The August update brings many new features and changes for players of Lost Ark. Especially beginners, returnees, and newcomers benefit enormously from this. Under certain conditions, they can now even become immortal.
How does immortality work? With the update on August 16, two specific buffs in Lost Ark have been fundamentally altered. One of them is the so-called Mokoko buff. You will have this permanently as long as you are below item level 1,490.
The other is Procyon’s Protection. This buff activates in Legion Raids as long as you haven’t completed them 10 times, regardless of your gear score. This happens in all raids up to Brelshaza Hard Gates 1 and 2, basically everything below 1,520.
Both buffs were already in the game but are now changing in effectiveness. You keep the previous damage and defense bonuses, but also receive a new ability called Unbreakable Mind.
Unbreakable Mind triggers whenever you take lethal damage. You will then become invulnerable for 3 seconds, regenerate 75% of your maximum health, and get a cooldown reset for getting up and dodging.
The effect has an 8-minute cooldown, so it can usually only be used once per fight. However, when you restart or successfully complete a raid gate, the cooldown of Unbreakable Mind will be reset.
Gatekeeping is a big problem – Immortal beginners should help
Why take such a step? For several months, Lost Ark has been struggling with so-called gatekeeping. This means that experienced players tend to exclude beginners and lower-level characters from raids. This causes a lot of frustration, especially among returnees and beginners.
The developers have been working on solutions in the past. Bosses have already been simplified and mechanics shortened, where one player could kill the entire group. With the incredibly strong Unbreakable Mind buff, there are now hopes that beginners will be taken along more often.
Can this work? Absolutely, because often in raids it’s not the damage or similar issues that are the problem. More often, bosses have mechanics where all or at least most raid participants need to stay alive.
With the new buff, surviving becomes significantly easier for beginners, thus reducing the potential for raid failures. Veterans may indeed have less trouble taking along even complete beginners.
Whether this will actually work remains to be seen.
New event makes entry better than ever
What else happens for beginners? Alongside the powerful buffs and temporary immortality, newcomers and returnees receive three strong events and a gigantic change that makes life easier with the August update.
On the one hand, the entire progression leading to the endgame will be changed. In the future, you will have to grind significantly less. For brand new characters, there is currently a new story express event that completely eliminates the grind in the leveling phase and rewards you while leveling.
For those who do not want to play that, there is the gifted power pass that catapults your character directly to gear score 1,415 and completes the story for you.
Then the crowning glory is the new express event, which takes a character to item level 1,540. Upgrade chances are increased, engravings are gifted, and valuable jewels are included as well.
Together with the new buff, an update that offers much for both veterans and beginners. What do you think about it? Feel free to let us know in the comments here on MeinMMO.
By the way, Lost Ark is still among the 10 biggest MMORPGs in Germany, according to Google.
