Lost Ark Beginner Guide

There is so much content in Lost Ark that you may feel overwhelmed before you ever get to dive in. In this Lost Ark Beginner Guide we explore the main concepts introduced in the game, and the driving features you will want to know about before you get too far down the rabbit hole. As there is so much to cover, be sure to utilize the table of contents to quickly jump to what you are looking for.

As always, anytime we have a more in-depth guide on a subject, we will link to it in the text to make it easier for you to learn more about the topic.

1.1 What Kind of Game is Lost Ark?

Lost Ark is a Massively Multiplayer Online Action Role-Playing Game (MMO ARPG). It uses an Isometric camera bring a quarter-angle view similar to that of the ever-famous Diablo games. While Amazon Game Studios has brought Lost Ark to the West for the NA/EU release as the publisher, the game developer is Smilegate.

Lost Ark had been out in Korea for 3 years, and out in Russia for 2 years at the time of the NA/EU announcement. It has had time to polish itself unlike some of the challenges New World as come across after launch.

Unlike games like World of Warcraft, there is no tab-targeting system in Lost Ark. This means that you actually have to aim your shots and skills rather than just blindly pressing your cooldowns on the enemy.

There are so many classes in Lost Ark and more to be released constantly. Every class is completely original and changes the way you play the game. Every new class is a new experience and tough to master.

1.2 Playable Classes

At the launch of Lost Ark NA / EU, there are 15 playable sub-classes that stem from 5 main class types. Here is the list of all playable classes in Lost Ark NA/EU Season 1:

Warrior: Berserker, Paladin, Gunlancer
Mage: Sorceress, Bard
Martial Artist: Wardancer, Scrapper, Striker, and Soulfist
Gunner: Deadeye, Gunslinger, Artillerist, Sharpshooter
Assassin: Shadowhunter and Deathblade

For the full breakdown of these classes, be sure to check out our Lost Ark Class Overview Guide. You can also click each of the names above to be taken to their specific Class Guide for everything you need to know about that specific class.

1.2.1 Best Lost Ark Class

The true answer to this question, even though you do not want to hear it, is all classes in Lost Ark are viable. Playing whichever class you enjoy the most and plays to your own strengths will most likely be the best choice for you.

If you force us to answer, the best three classes in Lost Ark can be argued to be the Bard, Paladin, and Gunlancer. This is also evident in our PvE Lost Ark Tier List guide for Season 1, where all three of these classes are listed in the S Tier.

1.3 Character Stats

What do the character stats means in Lost Ark? Well, there are 6 main combat stats each character has, and you will want to know what each of them affect. The character stats in Lost Ark are:

Crit
- Increases the chance of critical hits, which deal extra damage. This is a core DPS PvE stat.
Specialization
- Increases bonuses & damage from Identity skills and Ultimate abilities. Depending on your class, you may want this as your first or second priority stat.
- Increases Basic Skill Damage by a percentage
Domination
- Increases damage to Pushed or Debuffed enemies
- Increases damage dealt to Staggered Enemies
Swiftness
- Increases Attack Speed & Movement Speed
- Lowers Skill Cooldowns
Endurance
- Increases Physical Defense & Magical Defense
- Increases Shields and Healing, when applicable
Expertise
- Increases the duration of Debuffs you cast
- Reduces the duration of Debuffs cast on you
- Increases Stagger damage bonus

All of the combat stats will affect how much damage you are outputting as well as your survivability. Make sure you check out guides for your specific class if you are interested in optimizing your build to maximize the two basic stats of Attack Power and Max HP.

1.4 Leveling in Lost Ark

Lost Ark is much like any other MMO where you will need to level by following quests and/or grinding mobs. There are a total of 50 levels for your character to progress through. The leveling experience in Lost Ark is just a very small part of the game. You can get to level 50 relatively quickly if you know what you are doing. Think of this as a mini Lost Ark Leveling Guide, you can find our Lost Ark Leveling Guide here as well.

There are two major sections of leveling, so we will break down the Lost Ark levels accordingly

Level 1-35 Lost Ark Leveling

Main Quest Icon lost ark — Main Quest Icon

This Lost Ark Beginner Guide would not be complete without explaining the fastest way to level in Lost Ark from the very beginning. During level 1-35, you can essentially just follow your main story quests. These main story quests show an Orange icon with a downward arrow. If you simply follow only the orange quests, you will get to 35 and be ready for the next portion of level.

While following only the orange main quest markers is definitely the fastest way to level from 1 to 35 in Lost Ark, you probably want to know what all of the other quest markers are for.

The Yellow quest markers are your basic side quests. These quests will offer limited, static rewards in coin or items. These are the least of your worries to get finished. You can come back to do these quests later, but really it will not be worth your time to complete these, even when they are really easy.

