Lost Ark Beginner Guide 2022- I’m going to talk about where you should go and what you should do first, after choosing your class and customizing your character. The start of the game can be very confusing especially for new players because of the numerous features available. If you’ve just started, or are about to begin your journey, but don’t know what to do first, then this Lost Ark Guide is for you!
Be sure to check out or individual Class Guides as well if you need further help:Shadowhunter,Sorceress,Paladin&Gunslinger!
Lost Ark Beginner Guide 2022
In our previousLost Ark Character Creation Guide, we’ve talked about the number of character slots available in a single account and how to avail more of these, an overview of each of the 15Classes, and the various customizations that you can do to make your characters look as unique as possible. In this Lost Ark Getting Started Guide, our goal is to narrow down the activities and gameplay mechanics you’ll be focusing on at the very beginning of the game. Whether you intend to power level to 60 as soon as possible or if you’d like to understand howCombatandTrade Skillswork, then I’ve got you covered. Let’s begin by going through the ways of leveling up quickly.
Lost Ark Getting Started Guide Quick Navigation
Lost Ark How to Level Up Efficiently
Given the volume of distinctQuesttypes available in Lost Ark, knowing the ones that provide the most number of experience points is crucial. If you’d rather skip theLorealtogether to hit max level, then you’ll have to prioritizeMain Story Quests, which are identified as detailed orange icons. You’ll immediately start one right after the prologue. Note that similar toClosed Beta, you’ll be starting the game at level 10 with theAdvanced Classof your choice.
Alongside these are Side orCommon Questswith yellow icons that look like the less detailed version of Main Story Quests. They are general quests, which provide more background on the NPCs in certain areas. There are also Sudden or Emergency Quests that require you to kill enemies in zones. The problem with Side Quests, however, is they don’t provide you with as many experience points even if some of them can be done with Main Story Quests. As such, it will be better to revisit them at a later time instead.
The other pertinent quests that you should take are Adventure orGuide Questsand Chain Quests. Guide Quests are purple-colored quests, which give you tutorials on specific activities and features in Lost Ark. In particular, you need to obtain the Learning About Pets and Better Together Quests. This lets you learn taking care of them. Pets help improve your performance in combat. They’ll also automatically loot all of the items on the ground after an encounter or when you unlock treasure chests. They can even remove the teleportation fee that you would usually spend when traveling via Triports.
On the other hand, Chain Quests are yellow-chained quests that offer additional stat and skill potions and valuable rewards like Silver. You can do them with Main Story Quests since they’re also located in the same area.
When you unlock the Sailing mechanic at around level 35, the Main Story Quest icon will change into a blue-green World Quest icon. This means that you have to set sail and visit the other islands of Arkesia to proceed in the main questline.
Unlike in otherMMOslikeElder Scrolls Online, you don’t have to worry about dailies and weeklies yet since you’ll only unlock these after reaching level 50.
When you’re leveling up, remember to access your Roster Information by pressing ‘O’ to claim rewards such as permanent stat bonuses. Although these aren’t build-defining, they eventually accumulate to help make your characters more powerful later on.
Lost Ark Fast-Travel to Multiple Areas
When you arrive in Prideholme, you have to complete the Town Where Light Lingers Quest to receive your very firstMount. Afterward, remember to place the corresponding icon onto your hotbar so you easily summon it when you need to. Mounts allow you to quickly traverse from one area to the next. With the Auto Move functionality, which is activated upon pressing ‘T’, you may multi-task by gearing up and allocating skill points. To gallop further by jumping, hit the ‘Spacebar’ from time to time.
It’s worth noting that you’re able to gain access to better mounts to hasten your movement speed. You’re able to access them after completing a specific percentage of the Adventurer’s Tome, which you can check by hitting ‘N’. This is a book that shows you how much of a continent’s features or activities you’ve completed. For example, your completion percentage of East Luterra increases when you reveal a Vista and finish a dungeon like the Stormcry Grotto.
When you move from one town to the next, as is often the case in Lost Ark, you’ll need to travel via the Triport, which are teleportation hubs. Note that you don’t have to go to a Triport in order to travel to another Triport. Wherever you are in theMap, and as long as you’ve discovered the Triport you’re about to head to, you’re all set. Simply select it and then spend some Silver.
Last but not the least is theSheet Music, which you obtain from completing specific quests. For instance, the Song of Escape from theLegends and Fairytales Main Questlets you quickly exit dungeons after completing them to teleport back to the area you were previously in. Meanwhile, the Song of Return from the quest with the same name, allows you to go back to Luterra Castle without having to spend Silver whereas the Song of Trixion summons you back withBeatriceto test your character’s capabilities. Like mounts, make sure to add these to your hotbar for easy access.
