With Lost Ark, a long-awaited action RPG MMO awaits us in 2021. We tell you everything you need to know about the EU release, pre-order, classes and more.
After almost a year of unconfirmed rumours, Amazon Games finally brought certainty during E3 2021: The Korean action role-playing MMO Lost Ark will be released in Europe this year.
We have therefore collected all the important information you need to know about the potential RPG hit in this article.
– Release: When will Lost Ark be released?
– Beta: Can you play earlier?
– Price and editions: How much does Lost Ark cost?
– System requirements: Will my PC be enough?
– Gameplay: How does Lost Ark play?
– Classes: What classes are there?
– Endgame: How do dungeons, raids and PVP work?
All important info on the EU version of Lost Ark
Release: When will Lost Ark be released?
According to publisher Amazon Games, Lost Ark will be released in Europe in autumn 2021. An exact date has not yet been announced, even though 31 December 2021 is given as the release date on Steam. However, this is exclusively a placeholder.
Beta: Can you play Lost Ark earlier?
Shortly after Amazon Games announced that Lost Ark was finally coming to the West, a first alpha test started. This took place in the period from 11 to 16 June 2021 on Steam and initially had to contend with massive server problems.
The next test phase will be the EU Closed Beta. You can already register for this via the official homepage of Lost Ark. If you are not lucky with the beta key allocation, you can alternatively buy a pioneer bundle, which guarantees access to the closed beta phase. You can read more about this in the following section.
Closed Beta probably in August at the earliest: Originally, the start of the closed beta was planned for July, but this has now been delayed. In response to questions from fans, Amazon Games replied on Twitter that “the start of the beta will be announced at a later date”.
@PlayLostArk can we have a date for beta already? please dont say its gonna come out after new world beta ends thats really gonna suck! waiting for god damn so long already!!!!!
— Alpha (@zakira098) July 25, 2021
We expect the beta to be announced after the end of New World’s closed beta at the earliest, which will run until 2 August 2021. Both games are published by Amazon Games.
No open beta planned: As an Amazon Games employee announced in the Steam forum, no open beta phase is currently planned. After the closed beta, which starts in July, any progress made will be deleted and the game will start directly in the early access of the release version.
Price and editions: How much does Lost Ark cost?
Free2Play with ingame shop: Lost Ark will be released as a Free2Play title and will therefore be playable for free. Subscription fees like in World of Warcraft will not apply. However, there will be an ingame shop for whose content you will have to pay with real money. It is not yet known what microtransactions you can expect. However, it is certain that cosmetic customisations such as skins, mounts, pets and outfits will be on offer.
Optional Premium Subscription: It is not officially confirmed yet, but 30 days of crystal aura are included in the pioneer bundles on offer. This is presumably an optional subscription service, as other MMOs such as The Lord of the Rings Online or Elder Scrolls Online have already established. The crystal aura provides you with various bonuses that guarantee faster progress in the game – such as faster research and crafting or an increased level speed.
Editions: Currently, three different Founder Packs are offered on Steam and on the developer’s homepage.
Silver Bundle (25 Euro)
– Guaranteed access to the beta
– Three days pre-release access
– 1,000 Royal Crystals
– Exclusive pet
– 30 days crystal aura
– Pioneer Silver Title
– Silver Supply Box
Gold Bundle (50 Euro)
– Guaranteed access to the beta
– Three days pre-release access
– 1,000 Royal Crystals
– Exclusive pet
– 30 days crystal aura
– Pioneer Gold Title
– Gold storage box
– Exclusive avatar
– Additional character slot
Platinum Bundle (100 Euro)
– Guaranteed access to the beta
– Three days pre-release access
– 7,000 Royal Crystals
– Exclusive pet
– 30 days crystal aura
– Pioneer Platinum Title
– Platinum Supply Chest
– Exclusive avatar
– Additional character slot
– Exclusive Pioneer Mount
– Platinum Welcome Chest
System Requirements: Will my PC be enough for Lost Ark?
In order for Lost Ark to run smoothly in minimal details on your computer, you will need at least the following system:
Required Hardware
– Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit only)
– Processor: Intel i3 or AMD Ryzen 3
– Memory: 8 GB RAM
– Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 / AMD HD6850
– DirectX: Version 9.0c
– Network: Broadband Internet Connection
– Storage: 50 GB available storage
The recommended system requirements are still comparatively moderate despite the opulent graphics:
Recommended Hardware
– Operating system: Windows 10 (64-bit only)
– Processor: Intel i5 or AMD Ryzen 5
– Memory: 16 GB RAM
– Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
– DirectX: Version 9.0c
– Network: Broadband Internet connection
– Storage: 50 GB available space
classes: What classes are available in Lost Ark
In total, Lost Ark will offer 14 different classes for the European release. In the Korean version, which already started in 2018, 19 classes are currently available and with the Sorceress, a 20th class has already been announced.
