Lost Ark: Guide to the Arcana – How to play the magician magician

With the July update, Lost Ark brings the Arcanist (Arcana) to the game. MeinMMO author Anny Bader took a closer look and explains what is important.

The Arcanist is the third mage class in Lost Ark and has a medium range. She doesn’t carry a classic weapon, but attacks opponents with her tarot card deck.

There are 12 different maps and 3 different types of skills. Because of the many possible combinations that arise from this, the Arcana is relatively difficult to play at first.

You can read what else is happening in the July update here.

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This is how the arcanist plays

This is the arcanist’s special ability: As you attack, your Identity Gauge will fill up. You can then use the X and Y keys to draw random cards from your deck. These have effects that buff you. You can hold the card and have up to two cards in your hand. Alternatively, you can use them directly.

There are 12 different cards, with a certain class engrave being able to add another one in the endgame.

The Arcanist full deck:

• Three Headed Serpent Card – +100% damage to enemies. +400% damage to Mutation rank monsters or lower.
• judgment card – Ruin skills always trigger the 4-stack effect for 4 sec.
• devastation map – When skills are used, speed increases by 3% for 4s, up to 15%. Lasts 30 seconds.
• Tricky Fate card – For 4 sec, your skill damage either stays the same or increases by 40%.
• corrosion map – 30 seconds has a chance to do 10% more damage for 5 seconds.
• scrap card – 100% more crit damage for 4s for all skills.
• compensation card – Your stacking skills are boosted for 30s, granting you an additional stack with each hit.
• Spirit – +20% movement speed and for 16 sec -50% damage for 3 hits on the enemy.
• moon map – Regenerates 100% of your MP.
• Royal card – Fills empty card slots. You can receive up to 2 cards.
• star map – Regenerates 100% MP. Remaining Skill Cooldown -15% except Awakening and Evasion.
• Wheel of Fortune Card – The cooldown of the next skill is reduced by 100%.
• Kaiser card – Order of the Emperor class engraving only. Deal damage to enemies in a 14 yard radius every second.

The magician’s abilities fall into three groups:

• Yellow: The yellow abilities are the normal attacks. With it you do AoE damage and have a bit of crowd control.
• Blue: The Stacking Skills. As soon as a blue skill hits the opponent, it leaves behind one or more cards, a maximum of 4.
• Red: The Ruins skills. Red abilities break stacks and turn them into damage. The more stacks an opponent has, the higher the bonus damage.

Yellow

Dark Resurrection: Throw cards at your target and summon a demon to scare and damage enemies.

Cause: Summon a circle at the target location, then hold the button to deal damage there for 10 seconds.

Mysterious Stampede: Move left and back again while dealing damage.

call of fate: Throw a card in the direction of the cursor that deals damage and knocks enemies into the air.

return: Throw a card to counter. Press again to knock over opponents.

Unlimited Mixing: Throw a deck of cards at the opponents, dealing 6x damage. Throw them up and then smash them down.

Blue

endless shower: Throw cards at your target. Deals even more damage as a combo in the air.

Scratch Dispenser: Move 7 yards toward the cursor while dealing damage. Press again to smack down.

Quadra Acceleration: Throw 4 cards at your target.

checkmate: Quickly throw cards in the direction of the cursor.

spiral blade: Jumps 7 meters in the direction of the cursor while throwing at your opponents.

Current from the edge: Open 2 portals at the target for 5 seconds. Enemies in between will be attacked.

Dancing Bone Flower: Throw a volley of cards while moving 11 yards. Press again to return to your starting position.

Red

Destiny: Fold and unfold a card. Knocks back enemies.

Secret Garden: Deals damage to nearby enemies. Opponents with 4 stacks are knocked down.

Heavenly Rain: Summon a rain of cards in the target area.

four of a kind: Throw a card in the target area to deal damage.

The arcanist in the leveling process

How should I allocate my first skill points? It is important when distributing the points that you never have to bring the skill levels higher than level 10. Skill level 4 is required for the first tripod, skill level 7 for the second, and skill level 10 for the third.