The Purple quest markers mark guide quests. These you will eventually want to complete as they introduce new features into the game for you. You may choose to complete these as they come up, or you may pick them up later. If you aren’t going for a world record in leveling, it is suggested you pick these up as they come along and complete them so you can unlock features like pets and trade skills. They also can unlock permanent stat increases that you will want to make sure you have to push your character to be that much stronger.

Yellow quest markers with a circle around them represent chain quests. These you can skip, but be aware that they offer some powerful rewards. If you complete these along your journey, you can obtain good gear to help you, as well as even some permanent stat increases. You can leave these for later to pick up, if you want to level as fast as you can, but make sure you come back at level 50 to finish any of these that you left behind to make the most of these juicy stat increases.

Level 35-50 Lost Ark Leveling

35+ Main Story Quest Lost Ark — 35+ Main Story Quest

Once you reach level 35 and have completed the required main story quests, you will eventually get to a quest that allows you to sail the open seas! You will get your very own ship that you can sail to many islands and continue on your journey.

At this point in the game, the main story quests are no longer orange markets, they are blue with the image of a globe. Continue on the path to follow these blue quests, as they will offer more and more EXP as you level higher. They are proportionate to your level and will continue to give much more EXP than other side quests. If you continue to follow these, you will hit level 50 in Lost Ark as fast as possible.

When you finish the blue world quests, you should be close to level 49 with 55% through the level. If you are not at least 55% through level 49, go around and complete any yellow side quests you can find in the higher level areas. You will need to get to this 49.55 point before the next step.

Once you have hit level 49 with 55% through the level, head to Northern Vern and continue your blue world quests. By the time you complete your blue quests within Northern Vern, you will hit level 50.

1.5 Lost Ark Professions

Professions in Lost Ark are called Trade Skills in the NA/EU, or Life Skills in other Regions. There are 6 trade skills in total in Lost Ark:

Mining: Mining veins in Lost Ark can reward you with many different materials. The main materials worth anything are the Common Stones. They are used for Expedition Territory improvements, and thus there will be a market early on for these. However, over time after the NA/EU launch, the mining profession will not generate much income. You can also use material for fusions, which we will dive into in another article.
Hunting: The Hunting trade skill in Lost Ark is essentially your typical skinning profession you have seen in other games. Materials can again be used for Fusion Materials, so items such as Shiny Leather can be useful to you and others.
Fishing: Fishing in Lost Ark is set up generally the same way as many other MMOs such as WoW. You will find a fishing spot, drop your lure in, and once a fish nibbles, you will see an exclamation mark, right-click, and you’ve caught your fish!
Foraging: Foraging if one of the best ways to make money in Lost Ark. This is used to craft potions which are needed by virtually everyone.
Logging: Logging, similar to mining, will depreciate in value of its materials over time after the launch of the game. You can still use and sell Common Logs as they are used for Expedition Territory improvements. Logging in Lost Ark is essentially cutting trees and harvesting the wood.
Excavating: Excavating is a niche trade skill in Lost Ark that not many people dive deep into. It can be fun to try out and see if you can find some valuable treasure.

1.6 Lost Ark End Game

1.6.1 Dailies

Once you reach level 50 and enter the End Game in Lost Ark, you will want to make sure you are tackling as many daily tasks as you can. Don’t feel too pressured to do so, you won’t lose anything for missing them, but they will certainly help progress your main character further each day you do them.

The dailies in this Lost Ark Beginner Guide are activities that you can do only a limit amount of time per day, then you will have to wait for the next day for them to reset so you can tackle them again.

Chaos Dungeon – You can run the Chaos Dungeon twice per day, per character. You get 100 energy per day per character, and each run uses 50 energy. Follow to the Chaos Dungeon Guide to a full breakdown of these dungeons and how they work.

Guardian Raid– Similar to the Chaos Dungeon, you can run the Guardian Raid twice per day. Gain 2 Guardian Souls per day. Each time you harvest a Guardian Soul in the dungeon, it will consume 1 Guardian Soul. Follow to the Guardian Raid Guide to a full breakdown of these raids and how they work.

Trade Skills – Unlike many other MMOs, your trade skills such as Mining, Logging, etc. have energy. You can gather each day until your energy is depleted.

Rapport – You can play up to 5 songs per day and perform up to 5 emotes per day for NPCs. Performing these actions will increase your Rapport with the NPC, and allow you to gain rewards and reputation with them. This is a great way to make gold in Lost Ark as many NPCs will give 100-200 gold when you reach a certain level of rapport with them.

