Genre: Role-playing (RPG), Hack and slash/Beat 'em up, Adventure
Lost Ark
Feast With Friends Release Notes
Heroes of Arkesia,
The November “Feast with Friends” Update arrives in Arkesia tomorrow. Downtime for the update will begin on November 16 at 12AM PDT (8AM UTC) and is expected to last 4 hours. From the Reaper Advanced Class (a deadly new weapon on the battlefield) to bountiful progression events, daily log-in rewards, and a swathe of impactful quality of life adjustments, this update is all about stocking up on valuable in-game items and feasting with friends to prepare for the gauntlet of powerful end-game challenges arriving next month. Find the full list of quality of life improvements, events, cosmetics, balance changes and other updates below.
Spotlight
Reaper Advanced Class
The Reaper joins the Deathblade and Shadowhunter as the third Assassin Advanced Class. Reapers are true masters of stealth. From powerful back-attacks inflicted by their daggers to misleading opponents by vanishing and summoning clones, Reapers have a variety of tools at their disposal to vanquish whatever threat crosses their path. Learn more about the Reaper’s Class Identity, Engravings and Skills in the Reaper Lost Ark Academy.
New Progression Events - Punika Powerpass & Hyper Express
Players will receive a Punika Powerpass after completing Punika's quest “Berver's Friend” during (or before) the event period, delivered via in-game mail. The Punika Powerpass will function like the North Vern Powerpasses available to all players in the launch version of Lost Ark— once you’ve completed the storyline of that continent, you can use the Powerpass to bring an alternate character to that point in the game. With the Punika Powerpass, you'll receive Item Level 1302 gear. This is an event Powerpass, and will expire on January 18, 2023. After the Powerpass is received through in-game mail and redeemed, it may display 'no-limit' on the expiration date, but it must be used by a character before it expires on January 18, 2023.
Pairing well with the Punika Powerpass, a new Hyper Express event arrives in this update. Players will be able to designate one character between Item Level 1302 and 1445 on their roster to participate in the Hyper Express Event to earn honing materials and level up quickly. The designated character will earn rewards from missions when increasing their Item Level to 1445— which grants a particularly valuable reward. Like the Punika Powerpass, character designation will end on January 18, 2023. Missions can be completed until February 8, 2023.
For players awaiting the release of the Summoner Advanced Class, please note that both progression events will be active for its releases next month, and can be saved to use on the Summoner. No additional Powerpasses or Express events will be added in the next major update as these events will be active throughout December.
Tripod Update
The method through which Tripod Skill tree upgrades are transferred to gear has been revamped to simplify the system. Before, Skill tree effect transferred to gear, and players would then equip that gear to gain the Tripod’s Skill tree effect. Now, Skill tree effect transfers directly to the character’s Skill book. Players can select the Skill tree that they want to use in the combat skill menu (K) to use the Skill tree effect.
The Feast with Friends Update includes the Reaper exclusive Dark Agent skins, the Reaper’s Dawn skins, the Arkesia’s Fidelity & Will cosmetics, and new Reaper specific bundles!
Added a purchasable South Vern Powerpass available in exchange for 6600 Royal Crystals or less depending on how far the player has progressed. Players will be granted Item Level 1370 gear and are placed in Vern Castle after the Powerpass has been used.
Find the new cosmetics showcased below!
Reaper Agent Skins
Reaper Dawn Skins
Arkesia’s Fidelity & Will Cosmetics
New Stronghold Structures
Don't forget to keep an eye out for exclusive Twitch Drops every Thursday that keep the rewards coming! In the meantime, we’ll see you in Arkesia. Don't forget to checkout the full details about the Tripod Update, quality of life adjustments, stronghold updates, and extensive balance changes in the full release notes article on PlayLostArk.com.
Regarding In-game Mail & Downtime
Heroes of Arkesia,
Last night we sent out an in-game message to notify players of the upcoming critical adjustments to the Tripod system, which require Skill Tree Effects to be stored in the Skill Tree Inventory ahead of the November 16th update to avoid losing them. Unfortunately this message had an unintended 10 Pheons attached, which could be claimed on every character, and could subsequently be exploited by deleting and re-creating new characters. To remove the message and the potential economic exploit, an emergency downtime was induced.
We apologize for the downtime’s inconvenience and the confusion experienced by many Lost Ark players. We are currently evaluating options for a make-good gift, and will provide an update within 24hrs on the compensation all players will receive.
While we originally stated we planned to remove the Pheons from the accounts that received the mail, we understand that many players spent these in good faith. As we caught the exploit before it was widely used, we have decided not remove the Pheons. We hope to continue to provide valuable rewards throughout the rest of the month, and once again apologize to the players impacted by this.
Twitch Community Celebration - Thankful Thursdays
Heroes of Arkesia,
We’re excited to celebrate the Twitch Community with a special string of one-day Twitch Drops arriving every Thursday until early 2023! These Drops will be active for one day, each Thursday from 8AM PST (4PM UTC) until 12AM PST (8AM UTC) Friday. In the one-day time-window these Drops are active, the Adobe Collab Helgaia Drop (or any future Drops) will pause, then reactivate immediately until the next Thankful Thursday Drop.
Combining these special Twitch Drop rewards with the impactful daily log-in rewards and the progression events arriving in the November Update will help power up your Lost Ark roster through the end of the year. Find the full Drop schedule below!