How to distribute the points:

• Level 12: 4 points each on Heavenly Rain and Dancing Bone Flower
• Level 16: 20 points on Spiral Blade
• Up to level 27: A total of 48 points on Heavenly Rain
• Up to level 36: 48 points on Dark Resurrection for AoE damage
• Up to level 45: You can now unlock Quick Draw through Destiny’s Call. You also put 4 points on evoke. This allows you to draw cards from your deck more often.
• Up to level 50: 48 points on fate

The best builds in endgame

In the endgame, as with almost all classes in Lost Ark, you choose between two class engravings. Either you focus on the identity ability and the general DPS, or you put your focus on the ruin skills.

Class Engraving A: Order of the Emperor

What does the engraving do? With this class engraving, your identity gauge will fill up 50% faster. At the same time, your skills do 10-30% more damage, depending on the engraving level.

When it comes to stats, you rely on crit and agility, prioritizing agility.

In addition, you can use the Kaiser card with this engraving.

Which engravings do I use? It’s also worth getting the Raid Captain combat engrave as it comes with your attack speed buffs as well as agility stats. You do more damage from the engraving if you strike faster. All information about the engravings can be found here.

Adrenaline for more crit and Master of Strike for even more damage are also recommended.

Later, when you know your opponents well and can counter and dodge boss attacks, you’ll use Grudge and Cursed Doll. Initially, however, the engravings are not recommended, as they cause disadvantages if played incorrectly.

Which trading cards are important? To further increase your crit rate, you should start with the Howling Rocks card set. It consists of Armel, Seria, Solas, King Thirain, Kharmine and Delain Armel.

The Light of Redemption set is optimal, but it consists of rare cards. So it will be expensive later, but worth it. The set consists of Shandi, Azena and Innana, Nineveh, Wei, Balthorr and Thirain. For a 6-piece 30-piece Awakening, the cards give you 8% more Holy damage and convert all your damage to Holy damage.

What skills do I use?

As an awakening you use Prismatic Mirror.

What is the rotation like?

• call of fate
• stream from the edge
• Place evoke behind opponent, don’t trigger yet
• Dark Resurrection
• return
• trigger evoke
• checkmate
• Heavenly Rain

During the rotation, of course, you draw your cards.

Class Engraving B: Empress Grace

What does the engraving do? With this class engraving you focus on your Ruin Skills. They do 20-30% more damage (depending on level) when your opponent has 4 stacks.

You also consume 30% less mana.

Which engravings do I use? The Barricade battle engraving goes hand in hand with your Ruin skills. You should activate Protection Runes for it.

As with the other class engraving, Adrenaline and Master of the Strike are added. Grudge and Cursed Doll you play later, when you are familiar with the opponents.

Which trading cards are important? The trading cards are no different from the other class engraving. To further increase your crit rate, you should start with the Howling Rocks card set. It consists of Armel, Seria, Solas, King Thirain, Kharmine and Delain Armel.

The Light of Redemption set is also optimal here, but it consists of rare cards. So it will be expensive later, but worth it.

What skills do I use?

You use Deathbound as an awakening.

What is the rotation like?

• call of fate
• quadra acceleration
• Scratch Dispenser
• providence of fate
• return
• Heavenly Rules
• 2x Spiral Blade
• secret garden
• You use Twist of Fate when your opponent has 4 stacks and your other two ruin skills are on cooldown. Also, this is your counter attack. You can read here how the counter works.

Before using your Awakening, place 4 stacks on the opponent. Then you use the Awakening, cancel the animation with the spacebar and use Heavenly Rain. This is how you get as much DPS as possible.

What do you think of the arcanist? Do you plan on trying out the new mage? Or do you think the gameplay sounds too complicated? Which class do you prefer to play so far and how high is your item level? Write it to us in the comments here on MeinMMO!

If you want to get your arcanist into the endgame quickly, you can find all the information about the power pass here.