Lost Ark Beginner Guide - How Combat Skills Work
Combat Skills in Lost Ark work differently compared to the ones in ESO. Rather than equipping and actively using these skills to level them up, you’ll gain a pool of points. This allows you to invest in any of the skills you want to use without any restrictions. Additionally, Combat Skills are much more nuanced than they initially appear to be. At levels 4, 7, and 10, you’ll be able to specialize further by choosing from several options per upgrade tier to grant additional bonuses in combat. This is also known as the Tripod System.
Let’s say you’re aShadowhunterand you have enough points to maximize yourDemonic Clone Skill. At skill level 7, you may choose from one of three tripods, particularly Chain Attack to attack horizontally once more, Pact with the Devil to summon a demon to fight alongside you, or Fist of Destruction to boost damage in human form. The same is true when you reach Demonic Clone Skill levels 4 and 10.
What makes the Combat Skills and Tripod System highly flexible is the fact that you can easily respec the skill point allocation in either of them whenever you want, at no cost. Furthermore, you can save skill presets or loadouts, which lets you freely switch from oneBuildto the next. When you’re leveling up to 50, you don’t have to worry about the skills and tripods you should prioritize. Instead, try out each of them and see what works best for your playstyle.
Lost Ark Beginner Guide - How Trade Skills Work
In addition to Combat Skills, you’ll also gain access to Life or Trade Skills by completing Guide Quests such as Mining. Trade Skills are used to gather materials to craft items and consumables at the cost of expending a limited resource known as Work Energy, which is account-based. If this becomes too low, you have to wait for a couple of days before you can continue using a particular Trade Skill. Progressing these skills takes a long time to do so it’s better to get started with it while you’re leveling up. Doing so prevents you from backtracking after you’ve reached the max level.
To level up your Trade Skills by gathering materials, you needTrade Skill Tools, which degrade over time. So instead of repairing low-ranked tools, by spending Silver, thereby reducing their maximum durability, you’re able to opt to purchase new ones. For rarer tools, it’s better to sharpen them with Crystals rather than replace them altogether.
Trade Skill Tools provide buffs such as improved gathering speed and the acquisition of better resources even if your Trade Skill’s rank is low.
The 6 Trade Skills in Lost Ark includeForaging,Logging,Mining,Hunting,Fishing, andExcavating.
Lost Ark Beginner Guide - Survive and Handle Dungeon Quests
Upon completing quests, you’ll accumulate two types of healing potions - those that restore a set amount of your HP and those that regenerate a specific percentage of HP instead. It’s important to stock up on both of them to help you survive tougher encounters.
Between these two potions, avoid using the ones that restore a percentage of your HP as you’ll need them for endgame content. Specifically, you’ll use them in high-level dungeons andRaidssince they scale to your level. You do have one other option to revive on the spot and this is by using Phoenix Plume, which is a limited resource. I wouldn’t recommend using them at this stage of the game since they’re difficult to obtain later on. They’re also part of the Adventurer’s Tome reward pack when you finish a certain percentage of what the continent has to offer.
Normal Dungeon Quests are those that you can complete solo and rather quickly. However, some dungeons such as the Morai Ruins take longer to complete, which means that if you’re doing it alone and no one can revive you should you die, then you have to start from the very beginning. Plus yourEquipmentwill continue to degrade every time you perish.
Since we’re also on the subject of dungeons, you should refrain from killing all of the enemies that you encounter. You don’t have to eliminate them to progress except in cases when the path you’re going to is blocked. Not only will you improve your survivability by steering clear of engaging in combat, but you also save time by finishing these Dungeon Quests as quickly as possible.
Lost Ark What Gear Score Means
With all of the leveling that’s been going on, you’re probably wondering how your gear fits into the equation. What’s essential to remember is that from levels 10 to 50, you shouldn’t worry about this since you’ll be swapping gear after every two to three levels anyway. But it’s also good to know how each piece of equipment works to better prepare you for endgame content.
In total, all of the gear you equip should provide you with a cumulative Gear Score. By the time you hit level 50, you can expect to have a Gear Score of at least 250. Keep in mind that at endgame, the higher your Gear Score is, the more content you unlock. Every piece of equipment contributes to the overall combat effectiveness of your character. Some improveStatssuch as Strength and Dexterity whereas others grant permanent bonuses. In particular,WeaponsandArmorenhance Basic Stats like Strength, Vitality, Weapon Power, and Defense while Accessories such as Necklaces, Earrings, and Rings provide you with bonus Combat Stats like Specialization and Crit.
Furthermore, every Advanced Class can only wield one weapon type. So if you’re a Shadowhunter, for example, you won’t be able to wield a Holy Book to gain access to other skills. You’ll instead stick with using Double Blades.
