Introduction
While playing Lost Ark, you have access to 16 (currently) unique advanced classes. They offer a plethora of different playstyles and a range of difficulty levels, so you'll definitely find one that suits your needs. This Guide aims to introduce you to all 15 of the Lost Ark's Advanced Classes, briefly describe their main traits, and showcase the most popular and The Best Lost Ark Builds. It will highlight flavors, strong points, and main gameplay features of each of the available classes while also trying to point out their weaknesses, to create a clear comparison tool for new as well as experienced players.
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Lost Ark Classes Overview
Warriors | |
Warriors are melee fighters who value heavy armor and slow hard-hitting weapons over mobility. They can shrug off more hits than other classes and hit harder than most, but their preferred equipment weights them down and makes them feel rather sluggish at times. They can currently specialize in three different ways, a dedicated DPS, Tank-DPS hybrid, and a DPS-Support. |
Paladin |
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Role | Melee Support |
Gender | Male |
Paladin offers a solid mix of melee and medium-range offensive skills that allow him to damage his enemies from a relatively safe distance, however, some of these abilities suffer from quite lengthy cast times and force you to position yourself correctly before using them. Moreover, he is one of two Classes with access to dedicated Healing/Support abilities designed to bolster and reinvigorate teammates, the other one being Bard. Of the two, Paladin is by far the more resilient one but lacks Bard's burst healing. He utilizes two types of Skills: Punish Attacks (these are mostly melee DPS Skills) and Holy Spells that offer a solid mix of Damaging and Support effects. As a Melee Support character, Paladin has to watch over himself and his allies, which makes him relatively hard to master. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Paladin Builds
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Berserker |
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Role | Melee DPS |
Gender | Male |
Berserker is an imposing melee DPS who wears heavy armor and wields a 2-Handed Sword which seems so heavy that even picking it up would be a challenge. Despite his thick armor, he is actually the most mobile of the heavily armored advanced classes but pays for it in his resilience. His AoE attacks are among the easiest to use, thanks to their wide arcs. One of the most impressive traits of the Berserker is his tremendous burst damage potential that comes from his Awakening Skills. When in a group, Berserker can support his teammates with powerful buffs and debuffs (Red Dust). Thanks to all this, Berserker boasts a deadly mix of damage, mobility, support, and survivability, which makes him a great choice for experienced and new players alike. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Berserker Builds
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Gunlancer |
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Role | Tank/Melee DPS |
Gender | Male |
This heavily-armored melee fighter wields a massive shield and a Gunlance, which is a melee weapon with a gun built into it. He is the most durable of all currently available Classes (he can even ignore some of the mechanics by simply soaking up the damage) and has access to abilities that allow him to act as a tank (despite the fact that Lost Ark does not follow the "holy trinity" trope and there's no dedicated "tank" role in it). For example, he can soak up the most incoming damage and taunt enemies, interrupting their abilities and forcing them to focus on him (this also works on Bosses, which is crazy). Moreover, unlike an average tank class', Gunlancer's damage output is actually very solid. His power comes at a cost, however. He's the slowest and least mobile of all Lost Ark Classes. Because of this, encounter knowledge and proper positioning are necessary to master him. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Gunlancer Builds
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Destroyer |
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Role | Tank/Melee DPS |
Gender | Male |
Destroyer wields a ginormous Hammer as his weapon and complements it very nicely with a set of very heavy armor. As a result, he packs a considerable punch and can take a beating, but his mobility is just what you'd expect from an over-burdened pack mule. He, just like Gunlancer, has access to the Taunt ability and can greatly improve the defensive capabilities of his teammates, not to mention that he himself can become almost immortal through one of his abilities. He also deals solid burst and stagger damage (in fact, he's the best stagger damage dealer in the game currently). Destroyer's skills allow him to manipulate gravity which, combined with the size of his hammer, results in very flashy, impactful, and aesthetically pleasing gameplay. If you're looking for a tanky class that can dish out a lot of damage quickly while protecting teammates, look no further. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Destroyer Builds
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Assassins | |
