Lost Ark features an interesting PvP system where gear plays no role, but skill is what matters most. MeinMMO editor Alexander Leitsch has now discovered this content for himself. However, one thing regarding the rankings annoys him greatly.
The arena PvP in Lost Ark is really good. For several days now, I have been spending nearly all my playtime in it, as the open world in PvE has not convinced me much so far. What I particularly like is that my gear and level do not matter at all.
This way, I can already enter the arenas at level 26 and have no disadvantages on paper compared to the other players. I can access all skills directly, including the Awakening ability, and the gear is also standardized.
Instead, personal skill plays the biggest role. And that is extremely important to me in PvP. Three different modes are available:
- 3v3 Team Deathmatch
- Deathmatch
- 3v3 Team Elimination
All are quite self-explanatory and are really fun in the normal version. But when I want to play them in the ranked mode, there comes a small change that I cannot understand at all.
Please Lost Ark, let me play with friends
While I can play with my friends in a team in the normal mode matches in 3v3, this feature is suddenly disabled for the ranked mode. Yes, in the ranked mode, I can only register alone.
I cannot understand this move. I am a very competitive player. For years, I led a PvP team in Guild Wars 1. I was very active in PvP in Guild Wars 2 and at one point had a regular team. I also regularly play ranked games in LoL, either with a supporter in DuoQ or in 2011 and 2012 even with a fixed 5-player team.
And I do not understand why I am not allowed to do that in Lost Ark. I want to build up a regular team again. I want to rock the rankings together in voice chat and celebrate victories together.
I am aware that balance is extremely important, and I would not like it if I were to face a fixed 3-player team with three random players. But that can be remedied, for example with separate queues. LoL demonstrates this, where I have two separate ranked lists for Solo/Duo or Flex for teams of up to five players.
This makes Elimination the best PvP content in the entire genre for me. It’s even more frustrating that I cannot play with friends in ranked mode.
There are even custom games for your own tournaments
What is also important to me in PvP are custom games that I can create for myself, my friends, or for my own tournaments. Lost Ark also offers this feature right from the start.
Although there are also occasional problems here due to server load, the basic foundations are laid to make Lost Ark one of the best MMORPGs for PvP fans.
While I really enjoy the PvP content in normal mode, I view the ranked mode somewhat critically. In my opinion, a lot of potential is being wasted here. PvP is simply much more fun when you are in a fixed group. Moreover, many PvP fans like to identify with teams that they can follow and cheer for.
Here, I just hope that Smilegate reconsiders and perhaps brings separate ranked lists for fixed teams. However, anyone looking for a good PvP MMORPG should definitely check out Lost Ark, especially if you don’t have or are looking for a fixed group.
What do you think about PvP in Lost Ark? Have you spent much time in it? And do you also miss a ranked mode with friends?
By the way, my colleague Mark Sellner loves almost everything about Lost Ark and is currently having a really good time:
After 15 years with MMORPGs, Lost Ark feels like my first one
I would like to see such a system for Lost Ark as well. Then I would have the incentive to work my way up in the rankings. However, I am currently missing that a bit.
3v3 Elimination is the best mode in the genre
Aside from the odd rule change in ranked matches, the PvP in Lost Ark is brilliant. I particularly enjoy the Elimination mode.
At the start of the match, each team decides who will be the first, second, and third player in the fight. Then the first two players from each team face off against each other while the others can watch.
If a player is defeated, the winner stays “on the plate”, as we used to say in table tennis. However, he continues to fight with the lost health points and the cooldowns on abilities against the next player whom the opponents send into the match.
Theoretically, player 1 from team A can eliminate the entire team B. However, that has not happened in my 14 matches so far. I would have liked to have played more matches already, but unfortunately, there are many problems with the queue for PvP on Asta.
The Elimination mode offers an incredible amount of action, requires a lot of skill, and there are no annoying side objectives distracting from the actual fight. It reminds me a bit of classic fighting games like Soul Calibur or Tekken, which I used to enjoy playing with friends on the console.
Additionally, there is the brilliant spectator mode, which enhances that feeling of a fighting game. I can watch directly from the perspective of both players or from above the arena. I can also see the abilities used on the side, which allows for an incredible learning process:
- This is what the animation of ability X looks like.
- This is how much damage ability Y does, wow.
- Ah, I should definitely dodge this attack.
I learn almost as much from watching as I do from fighting itself.
This makes Elimination the best PvP content in the entire genre for me. It’s even more frustrating that I cannot play with friends in ranked mode.
There are even custom games for your own tournaments
What is also important to me in PvP are custom games that I can create for myself, my friends, or for my own tournaments. Lost Ark also offers this feature right from the start.
Although there are also occasional problems here due to server load, the basic foundations are laid to make Lost Ark one of the best MMORPGs for PvP fans.
While I really enjoy the PvP content in normal mode, I view the ranked mode somewhat critically. In my opinion, a lot of potential is being wasted here. PvP is simply much more fun when you are in a fixed group. Moreover, many PvP fans like to identify with teams that they can follow and cheer for.
Here, I just hope that Smilegate reconsiders and perhaps brings separate ranked lists for fixed teams. However, anyone looking for a good PvP MMORPG should definitely check out Lost Ark, especially if you don’t have or are looking for a fixed group.
What do you think about PvP in Lost Ark? Have you spent much time in it? And do you also miss a ranked mode with friends?
By the way, my colleague Mark Sellner loves almost everything about Lost Ark and is currently having a really good time:
After 15 years with MMORPGs, Lost Ark feels like my first one
