Lost Ark releases on Feb. 11 and players will have 15 classes to choose from. With many classes planned to release at later dates, here are the strengths and weaknesses of the five classes players should try.
Bard
If players want to be the center of attention and the crown jewel of the team, there is no other class that is more coveted than Bard. Lost Ark has a limited pool of support classes, the game will only have two of them at launch. Bard has everything a support class would want. She has heals, offensive and defensive buffs and shields. In fact, total damage output is higher with three DPS characters and a bard than four DPS characters. Most importantly, Bard’s build doesn’t require the immense gold investment that DPS characters often need.
With every support class, however, comes the problem that it is often considered dull. Some go as far as to say that Bard players sacrifice fun for optimization. Furthermore, as enemies get stronger, the management of different skills becomes more difficult. Players may often feel like they are in need of more spell quick-slots as they have to read enemy cues and apply the right response to keep their team alive.
But, Bard is still the most popular class by far and the best support class in Lost Ark. Bard is for players who want to participate in high-level content as soon as possible without spending too much time upgrading items.
Gunlancer
Imagine a brick wall. Now imagine that brick wall beating up opponents. That’s basically Gunlancer. He is the best tank in the game. He has shields and powerful buffs that can remove the status effects of his allies. He also has damage that rivals some DPS characters.
It’s to no ones surprise that brick walls don’t have the best mobility, and Gunlancer has close to none. Also, he suffers from high mana costs that force players to consider when to end their spell cycles to stay relevant throughout the encounter.
Gunlancer is a simple, yet powerful class that will be welcome at every party. Players that enjoy front-lining and being the big brother of the team should pick him up. Of course, whether or not players’ teammates share their sentiment will depend on them.
Sorceress
Sorceress is exactly what she sounds like. She is a ranged DPS character that specializes in high burst damage. She has an impressive range, multiple are of effect attacks and no reliance on back/head critical hits. Sorceress also has multiple build paths players can take based on their preferences. Lastly, her combos are simple and easy to master in comparison to other DPS characters.
With her purely relying on her damage output, Sorceress requires advanced items to reach her full potential. As a result, she is likely one of the most investment-heavy classes in the game. Her burst combos consequently mean that there is extensive downtime in between her cycles. This also means that missing those combos is additionally catastrophic as well.
But who cares about these downsides. After all, she’s a wizard. Players who want to see pretty particles on the screen while their foes perish in fire, thunder and ice should pick her up.
Scrapper
Scrapper is what Lost Ark players call a hexagonal class. She has no real weaknesses as a character since she has good damage, mobility, survivability and utility with low mechanical and strategic difficulty. As a result, she is a highly recommended character for new players that haven’t decided on what class they want to commit to.
Scrapper’s weakness is identical to her strength. Being good at everything, also means that she doesn’t excel at anything. There are also moments where her abilities don’t register that can ruin her combo cycles.
Scrapper, however, still remains a highly popular character with a loyal player base. Players that often start playing her as their first class end up sticking to her till the end because of her flexibility.
Gunslinger
Gunslinger is a popular class for a reason. For starters, she has close-range, mid-range, and long-range abilities that are all excellent. Gunslinger switches between her three guns: pistols, shotgun, and rifle. Each gun has its own abilities that can combo with one another to fit almost every situation encounterable.
All of this, of course, is under the assumption the players are able to pilot her properly. Chances are, they can’t. With over two times the amount of abilities to learn and customize, Gunslinger is likely the hardest class to master in Lost Ark. Furthermore, she has abysmally low survivability so players shouldn’t expect to live if they make a positional error. These problems and her heavy reliance on high-quality items make her the class with the highest entry floor.
Gunslinger is a fair class. She rewards faithful players who spend time to master her kit and optimize her itemization. With that being said, any players with low patience should not touch this class with a ten feet pole.
