[GameSpot] - Lost Ark's Paint-Wielding Artist Class Arrives Next Week, With A Few Localization Changes

[343iBot]

Lost Ark's new Artist class arrives on March 15 as part of the game's Art of War update, and it looks to be unlike any other class Western players of the free-to-play Korean MMORPG have seen before.

Unlike previous classes added to Lost Ark that fell within general class archetypes like Warrior, Mage, Gunner, Martial Artists, and Assassin, the Artist is in a new category all its own--Specialist. As such, the Artist is fairly unique amidst the rest of the game's class roster, wielding a giant paintbrush and bringing summons to life with the flick of their brush. Those summons can both help allies or damage enemies, making the Artist a support-focused class that can still dish out some serious damage.

It all starts with the stroke of a brush...
Witness Arkesia's greatest masterpiece -- The Artist Class! Using her giant paintbrush, she summons beasts and paints Arkesia black with destruction! pic.twitter.com/HKfTYsW1YD

— Lost Ark (@playlostark) March 7, 2023

Artist's two Awakening Skills reflect that philosophy. The first, Masterwork: Spectacle, catches enemies in a giant scroll, damaging foes caught in the attack and reducing their critical resistance and movement speed, perfect for letting teammates follow up with even more damage. Their second Awakening skill, Masterwork: Efflorescence, summons a whirlwind of flower petals that inflict damage to enemies, and then grants a shield to every nearby ally.

The Artist's unique class identity ability, Harmony Orbs, further highlights the class's support role. These orbs can be used to cast two powerful skills, Moonfall or Sunrise, that can temporarily increase outgoing party damage or heal allies. The Artist's unique class engravings further boost their Harmony Orb abilities, with players able to choose between increasing the healing effect of Sunrise or receiving a temporary crit and crit damage boost by using either one of the Harmony Orb abilities.

As Lost Ark's Western publisher Amazon Games has previously announced but reiterates in a new blog post, the Artist has seen a few visual changes from the Korean version for its Western debut. Amazon said the goal was to "preserve the authenticity of the original game," but to also ensure the Artist's appearance is "representative of our Western players" and better fits within Western norms. That means some of the skins for the Artist, which is a female-only class, have been modified to include shorts underneath skirts, longer pants, or tights.

"We will be working to preserve the original spirit of the skins when applying these changes to ensure players will have a variety of compelling customization options for this uniquely versatile class," Amazon said.

The arrival of the Artist will bring with it new Punika Powerpass, Hyper Express Plus, and Story Express progression events to help players get their new Artist characters up to speed or for returning players to get in on the action. New and returning players will earn 15 days of log-in rewards that include recipe chest, upgrade materials, Pheons, and a rare card pack.

Lost Ark's Art of War update will, in addition to the Artist, introduce a 48v48 PvP mode alongside various quality-of-life updates, balance changes, and the game's third battle pass.

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