Cryo 
Guard 
Polearm Introduction
Estella is a 4-star character in Arknights: Endfield (AKE). Estella wields a Polearm and belongs to the Guard class. Estella also has access to the Cryo element. This guide provides a comprehensive overview of Estella's best build, including recommended Weapons, Gear pieces, Stats, and the strongest team compositions and rotations that maximize their potential.
Attributes
Pros & Cons
Pros
- ●Very easy to get max potentials.
- ●Cryo Infliction on Battle Skill.
- ●Battle skill becomes more SP efficient after consuming Shatter.
- ●Inflicts Vulnerable with Ultimate and Combo Skill.
- ●Applies Physical Susceptibility with Ultimate.
Cons
- ●Damage is split between Physical and Cryo, making scaling less efficient.
- ●Combo needs Solidification to work something that doesn’t synergize with the Physical archetype she primarily supports.
- ●Has a strong supportive kit for Physical teams, but the combo requirement forces a mix of Cryo plus Physical, which makes team build less flexible and usually just weaker than pure variants.
Lore
"Hngh... Feels like the weight of the entire world has come down at me ... my knees, especially..." A member of Operations Team Z7 in Endfield, Estella handles intel gathering and communications. Physically weak, and shadowed by misfortune wherever she goes, she sometimes lets her sharp tongue and dark humor push outsiders away. Her dream is simple: to live a peaceful life. After all, she has seen too many people like herself, trapped in a world with no choices, no change, and no future. A life of danger and extremes has numbed her senses to the world and raised her threshold for stimulation. As a result, she sometimes seeks out harsher forms of challenge — like the pounding rush of heavy metal music. Those rare jolts give her a fleeting sense of change and something real. Through her work in Endfield, Estella hopes to make the world a little better and life a little easier for those around her.
Skill Priority
Off Field: Combo Skill > Ultimate > Basic Attack > Battle Skill
Skills
Audio Noise
BASIC ATTACK:An attack with up to 4 sequences that deals Physical DMG. As the controlled operator, Final Strike also deals 17 Stagger.DIVE ATTACK:Basic attack performed in mid-air becomes a dive attack that deals Physical DMG to nearby enemies.FINISHER:Basic attack performed near a Staggered enemy becomes a finisher attack that deals massive Physical DMG and recovers some SP.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| BATK SEQ 1 Multiplier | 56% |
| BATK SEQ 2 Multiplier | 68% |
| BATK SEQ 3 Multiplier | 79% |
| BATK SEQ 4 Multiplier | 90% |
| Finisher ATK Multiplier | 900% |
| Dive ATK Multiplier | 180% |
Onomatopoeia
A lance thrust that fires a stream of freezing sound waves that deal Cryo DMG and apply Cryo Infliction to all enemies along its straight path.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| DMG Multiplier | 350% |
| Stagger | 10 |
Distortion
Quickly moves to the enemy's side to deal Physical DMG and forcibly Lift enemies in a small area. If the skill hits a target with Solidification, the skill deals additional DMG and applies Physical Susceptibility.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| DMG Multiplier Against Non-Solidified Enemies | 360% |
| DMG Multiplier Against Solidified Enemies | 630% |
| Stagger | 10 |
| Physical Susceptibility Multiplier | 15% |
| Physical Susceptibility Duration | 6 |
Tremolo
Estella expends all her strength to unleash a powerful slam of the spear shaft, dealing Physical DMG to all enemies in a circular area around self. To enemies with Physical Susceptibility, the skill forcibly applies Lift to them.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Cooldown | 10 |
| DMG Multiplier | 1100% |
| Stagger | 20 |
Talents
Assign to Control Nexus to grant all operators' Mood Regen +8/12%.
Assign to Reception Room to grant operator clue collecting efficiency +20/30%
When triggering Shatter, the next battle skill Onomatopoeia cast returns 7.5/15 SP. This effect cannot stack.
Ignores Cryo Infliction and receives Cryo DMG -10/20%.
Potentials
Combo skill Distortion improved: Physical Susceptibility duration +3s.
Ultimate Tremolo improved: Ultimate Energy cost -10%.
Battle skill Onomatopoeia improved: Freezing sound wave range +50% and DMG Dealt +40% to the first enemy hit.
Will +10, Strength +10.
After applying Solidification to an enemy, Estella gains 5 Ultimate Energy. Effect can only trigger once every 1s.
