Smilegate RPG and Amazon Games have revealed how exactly they’re making Lost Ark’s Guardian Raids and Abyssal Dungeons less “tedious than fun”. We also have some decision rationale and heaps of other quality-of-life changes.
While some parts of Abyssal Dungeon encounters have been made more accessible, most of the changes are focused on making specific mechanics clearer to understand. For example, Smilegate RPG has improved the visual effect of Sigmund’s colour wave attack in the Necromancer’s Origin dungeon to make it easier to follow. The Phantom Palace, however, has seen the most changes. The Phantom Legion King from the Hall of the Twisted Warlord encounter has had their attack pattern changed to make it more manageable.
Guardian Raids, meanwhile, have seen a fair few nerfs. Vertus won’t stun players as much and will deal less damage, while Nacrasena, Lava Chromanium, and Levanos also have decreased damage output. Flame Fox Yoho, meanwhile, has less health overall and packs less of a wallop.
Smilegate RPG and Amazon Games have also explained why they’ve decided to make these changes. It’s not just a response to player feedback but a way of preparing players for more challenging content by educating them of the MMO’s systems.
“We are aiming for players to ramp up into more challenging and complex content as they progress in their journey,” the developers say. “There’s a variety of challenging future tier three content that has yet to be infused into the Western release – stay tuned for our roadmap article that will share what you can expect in the coming months.
“These upcoming encounters will serve as the hurdles for players to challenge themselves, master systems, and learn complex mechanics. Even Argos, arriving this month, will be an unforgiving opponent ready to test the mettle of the so-called heroes infesting Arkesia.”
If you’d like to see the changes in full or the quality-of-life changes, you can find the link to the blog post here.
The update is currently rolling out during a cycle of maintenance. Work began at 10pm PST on March 3, and 1am EST / 6am GMT on March 4. Downtime is expected to last six hours.
For our complete Lost Ark Guardian Raids guide, follow the link.