We’ve been waiting for Lost Ark's roadmap for quite some time, as it is a pivotal point in the game’s western version. Smilegate admitted that they made a misstep with their pacing of released content, having stated that Argos was released a little too early and that there weren’t enough sources to receive honing materials. Too many players were effectively stuck in the middle of Tier 2 at the time, with ilvl 1000-1100 being a serious roadblock for a large portion of the population.
The first subject is a new class: Glavier (Lance Master in other versions). The announcement of the Glavier was a surprise to me, as the previously leaked road map revealed Destroyer to be the first post-release class. The surprise is very welcomed, though, as Glavier is one of the most popular KR version classes and is highly desired in the western release. I’m very glad they decided to go with the popular choice. Nothing against Destroyer, but it’s a very niche class that likely wouldn’t have gotten much traction or help with retention. This also sets the precedent that Smilegate is more than willing to move class releases around if they seem it fit, which is a nice show of flexibility.
An important addendum is that they very sneakily added a week to the honing books from the Arkesia Racing event in last week's maintenance. Speculation leads towards Glavier releasing this Thursday after the weekly reset. Combined with a fresh new Powerpass up to ilvl 960, the extension of these honing books will help everyone get to tier 3 much more easily.
The next piece of content is South Vern; a brand new continent with more storyline, which means more honing materials and combat xp. While this continent is pertinent to releasing additional raids and content down the line, I find it very weird that higher ilvl Chaos Dungeons will not be released with this. I don't believe Smilegate gave a reason as to why. Still, my assumption is that they want to lean more towards horizontal progression and helping players catch up and get to tier 3 steadily. The more players in tier 3, the less likely FOMO happens, the more likely they'll stick with the game. Ultimately, I don't think it's a huge deal, but I'm certain some of the ilvl 1415+ players will take issue.
Other revealed updates for April include the Secret Map quality of life update, which allows a party to use their map simultaneously. This is a huge time saver, while also preventing scamming.
May's update list puts Destroyer as the next class to be released. It is unknown if we're getting a Powerpass upon his release. Additionally, Trial Guardian Raids will become part of our weekly rotation. This is yet another big piece of content that will be a huge boon to our honing material gain, alongside other rewards, such as card packs. Deskaluda is the ilvl 1415 guardian raid, and, to be frank, you can ignore the description in the roadmap post. This is one of, if not the easiest guardian raid in the game. It is an extremely popular stopping point for many alts in KR due to how chill of a fight it is, which is saying a lot, given how difficult Velganos is in contrast. While this is listed as a tentative update, my bet is on it being released in May due to how popular it is in other versions.
Lastly, there’s Valtan, the first Legion Commander Raid. Like Deskaluda, this is also ilvl 1415, and is the beginning of “true” endgame content that you can regularly get into weekly. The raid itself is generally regarded as pretty fun and engaging, with multiple phases, just like Argos, and arena specific mechanics. Valtan is also where you start getting Relic accessories, which for 95% of the playerbase, is the final step in optimizing your engravings and getting the most out of your stats. (specialization builds will finally feel good to play!)
Another big point of Valtan, and Legion Raids in general, is that you can continue from where you left off after entering. You can do this either with the same group, or with people who are at the same phase as you, at any point during the week. It was a common misconception that this applied to Argos as well, but this is only for Legion Raids.
As far as the roadmap itself, I think it’s okay. I am very happy with Smilegate’s willingness to pivot when and where needed, and the notion that everything is subject to change is a good feeling in this instance. I don’t mind the time it took to release this roadmap; doing this is hard, and as they said, it’s better to nail a plan down accurately than quickly.
With that said, I think things could have been better. I expected a little bit more on the raw detail side of things. I think the biggest strikes against this are the lack of 1415 Chaos Dungeons, and the specific word tentative. I get why the devs said it; transparency is priority for them, and that’s okay. However, that little feeling of uncertainty will lurk until the content finally gets released. I’m also not entirely certain that the Improved Book of Coordination is the one that’s used across all content, or just Hell Modes. If it’s the latter, then it’s effectively useless until Hell Mode’s release. I’m going to hope that it’s the former, as it would make changing to Chaos builds and specific builds automatic.
The big carriers for these announcements will be the supporting events. What will log-in rewards look like? They’ve been very good these past two months, and I expect even more Tier 3 materials, along with even more help with cards and life skill materials. Will we get an event that will further help our Glaviers hit Tier 3? Most serious players are already in Tier 3, with very few ways to get Tier 2 materials. I’m cautiously optimistic for the next two months, and we’re certainly left with a slew of good things to look forward to.