December 1 - 3x Honing Leapstone Selection Chest II
December 8 - 3x Honing Shard Selection Chest
December 15 - 5x Epic Rapport Chest
December 22 - 30x Pheons
December 29 - Leaf Ornamental Selection Chest
January 5, 2023 - 5x Honing Support Selection Chest
January 12, 2023 - 10x Sailing Coin Selection Chest
Viewers will need to accumulate 1 hour of watch time in participating Lost Ark streams to claim this Drop reward. Full instructions on account linking and claiming can be found on our Twitch Drops page.
We hope this helps prepare for the gauntlet of powerful challenges arriving in December. And don’t forget that Content Creators streaming Lost Ark on Thursdays could be in for a special visit from our team— complete with a burst of gifted subs!
Lost Ark Academy - Reaper
Heroes of Arkesia,
On November 16, the Reaper Advanced Class will arrive in Arkesia. Reapers are true Assassins, and masters of stealth. From powerful back-attacks inflicted by their daggers to misleading opponents by vanishing and summoning clones, Reapers have a variety of tools at their disposal to vanquish whatever threat crosses their path.
The Reaper will join the Deathblade and Shadowhunter as the third Assassin Advanced Class. In this Lost Ark Academy, you’ll find information to see if the Reaper is the class for you— and if so, help you start planning the skills and engravings you’re interested in using to enhance your impact on the battlefield. Before we dive into what the class is all about, here’s a note from Reaper expert Grenton on why the Reaper is his favorite class:
“Reaper was the first class that I picked up when I started playing Lost Ark about a year and a half ago. Even with the game releasing in the West I still regularly played my Reapers. The class is very unique in the way it moves and deals damage. It has the best sound design out of any class I've played and constantly keeps you on your toes. If you're looking for a fast-paced and rewarding class to play, you found her. She's the Reaper!”
Key Mechanics & Class Identity
The Reaper’s Class Identity is built around three Modes; Normal Mode, Persona Mode, and Chaos Mode.
Normal Mode
While in Normal Mode, the Persona Meter fills up over time and each time a skill hits the target. When the Persona Meter is full, you can enter Persona Mode by pressing Z. The Chaos Meter increases upon every successful Dagger Skill and Shadow Skill hit while the Persona Meter is full. When the Persona Meter is full, enter Chaos Mode by filling up the Chaos Meter through continuously using Dagger and Shadow skills without pressing Z.
Persona Mode
Summon a Shadow Illusion, become stealthy, and the gauge starts decreasing. The Shadow Illusion remains until you attack. You remain stealthy even if you use Movement or Stand Up skills while in stealth. In Persona Mode, Move Speed +30%, and you become stealthy, but are exposed to hostile adventurers within 4m. In Persona Mode, Swoop Skills Damage is increased by 25%, and the effect can be stacked up to 5 times depending on the duration of the Persona Mode. When you attack or the gauge is exhausted, you return to Normal Mode.
Chaos Mode
Crit Rate +15%. Move Speed +10%. Atk. Speed +10%. Chaos Mode initially lasts for 9s. If your Dagger Skills continuously hits a foe or if you use a Shadow Skill, the duration of Chaos Mode will be reset to 9s. At the end of Chaos Mode, the Chaos Meter gets reset and reverts back to a full Persona Meter.
Class Engravings
Like other Advanced Classes, the Reaper has two unique Class Engravings that enhance different aspects of the class. The Hunger Class Engraving is focused around generating more Chaos Meter and dealing even more damage while in Chaos Mode. Lunar Voice is focused on landing huge Swoop attacks while in Persona Mode, granting immediate damage increases to Swoop instead of requiring stacks to be generated.
Hunger Level 1 - Chaos Meter +30%. Atk. Power +12% when the Chaos Meter is full. Level 2 - Chaos Meter +30%. Atk. Power +18% when the Chaos Meter is full. Level 3 - Chaos Meter +30%. Atk. Power +25% when the Chaos Meter is full.
Lunar Voice Level 1 - Swoop Damage +120% instead of the Swoop Enhancement effect that stacks every 1s upon switching to Persona Mode. Level 2 - Swoop Damage +140% instead of the Swoop Enhancement effect that stacks every 1s upon switching to Persona Mode. Level 3 - Swoop Damage +160% instead of the Swoop Enhancement effect that stacks every 1s upon switching to Persona Mode.
Skills
The Reaper has three Skill categories; Dagger, Shadow, and Swoop skills. Dagger and Shadow skills are used to charge up Persona and Chaos Modes, and Swoop skills are heavily amplified by Persona— allowing the Reaper to unleash devastating attacks.
Dagger Skills
Nightmare - Throw a dagger at the target location to inflict Damage. Use the skill again and teleport behind the hit target if there is no obstacle between you and the foe. Move Speed +10% for 2s after teleportation.
Shadow Vortex - Gather strength and pull foes to you, inflicting Damage. Use the skill again to deliver a powerful spinning blow, inflicting Damage.
Spirit Catch - Perform a quick thrust forward to inflict Damage, then dart 4 meters in the same direction and deliver one final attack that knocks foes down for Damage.
Spinning Dagger - Move 5 meters forward as you throw daggers around you to inflict Damage, then slash at foes upon landing for Damage.
Piercing Blade - Perform 2 sharp thrusting attacks to inflict Damage. Use the skill again to deliver 2 more thrusts for Damage. Airborne foes are launched back into the air.
Reaper's Call - Madly hack at foes in front of you, attacking them 4 times for [Dark] Damage.
Phantom Dancer - Spin toward the target location and move 5 meters as you slash at foes for Damage. Use the skill again to move another 5 meters while pushing foes and attacking them for Damage.