Assassins are your sneaky, backstaby, and very shady death dealers who value surprise attacks and deadly combos and prefer to exploit enemies' weaknesses instead of being forced into face-to-face encounters. After all, fair fights are for losers, aren't they? To stay mobile, they only wear light armor and are forced to rely on their agility and swiftness to dodge blows and stay alive. There are currently two Assassins to choose from in Lost Ark. |
Shadowhunter |
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Role | Melee DPS |
Gender | Female |
Shadow Hunter is a powerful melee DPS that utilizes demonic power to unleash devastating attacks from a surprisingly long range. She offers high mobility and a very dynamic "in-and-out" playstyle, but her survivability is definitely on the low side. In combat, she's able to dash into melee range, destroy her adversaries with multiple quick AoE abilities, and dash out before the enemies have even a chance of thinking about retaliation. However, her true power really shows when she uses her awakening. When she does, she turns into a powerful demon and heals herself in the process. When in the demon form, She deals a lot of AoE burst damage and feels truly unstoppable. Her group synergy is similar to that of the Berserker (15% additional damage for 6 seconds with a low uptime). |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Shadowhunter Builds
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Deathblade |
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Role | Melee DPS |
Gender | Female |
As far as Assassins go, Deathblade prefers a surprisingly straightforward approach to combat. She dual-wields blade weapons and uses them to quickly cut through her enemies in CQB, just like a Martial Artist would. Her armor leaves a lot to be desired, so she's forced to rely on her high mobility to avoid being hit. As a result, Deathblade's playstyle revolves around rapid attacks and quick retreats - She's always on the edge. Her team synergy is rather situational and is the main thing that can hold her back in some team compositions - she applies a debuff that makes the target take 12% additional damage from Head and Back Attacks, and 3% more from regular ones). If you're looking for a class that offers high risk and high reward gameplay, you won't be disappointed with her. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Deathblade Builds
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Mages | |
As the name suggests, Mages are characters who wield powerful magic as a weapon. They can tap into their arcane powers to cast devastating elemental spells or, in some cases, aid their comrades in combat. Their power also lets them relocate very rapidly, which is a good thing as they don't use anything that would even resemble armor. You can currently choose one of two paths if you decide to play as a Mage. |
Sorceress |
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Role | Ranged DPS |
Gender | Female |
Sorceress channels the power of the elements through hell staff to unleash death and destruction upon her enemies. Each of the elements she uses has a different utility. Frost Spells freeze and slow everything they touch, Fire Spells offer extensive AoE and powerful dot effects, and Lightning Spells deal high burst damage and stun their targets. Thanks to this, she is very versatile and can dish out high amounts of punishment. Depending on the chosen engraving, She can excel at dealing high burst damage or opt for a more sustained DPS. As a caster, Sorceress does not take hits very well and must rely on her mobility to stay alive. While in a group, she offers a 6% damage increase from all sources to everyone. While in the right hands, She is a very strong ranged DPS but her glass cannon nature can discourage some players. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Sorceress Builds
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Bard |
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Role | Ranged Support |
Gender | Female |
Bard is a ranged, music-themed, harp-wielding, support class that fights using a plethora of magic spells. Just like the Paladin, She excels at supporting her teammates. However, while the Paladin focuses on long-lasting but not immediately impactful helpful spells, Bard excels at burst healing and keeping her teammates alive. She can reduce the group's damage taken and increase everyone's attack speed. She's also much less durable than the Paladin but offers a solid ranged damage potential and nice mobility in return. The main downside of Bard is the fact that you'll be expected to fill the support role while playing her. This means that you will have to pay more attention, than a regular ranged class, during encounters - you'll be concerned not only with your well-being but also the well-being of all your teammates. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Bard Builds
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Gunners | |
These ranged fighters can riddle their enemies with holes without giving them a chance of retaliation. Gunners are extremely diverse when it comes to their approach to combat. Some of them prefer mobility and flexibility, while others opt for heavy armor and even heavier guns. What's common for all of them is their incredible damage potential. As of right now, you can specialize your Gunner in one of four available ways. |
Gunslinger |
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Role | Ranged DPS |
Gender | Female |
