Almost one year ago, on February 12, 2022, Lost Ark was first released on Steam for the EU and NA regions.
While it has been out for a while, and the majority of players now have reached the end-game and are completing abyss raids, nobody can forget their first experience with the game, during the first few weeks after launch.
In a time when early game zones were full of new players, where everyone was exploring and learning the game’s mechanics together, and when each player was going through the game’s story with their friends, Lost Ark was truly at its best days.
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In this article, I am hoping to relieve these times through memories and help others join me on this journey of remembering the good old days in Arkesia.
Getting to Level 50 in Lost Ark: Progressing the Story and Unlocking Sailing
Starting in Prideholme, as a level 10 character and seeing full servers of new players around me, was truly a unique experience.
This involved comparing the starting abilities, movement, and even outfits of other classes, as well as getting a first glimpse of Lost Ark’s amazing scenery. If this is only the first city, imagine what’s to come next!
After a few hours of gameplay, and various dungeons done solo or co-op, I’m finally reaching level 30 and finishing the first continent. This is when sailing is unlocked only to realize how big Arkesia truly is.
The next step involves spotting continents all around the map, from Anikka and Arthetine to the east, Sushire to the North, and Punika, Feiton, and Yorn to the West. Each of them is ready to tell its own story and I’m curious to find out what that is.
While traveling to my first destination, Tortoyk, I also noticed the numerous small islands scattered around the Ocean. Small but unique, each of them has its own unique series of quests, NPCs, and experiences to share. While I explored a few of them out of curiosity, their time hadn’t arrived yet. Instead, I came back shortly after, when exploring tier 1 and tier 2 content.
After exploring Tortoyk and finishing the story on Anikka and Arthetine, the main quest leads me to the center of Arkesia: North Vern. While arriving on North Vern for the first time, I had no idea this would be my main city in Lost Ark, even 10 months later. It is and will remain the center of Arkesia,
Arriving at North Vern happens at the same time as players reach level 50. It is accompanied by a feeling of accomplishment since I’m finally at Lost Ark’s end-game content. At the same time, I start wondering what to do after level 50 and if I’ve already experienced most of what the game has to offer.
However, level 50 is only the tip of the iceberg as one soon realizes after seeing what ilevel (item level) means.
Getting to level 50 in Lost Ark signals reaching ilevel 302. It is at this point that I’m ready to start honing and progressing through Tier 1 and Tier 2. However, before that, let’s take a look at one of the most loved and hated aspects of Lost Ark’s early days: the mokoko collectibles.
Collecting Mokokos: Love and Hate Relationship
Mokokos are little green seed collectibles that exist on every map and in various dungeons. Collecting them and reaching certain numbers provides rewards such as stat increase potions, ship blueprints and crew members, masterpieces, and more.
The point is that there is an insane amount of them to be collected (1200!) and for many players
Which side were you on? How many mokokos have you collected so far? Don’t forget to share your experiences in the comments below.
Combined with life skills, that was the majority of Lost Ark’s horizontal progression at launch. But what about vertical progression?
What to Do After Level 50: Tier 1 & Tier 2 Abyssal Dungeons
After reaching North Vern and wondering what to do after level 50, I realized that ilevel 302 is only the start. For the next steps, you’ll need ilevel 460 to get into Rohendel, 600 for Yorn, 802 for Feiton, and 1100 for Punika.
This is when I found out about honing. This was the only way of raising my item level and it required a lot of materials and a prayer to the RNG gods. That’s when everyone went crazy about the previously mentioned small islands scattered around the oceans of Arkesia.
Many of them
And since this was during the first week after launch, these islands were crowded with other players, all aiming for the same rewards and always collaborating to complete any co-op quests.
The best part of progressing through the tiers was the unique abyssal dungeons on each tier. Other than guardian raids (which are fairly simple and easy), abyssal dungeons were the first form of challenging group content.
Players had to collaborate, learn mechanics, and play carefully to succeed in these raids.
The most unforgettable experiences during launch were the dungeons in Rohendel (Hall of the Twisted Warlord & Hildebrandt Palace) which were extremely challenging and fun
Especially for Tranquil’s Karkosa, trying to coordinate with others to understand and pick up orbs in order while rotating clockwise was a unique experience.
I was lucky enough to find a group that, while inexperienced, was motivated to complete the raid and didn’t give up. Those who knew explained the complicated parts of the raid and those who were less experienced listened carefully. In the end, we managed to complete it after multiple hours but it felt extremely rewarding.
Wrapping up
This sums up my experience during the good old days of Lost Ark within the first few weeks after launch. While a big part of my playthrough focused on the questions of what to do before and after level 50, the various objectives combined with a community eager to learn always kept me busy and satisfied with the game.
Exploring the early-game areas when they were crowded with others players, learning the challenging abyss dungeons for the first time, and seeing the chat go crazy about their love or hate on mokokos bring back some amazing memories.
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I hope you’ve enjoyed taking this journey with me and I am interested to hear about your experiences if you were playing Lost Ark then.