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Lost Ark Reaper release date almost here as modes and skills explained

The Lost Ark Reaper release date is November 16 for the advanced class, as Smilegate details the assassin’s skills and its persona and chaos modes in the ARPG

Lost Ark Reaper - a pale blue woman with white-tipped purple hair, wearing a red dress and brandishing a large dagger

The Lost Ark Reaper release date is almost here, with the advanced class joining the Deathblade and Shadowhunter as the third option for Assassins in the RPG game. The Reaper utilises the ability to shift into two additional modes as she fights – a stealthy Persona mode that lets her attack from the shadows, and a fast-paced, high damage Chaos mode that lets you opt to go loud and proud.

The Lost Ark Reaper global release date is November 16. The class has three skill categories – Dagger kills make use of the Reaper’s deadly blade, Shadow skills focus on deception, concealment, and mobility, and Swoop skills allow the Reaper to unleash devastating attacks that are heavily enhanced when in Persona mode.

While in Normal mode, your Persona gauge will fill up over time and as you land skills on enemies. Once full, you can hit a button to enter Persona mode, summoning a Shadow Illusion to distract foes and putting you into temporary stealth. During this state, you get 30% additional move speed and can’t be seen by enemies unless they get within four metres of you. You’ll remain in stealth until your gauge drains or you attack, though movement and stand up skills will keep you stealthy. As you remain in Persona mode longer, you’ll stack a buff each second up to five times that increases the damage of your Swoop skills by 25% per stack.

If instead you don’t want to embrace the shadows, you can continue fighting while your Persona gauge is filled to charge up your Chaos gauge with every Dagger and Shadow skill you hit. Once full, you’ll shift into Chaos mode, gaining an additional 15% crit rate, 10% move speed, and 10% attack speed for nine seconds. Using a Shadow skill or hitting foes with Dagger skills will reset the duration, allowing you to potentially stay in Chaos mode as long as you keep fighting. Once the timer runs out, you will be reverted to a full Persona gauge.

You’ll also have the option to make use of two class engravings to enhance her abilities. The Hunger engraving focuses on the Chaos mode, causing you to charge your Chaos gauge 30% faster and buffing your attack power by up to 25% at level three while in Chaos mode. Alternatively, the Lunar Voice engraving replaces the Swoop enhancement stacks with a flat buff, granting you up to 160% bonus damage from Persona mode at level three.

Lost Ark Reaper skills and engravings

Dagger Skills

  • Nightmare – Throw a dagger at the target location to inflict Damage. Use the skill again and teleport behind the hit target if there is no obstacle between you and the foe. Move Speed +10% for 2s after teleportation.
  • Shadow Vortex – Gather strength and pull foes to you, inflicting Damage. Use the skill again to deliver a powerful spinning blow, inflicting Damage.
  • Spirit Catch – Perform a quick thrust forward to inflict Damage, then dart 4 meters in the same direction and deliver one final attack that knocks foes down for Damage.
  • Spinning Dagger – Move 5 meters forward as you throw daggers around you to inflict Damage, then slash at foes upon landing for Damage.
  • Piercing Blade – Perform 2 sharp thrusting attacks to inflict Damage. Use the skill again to deliver 2 more thrusts for Damage. Airborne foes are launched back into the air.
  • Reaper’s Call – Madly hack at foes in front of you, attacking them 4 times for [Dark] Damage.
  • Phantom Dancer – Spin toward the target location and move 5 meters as you slash at foes for Damage. Use the skill again to move another 5 meters while pushing foes and attacking them for Damage.
  • Death Scythe – Quickly move 3 meters toward the target location and slash at foes 2 times for Damage. Use the skill again to perform another slash and inflict Damage, knocking foes down.

Shadow Skills

  • Distortion – Call forth the darkness of a twisted space to quickly move 10 meters forward, inflicting Damage to foes caught in the path. Inflict additional Damage to foes in your path upon landing. Ignore collisions with adventurers and Guardians.
  • Call of the Knife – Summon the Reaper’s blade at the target location, inflicting Dark Damage to foes within a 3-meter radius. Foe Move Speed reduced temporarily. The Reaper’s Sword pulls foes close as it inflicts Damage and explodes, inflicting Dark Damage. The Move Speed debuff can be stacked up to 5 times, causing temporary Fear in foes for max stack.
  • Shadow Storm – Move 2 meters forward and thrust your weapon to inflict Damage, then summon shadows to viciously cut and slice foes for Damage over 10 hits. Use Flurry to the end to move 6 meters forward and inflict Damage. Cancel Flurry midway to inflict Damage. Airborne foes are launched back into the air when hit and knocks them back.
  • Shadow Double – Summon a shadow clone at the target location that lasts for 6s. Use the skill again for you and your clone to throw a shuriken at the target location, inflicting [Dark] Damage.
  • Black Mist – Conceal yourself behind a dark shadow at the target location and attack foes as you move. While the skill is active, all incoming Damage -20%. Inflict Damage, and at 4 stacks, inflict Fear on foes for 2s. Ignore collisions with adventurers and monsters while moving.
  • Shadow Trap – Summon a shadow trap at your current position, then move 6 meters backward, detonating a shadow that inflicts Damage to foes within a 3-meter radius, stunning them for 2s.

Swoop Skills

  • Glowing Brand – Vanish in the air and move up to 8 meters toward the target location before striking down, inflicting Damage and launching foes airborne.
  • Rage Spear – Gather red shadow energy and thrust forward to inflict Damage and paralyze foes within an 8 meter radius.
  • Dance of Fury – Gather red shadow energy to quickly move forward, inflicting Damage. Inflict additional Damage to airborne foes. Perform another slash for Damage as you return to your position.
  • Silent Rage – Jump 3 meters backward and gather dark energy to shoot yourself forward, slashing foes for Damage and knocking them down as you move. Ignore collisions with adventurers and Normal monsters while moving.

Hunger Engraving

  • Level 1 – Chaos Meter +30%. Atk. Power +12% when the Chaos Meter is full.
  • Level 2 – Chaos Meter +30%. Atk. Power +18% when the Chaos Meter is full.
  • Level 3 – Chaos Meter +30%. Atk. Power +25% when the Chaos Meter is full.

Lunar Voice Engraving

  • Level 1 – Swoop Damage +120% instead of the Swoop Enhancement effect that stacks every 1s upon switching to Persona Mode.
  • Level 2 – Swoop Damage +140% instead of the Swoop Enhancement effect that stacks every 1s upon switching to Persona Mode.
  • Level 3 – Swoop Damage +160% instead of the Swoop Enhancement effect that stacks every 1s upon switching to Persona Mode.

The Reaper arrives in Arkesia alongside two progression-based events to help raise your character’s item level. The first is a Punika Powerpass awarded after completing the Punika quest Berver’s Friend. The Hyper Express event lets you assign one character on your roster who is between item level 1302 and 1445 to earn a big boost to leveling and honing materials to help them reach 1445 quickly.

Time will tell where the Reaper slots into our Lost Ark tier list of the best classes to play. We’ve also got all the Lost Ark Mokoko Seeds locations and rewards so you can keep track of your gathering progress. If you’re looking for other multiplayer games to try, we’ve collated the best MMORPGs for you to take a look at.