Adventure Island – Only Available at certain times Sat-Sun at 2PM / 9PM, Mon-Fri at 9PM. Visit an island of your choice for the chance to get Unbound Destruction or Guardian Stones, Gold, Silver, EXP Potions, and more!

Chaos Gate – Only available on specific days. You can receive loot only once per day it is open. Here you can get Chaos Fragments, Treasure Maps, and Frenzy Runes. Any gear enhancements, jewels, tripod levels, and cards are not applicable within the Chaos Gate

World Bosses – Sometimes there will be world bosses available around the world of Lost Ark. You can participate in killing them and receive loot one per day. You can get items like Bleed Runes, Destruction or Guardian Stones, Card EXP, etc.

Voyage Cooperative Missions – These can be completed multiple times per day. You can obtain Gateway Keys from these missions and spend them at a separate sea event later to obtain additional rewards. If you have multiple Gateway Keys, you can use them all together when you are at a Gateway.

UNA Daily Tasks – Every day, there are 3 daily tasks you can complete. This can be upgraded to be 6 daily tasks if you purchase the upgrade in the Cash Shop. You can obtain Una’s Task Rewards and EXP Potions from these. On your main character, you should complete tasks that give Leap Stones or Fragments.

Guild Support – You can perform 1 donation and research support each day. You can get Silmael Bloodstones from this action. Always pick donating 6,000 silver and completing research support.

1.6.2 Weeklies

Weekly Quests can be completed for loot only a certain amount of times per week. You generally can perform these activities more than the maximum time, but you will not receive the good rewards after the allotted attempts.

Guardian Challenge Mode – 1 per week available per boss, 3 bosses total. You can complete these per character but must be at least 460 iLvl.

Abyss Dungeons – 3 attempts per week, per dungeon. For the any dungeons that have both Normal and Hard modes, you can only complete one difficulty per week. Again, this is per character, so you can run this more times if you have alts. You need minimum 340 iLvl to enter Abyss Dungeons in Lost Ark. Follow to the Abyss Dungeon Guide for more information on how to unlock them and find groups.

Challenge Abyss Dungeons – 1 attempt per week per dungeons. You must be at least iLvl 915 to access these dungeons. Every other week the dungeons that are available will cycle. Each new week has 2 new dungeons.

Abyss Raid – 1 attempt per week per Abyss Raid. If you have multiple characters, you can do this once per character as it is character locked. Minimum iLvl of 1370 to complete this challenge.

Legion Raid – 1 lockout per week, per character. Any sets you gain from this raid will not be able to be sold. You can get gold, accessories, ability stones, set crafting materials, chaos stones, and fusion leap stones. You must have iLvl 1415 or higher to go to the Legion Raid in Lost Ark.

Una’s Weekly Tasks – You can choose 3 weekly tasks from Una each week. You can add 1 more task to make it 4 if you unlock it through the cash shop. These availabilities are per character. You will get whatever rewards are given for each task, as well as EXP potions. We recommend you choose quests that reward Leap Stones or Fragments when doing these on your main character.

Weekly Ghost Ship – Every day at specific times, you are able to go to the Ghost Ship. You can only receive loot from the Ghost Ship in Lost Ark once per week, and you must be character level 50. To make the most of this, first obtain the Ghost Ship boat and have a sailor on the ship that provides a major stat boost. Here you can get unbound Destruction Stones, Guardian Stones, the Ilyakhan Legendary Card, and heroic and legendary seal books, as well as bound training auxiliary materials.

1.6.3 Upgrading and Recycling Items

Where you taught how to recycle when you were young? Well get ready for this, because recycling is the way to go in Lost Ark. After you reach level 50 and continue some of yoru guide quests, you will unlock upgrading items and recycling items.

We won’t go too far into either subject here, because we fully cover each in the following two guides:

To explain the very basics, you will earn items like Destruction Stone Fragments, Guardian Stone Fragments, Harmony Shards, Harmony Leap Stones, and more while completing end game quests and finishing your Daily Chaos Dungeons.

You can then use those materials to upgrade your armor and weapons. If you upgrade a “Basic Sword” once, the item will then become “Basic Sword +1”. It will have increased weapon damage. You can upgrade each item many times, and the general tip is to upgrade each item up to +15 and then stop there. You can read more about why in the actual in-depth Item Upgrade Guide.

Upgrading a Sword lost ark — Upgrading a Sword

To save you from wasting your precious resources and time upgrading items that you are only going to replace soon anyways, you can Recycle Gear as well. Let’s say you upgraded your Basic Sword to +15, and now a legendary sword (we’ll call it “Legendary Sword”) drops that is going to be much better. You can now take that +15 from Basic Sword and “recycle” it into the Legendary Sword. This will destroy your Basic Sword, but it will immediately give you a Legendary Sword +15. The cost is usually just silver, but there is more to it than this basic description that you can read in the Recycle Gear Guide.

