Lost Ark May Update “Destined for Destruction” Changes Overview

Lost Ark’s May patch features the first of the Legion Raids, Valtan, alongside other new content and a heaping pile of class rebalancing changes!

It’s time once again for Lost Ark’s Western release to get more new content. New Class, the introduction of Legion Raids, a new Guardian Raid, as well as the remainder of South Vern’s content. In addition to this new content, we’re also getting some new cosmetics to pick up and show off as well.

Valtan Legion Raid

Valtan will introduce the first Legion Raid into the western version of Lost Ark. Legion Raids are difficult team-based activities that require teamwork to understand and execute the strategy necessary to counter each Legion Commander’s unique characteristics, abilities, and mechanics. As Legion Raids are challenging and take time, there are gates (or checkpoints) that will save players’ progress as they advance through the Raid.

Valtan is an eight-player Legion raid, has 2 gates, and introduces a swathe of new mechanics. Players will need to be item level 1415 to attempt normal difficulty, and 1445 for hard.

Our Thoughts

With Valtan come Relic gearing. With Relic Gearing comes much stronger classes and a bit of a shift in which classes can deal the most damage. Relic Armor Set Bonuses provide some strong effects. In particular there’s a very helpful set that can be used to even makes your daily task of Chaos Dungeon much easier on most classes.

This will without a doubt be challenging, but also very fun at the same time. Legion Raids are some of Lost Ark’s most enjoyable content.

Destroyer Advanced Class

Armed with a variety of skills centered around charging into the heart of the fray, their hammer attacks are so catastrophically crushing that Destroyers can bend gravity to their will— slowing, launching, pushing and pulling enemies— whatever it takes to utterly, beyond a shadow of a doubt, destroy them. The Destroyer will join the Berserker, Paladin, and Gunlancer as the fourth Warrior Advanced Class.

Our Thoughts

The Destroyer is a very strong Frontal Attacking class like the Gunlancer. Similar to the Gunlancer, they pack quite the punch and are very good at staggering foes. They may be on the slower end of warriors, but they also deal incredibly high damage to back up their slower hits.

Be sure to check out our Destroyer Class Guide for a dive into the basic information you’ll need to get yourself going on a Destroyer.

New Activities

Deskaluda Guardian Raid

A new Guardian will arise and must be vanquished before they usher in an age of darkness. Deskaluda will require an item level of 1415 to attempt. As with the other Guardian Raids, you can attempt to vanquish Deskaluda alone, with a party, or matchmake with up to three other heroes.

Our Thoughts

The Deskaluda Guardian Raid is going to feel much more comfortable to farm out compared to Velganos. Despite having an item level requirement of only 1415, it is also capable of dropping Relic accessories. While they may not be as good as what you’ll get from Valtan, they still have potential to round out your accessories.

Challenge Guardians

Each week, players can attempt to defeat three Challenge Guardians. Every Guardian has their own required item level to enter, and each week one Guardian will rotate out, replaced by a different foe. Differing from a normal Guardian Raid, not only are these foes more difficult, Challenge Guardian Raids will apply ‘Scale of Harmony’ so that your characters’ item level will be adjusted to match that of their enemy. However, with increased challenge comes increased loot! Rewards for each Challenge Guardian can be obtained once per roster, per week, and offer more diverse rewards than normal Guardian Raids.

Our Thoughts

Challenge Guardian are one of the few sources of upgrade materials that we didn’t have access to. Now that we have it, it will be much easier to progress through Tier 1 and Tier 2, as well as further into Tier 3.

Guild Activities

While being in a guild has been a helpful source of finding raid groups and providing benefits like the guild shop, new PvE and PvP guild activities arrive in this update. Issue challenges across Arkesia to control guild bases to prove your guild is the best around.

• Island Siege – A PvP guild activity that allows you to battle other guilds in PvP combat. Your ranking is determined by how many points you earn from capturing objectives and defeating enemy players. Island Siege also includes fun activities, like Naruni Island Racing, Snowpang Island Snow Fight and a PvE competition on Altesien island. Earn rewards and perks like gems, accessories, ability stones and more.
• Raid Match – Enter a base with your guild and challenge the powerful Sylmael Devourer. Once summoned, you’ll have limited-time to cooperate with your guild and quickly destroy the Sylmael Devourer. The faster you kill, the more you move up in the guild rankings.

If you’re not in a guild yet, time to start searching! You can use the [Alt-U] hotkey or find the guild menu on the list of menus by pressing escape. Once there, if you’re not in a guild, you can browse through and apply! Many awesome Lost Ark content creators also have series of guilds for their communities, so make sure to see if there are guilds for any communities or friend groups you might already be a part of.

