A guide to quickly and easily get used to the game
This article describes the key features and mechanics of LOST ARK that everyone who is just getting started with the game should know. In addition, before embarking on your first adventure through the vastness of this exciting world, we strongly recommend that you check out other beginner guides:
- LOST ARK: Silmael Update
- LOST ARK sailing guide
- LOST ARK Guide – 100 Frequently Asked Questions for Newbies
Prepare yourself so you don’t miss out on anything fun!
Character control
The movement of the character in the game is carried out with the mouse, and the use of maneuvers, skills and objects – with the keyboard. In the settings, you can reassign the keys to your liking, but you cannot change the way you move.
Quick Access Toolbar
The quick access panel is located at the bottom of the screen next to the character’s health and mana scale. In the cells on the left side of the panel, you can install 8 common skills and 1 Awakening skill . On the right side are the cells of the selected mount, the Notes menu and consumables – healing elixirs that increase stats, and other potions.
The resource scale for using a special skill is located between the cells of the quick access panel.
Quick Access Toolbar
How to get your first gear
You will receive the first set of equipment during the passage of the prologue. Gradually, moving along the storyline, you will get equipment that is relevant for the development of your character in the dungeons along the way. However, upon reaching level 50, you have to make a difficult decision in favor of one of the existing sets of armor.
Equipment rating is one of the most significant indicators in LOST ARK, actually indicating a certain degree of development of your hero. As your gear rating grows, you unlock exciting new adventures: boss battles, challenging dungeons, previously unexplored islands.
Rank 1 equipment sets become available upon reaching level 50. By raising the gear rating to a certain value, you can get equipment sets of rank 2 and higher.
There are 4 sets of 1 rank equipment:
- Chaos Halls Set– to get the Chaos Halls dungeons.
- Crafting kit– to create, you need resources that you get when engaging in peaceful professions, it is most profitable to do this on Platinum Fields.
- PvP armor– can be obtained in exchange for Badges of Honor, a special item that indicates your merits on the battlefield.
- Guardian Equipment– Crafting requires trophies obtained after a successful battle with the Guardians.
When choosing your outfit, rely solely on your own preferences: for example, if you spend most of your time in LOST ARK on the battlefield, you will surely love the PvP set of armor!
Unnecessary armor can be sprayed and get a certain amount of debris, for the sale of which you will earn silver, as well as resources spent on improvements.
You can have several sets of equipment by changing them in the character menu. By default, the character menu is opened with the “P” key.
Character menu
Character inventory
The backpack is opened with the “I” key. You can put any type of items in the backpack, but the number of slots is limited. It also contains a pet’s travel bag, a tab with quest items, and information about the amount of gold and silver you have. Using the “Spray” option, you can disassemble unnecessary equipment. To discard an item you don’t need, drag it outside of your backpack.
Character inventory
In addition to the backpack, the characters have a personal warehouse in which you can store equipment, craft items and personal trophies, and a storage of inherited items. Characters providing access to the warehouse can be found in different parts of Akrasia, and it will not be difficult to recognize them – you will see the inscription “Warehouse” above the heads of such NPCs. You can unlock additional storage slots for both types by paying a certain amount of crystals.
You can place items of the same category at once using the corresponding option in the upper right part of the personal warehouse window.
Personal warehouse and storage of inherited items
Friend list
The friends menu is opened with the “U” key. In addition to the list of friends, the following information is also located here:
- about incoming and outgoing friend requests;
- about characters added to the blacklist;
- about the characters with whom you crossed paths during the game event – for example, were in the same group during the passage of the Chaos Halls dungeon.
The friends list contains information about the added characters. If necessary, you can create separate categories, thereby sorting the list of friends. It is permissible for one character to be in only one category, but a friend can be transferred to another sorting group at any time. You can change the name of the category or even delete it.
You can write private messages to your online friends, invite them to groups and open their profiles.
Friend list
There are several ways to send a friend request:
- through the friends menu – you must select the appropriate option in the lower left corner of the menu and enter the character’s name.
- via chat – right-click on the player’s nickname and select the “Add to friends” option in the drop-down menu.