Gunslinger is a versatile ranged DPS that utilizes a total of three ranged weapons: a pistol, a shotgun, and a rifle. Each of these firearms has a different effective range and Gunslinger switches between them depending on her distance to enemies. Weapon switching is a big part of the class's gameplay, which necessitates closing and extending the engagement range quite often. Luckily, Gunslinger has access to quite a few mobility skills, which helps with that. Her mechanics are not the easiest to learn and are extensively difficult to master, which means that the class has one of the highest skill ceilings in the game. When mastered, however, she definitely is one of the strongest classes in Lost Ark and will reward you with high DPS numbers. As for group synergies, Gunslinger has the ability to buff up everyone's crit rate by 10%, which makes her a great addition to any raid. If you're looking for a challenging class that rewards high skill, you definitely won't be disappointed with Gunslinger. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Gunslinger Builds
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Artillerist |
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Role | Ranged DPS |
Gender | Male |
As far as Lost Ark classes go, Artillerist is the most unique one. Basically, he is a mobile heavy artillery emplacement combined with a rocket launcher... and a flamethrower. Despite wearing heavy armor, he offers good enough mobility and plays out a bit like a Berserker who has decided that a giant melee weapon is a bit too moderate. As a class that revolves around heavy firepower should, Artillerist has access to some of the most powerful AoE attacks in the game. His attacks feel very impactful and deal a lot of damage, but suffer from long animation locks. Because of this, proper positioning is a must when playing the class. While in a group, Artillerist offers an on-demand group-wide shield and a defense debuff that helps with the group's damage by a lot, thanks to its high uptime. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Artillerist Builds
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Deadeye |
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Role | Ranged DPS |
Gender | Male |
Deadeye is a male counterpart to the Gunslinger and they share a lot of similarities because of that, however, he plays a bit differently. Just like Gunslinger, he has access to three different ranged weapons and switches between them depending on the engagement distance. Unlike Gunslinger, however, Deadeye prefers his shotgun over the sniper rifle, which makes him worse at sniping but much better at brawling in close quarters. Because of this, he is also a bit trickier to play as he wants to stay close to enemies which makes him more vulnerable. Moreover, most of his shotgun attacks perform better when used from the enemy's back, which makes using their full potential quite tricky despite the class's high mobility. Luckily, he has access to a "handgunner" build that only focuses on handguns and trades some of the class's DPS for a lot of simplicity. As far as team synergies go, Deadeye offers a buff identical to the Gunslinger. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Deadeye Builds
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Sharpshooter |
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Role | Ranged DPS |
Gender | Male |
Unlike other Gunners, Sharpshooter does not use a firearm. Instead, he wields a powerful bow that lets him be much quieter and a bit more sophisticated. To complete his hunter fantasy, he also has a loyal pet companion. He is one of the most mobile and dynamic classes in Lost Ark but pays for it in resilience - a single mistake during a boss fight can easily lead to Sharpshooter's death. Despite this, he is actually surprisingly easy to play and does not require high APM which makes him a solid choice for new players who like their skill rewarded and mistakes punished. When in a group, Sharpshooter boosts everyone's damage by 6%. Players who know how to utilize Sharpshooter's great mobility and are good at positioning will definitely appreciate his potential. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Sharpshooter Builds
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Martial Artists | |
Martial Artists are virtuosos of melee combat - they dance around the battlefield and dish out incredible amounts of punishment while jumping in and out of the enemies' effective range. These CQB (close quarters battle) specialists put high emphasis on fast movement and devastating attack combinations, which makes them extremely dynamic and quite hard to master. Currently, there are four different Martial Artists available. |
Scrapper |
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Role | Melee DPS |
Gender | Female |
As far as Martial Artists are concerned, Scrapper is the slower, more deliberate, and harder-hitting version of the Wardancer. Her abilities deal a lot of damage and feel very impactful, but often suffer from long animations that may cause you some trouble if you use them in the wrong moments. With a Scrapper, bad timing can screw you over more than it would have with other classes. On the plus side, Scrapper is quite resilient for a dynamic melee DPS and can shrug off surprisingly high amounts of incoming damage, which helps when you get locked in the above-mentioned skill animations. In groups, Scrapper is valued for her ability to stagger enemies and buff up allies. All in all, She is probably the most well-rounded Martial Artist but does not excel in any particular field, except survivability. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Scrapper Builds
