Lost Ark shows patch notes for the release – brings 12 new raids and 27 new islands

The MMORPG Lost Ark celebrates its release today, on February 8th. Accordingly, the patch notes for the launch have been published. In them, you can find all the differences compared to the beta in November 2021.

What has changed since the beta? Since the beta in November, there have been some new contents that made it into the game, including.

• A new max level of 60
• The expedition level is now called squad and has increased from 100 to 250
• Three new continents have been added
• 7 new abyss dungeons have been introduced
• 12 new raids have been launched
• The Tower of Destiny is available as a new activity
• 27 new islands can now be explored by ship

However, there are also some adjustments regarding “quality of life”, including the improvement to DirectX 11, adjustments to the UI, and the fact that players can now add friends to their account-wide friends list. Previously, this was only possible with individual characters.

Additionally, there were some adjustments to the shop, which were not all explained in detail. We will likely only find out the specifics once the game is live. However, for chests that give random items, a precise chance for that item will now be displayed in the future.

New is that you can now receive a second power pass to level a new character faster.

When will it finally start? From February 8th at 6:00 PM, players who purchased one of the pre-order packages can dive into the world of Lost Ark.

Those who do not spend money up front will start on February 11th, also at 6:00 PM.

Lost Ark – Patch Notes for Release

Gameplay Activity

User Experience

• Thanks to player feedback on the new prologue during the closed beta, we’ve added an additional “Welcome Challenge”. This welcome challenge helps new players through a series of optional missions. The first missions assist and convey the gameplay mechanics and become increasingly complex as you progress further into the later areas of the game.
  • The welcome challenge becomes visible after you reach Prideholme with a new character.

Character and Squad Updates

• The level cap has been raised from 55 in the closed beta to 60. Each level reached after 50 grants the player additional skill points.
• The squad level cap has increased from 100 in the closed beta to 250. The squad was previously known as the “expedition level”.
• The summoner has been removed, and the sorceress subclass has been added.

Dungeons and Raids

• Three new continents added: Yorn, Feiton, Punika.
  • Corresponding field boss additions.
  • Chaos dungeons
    • Yorn: Earth, levels 1-4
    • Feiton: Shadow, levels 1-4
    • Punika: Star, levels 1 and 2
    • Punika: Moon, levels 1-3
    • Punika: Sun, levels 1-3
  • Yorn / Feiton / Punika chaos portals have been added
• During the closed beta, players had access to the content up to the Palace of Phantoms. At launch, we also added the following abyss dungeons:
  • Arc of Arrogance [Road of Lament]
  • Arc of Arrogance [Pride-Saturated Furnace]
  • Gate to Paradise [Sea of Apathy]
  • Gate to Paradise [Silent Karkosa]
  • Gate to Paradise [Holy Ground of Alaric]
  • Well of Oreha [Eye of Aira]
  • Well of Oreha: Preveza of Oreha
• New guardian raids added:
  • T3 Dark Legoros
  • T3 Helgaia
  • T3 Calventus
  • T3 Achates
  • T4 Helgaia of Frost
  • T4 Lava Chromanium
  • T4 Levanos
  • T4 Alberhastic
  • T5 Heavily Armored Nacrasena
  • T5 Igrexion
  • T5 Night Fox Yoho
  • T5 Velganos
• We introduced the Shadow Peak Tower (floors 1 – 50) during the closed beta. At launch, we also added the Tower of Destiny 1-50. Each tower can be accessed from any major city.
• Additional cube instances have been added:
  • Elite Cube (Normal)
  • Dimension Cube (Normal)

Island and Sea

• During the closed beta, about 70 islands were accessible. We are introducing 3 more continents at launch (Yorn, Feiton, Punika) with 27 additional islands to discover and explore in the Procyon zone.
• Co-op quests for the Yorn Road, Feiton Road, and Punika Road (marine regions) added.
• Sea portals added:
  • Portal of Earth
  • Portal of Tenacity
  • Portal of Leadership
• Additional ghost ships added:
  • Feiton Ghost Ship
  • Punika Ghost Ship

Planned Activities

Players can access 4 types of content via the Procyon’s Compass (the widget that shows active content) or via the calendar in the top left of the HUD. The activity times are based on the local time in the server’s region.

• If you exit or leave the area while participating in these activities, the reward counter will not increase and you have another chance to earn a reward.
• Field bosses, chaos portals, and ghost ships
  • Following the weekly schedule, the field boss, chaos portal, and ghost ship activities take place every hour between 10 AM and 5 AM the following day.
  • You can participate every hour, but you will not receive additional rewards once you have exhausted all opportunities to earn rewards. The limits are:
    • 1 reward per day for field boss and chaos portal activities. The possibility to earn rewards resets every morning at 11 AM CET (UTC + 1).
    • 1 weekly for the ghost ship. The opportunities to earn rewards reset on Wednesdays at 11 AM CET (UTC + 1).
• Adventure Island
  • According to the schedule in the game’s calendar, the same adventure island will be unlocked 3 to 4 times a day.
  • On weekends, a total of 2 groups of adventure islands will appear in the game schedule. Example: Whispering Island / Lagoon Island / Snowpang Island x3 and Monte Island / Harmony Island / Island of Phantom Butterflies x3.
  • Adventure Island has two kinds of rewards
    • Permanent rewards: island tokens and skill runes, available once per squad.
    • Repeatable rewards: gold, silver, card packs, and pirate coins, available once daily per squad.

