Exclusive Northern Lawmaker Skin

Bronze Founder's Pack

The Bronze Founder's Pack is available for $14.99, the price may vary depending on your region, and offers these benefits:

• Head Start - You get three days' head start at the launch of the game.
• Founder's Exclusive Pet - You get an exclusive pet to help you collect loot.
• 30 Day Crystalline Aura - This is a big one. Basically, you get a lot of boosts. We'll cover this more in-depth below.
• Founder's Title - An exclusive in-game title for people who purchased the Founder's Pack.

Okay, so the Bronze Pack is ideal for anyone who wants guaranteed early access to the game.

The three-day head start is also great if you want to get into the game a.s.a.p, but makes little difference unless you a) want to reserve your name, b) are a hardcore fan who wants to rush to 50 quickly.

The title and pet are fun, but you get a free pet anyway, and there are lots of free titles in the game, too.

RELATED: Lost Ark: Beginner Guide

Crystalline Aura Explained

Now, Crystalline Aura. This is the biggest deal out of the bunch. Crystalline Aura offers these benefits:

• You get some free Triport trips every day (this is the game's fast travel mechanic) rather than spending silver.
• Liner ship tickets cost 50 percent less. Saves you money as you try to explore the world.
• You get one extra opportunity to increase your affinity, or rapport, with an NPC per day. Can be useful for completing quests quickly and getting rewards.
• Life energy recovers more quickly - i.e, you can spend more time logging, fishing, etc.
• You get two extra Bifrost slots - this is awesome. You can set two more return spots around the world to help you get around more easily.
• Song of Return cooldown reduced by 50 percent. Great, really.
• Stronghold Research time, Craft time, Stronghold action energy recovery speed are all buffed. You also get an "Ultimate Stress Buster" in your Stronghold, too.
• Crystal Benefactor Title. Another free title.

Crystalline Aura is essentially what you're paying the money for out of the options, and it does make the Bronze Founder's Pack worth it if you're going to be putting a lot of time into the game during the first month of release. Crystalline Aura is the premium membership for Lost Ark and can be purchased again at a later date.

Silver Founder's Pack

The Silver Founder's Pack is available for $24.99 and offers all of the above benefits, as well as these extra benefits:

• 1,000 Royal Crystals
• Silver Supply Crate

1,000 Royal Crystals is not a lot of in-game currency. It's such an insignificant amount that you shouldn't even really pay attention to it here.

The Silver Supply Crate is a bit of a bigger deal. It rewards you with:

• Feathers of Resurrection - These are used to revive your character when you die in the world.
• 10,000 Silver - The basic currency in the game used to purchase gear.
• Equipment Crate - A handy item with useful things like robes of Swiftness and Flame Grenades.
• Tool Chest - Free tools, i.e you won't have to buy them in-game. They aren't overly expensive, so this isn't too important.
• Ascent Chests at levels 20, 30, 40, and 50 - These give you Silver and Potions when you hit a certain level. Potions become more important in the endgame so you want to hold onto these rather than glugging them at every opportunity.

Gold Founder's Pack

The Gold Founder's Pack is available for $49.99. You also get these extra benefits:

• 4,000 Royal Crystals
• Gold Supply Crate
• Founder's Exclusive Avatar
• Character Expansion Slot

First up, the Crystals. You get 4x the number of Royal Crystals while technically saving on the price of these between Silver and Gold packs. Not too bad.

The Silver Supply Crate and Gold Supply Crate are exactly the same. They have different names, but the rewards are the same. So no difference here.

The Founder's Exclusive Avatar is an interesting one. If you follow the Korean and Russian versions of the game, you'll know that these Avatars, or skins, can make you loads of gold later on. If this Avatar remains a Founder exclusive and not available later it will be a rare item. Worth keeping in mind.

Finally, the Character Expansion Slot simply adds another character slot. It's useful, but you can always buy this later if you want it. Characters are important in Lost Ark, remember.

Platinum Founder's Pack

The Platinum Founder's Pack is available for $99.99. You get these extra benefits:

• 7,000 Royal Crystals
• Platinum Supply Crate
• Exclusive Platinum Avatar
• Founder's Exclusive Mount
• Platinum Welcome Crate

The Platinum Supply Crate is much better than Silver and Gold. Extra feathers, much better ascent chests, and generally lots more rewards. You would expect that for $100 though.

The Platinum Avatar is exclusive to this rank, and like the previous Founder's Avatar, could make your account lots of gold later on.

You get a free three-headed mount. Nothing much to say about this. Sounds cool.

The Welcome Crate gives you a bunch of stuff: a free wallpaper for your character selection screen (not important, unless you're into that kind of thing), an exclusive structure for your island (doesn't tell you what it is/what it does), a legendary rapport box (extra special gifts for NPCs), and a card pack to help you get started with your decks.

Which Pack Should You Buy?

With a better understanding of which pack offers, which Founder's Pack should you get?

If you're brand new to the game, just pick up the Bronze Founder's Pack for now if you want early access on February 8. Every other benefit in the packs is only available at the game launch.

If you enjoy the game, upgrade to a Gold Founder's Pack. This provides you with a substantial boost over both the Bronze and Silver Packs and still comes out at the cost of a full-price game. The Silver Pack just doesn't really look worth it.

The Platinum Founder's Pack is for super-fans, although those who want to pay $100 for the pack aren't likely reading this guide.

NEXT: Lost Ark: What Class Should You Play?