NTE Arcs Guide: Weapon Types, Research Programs and Matching

Arcs are the weapon layer of NTE. Every character equips one, every Arc carries a passive on top of its stats, and the limited ones run on their own gacha track separate from the character boards.

The five Arc types

Every Arc belongs to exactly one of five types: Solid, Liquid, Gas, Plasma and Synthesis.

Each character has a fixed Arc type — Shinku is Solid, Iroi is Synthesis, Fadia is Liquid, and so on. The full roster lists the type for every Esper. You cannot put a Synthesis Arc on a Solid character, which is why “best Arc for X” is a much shorter list than it first appears.

The public NTE databases currently document 46 Arcs across S, A and B rarities.

Arc passives are character-specific, not generic

Unlike a lot of gacha weapon systems, several NTE Arcs name a specific character or reaction in their passive. Examples cross-checked between the two public databases:

• Blushing Mirage (S, Solid) — grants bonus Cosmos damage when Shinku enters her Surging Crimson form; effectively her signature Arc
• Blow up the Crowd (S, Solid) — boosts the active character’s ATK while the wearer is off-field, which makes it a support Arc for Haniel or Aurelia
• Contemplative Cat (S, Gas) — scales Cosmos damage with how many Fons you are carrying, up to a stack cap, favouring Chiz or Esper Zero
• Camellia Society (S, Synthesis) — CRIT damage window when the wearer’s HP drops without taking damage, built for Baicang

The pattern: signature Arcs go to their owner, off-field passives go to supports, and stat-stick Arcs are fine on anyone of the right type.

Arc Research Programs

Limited S-Class Arcs are not on the character board. They come from a parallel Arc Research Program, accessed through Arc Shop → Arc Research Program in-game, and each program runs alongside a specific character board with matching keys:

The official notes are explicit that each limited Arc is “currently only available through this program” — so an Arc missed in its window is gone until it returns, the same way limited characters are. Both current programs close with their boards on September 9, 2026, 05:59 (UTC+8); see the banner schedule.

Upgrading Arcs

Version 1.3 streamlined the upgrade flow for Characters, Arcs, Consoles and Modules, and improved the in-game guidance for acquiring Ascension items when you are short — the game now points you at the source for each missing material. That in-game flow is more reliable than any third-party material list, which is why we do not reproduce one here: material tables go stale every version.

Priorities for a new account

1. Get any Arc of the correct type equipped — an unequipped slot is pure lost stats
2. Upgrade the Arc on your main carry before touching secondary characters
3. Only chase a limited Arc if you already own the character it is written for — a signature passive on a character you do not have is worth nothing
4. Spend keys on the program that matches the board you are actually pulling on

For where Arcs fit into an overall build, see the modules and Console guide — Modules are the second half of a character’s power, and they are farmable rather than gacha.