Our Thoughts

Guilds have been looking forward to the Guild v Guild (GvG) content for awhile. Well it’s finally here. Granted this isn’t all of it, it does give more purpose to guilds other than being just another source of various resources.

South Vern Content

• Added 3 levels of South Vern Chaos Dungeons. To participate, you must first complete the “Invading Chaos Wave” quest in South Vern. Item Levels required to participate:
  • Level 1: 1415
  • Level 2: 1445
  • Level 3: 1475
• Added the South Vern Chaos Gate and corresponding Secret Dungeons. Requires Item Level 1415 to participate.
• Added the South Vern Ghost Ship. Requires Item Level 1415 to participate.
• Added hard mode for the Chaos Line. Requires Item Level 1415 to participate.
• Added the Thunderwings Field Boss to South Vern. The recommended Item Level is 1460, but like other open-world Field Bosses this doesn’t prevent players with lower levels from participating.

Our Thoughts

Once we hit 1445, we’ll also be able to start getting Relic accessories from these new Chaos Dungeons. In addition to that, Thunderwings can also drop Relic accessories as well as the material needed to re-roll the quality of Relic Armor.

Overall though, these are all fantastic sources of materials to progress your character deeper into Tier 3.

Wild Wings Island

Arkesia is a vast land, filled with a myriad of menacing and sometimes, well, less-menacing threats. Seeking revenge for eating their friends and family, Crispy Golden Chickings are planning to raid the island. Players turn into a chicken or beer to battle the Chicking boss to earn event coins. The quicker you defeat waves of enemies, the quicker more Chickings appear and the more coins you can earn!

Wild Wings Island is a new event island (appearing west of Tortoyk, with an event every hour) where you can participate in co-op quests or join solo to help suppress this unique uprising. In return, you’ll be rewarded with Rapport Chests, Tailoring & Metallurgy Books, Honing Materials, Pheons, Card Packs, Silver, and more!

Our Thoughts

This event will be yet another good source of materials that we can use to progress characters. There are plenty of good rewards listed here, but you’ll have to stay tuned for our event guide, which will cover the event and its rewards in detail.

Store Updates

Neria’s Wardrobe

Neria’s Wardrobe is a limited-time skin shop that sells individual skins (head, chest, pants, etc.), and will be around for roughly a month. Players can buy individual items for their character, such as snapback hats, t-shirts, jeans, fit and flare dresses, and more. Your character will be modeling modern fashion while fighting epic bosses. Neria’s Wardrobe can be accessed through a new tab at the top of the in-game store’s UI titled ‘Dressing Room’.

Our Thoughts

The long-awaited Neria’s Wardrobe is finally here. While these may not be cosmetics that everyone will want, a whole collection of mix-and-match casual wear can create a lot of unique styles compared to the armor set we currently have or had access too.

New Cosmetics

A new cosmetic collection and a Destroyer Exclusive Skin have been added to the in-game store, available in exchange for either Crystals or Royal Crystals. Explore the in-game store to find the bundle or individual items that best suit your needs and style.

Shushire’s Will – Destroyer Exclusive Skin Set

Dawn Collection Armor Skins

Dawn Collection Weapon Skins

Stronghold Structures & Customization

Added new Stronghold structures and customization items to the in-game store. Items include tents, the Romantic Camping set, the Sweet Picnic set, and more!

Our Thoughts

As far as the preview images go, some of these sets look really great. It’s unfortunate that we only ever have one full set available at a time. But at least Neria’s Wardrobe can help to create some more diverse looks.

General Store Updates

• Destroyer special packages have been added, which include the Shushire’s Will skin set alongside other valuable items to help you in your adventures.
• A few other minor store updates will take place in the May Update, such as adjustments to item quantities in Mari’s Secret Shop, and the addition of a few new Crystal bundles.
• Added a button allowing players to preview skins from selection chests in their inventory before making a choice.

Our Thoughts

These changes are nice, since changes to item quantities in Mari’s Secret Shop can mean a lot of extra materials or honing bonuses that we can get. The Preview button will prove to be incredibly useful for many players as well.

General Updates & QoL Adjustments

Updated Character Customization

• Added 5 new hairstyles for each of the five class categories (Assassin, Warrior, Mage, Martial Artist, and Gunners).
• Added 5 Warrior premade looks and 5 facial presets without facial hair.
• Added human ears for the Mage class.
• Added a scroll bar to the hairstyle selection icon list.

Our Thoughts

New Hairstyles are always nice to have. Worth a reminder that you can get access to these via a Character Appearance Change Ticket as well if you have one lying around from a recent event or other starter packs.

