Picking a main or setting up a roster in Lost Ark can feel overwhelming, especially for new players. The goal is to choose classes that are forgiving, fast-paced, and fun to play. For beginners, it’s better to focus on classes with short cooldowns, high mobility, and consistent damage uptime.

Recommended beginner-friendly classes:

  • Predator Slayer – Female warrior archetype with strong mobility and forgiving downtime windows.

  • Mayhem Zerker – Male variant of Slayer; positional-free, making it perfect for newer players.

  • Drizzlemancer – A relaxed specialist caster with steady rotations.

  • Wild Soul (Phantom Beast Awakening spec) – Big bursts every 10 seconds; highly straightforward to manage.

  • LC Sharpshooter – Operates like a turret; the summoned bird handles most of the damage.

  • Demonic Impulse Shadow Hunter – Spam-friendly, permanently immune to paralysis, and highly forgiving.

  • DPS Valkyrie – Simple gameplay, good defenses, and push-immunity on key skills.

Avoid the Alt Trap: What You Need to Know Before Adding More Characters

Building multiple alts isn’t as rewarding as before. While alts used to boost efficiency, Lost Ark’s progression has shifted:

  • Alts now require more gold, time, and resources to gear up.

  • Treat alts as a way to enjoy more gameplay, not just a shortcut to power.

  • Focus on learning mechanics and testing roles first before committing to multiple characters.

Engravings, Gems, and Roster Optimization in Lost Ark

Planning your roster around shared engravings can save thousands of gold.

  • Prioritize engravings like Grudge, Ambush Master, Raid Captain, MP Efficiency, Mass Increase, and Adrenaline that multiple characters can use.

  • Avoid niche engravings unless you specifically enjoy the class. For example:

    • Mayhem Zerker thrives on Master’s Tenacity—a cheap but specialized pick.

    • Gunslinger uses engravings like Barricade and Cursed Doll, which don’t synergize well with most rosters.

  • Some classes are two-gem efficient, like Demonic Impulse Shadow Hunter and Evolutionary Legacy Machinist (Transformation Scouter). These save gold because you only need two specialized gems and can reuse your main’s setup.

Support Classes, Synergies, and Advanced Roster Tips

Support roles in Lost Ark are powerful—but demanding.

  • New players should avoid maining support purely to get easier raid invites.

  • Bad supports hurt the whole party, while bad DPS only hurt themselves.

  • Still, having a support alt is valuable—it opens new perspectives, helps in raid learning, and costs less to gear up.

Party synergy matters too:

  • Every class offers unique synergy buffs like crit rate, crit damage, or defense reduction.

  • Popular synergies like crit boosts make some classes highly desirable, e.g., Blade, Gunner, and Wardancer.

  • If undecided between two classes, pick the one with the stronger synergy—teams value this heavily in endgame content.

The Forbidden Tech: Same-Class Rosters

A same-class roster offers top-tier efficiency:

  • Share gems, engravings, and even skins between all characters.

  • Minimizes grind across multiple alts.

  • Best suited for experienced players with thousands of hours invested.

For beginners, though, diversity beats efficiency. Experiment with various playstyles before settling on a same-class roster later in progression.