General Raid Guide

Last Updated: 16 May 2023

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Introduction

Raids in Lost Ark are unique challenges that become available once you reach level 50 and are one of the most important parts of end game PvE content. Raids can be completed solo or in a group and have various restrictions and rewards tied to them. There are many preparations you can make before you enter a Raid that not only increase the chance of success but also reduce the amount of resources used.

This guide includes basic and advanced tips to help you master Raids in Lost Ark. To learn more about Guardian and Boss specifics, check out the Raids and Abyssal Dungeons guides.

Raid Board

Raid Board

Once you reach level 50 you can unlock the Guardian Raid by following the tutorial purple quests in Vern City. Interact with the Raid board to see the Raid window shown above. The Raid board is packed with tons of useful information.

1. Guardian Souls

The daily reset time shows you when the Guardian Souls reset which is displayed in the 2 circles. If the 2 circles are empty, you can still clear any of the unlocked Guardians up to 2 times and harvest their souls at the end of battle. The Guardian Soul drops a massive amount of loot once you interact with it. The 2 Circles on the board fill in with the icon of the Guardian you slayed. Only 2 Guardians can be slayed each day so choose wisely based on what rewards you're after. Kills after the first 2 won't reward you with a Guardian Soul and instead drops barely any loot.

Be aware that slaying a Guardian and teleporting back to a city without harvesting the dropped soul still fills one of your 2 daily soul slots. Failing to clear a Raid does not consume your daily Guardian Soul limit or the Rest Bonus.

Preparation

It is important to properly prepare before entering a Guardian Raid. Using the wrong Battle Items or strategy can extend the duration of the fight or lead to a Raid wipe. Every wipe wastes gold and resources making this even more important in the early stages of your progress. The information below will help you to greatly improve your clear time and avoid unnecessary wipes.

Combat items

Combat Items are game changer in Lost Ark. These items help you to stay alive or interact with certain boss mechanics like the Shell Break mechanic of the Guardian Chromanium.

Once you enter a Guardian Raid or any other instanced content, a usage limit is placed on every Combat Item. The limit is different for each Combat Item and usually increases with rarity of the item. For example a HP Potion can be used up to 5 times but Elemental HP Potion can be used 7 times per Raid. Besides from the usage limit, you can only slot 4 different Combat Items, limited to 1 per category. Here is an overview of all Combat Items separated by category:

Grenades

  • Clay Grenade
  • Dark Grenade
  • Electric Grenade
  • Flame Grenade
  • Flash Grenade
  • Frost Grenade
  • Whirlwind Grenade

Bombs

  • Sacred Bomb
  • Sleep Bomb
  • Destruction Bomb
  • Corrosive Bomb

Note: Some Guardians can escape mid-battle to a different area on the battleground. To prevent this from happening you should throw Pheromone Bomb at the Guardian right when the escape animation starts. An "Invincible" floating text appears instead of the damage numbers as an indicator for the escape attempt. Not using the Pheromone Bomb forces you and your teammates to waste time by running to the new battle area.

Potions

  • Panacea
  • Thunder Potion
  • Protective Potion
  • Adrophine Potion
  • Time Stop Potion
  • Awakening Potion

Healing Potions

  • HP Potion
  • Major HP Potion
  • Elemental HP Potion
  • Splendid Elemental HP Potion

Uncategorized

  • Flare
  • Taunting Scarecrow
  • Marching Flag
  • Sacred Charm
  • Repair Shop Portal Scroll
  • Swiftness Robe
  • Camouflage Robe
  • Stealth Robe
  • Luterra's Horn
  • Pheromone Bomb

Note: Flare is one of the most important Combat Items. On use it highlights on the minimap the Guardian. If you don't use a Flare, you have to search the entire battle ground for the Guardian which results in a lot of wasted time. It is common that everyone slots flare in their Combat Item slots and uses it in the order dictated by the number on the group UI at the left side of your screen. Player with the number 1 uses his Flare right after entering the battleground, Player number 2 throws his Flare once the Guardian escapes to a new battle area the first time and etc.

Engravings

Engraving in Lost Ark improve your damage and defense. Class Engravings go one step further and even change the entire playstyle. Additionally, they play a major role in Raids and often dictate the flow of the battle. For an in depth explanation of Engravings, check out the Engraving Guide.

