Lost Ark may not have a true tank function, but there is still a tank. The Gun Lancer is indestructible and provides protection for his party members under his shield. MeinMMO author Anny Bader has taken a closer look and explains what it’s all about.
The Gun Lancer, in English Gun Lancer, is a subclass of the warrior. He is not particularly fast, but he doesn’t need to be. With his strong defense, he withstands most attacks that other classes have to dodge. As a Gun Lancer, you can continue to deal DPS in such situations.
In Lost Ark, there is no Holy Trinity; groups are not classified as DD, Support, and Tank as in other games. Therefore, you cannot play the Gun Lancer as a true tank. However, you can absorb a lot of damage and protect your party members, while a taunt skill can make the opponent’s attacks ineffective.
His abilities are divided into red and blue. The red ones are attacks with his Gun Lance, while the blue ones consist of regular attacks with the shield, buffs, and debuffs.
On the MeinMMO Tier List, the Gun Lancer is in the A-tier for PvE. In PvP, he starts in the B-tier and moves up to the A-area with a higher PvP rank. He is therefore well-suited for both PvE and PvP.
The Gun Lancer in Action
This is the special ability of the Gun Lancer: In combat, his identity gauge in the lower middle of the screen charges up. You can use this energy in two different ways.
If you press Y, you receive a strong shield. You cannot be knocked back, take almost no damage, but you are 50% slower.
If you press X, your entire party within a certain radius receives a shield that redirects their damage to you. Your defense is also improved. This also deals damage to the opponent.
All abilities of the Gun Lancer
Normal Attacks (blue)
Guardian’s Lightning Strike: A bolt from the sky that inflicts electrical damage on the opponent for 3 seconds.
Chain Hook: Pull enemies towards you and deal damage.
Nellasia’s Energy: All party members within a radius of 24 meters take 10% less damage.
Call of Hatred: Taunt that makes attacks from nearby enemies ineffective.
Shield Charge: Charge forward with your shield.
Shield Bash: Hit with the shield. Usable twice.
Shield Shock: Strike the opponent with the shield and reduce their movement speed by 40% for 4 seconds.
Smash: Stuns opponents for 3 seconds. Counter-attack.
Jump Attack: Jump 9 meters towards the target area and strike the ground.
Lance Attacks (red)
Charged Spike: Focus energy and thrust your spear forward.
Ascent Rifle Lance: Stick the spear in the ground, throwing enemies into the air.
Fireball: Shoot at your enemies.
Rifle Lance Shot: Thrust attack that charges the lance and eventually fires a grenade.
Cannon Burst: Compress energy and then strike your opponent, knocking them back. High staggering.
Counter Rifle Lance: Deflect attacks and then perform a counterattack.
Sharp Rifle Lance: Thrust the spear forward.
Rushing High Shot: Strike at enemies while moving forward. Press again to fire a grenade. Counter-attack.
The Gun Lancer in the Leveling Process
When distributing points, it’s important that you never raise skill levels above 10. Skill Level 4 is needed for the first tripod, Skill Level 7 for the second, and Skill Level 10 for the third.
Level 12: First, distribute 4 points each to Fireball and Sharp Rifle Lance.
Up to Level 21: 48 points to Guardian’s Lightning Strike for AoE damage.
Up to Level 25: 20 points to Call of Hatred.
Up to Level 35: 48 points to Charged Spike.
Up to Level 42: Now allocate additional points to Sharp Rifle Lance, for a total of 48.
Up to Level 47: A total of 48 points to Fireball.
Up to Level 50: Finally, allocate your points to Jump Attack.
The Best Builds in Endgame
In endgame, you choose, as with most other classes, between two class engravings. You decide between the red and the blue abilities.
Class Engraving A: Solo Knight
What does the engraving do? As a Solo Knight, you focus on the red abilities you perform with the Gun Lance. You deal a lot of stagger and burst damage. Additionally, at level 1, your crit chance increases by 5% and your crit damage by 30%.
Positioning in combat is important. Most of your red attacks deal more damage from the front, so you should perform as many frontal attacks as possible.
The blue abilities remain available to you, but you can no longer use the battlefield shield of your identity ability that you could previously activate with X. So, there is no longer a shield for the entire group. When you use the shield with Y, your energy will be consumed twice as fast as before.
Ultimately, the Solo Knight deals more damage due to crit and the focus on red skills, but also takes more damage. Nevertheless, he remains robust and can withstand more than most other classes, though he can compete as a DPS class.