- being next to the character – you must press the key combination “Ctrl” and “RMB” on the player and select the “Add to friends” option in the drop-down menu
In the “Requests” tab, in addition to the class and character name, the date of the invitation sent is also indicated. To cancel the request, click on the red cross.
Friend list
There are two ways to add a player to the blacklist:
- through the friends menu – you need to select the appropriate option in the lower corner in the “Blacklist” tab and enter the character’s name.
- via chat – right-click on the player’s nickname and select the “Add to blacklist” option in the drop-down menu.
In the “Blacklist” tab, in addition to the class and character name, the date of blocking is also indicated. By clicking on the red cross, you will remove the player from the blacklist.
The number of players who can be added to the blacklist is limited – no more than 50 characters.
Black list
The “Recent” tab contains characters that you crossed paths with during a game event: for example, you were in the same group when you went through the Chaos Halls dungeon.
Ways to interact with players:
- by clicking on the checkmark, you will add the character to your friends list;
- by clicking on the cross, you will add the character to the blacklist.
Recent tab
Game chat
Chat is the main mode of interaction between players, where you can chat with party members during joint adventures, chat with friends or engage in guild recruitment.
There are 6 different categories of chat:
- Nearby – for characters near you.
- Area – for characters within the same location.
- Guild – for players who are in the same guild.
- Group – for communication with party members.
- Whisper is a chat designed for private messages.
- Room – for chatting within a custom match.
In addition to the above categories, there is also a system chat, which by default contains tooltips, error messages, system warnings, information about your trophies, experience gained and changes within the available funds.
Game chat
The chat window can be collapsed and resized in length and width. In addition, you can create additional chat tabs and customize them according to your own preferences. The created tabs can be deleted at any time.
Chat tab customization
Quest log
The quest log, designed to help searchers track progress on accepted quests, opens by default with the J key.
Quest log
Tasks are automatically sorted into locations that need to be visited for successful completion. On the right side of the journal, there is a field with detailed information about each task: goals, description and reward in case of successful completion.
All types of quests, except for story quests, can be abandoned at any time by selecting the appropriate option at the bottom right of the journal. To get acquainted with the territorial location of the objective of the task, open the Map .
You can enable tracking by checking or unchecking the checkbox next to the desired task. In this case, markers with the location of the target will appear on the map. In some cases, tracking the steps of a job is impossible.
Through the quest log, you can enable quest tracking only within the current area or on the mainland you are on.
World map
Emotions
Emotions are often used to complete tasks and develop relationships with certain characters, and therefore are an integral part of the social component of LOST ARK. The default emote interface is opened with the “Y” key.
Emotions
Please note that some of the emotions are available to you initially, while to get others you will have to complete many tasks and go through many tests – for example, fill the Atlas of the Seeker to a certain value or successfully pass a dozen dungeons of the Halls of Chaos.
Melodies
Like emotions, melodies are used to complete tasks and develop relationships with certain characters, and are also necessary to find the entrance to secret dungeons. In addition, some melodies are used as a teleport to leave the dungeon, island, or move to the desired location. By default, the Note interface is opened by pressing the “F2” key or using the quick access panel.
Notes
Each melody has its own way of obtaining: reach a certain point in the storyline, go through the quest chain, fill the Seeker Atlas to the required value, or even purchase it for a certain amount of special currency.
Reputation
Improving reputation with non-player characters can be called a separate aspect of development in LOST ARK without undue modesty. First of all, this is necessary to complete the Atlas of the Seeker, however, the reward received for achieving a certain level of reputation is already a strong motivator.
Interacting with Beatrice in Trision
There are several levels of reputation:
- Indifference,
- Friendliness I-II,
- Respect I-III,
- Homage I-III,
Having earned the favor of the characters, you will receive gifts, and upon reaching the last level of reputation, you will add a note about this character to the Seeker Atlas.
There are several ways to increase your reputation with a character:
- give a gift,
- play a melody
- express emotion,
- complete a reputation assignment.
Each action has a specific limit that affects all characters. For example, without Beatrice’s Blessing, you can only play 5 tunes per day.