Recommended Weapons
Estella best Weapons are placed in order of what fits their playstyle the most. Check the comments to get additional context.
Stat 1 Boost - 9/9Main Attribute: +132Stat 2 Boost - 9/9Attack: +39.00%Passive Boost - 4/9Arts DMG Bonus: +19.20%After the wielder casts a Battle Skill, the wielder gains Arts DMG dealt +19.2% for 15s. After the wielder casts a Combo Skill, Arts DMG dealt +19.2% for 15s. The two effects apply separately and do not stack with themselves.
Estella's best in slot damage option by a very thin margin, despite it having multiple Arts DMG% boosts and most of Estella's damage being Physical. The reason it performs so well is due to its base damage and passive ATK%. With that said, it is not a huge upgrade over P5 OBJ Razohorn, meaning you don't have to chase it if you already have that.
Stat 1 Boost - 9/9Will: +124Stat 2 Boost - 9/9Physical DMG Bonus: +34.70%Passive Boost - 9/9To enemies with Cryo Infliction or Solidification, the wielder gains DMG dealt +22.4%. After consuming Solidification, ATK +33.6% for 15s. Effects of the same name cannot stack.
Estella's best 5-star option and also incredibly competitive with her best 6-star as well. It has two ideal passives and one that is good but only affects a part of her kit (Damage vs Cryo/Solidification). This, combined with the very strong Weapon Effect, puts this weapon at the top of Estella's wants list.
Stat 1 Boost - 9/9Agility: +156Stat 2 Boost - 9/9Physical DMG Bonus: +43.30%Passive Boost - 4/9Attack: +16.00%When the wielder applies Physical Statuses, the wielder also deals another hit of Physical DMG equal to 192% of the wielder's ATK.
Another 6-star option for Estella, but one which performs worse than JET due to it having Agility as a part of its passives, a stat she can't use. Even factoring this in, the remaining passives plus this weapon's solid Weapon Effect are enough for it to claw back enough benefit for it to perform reasonably well, making it an option if you already have it levelled and don't have either of the above two options.
Stat 1 Boost - 9/9Agility: +156Stat 2 Boost - 9/9Physical DMG Bonus: +43.30%Passive Boost - 4/9Against Vulnerability enemies, the wielder gains DMG dealt +32%. When the wielder's Battle Skill applies Vulnerability, the wielder gains All Attributes +12.8% for 15s. When the wielder's Battle Skill applies Physical Susceptibility, the wielder gains all attributes +12.8% for 15s. Max stacks for effects of the same name: 2. Duration of each stack is counted separately. Effect only triggers once every 0.1s.
A 6-star stat stick which has incredibly wonky passives for Estella (wrong main stat), but which ends up being better than her F2P option despite that. It is mostly varied by the Physical DMG% and DMG% against Vulnerable enemies.
Stat 1 Boost - 9/9Will: +93Stat 2 Boost - 9/9Arts DMG Bonus: +26.00%Passive Boost - 9/9After the wielder's Battle Skill hits the enemy, ATK +33.6% for 20s. Effects of the same name cannot stack.
Last resort option if you're lacking any of the choices above. Has the correct passive stats, but all at much lower base values, setting it significantly behind all other choices.
Gear Sets
Estella best sets are placed in order of what fits their playstyle the most. Check the comments to get additional context.
Attack +15%. When any operator in the team casts a battle skill, the wearer gains 1 stack of Yinglung's Edge that gives DMG +20% to the wearer's next combo skill. Yinglung's Edge can stack 3 time(s).
Due to Estella's main stat of Will being somewhat unique among Physical Damage Dealers at the time of release, her Set options aren't as varied or flexible as those of other Physical scalers. Because of this, Type 50 Yinlung is her best choice even if it doesn't offer any supportive capabilities.
Dupes Review
Estella dupes are very easy to obtain due to their low rarity. That's why the guide and review above already assumes you have them max duped and we're not reviewing each separately.
Calculations
Estella team calculations information aren't available yet. They will be added soon.
Overview
Kit Intro
Estella is a 4-star, Cryo, Polearm Support Damage dealer who has many strong abilities and effects, but all suffer from being split between two archetypes, Physical and Cryo-Solidification. This pulls her teams in two different directions, balancing out the power of her kit. Her element, Battle Skill, and Combo all Inflict or require Cryo in order to function, but the secondary effect of her combo and Ultimate both scale with and toward Physical.
