We introduce you to all the classes from Lost Ark and their special features. In addition, you can find out in our guide which classes are particularly suitable for beginners.
The highly anticipated action role-playing MMO Lost Ark will finally launch in Europe on 11 February 2022. What to expect at release and why the game is especially suitable for Diablo fans
With currently 15 different classes, Lost Ark already offers an incredibly large selection for the beta and thus confronts you with a really difficult decision right at the start of the game.
To make this easier for you, we present all classes of the Closed Beta here. We were supported by Boncer, a Lost Ark pro with several thousand hours of game time.
Table of Contents
All classes from Lost Ark
As of now, we know of 15 classes that Lost Ark will offer at the 2022 European release. In the Korean version, which already launched in 2018, 21 classes are currently already available.
At the start of the game, you choose one of seven basic classes: you can choose between warrior, mage, gunner, gunner assassin, martial artist or martial artist. As the names of the classes already reveal, your gender is linked to the character you have chosen – 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. Here we present the classes that will be available in 2022.
Warrior classes
Berserker
The Berserker is a powerful melee class that relies on a huge two-handed sword. He can enter the so-called burst mode, in which he gains increased attack and movement speed and deals huge amounts of damage with new special skills.
What our expert says
Difficulty: Very easy
Most important character values:
- Damage Build: Specialty, Critical Damage
Because of its simplicity, it is a popular choice for beginners. Most of the damage comes from his Z-form, also called Berserk Mode. The Berserker is also easy to play in PvP, but there it is hard to reach a high ranking with him.
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 is also good at dealing damage when he unleashes the wrath of the gods with his one-handed sword.
The Paladin is the most powerful of the warriors.
What our expert says
Difficulty: Easy
Most important character values:
- Support Build: Specialty, Speed
- Damage Build: Critical Hit Chance, Speed
The Paladin can be played as both a supporter and a damage dealer. A hybrid build is also possible. His healing comes not only from his aura, but also from the shields he can give to the group. The Paladin also reduces incoming and increases outgoing damage for all party members.
Gun Lancer
The Pistol Lancer is the class that could most easily be called a tank. With his shield and various skills, he deflects the attacks of his enemies and masterfully absorbs large amounts of damage.
What our expert says
Difficulty: Easy
Most important character values:
- Tank: Specialty, critical hit chance
- Damage: Critical hit chance, Speed
There are two ways to play the Pistol Lancer: In the community they are called Red and Blue Pistol Lancer. The red one stands for pure damage, while the blue one can take a lot of damage. The only tank build in the game can not only distribute shield barriers, but also attract aggro from bosses with its Taunt ability. In PVP, on the other hand, he can interrupt enemy attack rotations with taunt.
Magician classes
Magician
The Sorceress is a classic caster class that destroys enemies with elemental magic. Similar to the Sorceress in Diablo 2, the Sorceress relies on fire, ice and lightning skills. For example, she can slow her enemies with ice arrows, trap them with a lightning vortex and then roast them with a wall of fire – as a finishing move, she then drops a thick metor from the sky.
Our Assessment
Difficulty: Medium
Main character stats:
Ignition Build (Damage): Specialty, Speed
Bardin
This musician may be one of the offensively weaker classes, but she is still an important addition to any 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
What our expert says
Difficulty: Easy
Most important character values:
- Support (lower cooldowns) : Speed, Specialty
- Support (more healing) : Specialty, Speed
- Hybrid (healing and damage) : Critical hit chance, Speed
The Bardess is played as a support player by most players, as it is much harder to be effective with the Hybrid skill. Not only does the Bardin act as a primary healer, but she also increases the outgoing and decreases the incoming damage of the group.
Canonier/Canonier Classes
Artillerist
The artilleryman 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 agility.
What our expert says
Difficulty: Easy
Most important character values: Critical hit chance, Speed
The artilleryman is one of the strongest damage dealers. Just like the summoner, he has the disadvantage that you have to know the bosses so that the abilities hit their target. However, he can take more damage because he can give himself a shield. This is another reason why he is one of the classes in PVP that you don’t like to have as an opponent as a pro.
Sharpshooter
Significantly more agile than the artilleryman is the sniper. He is an expert at keeping his distance from 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.
What our expert says
Difficulty: Medium to Hard
Most important character values:
- Damage: Specialty, Critical Hit Chance
- Burst Damage: Critical Hit Chance, Specialty
The difficult thing about the artificer is his abilities: To cast them, they have to be charged by pressing a button and then unleashed at the right time. As a typical archer, he suffers somewhat from his weak defence. On the other hand, he can hide for a short time and switch between melee and fighter combat fluently, which is especially useful in PVP.
Artistic Shooter
The artificer relies on classic firearms such as pistols, rifles and shotguns. Overall, however, he should be considered more of a melee class, as his most powerful skills are triggered with the shotgun and do not have a long range.
