It’s been just over two years since Amazon Games teamed up with Smilegate to bring the free-to-play South Korean ARPGLost Arkto Western audiences, and the game has made some considerable changes in that span of time with a steady pace of new content as it catches up to with its counterpart.
Game Rant recently spoke with community lead Roxanne Sabo at Amazon Games aboutLost Ark’s summer roadmap highlights as well as the game’s priorities for the near future. In particular, it sounds like Lost Ark is intent on smoothening the leveling process so that newer players or alts won’t struggle to catch up with the increasingly distant endgame player base, meanwhile revamps to how passive skills work or the addition of a Perfect Block system freshen up the game’s build crafting and moment to moment combat.
This interview took place before a significant recent update, so some questions may refer to content that is now in-game.
Lost Ark’s Solo Mode Makes Raiding Accessible
Q: A solo mode is being introduced that allows players to tackle dungeons and raids alone. Can you talk about how solo mode works and how encounters differ from group versions?
Sabo:The solo mode forraids inLost Arkwas primarily designed to give players a place to practice different raid mechanics on their own, without the pressure of playing with a team and having to learn through trial and error in that setting. When you enter the solo raid content, you can choose one support buff. The selected buff will be applied during boss battles. There are also special buffs that are specific to certain raids, or that can only be selected by specific classes. There are also changes to the battle itself. The groggy time for counter attacks has been extended, and group gimmicks have been modified to suit single-player mode. Even in solo mode, the “Arcturus’ Touch” buff, which allows you to obtain additional clear rewards and other rewards, gets applied. Many growth materials and rewards are also provided through the newly added solo raid store.
Q: Is there a limit to how much growth in terms of gear or power players can obtain from solo mode compared to group play, or can it be used as a new progression path?
Sabo:Solo mode works as a learning mode and also as a new progression path, and also provides obtainable gold and other materials similar to the normal mode of the same raid. Therefore, you can obtain materials needed to transfer gear or to increase set effects by playing in solo mode.
Solo modestarts with Valtan Raid, which can be entered at gear level 1415, and continues up to Ivory Tower, which can be entered at gear level 1600.
The most recent raids, Theamine and Echidna raids, do not yet support solo mode, but we’re considering adding those in the future.
Q: What do you feel is most important forLost Ark’s development in 2024? Are there certain things that are high priorities to improve, change, or add?
Sabo:A major focus for the game this year has been to add types of content that benefit all types of players, and that means veteran players and new/returning players, as well as players around the world. TheWestern version ofLost Arkis closer than ever to the Korean version in terms of the content that’s in the game. Now both of our teams are focused on making quality-of-life improvements to the game to ensure that as many players as possible can play the new content that’s coming to the game.
We have so many new features and systems coming to the game that will change things significantly. The Tier 4 progression system will give players new ways to expand on their power. The Kurzan continents will move the story of the game along to a new chapter. And as always, new raids and endgame content are coming to challenge players on a new level.
To ensure players are caught up and ready to take on this content, we’re adding in new features like solo raids, so they can hone their raid skills at their own pace. We’re also adding in more progression events to help players advance to a level where they’re ready to take on this new content. And we’re streamlining existing processes and systems to ease the overall progression fatigue.
Q: Players will be venturing into North Kurzan soon. How does North Kurzan stand out from previousLost Arklocales?
Sabo:North Kurzan is a continuation of the South Kurzan region, making up the Kurzan continent. Much like South Kurzan, North Kurzan is an unforgiving, desolate area characterized by volcanic activity and a harsh environment. There is a very specific reason in the game’s lore as to why Kurzan is such a nightmarish locale, and that’s because it is the home of Mount Antares.
Mount Antares is very significant to thelore and story ofLost Arkbecause it’s where the body of Kazeros, the ultimate evil threatening Arkesia, is buried. Kurzan will mark the location of the most epic battle thus far between the heroes of Arkesia and the demonic forces pushing for the revival of Kazeros.
Q: Some new raids and dungeons are coming up like the Behemoth raid and Kurzan Frontline. Are there any interesting mechanics or encounters that stand out to you in this new content?
Sabo:In Behemoth Raid, a variety of new combat methods will be introduced. The most notable is the existence of ‘Weak Point Break Apart’. In order to effectively attack Behemoth, which is a huge guardian, you first need to break apart Behemoth’s wings. Once both wings are down, then can you attack the head, which is the weak point.
Characters that players have met in Voldis and South Kurzan will also participate in the war to assist. At Gate 1, Sage of Voldis tries to capture Behemoth using the ‘Giant Stroke’, but to do this players must first defeat the Guardians of Chaos that obstruct the activation.
At Gate 2, players need to use Sylmael Bloodstones that rise from beneath the ground and battle Behemoth together with Ren. Players will be able to experience a variety of new combat methods.
