Lost Ark News

Heroes of Arkesia,
The September Update arrives next week and is packed with exciting updates for Lost Ark players! Join Community Manager Roxx for the September episode of Eye on Arkesia, where she discusses the plans for fall 2024. This series covers game updates, new videos, and more, ensuring you stay informed about everything new in Lost Ark. The full release notes will drop on Tuesday, September 10.

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Key update summary:

• Recent Elixir & Transcendence updates made in Korea will arrive in the September update.
  
• September will also include a variety of key events to help player progression.
  
• A new progression event to help players reach Item Level 1620.
  
• Arktoberfest will return and will grant key progression materials just from clearing daily activities.
  
• Blooming Mokoko Gold event will return, granting increased amounts of Bound Gold.
  
• Events including the Maharaka Festival, Super Mokoko Express, Voldis Powerpass, and current Daily Playtime event will all be extended until October 9th.
  
• Proving Grounds Season 5 will end on October 9th.
  
• The Thaemine the First Mode Challenge will remain open until October 30th.

Stay tuned for more details on the September update with the Release Notes and update arriving next week. In the meantime, we’ll see you in Arkesia.

Heroes of Arkesia,

This weekly update includes a variety of balance changes for the Akkan and Thaemine Legion Raids, along with the Echidna Kazeros Raid. There are a few general changes and bug fixes included alongside the raid balance changes. Downtime will begin on August 28 at 12 a.m. PT (7 a.m. UTC) and is expected to last 4 hours.


[h3]Gate 1[/h3]
Normal & Solo Mode

• Lowered the damage dealt to players during the 'Safe Zone' Mech when Maurug throws his spear.
  
• Reduced the amount of HP Maurug recovers per failed shield destruction.
  
• Reduced the effect of 'Corrosion' and 'Plague Wound' debuffs that Maurug uses.
  
• Reduced the damage Maurug deals to players after imprisoning.

Normal Mode

• The 'Safe Zone' Mech when Maurug throws one or two spears changed to only throw two spears.
  
• Lowered the stagger damage required during the Stagger check mechanic when players have to purify the 'Weakened Plague Assimilation' debuff.

[h3]Gate 2[/h3]
Normal & Solo Mode

• Decreased the amount of Plague meter gained when getting hit by Akkan.
  
• Changed the damage-dealing mechanism for 'Hiding in the Shadows' mechanic. Players will now receive increased damage for every time they fail to follow the shadow correctly.
  
• In the lantern relay (keep-away) pattern, the 'Fear' debuff given by the monster 'Decaying Kin' will be shorter.
  
• Removed the 'Paralysis' effect from some of the patterns in the Zero HP mechanic.

Normal Mode

• Changed the damage-dealing mechanism when Akkan disappears to swing his Scythe to a random player. Now a player receives critical damage when hit by the same pattern twice.
  
• Increased the time for counter-attacking Akkan's phantom doppleganger in the Zero HP mechanic

[h3]Gate 3[/h3]
Normal & Solo Mode

• Greatly decreased the damage of black lasers shooting from statues in the rotating statues mechanic.
  
• Slightly increased the time available for counter-attacks.

Normal Mode

• Decreased the amount of Plague meter increased when battling Akkan.
  
• Decreased the amount of damage dealt when hit by the Guillotine blades in the 4-way stagger mechanic.
  
• Decreased the 'Slow' debuff when connected to the purple line in the 'Soul Absorption' mechanic, and changed some of the patterns to deal 'Paralysis' instead of 'Pushed'.
  
• The respawn time for plague spores on the map has greatly increased.
  
• In the 'Curse' mechanic which can summon one of three colors, the black curse no longer appears.
  
• Changed Akkan's Scythe damage to gradually increase based on times hit in the 'Peekaboo' pattern when Akkan disappears to swing his Scythe to an incapacitated player.
  
• Decreased the max HP of zombie players.

[h3]Gate 1[/h3]
Normal & Hard Mode

• Decreased the amount of damage from the Dragon’s overhead flame attacks, and prevent players from falling when they get hit.
  
• The Demon Legion now only invades 2 times (instead of 3) during the battle with Narkiel.
  
• After the advent of Agris, we have increased the range that Censer can be detected in the pattern where Censer has to be found.

Hard Mode

• In the final battle with Narkiel, manipulating the Censer now creates a red aura around the player’s body to make it a little easier to know the condition of not being able to manipulate the Censer.

[h3]Gate 2[/h3]
Normal & Hard Mode

• Echidna's HP has been decreased.
  
• The damage of seduced players decreased.
  
• Modified effect of "Whispers of Seduction" and "Dominance of Seduction" debuffs.
  
• Modified Debuff duration of "Whispers of Seduction" from 60 seconds to 30 seconds.
  
