Heroes of Arkesia,
The December Update brings the Brelshaza Legion Raid— one of the most challenging, unique, and beautifully dangerous raids in all of Lost Ark. As we head toward the climactic battle against the Phantom Legion Commander, we wanted to ensure players felt prepared to face Brelshaza and the myriad of other threats arriving in the December Update.
If you’re still working to prepare your characters or returning to Arkesia after some time away, find some methods for preparing your Item Level and gear for the upcoming challenges. New raids have been added over the past few months for the heroes in Arkesia to build up their teamwork, skills, and their ability to overcome unique mechanics. New progression events have been added to provide upgrade materials and honing opportunities. December will bring Brelshaza alongside a host of other content to end the year with a bang!
Preparing Your Gear & Item Level
Face Brelshaza, Commander of the Phantom Legion in an immersive and challenging 8-player Legion Raid spanning 6 unique gates and encounters. The most cunning and ruthless of all the Legion Commanders, she’s known to charm her enemies and inflict them with awful hallucinations. With so many encounters, the Item Level requirements rise every two gates. Here's where your gear will need to be to challenge Phantom Legion Commander Brelshaza:
- Phantom Astalgia: Déjà Vu - Item Level 1430
- Gates 1 & 2 - Item Level 1490
- Gates 3 & 4 - Item Level 1500
- Gates 5 & 6 - Item Level 1520
If you’re a newer player looking to gear up for the first time, Relic gear (needed to reach higher Item Levels) can be earned by completing the Valtan & Vykas Legion Raids. The powerful set effects on the Legion Raid Relic gear can be upgraded by defeating Mayhem Demon Legion Commander Kakul-Saydon in the third Legion Raid. Once you’ve earned the gear, honed, and upgraded your gear’s set effect, have your Engravings, Gems, Cards & Stats set, you’ll be ready— all that will remain is finding out if your skills and teamwork can stand up to the test. Find information below on how to leverage ongoing events to earn all you can in preparation.
If you’re not quite up to the level where you can challenge Brelshaza, no worries! Similar to the “Midnight Circus: Encore” difficulty of the Kakul-Saydon Legion Raid, an easier difficulty is available for players to practice the difficult encounters and mechanics. The entrance count for Phantom Astalgia: Déjà Vu is separate from the entrance count for Brelshaza's Legion Raid, and can be entered once per week per Roster. Only requiring Item Level 1430, you should be able to reach the requirements easily with some help from the current progression events— learn more about them below.
If you’re looking to get every edge possible, the new Bracelet Accessory type will be releasing in December. Make sure you hop into a Void Chaos Dungeon or challenge Caliligos in a new Guardian Raid after the update releases to earn one and increase your character’s stats. No worries if the first piece of content you want to tackle in the update is Brelshaza— Bracelets are also earnable as rewards from the Legion Raid.
Leveraging Ongoing Events & New Content
Current Progression Events - Powerpass & Hyper Express Event
Players will receive a Punika Powerpass after completing Punika's quest “Berver's Friend” during (or before) the event period, delivered via in-game mail. The Punika Powerpass will function like the North Vern Powerpasses available to all players in the launch version of Lost Ark— once you’ve completed the storyline of that continent, you can use the Powerpass to bring an alternate character to Item Level 1302. This is an event Powerpass, and will expire on January 18, 2023.
Pairing well with the Punika Powerpass, a Hyper Express Event is currently active. You can designate one character between Item Level 1302 and 1445 to participate in the Hyper Express Event. The designated character will earn honing materials and other rewards from missions when increasing their Item Level to 1445, which grants a particularly valuable reward. Like the Punika Powerpass, character designation will end on January 18, 2023, but missions can be completed until February 8, 2023. The Hyper Express Event will take a character past the Item Level required to play Phantom Astalgia: Déjà Vu, and up to the level required to craft Relic gear.
If you’re eagerly awaiting the release of the Summoner Advanced Class, please note that both progression events will be active next month, and can be saved to use on the Summoner. No additional Powerpasses or Express events will be added in the next monthly update, as these events will be active throughout December.
Final Tips - Ongoing Events
There are a few ongoing events players looking to gear up should take full advantage of:
- Make sure to visit the Aldebaran festival held on Mokomoko Night Market Island. Gather food-themed items which can be combined to create gift sets. These gift sets can be used to exchange for valuable items, including Card Packs, Honing Support Selection Chests and more! This event will run throughout the Autumn season until December 7.
- Tune in to watch your favorite Lost Ark content creators every Thursday for special “Thankful Thursday” Twitch Drops. Find details and a schedule of upcoming drops in the Twitch Community Celebration article.
- Competitive Proving Grounds Season 2 kicked off last month. Play PvP to earn Coins of Courage which can exchanged for valuable rewards.
- Ark Pass Season 2 adds new ways for players to earn impactful rewards just by playing Lost Ark. Players can complete missions to progress through 30 Ark Pass levels, and with each level reached, new rewards will be unlocked and earned. The regular Ark Pass is completely free and grants a variety of helpful rewards, such as Pheons, honing material selection chests, pirate coins, and even a Legendary Card Pack! While all players will have access to the free Ark Pass, those interested in more rewards and cosmetics can exchange Royal Crystals for two premium reward tracks (Premium & Super Premium) which each layer in additional rewards to the leveling track. The Premium and Super Premium Ark Passes will be available through the in-game store until December 14, 2022 and mission progress can be earned until January 18, 2023. Learn more and find the cosmetics showcased in the Ark Pass Season 2 article.
Preparing for the Challenge
For those seeking out a challenge above and beyond the horrors of the Demon Legion Commanders in Normal & Hard modes, Inferno difficulties for Valtan and Vykas have released, along with Trial Achates. While Legion Raids prove to be a fun but challenging experience for many— Inferno takes it to the next level. It’s all about proving you’re the among the best of the best in Arkesia and earning the accompanying prestige. As you train for everything Brelshaza plans to throw at you, what better method to put your teamwork and skills to the test.
Looking to get started? We have a few resources to help you better understand the challenges that await, full of advice from legendary Lost Ark content creators.
- Inferno Difficulty & Valtan - Learn more about Inferno difficulty and find tips and tricks from Lost Ark legends ATK, EndieM8, and Saintone in the Inferno Legion Raid Academy.
- Vykas & Achates - Find tips and tricks from Saintone & Lustboy in the Vykas Inferno & Achates Trial Academy.
Looking Ahead
The December Update brings with it the Brelshaza Legion Raid, the Summoner Advanced Class, the Caliligos Guardian Raid, T3 Hardmode Cube & Boss Rush, new Chaos Dungeons, the Bracelet accessory type, and more! Stay tuned for more specifics at PlayLostArk.com and our social channels as the update draws near. In the meantime, we wish everyone preparing for their upcoming battles good fortune. We’ll see you in Arkesia!