List of Advice for New Players
I am excited for new updates coming, not only because I will enjoy them but also because new and returning players may join!
Some of my friends started Lost Ark recently and I've seen hardship for new players. I cannot fix them all but I want to suggest some stuff.
No one should force you to play in whatever way. This is my recommendation and suggestion it is 100% your choice to take it or not.
Some of them will not make sense if you haven't started the game yet. But as you go, you will understand what they mean. Save it somewhere and check maybe?
1.Super Mokoko Express and Story Express
You will get a powerpass that makes your character a certain level and you can use Super Mokoko Express at that character. That means with that character, you will be able to enjoy end game content (raids) right away. And there is also Story Express. This makes you start from lv 1 char and do all the quests. This is not essential, but the rewards are pretty good for a new player. Also, I think getting used to Lost Ark's storyline is a good idea to enjoy the game. It will take some playtime and do NOT go for story express with support characters.
- Raids
So, Lost Ark Raids are designed to be hard to figure out but easy to execute. I strongly recommend watching a youtube guide for each raid and then joining a party. If you really want to challenge yourself and figure out all the mechs by yourself, you will have to make a separate party for it. Please do not go to other regular parties (including learning/practice parties) cluelessly.
Also, I have to admit that gatekeeping is a big problem. One player can destroy the raid sometimes, so Veteran users who are simply farming gold do not want to struggle every week with new players. I hope this to be alleviated a lot with many new players joining the game, as new players can form a party by themselves.
So I strongly suggest new players just make their own party. Using Sidereal skills is not hard at all. Usually, Youtube guides cover it pretty well too. Don't try too hard to get in a party with stronger characters and hope to clear the raid. Try to make, join a practice or learning party and that will be more fun (if you don't know the raid very well, of course). The weight of raid lead is so much lower than WoW or any other RPGs I've ever done. You are just volunteering to make the lobby and ping sometimes.
BTW for Kakul-Saydon Raid (Clown), Don't go as 1475 level. It's kinda crazy so I recommend going there after 1490 at least.
- Roster Level
So I briefly talked about Gatekeeping. People will check your roster level to see how experienced you are. So high roster level kind of gives some kind of trust. In order to boost your roster level, you can do some things like:
- Going through story quests (This is one major reason why you should do Story Express)
- Tower (Each character gives a lot of Roster Experience. Run every character you have and it's super easy)
- Collectible contents: Rapport, Ignea, Mokoko, Island Soul, Giants Heart, etc. They give some important specs that you want and help you on the Roster level. Go for Giant's Heart and get 20+ Island Souls for skill points.
- Character Spec
Character Spec is not equivalent to Character's item level. Other portions of the Spec is often way more important for the actual dmg and strength
- Item Level: This is what you first see, and it is required to enter the content. Efficiency per strength is low.
- Engraving: Getting 3x5 engraving is pretty important. You will have engraving support if you use Express, but that will expire. Your goal should be to get accessories and ability stone to get 3x5 engraving before it expires.
NOTE: STATs are VERY IMPORTANT. (Crit, Swiftness, Specialization) I recommend studying your character for the setting. And do NOT buy accessories with wrong stats even if it has your desired engravings. They are cheap for a reason and not actually cheap because Pheon is worth a lot.
- Card Pack and Sets
This is simple. If the card pack says 'random', open them. If it says 'selectable', don't open them until you know what you need.
If you are spending some cash on this game, getting Legendary-Rare Card packs from Marie Shop isn't a bad idea.
Search YouTube for Card Sets that you want to get sooner or later. (check recent videos as they change) Make sure you do not throw away the cards that make this set (Actually, I recommend just expanding the card storage and not throwing away any card)
6. GUIDE QUESTS
If you press J, you will see a quest window. And there is a tab that says 'Guide'. These quests are purple. Check it regularly and see if you have to do any guide quest. If you do not do it, the whole content will not open. And please READ and don't skip if you don't know about the content, as it's a GUIDE. This is important because even guide videos do not cover all the contents. There are so many to go over and Veterans don't deal with some contents on daily basis. So they forget to teach other new players.
7. Challenge Contents
There is something called "challenge guardian raid" and "Challenge Abyss Dungeon"(Press Alt Q). You can do these once a week. And the rewards are high. The difficulty is low. Just watch a youtube and go for matching or something. Don't just let it pass.
Well, there should be many more but this is already way too long. Other people will share their wisdom on comments. Hope it helps someone who is interested in Lost Ark.