For those not following along, Lost Ark is an action RPG MMO testing right now in South Korea. It has been extremely popular with MMO fans and presents a fast paced play style similar to Diablo. The game is doing very well and western fans have been trying to break into the closed beta as they have been launching. Here is what we know so far.
The closed beta two kicked off this past week starting on September 15th. It runs for another few days but sign ups had already closed. So hopefully fans will get another crack at getting into the test. The game looks absolutely gorgeous. Maps mix in the fantasy and sci-fi landscape that creates the world of Lost Ark. The game has a host of features which and adventure mode to play through the maps and content keeping track of your journey. The closed beta also added in sailing which harkens back to the old Ultima days of exploring the different continents. The world is huge. Exploring brings in its own rewards. Using your ship to sail will unlock some secret routes and also bring the attention of dreaded ghost ships which will hunt after you. Another throwback to the fun old school days of MMOs is treasure maps. These will unlock secret dungeons around the world and bring in some of the best rewards.
Lost Ark has a ton of classes in the game. Each class base breaks out into a specialization tree which you can stylize how you battle enemies. For the Fighter class, you can eventually go with Berserker, Destroyer, or Warlord. The Magician class has the following: Arcana (which was recently added), the Summoner, and the Bard. The Fighter which is different from the Warrior has: Battle Master, Infighter, and Force Master. The Gunner is a ranged dps class which has: Hawkeye, Devil Hunter, and Blaster. The Assassin can spec into the Shamanking, Pirate, and Shadow (we want to know more about this class as it seems a bit wide open). Finally a Specialist can choose Astrologer, Musician, or Alchemist.
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The game has a subset of Life levels as well. So you gain in Combat, Life and eventually Exploration. The levels are not fully released yet with Combat tracking at peak around 60 and Life around 30. Getting there will be fun though as you can explore and battle some serious enemies.
The only downside is the game is only playable in Korea right now. I mean, that is not all bad as it will be launching officially in 2018. We just have to wait for it over here in North America. Hopefully we will not have to wait too long. The payment model for the game is uncertain but many speculate that it will be free to play. We are currently working with Smilegate to bring you updates as the beta progresses. For now we’ll have to wait. If they do have a third beta run, you can check on getting in using a VPN. It can be done, you’ll just have to do some research on it.
For now, the best we can do is follow this game and watch it grow. We’re excited to try the mix of action RPG elements and MMO content which will come to our shores soon.
