Lost Ark Review: Can You Play Solo? Can You Play Solo Guardian Raids?

Lost Ark is a top-down 2.5D fantasy massively multiplayer online action role-playing game (MMOARPG). It is co-developed by Tripod Studio and Smilegate’s game development subsidiary Smilegate RPG. It was fully released in the South Korean region on December 4, 2019. The game was also released in North America, South America, and Europe on February 11, 2022, where it is published by Amazon Games. Within twenty-four hours of release, it became the second most played game on Steam.

Lost Ark won six game awards in various categories at the Korea Game Awards 2019. Developing the game cost about $85.4 million.

Can you play solo in Lost Ark?

Thousands of players are enjoying Lost Ark, the newest MMO dominating the gaming scene that offers a new exciting world to explore. Players can create a unique character to match their playstyle or to fill a role in their group. But you also have the option to enjoy Lost Ark alone, although it might be a different experience.

Lost Ark doesn’t restrict players from playing solo, but you should consider a few things before committing to this playstyle. The game can be challenging when alone as you don’t have other players assisting you in fights with other classes and abilities. This means you’ll likely have a harder time against some enemies, and the game might be more of a grind.

Also, as a solo player, you won’t have a diverse group of classes in every situation. Some character builds are meant to fill a specific role, like DPS or Tanks. Consider this when making a solo character, as your build will need to cover more ground. Try to make a build capable of being effective in any situation.

The final thing you should consider when playing solo in Lost Ark is the overall experience. Playing an MMO with a group can be more exciting or fun, especially if you have a dedicated party consistently grinding quests. You’ll miss this aspect when playing solo, which might ruin the experience for some players.

Lost Ark doesn’t prevent players from playing alone, but make sure it is the right choice for you before committing.

Can You Play Solo Guardian Raids in Lost Ark?

The world of Lost Ark is exceptionally expansive. With a whole range of raiding options to choose from, you will rarely experience boredom, and the guardian raids are a prime example. They let you, and your teammates encounter several challenges and grant high-quality rewards in exchange.

The game recommends joining these raids as a group. However, a freak of nature such as you might be thinking about soloing the raid. Being an avid MMO player can give you incentives for tracking down and defeating these creatures solo. While we respect that sentiment, it is better if you don’t.

The Guardian Raids can be done solo in Lost Ark without dying. However, challenging higher levels with your party can yield you much better loot in general. Therefore, going solo is not the play unless you want to set a personal milestone.

With that said, the difficulty bumps on a significant level once you set foot on your solo journeys. Therefore, it is better to know how a guardian raid works in order to understand the ins and outs.

Guardian Raids in Lost Ark
It is a raid boss-themed event that challenges you to track the boss Guardian to defeat it. There are a total of five difficulty variations, each with its own set of challenges. There are a total of 15 Raids to conquer and much like every other MMO game, there is a lot of raid content to explore.

Why exactly is Lost Ark so popular?

Lost Ark has launched in Europe and America like a bolt of lightning from a mage’s hand. Within 24 hours of release, the game had reached a peak(opens in new tab) of 1.3 million concurrent players, making it the highest played MMO on Steam ever by concurrent player count, and the second highest-played game in general by that same metric. It’s been so popular that many players have been struggling to get into the game, queuing by literally thousands to get into vastly overloaded servers.

The game’s sudden and immediate dominance of both headlines and lifetimes may seem to have come out of nowhere. But the truth is this explosion of interest has been building for a long time, and it’s worth taking a moment to break down precisely why. Below, I’ll cover Lost Ark’s long road to success, the causes behind it, why so many players are scrambling to play it, and why such a large percentage of those players are currently unable to do so.

What Are Wealth Runes in Lost Ark

Wealth Runes are a special kind of rune that increases your “Identity Gauge”, depending on the rarity of the rune you have. Wealth runes are best assigned to skills that generate a lot of identity.

The “Identity Gauge” is a meter that charges a powerful class skill that is unique to every class, like “Burst mode” for the Berserker. They come in four rarities, uncommon, rare, epic, and legendary, and are some of the rarer drops in the game. They drop from unique bosses but can also be found in some shops.

Farming Wealth Runes Fast in Lost Ark

Before jumping into the fight to farm for legendary wealth runes, there are some things you need to know.

The first is, legendary runes are not really worth it. They will take a lot of time to grind, especially if you’re unlucky with drops, and you can only get them via omnium stars.

Also, the epic rune is much easier to get since it drops from a boss battle. With a couple of tries, you can easily get your hands on it.

Since the uncommon and rare runes are the easiest to get, you should focus on getting them first. After that, you can see if your class REALLY needs more identity while fighting or not. If not, it’s perfectly fine to stay on rare/epic until later in the game.

The second thing you need to know about Lost Ark is that wealth runes’ importance scales with how deep in the late game you are. So, if you’ve just finished the campaign and are looking to boost your character, you’re better off starting from somewhere else.