lifeng also should use his Battle Skill against an enemy with no Vulnerable Stacks in order to apply Physical Susceptibility. Chen and Pogranichnik are pretty straightforward.

Weapons

• Best-in-Slot: Sundering Steel (P4+)
• Alt: Rapid Ascent
• Alt (F2P): Sundering Steel
• Alt (F2P): Aspirant

Sundering Steel gives ATK% on its Weapon Effect, which is really strong since there aren't as many ATK% buffs compared to DMG% buffs. Just like her Signature, Chen is able to maintain it with a high uptime due to both her Battle Skill and Combo Skill applying Lift to enemies. At P4 it's already better than P0 Rapid Ascent.

Rapid Ascent is great in theory, but the lack of Critical Damage buffs means that you can't make good use of the Critical Rate it provides. It's not a bad weapon and you should use it if you're lacking Sundering Steel copies, but you shouldn't go out of your way just to get this weapon.

Aspirant is Chen’s Signature, it’s a really good weapon with great synergy with Chen’s Kit. It’s really easy to fully stack this weapon and trigger a massive damage increase for your Ultimate.

Gear

Gear Set: Swordmancer

• Armor: Swordmancer Heavy Armor / Bonekrusha Heavy Armor
• Gloves: Swordmancer TAC Fists
• Kit 1: Swordmancer Flint
• Kit 2: Swordmancer Flint

The Swordmancer Set increases the Stagger efficiency while also synergizing with Chen’s ability to apply Physical Status to enemies. Recommended for General Use. Bonekrusha Heavy Armor provides Ultimate Gain Efficiency which can be useful for more consistent Ultimates.

Battle Skill > Ultimate >= Combo Skill > Basic Attack

Focus on her Battle Skill first as you are incentivized to use Chen to Interrupt enemies for extra Stagger. After this level up skills as you can, with a higher priority for her Ultimate and Combo Skill.

• P1 Shadowless
• P2 Heirloom Martial Arts
• P3 Dual-Wielding Swordmancer
• P4 Improvised Chi Xiao
• P5 Bonded with the World

All of Chen’s Potentials add increased damage to her. All of them are welcome but none of them stand out.

Potential 1 increases Chen’s Damage against enemies below 50%. Good to finish enemies using her Ultimate.

Potential 2 just gives increased Stats. A bit of Agility and Physical DMG.

Potential 3 adds a x1.1 Multiplier to the Damage of her Battle Skill, Combo Skill and Ultimate.

Potential 4 reduces the energy cost of her Ultimate, but since her Ultimate works as a finisher, the reduced energy cost is only noticeable on longer fights where you cast multiple Ultimates.

Potential 5 reduces the cooldown of her Combo skill, which means more Damage and Physical Status to enemies.

Keep in mind that vertically investing in Arknights Endfield is not recommended and you should treat these as a bonus damage/utility for your Operator.

Chen is all about applying Vulnerable Stacks by using her Combo Skill and Battle Skill. The Combo Skill is easy to trigger as it requires applying Vulnerable to enemies, something that her Battle Skill can do for you. The Combo Skill applies even more Vulnerable Stacks, making her an amazing option for Physical focused teams. Operators like the Endministrator, Da Pan or Pogranichnik can consume Vulnerable stacks with their Battle Skills to deal more damage or even generate SP.

Keep in mind that her Combat Talent gives an ATK Buff whenever you hit the enemy with a skill. This lasts for 10s and can stack up to 5 times. So spacing out her Battle Skill and Combo Skill is important to avoid losing stacks through the fight.

Chen’s Ultimate only deals damage but it's really good damage. She has some utility on her kit through her 2nd Combat Talent that applies extra Stagger to enemies when interrupting enemy charged attacks. 

Summary: With her Combo Skill out of cooldown, use another unit to apply Physical Status and trigger her Combo Skill. Wait a bit before using her Battle Skill, stacking more Vulnerable and Chen’s Combat Talent. Repeat this through the fight and remember to consume these stacks using Crush or Breach for some extra damage

Chen Qianyu will release on January 22nd, 2026 along with the release of Arknights: Endfield.

Chen Qianyu is a Standard Operator, meaning they are permanently available through the gacha system.

You will also receive a free copy of Chen early on in the story.