The characteristics of your character’s personality are of no small importance for pumping reputation: responsiveness, courage, wisdom and charm. You will not be able to win favor, accept assignments, or raise your reputation if you have below required personality traits.
Seeker Atlas
The Atlas of the Seeker demonstrates the degree of exploration of regions, and a lot of effort will have to be made to fill it: defeat bosses and unique opponents, explore all dungeons, collect artifacts, learn recipes, inspect panoramas, go through the entire storyline, additional and hidden stories, open all portals and achieve favors from all available characters. For reaching every 10% of the Atlas filling, you will receive a pleasant reward.
At the moment, players have access to 10 regions:
- Artemis,
- Yudiya,
- Western Lutheria,
- Eastern Lutheria,
- Tortoik,
- Anshu,
- Ardetein,
- North Bern,
- Shuvird,
Each region has its own page in the Atlas.
Seeker Atlas
Modes of movement around the world
The world of Akrasia is incredibly huge, and it would be too long and painful to move around on foot.
There are several ways to get around in LOST ARK:
- teleports,
- ships,
- vehicles – rideable pets and more.
Teleporters are present in almost all areas of Akrasia. With Beatrice’s Blessing, the transfer service is free, and without it, it will cost you some silver. You can teleport from anywhere on the map and only within the continent on which you are located.
The Travel Book is used to travel between continents. With the Blessing of Beatrice, you have two more save slots available, and to unlock additional ones you need the Wanderer’s Key .
It is important to remember the following when teleporting using the Travel Book :
- the price of the travel service using the Travel Book is fixed.
- after using the cell, re-teleportation will be available only after 2 hours.
- it is allowed to maintain a teleportation point once every 24 hours, but this limitation can be instantly reset using crystals.
Teleportation
Vehicles are used to travel through the open world, but they cannot be summoned in dungeons or islands. You will receive the first mount at the very beginning of the storyline on Artemis. In some locations, only a certain type of transport can be used: for example, using the ladybug to travel to certain areas of Tortoik.
You can get other types of transport in different ways: moving along the storyline, developing relationships with characters, or purchasing for a special currency.
Transport
Travel between continents in LOST ARK is carried out with the help of ships, however, in addition to moving to the sea, you can also do other things: catch and hunt marine life, investigate wrecked ships, and also search for sunken cargo and underwater treasures.
Sailing
For faster travel from one mainland to another, you can use the sea transportation service. The further away the destination is, the higher the cost.
Routes
Guild
If you find it difficult to settle in the endless lands of Akrasia alone, it’s time to think about looking for a company!
You can join one of the already created guilds or found your own after completing the “New Beginning” story quest in Lutheran.
A guild is not only a great opportunity to find friends for joint exploration of the world, but also an additional opportunity to develop your own character: you contribute to the promotion of the guild by being active and replenishing its treasury with a special currency – the Silmanites. Part of the received currency is converted into Silmael crystals, which are subsequently paid to members of the guild.
With the help of Silmael Crystals, you can purchase many useful items for the development of your character: for example, caskets with gifts to increase your reputation and caskets with acrasium – a stone necessary to improve equipment.
Vendor assortment
Card game
In LOST ARK, everyone will find something to their liking, even fans of competitive games! With some characters, you can play cards, and having won, you will receive pleasant rewards.
To participate, you need cards that can be obtained in different ways: as a reward for increasing the level of reputation with some characters or completing tasks, fighting against Guardians or world bosses, participating in sea adventures. But cards alone are not enough for a successful victory – there are a number of aspects to consider that you will become familiar with during the game. Each card has its own cost, called mana points, attack and defense indicators, and an element of the element: Fire, Earth, Ice, Lightning, Light or Darkness. Cards of certain elements are vulnerable to damage from cards of the opposite element. For example, a Fire card will take more damage from an Ice card than from a Lightning card.
The inventory of cards contains 96 cells, but the number of slots can be expanded with gold coins. Initially, you have 2 sets of decks available, containing cards with a total value of up to 20 mana points, but additional slots can be unlocked for crystals.
To improve your skill in this collectible game, the cards necessary for participation need to be pumped and improved, thereby opening the special skills of the cards, which, in turn, can be transferred.
