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What are the Martial Arts Classes in Lost Ark?
There are now five unique Martial Artist classes in Lost Ark – Striker, Wardancer, Scrapper, Soulfist, and the recently added Glaivier.
Striker
The Striker is the only male Martial Artist class in Lost Ark and the counterpart to the Wardancer. The Striker is best known as one of the more agile classes in the game, thanks to a slew of mobility abilities that give him the ability to dart in and out of battle.
The Striker’s Identity Skill is his Esoteric Orbs, which fill up every time you deal damage to enemies with Normal skills. Esoteric Orbs give the Striker more powerful Skills that most players call Spenders (since they consume Esoteic Orb charges when used)
Playing the Striker well requires careful positioning and close management of his Esoteric Orbs. Filling up the Striker’s Esoteric Orbs as quickly as possible is essential to deal maximum damage with Spenders.
Wardancer
The Wardancer is the female counterpart to the Striker class in Lost Ark, and both classes share the same Identity Skill in Esoteric Orbs and a very similar Skillset. However, the similarities end there.
Unlike the Striker, the Wardancer class’ Skills consist of Back Attacks – special Skills that deal extra damage when attacking from behind. The Wardancer takes a bit more skill to use effectively due to the higher positioning requirements, but she also deals quite a bit more damage than the Striker, all things equal.
Scrapper
The Scrapper is a unique Martial Artist class that has not one but two Identity Gauges.
The Scrapper’s Identity Skills or Identity Gauges are called Stamina and Shock. To accommodate the Scrapper’s two Identity Skills, her Skillset also consists of two different types of Skills: Stamina Skills and Shock Skills. Using one of the Skill Types will consume energy from the Skill’s corresponding Identity Gauge and fill up the opposite and vice versa.
The Scrapper requires careful management of both Stamina Skills and Shock Skills, which means you’ll want to use predetermined combos to make efficient use of the Stamina Gauge and Shock Gauge.
Soufist
The Soulfist is a special Martial Artist class that can enter three different power states in Lost Ark through her Hype Gauge Identity Skill.
Hype Gauge’s first level gives the Soulfist damage, speed, and faster energy recharge buffs. At Level 2, the Soulfist gains more stat boosts and a slower drain rate. At Level 3, the Soulfist can unleash maximum power through a slew of powerful buffs at the cost of an even faster drain rate.
When playing the Soulfist, you must manage Hype Gauge as best you can, or you risk becoming a sitting duck with no access to any Skill when the Hype Gauge drops to 0 energy.
Glaivier
The Glavier is the newest member of the Martial Artist family in Lost Ark and features two Identity Gauges that give the class the ability to switch between an AoE-focused Stance and a Single-target Stance. Switching between these two Stances will consume all the energy from the Dual Meter while hitting enemies recovers the energy lost.
Flurry Stance and Focus Stance are the Glavier’s Identity Skills. The former is optimized for AoE combat, while the latter works best for single-target engagements. The Glavier can switch between these two Stances, much like how the Gunslinger can switch between three weapons.
Switching to Flurry Stance will give the Glavier increased attack speed, damage, and crit rage for a short time, while switching to Focus Stance temporarily provides bonus damage, crit damage, and movement speed.
The Glavier is by far the most flexible Martial Artist class. Her ability to switch between AoE and single-target combat makes her a great class for leveling up and playing PvE and PvP content.
Which Martial Artist has the highest DPS in Lost Ark?
The Martial Artist with the highest DPS potential in Lost Ark is the Wardancer. She is also currently the most popular Martial Artist in the highest tiers of the game, thanks to her high damage output and the movement and attack speed buffs she provides to her team.
With that said, the other Martial Artist classes in Lost Ark aren’t too shabby, either. The Soulfist has one of the highest single-move damage outputs in the game through her Awakening Skill, while the Striker deals comparable damage to the Wardancer. The Scrapper and the Glavier both feature two different playstyles that make them very balanced classes that can deal with various content with ease.
Best Martial Arts Class in Lost Ark
Like most classes in Lost Ark, the best Martial Artist class is the one you enjoy playing the most.
Players will have different playstyle preferences in Lost Ark. Some will prefer a fast-paced in-and-out approach to their gameplay and will prefer the Striker over the more powerful Wardancer, while others will love the flexibility that the Glavier provides through her Flurry Stance and Focus Stance.
With that said, the Martial Artist class with the best damage potential is the Wardancer – a class many players consider to be the best Martial Artist in Lost Ark.
Are Martial Artist Classes Good in Lost Ark?
All Martial Artist classes in Lost Ark are great in their own right. Martial Artist classes feature visually-appealing flashy melee gameplay and often require you to string together satisfying combos to maximize Skill effectiveness.
Generally, Martial Artist classes are more challenging to play than, say, the Paladin class or the Berserker, but Martial Artists also have some of the highest DPS potentials of any class in the game.
Conclusion
The best Martial Artist class will come down to personal preference, as all five Martial Artist subclasses are equally great in their own right.
If you love playing characters that string together multiple Skills to deal maximum damage, then any of the Martial Artist classes in the game will deliver the type of gameplay you’re looking for.