Death Scythe - Quickly move 3 meters toward the target location and slash at foes 2 times for Damage. Use the skill again to perform another slash and inflict Damage, knocking foes down.
Shadow Skills
Distortion - Call forth the darkness of a twisted space to quickly move 10 meters forward, inflicting Damage to foes caught in the path. Inflict additional Damage to foes in your path upon landing. Ignore collisions with adventurers and Guardians.
Call of the Knife - Summon the Reaper's blade at the target location, inflicting Dark Damage to foes within a 3-meter radius. Foe Move Speed reduced temporarily. The Reaper's Sword pulls foes close as it inflicts Damage and explodes, inflicting Dark Damage. The Move Speed debuff can be stacked up to 5 times, causing temporary Fear in foes for max stack.
Shadow Storm - Move 2 meters forward and thrust your weapon to inflict Damage, then summon shadows to viciously cut and slice foes for Damage over 10 hits. Use Flurry to the end to move 6 meters forward and inflict Damage. Cancel Flurry midway to inflict Damage. Airborne foes are launched back into the air when hit and knocks them back.
Shadow Double - Summon a shadow clone at the target location that lasts for 6s. Use the skill again for you and your clone to throw a shuriken at the target location, inflicting [Dark] Damage.
Black Mist - Conceal yourself behind a dark shadow at the target location and attack foes as you move. While the skill is active, all incoming Damage -20%. Inflict Damage, and at 4 stacks, inflict Fear on foes for 2s. Ignore collisions with adventurers and monsters while moving.
Shadow Trap - Summon a shadow trap at your current position, then move 6 meters backward, detonating a shadow that inflicts Damage to foes within a 3-meter radius, stunning them for 2s.
Swoop Skills
Glowing Brand - Vanish in the air and move up to 8 meters toward the target location before striking down, inflicting Damage and launching foes airborne.
Rage Spear - Gather red shadow energy and thrust forward to inflict Damage and paralyze foes within an 8 meter radius.
Dance of Fury - Gather red shadow energy to quickly move forward, inflicting Damage. Inflict additional Damage to airborne foes. Perform another slash for Damage as you return to your position.
Silent Rage - Jump 3 meters backward and gather dark energy to shoot yourself forward, slashing foes for Damage and knocking them down as you move. Ignore collisions with adventurers and Normal monsters while moving.
Awakening Skills
Lunar Eclipse: Cadenza - Focus all shadow and lunar energy to summon a giant shadow area that inflicts Damage to nearby foes, pulling them close. The shadow clone jumps through foes, inflicting Damage, before creating a massive explosion that launches foes in the air for Damage.
Solar Eclipse: Requiem - Focus your mind and blend into the shadows for 4s. Use the skill again to sneak up to your foe in the shadows and deliver 3 strikes to inflict Damage, launching your foe in the air with the last strike. Become Stealthed again for 4s upon each strike, and you can still attack foes while you are not. Ignore collisions with adventurers and Guardians during skill use.
Looking Ahead
In next week’s update, the Reaper will release with two progression events, a Punika Powerpass and a Hyper Express Event that helps accelerate a character from Item Level 1302 to 1445.
Players will receive a Punika Powerpass after completing Punika's quest “Berver's Friend” during (or before) the event period. The Punika Powerpass will function like the North Vern Powerpasses available to players in the launch version of Lost Ark— once you’ve completed the storyline through that continent, you can use it to bring an alternate character to that point in the game. With the Punika Powerpass, you'll receive Item Level 1302 gear.
Players will be able to designate one character between item Level 1302 and 1445 on their roster to participate in the Hyper Express Event, where they’ll earn honing materials, and level up quickly to Item Level 1445. The designated character will earn rewards from missions when increasing their Item Level to 1445— which grants a particularly valuable reward.
Stay tuned to PlayLostArk.com and our social media channels for the full list of updates in next week's Release Notes (and some more Reaper tips from Grenton)! Until then, we'll see you in Arkesia.
Helgaia Pet Twitch Drop - Lost Ark X Adobe Collaboration
Heroes of Arkesia,
The culmination of our collaboration stream with DatModz, Adobe Creative Cloud, and Adobe Gen Create is now available for Twitch viewers to claim as a Drop on enabled channels streaming Lost Ark! The Drop contains, a Helgaia Pet Selection Chest, a Legendary Rapport Selection Chest, and 1,000 Amethyst Shards! Make sure to head over to Twitch and watch your favorite Lost Ark content creators until the drop ends on November 28.
Viewers will need to accumulate 4 hours of watch time in participating Lost Ark streams to claim this Drop reward. Full instructions on account linking and claiming can be found on our Twitch Drops page.
If you missed it, members of the Amazon Games team sat down with DatModz on Twitch in August and reimagined a the fan-favorite Helgaia pet alongside viewers in DatModz’ channel, all powered by Adobe Creative Cloud. Throughout the stream, the Twitch community provided input and creative direction on the pet’s colors, while learning how Amazon Games uses Adobe Creative Cloud in their creative process behind the scenes. Here’s where the team left off after the creation stream:
Members of the Smilegate RPG team then brought the reimagined pet to life, carefully crafting it in-game. We asked the original concept artists of the Helgaia Guardian and the Helgaia Pet what they thought about the new versions coming from the collaborative stream and the Twitch community.