The Kurzan Frontline is a dungeon that can be entered once a day and will be a single-map dungeon without moving between stages. It is based on the motif of a local war fighting against the devil with the Allied Forces. It maintains the familiar and comfortable play experience of the existing Chaos Dungeon, but with added twists to make it more fun.
Lost Ark Shakes Up Gameplay With Perfect Blocking and New Skills
Q: A new Perfect Block system is being introduced. Can you talk about how this system works during gameplay? Will dungeons and raids potentially call for Perfect Blocking as a mechanic?
Sabo:The Perfect Block system is a new function that allows you to block monsters’ special attacks instead of avoiding them. You can experience it for the first time when fighting against Guardian Argeos. When a monster uses a specific pattern, the block is activated by pressing the G key at the correct moment while looking at the monster. There is a possibility that certain monsters will use special attacks that can be blocked through Perfect Block in future raids. We have some ideas for how to implement this new system in the future, so please look forward to the future raid releases.
Q: Can you talk about the new Ark Passive system? What was the goal when implementing it, and how does it change how players manage their characters?
Sabo:‘Ark Passive’ is a new system that improves character abilities. The character’s abilities, which were previously strengthened through gear set, accessories,and class engravings, are now converted into Ark Passive points and will be used to grant various effects.
Ark Passive will be operated in three types, but players will begin with the ‘Evolution’ type and the ‘Enlightenment’ type. The ‘Evolution’ type uses given points based on gear and activates combat effects that can be used by all classes. The ‘Enlightenment’ type uses points given based on accessories. This type will replace the existing class engravings. Points are provided depending on the quality of accessories, and additional points can be earned by polishing accessories.
Q: Can you talk about the new Hyper Awakening skills that will be added? How do players acquire them, and how are they strengthened?
Sabo:The Hyper Awakening can be used after completing quests that will be added in the future. It will be quite a long quest, but its reward, Hyper Awakening Skills, will not disappoint.
The Hyper Awakening will have different effects and performance from the existing awakening skills and we’re excited to share more about them, so please keep an eye out for future information from us.
Q: Can you talk about the changes to the Engravings system coming up?
Sabo:In Tier 3, in order to change activated engravings, players had to change all their accessories’ ability stones, which cost quite a lot. Because of this, it was not easy for players to make changes to their combat settings. In Tier 4, these settings are absorbed into Ark Passive, making it easier to change to other settings, which will increase players’ degree of freedom. We hope players will experiment and enjoy new combat settings.
Q: What are some of the challenges involved in bringingLost Arkcontent from the Korean version to the West? Are there certain things that need to undergo significant changes?
Sabo:Generally we attempt to keep the Korean version and the Western version ofLost Arkas close together as possible, in terms of content and what players can experience. The bulk of the challenge in bringing content from Korea to the West lies in localization and translation - it’s a lot of work to take all of that text and voice-over content and convert it into multiple languages.
Occasionally, there are situations where content is released one way in Korea but by the time it’s ready to be brought to the West, it’s changed in Korea from what was originally released. A good example of this isthe Thaemine raid, which had its difficulty adjusted for Korean players before it was introduced to the West. In this situation however, even though Western players at first got the adjusted version of the raid from Korea, Smilegate RPG and Amazon worked to also deliver a version of Thaemine that reflected its original difficulty and design. This is a good example of how both teams strive to deliver an experience that’s as close between versions as possible.
Q: What are some of the biggest changesLost Arkhas undergone since launch that a returning player might be interested to know about?
Sabo:The first, most obvious, change is the amount of content. Depending on where a returning player left off, there’s going to be new content to check out. In some instances, there will be A LOT of new stuff to see. The roster of classes is bigger than it’s ever been, and there are more raids to take on, continents to explore, and gear to acquire than ever.
But what may not be as immediately noticeable, but what both teams are incredibly proud of, is the multitude of quality-of-life changes that we’ve made to the game. Both Amazon Games and Smilegate RPG listened to fans in the West and Korea and made adjustments to ease the fatigue in keeping up with all of thecontent inLost Ark. Systems have been streamlined and simplified, homework has been reduced, and the leveling arc has been adjusted to be more player friendly. It’s definitely a new experience when players come back and see what’s changed.
Q: Is there anything that you are particularly excited about regardingLost Ark’s 2024 plans?
Sabo:As this year is the year we get closer than ever to the Korean version of the game, we’re really excited about where the future takes us. We’ll be moving forward together, as a global community, experiencing a lot of content for the first time together. For upcoming content specifically, we’re really looking forward to the Tier 4 progression system as we feel it will change the way players interact with the game. And we’re really excited to introduce the Kurzan storyline to players, which wraps up one arc and kicks off the next story inLost Ark. There’s a lot to look forward to!
Lost Ark
WHERE TO PLAY
Lost Ark is a top-down fantasy MMORPG developed by Smilegate and published by Amazon. Players that enjoy the Diablo series but are looking for something with a greater MMORPG-style feel should enjoy this release.