Grudge
In this section, the focus is on the importance of the Grudge Engraving in Raids. This Engraving is must have for most of the damage focused classes and should be obtained and brought to level 3 right after unlocking the Class Engravings. The "+20% Damage Taken" penalty is often used as an argument to avoid using Grudge. But in Lost Ark it is not about reducing the damage you take, it is more about not getting hit at all.
Grudge is the only Normal Engraving which gives you a flat and unconditional 20% Damage increase. Not having it, often results in longer clear times. A longer fight uses more consumables and the boss to do more of their mechanics which can greatly increase the chance of a Raid wipe.

Heavy Armor Equipment
Defensive Engravings like Heavy Armor Equipment are not a viable option for damage focused classes. But it is a different case if you play Bard or Paladin. These support classes are the only two allowed to have Heavy Armor Equipment as a Raid Engraving.

At end game, people tend to avoid accepting damage dealers into their party who either don't have Grudge or use Heavy Armor Equipment. It is usually a "red flag" indicating lack of confidence or skill.

Party Synergy

Party synergy is an important factor which can greatly improve your party's performance during the Raid. Some classes provide the team with a buff or apply a debuff to the target. Communicating and synchronizing the buffs and debuffs results in faster clear time.

Be aware that you can't stack buffs and debuffs of the same class. This is why a normal party of 4 consists of 1 support and 3 different damage focused classes with buffs and debuffs.

Combat Optimization & Tips

A well prepared party already has a high chance to clear the raid. After entering the battleground, pay attention to the following pointers to further increase your performance.

Skill Affixes

Every skill in Lost Ark has a combination of Skill Affixes attached to it which add another layer of situational depth. Always be aware of the attached Affixes on each of your skills to use them to your advantage.

Front Attack

A skill with this Skill Affix attached to it, does 20% more skill damage and 10% more Stagger damage to the boss as long as you attack their front.

Back Attack

Dealing damage to the back of the enemy with a Back Attack skill does 5% more skill damage and increases the Crit Chance by 10%.

Part Break / Weak Point

During some boss mechanics, Part Break helps to destroy armor or cut parts of the boss. The Combat Item Destruction Bomb has Part Break affix and is also useful during those mechanics. Check out the Shell Break in the Guardian Raid: Chromanium article to learn about the Part Break mechanic.

Stagger

Stagger damage is the damage you deal to the purple bar below the HP of the boss. This bar exists for most of the Guardians but is hidden. Once the purple Stagger bar hits 0, the boss is incapacitated for a few seconds. This situation is usually used to synchronize party buffs and to deal as much damage as possible to the boss. Stagger damage is fixed, based on the level described in the skill tool tip and doesn't scale with your attack power.

Counter Attack

Counter Attack is a risky but a rewarding mechanic. Some bosses glow blue for a brief moment before they use a charge attack pattern. The player has a short window to cast a skill with a Counter Attack affix while standing in front of the boss. If you manage to pull this off fast enough, the boss's attack are interrupted and staggered for a few seconds. This gives you and your team a short window to use buffs and deal additional damage.

Resupply Zone

The Resupply Zone is the area you spawn in when starting the Raid. This is a special circle which cancels a lot of the Raid restrictions placed on players outside of this zone. While standing in it, you can change your Equipment, Build, Runes, Cards and even your Combat Items. Additionally, every time you reenter the Resupply Zone, your Combat Items are refilled.

Utilize this zone if you have used up all your Healing Potions and don't want to risk dying. Be aware that running to the Resupply zone and back to the Guardian consumes a considerable amount of time.

Resupply Zone

Range Disadvantage

In Lost Ark playing a range class doesn't translate into staying at max range to the target at any given time. It is often even disadvantageous. A lot of the end-game Guardians have attacks which are harder to dodge the further away you are from it. You might even miss some of the synergy buffs of your party members so make sure to have always vision on the Boss and stay in buff range of your teammates.

Pings

Communication is key to success, that is why Lost Ark has a Ping System that can be used to communicate with your party. Use it to ask for help, mark dangerous areas or place a rally point.

Ping Options

How to Ping:

  1. Move your cursor to the desired ping location.
  2. Hold down CTRL key and then the left mouse button(LMB).
  3. Move your cursor to one of the 4 ping options.
  4. Release LMB.

Summary

  • Raids are unlocked at level 50 and are an important part of end game progression.
  • The Raid Board is filled with useful information and is unlocked through a quest line in Vern City.
  • Raids are challenging and often require coordination with a full party of players to be successful.
  • All Raids are covered in greater detail in their individual guides found here.

Credits

Written by Perciculum
Reviewed by Facefoot

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