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Free-to-play MMO Lost Ark totally reworks the grind with bold new Paradise mode

The Lost Ark Paradise update is here, and it's changing the free-to-play MMORPG forever. The biggest game on Steam back at its global launch in February 2022, Lost Ark has dropped down the Valve charts since. In an attempt to win back some of that audience, Amazon Games has been working with Smilegate to build a new mode specifically designed for the game's worldwide audience. It's an experimental, solo-focused way to play that totally overhauls progression, offering a fresh spin on the mechanics of Lost Ark that's accessible to all players, circumnavigating its notorious catch-up process and endgame grind.


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Team Update - July Update Commentary

[p]Heroes of Arkesia,[/p][p]With the “Welcome to Paradise” Release Notes now live, there were a few additional topics we wanted to discuss and provide a short update on!
[/p][p]Future of Ebony Cube[/p][p]In the August Update, we’re going to make a change to Ebony cube and how it interacts with Paradise. This change will double the rewards provided by Ebony Cube, but reduce the Cube Ticket drop rate by 50% (in all places, including the guild shop and dispatches). We think this change will make Ebony Cube more exciting to play, and will also help decrease the amount of homework content with the addition of Paradise. Please note; as some players have massive stockpiles of tickets, and others have been dutifully running cubes whenever they get a ticket, 2 tickets will combine into one ticket (with the new doubled rewards) when the update takes place to maintain a fair balance for all players.

Additionally, when this update takes place, we will also be adding the ability to convert Ebony Cube Tickets into Hell Keys through the Paradise Exchange Vendor. There are still some things up in the air that we’re considering, how it will work with different level cube tickets, whether or not there will be weekly exchange limits and other details— but we wanted to provide as early of a notice as possible to maintain transparency, in case players who normally run all their cubes want to save up a few. We’ll be doing a follow-up team update when once we get some of those of details fully locked in!
[/p][p]August Road/Path Event[/p][p]Similarly, we’re still working to tune the details of the upcoming road/path style progression event arriving alongside the Valkyrie, but will provide an update as soon as we finalize the details on the types of rewards, along with the Item Level requirements.
[/p][p]2025 Swimsuit Skins[/p][p]Summer is definitely heating up in Arkesia. Showing off the full line of swimsuit skins would’ve required us to add an age-gate to the website— but don’t worry, they’ll all be in-game tomorrow! You’ll be able to preview and see the full collection in the in-game store.

If you haven’t seen the full Welcome to Paradise Release Notes, make sure to check out the massive amount of new content, updates, events, and more arriving in Arkesia this week! We’ll see you in Paradise. And Hell. We wish you luck in your adventures through all the new content!
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Welcome to Paradise Release Notes

[p][/p][h3]Heroes of Arkesia,[/h3][p][/p][p]The gates to Paradise are nearly open. Downtime will begin on July 23 at 1 a.m. PT (9 a.m. UTC) and is expected to last 10 hours.[/p][p][/p][p]This update introduces the new Paradise progression system, including Elysian, Crucible, and Hell, plus Aegir Solo, solo mode improvements, quality of life changes, and system updates. Rounding off the release is the return of Mokoko Bootcamp.[/p][p][/p][p]Check out the full list of new content, events, store offerings, and other changes here. Thanks for your support and we’ll see you in Arkesia![/p]

