Lost Ark players have five classes to choose from when starting the game, and each class offers several subclasses. These classes determine a character’s abilities, fighting style, and weapons, ranging from heavy tank classes to nimble, dexterous fighters. While players don’t have the option to test the different classes, the game provides preview footage of each class to give gamers a feel for its playstyle, and the Martial Artist has one of the more interesting appeals.
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Lost Ark’s Martial Artists
The Martial Artist class in Lost Ark is one that specializes in speed and agility. The class is comparable to the monk in games like Dungeons & Dragons or World of Warcraft, emphasizing mobility over heavy hitting. The class encourages players to focus on dodging rather than absorbing damage with a higher armor level, and Martial Artists can achieve fast, powerful combos with their specialized move sets.
Along with the Gunner class, the Martial Artist is one of two classes in Lost Ark that has gender-specific subclasses. As players create a character, they are required to choose between a female or male Martial Artist, and this decision will determine the available specialties for players, eliminating the subclasses offered to the gender that was not chosen.
Male Martial Artists
Players who select the male Martial Artist class will find their Lost Ark subclass options are a bit more limited. The only specialization option for this class is the Striker subclass. Striker Martial Artists fight with two light gauntlets that allow them to harness and wield elemental magic. Strikers also focus heavily on speed, with lightning-fast punches and kicks allowing them to take on crowds of enemies. These fast, agile attacks lead to some stunning aerial combos and allow players to be fast on their feet. As players level up the Striker skills, they can select which elements to infuse into their attacks, including dark, fire, and lightning.
Female Martial Artists
The female Martial Artist offers more subclasses with three to choose from. The Wardancer subclass is very similar to the male Striker subclass, equipping characters with light gauntlets, elemental magic, and fast aerial combos. These two classes even share some identical combat moves like the Moon Flash Kick.
Unlike the male Martial Artist, the female class offers Scrapper and Soulfist options. The Scrapper subclass employs a single heavy gauntlet that allows players to deal the highest damage offered by the Martial Artist class. While its counterparts heavily emphasize mobility, the Scrapper subclass makes being well-balanced a higher priority, offering less speed but more defense and power. The Soulfist subclass combines both melee and ranged attacks. Launching powerful energy rays and dealing close-combat damage allows Soulfist players to create explosive combos and offers some versatility in the approach players can take.
Each subclass of Martial Artist uses a different form of magic energy in order to perform special attacks and combos. This element of gameplay varies a lot, so players should take it into consideration as much as combat style when selecting a subclass. Luckily, users can test out each subclass for as long as needed before making a decision, so Lost Ark players can choose a class with confidence.
Lost Ark is available now on PC.
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