Engravings are among the many features of Lost Ark that affect your character's combat prowess. As with many other elements of the MMO, the game doesn't adequately explain the engravings to you. So that you still know exactly how the system works, Guided author Sara summarizes the most important information in this engraving guide.
Whoever plays Lost Ark for the first time quickly realizes that the MMO is jam-packed with gameplay systems and features. We'll unlock all of them bit by bit over the course of the story and during the level phase. Some of them are self-explanatory, others seem quite complicated at first glance. Especially with the engravings, you quickly ask yourself how these item improvements work at all. That's why we're going to explain this system to you from the very beginning.
Although the engravings first appear in the mid-game during the level phase, they mainly play a role in the endgame from level 50 onwards. Engravings are item upgrades that make your character stronger with various buffs.
There are two types of engravings in Lost Ark, the so-called combat engravings and the class engravings. You can use combat engraves with any class, but class engraves only work with their specific character class. There are a total of 43 battle engravings in the game and two class engravings per class.
Engravings can be upgraded and have three levels. To unlock a level, you must first have collected five so-called engraving points. We'll explain how to get them below. Important to know: The engraving bonus only works if you have unlocked the respective engraving level. Four or fewer points invested in a level have no effect.
Here we have unlocked too few engraving points, so the bonus does not apply yet.
What are bonus and penalty points? Engravings can have both bonus and penalty points. For example, if you equip a ring with an engraving (more on that later), it may be that this ring grants you certain bonuses, but at the same time brings with it a penalty in the form of a debuff. So you always have to think carefully about whether the bonus is worth the penalty.
What is the engraving user interface? As with almost every game system, the engravings in Lost Ark also have their own interface. You can open the corresponding window via the character tab and see which engravings you have already unlocked.
Engravings your character has learned through books and recipes (more on that later) are account-wide. So you can use them with all characters on your account - this also applies to unlocked tiers. You can also see an overview of all available or unlocked engravings on your account in the Engravings tab in the game's main menu (Escape key).
When will the engravings be available? As already mentioned, you already unlock the engravings themselves during the level phase. This happens specifically in Luterra, between levels 26 and 29. You can accept a corresponding purple quest in Luterra Castle, which should bring you closer to the first steps with the engraving system. After completing the quest, things really get going.
A squad quest tells you what the engravings are all about.
How do I get engraving points? Lost Ark offers you three ways to learn engravings or to collect engraving points:
Each of these item groups provides you with a certain number of engraving points differently.
How do the gear accessories work? Accessories include necklaces, earrings, rings and gloves. These items have a certain amount of random engraving bonuses and penalties depending on their rarity:
In concrete terms, this means that if you put on an epic ring, for example, you will be credited with up to two engraving points for a specific engraving. However, you may have to accept that you also receive a point for the engraving penalty. Depending on how many bonus and penalty points you have already collected for the engraving, it is possible that an engraving bonus or penalty becomes active.
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What do I do with Skill Stones? Skill Stones are a piece of equipment in Lost Ark. Your character has a slot for such a stone. You get Skill Stones first as part of the Engraving introductory quest line, and later through Dungeons, Raids, and Ghost Ship events.
To use an ability stone, you must first identify it. This works with an NPC that you meet as part of the quest line. Each stone has two random bonuses and one random penalty. Grind the stone at the stonemason so that the stone also randomly receives a number of engraving points for the bonuses and penalties. The higher the rarity of the stone, the more engraving points you can cut.
You have to grind Skill Stones for them to release their bonuses.
If you get an ability stone that you can't use, you have the option to disassemble that stone. This gives you different types of powder (according to the rarity of the broken stone), which you can exchange for new stones.
How do I use recipes and books? The recipes and books that you can farm through various activities in the game world also grant Engraving Points. Here, however, the system works a little differently than with the accessories. Each engraving recipe has its own animal list. If you collect 20 recipes of a specific engraving, you unlock an animal.
This animal in turn grants you three engraving points for the respective engraving. So you need to collect 40 recipes to unlock the first engraving level. That sounds like a lot, but luckily this system is account-wide, so you only have to farm the recipes once for all your characters. However, there's a catch: once you've unlocked a tier, only recipes of the next higher rarity will progress to the next tier.
There are several ways to farm new engraving recipes and books in the world of Arkesia:
If you're not sure which Engraving to farm and upgrade first, use the following rules of thumb:
You can disassemble unused Skill Stones to exchange the result for new ones.
How do I equip Engravings? In order for Engravings to become active on your character, you must first equip them. Only two engravings can be active at the same time. If you want to activate an engraving, open your character's equipment screen and click on one of the two engraving slots on the bottom left next to your avatar. A new window will now open with an overview of the available engravings. Now simply select the engraving of your choice with a click and drop.
As with skills and normal equipment, there are engravings that are particularly well suited to your class. So the engravings play an important role for the optimal class build. We explain in detail which engravings are best suited for which class in our separate class guides for Lost Ark.
We hope that our guide to engravings in Lost Ark can give you the clarity you need about this complex feature. Would you like to join our community and discuss Lost Ark? Then join our new Discord server or visit us on Facebook, we look forward to seeing you!
