Heroes of Arkesia,
Welcome back to our final roadmap for 2025. We can’t wait for players to finally experience the epic conclusion to the Kazeros storyline, but there are even more major updates to look forward to between now and December, including the Ark Grid endgame progression system. Team members Roxx, Matt, and Henry also return for a glimpse into the next few months of Lost Ark in part 4 of our 2025 roadmap videos.
Read on for a month by month summary featuring the highlights.
October
Region Merge
There will be a merge of the NA West and NA East regions one week before the major October Update. Stay tuned for announcements covering everything you need to know in the near future. We’ve factored in player feedback to ensure a more fair naming policy due to the large volume of idle names across each region. Our goal is to reward active players who created their name first based on the following policy:
The name is granted to the player with highest combat level on their roster. For example, someone that has played since the launch of Tier 4 with a lvl. 70 character will receive the name over another player with roster with a lvl. 60 character from launch.
If both names have the same highest level character on the roster (ie. both lvl. 70), the name will be granted to the player who first created the name. Guild names will be granted to whichever guild was created first.
No servers or rosters will be merged. However, the downtime for the merged regions will be extensive. To help mitigate downtime, we are also working to remove the data of perma-banned bot accounts that have been banned for over a year. This will not impact players in good standing or with temporary bans.
We have also been planning to release additional names from inactive accounts later this year or early next year, although it didn’t make sense to do so before this merge. We want to prevent players from potentially making multiple name changes only to lose their desired name alongside their original.
Kazeros Raid Prelude: Destined Trajectory
The corruption that began in the depths has crossed over the Kurzan Abyss, tainting the seas. The long-lost body of Kazeros has begun to take form within the fog. What will befall Arkesia in the future?
Embark on a prologue questline that leads to truth as the long-prophesied war nears its end. A new NPC will be added to Elnead where you can start this quest. It can be completed once per roster, but only after finishing the Act 1 through 3 prologue quests as well as the Rimeria World Quest and Hyper Awakening Quests. The Kazeros Raid Prelude: Destined Trajectory will prepare you for the narrative climax against the Lord of the Abyss and is a requirement to enter the Act 4 Kazeros Raid.
Additional Updates
Ark Pass
The October Ark Pass will include the Mist Knight skins, cat mounts, and cat pets.
Lucky Box event
Complete daily and special missions to earn Lucky Boxes and prepare for endgame challenges coming later this year. Lucky Boxes contain various honing materials, trade items, cards and potentially a Surprise Box. The Surprise Box has a chance to drop special items, like a Relic Engraving Selection Chest, Chaos Stones with a 100% success rate, Legendary Card Selection Pack, along with honing materials.
Balance Patch
The Korean Balance patch that arrived alongside Kazeros will release in October!
Proving Grounds Season 7
This is the first Competitive Match season to feature the Three Champions Game Mode. Expect the standard competitive ratings adjustments based on performances in the last season, plus seasonal rewards when Season 7 wraps up next year. There will also be QoL adjustments, such as top ranked builds appearing in the Book of Coordination.
November
Kazeros Raid: Act 4
Say hello to our first-ever double raid release, starting with Kazeros Raid: Act 4, the Fortress of Destruction. Act 4 is an 8-player, 2-gate, endgame raid starting with a memorable face-off against Covetous Master Echidna. As the battle goes on, her attacks grow increasingly varied. Higher up in the towering passages of Diaspero lurks the Abyss-infused statue sentinel, Armoche. Armoche dominates the battlefield with sweeping strikes from his halberd and shield.
Normal Difficulty will require Item Level 1700 or above, and Hard Mode will require Item Level 1720 or above.
Kazeros Raid Denouement - The Last Day
Vanquish the powerful enemies guarding the fortress to reach the battle that will determine the fate of Arkesia, an endgame 8-player, 2-gate raid. Even a brief misstep can result in instant death from Kazeros’ overwhelming attacks. He strikes across wide areas while simultaneously restricting movement, leaving little room to escape. Kazeros in Gate 1 is but a faint shadow compared to the despair that awaits. His true form will be revealed in Gate 2. Good luck! We’re excited for players to experience the events that will unfold firsthand.