Compare Quality Grade on Items lost ark — Recycling Gear to a Higher Quality Item

1.7 Know Your Gameplay Systems

We’ve talked about some gameplay systems here like how leveling works, recycling gear, upgrading gear, Chaos Dungeons, Guardian Raids, and more. There is so much to cover in Lost Ark that we could make this one Beginner Guide last forever.

Instead, here is a breakdown of our key guides on The Games Cabin for you to peruse in case you’ve missed any in-article links and want to brush up on some of the topics we have covered or missed in this introductory guide.

If you are looking for the most up to date version of this, you can always get our Lost Ark Guide Directory that is sure to be updated with the latest Lost Ark Guides.

1.7.1 Gameplay Systems

1.7.2 Group Content Guides

1.7.3 Guardian Boss Guides

lumerus guardian raid boss guide lost ark

1.7.4 Class Lost Ark Guides

1.7.5 Unlocking Areas or Systems

1.7.6 Lore

1.7.7 Tips and Other Lost Ark Guides

Guide Name	Featured Image	Description
Daily Checklist		All Daily Activities for you to complete in Lost Ark. Use this checklist to make sure you are progressing daily.
Gear Progression Guide		Find out how to upgrade your gear at each stage of the game. Where should you go next for progression?
Get Max Skill Points Guide		Follow this guide to unlock all the skill points you can in order to power up your character to be as strong as possible.
Item Upgrade Guide		Learn all about armor and weapon upgrading in Lost Ark. Everything you need to know including material requirements.
Pet Guide		Learn how to get a pet in Lost Ark and what abilities they have, as well as how to turn on the special abilities.
Recycle Gear Guide		Find out what recycling gear in Lost Ark does, how it works, and why you should be doing it!
Weekly Checklist		Use this guide as a checklist to make sure you’ve completed all your weekly cooldown activities to keep progression moving.

Guide Name	Featured Image	Description
Abyss Dungeon Guide		How to unlock Abyss Dungeons in Lost Ark, minimum Gear Score requirements, and how to sign up for them.
Chaos Dungeon Guide		Minimum Gear Score requirements for Chaos Dungeons, How to sign up for them, how they work, and what loot you can receive.
Guardian Raid Guide		Minimum Gear Score requirements for Guardian Raids, How to sign up for them, how they work, and what loot you can receive.

Guardian Guide & Min Gear Score	Featured Image	Description
Ur’nil iLvl 302+		Learn this Guardian’s abilities and how to counter them. How to sign up for the raid, minimum Gear Score, and what loot they drop.
Lumerus iLvl 340+		Learn this Guardian’s abilities and how to counter them. How to sign up for the raid, minimum Gear Score, and what loot they drop.
Icy Legoros iLvl 380+		Learn this Guardian’s abilities and how to counter them. How to sign up for the raid, minimum Gear Score, and what loot they drop.
Vertus iLvl 420+		Learn this Guardian’s abilities and how to counter them. How to sign up for the raid, minimum Gear Score, and what loot they drop.
Chromanium iLvl 460+		Learn this Guardian’s abilities and how to counter them. How to sign up for the raid, minimum Gear Score, and what loot they drop.
Flame Fox Yoho iLvl 540+		Learn this Guardian’s abilities and how to counter them. How to sign up for the raid, minimum Gear Score, and what loot they drop.
Thaitalos iLvl 580+		Learn this Guardian’s abilities and how to counter them. How to sign up for the raid, minimum Gear Score, and what loot they drop.

Class Guide Name	Featured Image	Description
Artillerist Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Artillerist class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Bard Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Bard class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Berserker Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Berserker class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Deadeye Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Deadeye class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Deathblade Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Deathblade class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Gunlancer Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Gunlancer class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Gunslinger Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Gunslinger class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Paladin Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Paladin class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Scrapper Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Scrapper class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Shadowhunter Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Shadowhunter class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Sharpshooter Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Sharpshooter class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Sorceress Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Sorceress class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Soulfist Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Soulfist class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Striker Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Striker class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.
Wardancer Class Guide		Learn everything you need to know about the Wardancer class in Lost Ark. Skills, Engraving, PvE, PvP builds, Stat Priority, and more.

Guide	Featured Image	Description
How To Get To Rohendel in Lost Ark		Find out how to get to Rohendel and unlock Chaos Dungeons for the region. What quests do you need to finish to be able to get there?
How To Get To Yorn in Lost Ark		Find out how to get to Yorn so you can begin Tier 2 content. What requirements are there and which quests do you need to finish to be able to get there?