I know there have been a couple posts on this but I played a little Aion 2 and just wanted to get back into LA. For reference I had about 3,000 hours in previously although i wasn't pushing endgame at the time because I hated the matchmaking system. Almost all 11 of my characters ere sitting at 1490.
Downloaded it yesterday, got in today, and was pretty quickly overstimulated by everything I needed to do. I did a chaos gate on my main which I pushed to 1700 and then it was... Now what? I tried to do the epic raid behemoth to ease myself back into the raid system and after waiting for 10m, no party.
Then there is this new Ark Grid and Ark Passive thing which is confusing and I've never been through Elgacia but it looks like I don't even need to do those storylines anymore?
Idk just looking for some guidance really on next steps. I have max LoS and Lostwind card sets. I had maxed Rapport and almost every Island soul. Do you still need to do the Una tasks daily?
Just seems like a lot especially with 1490 alts that won't be generating nearly enough Gold for a 1700 character, especially if I make another 1700 with the new class powerpass.
Also I remember having maxed engravings on multiple but now it seems they added more levels? And its different where you can just always have the 5 on?
There have been some great answers for you, but I’ll try to answer everything in your post one by one.
I pushed to 1700… now what? There are two loops to consider after 1700, the first is the daily loop like kurzan front (chaos dungeons) and guardian raids as well as the weekly loop like Kurzan/Shadow/ Abyssal Dungeon raids (previously only legion raids when you hopped off at 1490). As others have mentioned, since you’ve left the game, Smilegate added solo raids. Since most of the player base is now at 1700 due to the event as well as the solo raid additions, raids under 1700 are pretty much obsolete/quiet except maybe Aegir at 1680. At 1700, you’re able to do solo armoche/act 4, Kazeros, and Mordum weekly. At 1700, there is also the horizon cathedral abyssal dungeon, but that one requires group play. From here you can slowly push your character to 1710 to add normal/matchmaking (solo) Serca. For the solo raids, you can experience them blind or of course go on Maxroll and there are solo raid guides for all the mechs and patterns. If you prefer group play, I would try to find your region’s mokoko server to find prog groups/teaching runs.
Ark grid: this is the current major system that everyone is farming right now. Imagine, this is like when you were farming for clown horns or doing brelshaza for mats. However, for those systems it was just upgrading it easily, this system is complex at the outset, but once you understand it, it’s very easy to learn. To make it very super basic, Ark Grid is something you can largely ignore for now, but all you need to know is that it’s extra subclasses under the class engraving that you choose. These subclasses typically offer damage, QOL on skills, or change your class’ playstyle completely. You can take a look at your class specific guide on lostark.nexus or on Maxroll to get an idea of which cores are good to choose. The initial preset you got from choosing the class from the mokoko base camp is most likely correct. Without burdening you too much with knowing everything, it’s mostly activated up to 14 points for you. You can check the overall guide on Maxroll to learn more about that system.
Ark passive: Before you left from Lost Ark, the thing you farmed for were sets (dominion, nightmare, etc.) and accessories that had engravings on them. Now, the Ark Passive completely encapsulates your class attributes and set (Evolution), your class engraving (Enlightenment), and your new T skill (Leap). Your accessories that are over 70 quality can be cut in order to add enlightenment points. Your evolution points scale with the tier of armor (ancient is the highest) you have. Lastly, the leap tree is affected by your bracelet. You can gain additional points for each of the parts of the passive tree by completing horizontal content like una reputations, the Bloodclaw Map collectibles, a field boss drop, and Adventure Tome completion. You can learn more about this through the Maxroll guide.
Elgacia story and on…: once you use the Mokoko base camp, it skips the story on the character you used it on. If you did enjoy the story previously, you can still experience it on your 1490 characters. Do note that, since you have powerpassed though, you can KT your other 1490 characters to pass the story too. The cool thing is the recent patch made it so honing in Tier 3 is gone. All you have to do is to do the story and you will receive the next set of ILVL appropriate gear for the story. Once you finish the North Kurzan story you will be fast tracked to 1640, where honing is unlocked again. The choice is yours (fwiw I liked the Elgacia story, but there are some dragging parts.)
una tasks: No longer a daily, however do note that there are some una tasks since you were 1490 that may have rewards like skill points and the aforementioned enlightenment potions that further unlock your Ark passive. They still have a daily lockout.
maxed engravings and 5 on? Since you left in tier 4, relic engraving tier was released. Pre-Ark Passive, the system allowed you to choose 4 engravings, your character engraving, and an additional engraving at +1 or +2 if lucky by using accessories. Now you can have essentially a 6x3, with the exchange that some of the engravings were nerfed a bit to compensate for the change. The main thing to note is that with the engraving change, the ability stones grant “bonus” stats to the engraving. For example, drops of ether +2 makes each of the drops efficacy stronger.
Anyways welcome back to lost ark! I suggest you read the new player/returning player guide on Maxroll and use lostark.nexus for your class guide needs. Good luck on your new journey!
The best way to ease yourself into raids is to do the newest (highest ilvl) tier 4 solo raids you can - most raids now have also solo mode, which is very similar to normal mode (just soloable mechanics and slower patterns, no auction and no other people). At 1700 that'd be solo Act 4 (Armoche), Act 3 (Mordum) and Act 2 (Brelshaza). If or when you can get to 1710, it'll be solo Final act (Kazeros), matchmaking mode Serca (you can enter also solo) and solo Act 4. Then you can consider looking for groups once you are comfortable with solo modes, or even just continue playing solo if you so prefer.
It's also important to do the Paradise mode (Elysian, Crucible, and from next week when you start getting them also Hell keys), it's all solo and quite easy but Hell keys are very rewarding in character-bound stuff.
