The Best Lost Ark Arcanist Guide

Lost Ark just released a brand new class for players to master, and we’re here to tell you all you need to know on how to do just that. This guide will compile all you need to know about this new card throwing class.

The Arcanist class was released on 20 July this year, accompanying the new ‘Spells of Spades’ update. This class infuses magical powers into cards that are then fired at the enemy. The Arcanist can be a complex class to wrap your head around, but if you take the time to understand the attacks and card systems, it can be highly beneficial to your gameplay. Some players may find themselves stressed and low on currency, wondering how it may affect their build; this isn’t a worry, as players can acquire currency through inorganic means, such as buying Lost Ark Silver. Now we’ve briefly touched on what this class is, let’s take a more in-depth look at what we’ll need to know. 

Arcanist Skill Set 

The skills available to the Arcanist class are the first things we will discuss in this guide. There are three available in the skill book: 

Normal/Yellow 

Fill two slots of the Card Deck by building an Identity Gauge. 

Stacking/Blue 

Applies stacks to enemies (Some tripods provide self-buffs). 

Ruin/Red 

Consumes stacks on enemies and grants added effects depending on how many stacks the enemy possesses. 

Card Deck Systems 

This class has a specialty called ‘Card Deck,’ which allows players to charge up a meter/bar when landing blows on opponents. Once this bar reaches its maximum capacity, a random card will be drawn from the deck. Each of these cards possesses a unique ability and deals impressive damage to enemies. 

All of these cards give players the opportunity to deal tremendous damage, though there are a few worth studying; if used in the right situation, the results can be epic. Here we have compiled a list of all available cards for this class, highlighting those we find to be worth noticing: 

Three-Headed Snake Card – Attack changes into three directions for 16s. On hit, earn one stack. Damage to foes +100%. Damage to Challenge or lower monsters +400%.

Mayhem Card – For 30 seconds when you attack, increase your attack speed by 3% per attack up to 15% per attack. 

Twisted Fate Card – For 4 secs, increase your damage by 40% or remain unchanged.

Corrosion Card – Apply a debuff with a 30% chance that increases damage on an enemy by 10% for 5 seconds. 

Ghost Card – For 16 seconds, it increases movement speed by 20% and allows you to pass through enemies. Plus, reduce the damage received for the subsequent three attacks by 50%.

Cull Card – Increase your critical hit chance by 100% and critical hit damage by 50%.

Balance Card – For 30 seconds, apply an additional doom card for every skill.

Judgment Card – For 4 secs, whenever you use a Ruin Skill, it will always hit as if the enemies have four doom cards on them. 

Moon Card – For 30 secs, cooldown -10% and the mana regeneration rate +20%.

Star Card – Recover 100% of the mana and reduce the skill’s cooldown by 15%.

Wheel of Fate Card – The cooldown of the following skill is reduced by 100%, including your ultimate. 

Royal Card – Give your instantly two Tarot cards. 

Emperor Card – Special card that unlocks only with the class engraving Order of the Emperor. Deal damage within 14m. 

Class Engravings and their Skills 

There are two class engravings to be equipped for the Arcanist, each sending the player down a different route; let’s check out these two play styles: 

Empress’s Grace Class Engraving 

Enhances Damage of the Ruin Skill. 

Use the Stacking skill to create four stacks. 

Draw more cards using Normal skill. 

Using Ruin Skill to consume the four stacks. 

Empress’s Grace Class Engraving Skills 

Here we have compiled a list of the skills we find most fitting for the Empress’s Grace Class Engraving 

• Call of Destiny 
• Return 
• Quadra Accelerate 
• Scratch Dealer 
• Spiral Edge 
• Stream of Edge 
• Celestial Rain 
• Secret Garden

Rotations 

Stream of Edge > Return > Scratch Dealer > Quadra Accelerate > Call of Destiny > Awakening: Deathbound > Spacebar Dash (to cancel the casting animation) > Celestial Rain > Spiral Edge x2 > Secret Garden 

Order of Emperor Class Engraving 

Adds additional card that deals considerable AOE damage. 

Generate and draw as many cards as possible to draw more and increase damage.

Order of Emperor Class Engraving Skills 

Here we have compiled a list of the skills we find most fitting for the Order of Emperor Class Engraving skills: 

• Call of Destiny 
• Return 
• Dark Resurrection 
• Evoke 
• Dancing on Spineflower 
• Checkmate 
• Stream of Edge 
• Celestial Rain 

Rotations 

Prismatic Mirror > Spacebar Dash (to cancel the casting animation) > Evoke > Stream of Edge > Dark Resurrection > Return > Dancing of Spineflower > Evoke > Celestial Rain > Checkmate (stop casting after 0.5s) > Celestian Rain 

Both playstyles are excellent choices, but they both shine in opposing areas; for instance, Empress’s Grace is often top dog in the early content, but Order of the Emperor will come to outshine this. However, in the higher content, the Emperor playstyle outdoes itself with the six-piece Relic gear set: Dominion Fang. 

Prioritize 

There is a method to almost all the moves you make in Lost Ark, and sometimes you really need to get your priorities straight to bring home a win. So, this segment of the guide will explore the methods used in certain aspects and which to prioritize: 

Stat Allocation

You can get your hands on stats via the accessories you acquire; choosing the right ones can be massively beneficial when it comes to the damage you inflict, depending on the Class Engraving you chose. For Empress’s Grace Build’ Specialization’ directly increases Ruin Skills; our second suggestion as an alternative to this would be ‘Swiftness.’ As for the Order of Emperor build, ‘Swiftness’ reduced Normal skills cooldown to generate more cards, or our alternate recommendation would be ‘Crit’ as it too offers severe damage. 

Gems 

Gems offer a considerable boost in damage in the later stages of Lost Ark adventures, so it’s imperative that you equip the correct ones where needed for your build. 

Empress’s Grace Build 

• Celestial Rain – Damage 
• Celestial Rain – Cooldown 
• Secret Garden – Damage 
• Secret Garden – Cooldown 
• Quadra Accelerate – Damage 
• Quadra Accelerate– Cooldown 
• Return – Cooldown 
• Call of Destiny – Cooldown 
• Scratch Dealer – Cooldown 
• Spiral Edge – Cooldown 
• Stream of Edge – Cooldown 

Order of Emperor Build 

• Celestial Rain – Damage 
• Celestial Rain – Cooldown 
• Dark Resurrection – Damage 
• Dark Resurrection – Cooldown 
• Checkmate – Damage 
• Checkmate – Cooldown 
• Dancing of Spineflower – Damage 
• Evoke – Damage 
• Evoke – Cooldown 
• Return – Cooldown 
• Stream of Edge – Cooldown

And that concludes the basics of all you need to know about Lost Ark’s new introduction, Arcanist. We sincerely hope you have found clear guidance and assistance through our guide, and we look forward to seeing you as a reader again soon!