Amazon Games is bringing MMOARPG Lost Ark to the west for the first time since its official launch three years ago. The high fantasy game has been available in Korea, Japan, and Russia for a while now, but Amazon's version of the game will offer an English version,bringing what made the game so popular in its original regions to the United States and Europe. Like other games in this particular genre, combat plays a massive role, but Lost Ark has a bit of a different take on the classes that make up typical MMOs and/or ARPGs.
Lost Ark follows in the footsteps of titles like World of Warcraft to some degree, there are some very basic characters that users can take on. Where this particular game stands out is the way those characters level up and evolve. Along with developer Brightsmile's biggest project comes the ability to truly direct who a player wants to become in this world, and eventually the hero can seem quite a bit different than what players started with. The US version of Lost Ark allows a player to start with five base classes. Eventually, there are so many twists and turns that there's a chance to get as many as 14 different characters.
The Warrior Bashes Its Way Into Lost Ark Players' Hearts
It's not a stretch to say that every MMORPG has some variation of the warrior. While it's a basic character that bashes, hacks, and slashes for the most part, Lost Ark found a way to soup this character up. Once players choose the warrior class, they can eventually take the path of three subclasses. The Berserker is a kind of tank character who hammers away at opponents. As this character upgrades, the ability to take out more than one enemy with a greatsword is unlocked.
Paladins is another class that is well known in fantasy game lore, but there's a bit of a spin in Lost Ark. These heroes have a direct line to god that allows them to have powers like "Wrath of God," "Law of God," and "Execution of Justice" abilities, just to name a few. This warrior class is less about bashing through enemies, than killing them in powerful magic strikes.
The Gunlancer is what most MMORPGs might refer to as the basic tank character, and the class is a bit of a damage sponge. That doesn't mean it's not a formidable character when it decides to go on the attack, though: The Gunlancer's attacks centered around gun-type attacks like "Hook Chain" and "Fire Bullet."
Martial Artists Bring Finesse And Power To Lost Ark
The Martial Artist class in Lost Ark may not be what players expect to see from this group. These aren't ninjas who creep or samurai who hack and slash. Rather, this group is made up of characters that do indeed possess some fighting styles with finesse, but also call upon elemental powers to help with the fight.
In Amazon Games' latest project, the Wardancer Martial Artist tends to deal with magical strikes that lean on fire and lightning to take out foes. While the Scrapper is more heavy-handed, it can also deal out blasts like "Death Sentence" and "Undefeated Dragon King." Finally, the Soulfist has attacks that fit the character like a glove: "Pulverizing Palm," "Deadly Finger," and "Heavenly Squash" are all pretty on the nose, but useful attacks in a big fight.
The Gunner Blasts Away In Lost Ark
While all of the classes in Lost Ark have customizations that seem a bit deeper than other MMOs, the Gunner has more options than most. Gunslinger, Artillerist, Deadeye, and Sharpshooter, are all long-range attack specialists who have varying degrees of power. Some, of the subclasses in this group, like the Gunslinger are more focused on debuffing and staggering opponents, where the Artillerist is all about raining down fire on their enemies.
The Sharpshooter stands out among the crowd because while they are using long-range weapons, it's less about bullets for this character and more about slicing and dicing. The sharpshooter will eventually be able to equip attacks like "Bladestorm" and "Arrow Wave." As is the case with all of these classes, Lost Ark offers many roads to go down.
The Mage's Magic Is Impressive In Lost Ark
Almost any high fantasy game is going to have some sort of Mage woven into the story. Whether talking about World of Warcraft, or The Witcher 3 these magical characters play important parts in worlds governed by magic. However, Lost Ark developers put a different spin on this class. The Bard is one of two subclasses available in this group and, true to its name, it does possess some attacks that rely on music and sound. On the other hand, the Summoner is much more about straightforward magic attacks, such as bringing forth demons and other creatures to fight for them. This subclass can also fight physically with a magic spear.
Assassins Are A Killer Class In Lost Ark
In Amazon's newest MMO, the Assassin class is one that players will recognize, though this too has a bit of a unique spin. While there aren't as many options to adjust and grow out this class as there are in others, the two different kind of assassins both offer different ways to play and kill baddies. The Shadow Hunter might qualify as the most interesting subclass of any in Lost Ark. Reach a high enough level and this character can actually turn itself into a demon. That demon warrior can then go into battle with very specific attacks at its disposal.
The Deathblade stays human throughout its attacks, but that doesn't make this Lost Ark assassin any less deadly. The real power behind this particular character is that several of its bigger attacks allow it to move quite quickly, getting close enough for the kill and then withdrawing out of harm's way before the enemy can do any real damage.
Lost Ark will launch on PC in the US and Europe this fall.