One of the hottest PC online game players are anticipating would be Lost Ark, developed by Korean studio Smilegate. The developer is also well-known for making the world’s top Free-to-Play online shooter, CrossFire. After glancing through the new Closed Beta signup page, it seems most of the major features are in the debut client, which surprised me immensely. Read on below for the details!
Classes
There are 4 major class types, being the Warrior, Fighter, Gunner, and Magician. You do not play as these, but rather the classes under them. It also seems all of them are gender-locked, which might be a negative for some gamers.
Warrior – The playable classes are Warlord and Berserker (big swords).
Fighter – The playable classes are Infighter and Battlemaster (female kungfu masters).
Gunner – The playable classes are Devil Hunter and Blaster (male pewpewpew).
Magician – The playable class is Bard (female casters).
World Map
It seems the starting region for the Magician class is missing. Most probably will be added later.
Tripod System
As explained in my previous post, players have choices of how to upgrade their skills at skill level 4, 7, and 10. It means there would be many different combinations, making each player character almost unique. Sort of like the Skill Rune system found in Diablo III.
Morai Ruin
One of the main dungeons for the Closed Beta phase, which tells of an underground dungeon which is filled with darkness, meaning monsters, traps, horrifying bosses, and more.
King’s Grave
One of the main dungeons for the Closed Beta phase, this is the tomb of a great king which held many victories in ancient times. Once again, filled with monsters and traps.
Guardian Raid
If you have been following the Lost Ark trailers, you would have seen players fighting a giant boss monster, be it using skills or controlling some sort of weapon, like a cannon or giant hook. Team work is very important here!
Hidden Dungeons
This is a feature which is sorely lacking in most online games. Players would have to follow clues on maps to find the hidden dungeons, where powerful bosses and great loot awaits.
Equipment Ability
What players wear are what they are. Each armor piece comes with its own unique ability, and different combinations of armor pieces will bless players with unique bonuses. It seems all armor pieces in the game is part of a giant set! Also, wearing the clothes of a miner will see players obtain more and better gems when mining, while boats will travel faster if donning the clothes of a boatman.
Basically the casual features outside of combat, such as fishing, lumbering, collecting plants, and mining. These are also known a life skills. Of course, the materials are all used to craft or create other items.
Sylians’ Command
I can’t really make out what this feature is, but players are to band together and stop a demon invasion. It also involves players collecting cubes to trap demons inside a tower… Ok I am not really sure. But it sounds cool if it is a server-wide event.
Chaos Gate
Enter the demon realm and destroy the demons before they attack, again. Players can obtain an item known as the Devil Stone here, which would greatly increase their power. And also destroy the Chaos Gate.
Colosseum
Basically the PVP arena. It seems there is only a 3 vs 3 team deathmatch mode for Closed Beta, with more modes to be released in the future.
There are still features which have yet to be added or I skipped, such as medals side quests and musical instruments. Woah, Lost Ark is really filled with features, and I might even say it is too much for a Closed Beta! For now, only the China server under Tencent Games is confirmed. I wonder which publisher in the West would dare take on this game. Or would Smilegate do its own global server?