Lost Ark patch notes arrive as The Witcher lands in Arkesia

The Lost Ark patch notes for the January update are upon us, detailing everything new in the patch, which arrives alongside the Lost Ark Witcher crossover that sees players team up with Geralt, Ciri, Yennefer, Triss, and Dandelion from the CD Projekt Red series as two of the best RPG games collide. There are also updates to the guild system, improvements to the way quests are implemented, and new store items to be had for Lost Ark fans.

The January Lost Ark update arrives on January 18, following server downtime. Smilegate says to expect the Lost Ark servers down for roughly four hours, beginning on January 18 at 8am UTC. If you want to know what that translates to for your local timezone, check out our chart below. Once the server maintenance finishes, the update should be live.

The Lost Ark x Witcher collaboration runs from January 18 – February 22 and is likely to be the most exciting part of the update for many players. The crossover takes place on the new White Wolf Haven island, and offers rewards including Witcher potions, two jukebox songs, a new card set featuring the Witcher characters, a stronghold structure, emoticons and selfie stickers, and a title.

You can begin the event island by speaking to the Guild Investigator, who can be found in major cities. You’ll need to have completed the ‘Set Sail’ main story quest first to unlock the ability to sail first. Sadly there’s not yet any word on whether we’ll see Cyberpunk 2077 make its way into Arkesia at some point, but given how weird and wonderful Lost Ark can be we certainly wouldn’t rule out the possibility.

Elsewhere, there are improvements to Lost Ark guilds, with a new gold deposit system, additional guild research options, and three new guild skills. These allow you to give your allies the ability to detect hidden enemies, mark all foes on the battlefield, or debuff all nearby opponents to take more damage. There are two new PvP island sieges as well, along with new toy rewards for unlocking siege achievements.

The rest of the patch notes can be read below, including some reward updates, reduced Pheon requirements for many accessories, some improvements to quests to improve the clarity of locations on multi-layered maps, and improvements to material exchange. There are also plenty of new Lost Ark store items, including New Year’s Wish skins, a baby calf pet, a tiger mount, and of course all the Witcher-related paraphernalia.

Lost Ark patch notes – January 18, 2023

Lost Ark x The Witcher

A beautiful island’s festivities have been interrupted by a mystifying vortex. Uncovering the mysteries will lead to encounters with iconic characters from The Witcher on an all-new island and in new event quests! As you work with Geralt, Ciri, Dandelion, Yennefer, and Triss through a series of story and daily quests, a variety of Witcher themed items are available as rewards. Quest rewards include Witcher Potions, 2 Jukebox songs, a new Card Set featuring 5 Witcher Characters, a Stronghold structure, Emoticons & Selfie Stickers, and even a Title! The Lost Ark x The Witcher collaboration and event will begins with this update and runs until February 22. New character customization scars will also be available.

Unlock the all-new event island by speaking with the Guild Investigator in major cities. Participating in the event requires completion of the [Set Sail!] Main Story Quest, which unlocks the ability to sail around Arkesia. With Main Quests & Daily Quests to be completed, players can use the Ocean Liner for quick trips to White Wolf Haven Island.

Guild Updates

Added a gold deposit system for guild members to deposit gold to their guild. Deposits (the amount of gold minus fees) will be deposited to the guild, and will be recorded in guild history. Players receive weekly contribution based on the amount deposited. There is a maximum weekly contribution which resets after weekly distribution, and the 3-day hold / trade restriction system for gold is applied.

Added 3 new guild research options. Research effects are only applied to players in the guild. They will not be applied if a player leaves the guild.

• Guild Repair Cost Discount
• Ability Stone Faceting Cost Discount
• Additional Trade Skill XP Gain

Added 3 new guild skills:

• Battlefield Recon – All allies on the battlefield gain the ability to detect stealthy foes within 24m.
• Battlefield Flare – Mark all foes on the battlefield.
• Battlefield Debilitation – All foes within 24m of caster take more damage.

Raid Match, Island Siege, and Mercenary System

• Added 3 Rank A Guild Raid Match enemies: Proxima, Magmadon, and Kohinorr.
• Added 7 new Siege achievements with earnable toys as rewards. Arcturus’s Mirror (Medeia), Slime Queen (Slime Island, Malicious Cursed Spirit (Death’s Hold Island), Treasure Chest (Lush Reed Island), Naruni (Naruni Island), Snowball (Snowpand Island), Loot Hunter (Golden Wave Island).
• The following monsters in the Slime Island siege have been changed to ‘Lucky’: A – C Slime Captains, Slime Gatekeeper, Slime Queen, Split Slime Queen. Adjusted monster combat balance to fit the monster type.
• PvP rank points can be earned by completing the competitive quest at Slime Island. Winning grants 800 points, and losing grants 350 points.
• Once the finish line at the Naruni Island Siege has been crossed, players can no longer get into the lane during the race.
• Update challenge requirements for PvP Island Siege: A guild can no longer issue a challenge to a PvP Siege base if a guild member is working as a mercenary. If a guild member is working as a mercenary, it will show up on the list when a challenge is issued. Mercenary restriction message added to the PvP Siege base challenge requirement. Working as a mercenary does not restrict issuing challenges to PvE Siege bases.
• Mercenary system UI/UX improved: If a guild did not issue a challenge to the PvP base, an individual mercenary UI will be displayed. The UI for hiring mercenaries will only be displayed after a guild has issued a challenge to the PvP base.
• The Mercenary hire/request period will take place 10 minutes before the start.
• Mercenary Rating is now automatically set to the average of characters in a Roster. If a player does not have any mercenary ratings, they will be set as a novice.
• Item Level Limit Function added for hiring mercenaries. Only mercenaries who meet the level requirement can apply.
• The minimum requirement for PvP Island Siege ranking rewards has been changed to 1000 points (was 1400 points)
• You can now obtain rewards with 1000 ranking points from the following islands: Medeia, Slime Island, Death’s Hold Island.

