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Best Lost Ark Wardancer build: class overview
Lost Ark’s classes revolve around their Identity Gauges and Skills. Wardancer shares the Esoteric Orbs gauge with the Striker. These Orbs charge up as the Wardancer deals damage with normal skills. Then, she can expend them to cast powerful Esoteric Skills, which many players refer to as “spenders.” This is the core of both the Wardancer and Striker’s gameplay. Build up your Esoteric Obs, then spend them for massive bursts of damage. However, the two classes start to differentiate with attack types. Many skills in Lost Ark have either the Front Attack or Back Attack attribute, increasing their damage when hitting enemies in those respective sweet spots. Striker’s skills have no attack type, but the bulk of Wardancer’s skills are Back Attacks. That means Wardancer requires more precise positioning to make the most of her kit but has the potential for bigger damage.
Best Lost Ark Wardancer build: leveling and skills for PvE and PvP
Wardancer relies on mobility and powerful combos to clear monster packs. She may not have the massive AoEs of an Artillerist, but she’s more than capable of grouping mobs up and mowing them down. Esoteric Skills also help, and you can quickly build your gauge back up in most cases. Against bosses, Wardancer will want to take advantage of Back Attacks, both for safety and for damage, unleashing spender skills for massive bursts. You will earn skill points each time you level up, and gain more roster-wide points from Skill Potions earned in various endgame activities. Each skill has ten levels, and each level requires progressively more skill points. At levels 4, 7, and 10, skills gain Tripods. These powerful augments adjust a skill’s stats, and sometimes drastically change its functionality. Early on, you’ll want to invest in a few skills just enough for that first Tripod breakpoint, and max out the rest to prepare for endgame. This build uses just over 250 skill points and will help you transition into endgame content at level 50.
Best Wardancer PvE skills
Best Wardancer PvP skills
PvP normalizes stats and skill points across customizable presets, so you will have more points to work with even early in your adventure. In PvP, Wardancer wants to zip behind foes, combo them into the air, then finish them off with powerful spenders. This is a tricky class to play in PvP, but extremely rewarding once you’ve mastered it.
Best Lost Ark Wardancer build: Engravings
Engravings are a key component of endgame customization in Lost Ark. There are many generic engravings that all classes can use which provide major boosts to your character, though often with considerable downsides. There are also two class Engravings for each class, which create distinct playstyles for endgame content. Wardancer’s class Engravings are:
Esoteric Skill Enhancement increases your maximum Esoteric Orbs to four and increases the damage of all Esoteric Skills based on the number of Orbs you have available. First Intention disables your Esoteric Orb gauge but significantly increases all outgoing damage.
This creates two wildly different ways to play Wardancer in Lost Ark’s endgame. Esoteric Skill Enhancement users will of course focus on those Esoteric Skills, building their meter to the max and then unleashing a huge burst of damage. Meanwhile, First Intention users will forgo Esoteric Skills entirely to maximize their rotation of normal skills, keeping up more consistent damage. Both options are perfectly viable for all endgame content, though you may find First Intention doesn’t feel great without a lot of Swiftness on your gear. Your generic Engraving choices are pretty flexible, but there are some standouts that synergize well with the class. Our recommendations:
Master of Ambush increases Back Attack damage, which you should be taking advantage of anyways. Raid Captain increases damage based on your movement speed, synergizing well with your Wind’s Whisper skill. Grudge increases all outgoing and incoming damage. This is very powerful when you can max it out, but the incoming damage increase is flat across all levels of Grudge. This is a late endgame option that shouldn’t be taken until you have access to Grudge level 3.
Best Lost Ark Wardancer build: Combat Stats and accessories
In addition to Engravings, accessory items in Lost Ark (necklaces, earrings, and rings) are your source for Combat Stats. These substats can have a major effect on your character, and it is important to target gear with the right stats for your build. While leveling, equip the accessories with the highest Specialization and Swiftness. Specialization helps you charge Esoteric Orbs faster, while Swiftness increases attack speed and lowers cooldowns. The two stats combine to help you clear the main story as fast as possible. Once you start using class Engravings, you will want to base your combat stats on the Engraving you’re using. For Esoteric Skill Enhancement, you are still looking for Specialization and Swiftness to get the most out of your Esoteric Skills. First Intention users have no Esoteric Orbs to charge, so they should replace Specialization with Crit to pump up the crit rate and damage of their normal skills.
Best Lost Ark Wardancer build: Awakening skills
Awakening skills are another endgame unlock, accessed by completing the Trixion questline. Each class has two Awakening skills, which are extremely powerful, high cooldown abilities. Think of them as an ultimate from similar games. Wardancer’s Awakening skills are:
Fist of Dominance causes the Wardancer to fly around, striking enemies six times before a final explosive strike. All incoming damage is reduced by 80% for the duration of the attack. Flash Rage Blow causes the Wardancer to dash forward then charge up to release a huge shockwave
Fist of Dominance dominates the meta right now. The damage reduction makes it much safer, and it is much harder to whiff. Flash Rage Blow is fine, but standing still to charge without any damage reduction is obviously a dangerous prospect against tougher bosses. That’s all it takes to get started with Wardancer in Lost Ark’s massive endgame. Just about every class is strong in the right situation, but if you want something on-meta for your alts check out our tier list. Of course, if you’re getting more characters going you’ll probably want to boost them up, so visit our guide to Knowledge Transfers to get the know-how you need.
