Lost Ark: From raids to solo towers – That’s what awaits you in the endgame of the MMO

We have already reported that we can look forward to some content for the European release of Lost Ark that was not available at the time of the Korea or Russia launch. But what does that actually mean in concrete terms? What can we expect in the endgame of the Smilegate MMORPG when the EU servers go online for the first time on February 8th (only for Pioneer Pack owners) or February 11th, 2022? That’s exactly what this guide is supposed to be about. Get ready for dungeons and raids, monster hunts like in Monster Hunter, and tower challenges for soloists.

When is Lost Ark endgame?

In the level phase of Lost Ark, you first aim for the so-called soft cap, which is level 50. You can reach this milestone simply by completing the main scenario quests. The grind factor when leveling up to this point is zero, unlike in many other Free2Play MMOs. Experienced players will probably not need ten hours to reach the endgame. If you do side quests, visit optional dungeons, level up professions and so on, you can only reach level 50 after 25 or 30 hours.

The remaining level-ups up to level 60 take much longer, but this is of secondary importance for the endgame. It is more important that from level 50 you tackle the quest lines with which you unlock content such as the Chaos Dungeons or Guardian Raids. This content and its rewards then increase your average item level, giving you access to increasingly difficult challenges.

What are Chaos Dungeons?

The Chaos Dungeons should be the first unlock for most of you once you hit level 50. You can tackle the group instances solo or with up to three fellow combatants, whereby you need an average item level of 250 for the first dungeon from Nord-Vern. A total of 24 different chaos dungeons will be available at launch, spread over three-tier levels and five areas, and require you to have an increasingly higher item level. For example, you can only tackle the last chaos dungeon from the Punika region with an item level of 1,400 or higher.

Important: The number of daily runs is limited for chaos dungeons via the aura of resonance. Each dungeon visit costs you 50 aura points, you can have a maximum of 100. The aura refreshes completely every day at 03:00. As soon as you have reached a certain item level, you can enter some of the chaos dungeons even if you no longer have any aura points. In this case, weaker rewards beckon.

And what is the goal of the Chaos Dungeons? Very easily! You fight your way through hordes of enemies and bosses until a portal opens and you can reach the next level. However, you only have a certain amount of time to do so. If you are too slow, the run has failed. New villains await you on a new level, and you have to defeat them again. You repeat the procedure until you have brought the cleaning indicator to 100 percent.

What are Guardian Raids?

Guard raids work like monster hunts in Monster Hunter: you track down a beast (special beacons help you with this) and fight it until it is injured and changes areas. Track down, fight, track down, fight. Like the Chaos Dungeons, the Guardian Raids are designed for soloists and groups of up to four players. You have to complete the task in 20 minutes. The revives for your entire squad are limited to three and you are not allowed to use inexpensive healing potions (shortcut F1).

Also important: You can only collect a guardian soul, which contains all the rewards, twice a day. After that, you can still help friends, but you won’t get any more loot. Incidentally, you can only tackle the level 2 beasts once you have eliminated all level 1 beasts. The same goes for level 3, 4, and 5 creatures. The item level range at launch is between 302 and 1,385.

What are the towers (Shadow Spire / Tower of Destiny)?

Also from item level 302, you can venture to the top of the shadow for the first time. This is the first of two Tower Challenges that you must complete on your own. The second variant is called Tower of Doom and starts at an average item level of 802.

The structure is the same in both versions: you fight your way up 50 levels and are faced with increasingly difficult enemy groups and bosses (whereby the recommended item level also increases with every five levels). You are not allowed to use inexpensive healing potions (shortcut F1) in the tower. The change of equipment, for example, is also not permitted. But you can leave the tower after each mastered level without any problems. Then you’ll bag all the rewards you’ve earned so far, and you can pick up where you left off next time.

What are the Dice (Trial of Fate)?

With a bit of luck, you can get access tickets for the three dice challenges of Lost Ark via Chaos Dungeons. These are called Trials of Destiny and the normal version can be accessed for the first time with an item level of 302 (solo or in a group of up to four players). In the elite cube, you then go with item level 802. The dimension cube requires an item level of 1,302.

The dice are a sequence of rooms in which you have to box around all enemies that appear in a very short time window. If you succeed, you feel a progress bar and it goes into the next room. When the bar is completely filled, you earn a chest with rewards, which you can now upgrade by filling the next bar. The goal is to master so many rooms that the most valuable chest jumps out at the end.

The trick with the dice: Every time you change rooms you get a random bonus or penalty. Sometimes you take double damage, sometimes your life points don’t regenerate or you catch a constantly ticking poison effect. On the other hand, if you deal twice as much damage as a result of the bonus or if you get 50,000 extra health points, the next level is much easier.

