Lost Ark has been a hugely popular MMO game in its early access period, even prior to its full-on launch. We've been looking through all the new systems and mechanics you'll need to learn in order to master the game, and the Lost Ark cards system is an extremely important one.
It's still early on in the game's life span, so keep an eye on all the updates we have in store for Lost Ark's cards. There's plenty to figure out, including the best cards to upgrade and which cards can be sacrificed for more XP. Give this page a bookmark for your own good!
In the meantime, why not learn a little more about other aspects of the game, such as all the Lost Ark codes or our Lost Ark tier list to find the best class!
What Are Lost Ark Cards?
In Lost Ark, cards are collectable items that can be equipped and grant your character roster small boosts.
They come in different rarities, with the most powerful being Legendary. Press Alt-C to open your card list, and from there it's easy to equip them by dragging and dropping them into your desired deck in the middle under the 'Equip' tab.
How to Get Lost Ark Cards
Cards in Lost Ark are obtained fairly easily. You obtain them through almost every action you take in the game. From raids, challenges, and travelling merchants to extra packs, towers, and rapport missions - if you can do it, chances are you'll receive cards as part of your reward.
You can see your whole collection of Lost Ark cards under the 'Enhance' tab.
Lost Ark Card Sets Explained
In order for Lost Ark's cards to take effect, you need to equip them in sets.
If you head over to the 'Books' tab, you'll see the mini-sets that are available, along with how close you are to completing each one. By completing these sets, you'll earn upgrades of your skills, shown to the right.
The main card sets can be found under 'Equip', and from there you can see how many of each set you own. Hover over the 'set effect details' magnifying glass to see what the effects of each card set are.
Equipping two cards of the same set will get you certain upgrades, and equipping more matching cards will increase those upgrades. So, if you have two cards of one set and four cards of another equipped in your deck (that bit in the middle), your roster will have two upgrades, with the four-card set giving you a larger one.
Using a full set of six cards in your card deck will give you much larger bonuses once they're upgraded, so it's often worth going all-in if you happen to have the cards required.
How to Upgrade Lost Ark Cards
Upgrading or enhancing cards in Lost Ark is a vital part of your progression pathway, so it's important you get it right.
Go over to the 'Enhance' tab of the cards menu. Here, you'll be able to see your entire set.
In order to beef up your cards, you need to level them up. This can be done by 'feeding' it duplicates of itself or by adding special XP-gain cards. The higher the rarity of the XP-gain card, the more XP it adds to each card.
It's possible to feed non-duplicate cards to upgrade if you're desperate, but the rewards will be far smaller and thus aren't nearly as worth it.
- Also check out: Our guides to Lost Ark Twitch drops, pets, and mounts
Don't waste all your duplicates on XP though! Once a card's XP is at maximum, you'll need to select an unimproved duplicate and put it in the box underneath the upgradable card. Click 'Awakening', and your card will be upgraded by one level.
The number of duplicates you need increases by one per level too. So, you need one to get to level one, two to get to level two, and so on.
Each card has a maximum upgrade level of five.
Hopefully, that's helped you understand a bit more about Lost Ark cards! If you're looking for more info on how to progress in the game, why not look at some more of our advice? We have tips on how to level up fast in Lost Ark, as well as info on the Lost Ark Founders Packs available for purchase right now.