• Players will no longer be hit by basic attacks of friendly NPCs created by Allied Forces Skills during the "Whispers of Seduction" debuff.
  
• We have reduced the number of attacks to release a player from the debuff "Petrification" by 50%.
  
• Updated the debuff "Petrification" so that players don't die if their release is failed.
  
• When players fail the pattern of having to hit the energy sphere fired from the mirror to Echidna during the battle, it no longer raid wipes immediately, but instead wipes the raid when it fails twice.
  
• Increased the cycle timing when flytraps are created by Echidna.
  
• Decreased the amount of damage from the patterns where players should or should not look at the boss during the battle with the giant Echidna.
  
• Players no longer die when failing a clash during the battle of Echidna in the underground space, but instead receive massive damage.
  
• When Echidna's gauge fills during the battle in the underground space and snakes try to reach Echidna, the number of attacks to kill the snake have decreased by 20%. Additionally, red snakes don’t come out anymore.

Hard Mode

• In the pattern where players need to link the energy sphere fired from the mirror to Echidna during the battle, small flowers will no longer be produced when two characters stand on top of one tile.
  
• When Echidna's HP reaches zero in the underground battle, the catch pattern was modified so that the snake's sign could be seen by others, rather than just the caught player, when using the catch pattern.
  
• In the underground battle, the "silence" debuff is now released quickly in the "jump-rope" pattern (where players avoid the slow-spreading red wavelength).

[h3]Gate 1[/h3]

• When Killineza the Dark Worshipper inflicts a status effect and grabs the player, this status effect attack will no longer affect players with status effect immunity.

Hard Mode

• Killineza the Dark Worshipper can now die at the same time as Normal Mode (before the large eye pattern).

[h3]Gate 2[/h3]
Hard Mode

• Valinak, Herald of the End will no longer recover HP after certain patterns.

[h3]Gate 3[/h3]

• Reduced the difficulty of Clash mini-game. This update arrived in an earlier build, but is part of the overall update to Thaemine’s difficulty.
  
• Increased the number of safe zones remaining in the combat area at the time of the attack when Thaemine the Lightqueller has a pattern where he gradually removes safe zones from the combat area and unleashes a powerful attack.
  
• Adjusted the attack range of Thaemine the Lightqueller's attack pattern of quickly moving forward/backward while swinging his sword, so that players will not take damage from behind Thaemine.

• Players can now use an Event Powerpass without having Trusted status. Our team will review data, feedback, and any impact to decide any next steps, along with any adjustments to the Trusted system.
  
• Fixed an issue where Equipping "Essential Loose Fit Pants" skin piece changes the appearance of certain items and skins on the Female Martial Artist class.
  
• Fixed an issue where occasionally the texture for Indigo Island's Whirlpool was missing.
  
• Fixed two minor Market UI issues.

Heroes of Arkesia,

Earlier this month we shared a first look at our upcoming roadmap and plans to release the next evolution of Lost Ark in the shape of Tier 4, along with new raids and many other key updates. Today, we have a few key updates to that plan. From thousands of lines of text in our supported languages to the accompanying voice lines, there’s a lot that goes into preparing major updates for their release into Arkesia’s Western shores. We’ve hit a small delay in our localization timeline, but we’re excited to share an update to the plan that we built in collaboration with Smilegate RPG during our recent trip to Korea, which factors in player feedback we’ve seen since announcing the roadmap.

If you’ve been playing recently, you probably noticed that the Super Mokoko Express (and other key events) are set to draw to a close on September 25, and likely had a suspicion that was the planned release date for Tier 4. You would’ve been correct, and we’re going to use that date as a reference point for the updated plan. With that context, let’s take a look at the updated plan for September and October.

[h2]September Update[/h2]

[h3]Behemoth Raid - September 11[/h3]
With a limited pool of revives available, prepare for mayhem as you attempt to fell the enormous dragon and earn Gold, honing materials, and Weapon Transcendence materials. We will release the 16-player Behemoth raid earlier than planned (in Tier 3) and reduce the Item Level requirement to 1620, allowing you to get a head start on the characters you plan on bringing to Tier 4. Behemoth will drop Tier 3 honing materials upon its release.

Releasing Behemoth in Tier 3 will allow players additional time to work on Weapon Transcendence and have a new challenge to undertake before the vast amount of new experiences arriving in Tier 4. Additionally, when Tier 4 drops, players will be able to focus on completing North Kurzan and familiarizing themselves with the massive amount of new content, which we think will be a better overall experience for the Lost Ark community.

Along with Behemoth, Arktoberfest will return and grant you with important progression materials items such as Oreha Fusion materials, Transcendence Restoration tickets, and Elixirs (potent), along with a few seasonal themed items. Arktoberfest Event Coins will be earnable through normal daily activities— so we hope this event continues to help you prepare for Tier 4 without requiring additional steps.

