Lost Ark is the new MMORPG that is finally out after years of development. Jumping into this new game can be intimidating, but these 16 essential tips and tricks you'll want to keep in mind on your quest to win the end-game content.
1. Don't Skip the Prologue (At Least On Your First Character)
Don't skip the prologue if you are brand new to Lost Ark and have just made your first character. It will introduce several of Lost Ark's basic systems while also laying the groundwork for its core story.
2. Focus On The Main Quest And Sudden Quests To Level Efficiently
Lost Ark is filled with various side quests and other activities that you could spend dozens upon dozens of hours completing should help your heart desire. But if you're looking to experience the story while also hitting a max level and reaching the endgame in a reasonable amount of time, stick to the Main Quest. But occasionally, while you're running around the world, you'll see a new quest appear on your screen denoted by a red exclamation mark. These are Sudden Quests and are a great way to earn some additional XP and rewards without having to go out of your way.
3. Remember To Activate Your Roster Level Bonuses
As you progress the game and level up, you will also increase your roster level and get bonuses that apply to all your characters. A purple diamond indicates roster XP. Note that leveling up the roster does not automatically activate the stat boosts. You will need to do that manually.
Down in the menus, open up the roster account to see the levels that you have unlocked. Claim the rewards to activate them. This is easy to forget.
4. Pay Attention To Your Combat Skill Types And Effects
Combat is one of Lost Ark's strong suits, offering frantic action combat against both massive bosses and vast swarms of enemies. You'll need to know the difference between skill types and skill effects like Stagger and Counter work to survive the endgame.
Skills come in a few different types in Lost Ark. Normal skills are pretty self-explanatory–you press a button, and the skill happens. More complicated are Charge, Hold, Point, and Combo skills.
1). Charge skills require players to, well, charge the skill for a certain amount of time.
2). Hold skills can be held for more extended periods, with the skill persisting until the skill key is let go.
3). Combo skills allow for multiple presses of the skill key in a set time window.
4). Point skills require players to target an area by pointing with the mouse.
5. Use healing potions, save HP potions
There are two types of potions you'll collect as you progress through Lost Ark — and one of them is way too valuable that it costs a lot of Lost Ark Gold and can't be wasted. HP Potions heal a percentage of your total health (30% / 40% etc.), while Healing Potions heal a specific numerical amount. That means HP Potions are ALWAYS USEFUL — making them incredibly valuable in the end-game because you'll still be able to recover rapidly.
What's more, HP potions can be used in raids, while healing potions can't. So while you're working your way to level 50, only chug that red juice if it says healing potion on the label, and save the HP potions for the endgame.
6. Keep An Eye Out For Mokoko Seeds
Throughout the world of Lost Ark are numerous collectibles players can discover and acquire. The most prominent of these are Mokoko Seeds. While these aren't super important in the early game, finding them grants you some Roster experience, which is nice.
7. The UI doesn't need to take up all that space
You can customize the UI in various ways. By default, the game's map occupies the middle of the screen. While helpful, it can get in the form at times. Using the middle mouse button, you can drag the map anywhere you want, like to the upper left part of the screen, where it can be left up at all times should you choose and will be significantly less obstructive. You can also adjust the map's transparency, make adjustments to the game's chat window, hide parts of the UI entirely, and more, so don't be afraid to spend a little time getting your interface and hotkeys just the way you like it.
8. Respecs are free; spend those skill points
Each time you level up, you get skill points to distribute between your abilities. You can move skill points at any time for free. Open the skill menu by pressing K, then click the plus and minus signs next to each skill to assign or remove points. Every point increases the effectiveness of ability, and you unlock 'tripod' options for each skill at tiers of 4, 20, and 48 points. These add or alter elemental damage, add effects like knockdown or push, increase range, and otherwise transform skills.
9. Reskins cost money
If you decide you don't love your face or your name, that's harder to change. The Appearance Customization Ticket and Character Name Change Ticket are premium items available in the store for 800 and 1,500 royal crystals each. Be sure before you give yourself clown makeup and a meme name.
10. Your G key will get worn down to a nub
The quests you do on your way to level 50 are nothing special, and neither is the quest giver dialogue. You'll be pressing G line by line to get through a lot of guff as characters tell you where to go to kill some bandits, find a monolith. The combat, setpieces like the castle siege, the later dungeons, and the endgame make it worthwhile, but you're not alone if you find yourself sighing as you tap through another conversation with a villager.
11. Pets aren't just cosmetic
Unlike in some other MMOs where pets are cosmetic only, pets in Lost Ark have some essential functions. First and foremost, they will pick up loot for you automatically and add it to your inventory without you needing to do a thing. Pets also grant various passive bonuses, such as increasing your character's max HP, attack power, and more. Pets have even more uses for players who have a Crystalline Aura activated (which is essentially Lost Ark's premium subscription system).
12. Do early dungeons on average instead of hard
Though there's not much challenge in the opening hours of Lost Ark, bumping the difficulty of dungeons up isn't worth it. Though the loot you get is slightly better, the XP rewards are not, and it's XP you want.
13. You can fast-travel from the map
Once you've unlocked triports, you'll be able to return to each one you've activated for a small fee paid in silver coins. (Unless you've got a crystalline aura active, in which case it's free.)
14. Know Your Attack Modifiers
It is essential to learn about your attack modifiers and adapt your playstyle accordingly. Backshots, for example, deal more damage when you attack from behind and have a chance of selling with critical hits. On the other hand, headshots are more effective when dealing with damage head-on. Some abilities have Destruction modifiers that can get rid of enemy shields.
15. Ready Your Loadouts
You should have two loadouts ready as you get to the end-game. One for clearing mobs and another for beating bosses. While having a single build might seem convenient, we recommend having two so that you can take down bosses later on in the game most effectively. You get 2 loadouts for free, but you can buy more from the in-game store.
16. Turn On The Alarms You Care About
As you progress the game and get access to all the content that it has to offer, you will find that a lot is going on in the game every day. That is why we recommend turning off all the alerts and then turning on the ones that you care about.
These are the tips and tricks that you should keep in mind when playing Lost Ark. For more guides and tips on Lost Ark, click here.
Comments