To challenge Kazeros Raid: Denouement – The Last Day, you must Clear the Gate 2 of Act 4: Fortress of Destruction, (any difficulty) and meet the required item level for the desired difficulty:
Normal: Item Level 1710+
Hard: Item Level 1730+
The First : 1740+
Denouement: The Last Day raid will be unlocked for all players after the next regular maintenance once a raid group clears the First difficulty. The Kazeros Denouement First difficulty marks our most challenging raid yet. Only the skill and determination of those who challenge the First will determine when the Normal and Hard difficulties of this raid will be unlocked. We looked at various options, but with the release of the Kazeros Act 4 raid, and many more activities in the update, there will be a ton of content to experience in that first week before hard mode and normal mode of the Last Day raid are available. Along with unlocking normal and hard mode for all players, the first group to clear will earn some extra special recognition, including a Title, an Adventure name plate, a Trophy, and a Portal Statue in the city.
There is no revival in the First difficulty. We’ll cover the Ark Grid system next, but it won’t be applied here until the top teams are crowned. Once the top teams are crowned in each region, The First event will be updated in a future weekly maintenance to the “First After” system, which will include an updated ranking system based on the speed of the clear. You will be able to challenge the First difficulty for a while after it launches. We’ll share the dates in a future announcement and all players who successfully complete it will receive a Party Lounge background, MVP background, Exclusive Mount, Exclusive Title, Insignia, and more!
Stay tuned for detailed information about the race, including our policies and plans in dedicated announcements, closer to the release of the raid.
Ark Grid System
For players not participating in the first clear race, they can start using the Ark Grid system as soon as they earn the materials to do so. The Ark Grid system will be the latest endgame progression system, unlocking powerful static and class-specific effects, and release with applicable quality of life changes from Korea. This system will provide a huge variety of power increases, along with adding unique opportunities to enhance each class’s individual abilities.
The Ark Grid has two main components, Cores and Gems. Cores are items that can be equipped into the Ark Grid to gain combat-related effects. Order-type Cores are class-specific and offer unique combat enhancements that enhance or modify the way you play your class. Chaos-type Cores are universal and usable by all classes. Each type contains subtypes based on celestial themes: Sun / Moon / Star, for a total offering of 6 unique effects. Cores can be obtained in the Kazeros Raid Act 4 and Kazeros Raid Denouement.
Gems are items equipped alongside Cores in the Ark Grid, unlocking Core Effects and granting additional combat enhancements. They come in two categories: Order Gems and Chaos Gems, each with three subtypes offering unique combat effects. Gems can be earned from Kurzan Front Nefta Operations, Drextalas and Kratios Guardian Raids, 1700+ Chaos Gates auctions, and via crafting through a new NPC.
Additional Updates
New Progression Events
The next major progression event will be the Kazeros Challenge event as well as an Express Event. This will help new and returning players level up and prepare for battle against Kazeros, or allow existing players to level up an alternate character.
Mokoko Bootcamp
Mokoko Bootcamp will be updated and released alongside the next batch of Progression Events. We’re continuing to review player feedback about the existing iteration of the event, and will use this to help inform any tweaks for the next version. The November version will also feature the first community selected title and icon!
Daily Activity Updates
The latest batch of updated Daily Activities will arrive, all at Item Level 1720. This includes the new Kratios Guardian Raid, new level of Kurzan Front, new level of Ebony Cube, and a new Chaos Gate. All of those activities at Item Level 1700 and above will also receive an update that includes new Fate Ember Drops that have Gems for the Ark Grid system.
Paradise Season 2
The next season of Paradise includes Orbs with new effects.
December
The enormous amount of November content, including events will continue throughout December. We are also planning for the next batch of quality of life updates to arrive in December, along with some holiday events and cosmetics to close out 2025.
Final Thoughts
As we look beyond this roadmap and into the future of Lost Ark, we're thrilled about what's in store for 2026. While we're not looking that far ahead today, the conclusion of the Kazeros storyline will open up entirely new possibilities for Arkesia's future. We cannot wait to explore them with players.
Thanks for joining us today, and until next time, we'll see you in Arkesia!