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Soulfist |
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Role | Hybrid (Melee/Ranged) DPS |
Gender | Female |
Soulfist is rather unique because she mixes powerful melee skills with a solid selection of ranged abilities. Thanks to this, she is one of the most dynamic and versatile fighters in Lost Ark. For instance, unlike other Martial Artists, she can dish out damage while staying out of range of enemy attacks. Soulfist is also a queen of burst damage, as she has access to the single hardest-hitting ability in the entire game, in the form of her Awakening. With it, she can do some ridiculous stuff, like one-shotting enemies in PvP. The downside is, if you waste it, your overall DPS will greatly suffer. To make matters a bit more tricky, outside the burst window, Soulfist's DPS is mediocre, to say the least. All in all, Soulfist offers a lot of fun, but is quite polarizing and requires some good rng to stay competitive. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Soulfist Builds
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Wardancer |
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Role | Melee DPS |
Gender | Female |
Wardancer is an agile melee DPS wielding Fist Weapons. Her main selling point is unparalleled mobility and very short cooldowns. These, however, are balanced by rather low survivability - Wardancer does not forgive mistakes and dies relatively easily when caught out of position. When playing as a Wardancer, proper positioning and high awareness are a must. For another positive, she is usually welcome in groups, thanks to her buff that grants attack speed and a higher critical chance to all party members. In fact, she offers the best group utility of all dedicated DPS classes available in Lost Ark. Surprisingly, Wardancer can be actually very easy to play, if you use the Beginner's Mind Engraving on Her. |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Wardancer Builds
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Striker |
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Role | Melee DPS |
Gender | Male |
Striker is a male counterpart of the Wardancer and thus shares quite a lot of similarities with her. He offers solid mobility (but nothing to write home about) and is one of the most dynamic classes available, but can perish rather easily when caught off-guard (just like the Wardancer). Just like the Wardancer, Striker offers very potent party buffs that make him a very desirable teammate. Sadly, His buffs are weaker than Wardancer's as he does not offer the movement speed bonus. As for offensive power, Striker excels in dealing high amounts of Burst Damage and boasts a very high Critical Chance, but requires proper positioning to show his full potential (and he sacrifices mobility for burst damage, which makes positioning him properly quite tricky sometimes). If you're looking for a male Martial Artist, Striker has got you covered (and he's the only choice, so that's that). |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Striker Builds
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Glaivier |
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Role | Melee DPS |
Gender | Female |
Unlike other Martial Artists, Glaivier does not dual-wield her weapons. Instead, she swaps between them as needed. These two weapons are a Glaive and a Spear. Because of this, she has access to two distinct skill sets (Stances) that come with different playstyles. Depending on the chosen Class Engraving, she can focus on just one Weapon/Stance or embrace her identity and swap between the Stances, to buff herself up, during combat. In general, Her Spear skills deal high single-target damage and are quite bursty, especially when used with Glavier's identity buff, while Her Glaive Skills are better at dealing with multiple enemies at once and offer a plethora of long-range and sweeping attacks. If you're looking for a breath of fresh air in the Martial Artist archetype, you should definitely try Glaivier! |
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Strengths and Weaknesses
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Glaivier Builds
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Unreleased Classes
As you probably know, Lost Ark has originally been released in South Korea, in the 4th quarter of 2019. Because of this, we more or less know what is to come in future updates. Yes, there are new Advanced Classes coming to the game, we just don't know the dates yet. Currently, we have information about eight of them, but there will be more as the game is still being developed and improved.
Note: Names of the below-mentioned Classes are all translations from Korean which means that they might differ from the official versions.
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END NOTE We hope that this overview will help you make the right choice and contribute to your fun and progressive in-game experience. If you've found this guide useful and informative, don't hesitate to leave a comment below, it will motivate us to continue our work. If we've missed a piece of information that is important to you, please let us know! Also, please do note that this is an early version of our guide, and we will be happy to receive constructive criticism, that will help us improve it, so leave your suggestions in the comments section below. |