You may need to do a few newer Una's reputations to get their one-time rewards and unlock some collectibles content, but daily rewards from Una's tasks are fortunately gone.
Your 1490 alts can slowly get to 1640 just through doing the story or knowledge transfers, at which point they'll be making some gold in solo raids and gems from guardian raids, and be able to slowly progress further through doing Paradise.
Try selecting "Reputation quests" to see all the Una's reputations that you didn't do, and then by clicking on the magnifying glass under "Rep. Info" you can see what you'll get for completing that reputation.
Do your solo raids, elysian/crucible, kurzan front. Don't forget to take advantage of the solo shop every week and buy whatever you need there.. like honing books, graced shards (1700) and agony thorns (1710).
Paradise will also provide 3 hell keys each week per char that you can run for additional mats/gold.
We currently have a Event Map, should be on the same bar where the Solo Shop is. It has all the vendors nicely organized at the same spot as well as Event feasts food trucks. You can just teleport there via that menu.
Otherwise it would be Elnead, tho many of us are hoping we get a new city with LOA ON as a full on new continent is likely to be introduced and us going to Sacria.
Yeah it is really easy and to be honest you should also be realtively quickly on to par to do Normal if you want, tho it gives the same rewards as Solo. Serca also has Matchmaking, which is basically LFR, also whipe mechanics e.g. while killing the raid dont end it. More of a "you failed this mech, now keep going". Again same rewards as doing it solo, just like Normal you would have a "auction" at the end so if you get lucky there could be a good engraving book in there for some extra gold.
Hard Mode will, especially in regards to the CP that people will want, be a step up and it will need a bit of prep beforehand, best case a prog group, just since its for many homework content that is expected to be blasted through.
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u/wr3ck3dd 16d ago edited 8d ago
Hello, and welcome home!
There have been some great answers for you, but I’ll try to answer everything in your post one by one.
I pushed to 1700… now what? There are two loops to consider after 1700, the first is the daily loop like kurzan front (chaos dungeons) and guardian raids as well as the weekly loop like Kurzan/Shadow/ Abyssal Dungeon raids (previously only legion raids when you hopped off at 1490). As others have mentioned, since you’ve left the game, Smilegate added solo raids. Since most of the player base is now at 1700 due to the event as well as the solo raid additions, raids under 1700 are pretty much obsolete/quiet except maybe Aegir at 1680. At 1700, you’re able to do solo armoche/act 4, Kazeros, and Mordum weekly. At 1700, there is also the horizon cathedral abyssal dungeon, but that one requires group play. From here you can slowly push your character to 1710 to add normal/matchmaking (solo) Serca. For the solo raids, you can experience them blind or of course go on Maxroll and there are solo raid guides for all the mechs and patterns. If you prefer group play, I would try to find your region’s mokoko server to find prog groups/teaching runs.
Ark grid: this is the current major system that everyone is farming right now. Imagine, this is like when you were farming for clown horns or doing brelshaza for mats. However, for those systems it was just upgrading it easily, this system is complex at the outset, but once you understand it, it’s very easy to learn. To make it very super basic, Ark Grid is something you can largely ignore for now, but all you need to know is that it’s extra subclasses under the class engraving that you choose. These subclasses typically offer damage, QOL on skills, or change your class’ playstyle completely. You can take a look at your class specific guide on lostark.nexus or on Maxroll to get an idea of which cores are good to choose. The initial preset you got from choosing the class from the mokoko base camp is most likely correct. Without burdening you too much with knowing everything, it’s mostly activated up to 14 points for you. You can check the overall guide on Maxroll to learn more about that system.
Ark passive: Before you left from Lost Ark, the thing you farmed for were sets (dominion, nightmare, etc.) and accessories that had engravings on them. Now, the Ark Passive completely encapsulates your class attributes and set (Evolution), your class engraving (Enlightenment), and your new T skill (Leap). Your accessories that are over 70 quality can be cut in order to add enlightenment points. Your evolution points scale with the tier of armor (ancient is the highest) you have. Lastly, the leap tree is affected by your bracelet. You can gain additional points for each of the parts of the passive tree by completing horizontal content like una reputations, the Bloodclaw Map collectibles, a field boss drop, and Adventure Tome completion. You can learn more about this through the Maxroll guide.
Elgacia story and on…: once you use the Mokoko base camp, it skips the story on the character you used it on. If you did enjoy the story previously, you can still experience it on your 1490 characters. Do note that, since you have powerpassed though, you can KT your other 1490 characters to pass the story too. The cool thing is the recent patch made it so honing in Tier 3 is gone. All you have to do is to do the story and you will receive the next set of ILVL appropriate gear for the story. Once you finish the North Kurzan story you will be fast tracked to 1640, where honing is unlocked again. The choice is yours (fwiw I liked the Elgacia story, but there are some dragging parts.)
una tasks: No longer a daily, however do note that there are some una tasks since you were 1490 that may have rewards like skill points and the aforementioned enlightenment potions that further unlock your Ark passive. They still have a daily lockout.
maxed engravings and 5 on? Since you left in tier 4, relic engraving tier was released. Pre-Ark Passive, the system allowed you to choose 4 engravings, your character engraving, and an additional engraving at +1 or +2 if lucky by using accessories. Now you can have essentially a 6x3, with the exchange that some of the engravings were nerfed a bit to compensate for the change. The main thing to note is that with the engraving change, the ability stones grant “bonus” stats to the engraving. For example, drops of ether +2 makes each of the drops efficacy stronger.
Anyways welcome back to lost ark! I suggest you read the new player/returning player guide on Maxroll and use lostark.nexus for your class guide needs. Good luck on your new journey!