“Helgaia’s concept is derived from a phoenix, and No. 2 (the bottom one) captures that essence well. no.1 (left) is refreshing to me because the color scheme reminds me of tropical birds that reside in South America. Meanwhile, I may be wrong but no.3 (right) looks like a baby from no.1 & no.3 (chuckle)” - Helgaia Concept Artist
“It was refreshing and fun to see the bold and various color variations that are different from the base Helgaia, which had a phoenix look. I look forward seeing those pets complete with visual effects in the LIVE game!” - Helgaia Pet Concept Artist
Thanks for your support, and to all those who participated in the creation stream! We’ll see you in Arkesia, soon accompanied by your new trusty Helgaia companion.
Vykas Inferno & Achates Trial Academy
Heroes of Arkesia,
The recent Mystics and Mayhem Update included the Inferno Vykas Legion Raid and the Achates Trial Guardian Raid. While Legion Raids prove to be a challenging experience for many— Inferno takes it to the next level. It’s all about proving you’re the among the best of the best in Arkesia and earning the accompanying prestige. In a challenging experience akin to Inferno Legion Raids, the Achates Trial Guardian Raid is a new activity and displays both the first clear in the region and fastest clear time. With an inevitable competition brewing for those coveted slots, we will be opening the raid simultaneously at a more friendly time for all regions, Sat 10/29 7PM UTC, to let as many players as possible participate in the competition.
We partnered with veteran Lost Ark raiders Saintone and Lustboy to provide tips, tricks, and other advice for groups looking to accomplish these new challenges and compete in the race to defeat Achates.
Vykas Inferno
The most difficult version of Legion Raids, the Inferno difficulty is all about proving you’re among the best of the best in Arkesia and earning prestige. Rather than chasing the normal rewards of gear, materials, and everything else you’d receive in a Legion Raid, Inferno rewards instead showcase your victory with titles, achievements, and Stronghold structures! ‘Scale of Balance’ is applied, and the raid requires use of the Book of Coordination, so everyone’s gear is normalized against the level of your Legion Commander opponent. Entry into the Vykas Legion Raid Inferno difficulty will require Item Level 1460. For more general information on Inferno Mode, make sure to checkout our previous Lost Ark Academy on Inferno difficulty.
We’ll break down tips and tricks by gate below, but first, let’s kick things off with a message from Saintone:
“Hello Inferno raiders!”
“Inferno Vykas has arrived, and the challenge ramps up significantly for those who previously battled against Inferno Valtan. Compared to what you’ve experienced, this one’s going to be a lot tougher. Whenever people ask me about the two, I usually describe Inferno Valtan as the beginner’s segue into the Inferno difficulty.”
“The DPS check this time around is significantly tighter. So much so that most DPS cannot afford to not bring an Atropine Potion to help with damage like they had previously. While before the challenge lied purely in the second (and last) gate of the encounter, this time all three gates will prove to be a great obstacle for you.”
Lustboy also has some general advice when preparing for Inferno Vykas:
“The first and second gates have very tight DPS checks. Morphe and Vykas will often enrage until every party member gets comfortable with the damage windows while succeeding the new patterns and mechanics. All classes are viable, but having too back attack classes in the same party results in higher chances of the boss turning and subsequent DPS loss. Trying different classes and compositions might help your group, but that doesn’t mean you can’t clear the raid with certain classes. One class that shines against Vykas is the Gunlancer:”
Morphe is a tauntable boss, so you can cancel specific patterns during which it’s almost impossible to deal damage.
Vykas in Gate 2 is staggerable. Having someone dedicated to counter patterns can create important damage windows.
Gate 3 has two major mechanics requiring stagger, plus the Gunlancer can use Preemptive Strike for the Tentacle mechanic.
“You don’t need a Gunlancer to clear the raid, but it helps the team with difficult patterns and mechanics that can cause a raid wipe despite not contributing as much damage.”
Before we dive into the specific recommendations for both the Blue and Purple Dimensions, Saintone had some general advice for parties looking to begin the encounter:
“Starting with the first gate, be mindful of the fact that the raid party is split into two groups. As the time is pretty strict here, it’s important to find a delicate balance in how much damage each group deals. If one side is too powerful, they will end up having to wait for too long dealing no damage while the other group catches up. The fight doesn’t start at the same HP for both bosses though, so the purple side will have to enlist the help of Nineveh to help balance out the damage between the two parties. Because of the damage balancing act, you should smartly allocate your Atropine Potions between the blue and purple dimensions to ensure both sides are properly damaged at the appropriate speed.”
Lustboy had some general advice on Battle Items and managing time in an activity with no HP bar. “For Battle Items, you usually want to take Dark Grenade, Health Potion, Atropine (or maybe Stimulant Potion) and Swiftness Robe or Luterra Horn. For Dark Grenade usage, you should use 2-3 of them in the Blue Dimension and use the rest in the Purple Dimension. Make sure to use them in coordination with Awakening skills or big buffs like Serenade of Courage or Blessed Aura. I highly recommended supports use the Explosive Expert Engraving.”
“As you can’t see the HP bar in Inferno or Trial content, it’s important to let your teammates know if you’re landing key damage skills (or missing) so you have a rough timeline when a mechanic is likely to arrive. You’ll have to save your main stagger skills if your party is on the lower side for stagger so this kind of communication can help when you’re still learning and progressing. The followings are general timestamps for the splits if your party is doing well. The first split should happen around 11:00 - 10:50, and the second split (at least) at 05:40. Anything beyond these timestamps and Morphe will likely enrage.”
Blue Dimension
Lustboy says “the fight is largely the same in the Blue Dimension compared to Hard, except all 4 have to succeed the color gate mechanic and the stagger check mechanic feels a lot tighter since you don’t have Whirlwind Grenade and you don’t know when it will arrive. Also, the gates don’t have set starting colors anymore.”