New QoL Menus, Options, & Settings

• Added an “Integrated Dungeon” menu that lists all the Dungeons and Raids available to a player, and allows players to enter those activities directly through the menu.
  • This menu can be found by selecting the “Integrated Dungeon” UI element under the mini-map, or by pressing [ALT] + [Q].
• Players can now check their character’s participation status for various pieces of content on the “Game Menu” by pressing [ESC].
• From within the settings menu, players can now set a chat macro to be displayed upon using a skill.
• Added ‘Favorite Mount’ settings. Favorited mounts will be randomly summoned.
• Improved item loot options and settings, auto-dismantling, and loot alerts.
• Added an option to exclude items with specific engravings to auto-dismantling.
• Improved Integrated Preset options.
  • You can now apply Integrated Preset to use tripod effects in the Skill Tree Inventory. This effect will be applied to the skill immediately, and will not overwrite your gear.
  • Added an option to change your Integrated Preset at the entry point of all end-game contents, such as Chaos Dungeon, Abyss Raid, Legion Raid, etc.
  • You can automatically summon a specified pet with the Integrated Preset.
• You can now designate which characters can gain gold rewards from specific activities, like Abyss Dungeons, Abyssal Raids, and Legion Raids. The maximum number of characters that can earn gold is still 6 per activity.
• Added new Party Finder & Party Invite improvements.
  • Offline players will not be shown in the Party Invite UI.
  • If you request matching or try to enter a different content while you are in Find Party lobby, a pop up will appear to confirm if you want to leave the lobby.
• Added a drop down menu in the Find Party UI (in the Legion Raid section) where you can select which gate you want to find teammates for, as Legion Raids have different gates you can enter.
• Added a new “Toy” tab in the “Interact” menu that allows players to store their transformation and equippable toy items.

Our Thoughts

Having the option to actually select which preset you want to use when going into specific content is SUPER nice. No more worrying about having the right skills set, armor set, card set, or any of that.

The additional options for dismantling are also great. While it’s not directly mentioned, I hope this includes the ability to mark stat that you want to keep, which was a more recent addition in Korea and would make sorting drops that much easier.

Market & Auction House Improvements

• You can now search more specifically from the “Advanced Search Options” menu in the Auction House. You can also reset search presets from the Advanced Search Options by deleting search options.
• If an item listed in Market or Auction House has less than 3 hours, and more than 5 minutes left before it expires, you can re-list the item. You will pay the deposit again and your old deposit will be returned to you by mail. If you instead choose to cancel a listing within that timeframe, your deposit will be returned by mail along with your item. If an item is sold while attempting to re-list or cancel the listing, the deposit that you paid will be refunded immediately. If the listed product has less than 5 minutes left before it expires, you will not be able to re-list it or cancel listing.
• You can now check how many Pheons you have directly from the Auction House UI.

Our Thoughts

These Auction House changes sound nice overall, especially being able to see how many Pheons you currently have.

Stronghold Improvements

• Farm Improvements & Updates
• From the new Farm menu, you can now select and plant Gatherables on the slots. Gatherables in the slot will be ready to harvest every morning. You can check your notifications or go to the management mode to see Gatherables that are ready to be harvested.
• Depending on your Research level, you can now harvest Splendid Gatherables, which will give you more rewards.
• Mastery Skills and passive perks provided by trade skill levels don’t apply buffs when harvesting Gatherables in the Stronghold farm.
• You can no longer complete trade skill related Una’s Tasks or Guild Requests from the Stronghold farm resources.
• General Stronghold Improvements
  • Boundaries will be now shown so you can easily identify where structures can be successfully placed.
  • You can now select and edit more than one structure at the same time by pressing [CTRL].
  • Inventory limit for certain Stronghold structures has increased from 99 to 999.
  • You can now send more than one dispatch on the same special mission from the Dispatch Station. If a crew member that you added manually is the same as one in auto-formation, then the auto-formation button will become inactive.

Our Thoughts

These improvements sounds a lot like the auto-farm. Regardless it will makes it MUCH easier to be able to get more use out of your stronghold and craft important items like Fusion Materials.