What makes Estella strong is that her Combo Skill applies Vulnerable for free, which is incredibly powerful. Her Ultimate is cheap, also applies Vulnerable and inflicts Physical Susceptibility, another great supportive bonus. All that sounds great, and it is in Physical teams. The catch is, to gain access to it, Estella must trigger her combo, which requires an enemy to become Solidified - a reaction not often found in Physical teams she’s designed to support. Characters like Alesh can help, and do allow the team to work, but aren’t enough to make up for the loss of playing pure element teams with a sole focus on one game plan.
Right now, the Cryo-Physical hybrid archetype is lacking enough support to allow it to compete, leaving Estella as an alternative way to play other stronger teams for the time being.
Combo
Estella’s Combo Skill is her most powerful ability and also the reason she has to be played as a Physical-Cryo hybrid. The cause is its trigger requirement, which needs an enemy to be afflicted by Solidification. When used, causes Estella to deal Physical damage, some Stagger, and apply Lift, and if the enemy was Solidified, she’ll naturally Shatter them with said Lift and apply Physical Susceptibility for a short duration.
This Combo Skill has many good effects, and without its tricky trigger requirement and the restriction around applying Physical Susceptibility would allow Estella a much more prominent position in the meta, but alas, that’s not the case. However, that doesn’t make her weak; it just makes her less flexible to build teams around.
Potentials:
- **Potential 1: **Increases the duration of Physical Susceptibility significantly, making it more reliable and allowing it to boost the team's damage for longer even after your full combo has been executed.
Ultimate
Estella’s Ultimate isn’t as impactful as her Combo Skill, but continues to double down on her great supportive capabilities for the Physical element. Activating it only requires 70 energy (63 with potential 2), which is much cheaper than most characters' Ultimates.
Upon use, it deals a large hit of Physical AoE damage, Stagger, and if the enemy is suffering from Physical Susceptibility, which they should be if you time it right, it inflicts Knock Down on all targets hit. Between this ability and Estella’s Combo Skill, she grants 2 Vulnerability and a reliable Physical damage buff, all without requiring any SP.
Potentials:
- **Potential 5: **To make Estella’s low ultimate cost even more attractive, potential 5 also grants her an additional 5 energy every time an enemy becomes Solidified with a cooldown of 1s. Estella needs Solidification anyway, so this is essentially just free energy.
Battle Skill
Compared to her Ultimate and Combo, Estella’s Battle Skill is far less impressive. All it does on use is deal damage in a line, hitting all enemies for some Cryo damage, Stagger, and applying Cryo Infliction to them. Not very exciting when considering the Physical side of her kit, but can be a useful tool for triggering or enabling Solidification. For this reason alone, it usually does see some use in most Estella teams, but if there’s ever a way to bypass needing to use it, most teams probably will.
Talents
Both of Estella’s talents are completely utility-focused. The first, Commiseration, grants a new Shatter synergy to her Battle Skill. Now, after Estella triggers a Shatter, her next Battle Skill will recover 15 SP on use, improving her and the team's SP efficiency. Not a game-changing talent, but still a nice bonus that is well worth unlocking.
Note: The SP recovery effect is limited to one activation per Battle Skill; consuming multiple Shatters per Battle Skill will not return more SP.
Estella’s other talent, Laziness Pays Off Now, is a very minor and niche defensive boost to her survivability when battling enemies that deal Cryo damage. It’s so minor, in fact, you’ll likely not notice its effect at all when playing, meaning whether you unlock it or not shouldn’t impact Estella’s main role in teams, making it entirely optional.
Gameplay
When playing Estella, here are a few things to look out for to make the most of her kit:
- Trigger Solidification by making use of Estella’s Battle Skill in combination with another Infliction or by relying on her teammates.
- Shatter Solidification with Combo Skill in order to apply Vulnerable to enemies. Align its use with the rest of your Physical-based rotation in order to take advantage of the Physical Susceptibility it applies.
- When available, use Ultimate after Estella’s combo in order to deal a large burst of Physical damage and apply even more Vulnerability stacks.
- Consume Vulnerability stacks with another teammate in order to apply Crush or Breach.
Detailed Review
Update History
Patch 1.0
January 21st, 2026
Patch 1.0
Physical 
Striker 
Supporter