What our expert says
Difficulty: Hard to Very Hard
Most important character values:
- Enhanced Weapon Build (Damage) : Specialty, Critical Hit Chance
- Pistol Build (Damage) : Specialty, Critical Hit Chance, Speed
The Artificer is one of the most challenging classes in the entire game. The challenge here lies in the management of the three different weapons – by the way, the shotgun causes the most damage. Those who like it a little easier can play a pistol build, in which the other weapons are locked. Despite the high difficulty level, the overall damage dealt is lower than with the female variant, the artificer.
artistic shooter
Many of the skills of the female artificer are similar in function to those of the male artificer, but even so, the two 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
What our expert says
Difficulty: Medium to Hard
Most important character values:
- Peacemaker Build (Damage) : Critical Hit Chance, Specialty, Speed
- Time to Hunt Build (Damage) : Critical Hit Chance, Speciality, Speed
The same applies to the female artificer as to her male version: weak defence, but extremely high damage if you master the complicated switching between weapons. Overall, her damage is slightly higher because she can fall back on better skills for her sniper rifle.
assassin classes
Death Blade
The name says it all with the Death Blade, as it relies on three different swords at once. With her double blades she performs fast combo attacks, for particularly powerful attacks like the “Soul Devourer” she pulls out her longsword.
What our expert says
Difficulty: Medium
Most important character values:
- Damage: Specialty, Critical Hit Chance
The great strength of the Deathblade is in PVP. If you play it in PVE, for example in raids, you have to be careful: Due to the low armour value, you should avoid hits as much as possible. It is also worthwhile to always stand behind the boss to get the maximum damage out of it.
Shadow Huntress
This melee fighter can release her inner demon and thus take on a powerful demon form. This gives her increased health and movement speed
What our expert says
Difficulty: Easy to medium.
Most important character values:
- Demon Form Build (Damage) : Specialty, Critical Hit Chance
- Human Form Build (Damage) : Critical Strike Chance, Speed
There are two ways you can play the Shadow Huntress: Either you focus on damage in demon form or on damage in human form – here, however, it is then no longer possible to turn into a demon. Just like the Deathblade, the Shadowhunter is strong in PVP, but struggles with weak armour.
combat artist/martial artist classes
Soul Fist
Soul Fist fluidly 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.
What our expert says
Difficulty: Easy
Most important character values:
- Robust Spirit Build (Damage) : Specialty, Critical Hit Chance
- Energy Overflow Build (Damage) : Critical Hit Chance, Speed
The Soul Fist is a very good all-rounder, as it shines in both melee and ranged combat. Its most important tool is the Ki mode, which you can trigger by pressing Y or Z – depending on the keyboard layout. Here she not only does more damage, but also has reduced cooldowns on her skills. Due to its uniqueness as an almost perfect all-rounder, the Soul Fist can often be found very high up in the PVP rankings.
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 spells of fire and lightning.
This is what our expert says
Difficulty: Medium
Most important character values:
- First Intention Build (Damage) : Speed, Critical Hit Chance
- Esoteric Build (Damage) : Specialty, critical strike chance
There are two ways to play the war dancer: Either with charging the elemental bar for the Ultimate attack or without. This choice means that you have different skills available to you in each case. Most players, however, choose the variant with the three orbs, as the version without is massively weaker. The war dancer is also very well suited for PVP due to her high mobility.
Scrapper
The Scrapper is equipped with an oversized fighting glove, which she uses for her slow but powerful attacks. With powerful strikes, she unleashes earthquakes, knocks enemies back and even summons dragons to attack with her.
What our expert says
Difficulty: Medium
Most important character values:
- Shock Training Build (Damage) : Specialty, Critical Hit Chance
- Taijutsu Build (Damage) : Critical Hit Chance, Speed
The Scrapper not only deals high damage, but also fulfils another task masterfully: she is particularly good at staggering bosses, i.e. making them incapable of fighting for a short time. She even has a debuff that increases the stagger damage of the whole group against a boss. This can be important because some bosses have a so-called stagger check: To get to the next combat phase, the boss has to be staggered.
War Monk
The warrior monk, also called the striker, is effectively the male version of the warrior dancer. Just like his female counterpart, he is quite agile and possesses many movement skills to move across the battlefield at lightning speed. He works on his enemies with quick punches, only to launch them into the air with a powerful kick and then finish them off with combo attacks.
What our expert says
Difficulty: Easy
Most important character values:
- Special Strike Build (Damage) : Specialty, Critical Hit Chance
War Dancer and War Monk are very similar in terms of skills and play styles. The biggest difference is that the Monk’s best build focuses on the character value Specialty. Since Specialty increases the speed at which the class skill is charged, it is also your most important tool and should always be used when all four orbs are charged.