Team Update - Awaiting Paradise

[p][/p][p][/p][h3]Heroes of Arkesia,[/h3][p][/p][p]Next week’s release notes are shaping up to be the longest set of notes on record. Before those drop, we had a few topics we wanted to discuss in a setting outside of the release notes.[/p][p][/p][h2]Event Reminder[/h2][p]Before we dive in, here’s a quick reminder from our previous Team Update. With the player-requested change to have the progression events release in July alongside the Paradise Update, players interested in making the Valkyrie Advanced Class will need to wait to activate the progression events. The events will still be live for several months after the release of the class— plenty of time to progress and unlock all the benefits offered by the Mokoko Challenge Express.[/p][p][/p][p]To coincide with the Summer Player Gift, we will also be sending the Legendary Skin gift to all players with the July update! Players who want to use the Legendary Skin on the Valkyrie Advanced Class will be able to hold it until the class releases. Once again, we think this will be a net benefit for all players. The timing won’t change for Valkyrie enthusiasts, but sometimes patience can be more difficult when the shiny skins are sitting in your inventory. We wish you luck![/p][p][/p][h3]Mokoko Bootcamp[/h3][p][/p][p]Mokoko Bootcamp will be releasing with a variety of changes built to help players organically progress and learn, and will be running until October. We hope to continually improve the system, and will be on the lookout for additional feedback to ensure that this community-centric event is accomplishing the goals of breaking down gate-keeping barriers and making helping others a fun time for all. To fit that theme, the title for this version of the Mokoko Bootcamp will be “Mokoko Gatesmasher”, accompanied with a title icon of a hammer.[/p][p][/p][p]As these events are built to promote community cohesion, we thought it may be fun to get the community more involved in the title and icon process heading forward. For future Mokoko Bootcamps, we’re going to run a title and icon contest to put the power in the hands of the community to decide what you want. We didn’t want every title to follow the same bootcamp theme and lose their value, so we thought this could be a fun way for veteran players to choose their reward. We’ll follow up with more details (and contest rules) as we head toward the next Bootcamp, but wanted to share our idea so people could begin brainstorming alongside any other feedback they have on the event![/p][p][/p][h3]Gold Adjustments[/h3][p]With Paradise introducing vast new quantities of progression materials (including fusion materials and character bound gold), and the progression event providing everything a new player could need (from max cards to entry level accessories), we are introducing some gold changes for endgame content to better balance rewards.[/p][p][/p][p]Our goal with the changes was to prevent alternate rosters from farming too much gold that could be moved to other rosters/accounts, while ensuring that players in those levels weren’t impacted heavily. Some solo modes have had their gold increased, some other raids will see decreases, and a few just have changes to the balance of bound gold vs. unbound gold. For example, the highest level raid adjusted was Aegir (Normal), with no changes in total gold, but with a rebalance to move some gold into bound gold. Additionally, the bonus item boxes (view more rewards) that can be purchased after each gate have been decreased in price for many raids (up to Aegir Hard Mode) to reward players who are looking to continue to progress their characters.[/p][p][/p][p]We wanted to share this update ahead of time, and explain the reasons in a place outside of the release notes— since they’re over 23,000 words total! There’s a lot of other things that will be covered in those notes early next week, including the full number changes for raids with changed reward prices and changed total gold amounts.[/p][p][/p][p]Bonus note— to help players who want to work on their roster as a whole, we have pivoted the character bound gold in the Mokoko Challenge Express event to be roster bound gold.[/p][p][/p][h2]Market Discussions[/h2][p][/p][h3]Bound Gems[/h3][p]As previously announced, the July update will introduce the Luminous Gem system into the Western version of Lost Ark. Our region’s player to player market was more resilient than other regions, and the price of level 10 damage gems today have barely decreased from their price when the original announcement was shared in Korea. As level 10 damage gems have retained nearly all of their value and they will still be fully usable by their owners, the compensation sent out in some other regions of Lost Ark will not be distributed in the Western version.[/p][p][/p][p]We’re excited for the new and fun customization opportunities that the Luminous Gem system will provide for all players, with greater freedom to try out new builds, and that the new T4 Luminous Gems in the Solo Shop help new and returning players gear up for the challenges that await them in the war against Kazeros.[/p][p][/p][h3]Sidereal Energy[/h3][p]Similarly, our region didn’t experience major price fluctuations for Sidereal Energy when Elgic Infuse II was introduced, so the compensation sent out in KR won’t be distributed. However, we will be awarding an exclusive Relic icon title and class symbol in the July update to those who have completed Elgic Infuse II.
[/p][hr][/hr][p]The July ‘Welcome to Paradise’ update arrives next week on July 23! As normal, the release notes will be available the day before, covering the massive amount of changes arriving in this update. We’ll see you in Paradise, next week![/p]

Eye on Arkesia - July 2025

[p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][h3]Heroes of Arkesia,[/h3][p][/p][p]Welcome back to Eye on Arkesia. Join Roxx for an overview of the July 23 update, including Paradise, Crucible, Hell, and Solo Mode Aegir, plus a new round of the Mokoko Bootcamp event.[/p][p][/p][p]Those willing to help their little Mokoko allies can look forward to the new Mokoko Gatesmasher title as well as a Mokoko Hammer icon. Alongside the returning Maharaka Festival, quality of life updates like the new party finder will also release this month. Show off your new summer swimwear or one of the fashionable new hairstyles while you look for a group.[/p][p][/p][p]July is packed with content, but we know you’re eagerly anticipating the Valkyrie class in August. Stay tuned for more details. In case you missed it, check out our recent Team Update blog and July through September roadmap for a glimpse at what else is coming soon.[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks for your support! We can’t wait to see which summer styles you’ll bring to Arkesia.[/p]