There’s one specific attack Saintone recommends keeping an eye out for in the Blue Dimension: “When he swings twice into a big swing, he has a tracking motion on the two swings on his aggro target. The purple boss is easier to avoid with no tracking, instead moving in a straight line.”
Purple Dimension
Lustboy cautioned players; “The purple dimension is more difficult to do damage. It doesn’t have any major mechanics so normal patterns are harder to compensate. The DPS opportunity feels very tight since the boss moves and attacks faster than how he does in regular raids and the damage is significantly stronger where enough to get one shot sometimes unless you’re playing a tanky class. Because the Purple Dimension is a lot more difficult, you can make it up with Awakening damage.” Lustboy continued with a few more recommendations.
“It’s very important to recognize who’s aggroed. Because the boss does a lot of damage you don’t want to accidentally turn his face and friendly fire a teammate.”
“There’s a pattern called ‘Donut Explosions’ which happens frequently in the Purple Dimension but not as often in the Blue Dimension. This pattern is extremely dangerous and Morphe becomes un-targetable. Even skilled Inferno players die often, and it frequently ruins deathless attempts. To prevent lethal situations in this mechanic, you want to kite the boss to the middle. This is why it’s important to work on identifying who’s aggroed so you can reliably move the boss.”
Saintone agreed with Lustboy, advising players to be prepared for this mechanic. “On the Inferno difficulty, the blobs drop too fast for you to shimmy back and forth, so you will need a good game plan with your party to revolve in such a way where people don’t overlap with one another.”
Saintone continued his warnings with another attack players should be on the lookout for: “There is an attack both bosses do where they charge forward. The blue one has a delay before he dashes, making it an easy telegraph to avoid. However, purple Morphe has almost no telegraph and the dash is nearly instant dealing extremely heavy damage— enough to instantly kill players on classes that have the lowest defense coefficient if they have no mitigation. It’s a good idea to always be moving perpendicular from the boss so that you’re prepared to avoid this attack if necessary.”
Sidereal Usage
Lustboy also had some recommendations for when Nineveh should be used during Gate 1.
"All Sidereal skills and Awakening skills should be used before enrage occurs. So if you can’t pull out the dimension split happening beyond a certain threshold, you won’t be able to use all 3 Awakenings or Sidereals in time, causing the boss to enrage. You can use Sidereal skills up to 3 times in Gate 1, which should be Nineveh to deal damage. Ideally, this is how Nineveh should be used:"
Purple Dimension- as soon as the boss gives you a pattern with the right opening.
Blue Dimension - after the Purple Dimension uses their Awakening after the split to guarantee the NESW mechanic. This means the Purple Dimension will also have to do the safe zone mechanic shortly afterwards so the damage window will be pushed back.
Purple Dimension - this comes to preference, because you have to choose to use either the last Sidereal or Awakening in the semi-enraged phase where Morphe moves even faster. Generally, people prefer to use Nineveh after using Awakening skills (during the semi-enraged phase) since it feels safer for DPS, even though it’s harder for the player activating Nineveh.
Gate 2
“Vykas G2 is usually considered the most difficult gate, and arguably the hardest gate across Inferno content. Vykas does a lot of damage and has a lot of patterns where she becomes un-targetable. At least you won’t be short on DPS for G3 if you can clear G2! Battle Items vary depending on party composition, but if you’re unsure take full of Dark Grenades with Atropine/Stimulant potions. Swiftness Robe is recommended for DPS classes and Supports can take Sacred Charm instead.” -Lustboy
Major Differences & General Strategies
Saintone started off discussing a mechanic that becomes much more difficult during this gate. “There’s a pattern that usually is fairly harmless which is the purple ring that detonates into a massive AOE after it touches a player or has traveled far while tracking a target. In Inferno mode, you’ll have to deal with two of these purple rings at once, and they travel significantly faster. It is pretty much impossible to separate these rings due to the AOE size, so you will have to devise a communication system where players know where to move. The speed of the purple rings means you have to act fast and be very decisive on where to bring the rings, and if both the purple ring targets aren’t on the same page, it will spell certain death for the group.”
Lustboy continued with a further list of key differences and strategies to complete, “Two random players will be marked during the Laser pattern. Electric explosion pools spawn under their feet during the pattern, dealing massive damage. Assign everyone’s position and have them go back and forth in their personal space, which is safer than have everyone running around in a circle with different movement speeds and needing to dodge the puddle while running in a circle.”
“Vykas now shoots red projectiles from the center during the black & red orb mechanic. Getting hit is a guaranteed death without damage reduction effects. During the mechanic, the black orbs cause knock back and a paralysis effect. You might get hit by the red projectiles when you get knocked back, so try to use a skill with paralysis immunity when you take the black orb.”
“The purple puddles that shoots 3 projectiles will explode in Inferno when placed too close to each other, dealing fatal damage. Place the purple projectile puddle in an Y shape if possible, because they explode if overlapped, the boss is staggered, or there are too many of them on the map simultaneously. Since the Black Clones generally spawn at 5, 7, and 12 o’clock position in the black & red orb mechanic, you won’t get hit by the explosion when Vykas gets staggered on success.”
