The release of Lost Ark in Russia is slowly approaching. Our author Irie has decided to take a closer look at the MMORPG as soon as it becomes available in Russia.
For me, the announcement of the Open Beta of Lost Ark in Russia was a really positive surprise. Since I grew up in Russia, I still speak the language fluently, which is proving to be a big advantage in the case of Lost Ark.
I want to try the Russian version of Lost Ark and I already know which class I will play.
How do classes work in Lost Ark? Currently, there are four main classes in Lost Ark:
- Fighter
- Warrior
- Mage
- Hunter
These split into three different specializations each at level 10, from which one must be chosen to progress in the game.
And while many of these specializations look really cool and are certainly fun to play, I am most taken with the Arcana.
What is the Arcana? At its core, the Arcana is a mid-range damage dealer class. As one of the Mage’s specializations, it would normally not be on my top list, as I prefer physical DD classes.
However, the Arcana is anything but a classic Mage. Its weapon is a Tarot card deck and its abilities are considered spells, but have no preparation time.
This results in a very high attack speed and, on top of that, looks really stylish thanks to the cards.
This is how the Arcana works: The Arcana’s abilities are divided into three groups:
- Blue: When the blue skills hit a monster, they leave one or more cards on it as “stacks.” A foe can have a maximum of four stacks on it.
- Red: These card stacks can be triggered by using the red abilities and can deal high damage, for example. The more stacks a foe has, the higher the bonus damage.
- Yellow: The yellow abilities form the “Crowd Control” category and are independent of the other two groups.
Similar to the other classes in Lost Ark, the Arcana also has a main resource for its identity skill. The resource is filled when different abilities are used.
Once the resource bar is full, the Arcana draws two random cards from its deck that can grant various status effects and buffs. This can be anything from a 100% critical hit for X seconds to “Draw two more cards.”
Why is the Arcana interesting?
I find the Arcana very exciting for several reasons.
The entry is not hard, but the skill ceiling is high: The basic gameplay of the Arcana is very simple. Distribute your card stacks, trigger them with red skills, stay alive -> profit.
However, its abilities offer much room for min-maxing and its skill ceiling is high, meaning it is hard to master.
The randomness of its identity skill requires strategic action in combat. Depending on the cards drawn, one must consider when the best time would be to use them.
Should one wait until enough stacks are built to make a 100% crit card worth it, or should one wait for a stronger cooldown? One must always adapt to the situation.
It is a “High risk, high reward” class: It can deal good damage, but it is very vulnerable due to the low range of its abilities and its Mage equipment.
If one rushes to the raid boss with their movement skills to place their card stacks on it, they must also dodge many AOEs. This requires “Field Awareness,” which means one must always know what is happening around them in the battle and react quickly.
The style factor is high: The eye indeed eats with it, and I find a card deck as a weapon really cool. The animations of the Arcana abilities are stylish and creatively implement the card concept.
In Final Fantasy XI, I fell in love with the class Swashbuckler because it also dealt with cards and dice and was versatile. The Arcana gives me a similar vibe as the Swashbuckler.
Even though the gameplay elements are ultimately more important, the animations and look of a class must convey a strong “badass” feeling for me.
What do you say? Have you already eyed a class in Lost Ark or haven’t you considered it at all? Here you can watch gameplay videos:
