The Ark of Arrogance is the first Tier 2 batch of Abyssal Dungeons players will be encountering in Lost Ark, though it might not feel that way since this Abyssal is arguably easier than the Tier 1 Phantom Palace was. In any case, this is the Abyssal Dungeon that is a modified version of the Yorn Main Story Quest Dungeons, as the majority of the Abyssal Dungeons in this game is essentially just Main Story Quest Dungeons ramped up to 11.
In this first Dungeon, the Road of Lament, Lost Ark players Item Level 840 and up will be facing off against the Demon Najjar as well as Kyzra and her deceptively annoying Wipe mechanic (which only becomes more common as the Raids continue). So, without any further distractions, let's get into it.
Short & Sweet Refresher Guide
The majority of players that have made it to Tier 2 in Lost Ark are likely only looking up this guide in order to get a quick refresher course on the most important of mechanics. Thankfully, this first section fills that exact purpose, as well as it'll help out players who know they don't have the patience to read a long guide or watch a 10+ minute video.
- Road of Lament has the standard four sections, a mob-clearing section, Najjar, a secondary mob-clearing section, and then Kyzra.
- The first boss, Najjar, is incredibly simple in its Spinning Lasers mechanic. If it starts and the safe zone is in the middle, it's the Inner-Variant pattern, if it starts and the only danger zone is a small circle around Najjar, it's the Outer-Variant pattern. Don't worry about DPS during this phase and just focus on survival. If it's the Outer-Variant pattern, remember to hang around the corner of the arena until the Magnetic Field around each player locks to the ground, and then start running around the beams.
- Before going into the Kyzra fight, set cardinal directions ahead of time. The most standard strategy is just using the default Party Order to assign directions, AKA, 1234 = North, South, East, and West.
- When Kyzra jumps to the middle of the arena, it's time to get in the assigned direction. Grab three Gold Orbs and avoid all the Red Orbs, and then use the Gold Aura given to destroy the Big Red Orbs Kyzra summons.
- Remember, if two or more Orbs make it to Kyzra, it's a team wipe. Additionally, for every Red Orb picked up, that player has to pick up one extra Gold Orb, so keep that in mind.
- The most worthwhile Consumables to bring are Protective Potions for Najjar's lasers, Time Stop Potions (also for the lasers), or possibly even Swift Robes as well.
First Section: Defeat The Demons On The Road Of Lament
The starting mob-clearing section of Road of Lament is in no way comparable to the bombastic flair of either the Hall of the Twisted Warlord or Hildebrandt's Palace, and it's a bit of a drag.
There's a lot to kill, a good amount of terrain to jump/climb, and it's broken up into two parts by a portal for some reason. But, while one of the longer mob-clearing Abyssal Dungeon sections, it's basic so at least there's that.
Second Section: Bewitched Najjar
The first Boss of the Road of Lament is a unique one, as it's a Demon who's been enchanted by Kyzra's sword according to the "lore". In any case, Najjar is a tad annoying to fight, with a fair amount of knock-up attacks and movement abilities. That said, he's not very tanky and there's no punishment for chasing him, so it's easy to burst him down to his Spinning Laser mechanic in under a minute.
Important Mechanic: Spinning Lasers
At around 8 and 4 HP Bars remaining, Najjar runs to the center and starts his Spinning Lasers mechanic. While this isn't considered a "Wipe" mechanic, it can easily Wipe a team who don't react to it properly and is too focused on Combat and DPS. At this point, Najjar will either drop a small red telegraph circle around him or create an arena-wide telegraph with the only safe zone being in a small circle around him. If it's the first option, it's the Outer-Variant of this mechanic, if it's the second option, it's in the Inner-Variant.