What is Boss Rush (Hall of Silence / Hall of the Sun)?

Only with item level 802 does the sanctuary of the warrior open for you (solo or with up to three other players). There you can expect two endgame content, the Hall of Silence and the Hall of the Sun (only from item level 1,302), which also go by the name “Boss Rush”.

A total of 15 waves of… you guessed it… bosses await you here. And not just one, but later several at the same time. The more waves you make, the better the reward. But here, too, you are not allowed to use inexpensive healing potions (hotkey F1) or adjust your clothes or skills in the middle.

What are Abyss Dungeons?

The abyss dungeons hide a total of eleven tough dungeon challenges for teams of 4 to 8 players, in which you have to defeat strong portal bosses and can earn valuable loot. The most difficult challenges even require you to have an item level of 1,370.

Various restrictions also apply to the abyss dungeons: Tier 1 and Tier 2 dungeons can only be entered three times a week, Tier 3 dungeons only once a week. In addition, inexpensive healing potions (hotkey F1) and adjustments to equipment and skills are not allowed.

What are Una’s tasks?

Una’s tasks are a quest journal for daily and weekly tasks. You can complete three dailies per day and three weekly tasks per week. You can choose from a colorful potpourri of tasks for the most diverse areas – including, of course, quests for chaos dungeons, guardian raids, and the like.

In other words, before you jump into end-game content, you should activate the corresponding quests from Una’s tasks in order to kill two birds with one stone (at least if you like the rewards of the tasks, which also vary greatly). You earn points for completing the quests, which in turn are rewarded with Una’s tokens. You can then use them to go to Jess in Nia village, for example, to get bags of gold. Tip: If you want to earn as much gold as possible, do the dailies and weeklies regularly with several characters.

Lost Ark World Events

By the way, not all of Lost Ark’s endgame content is instanced. Even with level 50 and higher, numerous quest lines await you on the various continents and small islands of Arkesia. In addition, there are the numerous world events that appear every ten to 20 minutes somewhere in the world – often in the middle of the high seas.

The world events include area bosses as well as chaos portals that take you to demon-infested areas, or ghost ships that make the sea unsafe. There are island events, sailing adventures, and a co-op scuffle for the Trial Arena. It’s a good thing that the interface keeps you up to date on all upcoming events.

What else is there to do in Lost Ark?

We had already published our own articles for the areas of housing and crafting, so it goes without saying that both areas will keep you on your toes even after level 50. But an important part of Lost Ark is also exploring the vast world of Arkesia, on foot, on the back of a mount, or with your own ship.

During your travels you not only discover new islands, areas and quest givers, you can also collect all kinds of stuff. Eight items fall under collectibles: Mokoko Seeds, Ignea Tokens, World Tree Leaves ( see Professions Guide ), Sea Loot, Island Tokens, Giant Hearts, Omnium Stars, and Masterpieces. Of course, all of these items are also linked to NPC dealers who sweeten your collection with nice rewards.

Adventure Tome and Relationships

In all your adventures, you should always keep an eye on the adventure tome. This documents virtually all your achievements on a continent, whereby you can always see at a glance what percentage of progress you have already made and what you still need to master the area completely. Every ten percent of progress there is a reward.

Everywhere in the world, you will meet residents of Arkesia who will leave a lasting impression on you, there are over 70 at launch. All of these NPCs allow you to farm reputation to improve your relationship and – you guessed it-bag rewards. You increase your reputation through quests, gifts, emotes, and playing an instrument. However, only a limited number of related actions are available to you each day.

What about PvP?

You unlock the Trial Arena automatically during the course of the main scenario. From then on, you can jump into different instanced PvP modes:

• Team Deathmatch (3 versus 3)
• Deathmatch (free for all, with 6 players)
• Team Elimination (3 versus 3, but you fight duels)
• Competitive matches (only during the season, 3 versus 3)
• Co-op battle (6-player teams, three maps with different objectives)
• Custom game (also with tournament mode)

You can also take part in Guild War Challenges with your guild. Some of these events are PvP focused and take place on special islands. If your community manages to claim the area, the best rewards beckon. But all other participating guilds get something too.

What endgame content is still missing?

The most difficult endgame content available on the review server requires an item level of 1,400. This is the already mentioned level 3 version of the Chaos Dungeon Sun from the Punika region. However, the various Legion raids, which represent the hardest content of Lost Ark so far in the other countries, are not available. For the first legion raid you need an item level of 1,415. In Korea, players can currently earn an average item level of a maximum of 1,575.