“Sometimes Vykas does a grab pattern (with a tell very similar to her regular counter pattern) but she won’t shoot the projectile like her regular counter pattern. Shortly afterward, she’ll shoot big projectiles which deal a lot of damage before dashing to the aggroed player and grabbing everyone in the way. Most DPS classes will die if grabbed, even at full HP. It’s important to determine who’s aggroed to prevent her from shooting the big projectiles at the group, and for the aggroed player to dodge her grab by running away or stepping aside when she dashes.”
Gate 3
Lustboy says that “the third gate has easier DPS checks and generous DPS opportunities, assuming you know all her regular patterns and feel comfortable with them! It can feel overwhelming for some people, but the encounter itself should be easy once everyone gets used to the new patterns and the differences in previous patterns.”
Building off of this, Saintone states, “In the final gate, the DPS check is most lenient, implied that you correctly take advantage of the lust gauge. This is something that you never have to do in Normal or Hard mode, but when the gauge is over 70%, you gain a significant stacking DPS buff. However, this is a double-edged sword, since you’ll also take more damage, so much so that certain patterns may outright kill you from full HP if you’re on a squishier class. On top of this, the invisible whale pattern that travels across the screen is significantly more dangerous in Inferno mode, and being able to know where to move without having to follow someone will greatly aid you. Also an extra tip, there is no memorizing safe spots for the sword and statue pattern early in the fight. Inferno mode introduces several more permutations that make it impossible to know the safe spot definitively just from one set of information, so get in the habit of doing the mechanic properly.”
Lustboy had a few final tips on some new normal attack patterns, the mind-control mechanic, and a word of advice for support players. “Vykas can do an Inferno exclusive normal pattern; she chooses a random aggro and slams ground with her sword. She changes aggro if the initial player gets hit by the slam. She does a short dash with the fourth and final slam, creating an explosion with a safe zone at the center.”
“Vykas can do another Inferno exclusive normal pattern; she spins with a donut shaped safe zone around her. Getting hit doles out massive meter gain and damage. This is often used for meter gain with damage reduction or/and shield care from supports.”
“You’ll be immune to crowd control effects for 5 seconds after getting mind-controlled by a full meter. This is where most wipes come from, so pay extra attention to not get hit by attacks that give you the gauge meter. Supports want to save a damage reduction skill until all the DPS have their lust meter filled up to 70%, and want to save an Awakening skill for the lust puddle mechanic following the typing mechanic to prevent teammates from dying to friendly fire when someone gets mind-controlled earlier than others.”
Achates
A challenging experience akin to the Inferno difficulty of Legion Raids, the Achates Trial Guardian Raid can only be entered after setting up your build through the 'Book of Coordination'. If defeated, prestigious rewards of achievements and a Legendary Title will be earned by the vanquishing party to award prestige and celebrate their hard-fought victory. Let’s start off with an introduction from Saintone:
“While this is technically an Inferno difficulty content, it’s also the easiest one released in Lost Ark. Inferno Guardians are a bit different— the fight itself is less structured, you’ll just need a good mastery of the Guardian’s nuanced mechanics. Unlike the Inferno Legion Commanders, Achates features no unique mechanics different from his normal Guardian form (just some slight rebalances), meaning it’s possible to practice the encounter by under-gearing yourself in the regular Guardian Raid.”
“However, do note that because this fight is on the easier side (comparatively) that the battle for the first clear is extremely fierce. You should expect that the boss will go down in your region within 10-15 minutes of its timed release. Many groups will defeat the boss in their first attempt, so you’ll need a great strategy to reduce your time as much as possible if you want the coveted first clear title that only four players per region get.”
“Firstly, Inferno guardians only require item level 460 to participate in and use the Book of Coordination, so you can easily raise any class you want for this fight. While Achates is a lower level guardian, you will have access to the full suite of T3 assets to help you in the fight, including Tripod levels, Runes, Gems, and gear set bonuses. That also means of course, that the HP is scaled up on the boss accordingly.”
“Because of the fight’s timing, you should be mindful of the best time to use your Atropine Potions here. The common strategy is to utilize them after the statue mechanic when the boss has been staggered, but you may encounter this pattern more times than you have potions, so align with your support appropriately.”
Major Mechanic - Statues
Lustboy has some advice for the most important mechanic found in the raid. “Before starting, everyone needs to decide their color before the raid starts, between Blue, Green, Yellow, and a flex role.”
“Achates becomes invulnerable and flies away at certain HP, then appears in the middle of the closest starting point, checkable on the map or mini-map. He’ll wear a colored shield (out of 3 previously mentioned colors), and 1-4 statues will spawn nearby. Everyone has to break the statues to pick up the colored stones they drop, then throw the stones that match the color of the shield to break it. You’ll need to throw 2 stones to break a shield, which is why a flex role is necessary.”
“Achates will shoot colored projectiles out until this mechanic ends. The team will need to body-block their assigned color, as otherwise players could be interrupted while doing the mechanic. After you break the shield, he’ll proceed to a weak point check, which shouldn’t be too difficult with a corrosive bomb and destruction bombs.”
“Failing the mechanic will cause Achates to channel a big white orb that pulls everyone toward it, and you have to run away while dodging projectiles. The orb eventually explodes, dealing massive damage that’s likely a one-hit kill. Achates then enrages, his attacks becoming faster and more deadly. You can revert Achates to normal by staggering him, but if you’re not going for region-first clear, it’s likely better to reset the raid from a battle resource perspective (battle items, timer, death count, etc.).”
Lethal Normal Patterns
Saintone had some advice on the most Lethal normal patterns you’ll encounter when facing Achates: “The number one attack to be careful of? There’s two. There’s the double pizza, which you should just run out of if you’re not confident in dodging it. And there’s the back-step flame breath, which if you get hit by this, you’ll be out of the fight for several seconds unless you’re a ranged damage dealer.”