|
Name |
Description |
Strategy |
|
Inner-Variant Spinning Lasers |
Najjar turns the entire arena into a blood fog, with the only safe zone being a small circle around him. He then sticks out his hands and starts blasting beams of blood out of them before slowing spinning either clockwise or counterclockwise. During this spin, Najjar can sometimes stop mid-rotation and then start spinning in the opposite direction |
Stick as close to Najjar's body as possible and follow the further-along hand in the rotation as he spins. Careful with each click in case he suddenly stops and changes directions. Also, make sure to have friendly particle effects turned off, as any lingering particles during this phase make it very difficult to dodge the lasers. |
|
Outer-Variant Spinning Lasers |
Najjar turns a small circle around him into a blood fog, making it impossible to get close to him. Then, he'll mark each player with a crosshair above their head before dropping a Magnetic Field on top of them not long after. Then, like the Inner-Variant, Najjar starts to spin while firing blood lasers out of both outstretched hands. |
Immediately run to separate corners of the arena until the crosshairs appear over everyone's heads. Wait until the Magnetic Fields drop so that they'll be out of the way in the corner, then quickly run back as close to Najjars Blood Fog as possible before following his lasers. The Outer-Variant Lasers are a bit faster and harder to outrun, so worst-case scenario pop a Time Stop or Protective Potion if it's about to hit. |
Regular Attacks
Outside of the Spinning Lasers, Najjar's attacks are more irritating than they are dangerous, but it's still nice to know them ahead of time:
|
Name |
Description |
|
Blood Fog |
Najjar summons little clouds of Blood Fog at random spots in the arena. These bits of Fog last a decent amount of time and deal constant amounts of low damage to anyone standing inside. |
|
Magnetic Fields |
The Boss summons five Magnetic Fields around him in a star-like formation that, just like the ones in the Spinning Lasers phase, stun and push back any players who make contact with them. |
|
Orbs of Blood |
Najjar summons a number of floating Blood Orbs nearby that all aim towards one player at random with a red telegraph that slowly fills before it sends out a wave of Blood that knocks up anyone hit. |
|
Spinning Blade |
The Boss jumps up into the air, sends a blade rift forward with his sword before slamming it back down as two additional blade rifts fly forward in a straight line shortly after. |
|
Spin Dash |
Najjar picks a player and dashes towards them while spinning in a circle. In his wake, he leaves several Blood Orbs in a straight line that sends out Blood Waves in opposite directions after a short delay. |
|
Shotgun Spread Blood Wave |
The Boss drops a large conical red telegraph that slowly fills. Once filled, Najjar sends out four waves of Blood Energy in a Shotgun Spread-like pattern that covers the entire cone telegraph. |
|
Orb That Spawns More Orbs |
Najjar Summons a large Blood Orb that slowly flies in a random direction while also spawning smaller Blood Orbs that also fly in random directions. |
Third Section: Defeating Demons In The Forge
Just like the first section, this is another mob-clearing phase of the Abyssal Dungeon. Thankfully, it's a bit shorter than the first phase, but still pretty tedious as many of the enemies have a "waking up" animation that makes it impossible to clear them all out in one big move.
Still, continue breaking these Demon...statues and move onto the gate that takes the party into the Kyzra encounter.
Fourth & Last Section: Kyzra
Up next is the last encounter for the Road of Lament, the Demon Commander Kyzra (better known as Kaylara in the other versions of the game). Kyrzra, like Najjar, is a relatively mobile Boss, with some annoying stuns and status effects. Honestly, it's Bosses like these two that are making some players apprehensive about the upcoming Destroyer class since it has to full-commit to every sweet. In any case, Kyzra also has a Teleport and Self-Buffing mechanic that can make the fight more annoying as well as a Stagger Check, but neither of them isn't quite as important to know about as her Wipe mechanic, Orb Absorption.
Important Mechanic: Orb Absorption
This is Kyzra's main mechanic, and the only one returning players need to remember before queuing up for the Ark of Arrogance. In general, players should get used to collecting Orbs, as it seems to be a core mechanic of all endgame content, including Argos. It doesn't seem to occur at specific HP requirements, but will always happen at least once during the fight, usually once she's less than half health. When it starts, Kyzra hops to the middle of the arena and creates a red shockwave around her that constantly deal insane amounts of damage to anyone that gets too close. Then, Kyzra starts spawning a bullet hell of red and gold orbs in all directions. To continue to the next part of this phase with any hope of clearing it, the party should try and collect three of the Gold Orbs while avoiding the Red Orbs. After doing this, they should gain a golden circular aura around them.
After about thirty seconds, Kyzra starts to summon these Big Red Orbs all around the arena that slowly start moving towards her red shockwave. The goal here is to destroy all the Big Red Orbs using the Golden Aura before they reach Kyzra herself. Keeping the Big Red Orbs within this Golden Aura deals a big chunk of damage to them every half second, usually breaking any orbs within two triggers of this damage. If even two Big Red Orbs make it to Kyzra, she slams her sword down and wipes the entire party. If players do this mechanic correctly, Kyzra is staggered and falls onto the ground.
