U4GM What You Need to Reach Stragglers Grove in Endfield

Getting into Wuling feels a bit cruel at first. You see calm water, narrow docks, and routes that look like they should lead somewhere, so naturally you want to wander. Then the bamboo barriers start showing up and everything turns into a dead end. A lot of players look at shortcuts like Arknights endfield accounts, but if your goal is simply opening up Stragglers Grove, you can do it the normal way. The key is a side quest chain, and once it starts, the whole area slowly stops feeling locked behind invisible walls and starts acting like a real zone.

How the quest chain starts

What you're waiting for is a Baker message from Mi Fu. If it hasn't shown up yet, don't overthink it. You probably just need a little more progress in the main story. After that message lands, you'll unlock Silent Grove: The Beginning. This part is pretty easy to follow. First you track down Watchguard Li Zhui, then head to Qingbo Stockade and speak with Qingwu. From there, the game sends you out to gather scrap for an old raft. Sounds like routine fetch-quest stuff, sure, but it matters more than it seems. Repairing that raft is what starts turning the waterways into actual travel routes instead of scenery you can only stare at.

The moment movement opens up

Once the raft work begins, you'll bounce between ferry points and small objectives. Burdensnout Hill is one of the early spots most players run into. Here, the important thing is not to rush past the interactable objects. You'll need to use a hydrocube and activate a core, and it's easy to miss one if you're sprinting after the marker. This section isn't hard, but it does change the feel of the whole map. As soon as raft travel becomes reliable, Stragglers Grove stops being a frustrating backdrop. You can finally move through the place without smashing into blocked paths every couple of minutes.

The Zhailing Islet puzzle that trips people up

The next step is Silent Grove: Zhailing Islet, and this is where loads of people stall. The bamboo is still in the way, but there's a clue nearby: a stone animal statue. Use that as your reference point. Face the statue, turn right, and light the two nearest lanterns. Then go back to facing the statue, turn left, and light the lanterns along that side as you move forward. There's also a bridge terminal here that needs water, and that catches people out too. Bring empty bottles from your base before you head over. You can fill them at any water source through the quick action wheel, which is the same menu most people only touch for photo mode.

South Hill and full access

Silent Grove: South Hill is much shorter, which honestly feels like the game giving you a break. Take the raft across, locate the missing Tianshi, and repair Core S3. After a brief wrap-up scene, the barriers across Stragglers Grove are gone and the area is finally open to explore the way it should've been from the start. If you like planning ahead for your time in Endfield, keeping an eye on community tips and marketplace options such as U4GM can also help with resources and progression choices without taking away from the fun of unlocking places like this yourself.