Arknights Base Building Guide: 10 Pro Tips for F2P Players

## Master Your Base, Master the Game If you're playing **Arknights**, you know the tower defense battles are only half the story. The real long-term strategy happens back at your **Rhodes Island base**, where smart **resource management** and **base building** determine how fast you can level your operators and pull for new ones. For **F2P players** and beginners, optimizing this system is the key to sustainable progress. Here are 10 pro tips to transform your base from a money pit into a well-oiled machine.  ## 10 Pro Tips for a Thriving Base ### 1. Prioritize Your 2-5-2 Layout **How to do it:** Build 2 Trading Posts, 5 Factories, and 2 Power Plants. This is the community-vetted, most efficient layout for balanced **resource management**. **Why it helps:** This setup maximizes your production of Gold Bars (in Factories) and your conversion of them into LMD and Battle Records (in Trading Posts). It provides a perfect, self-sustaining cycle of income and EXP, which are the lifeblood of your progression. Don't waste drones on other layouts until this is fully built and upgraded. ### 2. Specialize Your Factories for Maximum Output **How to do it:** Don't just assign operators randomly. Use operators with specific base skills. Designate 3 Factories to produce Gold Bars exclusively, and the other 2 to produce Battle Records. **Why it helps:** Operators with skills like "Gold Production" or "EXP Record Production" give massive efficiency boosts (often 30% or more) when placed in the correct facility. This specialization dramatically increases your daily yield of both key resources. ### 3. Master the Trading Post Rotation **How to do it:** In your Trading Posts, you'll see orders that trade Gold Bars for LMD or Battle Records. Focus primarily on the orders that give you the *Tier 3 (Gold) Battle Records*. Prioritize these over LMD orders when possible. **Why it helps:** Tier 3 Battle Records are the most efficient source of operator EXP. While LMD is important, leveling your core operators faster makes all content easier, which in turn earns you more LMD from stages. It's a better long-term investment. ### 4. Don't Sleep on the Reception Room **How to do it:** Keep your Reception Room at max level and always have a friend's "Clue Search" operator assigned to it. Make exchanging clues with friends a daily habit. **Why it helps:** Completing clue sets (exchanging Clue 7 is especially valuable) in the Friend's Club gives you a significant amount of Credit. This shop currency lets you buy **Headhunting Permits**, Recruitment Permits, and even rare materials every month—a crucial **F2P** source for gacha pulls.  ### 5. Use Drones Strategically, Not Recklessly **How to do it:** Your base generates drones over time. The best use for 99% of players is to speed up production in your Gold Bar Factories. **Why it helps:** Gold Bars are the foundational resource for everything in your base. Accelerating their production directly speeds up your entire economic engine, leading to more LMD and Battle Records faster. Using drones on anything else (like power plants) is almost always less efficient. ### 6. Optimize Your Control Center Operators **How to do it:** Always keep your Control Center fully staffed with operators whose skills reduce the morale drain of workers in other facilities (e.g., Amiya, Swire). **Why it helps:** Reduced morale drain means your specialized operators in Factories and Trading Posts can work longer shifts before needing a rest. This translates to more consistent, high-efficiency production without constant micromanagement. ### 7. Manage Morale Like a Pro **How to do it:** Rotate your operators! When an operator's morale in a production facility drops below 50%, move them to a Dormitory. Have a pre-leveled "B-team" of operators with the same or similar skills ready to swap in. **Why it helps:** Operators working below 50% morale suffer a steep penalty to their efficiency skill. By maintaining a rotation, you ensure your Factories and Trading Posts are always running at peak output, maximizing your daily gains. ### 8. Turn Excess Materials into Orundum **How to do it:** In the Workshop, you can craft Orundum—the premium currency for headhunting—using lower-tier materials, Carbon, and a small amount of LMD. **Why it helps:** This is one of the most reliable **F2P** methods to slowly but surely stockpile pulls. After you've built your core operator roster, converting surplus materials from farming stages into Orundum is an excellent long-term investment for acquiring new, powerful operators. ### 9. Level Your Base Facilities in the Right Order **How to do it:** Unlock and upgrade your facilities in this priority: Control Center (to unlock slots) > Factories & Trading Posts (to level 3) > Dormitories (to support your workforce) > Power Plants (only as needed to support upgrades). **Why it helps:** This upgrade path focuses your early resources on boosting production capacity first. A level 3 Factory produces significantly more than a level 2. Upgrading Power Plants last ensures you're not wasting time and LMD on capacity you aren't actively using yet.  ### 10. Integrate Base Farming with Stage Farming **How to do it:** When you need to farm a specific stage for promotion materials (e.g., Sugar Packs, Orirock), check which byproduct material it also drops. Then, use that byproduct in your Workshop to craft higher-tier materials you also need. **Why it helps:** This turns every sanity point into dual-purpose value. You get the primary material you were farming for *and* fuel for your base's Workshop, which can craft other rare materials or Orundum. It's the pinnacle of efficient **resource management**. ## Pro Tips: Next-Level Strategies Once you've mastered the basics, consider these advanced tricks: - **Operator Synergy:** Some operators provide global buffs when paired with specific others in the base (e.g., Lava and Hibiscus). Research and use these pairs for hidden efficiency gains. - **Credit Optimization:** Use your Credit store to buy the **Headhunting Permit** and **Recruitment Permit** every month without fail. They are your best value purchases. - **Workshop Crafting Focus:** In the late game, use your Workshop primarily to convert lower-tier materials into the highest-tier ones (T4/T5), as these are the most sanity-intensive to farm directly. ## Try These Out! The beauty of **Arknights** is that its deep **base building** systems reward thoughtful planning. You don't need to spend money to build a powerful roster—you just need to be smart with your **Rhodes Island** real estate. Start by shifting to a **2-5-2 layout**, specialize your workers, and watch your stockpiles of LMD, EXP, and even **Orundum** grow steadily. Your future 6-star operator will thank you.