General Updates

• Refreshed the daily log-in reward track.
• Two accessories with the same name (two “Space Rings” for example) can now be equipped at the same time.
• Added front and back attack indicators when fighting a boss to better see where your attack is landing.
  • Added settings that can adjust the shape and color of the indicators. These can be found by navigating to Settings > selecting “Gameplay”, and then selecting “Controls and Display”.
• Added shortcuts in the Frost Haven and Foggy Ridge Guardian Maps.
• Raid leaders’ chat messages will now be highlighted.
• Improved World Map symbol search and the Dungeon Map checking function. You can now look up targets that are on a different floor.
• When collecting token items, the alert will now show which inventory it’s being stored in.
• The amount of silver in the South Vern entrance ticket chest at the Guild Vendor has increased from 37,000 to 42,000.
• Added an item level limit of 1415 to get gold rewards from Oreha’s Well Abyssal Dungeons. Applies to both Normal and Hard mode.
• Monte Island improvements:
  • Players can now enter Monte Island from a fixed location.
  • A compass has been added so players can easily navigate to the co-op quest area.
  • Number of participants for the ‘Sweet Dreams’ co-op quest has been reduced to 30 participants.
  • To beat the Strange Treasure Chest, you will need to use a frying pan by using the F5 key.
  • Strange Treasure Chests will produce more notes, but will no longer drop silver or gold.
• You will no longer lose an alcohol buff if you move to a different area. Certain alcohols will now have a 10-min buff.
• You can now refill Sweet Mojito and Punika Gin by taking your empty bottle to Gali in Nia Village.
• A “Quality Upgrade” NPC has been added to all major cities allowing players a chance to upgrade the quality of Relic gear obtained from Legion Raids for gold.
• Cooldown time for the Sniffer Dog excavating skill has been decreased from 5m to 3m.
• If expanded, the mini-map will now close automatically during trade skill mini-games.
• Added the ability for players to auto-path to a specific location by pressing [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [L Click] on the overlay map [Tab].
• Players can now use their mouse to add or remove sheet music, mounts, and pets in hot-bar slots while holding an item that they’ve picked up.
• A button has been added allowing players to preview skins from selection chests within their inventory before making a choice
• Vendors items with purchase limits (daily, weekly, roster, etc.) will now be moved to the bottom of the store UI if the available quantity has been exhausted.
• Improved controller support:
  • Players can now use their controller to use smart pings to share their location with party members.
  • You can now use RT+RB+B on your controller to start/end deal meter in the Training Grounds.

Our Thoughts

Being able to use two of the same-name accessories is a very nice change. This removes a bit of the hassle with buying gear as well and you no longer need to care what the name it has on it is. If it has what you need on it, you can use it freely.

The Frotn anf Back Attack Indication, as well as added shortcuts, are both really great QoL for Guardians, as well as Abyssal Dungeons and Raids. We’ve been waiting a while for those indicators and it will make it much easier for people to position themselves correctly.

General Balance

Changes include updates to some Skill Runes, the damage reduction effect, and tuning for many of the Advanced Classes to balance their impact and further define their battlefield roles.

Damage Reduction Effect Updates

Smilegate RPG Developer note: “Skills that reduced damage for the player or group were too efficient in PvP, resulting in potentially boring combat due to oversimplification of skill usage and strategy. To address this, we put a limit on party damage reduction buff during PvP.”

All damage reduction skill effects received by party members in PvP areas have been changed to only apply 65.0% damage reduction. The following skills have changed to reflect this.

• Paladin
  • Holy Area – Grace tripod
  • God’s Decree – Grace tripod
  • Heavenly Blessings
• Gunlancer
  • Nellasia’s Energy
  • Guardian’s Protection
• Bard
  • Sound Wave – Endurance Wave tripod
  • Note Bundle – Strong Note tripod
  • Guardian Tune
  • Rhapsody of Light – Light Protection tripod
• Wardancer
  • Wind’s Whisper – Warrior’s Courage tripod
• Soulfist
  • Energy Release

Our Thoughts

These are strictly PvP Changes, but they are still good changes. Very good PvP players were able to make far too good of use of these skills, making it much harder to get damage off when good supports existed.

Skill Runes

• Changed how the cooldown reduction effect of Conviction and Judgment was calculated, by factoring in the cooldown reduction effect of Swiftness using multiplication instead of addition.

Our Thoughts

This is a very slight nerf to this set of runes, but it still remains a very useful and beneficial effect overall.