For stats, you focus on crit and swiftness, with crit being more important.
Which engravings should I use? In addition to the class engraving, you should rely on Supercharge, as the Gun Lancer has very long cooldowns. Master Blaster is also worthwhile, as it allows you to deal even more damage with frontal attacks.
If you want even more crit in your build, focus on Adrenaline and later, when your crit is very high, on Reckless Sharp Weapon.
Which collectible cards are important? As with almost all damage dealers in Lost Ark, you initially focus on the Howling Rock set to increase your crit rate. It consists of Armel, Seria, Solas, King Thirain, Kharmine, and Delain Armel.
The optimal set is the Light of Redemption set, which, however, consists of rare cards. Thus, it will be costly later, but it is worth it. The set consists of Shandi, Azena, Innana, Nineveh, Wei, Balthorr, and Thirain. With a 6-piece set and a 30 piece awakening, the cards will give you 8% more holy damage and convert all your damage into holy damage.
Which abilities should I use?
| Icon | Ability | Level | Tripods |
 | Fireball | 10 | Lucky Charm Enhanced Strike Attack Creation |
 | Rushing High Shot | 4 | Prepare Attack |
 | Charged Spike | 10 | Weak Point Detection Charge Enhancement Final Charge |
 | Counter Rifle Lance | 4 | Prepare Attack |
 | Cannon Burst | 10 | High-Explosive Shot Overload Concentrated Fire |
 | Smash | 4 | Armor Destruction |
 | Call of Hatred | 10 | Fast Preparation Shield Exposed Weakness |
 | Nellasia’s Energy | 10 | Fast Preparation Effectiveness Survival |
You use Guardian’s Protection as an awakening.
What does the rotation look like? You start with Smash to stun your opponent and buff yourself through the tripod “Prepare Attack”.
Then follow Cannon Burst, Rushing High Shot, Fireball, and Charged Spike.
After 10 seconds, Smash will be ready again, and your rotation can start over.
Class Engraving B: Readiness for Battle
What does the engraving do? With the class engraving Readiness for Battle, you focus on the blue skills of the Gun Lancer and have the strongest defense of all classes in Lost Ark.
Your normal abilities deal 20% more damage and your shield in defense posture lasts 30% longer. If you are hit in defense posture, you deal 4% more damage for 10 seconds.
This build is perfect for countering boss attacks, which becomes increasingly important in endgame. You can read how this works in our guide.
For stats, focus on specialization and crit, with specialization being more important to quickly recharge and use your shield.
Which engravings should I use? Additionally, you select the combat engraving Barricade. This causes your enemies to take more damage when your shield is active. So practically all the time.
Stabilized Damage is also worthwhile. This allows you to deal more damage when your TP is above 80%.
Afterward, you can choose between Master of Strikes, Adrenaline, Spirit Absorption, and Awakening.
Which collectible cards are important?
The collectible cards are similar to the other class engraving. To further increase your crit rate, you should initially focus on the Howling Rock card set. It consists of Armel, Seria, Solas, King Thirain, Kharmine, and Delain Armel.
The optimal set here is also the Light of Redemption set, which consists of rare cards. Thus, it will be costly later, but it is worth it.
Which abilities should I use?
| Icon | Ability | Level | Tripods |
| Rushing High Shot | 4 | Prepare Attack |
 | Shield Bash | 4 | Swift Movement |
| Smash | 4 | Armor Destruction |
 | Jump Attack | 10 | Direct Hit Electric Field Low Shock |
 | Guardian’s Lightning Strike | 10 | Damage Luck Heavy Blow Lightning Shaft |
 | Shield Charge | 10 | Enhanced Strike Shield Destruction Charge |
| Call of Hatred | 10 | Fast Preparation Shield Exposed Weakness |
| Nellasia’s Energy | 10 | Fast Preparation Effectiveness Survival |
You use Guardian’s Protection as an awakening.
What does the rotation look like? You start the fight with Rushing High Shot.
For maximum DPS, you use Smash, Guardian’s Lightning Strike, Shield Bash, Shield Charge, and Jump Attack.
You don’t have to dodge; just tank the attacks and spam the blue attacks.
What do you think about the Gun Lancer? Do you see him as a tank or rather as an indestructible damage dealer? Did you choose the Solo Knight or did you pick Readiness for Battle as your class engraving? Feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments here on MeinMMO!
More guides can be found here: Lost Ark Guides: All tips, tricks, and builds at a glance
