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How to Avoid Enemy Attacks and Get Better at Lost Ark

Lost Ark Tips

One hyped QoL addition is the front and back attack markers (Note: you can customize the style and color in the game menu). These will assist positional classes in maximizing their head or back attack damage, but there’s a hidden benefit that will help all DPS classes boost their damage. Knowing where the boss is facing makes dodging their brutal but avoidable attacks much easier, leading to greater DPS uptime, which means getting MVP bragging rights more often.

Here are some more tips to boost your dodging game.

Mastering movement

If you have experience with other isometric RPGs like Diablo or Path of Exile, you may already be used to this, but if you are new to Lost Ark’s control scheme, you may not have discovered the most efficient way to move in the heat of battle. Pro gamers will use rapid, spammy clicks close to their character model to have precise movement.

Clicking far away is hard to aim and may accidentally run you into the boss’ attack, and holding the move button does not allow you to react to mechanics rapidly. It might be loud, but it will keep you out of trouble.

Another way to keep safe is to master getting into position or out of danger with skills instead of your spacebar dodge. Every class has skills used primarily for movement, they usually have some mobility tripod, which should be prioritized over your spacebar dodge. You may feel like you are losing DPS by using a skill just for movement but keeping yourself off the floor, or alive in some cases, means you will have an opportunity to land your big skills. Spacebar dodge should be treated as a last resort because it has a brief window of Super Armor: Push and Debuff immunity which can come in clutch.

Seeing the future

How do you apply your swift, reactive movement to boss mechanics? All major attacks have visible tells, but highly varied boss models can make this a pain. The trick is to focus on the boss’ weapon - the ax for Oreha Prevenza’s first boss, the head of Night Fox Yoho, and either the front or hind legs of Argos. By focusing on the “weapon,” you can easily discern whether an attack is coming and which direction to move.

For example, the killer whirlwind from Oreha Prevenza’s first boss is always preceded by raising and holding his ax. Night Fox Yoho’s energy balls appear over its head before flying in your face. Argos’ annoying attacks can be easily read by just fixating on his front or hind legs - if he moves the pair near you, get out of the way! You can see a detailed list of Argos attacks here.

Focusing on the boss’ weapon also means you will be aware of when they are counter-able, thanks to the whole boss model flashing blue. If this is not visible enough, make sure you have already turned off others’ skill animations except party buffs via the menu [Gameplay > Controls and Display > Show Combat / Pet > Battle Effect Display > Include Buff Effects of Party members], and your monitor has the correct brightness and contrast settings to make the flashes pop. Also, if you want to be a counter god, make sure you have a dedicated counter skill just like you have dedicated movement skills. Remember that they aren’t for directly contributing to your DPS, but properly doing the mechanics creates fat damage windows.

Hear them roar

A lot of significant mechanics are accompanied by obvious audio cues. The Valtan legion raid has a specific counter that most guides recommend counting to 3 and then blindly counter, but the easier tell is his two roars.

Even in older content like Argos, PUGs may still find trouble in the big pizza mechanic that some high-level players still fail to dodge sometimes. This is probably because they have not customized their audio options - bringing everything, but SFX to half volume will make Argos’ telltale roar easier to catch. Train yourself to react to the roar by disengaging from DPS, looking for the AoE marker, and using your rapid movement clicks or skills. Remember, keep your dodge if you cannot move far enough in time.

Audio cues are often repeated in different phases. For example, Argos’ roar persists in P2 with the same big pizza mechanic but is also used in P3 when the Day/Night wipe mechanic comes. By associating specific audio cues with the need to disengage briefly from damage and assess the mechanic, you will prevent unnecessary raid wipes.

Share your knowledge

Most players now know they can CTRL+LMB click to ping a location on the mini-map or the ground. Some may even know that you can CTRL+LMB and drag your mouse for a ping menu with four present icons and messages like “Gather Here.” But there is even more customizability via the menu [Community > Macro Text > Smart Ping Text], which allows you to customize the message for each ping. This can be used for supports to ping their heals with the message “Healing here!” or to notify the raid to “Stop Attacking” after Argos P1 wipe mechanic.

But don’t be the boy who cried wolf and go overboard with your pings; otherwise, your raid party may flame you, and everyone will miss out on the essential pings.

Git gud

Even if you aren’t a fan of the Dark Souls series, the mentality those games teach you applies to Lost Ark's fights–proper practices make good skills permanent. Start by making moving second nature, and then dive into the latest raid content with your eyes and ears open to all the audio/visual great cues the game is throwing at you, and you will clear even the newest content with ease. 

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Lost Ark Tips & Tricks

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