Class Balance

Berserker

Skills

• Crime Hazard
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.
• Chain Sword
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.
• Assault Blade
  • Piercing Strike tripod has changed to Amplified Damage. On hit, foes will take +6.0% damage from player and party members for 6s.
  • Instead of ignoring target defense, enemies will now receive increased damage from the player and party members.
• Mountain Crash
  • Counter Attack effect has been added.
  • Earthquake’s duration increased by 1.0 seconds.
  • Enhance tripod changed to Amplified Damage. On hit, foes will take +6.0% damage from player and party members for 10s.
• Hell Blade
  • You can now use your movement skill while using Hell Blade.
  • Deadly Blow tripod effect has been updated. Now, if your HP is 50% or below, damage will increase by 55.0/63.8/72.6/81.4/90.2%.
• Red Dust
  • MP consumption reduced by 11.5%.
  • PvP and PvE damage reduced by 16%.
  • Fury meter amount reduced by 16.2% in PvP and PvE.
  • Cooldown reduced to 24s.
  • Skill effect changed: Swing the greatsword into the air and create a red energy. On hit, inflict Damage and increase Atk. Power by 6/8/10/12/14/16/18/20/22/24% for 6 seconds.
  • Quick Prep tripod has changed to Damage Amplification.
  • Damage Amplification tripod changed to Red Shock, which you can now progress to Lv. 5.
• Sword Storm
  • Flame Storm tripod damage has decreased. Now, when your HP is 50.0% or lower, outgoing Damage is increased by 55.0/63.8/72.6/81.4/90.2%.

Engravings

• Berserker Technique – Crit damage has increased. While bursting, Crit Damage is now +35/50/70%.
• Mayhem
  • Burst mode damage for Mayhem has decreased. Outgoing Damage is now +3/8/16%.
  • Can only receive 40% of healing effects.
  • Adrophine Potion can now be used while in Burst Mode.
  • If your HP is maxed at 25% during Burst Mode, you cannot use HP recovery potions.

Our Thoughts

Overall, while Mayhem loses some damage, it’s a very small portion that is completely overridden by the ability to also use Androphines in Mayhem. Meanwhile Berserker’s Technique essentially gets a free Keen Blunt Weapon during their Burst Mode.

The biggest thing to note is that Green Health potion will no longer be a full heal for Mayhem Berserkers. Mayhem will have to use Blue Potions in their day-to-day farming needs for a full heal.

Most of the attack type changes are making certain skills fit the Berserker better, keeping them more Back Attack focused.

Gunlancer

Skills

• Surge Cannon
  • Increased damage in PvE by 3.3%.
  • Precise Barrage tripod damage increased to +45.0/52.0/59.0/67.0/75.0% as the perfect zone area gets smaller.
  • Decreased Overcharge tripod damage.
• Charged Stinger
  • Increased Weak Point Detection tripod damage to +25.0/31.0/37.0/43.0/50.0%.
• Counter Gunlance
  • Bombardment Spear tripod damage increased.
• Shield Bash
  • Weak Point Lv. 1 effect has been added, as Gunlancers did not have weak point while in the combat stance.

Our Thoughts

These are overall decent buffs for the Lone Knight Gunlancer. With a few of the notable charge skills being buffed, as well as just a couple of changes to other skills. Overall these should help Gunlancers perform better,

Paladin

Skills

• PvE Punish skills damage increased by 4.8%.
• Punishment
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.
• Executor’s Sword
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.
• Holy Sword
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.

Engravings

• Judgment
  • Sacred Executioner’s duration has increased by +100/125/150%.

Our Thoughts

These Attack type changes and slight damage bumps will add a tiny bit more viability to playing a DPS Paladin, they’re more to make their skill more cohesive to use and to improve their damage a bit. They’re still not quite enough to make them a viable DPS option.

Wardancer

Stats

• Esoteric Skill damage calculation by Specialization increased from 0.225 to 0.27.

Skills

• PVE skill damage increased by 18% for normal skills and by 14% for Awakening & Esoteric skills.
• Wind’s Whisper
  • Oath of the Wind tripod effect changed from Crit Rate to MP Recovery Rate.
• Sky Shattering Blow
  • Attack type changed from both front attack and back attack to just back attack.
• Esoteric Skill: Spiral Impact
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.

Engravings

• First Intention damage has increased to +16/24/32%.

Our Thoughts

The loss of Oath of the Wind Crit Rate will mean a shift in build for Wardancers. Thankfully with the Specialization ratio being increased, Esoteric Wardancers can get away with moving some of their Specialization to Crit instead to cover up some of that loss.

Scrapper

Skills

• PvE Damage from all skills (except for basic attacks) has increased by 24%.
• Charging Blow
  • Ready Attack tripod changed to Furious Hit.
• Fierce Tiger Strike
  • Rough Smash tripod changed to +300/322/366/388% according to number of foes hit.
• Continuous Push
  • Sturdy Armor tripod changed to Fist of Endurance. On hit, incoming Damage Reduction +6.0/6.3/6.6/6.9/7.3% per stack.
• Judgment
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.
• Roundup Sweep
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.
  • Swift Preparation tripod effect changed from successful Crit hit to successful hit.
• Critical Blow
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.
• Shredding Strike
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.

Awakening Skills

• Mysterious Art: Blast of Ruination effect has changed distance used to calculate damage for accuracy.

