Lost Ark is a complete and standalone MMORPG and aside from the perspective, it has little in common with Diablo. However, one endgame activity significantly changes that and it brings real enjoyment to MMORPG fans. MeinMMO author Mark Sellner has already played the endgame of Lost Ark for several hours and reports.
What is the Tower? In the endgame of Lost Ark, you can expect many different contents. Some of them can only be completed in groups, such as the Guardian Raids or Abyssal Dungeons, while others are meant for you alone.
Solo contents include, among others, the ranked Arena PvP and also the Tower. You can only conquer this alone and it somewhat lightens up the whole game. You will find it after completing Vern in every larger city. You don’t need to complete any extra quest to unlock it.
For in this tower, Lost Ark almost forgets all MMORPG elements that otherwise set it apart from other action games. There is no flirting with NPCs, no housing, no group elements and buffs. Here, you will simply take down monsters and demons by the various heads.
What is the Tower good for? However, as an MMORPG player, you should not completely ignore the Tower, as it brings you significant advantages in the further course of the game and is actually a must for every hero of Arkesia who wants to keep something of their status.
For you can take rewards with you from the Tower for every floor you complete. Every 5 floors, particularly tough opponents await you, who will bring even more loot.
The most important thing are the skill books that you can receive occasionally from the floors. With them, you can gain more skill points, even though you have already reached the maximum level.
If you still want optimization for your character but currently don’t feel like farming better gear, the Tower should be your first point of call.
How does the Tower work? Basically, at the start, you will expect two versions of the Tower. Shadespire and Fatespire. You will begin with the former, which requires a gear score of 302.
Overall, you will fight your way through 50 floors and receive better rewards each time. Once you clear a floor, your health points will be replenished and the cooldowns of your skills reset. You have a time limit for each individual floor, which lies between 3 and 5 minutes.
However, the requirement for your gear score increases with each floor, making the Tower not only more difficult but even unapproachable. While you only need a score of 302 for the entry and floor 1, level 5 already requires a gear score of 340 from you.
Additionally, you are not allowed to use healing potions during the fights, and changing your equipment is also not permitted in the Tower. Once you have conquered all floors, the next Tower, Fatespire, awaits you.
Diablo is also a lot of fun in Lost Ark
Why does it feel so different? In the Towers, Lost Ark plays like a completely different game. It refreshes and is fun. Moreover, the mechanically rather dull setup brings fresh air and variation to the MMORPG.
The individual floors of the Towers take place in very small arenas, so you do not have the opportunity to simply run away, as often happens in Lost Ark. Nevertheless, the stages boast partially surprising and exciting mechanics.
Why is this so good? One of the levels surprised with about 70 archers standing around the edge of the arena. Within seconds, my character became a walking ball of arrows, as they stuck into my Scrapper’s body.
While I initially found this amusing, I quickly became stressed because these archers hit really hard and I could see my health points melting away.
Everything about this Tower feels completely unlike Lost Ark and that is a positive aspect. You have variation within a game. No longer in the mood for Lost Ark? Then just play Lost Ark – or at least the Tower.
Especially since the MMORPG has often been compared to Diablo due to its perspective and action-packed combat system, it’s nice to see that they can hold their own in the main area of the action competitor. Even if Lost Ark otherwise has nothing to do with Diablo, this little homage in the form of the Tower is a welcome breath of fresh air in the game.
What hinders the fun? The only annoying thing is the relatively useless gear score lock of the Tower. With a level 50 character and gear score 302, I can clear the first four floors of the Tower in no time and without major difficulties.
However, you are no longer allowed into the 5th floor because the game requires a higher gear score from you. You would like to continue playing at this point and find out how far you can go and what challenges you can overcome. But first, you have to farm items again to try the next levels.
It would be such a great incentive if the gear score were just a recommendation. How good would it feel to clear a level that you shouldn’t be able to? But Lost Ark does not allow that at all, which is a big problem for the overall feel of the Tower.
What do you think of the Tower? Have you perhaps even played it yourself and had as much fun as I did? Or do you think a solo mechanic has no place in an MMORPG? What do you think about the fact that you actually have to conquer the Tower if you want to keep up at the end? Is it reasonable or rather disruptive? Feel free to write it to us in the comments here at MeinMMO.
If you are still not clear on how the games differ, we have for you 7 things you should know about Lost Ark when coming from Diablo.