Lustboy agreed with Saintone on the importance of watching out for those attacks, offered some advice on positioning for the double pizza pattern, and suggested watching out for one more lethal attack:
“He casts pizza slice shaped AOE attacks twice. The slices look randomized, but there’ll be always safe spots at in the intercardinal positions and left and right of Achates for the first pizza. The cardinal positions of Achates are safe spots for the second pizza, but it’s recommended to just run out of pizza range if you have hard time recognizing the safe spots.”
“In another critical mechanic, Achates marks 2 random players with a red or blueish-white debuff. The marked players need to maintain contact with each other until the curses are lifted, or the player with red mark will take massive damage ticks until death.”
Looking Ahead
Make sure to follow Saintone and Lustboy for more raiding tips, guides, live high-level Lost Ark gameplay, and more original content on their channels, found here: Saintone - Twitch, YouTube, and Twitter Lustboy - Twitch, YouTube, and Twitter
We could supply nearly endless tips for these difficult raids. For those looking for more advice, Saintone welcomes all interested raiders to the Hell Academy Discord, a place for Inferno mode enthusiasts to learn more about the fights, builds for classes, and find other raiders in a server that he helps run.
“Good luck to those racing for the first clear on Achates! And as always, if you’re looking for more resources, tips, and LFG for these perilous encounters, the Hell Academy Discord is always available to join!” -Saintone
Thanks for joining us for this special edition of Lost Ark Academy, and we wish you luck in your battles!
Hotfix - 10/28
All Lost Ark servers and regions will be coming down for a hotfix tonight, beginning on October 28th at 12 AM PT / 7 AM UTC / 9 AM CEST. Expected downtime is approximately 4 hours, and will address the following issues:
Cube, Boss Rush, and Platinum Field content has been fixed and restored. Keep an eye out for additional details about the compensation players will receive to make up for the impacts of this issue!
The Argos Raid will now properly award Aldebaran Harvest Festival materials. Players that were affected by this bug will have compensation delivered to their Universal Storage.
The Halloween 2022 Structure Theme can now be purchased in Stronghold "Design Theme" Shop.
Thank you for your patience, and we’ll see you in Arkesia soon!
Mystics and Mayhem Release Notes
Heroes of Arkesia,
The October “Mystics and Mayhem” Update arrives in Arkesia tomorrow. Downtime for the update will begin on October 26 at 12AM PDT (7AM UTC) and is expected to last 4 hours. Celebrate Autumn and the scary season with new costumes, a new Harvest Festival event, and a horrifying gauntlet of powerful enemies. For those looking for a challenge, three raids arrive to hone your teamwork skills and ability to overcome unique mechanics, all while earning rewards. Find the full list of new content, raids, cosmetics, and other updates below.
Spotlight - New Raids
Mystic Abyss Raid Event
The Guardian Mystic, formerly known as the Herald of Vairgrys and the Ark Carrier, has begun to cast dangerous mists from the permeated chaos and must be vanquished in this new, limited-time Abyss Raid.
The event has three gates for players to battle through, and players are rewarded event tokens once the raid is successfully cleared. Mystic Event Tokens can be exchanged for a variety of rewards and items through an Exchange NPC located in each city. Along with the event rewards, there are a variety of Achievements to be earned. Mystic can be challenged once per week, per roster.
During the Abyss Raid event, 'Scale of Harmony' is applied, changing character stats to match the Guardian's level. Item Level 1302 or higher is required to battle Mystic, and is scheduled to run for 3 weeks, starting on October 26 and running until November 16.
Vykas Legion Raid - Inferno Difficulty
The most difficult version of Legion Raids, the Inferno difficulty is all about proving you’re among the best of the best in Arkesia, and earning prestige. Rather than chasing the normal rewards of gear, materials, and everything else you’d receive in a Legion Raid, Inferno rewards instead showcase your victory with titles, achievements, and Stronghold structures! ‘Scale of Balance’ is applied, and the raid requires use of the Book of Coordination, so everyone’s gear is normalized against the level of your Legion Commander opponent. Entry into the Vykas Legion Raid Inferno difficulty will require Item Level 1460.
Achates Trial Guardian
A challenging experience akin to the Inferno difficulty of Legion Raids, the Achates Trial Guardian Raid can only be entered after setting up your build through the 'Book of Coordination'. If defeated, prestigious rewards of achievements and a Legendary Title will be earned by the vanquishing party to award prestige and celebrate their hard-fought victory. A special title is also earned by the first team to clear the raid in a region.
The Achates Trial Raid displays the first clear in the region and fastest clear time. With an inevitable competition brewing for those coveted slots, we will be opening the raid simultaneously at a more friendly time for all regions, Saturday 10/29 7PM UTC, to let as many players as possible participate in the competition fairly.
General
Competitive Proving Grounds Season 2
Competitive Play ratings have been compressed and adjusted based on performance from previous seasons. If a player participated in a previous season, their rating will be compressed and adjusted based on the previous season's rating. If a player didn’t participate in the previous season, their rating will start at 1150.
This season, we've analyzed past Competitive Play ratings and adjusted various scoring criteria to help you achieve a rank that better matches your ability.
Season 2 New MMR Ranks:
Bronze - 1-1099
Silver - 1100-1299
Gold - 1300-1499
Platinum - 1500-1699
Diamond - 1700-1899
Master - 1900+, Leaderboard for Top 200 Players
Grand Master - Top 1-30 Players
General Competitive Information:
The amount of “Courage Coins” earned last season has been reset to 0.