Engravings

• Ultimate Skill: Taijutsu
  • Stamina skill damage now increases by +35/50/65%.

Our Thoughts

Scrappers got a pretty good buff here, especially with Taijutsu being the more popular build. With a lot of their stronger attacks being moved to back attacks, it will allow them to use a wider variety of skills.

Soulfist

Skills

• PvE Damage from all skills except for basic attack and awakening skills has increased by 7%
• Energy Bullet
  • Trance tripod attack time has been shortened by approximately 40%.
• Energy Blast
  • PvE damage has increased by 11.7%
  • Concussion skill tree effect has been changed to Ranged Hit.
  • Weak Point Detection tripod changed to Tenacity, which cannot be leveled up.
  • Ranged Hit tripod changed to Concussion.
  • Ruthless tripod changed to Concentration.
  • Weak Point Detection tripod can progress to level 5.
  • The Ferocious Strike tripod no longer impacts damage, and now decreases charging time by 50%.
• Merciless Pummel
  • Attack range has increased by approximately 40%.
  • Clear Hit skill tripod will not increase attack range.
• Bolting Crash
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.

Specialty

• You can now exit Hype immediately by pressing [X].

Our Thoughts

Soulfist also get a nice buff here, along with a nice QoL change. Being able to Exit Hype early means that you can cnacel it if a boss goes untargetable and start letting your meter rebuild to get Hype back sooner. With Relic Gear also coming out, Soulfists will also feel much better to play once you get to that point.

Glaivier

Skills

• Vault
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.
• Wheel of Blades
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.
• Red Dragon’s Horn
  • Determination tripod damage is now increased by 20/26/32/38/45%. Perfect Zone damage is now increased by 45/52/59/67/75%.
  • Spear of Destruction tripod effect has been changed from inflicting guaranteed Crit Damage to a 100% increase in Crit Accuracy, and increasing Crit Damage by 0.0/11.0/22.0/33.0/44.0%.
  • Aiming Distance tripod changed to Fatal Aim.
• Thrust of Destruction
  • PvE damage increased by 13.3%.
  • Speartip Thrust tripod changed to Spear of Destruction.
  • Weak Point Detection tripod swapped locations in the skill tree menu with the Shield tripod.
• Spiraling Spear
  • Counter Attack effect has been added.
  • Speartip Thrust skill tripod changed to Vital Point Strike.
• Four-headed Dragon
  • Speartip Thrust tripod has changed to Vital Point Strike.
  • The Violent Thrust tripod’s Crit Rate has increased by 20%. Crit Damage has increased by up to 55.0/63.0/72.0/81.0/90.0%, as you can thrust a longer period of time.
• Starfall Pounce
  • Ground Explosion tripod damage increased to +80/89.6/99.2/109.6/120%.

Our Thoughts

Wheel of Blades is now a super viable alternative to Stampeding Slash for the Glaivier Control Build since frontal attack previously made it a slightly weaker option. Red Dragon’s Horn is a much strong damage tool now as well, which helps the Pinnacle build out as well.

With Speartip Thrist being changed over to Vital Point Strike or Spear of Destruction, it also means less reliance on your skill placement to get those high crit rates. This makes the class feel much better to play overall.

Striker

Skills

• Sky Shattering Blow
  • Attack type changed from front attack and back attack to only back attack.
• Esoteric Skill: Spiral Impact
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.

Our Thoughts

These changes are only to open other skill options, allowing Spiral Impact to be used as a damage skill without a need to change positioning.

Deadeye

Skills

• Enforce Execution
  • Removed the front attack type from the ‘Upper Kick’ attack.
• Quick Shot
  • When selecting the Final Light tripod and using this skill, the push back distance has been reduced.
• Cruel Tracker
  • Push back distance after the final attack has been reduced.

Awakening Skill

• Clay Bombardment
  • The space between clay bombardment images and Deadeye can now have attack hits.

Engravings

• Pistoleer
  • Damage for pistol skills increased to +30/50/70%.

