Lost Ark is finally live, and the first players can test the western version of the MMORPG. We at MeinMMO took a closer look at the shop and reveal what exactly is in it.
Update February 8: We have updated the information about the shop in line with the release. We will be covering the release with a live ticker.
What’s in the shop? Lost Ark is a free-to-play MMORPG, primarily funded through the real-money shop in the game. This has been criticized because there was some pay-to-win in Korea. Now that the game is live, we can finally take a look at the western version.
The shop there offers the following contents:
- 2 armor skins
- Various skins for mounts, companions, and ships
- Items for housing
- Tickets for expanding character slots, name changes, and appearance adjustments
- The Crystalline Aura, a buff for 30 days that brings various bonuses, similar to ESO+
- Phoenix Feathers, an item that allows you to resurrect. This does not work in raids.
- Item bags that provide materials or upgrade items
- Tickets that allow you to complete daily quests immediately
- Pets that grant you stat bonuses and auto-loot
Depending on the definition, some of the mentioned contents fall under the banner of pay-to-win. The material bags directly provide materials for crafting or stones for upgrading equipment. The tickets for Unas Tasks, which allow you to complete daily quests immediately, or the pets also fall under this.
What’s particularly nasty is that the offers for material bags only last for 6 hours. After that, they automatically change, and other items can be purchased.
However, it’s important to distinguish between the currencies in the Lost Ark shop, one of which can also be exchanged for in-game gold.
Lost Ark lets you buy almost everything for in-game currency
What currencies are available in the Lost Ark shop? There are two currencies in the shop:
- Royal Crystals can only be purchased for real money
- Blue Crystals can be exchanged for Royal Crystals or in-game currency
The Blue Crystals work similarly to the gems in Guild Wars 2. Player A can offer gold and buy Blue Crystals from Player B. Player B can, if no Blue Crystals are available, use Royal Crystals, thus indirectly buying gold from Player A with real money.
However, Player A will always receive the converted value in Blue Crystals. You cannot buy Royal Crystals directly from other players.
However, the currency exchange is currently disabled, so we can’t say exactly how much the items cost in in-game currency. However, we will include a screenshot from the Russian version of the game:
What do the currencies mean exactly? Everything that is offered for Blue Crystals can also be bought with in-game currency.
However, exclusive items that are only available with Royal Crystals, and thus for real money, include items for adjusting the appearance of characters, additional character slots, and name changes, as well as mount skins.
Items like the Crystalline Aura, Phoenix Feathers, or material bags are available for Blue Crystals and thus indirectly also for in-game currency.
How do the Crystalline Aura and Pets work?
How does the Crystalline Aura work? For 30 days, you will receive several bonuses, including free fast travel, reduced times for crafting, research or from the Song of Return, Bifröst will get 2 additional slots and lower fees for overseas vessels.
It costs 420 Gems. There is also a package for 180 days, which currently costs 50 Euros.
How do the Pets work? The pets provide you with a bonus on a specific stat. However, you can re-roll these stats using Blue Crystals.
In addition, pets provide auto-loot and offer other small conveniences. However, these only last for 30 days before you must reactivate them with Blue Crystals.
How much does the Lost Ark shop cost?
With the release, there is now the opportunity to sell Royal Crystals in the shop. They cost:
- 1,000 – 9.99 Euros
- 2,200 – 19.99 Euros
- 5,750 – 49.99 Euros
- 12,000 – 99.99 Euros
Contents for Royal Crystals:
- Character adjustments cost 900 Royal Crystals
- One character slot costs 900 Royal Crystals
- Name changes cost 1,800 Royal Crystals
- Mounts cost 1,400 Royal Crystals, a special skin even costs 2,300
- 200 Blue Crystals can be obtained for 500 Royal Crystals; 3,600 Blue Crystals for 8,700 Royal Crystals (minimal discount)
Contents for Blue Crystals:
- Crystalline Aura costs 420 Blue Crystals for 30 days
- Housing decorations cost between 50 and 250 Blue Crystals
- Ship skins cost between 365 and 410 Blue Crystals
- 100 tickets to complete daily quests cost 1,120 Blue Crystals
- 100x Phoenix Feathers for resurrection at the spot cost 820 Blue Crystals
- The chests for materials cost between 18 and 199 Blue Crystals
What do you think about the Lost Ark shop? Do you find the contents acceptable, or do you see it as pay-to-win? Is the shop generally an interesting topic for you, or would you rather play free-to-play? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments here at MeinMMO.
If you want to learn more about Lost Ark, you can find all the important information in this video:
Everything you need to know about the MMORPG Lost Ark – in 2 minutes
