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Support Classes
There are just two Support Classes in Lost Ark – The Bard and Paladin. Each one belongs to a completely different class, therefore their playstyles can also differ quite a bit from one another.
Bard
The Bard is a hybrid Mage class that possesses decent DPS and crowd-control abilities. The Bard is one of only two classes that can provide healing and shields to her allies in-game.
The Bard’s Identity skill, Serenade, gives you a choice between providing damage buffs (Serenade of Courage) or healing (Serenade of Salvation) to allies. This gives Bard the flexibility to choose between providing extra DPS or healing depending on her team’s needs.
Despite Bard’s high damage potential and decent healing ability, it is a class that requires careful positioning as it does not have a ton of HP to work with. If you can find the perfect distance between you and your enemies in battle, you can deal decent damage and provide reliable heals/shields to your allies.
Paladin
The Paladin belongs to the Warrior class; a hybrid melee fighter class that can go toe to toe with enemies and support allies at the same time.
The Paladin class possesses a good amount of HP, making them a great tank class that can hold the front lines while their allies provide fire support from behind. Not that the Paladin class requires much support from allies, as the Paladin can hold its own with its slew of defensive abilities; one of which can also heal himself and his allies.
What is the best support class in Lost Ark?
The best support class in Lost Ark depends on your preferred playstyle. The good news is that both the Bard and Paladin provide contrasting gameplay styles, which should give players an easier time deciding which of the two they prefer to play.
While the Bard is technically a ranged class, her abilities force her to play at near melee range most of the time to maximize her abilities. The Bard is more ‘selective’ in her supporting methods due to her abilities’ smaller AoE, which forces the Bard to pick and choose allies that require healing/support when necessary.
On the other hand, the Paladin is more of a ‘general’ support character that provides healing and shields alongside DPS buffs that affect his entire party. The Paladin is able to provide consistent buffs to as many allies as possible.
Regardless of your preference, the Bard and Paladin are the only classes that possess healing abilities in Lost Ark, making them an essential part of any party in PvE or PvP.
Your choice will come down to how you like to support allies: pick the Bard if you’re looking to provide specific buffs to specific teammates. Otherwise, pick the Paladin if you want to provide support to all your allies simultaneously.
Is support better than DPS in Lost Ark?
Support is not necessarily better than DPS in Lost Ark. You need both in your party to be successful in PvE or PvP.
A good balance of DPS and support is best if you can get other players to fill in the required roles. For example, a team consisting of a Berserker, a Bard, and a Gunslinger will have a good mix of melee burst damage, reliable ranged damage, and support/healing.
With that said, you can play both roles in Lost Ark by playing the Bard or Paladin, as these two classes can dish out decent DPS while supporting allies.
Is Bard a support class in Lost Ark?
Yes, the Bard is a support class in Lost Ark that can provide healing/shields or damage buffs to her allies through her Identity Skill.
The Bard is one of only two support classes in Lost Ark, the other being the Paladin. While there are subtle gameplay differences between these two classes, both are the only ones that possess healing and shields to allies.
The Bard is the better class if you like to support specific players within your party. The Bard also gives you the option to provide powerful damage buffs to allies if they’re not in desperate need of healing.
Conclusion
Lost Ark tries to stray away from typical MMORPG class norms that consist of tanks, damage dealers, melee fighters, and pure support characters. The devs want all classes in the game to play an active and intentional role, which is why pure support classes that sit back and wait for cooldowns to heal allies aren’t present in the game.
The Bard and Paladin are two of the only classes in Lost Ark that can offer any sort of healing or support to their team in the game. However, this is not to say that the Bard and Paladin aren’t capable damage dealers in their own right, as these two classes can hold their own in the DPS front when needed.