At the start of the game, you choose one of five basic classes: You can choose between warrior, mage, gunner, assassin or martial artist. As the names of the classes already reveal, your gender is linked to the chosen character – male mages, for example, simply do not currently exist. After you have completed the tutorial and reached level 10, you must specialise further and choose a subclass. The classes that will be available in autumn are presented here.
Warrior classes
Berserker: The Berserker is a powerful melee class that relies on a huge two-handed sword. It can enter the so-called burst mode, in which it gains increased attack and movement speed and deals huge amounts of damage with new special skills.
Paladin: The Paladin is the supporter among the warriors. He uses his connection to the gods to cast holy buffs on himself and his party. He can also deal out damage well when he unleashes the wrath of the gods with his one-handed sword.
Pistol Lancer: The Pistol Lancer is the class that could best be described as a tank. With his shield and various skills, he directs the attacks of his enemies towards himself and masterfully absorbs large amounts of damage.
Mage Classes
Summoner: The summoner summons various elemental spirits to do the fighting for her. However, the whole thing works differently than you know it from the Necromancer from Diablo 2: Most servants are not permanent companions, but disappear again after their attack.
Bardin: The musician belongs to the offensively weaker classes, but is still an important addition to every team. With her harp sounds she lulls enemies and heals her party members – the perfect class for all those who like to play supporter or healer.
Canonier Classes
Artillerist: The Artillerist is a tank made human. He relies on fat armour and even fatter guns. With rockets, flamethrowers, Gatling guns and napalm shells, he has an incredible amount of destructive power – but lacks mobility.
Sniper: Clearly more agile than the artilleryman is the sniper. He is an expert at keeping the distance to his opponents with various jump attacks. From a distance, he then relies on typical archery skills such as a hail of arrows or an explosive arrow.
Artistic Archer: The Artistic Archer uses classic firearms such as pistols, rifles and shotguns. Overall, however, he is more of a melee class, as his most powerful skills are triggered with the shotgun and do not have a long range.
Female Artificer: Many of the skills of the female Artificer are similar to those of the male Artificer, but both classes have slightly different strengths. The female variant is slightly easier and less risky to play, as her focus on rifles and handguns allows her to achieve maximum damage output even at medium range
Assassin classes
Death Blade: With the Death Blade, the name says it all, because it uses three different swords at once. With her double blades she performs fast combo attacks, for particularly powerful attacks like the “Soul Devourer” she draws her longsword.
Shadow Hunter: This melee fighter can release her inner demon and thus take on a powerful demon form. This gives her increased health and movement speed.
Martial Artist Classes
Soul Fist: The Soul Fist smoothly switches between melee and ranged attacks to unleash powerful combos. Her punches and kicks are very reminiscent of the Monk from Diablo 3. For her ranged attacks, she channels her unique energy called Adamance, which she uses to fire energy beams and projectile volleys at her opponents.
War Dancer: The War Dancer combines martial arts with elemental magic. She charges up her elemental power with lightning-fast strikes and sends her enemies flying, then grills them with fire and lightning spells.
Scrapper: The Scrapper is equipped with an oversized gauntlet, which she uses for her slow but powerful attacks. With powerful strikes, she unleashes earthquakes, knocks enemies back and even summons dragons to attack along with her
Final game: How do dungeons, raids and PVP work in Lost Ark?
The end game is clearly different from the genre competition. Those who hoped to be able to farm the same bosses over and over again for fresh loot, as in Borderlands 3 or Diablo 2, may be disappointed. Once we have reached the maximum level of 60, we only become stronger by increasing our item level. We can get the necessary items in Lost Ark from the following game modes:
Dungeons: Similar to World of Warcraft, we can explore instanced dungeons in Lost Ark as soon as we have reached the necessary level or completed a certain quest. We don’t necessarily have to be part of a party to do this, because we can also go on a loot hunt here alone – the difficulty level is adjusted according to the size of the party. A harder variant, the Chaos Dungeons, have a chance for higher quality loot – however, we can only enter three Chaos Dungeons per day.
Raids: The Guardian Raids work exactly like the monster hunt in Monster Hunter Worlds. We enter the area with a party, find the boss, hurt him, find him again, hurt him again, he takes off again – you know the drill. However, the raids only drop fat loot three times a day, after which the rewards are greatly reduced.
PVP: We can also get PVE equipment when fighting other players. Here we compete in either 1-on-1 or 3-on-3 battles, although even the 3-on-3’s are just three separate one-on-one duels. In the future, however, guild wars including siege battles are to follow.
