Lost Ark Spells in Spades patch adds Arcanist, reduces honing costs, and more

It’s a big day for Lost Ark players, as the Spells in Spades update is going live today! This update brings with it a new advanced class to play, a new summer-themed event, new challenging end game content and a slew of changes to make gearing up a character easier for players.

The new class - the Arcanist - is likely the star of the update for those looking for a new character to level or thinking of jumping in for the first time. It’s all about casting powerful magical abilities with a collection of mystical cards, each with their own unique effects.

This class comes following the Bard and Sorceress as mage advanced classes, and provides a special twist on the archetype that is sure to appeal to a vast number of Lost Ark players. To help them gear one up, honing costs across the three tiers of content have been streamlined as of this update, making the process of upgrading your equipment far less of a time, money, and resource sink than it previously was.

In addition, there’s a new Pnika Powerpass and Hyper Express Event that’ll go that extra distance in pushing a character into the lofty heights of 1370 gear score and higher. All you have to do is get into the game and complete the Berver’s Friend quest during the event duration, and the pass will be all yours. Those who have already completed the quest will automatically get the pass for free, which is a nice touch for those who are already highly invested in the MMO.

It's also time for something a bit more fun, as the Water Pop Arena limited time game mode is coming to Lost Ark with the Spells in Spades update! This has you and a team of other players compete to push the opposing team outside of an arena using water pistols. Over time, the arena will shrink, so it’s all about getting an advantage early to net yourself and your comrades some valuable event currency. This in turn can be traded in for materials and cosmetics!

The final major update coming today will raise the eyebrows of players who are already sitting comfortably at the upper echelons of gear score. Firstly, the Valtan Legion raid is getting an inferno difficulty, adding challenging modifiers to an already tricky encounter with increased rewards going out to those brave and skilled enough to take it on. Alternatively, you can take on the Challenge Abyssal Dungeons on a weekly basis too! This weekly activity, like the inferno difficulty legion raid, makes the typical abyssal dungeon experience that much harder, with increased payout acting as the carrot tempting the player base to take it on.

Are you excited about any or all of these updates coming to Lost Ark today? Let us know in the comments below, as well as whether you’ll be levelling up an Arcanist to take on all of the above!

For more Lost Ark content, check out our report last month of the successful Lost Ark ban wave wiping out 300,000 accounts and the communities’ celebration!