With the big July update, the new class Arcanist (Arcana) will be released in Lost Ark. In this small overview, we at MeinMMO reveal what makes the class special and what you can look forward to.
What is the Arcana all about? The Arcanist belongs to the mage classes and has a medium range. She uses a tarot card deck as her weapon, and almost none of her abilities have a casting time. In addition, she has a high attack speed, making the Arcanist a very fun and active mage.
The abilities of the class are divided into three groups:
- Blue: When the blue skills hit a monster, they leave one or more cards on it, known as “stacks”. A single opponent can have a maximum of four stacks. They are also called “stacking skills.”
- Red: Red abilities trigger the stacks and deal damage. The more stacks an opponent has, the higher the bonus damage. These abilities are called “ruin skills.”
- Yellow: The yellow abilities function without the stacking mechanic and mainly provide good AoE damage and a bit of crowd control.
This combination of building stacks and triggering them makes the Arcanist very strong, but also challenging to play. Additionally, a small random factor is added through the class-specific feature that can influence the maximum damage.
When will the Arcanist be released? She will be released with the next big update on July 20. This patch also includes a new difficulty level for Valtan, a new summer event, and new skins.
You can watch gameplay of the Arcana in this video:
Easy to learn, hard to master – and even then luck is involved
What class-specific ability does the Arcanist have? Through attacks, you build up a resource. Once you have accumulated enough, you can draw two cards from your deck – the so-called identity cards. These have effects that enhance you. You can hold onto the cards for a while or use them immediately.
The effect depends on the drawn card and is determined by chance. The Arcana’s damage is therefore partly dependent on luck.
In total, there are 12 cards, and you unlock one more through the class engravings. Possible effects include:
- For 30 seconds, your attack speed is increased by 3% with each attack
- Your damage is increased by 40% for 4 seconds
- Your movement speed is increased by 20% for 16 seconds, and you can walk through opponents
- For 30 seconds, you have -10% cooldown and +20% mana regeneration
- The next ability you use has a 100% reduced cooldown
However, the most important card is “Emperor.” You unlock it only through an engraving. When activated, it deals significant damage in a radius of 14 meters around you.
How is the entry with the Arcana? Very good. At the beginning, she has three yellow skills with Call of Destiny, Dark Resurrection, and Evoke, all of which deal good AoE damage. Call of Destiny also throws enemies into the air, while Dark Resurrection inflicts fear on them for three seconds.
For elite opponents and bosses, the Arcanist has her red ruin skills, which deal a lot of damage to a single target. The blue skills for building stacks always include a movement component, which makes you very mobile.
In your leveling build, you focus on the attributes critical and agility to get the most out of her. Later, depending on the build, specialization and critical will also be taken into account.
The Arcana starts with high AoE damage, good CC, mobility skills, and also good damage on single targets.
Just a few weeks ago, the June update was released with the new raid boss Vykas:
Strong in damage and strong in PvP – if you can
How does she play in the endgame? Here, it gets a bit more complicated. The Arcana has little defense and health points, brings little support for the team, and her damage is somewhat reliant on the identity cards.
Additionally, you need to internalize the stacking mechanic to keep up with damage from other classes in PvE. There are various combos and strategies. Many videos from high-level players in Korea share their tricks.
However, the Arcanist retains her high mobility and fun factor in the endgame.
A detailed guide to all abilities and features of the Arcana by the player ErucaFurukawa can be found in the Lost Ark forum.
Is the Arcana good in PvP? Yes. Here, too, she benefits from her high mobility and the damage she can deal to a target through the stacking mechanic.
What do you think of the Arcana? Are you looking forward to the release of the class or would you have preferred another one? What do you particularly like or dislike? Feel free to share in the comments.
Recently, the latest class Aeromancer was released in Korea:
Lost Ark shows the next class in Korea – uses a giant umbrella and weather magic