Lost Ark Beginner Guide - The Significance of Engravings
By the time you reach Luterra Castle at around level 26, you’ll be able to enhanceAccessoriesviaEngraving. Engravings are further divided into two categories - one for your class, which would determine the playstyles you wish to adopt, and one for combat. For instance, with the Shadowhunter, you can choose to focus on the Demonic Impulse playstyle to improve the damage you deal in your demonic form or you can go for Perfect Suppression to maximize your capabilities as a human. Combat Engravings, on the other hand, are other powerful special effects that further enhance stats, damage, and abilities.
At this stage of Lost Ark, you don’t have to invest in engravings but like with gear, it’s best to know how they work and what you can do about those you find while leveling up. Engravings are obtained from Accessories andAbility Stonesso make sure to save them for later. As you’ll notice, there are three levels for every engraving whether it relates to Ambush Damage or Max MP. To unlock special effects in levels 1, 2, and 3, you need to accrue points at increments of five, by equipping several Accessories with engravings on them.
For example, for Shield Piercing, if you were to equip 2Ringswith a total of +4 towards the engraving and anEarringwith +1 point, then you’ll be able to activate its level 1 effect. In general, you need to have a total of 5 points for each level before you can take advantage of the engraving itself.
Ability Stones, which only occupy one gear slot, will only provide you with engraving points after you’ve faceted or cut them. Be sure to complete the Faceting Ability Stones Guide Quest to learn how. Furthermore, they also feature Negative Engravings, which work in the same way as the Normal Engravings we’ve discussed so be careful in accruing too many points for these.
Upgrade Stronghold Facilities
Right after reaching Luterra Castle, you’ll receive the Stronghold Ceremony Quest to gain access to yourStronghold, which is Lost Ark’s housing feature. To be able to teleport here quickly, you simply have to play the Song of Hearth and Home that you learn by completing the same quest. Strongholds not only allow you to customize and decorate structures, but they also grant boosts, discounts, and resources to upgrade gear. For instance, with Improved Welfare, you’ll be able to reduce the consumption of Action Energy when performing Stronghold-related activities.
Similar to Trade Skills, Action Energy is replenished over time. The maximum Action Energy cap is approximately 15,000, which you can’t go beyond. So be sure to constantly check your facilities to see if there are activities that you can research or perform for the day to have them ready by the time you reach endgame.
The following 5 Stronghold facilities should be upgraded since it takes a very long time to complete. These include the following:
Sail the Seven Seas
At level 35, you’ll receive the Set Sail! Quest, which will give you a tutorial about Sailing. Sailing allows you to reach the other islands of Arkesia since you wouldn’t be able to teleport to them using the Triport. There are a lot of various activities that you’re able to engage in as you sail the seven seas until you complete the Main Story or World Quests. For instance, you’ll be managing a crew of sailors by assigning them to tasks, which they’re capable of doing because of the unique abilities they have.
While you’re sailing, it’s important to keep track of your ship’s HP or Ship Durability. Having to repair a highly damaged ship will cost you a lot of resources so you should keep it well-maintained. You should consider unlocking better ships and upgrading them thereafter to maximize your sailing efficiency.
Moreover, other activities require you to spend Luck Points. These include fishing, which you should do regardless in order to level up the corresponding Trade Skill, hunting treasure chests, and recovering floating cargo. Doing so will grant rewards like Pirate Coins. You can use this to recruit more crew members and upgrade your ship.
Create Alternate Characters
Creating alternate characters in Lost Ark isn’t absolutely necessary unless you intend to maximize the resources andCurrencysuch as Gold, that you get for your main character, in a shorter timeframe. Having 2-3 alt characters will help you complete more dailies and weeklies for extra rewards, which you’re able to then funnel into crafting gear that your main character needs since you won’t be able to transfer equipment. As such, you’re likely to avoid spending real money to further progress in the game.
Dailies and weeklies are activities such asChaos Dungeonsand Abyss Raids, to name a few. There’s also a Rest Bonus System, which helps you stay on top of these daily quests. This incentivizes you to continue playing even if you can’t log in everyday. So if you miss out on doing dailies such as Chaos Dungeons, Eponas, andGuardian Raids, half of the rewards that you should have received will then be converted to twice the loot when you do engage in those activities. In essence, you can still catch up on endgame content regardless of whether or not you’re a hardcore player.
That wraps up our Lost Ark Getting Started Guide. What did you think of this guide? Are you playing Lost Ark on the first day of launch? Let us know in the comments below! Also, stay tuned for moreLost Ark Guides, and be sure to check out ourLost Ark Wikior drop by ourTwitch Channelif you have questions about the game.
