Lost Ark's endgame is impressive and overwhelming. At level 50 you're thrust into the world with little direction. You've just got your ship, a massive map, and a vague idea that you need to level up your gear.

This guide is designed to steer you through the early parts of the endgame, including island questing, gear honing, Chaos Dungeons, Abyss Dungeons, Guardian Raids, and more. The first part of the endgame experience is called Tier 1, then it moves into Tier 2, and finally Tier 3.

Updated December 21, 2023, by Sean Murray: Wondering which islands to hop through in Lost Ark's Tier 1? This guide has you covered. We've updated this guide with improved formatting and more breakout tips to help make your journey that much easier.

How To Get Started In Tier 1 Content

Tier 1 begins at item level 250, essentially your starting gear as you finish your quests in North Vern for your Awakening and Power Pass. Here's a step-by-step guide of what you want to do first.

1. You Can Head North Through The Glaciers To Shushire

The world quest here is around 2 hours long but provides you with a starting set of level 302 gear.

2. Complete Your First Chaos Dungeon

If you'd rather just start grinding, you can complete your first Guardian Raids, Chaos Dungeons, and Abyss Dungeons. You will receive the same level of 302 gear from your first Chaos Dungeons (nice), but you miss out on the extra mats, gold, and other materials from the Shushire quest.

Abyss Dungeons are available from item level 340 and should be completed immediately. You only get two entries for these every weekly reset.

3. You Should Unlock And Begin Your Una's Tasks.

These are your dailies and are a crucial part of your gear grind. Make sure to pick the quests with Leapstones and Harmony Shards - the quest from Peyto to cab ride, or to kill the reanimated horsemen in Fesnar Highlands are both good examples.

You will unlock more unique Una's Tasks as you progress through Island quests and the story quest in Rohendel, Shushire, and the other endgame continents. Aim to complete daily tasks that help you get past honing chokepoints.

4. Hone Your Gear

The main aim of the game now is to upgrade your gear. This is done at the Gear Honing spot in North Vern or any other large city. Items require Harmony Shards to upgrade, which are earned by completing quests and island missions, as well as grinding Dungeons and Raids.

You will also require Guardian Stone Fragments and Destruction Stone Fragments which are primarily earned from completing daily content like Chaos Dungeons. You can find more information on gathering honing materials in this guide.

5. Complete Island Missions

The island missions are essential if you want to rapidly increase your gear score. Here's a rundown of what sort of path you want to take through the islands.

• Sail from East Luterra.
• Hit Serenity Isle, Toto silver Island, Freedom Isle, Blackfang's Den, and Lullaby Island, in that order.
• Freedom Isle and Blackfang's Den are two of the best islands for Pirate Coins available - you will need Pirate Coins to buy the Song of Resonance from the Peyto ship (Treasurer Ingram) which is used during the Lullaby Island world event (every two hours, watch your alarms!)
• Next, head to Astella, Starlight Isle, Panda Island, and eventually Peyto Island.
• Complete quests where possible, but do not complete quests that send you to other continents (unless you want to, of course, we're not your boss)
• Next is Dreamgull Island (the quest here is so annoying and long, but worth it), Golden Wave Island, White Wave Island, Kalthertz, and Shadow Island.

To race through T1, you should complete the island in this order and do them before you head north to Shushire. It means you'll be stacked with coins and upgrade materials for your base set of 302 gear.

6. Head to Rohendel At Gear Score 460

You've ground your gear, and now it's time to head west to Rohendel, the next continent for the game's main storyline. You need to complete the quest here to unlock the continent's Chaos Dungeons and Abyss Dungeons. So begins the grind again for T2 content.

• Time to venture onto the seas again for extra upgrade mats.
• Visit Peyto Island, Fomona Island, Aiwana Island, Little Luck Island, Libeheim, Revelry Row, Distorted Island, Outlaw Isle, Twilight Isle, Gravis Island and Hypnos's Island. Complete every quest you can. You're going overboard with the quests, basically.
• The main aim is to complete the Dreamgull quest by playing the song of Resonance three times during the Lullaby Island event.
• You also want to set your Bi Frost to Lullaby Island, Peyto, and wherever else you are doing your daily quests.
• Use the Ocean Liner to get from Rohendel to the other side of the world if you're pressed for time.

Once you've completed the island quests, the grind for Tier 2 content begins.

Here is a lot of extra guide content to help you progress through Tier 1:

• Lost Ark: How To Farm Harmony Shards
• Lost Ark: Ur'nil Raid Guide
• Lost Ark: Lumerus Raid Guide
• Lost Ark: Icy Legoros Raid Guide
• Lost Ark: Hall of The Twisted Warlord Guide
• Lost Ark: Hildebrandt Palace Guide