Our Thoughts

Pistoleer get a nice damage bump from their engraving now. In addition, the Clay Bombardment Awakening is much more consistent and reliable now. Reducing the pushback on both Quick Shot and Cruel Tracker is a nice QoL change for both Pistoleer and Enhanced Weapon as they share these are damage option in the Pistol Stance,

Artillerist

Skills

• Damage from normal skills during PvE has increased by 5%.
• Gatling Gun
  • Removed the back attack effect.
• Flamethrower
  • Removed the back attack effect.
• Gravity Explosion
  • Removed the back attack effect.
• Homing Barrage
  • Stagger damage decreased from ‘High’ to ‘Lowest’.
• Air Raid
  • Stagger damage decreased from ‘Mid’ to ‘Lowest’.
  • Flame Barrage tripod now inflicts increased damage, +15.0/21.1/27.5/33.8/40.0%, to monsters that are Challenger grade or higher.
• Multiple Rocket Launcher
  • Stagger damage increased from ‘Mid-High’ to ‘High’.
  • Flame Rocket tripod now deals increased damage, +15.0/21.0/27.0/33.0/40.0.
• Napalm Shot
  • Front attack has been removed.
  • Stagger increased from ‘Mid-High’ to ‘Highest’.
• Swing
  • Stagger increased from ‘Lowest’ to ‘High’.
• Forward Barrage
  • Counter attack has been added.

Awakening Skills: Heavy Turret

• HP increased by 300% for PvE.

Specialty

• You can now use mobility skills in Barrage Mode, but when you do, Barrage Mode will be deactivated immediately.
• You can deactivate Barrage Mode even if you have the Silence debuff.
• You can now use the following battle items in Barrage Mode: Time Stop Potion, Stealth Robe, and Splendid Stealth Robe.
• An extra meter will be added when you engage in Firepower Meter level 3, making it easier to check the buff’s duration.

Specialty Skills

• Bombardment
  • Howitzer shot cooldown has been reduced from 12 seconds to 9 seconds.
  • Focus Fire range increased by 50%, attack speed increased by approximately 16%, and attack duration has decreased by approximately 30%.

Our Thoughts

These changes actually open Artlllerist up to be able to use Hit Master more effectively. The Stagger changes moves some of their stagger from skill in their main rotation to skills they may not be looking to use off cooldown. This will help them deal with retaliation patterns much easier, not accidentally triggering them when main rotation. They’re now also able to cancel their Barrage Mode by using their dodge, as well as using battle items while in barrage mode.

Sharpshooter

Skills

• Deadly Slash
  • Attack type changed from front attack and back attack to only back attack.
• Stalker
  • Front attack effect has been removed.
• Atomic Arrow
  • Weak Point level 1 effect has been added.
• Charged Shot
  • Weak Point level 1 effect changed to level 2.
• Sharp Shooter
  • Focus Shot tripod has been changed from increased Crit Damage to increased Damage. Now, Outgoing Damage is +20.0/26.0/32.0/38.0/45.0%.
• Blade Storm
  • The Silver Master skill tree tool tip has been changed to add Hawk Meter recovery every time you use a skill after applying the Shadow Dance tripod.
• Snipe
  • Easy Prey tripod has been changed to increase Crit Rate. Now, Easy Prey deals increased Damage instead of increased Crit Damage.

Awakening Skills

• Fenrir’s Messenger
  • Overcharging will recover the Hawk Meter by 100%. If you don’t complete the charge, the Hawk Meter will recover by 25%.
  • Specialization no longer changes Hawk Meter’s recovery.

Specialty

• The Hawk Meter’s natural recovery has been increased by 30% for PvE.

Engravings

• Death Strike damage has increased to 22/33/44%.
• Removed Hawk Meter recovery from Loyal Companion and increased attack power, +3/6/10%, while Silverhawk is summoned.

Our Thoughts

These changes are aimed at giving the Sharpshooter more Weak Point options in their kit, which they previously lacked. It also boosts up a lot of their commonly used skills, leading to an overall buff.

Gunslinger

Skills

• Peacekeeper
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.
• Catastrophe
  • PvE damage has increased by 22%.
  • Kill Confirmation tripod has been changed to Cutthroat.
• Bullet Rain
  • PvE damage has increased by 23%.
  • PvP damage has decreased by 20%.
  • Ambush tripod damage decreased to +20.0/26.0/32.0/38.0/45.0%.
  • Vital Point Shot tripod changed to In a Tight Spot.
  • Flame Shot tripod changed from increased Crit Damage to increased Damage. Damage increase is now +60.0/68.0/77.0/86.0/95.0%.

Engravings

• Crit rate for Time to Hunt has increased to +20/30/40%.

Our Thoughts

These changes allow Bullet Rain to be a decent option for Gunslinger to use for damage now. Time to Hunt also get a nice little buff to their engraving, making the build a litter better overall.

Bard

Skills

• Prelude of Storm
  • Counter attack effect has been added.
• Sound Shock
  • Sacred Shock tripod changed to increase Note Brand time by 1s.
• Stigma
  • Brilliant Stigma tripod changed to increase Note Brand time by 1s.
• Note Bundle
  • Sacred Note tripod changed to increase Note Brand time by 1s.
• Harp of Rhythm
  • Note Brand skill tripod changed to increase Note Brand time by 1s.
• Rhapsody of Light
  • Note Brand tripod changed to increase Note Brand time by 1s.