The key here is communication, and here's what most parties tend to do:
- Before entering the Kyzra arena, players should assign each of them either North, East, South, or West. Most parties follow the randomly assigned Party Order AKA 1234 = NESW or some small variation of this.
- Once the Orb Absorption begins, players move to their assigned part of the arena.
- Each player collects three Gold Orbs exclusively in their section of the arena and then works on clearing their section of all Big Red Orbs.
- Any player that doesn't manage to get the Aura in time then spams a few pings, and the two players on either side of them will try and cover their section as well.
And it's as easy as that! But, while this sounds simple because the threshold is so low for Orbs that make it to Kyzra, it can be harder than it looks. So, keep these factors in mind:
- For every Red Orb touched, that player must collect one more Gold Orb (for example, a player who touched 1 Gold then 1 Red needs 3 more Gold for the Aura).
- If players enter each other's Golden Aura, they're knocked back and staggered, so don't overlap.
- The Gold Orbs move slower than the Red ones, so it's easier to wait when collecting the Gold Ones rather than rushing.
Important Mechanic: Standard Stagger Check
Kyzra also has a Stagger Check that comes up from time to time. It doesn't always get used and doesn't lead to a team Wipe, but if it's failed Kyzra sends out an arena-wide Shockwave that does high damage and knock-up. While her Stagger Bar is active, Kyzra will be sending out a variety of cone-shaped Shockwaves in random directions with her Sword, but they're pretty easy to avoid.
Important Mechanic: Teleport Stab & Self-Buff
From the start of the fight, Kyzra has a chance to teleport directly after any of her moves. When she does so she summons a variety of circular red telegraphs that summon lightning when filled. One of these circles is slightly larger than the other, and this one actually has Kyzra herself come down and stab a player she lands on. If successful, Kyzra gets a shield around her that deals constant damage to anyone inside. And, from that point on, she gets a general damage buff as well.
Regular Attacks
Shockingly, outside of her main mechanics, Kyzra really doesn't have many other attacks. For how quick and jumpy this boss is, one would assume she has a lot of attacks, but it doesn't seem to be the case:
|
Attack Name |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Sword Laster |
Kyzra points her blade at a random ally before a line comes out of it, directly after, she fires a laser along the same path. Deals decent damage and knock-up on-hit. |
|
Spin & Slam Attack |
The Boss does a quick spin attack that pushes back all allies hit and then does an immediate slam attack with her sword that summons spikes in a circle right at the edge of where her spin attack was. If a player is hit and pushed by the spin attack, they're pushed into the perfect spot for the spike part of this attack. This is also the attack where Kyzra can glow blue and be Countered mid-jump for the slam. |
|
Fireball Summon |
Kyzra swings her sword horizontally and summons five fireballs where her sword arc just was. These fireballs then move slowly towards Kyzra, dealing moderate damage and stagger on-hit. Careful, if a player is too close to Kyzra during this attack, multiple fireballs can pass through them at once, dealing a sizeable chunk of damage. |
|
Boomerang Throw |
The Boss throws her blade forward, putting a spin on it. The sword then spins in a semi-circle arc in front of her before returning like a boomerang. A basic attack that deals moderate damage and stagger as well. |
Recommended Consumables & Engravings
If players are having trouble with Road of Lament, this is one of the first Abyssal Dungeons where there are a decent amount of Consumables to make up for what they're lacking. For example:
- HP Potions are a given (or so one would think)
- Time Stop Potions, Swift Robes & Protective Potions are fantastic for Najjar's Beams for slow Classes that can't outrun them consistently.
- Swift Robes are also helpful for Kyzra's Orb Absorption, as the extra movement speed can make it easier to collect Gold Orbs and destroy Big Red Orbs.
- And of course, players can use engravings like Grudge (please don't spend money to get this Engraving maxed) to deal enough damage to skip some of these mechanics or Spirit Absorption to increase their Cooldowns and Movement Speed. A well-Faceted Ability Stone makes a world of difference in these situations.
Lost Ark is currently available on PC.