New PvP Island Sieges

Lush Reed Island (Rank A/PvP base)

• Take the other team’s treasure chest to transform into a Tooki.
• Bring the treasure to your main base while transformed to earn a point, and 3 times will earn a win.
• Your character’s combat stats, cards, and engraving effects will be applied during transformation. Move speed is fixed.

Golden Wave Island (Rank B/PvP base)

• Transform into a loot hunter and earn points by killing monsters or opponents.
• Use the loot hunter’s basic attack to kill monsters and opponents.
• Only opponents will take damage from mines and detection grenades.
• Combat in Golden Wave Island Siege will be adjusted accordingly.

Quest/Una’s Tasks Improvements

• If the player has a main/world quest directing them to a specific layer in a multi-layered map, the quest symbol is displayed on World Map, Minimap, and Overlay Minimap.
• It’s now easier to check quests that other Roster characters have active in the Quest Journal.
• Improved the clarity of messaging when abandoning quests in the confirmation pop-up.
• Viewing Daily/Weekly quests in Una’s Tasks UI will now apply the last filter used.
• Added a new achievement to Una’s Tasks reputation in Punika. Earn maximum ‘White Sunlight, Blue Waves, Pink Breeze’ reputation to earn the ‘Take Me Anywhere, Wind And White Sail’ achievement.
• Players who have already finished this reputation will immediately get this achievement when you log into the game.
• When doing the Daily Una’s Task ‘The Story Flowing in the Luganic River’ in Candaria Territory in South Vern, the merchant NPC will now appear in a different location every 24 hours instead of every 6 hours.
• Co-op quest requirements to earn rewards for the following islands have been changed: Freedom Isle, Atlas, Peyto, Aiwana Island, Azure Wind Island, Shadowmoon Market.
• Co-op quest guide alarm time has been changed for the following islands: Atropos, Fermata Cradle of the Sea.

General

Reward Updates

• Thronespire – the Legendary Engraving Recipe Selection Pouch is now untradeable.
• Anguished Isle – Legendary Engraving Recipes are now untradeable. Honor Leapstones are now untradeable, and the quantity has increased from 50 to 80 per Roster.

Updated Pheon Requirements

• Tier 1 & 2 Equipment and Amulets and Tier 2 Ability Stones no longer require Pheons.
• Tier 3 Rare Accessories have been reduced from 5 Pheons to 1.
• Tier 3 Epic Accessories have been reduced from 9 Pheons to 5.
• Tier 3 Legendary Accessories have been reduced from 15 Pheons to 9.
• Tier 3 Relic Accessories have been reduced from 25 Pheons to 15.

Expanded Masterpiece Collection Rewards

• 54 – Menelik’s Tomes.
• 56 – Greater Stat Increase Potion.
• 58 – Legendary Iron Wall Rune.
• 60 – Vediche’s Invitation.

Material Exchange Improvements

• The number of items displayed on a single screen has increased from 5 to 12.
• Material Exchange UI will now display items in one row.
• You can now scroll your mouse to navigate the list of items.
• Item icon and cost icon are different sizes, making it easier to see what item you’re purchasing.
• You can now display all items, items at your tier, or items at your item level.
• ‘View Items at My Item Lv.’ option added.
• ‘View Only Remaining Items’ option added.
• ‘Buy Using Only Bound Items’ option added.
• ‘Exclude Items that Do Not Meet the Conditions’ option added.
• Combat XP potion will be automatically hidden for Combat Lv. 60 characters.

New Favourite Engraving Functionality

• Engravings favorites is now ‘Engraving Notification Option.’
• You can click on the Engravings Notification icon in the Engravings Effect UI (ALT+I) to set notifications.
• Equipment that contains an Engraving with a set notification will display an icon.
• Up to 40 notifications can be set.
• Favorited Engravings will automatically have notifications set for them.
• Engravings with Engraving Notification will have a marker in the Auction House, including Advanced Search options.

Other

• Added a new track of daily log-in rewards.
• The Event Powerpass and Express Event will end when maintenance begins.
• Updated the CAPTCHA system to provide better bot prevention measures.
• Added a “Change Group Order” option in the ‘Friends’ menu that allows additional customization with friend groups.
• Updated the icons for the Umarka, Lailai, Wave Dance, Star Dance, Sway, and Wave Dance emotes to better match their animations.
• [K] can now be used to open/close the ‘Character Settings’ menu in the Trixion Training Grounds.
• Added text to the tooltips of all Structures obtainable via Adventurer’s Tome rewards which explain how they can be obtained.
• When previewing a chest in the Marketplace containing multiple instruments, pressing the left and right arrows shown will now immediately cycle the displayed instrument. Previously, the new selection would not be shown until a new song was being played in the preview window.
• Wallpaper songs have been added to the Stronghold Jukebox.
• Added the Euro & Dollar Selfie Stickers.
• Added a skill instant cast function. When active, skill shortcuts can be used without setting a target area. The skill will be cast to where the mouse cursor’s location. You can set this function in Settings > Gameplay > Combat Related Settings > Combat Settings, and it can also be used for Awakening skills and battle items.
• You can now use chat macro to instantly activate Sight Focus for Awakening skills.
• Added 4 Stronghold Mount Structures.

If the temptation of meeting up with Geralt and pals has you diving into Arkesia, check out our Lost Ark tier list for the best classes to play, along with our guide to where you can find all the Lost Ark Mokoko Seeds. We’ve also got plenty more of the best games like Diablo on PC right now, which should keep you occupied until the Diablo 4 release date later this year.