Our Thoughts

Prelude of Storm being a counter is a fun idea, but you’ll generally be using this off cooldown to build Serenade meter, so this isn’t that great of an extra counter option. All of the other changes are directed at making their Synergy debuff easier to maintain and upkeep by rotating your skills.

Sorceress

Skills

• Ice Shower
  • Counter Attack effect has been added.
• Squall
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.

Specialty

• Decreased the Magick Enhancement effect’s damage to Monsters by 1%.
• Decreased the Arcane Torrent effect’s damage to Monsters by 2%.

Our Thoughts

Ice Shower can be a nice counter option for Reflux Sorceress, as well as be a nice damage option as well. Igniter takes a small damage hit, but nothing too serious to hold them back or limit their power.

Deathblade

Skills

• Earth Cleaver
  • Attack type changed from front attack and back attack to only front attack.

Engravings

• Surge has been changed to increase the damage from the Surge skill to 100/110/120%. Maximum damage output will require a full stack of 20 for Surge Enhancement. When Death Trance is finished, refill the Orb Meter based off the number of surge stacks you have, up to 100%.

Our Thoughts

The biggest part of these changes is that Surge players will need to find a new rotation, as the old 14-stack rotation will not work as well for them anymore. Often times this will mean going to the full 20 stacks. This also makes maxing out the Surge engraving a more required thing to do.

Shadow Hunter

Skills

• Rush
  • Movement distance increased by 1m.
• Slasher
  • Counter attack effect has been added.
• Grind Chain
  • Quick Prep tripod changed to Amplified Damage, which cannot progress in level. On hit, foes will take +6.0% damage from player and party members for 10s.
• Demonic Slash
  • Movement distance increased by 2m.
  • When the skill is used slanted towards monsters, the skill will pass through them instead of colliding.
  • Excellent Mobility tripod changed to Amplified Damage, which cannot progress in level. On hit, foes will take +6.0% damage from player and party members for 8s.
• Rising Claw
  • Attack type changed from front attack to back attack.
• Howl
  • Cooldown reduced from 30 seconds to 24 seconds.
  • Damage from PvE and PvP decreased by 15.95%.
  • MP consumption reduced by 11.4%.
  • Quick Prep tripod changed to Amplified Damage, which cannot be leveled up. On hit, foes will take +6.0% damage from player and party members for 16s.
  • Scream of Fury tripod changed from increasing damage for all party members with accuracy, to only increasing damage from the player who applied Fear.
  • Scream of Fury tripod can be progressed to level 5.
• Ruining Rush
  • Enemies that were hit with accuracy will now take 6% more damage for 6 seconds.
• Death Claw
  • Removed the front attack type.
  • Enemies that were hit with accuracy will now take 6% more damage for 6 seconds.

Our Thoughts

Shadowhunters can finally apply their synergy in a transformation state. Praise be the cockroach. These are good changes overall for the Shadowhunter, but Demonic Impulse builds will definitely thrive even more after these changes.

Notable Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue preventing entry into Secret Dungeons if the map was stored in the Pet Inventory.
• Fixed an issue causing uncraftable Feasts and BBQs to display in the Chef’s Kitchen within the Stronghold.
• Fixed an issue causing most events saved in the calendar to be removed after closing and reopening the menu.
• Fixed an issue causing the “Attachment” and “Delete” selection buttons to not function within the mailbox.
• Fixed an issue causing cutscenes to only trigger for a single player when progressing through a quest with a party member.
• Fixed an issue causing the ticking SFX heard at the end of a Team Elimination PvP match to persist through the proceeding rounds.
• Fixed an issue causing all options/items to disappear when searching for invalid terms at any vendor.
• Fixed an issue causing UI elements to disappear when pressing the tab key while viewing items from a vendor.
• Fixed an issue causing ban reasoning and expiration timers to not be shown in specific cases.
• Fixed an issue causing the event time shown in the calendar to not follow the local server time.
• Fixed an issue causing the timers displayed in the Adventure Island menu to reference UTC time in all regions.
• Fixed an issue causing the weapon effect toggle to activate after accessing the dismantle menu from the inventory.
• Fixed a controller related issue where some pop-up tutorials would display keyboard commands instead of controller inputs.
• Fixed an issue preventing the “The Shandi’s Trial: Focusing” quest from being completed while using a controller.

Our Thoughts

These are overall some nice fixes as well, and we’re glad that mail works properly again.

Official Patch Notes are sourced from Lost Ark’s website.

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