Arknights: Endfield Umbral Monument Guide: Gameplay, Rewards & Team Comps

Umbral Monument is Arknights: Endfield’s permanent high-difficulty playground—tight team slots, strict rules, and mechanics that punish lazy comps. If you just want clean clears, full rewards, and zero wasted attempts, this guide breaks down the mode’s flow, key rewards, including Monumental Etching’s Oroberyl, plus stage tips and best team comps as new Series drop.

 

What is Umbral Monument

If you’ve been waiting for Endfield’s “okay, now my roster actually needs to work” mode—Umbral Monument is it. It’s a permanent, high-difficulty combat mode that gets periodic content updates, basically new batches of challenges over time, so it’s not a one-and-done checklist. And yeah, the official flavor text goes hard: “wars, heroes, carnage, and remembrance”—like every clear is another name etched into a living monument, and your team is the tool doing the carving.

To get in, you’ll need to clear the main mission “Chapter I Process II: Paving the Way” and reach Authority Level ≥ 30—so it’s very much a “you’re past the early-game training wheels, time to lock in” kind of mode.

 

Umbral Monument Gameplay

Umbral Monument runs in Series, and each Series typically contains multiple stages. Every stage is split into Normal Mode and Agony Mode, and the rule is simple: clear Normal first to unlock the significantly more challenging Agony version of that same stage—no skipping the warm-up.

Before you even swing, you’ll configure your team, and each battle caps you at four operators deployed, so every slot has a job and “close enough” picks get punished.

The game also really wants you to scout like an adult: in the stage selection screen you can check things like Recommended Operator Level and Mechanics, and you can hit Enemy Intel to pull detailed enemy information for the current stage.

That matters, because the core loop is basically: read the mechanic, read the enemy roster, then bring the operators that actually answer both—do that and your clear feels smooth instead of sweaty. Once the battle starts, the win condition is clear: defeat all enemies within the time limit (10 mins) to clear the stage.

Tool-wise, tacticals are allowed in Normal, but they’re prohibited and cannot be used during combat in Agony, so Agony is where your comp and execution have to stand on their own.

 

Event Rewards

Rewards come in two satisfying layers: completion flex + first-clear loot. If you complete every stage of a Series in Normal, you earn an Engraved Medal for that Series; if you complete every stage of the Series in Agony, you trim that engraved medal—same badge, upgraded brag rights. On top of that, completing all stages for the first time grants one-time rewards that include Mark of Perseverance, Advanced Cognitive Carrier, Arms INSP Set, and Protohedron—so even if you’re not an Agony enjoyer yet, Normal clears still pay real dividends.

 

Monumental Etching: Old Wounds

Monumental Etching: Old Wounds is the limited-time “bonus payout” layer that rides on top of Umbral Monument drops. It’s a limited-time exclusive event for Umbral Monument that launches with the version update; during the event, you complete specific Umbral Monument challenges and claim rewards (including Oroberyl and more) directly from the Monumental Etching event screen.

During Zeroth Directive, both Umbral Monument gameplay and Monumental Etching: Old Wounds are available, with the preview listing the Series opening dates as Those Forsaken by the Land — 2026/02/12 and Inorganic Construct — 2026/02/26.

The same preview also shows the Old Wounds time markers as Feb. 13, 2026 at 12:00 PM (server time) — Before version update and maintenance for Those Forsaken by the Land, and Feb. 24, 2026 at 12:00 PM (server time) — Before version update and maintenance for Inorganic Construct.

 

Monumental Etching: Old Wounds Rewards Overview

Monumental Etching: Old Wounds is your limited-time Umbral Monument reward track. Clear the listed challenges and milestones to earn Oroberyl—scan the table below to claim everything before it expires.

Task Name	Completion Requirement	Oroberyl
Unorthodox Tactics	Clear Unorthodox Tactics 1 time	150
Survive the Gas	Clear Survive the Gas 1 time	150
Ballista and Axe	Clear Ballista and Axe 1 time	150
Perseverance Challenge	Participate in any stage under the Agony Mode 5 times	150
Stop the Shield	Clear Stop the Shield 1 time	150
Encircled by Arrows	Clear Encircled by Arrows 1 time	150
Steady as Rock	Clear Steady as Rock 1 time	150
Damage Challenge I	Deal 500,000 damage in any Those Forsaken by the Land stage (including Agony Mode)	150
Practice Challenge I	Enter any Those Forsaken by the Land stage (including Agony Mode) 3 times	150
Damage Challenge II	Deal a cumulative total of 1,500,000 damage in any stage under Agony Mode	150
Practice Challenge II	Enter any Inorganic Construct stage (including Agony Mode) 3 times	150
Damage Challenge III	Deal 500,000 damage in any Inorganic Construct stage (including Agony Mode)	150
Practice Challenge III	Enter any Inorganic Construct stage including Agony Mode) 5 times	150
Agony Basics	Enter any Those Forsaken by the Land (Agony) stage 1 time	150
Agony Advanced	Enter any Inorganic Construct (Agony) stage 1 time	150
Agony Mastery	Enter any Inorganic Construct (Agony) stage 3 times	150

 

Battle Tips for Each Stage

Unorthodox Tactics

The stage gimmick is a slow ATK ramp on enemies (shown under their HP bars), so don’t “stall and chill”—play it fast. Delete Nidwyrms first: their corrosive spittle leaves puddles that melt melee if you stand in them. Ambushers themselves are basic ranged mobs, but their bolts still hurt, so keep strafing and punish their wind-ups.

Survive the Gas

The stage modifier is the real boss: poisonous fog constantly chips your HP, but healing your controlled operator “echoes” to the squad, so just keep the driver alive. Stagger the Vanguard to break its shield, don’t step on Siegeknuckles’ dropped armor scales, and dodge Infiltrator darts to open counter-windows.

Ballista and Axe

At the start, sprint out of the opening arrow barrage, then focus the Executioner—but keep an instant interrupt for his grab (if it lands, it’s a reset). He also has charged axe swings and a rock-throw tell worth interrupting. When Ballista comes down, interrupt its charged moves or just kite wide. Both return around half HP for a final round—survive first, flex later.

 

Recommend Team Comps

Laevatain Team

Laevatain

Wulfgard

Ardelia

Antal

Last Rite Team

Last Rite

Xaihi

Ardelia

Perlica

Physical Team

Da Pan

Pogranichnik

Ember

Ardelia

F2P Team

Endministrator

Chen Qianyu

Akekuri

Ardelia

 

Conclusion

Umbral Monument rewards the “smart clear” mindset: read the stage rules, prep your interrupts, and build for survival so the timer doesn’t bully you. Keep an eye on rotating content and make sure you actually claim your limited-time goodies. And if you’re a few pulls short right when updates hit, LDShop’s discounted, safe, fast Endfield top-ups are a clutch way to stay on schedule without wallet panic.