You can once again earn PVP tier points.
Gold, Platinum, Diamond, and Master players will receive special rewards at the end of the Season.
Honor rewards purchased in Season 2 will be available until the next season starts.
With the start of Season 2, the Proving Grounds Store has been renewed. The higher the rank you achieve, the more items you can exchange.
Aldebaran Harvest Festival
The Aldebaran Harvest Festival is a traditional Arkesian festival to commemorate the time when Aldebaran (the god of life) brought life to the earth for the first time. On this day when the biggest moon rises, there is a custom for the people of Arkesia to eat food crafted from the harvested grain and pray for each other's health. The Aldebaran festival is held on the Mokomoko Night Market Island. Talk to Morimototo in cities to travel to Mokomoko Night Market Island. The Ocean liner will head to the island while the event is live. A new Island Soul and Una’s Task have been added for the Mokomoko Night Market Island.
In a new limited-time event, rewards are available for those participating in the festival. Once a short one-time quest chain is completed, daily quests can be completed to earn food-themed items (tokens) which they can combine to create gift sets. These gift sets can then be used to buy items, including Card Packs, Honing Support Selection Chests and more. This event will run throughout the Autumn season, until December 7.
General Updates
Updated and refreshed the daily login bonuses reward track.
Added new Fevertime events for the coming weekends.
Head over to the in-game store to find new Pets, Stronghold Structures, Skins, Ship Skins, a Wallpaper, and Mounts!
Neria’s Wardrobe - Halloween Edition
The limited-time skin shop has returned! Check out Neria’s Wardrobe and create the perfect costume for your character.
Halloween Pets
Hipster Skins
New Stronghold Structures
Pumpkin Carriage Mount
Notable Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue causing the identity tooltip setting to not function while using certain classes.
Fixed an issue causing the Berserker's Aura Blade ability to not increase the Fury Meter when the Sword Wound and Exterminate tripods are active.
Fixed an issue causing the default Stronghold name to be shown in English while using French, German, or Spanish.
Fixed an issue causing targeted skills to target the players location when the auto target setting is enabled with a controller.
Fixed an issue causing the quest item used in the "A Nose for News" quest to target nearby enemies instead of the ground when using a controller.
Fixed an issue causing Elgacia and Rowen to be shown in the Mokoko Seed collectibles map.
Fixed an issue preventing players from changing the Global Chat notification text with a controller.
Fixed an issue causing the Point Control Type 1 setting to not apply to Normal Skills that have been changed to Point Type due to Engravings being used.
Fixed an issue where sever effects granted by the Strange Movement Tripod for the Destroyer's Earth Smasher skill were not applied as described.
Fixed an issue causing keyboard and mouse icons to be shown while viewing various vendor menus while using a controller.
Fixed an issue causing the incorrect icon to be shown for the Harmony Leapstones and Life Leapstones in Mari's Secret Shop.
Fixed an issue causing the golden Mokoko seed to not show on the collectible map after collecting all Mokoko seeds.
Fixed an issue causing the Gunlancer's Shield Charge ability to aim in a random direction in some cases when a controller is used.
Fixed an issue causing various settings to be reset to default when the game was closed without using the "Quit" option.
Fixed an issue causing the 2nd player in a party to not unlock the 'Adventure: Statue of Gienah' Sea Bounty when progressing through the 'Haberk to the Ship quest' if the party leader interacted with it.
We wish you luck in the new challenging raids and competitive PvP season! We’ll see you in Arkesia!
New Halloween Twitch Drop
Happy Halloween, Heroes of Arkesia!
Starting on October 24, members of the Lost Ark Creator Program have a new Twitch Drop to enable on their channels containing a Pumpkin Mask Chest, 3 Battle Item Chests, and 1,000 Amethyst Shards! Make sure to head over to Twitch and watch your favorite Lost Ark content creators until the drop ends on October 31.
Viewers will need to accumulate 4 hours of watch time in participating Lost Ark streams to claim this Drop reward. Full instructions on account linking and claiming can be found on our Twitch Drops page.
Mystic Event Raid
Heroes of Arkesia,
The October ‘Mystics and Mayhem’ Update arrives next week, on October 26! This update comes packed with three distinct raids, for the heroes in Arkesia to hone their teamwork, skills, and ability to overcome unique mechanics; the Vykas Inferno Difficulty Legion, Achates Trial Guardian Raid, along with a new event, the Mystic Abyss Raid. This special event is scheduled to run for 3 weeks, starting on October 26 and running for three weeks, until November 16.
The Guardian Mystic, formerly known as the Herald of Vairgrys and the Ark Carrier, has begun to cast dangerous mists from the permeated chaos and must be vanquished in this new, limited-time Abyss Raid. Mystic must be defeated, along with other bosses found within his lair.
During the Abyss Raid event 'Scale of Harmony' is applied, changing character stats to match the enemy's level. Item Level 1302 or higher is required to battle Mystic, and an abundance of weekly rewards await those who rise to the challenge. The event has three gates for players to battle through, and players are rewarded event tokens once the raid is successfully cleared. Mystic Event Tokens can be exchanged for a variety of rewards and items through an Exchange NPC located in each city. Along with the event rewards, there are a variety of Achievements to be earned. Mystic can be challenged once per week, per roster.
Stay tuned to PlayLostArk.com and our social media channels for the full list of updates in next week's Release Notes! Until then, we'll see you in Arkesia.
