Guardian Raids are a type of Endgame PVE Activity in Lost Ark which consist of challenging encounters against a single Guardian Boss creature. Each Raid has a unique Guardian to defeat, with varying abilities and mechanics, as well as various restrictions and rewards. Raids are further divided into Levels, with subsequent levels being more difficult than the last. Guardian Raids are available to players who have reached Level 50 and can be completed solo or in a group.
Lost Ark Guardian Raids Overview
Guardian Raids are high-level challenges designed to test a player's ability to overcome difficult mechanics. They comprise one of the most important parts of Endgame progression as they yield better and better rewards, most notably Accessories, Ability Stones and Upgrade Materials. However, each subsequent raid also has an increasing item level requirement in order to access so players will likely spend several days, if not weeks farming the same raid over and over to get their equipment up to speed for the next challenge.
Players can take on Guardian Raids alone or in a group of up to 4 players. Proper preparation is key to success in Guardian Raids as failing a Raid due to using the wrong strategy or bringing along the wrong Combat Items can become costly in terms of gold and resources. Each Guardian has unique mechanics and abilities, and they are some of the most fearsome opponents players will face in Lost Ark. Most Guardians are also tied to a certain element and can have a corresponding elemental weakness.
For in-depth guides on each Guardian, see the Guardian list below.
Accessing Guardian Raids
In order to unlock Guardian Raids, players must first reach character Level 50 and complete the prerequisite Tutorial Quests (Purple) in Vern.
Once unlocked, Raids can be accessed from the Raid Notice Board found in any major city.
Raid Levels
Raids are divided into Levels as an overall measure of difficulty, with each level containing 4 Guardian Raids. In the beginning, players will only have access to Raid Level 1. In order to unlock subsequent levels, players must first slay each Guardian of a current level at least once.
Daily Raid Limit
Players can slay and obtain loot from Guardians up to 2 times per day. In the Raid Notice Board UI, there are two circular slots displayed in the top left:
These are Guardian Soul Slots. When a Guardian is slain with at least one empty Soul slot, it will drop a Guardian Soul from which players can obtain a large amount of loot. Collecting a Soul will fill one of the soul slots with the slain Guardian's icon and once both are filled, subsequent Guardians slain will no longer drop Souls, effectively preventing you from getting more loot. This limit is reset once per day during the Server Reset. There is no limitation on which Guardians you can kill to fulfill this limit, so you can kill the same Guardian twice and receive two instances of loot on the same day if you wish. Choose your Guardians wisely based on the rewards you are looking for. Failing to clear a Raid will not consume your Daily Limit so you can retry as many times as you need.
Note that slaying a Guardian and not harvesting their Soul will still fill your Soul slots so don't forget to collect your loot before leaving the raid instance.
Rest Bonus
To the right of the Guardian Soul Slots, there is a progress bar made up of 5 segments and has a 100 point capacity:
This is the Rest Bonus Bar. Whenever the Server resets while you have unfilled Guardian Soul Slots, you are granted 10 Rest Bonus Points per unfilled slot. When you slay a Guardian while possessing 20 or more Rest Bonus points, you are given an extra Guardian Soul to collect, essentially allowing you to collect double the loot in a single run.
This system is in place so that players are not at a total loss in the event that they cannot complete Guardian Raids on a given day. You can accumulate a total of 100 points at any one time. However, note that you are still limited to 2 daily Guardian kills and the extra Souls from the Rest Bonus will only drop along with your standard daily Souls. This means you cannot hoard Rest Bonus points and use them all in a single day to gain extra loot and you are limited to a maximum of 2 standard Souls and 2 extra Souls per day.
Raid Restrictions
Guardian Raids also impose several restrictions on players, further increasing the challenge. Unless otherwise stated in a specific Raid, the restrictions listed here are the default values:
- Minimum Item Level Requirement - Each Guardian requires players to have a Minimum Item Level (iLvl) before they can be challenged. A player's Item Level is made up of the average Item Levels of their equipped Weapons and Armor, excluding Accessories and Ability Stones. This serves as the price of admission for these challenges and is also an overall indicator of the Guardian's difficulty.
- Raid Time Limit - Each Raid has a time limit of 20 Minutes. Failing to slay a Guardian within the time limit will result in a wipe and failed attempt. The timer begins as soon as you enter the Raid instance. Certain Guardians have escape mechanics designed to make players waste time, allowing them to move to a different area of the instance mid-battle and forcing players to look for and re-engage them. However, there are countermeasures you can take to prevent such events or lessen the time taken looking for the opponent.
- Respawn Limit - By default, each party is limited to 3 respawns per run. These respawns are shared between all party members. After all 3 respawns have been used and the entire party is defeated, the Raid ends in failure.
- Item Limitations - Players will be unable to use normal items within a Raid instance and are instead limited to using Battle Items. Furthermore, only one type of Battle Item per category can be equipped. Players can equip one type of item from the Bombs, Grenades, Potions and Utility categories. Lastly, each item has a limited amount of uses whilst inside the instance. Using higher rarity items allows more uses per run.
General Raid Tips
- To be added
All Guardian Raids in Lost Ark
Guardian Raid Level 1
Guardian Raid Level 2
Guardian Raid Level 3
Guardian Raid Level 4
Guardian Raid Level 5