[h2]October Updates[/h2]

October will feature two updates, planned to release two weeks apart. The current progression events will be updated to end with the release of the first update on October 9, instead of the current September 25 date.

[h3]Tier 4 Release - October 9[/h3]
Tier 4’s release will be delayed by two weeks to ensure our localization teams are able to fully translate the new stories and systems in all of our supported languages. While we know that the two-week delay will be disappointing for those already prepared to experience new adventures in Tier 4, we hope that having additional time battling Behemoth to earn Weapon Transcendence materials, two extra weeks of Gold income, and additional time to complete the progression events will help the majority of players feel better prepared for their journey into Tier 4.

Apart from Behemoth, everything announced for the September Update will now release on October 9.

We’ve also decided to rename “Express Servers” to Ignite Servers to avoid confusion with Super Mokoko Express passes, which will continue to be a recurring system in Lost Ark. Our goal with these servers are to ignite the spark of new players and give them the tools needed to join the fight against Kazeros quickly. We are preparing a new system on ignite servers that will make it easier for players to get familiar with the game and efficiently grow in power, before moving their character off ignite and into a legacy server. This system will be brand new to Lost Ark and first introduced in the NA/EU version of the game before anywhere else. Heading toward the release of Ignite Servers we’ll share more information on the events and user experience— we’re still working to ensure that these servers include everything a new or returning player will need to prepare for battle, and the specifics may change.

[h3]Aegir Raid - October 16[/h3]
Aegir will be the next Kazeros Raid, releasing a week after Tier 4. This 2-gate Raid will require players to face off against dangerous threats, with Akkan returning for a fight in the first Gate, and Aegir appearing as your foe in the second Gate. The Aegir Raid will reward players Tier 4 Ancient Gear, which can be honed further than Relic gear to help activate the Ark Passive system.

We will be monitoring player progression as we approach October, and may release Aegir on October 23 depending on the progression status of end-game players. We know that this date is important to many of you, and will share a confirmation ahead of time.

[h2]Looking Ahead[/h2]

Before Behemoth arrives, we still plan to introduce nerfs to Akkan, Thaemine, and Echidna on August 28 (the first of which snuck into the August Update build). Additionally, we know there are still many conversations in the community around the recent changes to bound gold and progression systems such as Elixirs and Transcendence. We are continuing to monitor feedback and data surrounding the recent updates to all of these systems, and will work to bring any changes announced in Korea as soon as possible.

Our team is also working on some other long-term projects we’re excited to share more detail about in the coming months, such as releasing the API for the Western version of Lost Ark— something we know players have long been wondering about. We are also investigating an update to ensure that player progression is not locked behind completing the Hard version of a raid for certain types of progression systems. While the additional challenge should provide additional rewards, we also want to ensure players are still able to progress through systems if they are able to vanquish the normal version of a raid.

Our teams at Amazon Games and Smilegate RPG are dedicated to continually improving the experience in Arkesia, and appreciate both the feedback and support we’ve seen from the Lost Ark community. Have feedback for our teams? Let us know in the Official Lost Ark Discord, our social channels such as X, or stay on the lookout for surveys. Many recent adjustments and some of the changes detailed in this plan are directly influenced from recent feedback threads and surveys. If you have ideas, make sure to participate in the conversation and Lost Ark community!

We can’t wait for the stories, challenges, and more that await this fall with the arrival of Behemoth, North Kurzan, Tier 4, Aegir, and more. In the meantime, we’ll see you in Arkesia, preparing for the adventures to come.

As I write this, Black Myth: Wukong, the action adventure from China’s Game Science studio, is the most played game on Steam by player count. There are currently 1,400,932 players in-game (with a peak of 1,443,570), surpassing the likes of Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, PUBG and all the usual games that occupy Steam’s top five.

Wukong’s launch was already predicted to be strong, with the game being Steam’s number one seller for several weeks, but the concurrent player figures are quite staggering for a single-player, offline game.

Read more

Heroes of Arkesia,

New summer pets arrive in a Twitch Drop accompanying the Cool Retreat Update, available for members of the Lost Ark Creator Program to enable on their channel. There are two Drops, and unlike tiered Drops, watch time for each Drop is earned simultaneously.

Drop 1 - 3hrs - Collective Battle Item Chest x3, each containing:

• Healing Battle Item Chest x10
  
• Utility Battle Item Chest x10
  
• Offensive Battle Item Chest x10
  
• Buff Battle Item Chest x10

Drop 2 - 6hrs - Amethyst Shard x1,000 and a Legendary Engraving Recipe Selection Chest

Make sure to head over to Twitch and watch your favorite Lost Ark content creators to earn the Twitch Drops before they end on September 12!