Lost Ark progression guide to upgrade your gear and reach Tier 3

(Image credit: SmileGate)

Lost Ark progression is all about character level at first, but then it switches to item levels and Tiers. It’s all endgame players ever talk about: how to reach Tier 1, how to go from T1 to T2, and how to (finally!) reach Tier 3.

What to do after level 50 is up to you, but if Tier progression is the goal, here’s a list of endgame activities to prioritize. We’ll start from level 0 (or 10, actually), and then grind our way to that mythical piece of Legendary Tier 3 armour. Ready?

What does Lost Ark progress involve?

Lost Ark progression guide — (Image credit: Smilegate)

To put it simply, Lost Ark progress is divided between early game character levelling, and endgame item levelling. The early game character levelling refers to the journey from level 10 (after the prologue) to level 50. However, while level 50 is often referred to as the max level, this isn’t actually true: the highest level in Lost Ark is 60. Going from level 50 to 60 just takes a lot of time (we’re talking months here).

When your character level reaches 50, your item level becomes the most important indicator of progress. And make no mistake, the game is definitely not “done” yet. In fact, from level 50 onwards, progress becomes less linear as you unlock more endgame content.

How to reach level 50 in Lost Ark

Haven’t reached level 50 yet? Then there’s no need to concern yourself with item levels just yet. Instead, you need to focus on Luterra’s political affairs. After finishing the prologue, the best way to level up is by simply following the main questline. It’s wise to do the side quests as well, since they’re relatively easy and usually located in the same areas as the main quests.

Starting in Prideholme, Rethramis, the first main questline will take you through Yudia, West Luterra, and East Luterra before giving you a ship. Although the ship provides you with a means to explore new regions and islands - use our Lost Ark island guide to help you there - it’s best to continue the main questlines (which have now turned blue in the Journal) in new continents.

In short, visit the continents in this order to reach the corresponding character level and item levels:

Do the main quests in Rethramis, Yudia, and Luterra (West and East). You should be around level 35 by the time you complete the ‘Set Sail!’ quest.
Sail to Tortoyk and continue the World Quests to progress to level 40+.
Sail to Anikka to reach level 45+.
Sail to Arthetine. You’re likely to reach level 50 before finishing the final World Quests on this continent. Your item level should be somewhere around 250 as well.

Lost Ark Tier 1 gear progression to reach item level 600

From now on, things are not as simple as ‘follow the questline” anymore. You’re free to choose whatever endgame activities you like. However, if you wish to progress from item level 250 to 302 quickly, you need to do one of the following:

Complete the North Vern questline, unlock the Chaos Dungeon, and start grinding until you have a complete item level 302 set.
Alternatively, you can head to Shushire and do the full main questline. You will receive a full set of item level 302 equipment by the end.

Also be sure to do the Awakening Skill quest after completing North Vern, as you don’t want to miss out on a powerful ability. After that, participate in the following activities to upgrade from item level 302 to 460:

Guardian Raid Level 1 (302+)
Chaos Dungeon: North Vern Resonance
Abyssal Dungeons: Ancient Elveria (340+)
Don’t forget to do Una’s Tasks and go Island hopping. Certain Islands, like Panda Island and Dreamgull Island, are a great source of upgrade materials.

With an item level of 460, you can visit the continent of Rohendel, where you can find the second Awakening Quest. Go through the full Rohendel questline first, and then gear up to item level 600 by doing the following:

Abyssal Dungeons: Phantom Palace (460+)
Run the Rohendel Chaos Dungeon
Guardian Raid Level 2 (460+)

Completing these dungeons and tasks will reward you with all the Guardian Stones, Destruction Stones, and Harmony Shards you need to upgrade your gear to +15 (item level 600). Be sure to get your second Awakening skill after completing the Rohendel questline.

Lost Ark Tier 2 gear progression: reach item level 1100

Next goal: progress from Tier 1 to Tier 2. Unfortunately, you’re a bit limited in your choice of dungeon until you reach item level 800. Here’s what you can do to progress from item level 600 to 802:

Sail to Yorn and complete the Yorn questline.
Run the Yorn Chaos Dungeon (600+) until you’ve got the level 802 armour set (T2 rare armour).
As always, keep doing Una’s Tasks. Also make sure you’re not forgetting about improving your Engravings, Card Decks, and Rapport scores.

To progress from Tier 2 to Tier 3 (item level 802 to 1100), do the following activities:

Abyssal Dungeons: Ark of Arrogance (840+) to get T2 epic armour.
Guardian Raid Level 3 (802+) and Level 4 (960+)
Once you’ve hit an item level of 960, sail to Feiton and follow the main quest.
Then run the Feiton Chaos Dungeon (960+)
Keep doing this and upgrade your gear (+15) until you hit item level 1100.

Lost Ark Tier 3 gear progression: item level 1302+

Finally, you’ve reached Tier 3 in Lost Ark! That means it’s time to visit another continent: Punika. After completing the quests, continue doing the following to gear up from 1100 to 1370:

Chaos Dungeon: run Punika Level 1 (1100+) to get item level 1302 gear.
Guardian Raid Level 5 (1302+)
Abyssal Dungeons: Oreha’s Well (1325+)
Upgrade your epic Tier 3 gear set to +15 (item level 1370)

Upcoming Lost Ark endgame content

So, you’ve finally reached item level 1370+ on an epic T3 set. Perhaps you think you’ve completed all Lost Ark endgame content by now, but there’s actually a lot more. Most of it hasn’t been released in the western version of the game though, so you’ll have to be a bit patient. As of March 2022, it’s possible to partake in the first Abyss Raid: Argos. It’s strongly advised not to skip this, as it’ll get you your first T3 Legendary armour.

Good luck with your Lost Ark progression, and keep an eye out for more Abyss Raids and Legion Raids in the coming months!