Fortress Content

• With the knowledge chamber of the fortress, you can transfer progress you’ve already made with one character to another character of the same account.
  • You can use the knowledge chamber by completing the following steps:
    • Complete the fortress quest “First Steps”
    • Get a character to level 50
    • Complete North Vern’s main quest “Ealyn’s Gift”
    • Complete the quest “For Cynics, nothing is impossible!” offered by Adeline, the fortress’s maid
  • When you receive a knowledge transfer, you can only transfer knowledge for 1 continent at a time. Transfers occur in the order of the storyline, starting with North Vern.
  • Once the knowledge transfer has started, you cannot cancel it. You cannot complete it immediately.
  • Characters receiving a knowledge transfer cannot use a power pass.
  • The knowledge chamber will be available for North Vern up to Feiton.

Enhancement and Quality of Life

• Improvements to support player safety, including reporting for messages and entity names.
• The UI/UX menu interface has been updated.
• The store interface has been redesigned and updated.
• The ability to add an account as a friend has been added (similar to adding a squad) and show which character they are currently playing – friend lists are no longer bound to characters.
• The ability for players to show themselves as AFK and send a message to other players attempting to interact with them has been added.
• Integrated presets have been added, allowing players to create presets consisting of various function-specific settings (maps, skills, equipment, gems, and more).
• DirectX11 support has been added as a default setting. A player can switch to DirectX9 mode if they feel their performance is affected. When you are in the game, press ESC to access the game menu, click on the gear icon for settings, and go to the “Video” tab. The DirectX 9/11 mode can be switched at the top of this settings screen.

New Features

• We offer 15 playable classes.
  • In line with the release of the sorceress in Korea, we will also introduce the advanced class of the sorceress, which replaces the summoner from the closed beta.
  • The monk class has also been introduced since the closed beta.
• The global chat has been added so players can communicate with others in different worlds of the same server region.
  • Each chat room can accommodate a maximum of 100 players.
  • Players can see the previous chat logs before entering the room and chat messages sent while logged out.
• The Korean original version has been added as a DLC pack on Steam. Please note that this only pertains to spoken dialogues, allowing players to experience the original version of the game. Text options are restricted to English, French, German, or Spanish.
• A complete list of new accessibility features can be found in our article on accessibility options.
  • For reading chat messages, text to speech (TTS) accessibility is available. Additional improvements have been made based on feedback from the closed beta. To utilize this feature, players must enable Windows Narrator outside of the game. When the “TTS” setting is enabled in-game, chat messages or typed text are read by the speaker.
  • For transcribing voice chats in a group or raid, speech-to-text (STT) accessibility is available. To use this feature, players must activate the setting under game settings >> community >> chat and participate in a party voice chat.
• Room of Growth added, accessible after completing the North Vern world quest “Shadows of the Past of the Rift”. With this feature, you can experience and learn additional gameplay modes that Lost Ark has to offer, such as mounts, pets, crafting, engraving, dismantling, and refining.
• Procyon’s Compass added. Adventurers find a menu accessible via a widget that displays active field bosses, ghost ships, chaos portals, and current adventure islands.
• Adventure Island added – this is a new activity that leads users to islands that are only available at certain times. Upon arriving at the island, you receive a co-op quest and must face a boss to obtain various rewards.
• Custom PvP matches and spectator mode have been added.

Adjustments to the Western Market

• Focus on free-to-play
  • As we mentioned in previous patch notes, Amazon and Smilegate RPG have worked together to fine-tune the content. One example is that the “show more” fields in raids are now available for gold instead of crystal.
• Moderation:
  • Mechanisms and notifications have been implemented to ensure player safety and keep Arkesia free from behaviors that violate our code of conduct.
• Language filtering:
  • After the feedback we received in the closed beta, further improvements have been made to our language filter. We will continue to monitor this post and make adjustments as needed.
• Currency Exchange
  • The currency exchange has been updated so that you can better understand what is traded and earned in auctions.
• Power Pass/Adventurer Path
  • There are two ways to unlock the power pass for adventurers:
    • When the player completes the main quest (Ealyn’s Gift) from North Vern, a single Vern Power Pass Token will be provided via in-game mail.
    • After using the first power pass, a second power pass will be granted to players via in-game mail.
  • After two power passes are received, you will not be able to earn a third power pass this way.
  • Only two power passes can be purchased per game account.
  • The adventurer’s path can be started immediately after consuming the power pass with another character.
    • This feature compresses the level 10 – 50 section for an alternative character and is a story told by Beatrice.
    • It guides you through the basics and progression of your class and allows you to swiftly relive the content with this character.
    • Upon completing the adventurer path questline, your character will be equipped with the appropriate gear for the Vern contents.

Store

• After the closed beta, we worked together with Smilegate RPG to fine-tune the products to suit the western market.
  • The entire store will open at the early access, including Marie’s Secret Shop, which has its own opening hours.
  • Crystalline Aura will be available at launch and is the exclusive premium service for western users.
    • This service allows adventurers to utilize a range of convenience features. These benefits differ from other countries and can be viewed in the shop list for each pioneer package.
    • At launch, the crystalline aura will be expanded with additional features.
• Information on probabilities
  • Some products purchased with crystals or royal crystals that can be bought in the store include random rewards. The breakdown of probabilities for receiving these rewards will be available online on our chance page.
  • You can also access this link through the in-game shop.