Engravings are essential buffs to your Lost Ark builds that come in once you get into end game. However, maybe some of you are kinda confused about how all of this works, especially when you’re overloaded with new end game content once you reach level 50. Not to worry, because in this guide, we will discuss everything about Lost Ark Engravings mechanics to turn you from beginners into not-so-beginners. We’ll save min-maxing for another time, don’t worry.

Lost Ark: How Engravings Work

Engravings will be unlocked once you reach level 50 and Vern Castle in North Vern. Engravings are passive abilities that buff up your characters so they can take on end-game stuff. In practice they are divided into three categories:

  • Damage buff.
  • Utility buffs.
  • And specific Class Engravings.

The first two are regular Engravings that can be utilized by any Class in the game; however, as you expected, Class Engravings are exclusive to a single Class and will drastically alter its playstyle. In total, there are 44 Engravings that are shared across all Classes and 30 Class-exclusives at the time.

For “end game beginners” who just got into level 50 in Lost Ark, you should try to focus on your Class Engravings first. Or try to find one damage buffing Engraving that has good synergy with your Class; for example, Super Charge for Gunlancer and Desperate Salvation for Bard. And for Ability Stones, you can use anything you like until much later. Start worrying about Engravings builds once you’re farming Dungeons and Raids drops.

Guide on Leveling Up Engravings in Lost Ark

To be able to activate Engravings, you need to at least have 5 points allocated to it. And to get the best effect, you will need 15 points in total. It’s actually rather similar to Monster Hunter games pre-World if you’re familiar with those. Here’s the breakdown of how Engravings point/leveling works:

  • 5 points: Weak effect.
  • 10 points: Normal effect.
  • 15 points: Strong effect.

Let’s use one of the Soulfist Engravings, Robust Spirit, as an example. Robust Spirit forces you to enter your strongest power-up mode; at Engraving level 1 you get a 10% damage buff, 20% at level 2, and 30% at level 3. There are three ways you can add points for your Engravings.

1. Accessories

There are six Accessories item types you can equip in the game: one Necklace, two Earrings, two Rings, and in Tier 3 you will get the Bracelet. These equippable items will drop in various end-game activities, including Chaos Dungeon, and each will give you up to +3 points in random Engravings. It is recommended for you to sell Accessories you don’t need in the Auction House and use the money to buy the one you want.

2. Ability Stone

Another end game item to boost your Engravings points is the Ability Stone. Ability Stones come in four flavors: Rare, Epic, Legendary, and Relic, with random points on two buffing Engravings and one debuffing Engraving. To use them, you will need to facet Ability Stones first at any Stonecutter NPC you find in major cities. You can read more about it in our Ability Stone guide.

3. Learned Engravings/Imprints/Engraving Auras

Comes in various names depending on where you’re playing, this last option is the most efficient way to stack a massive amount of Engravings points. You can equip two — both different or the same — of these stuff on your weapon.

To unlock Learned Engravings, Imprint, or Aura, you will have to find the multiple numbers of Engraving Books:

  • 20 Uncommon Engraving Books for the first 3 Engravings points.
  • 20 Rare Books Engraving Books for another 3 points.
  • 20 Epic Engraving Books for another set of 3 points
  • And 20 Legendary Books for the last 3 points.
  • This means you can get up to 12 points per slot, or 24 points in total.

These can be found in end game content like dailies, Chaos Dungeons, and Guardian Raid. You can also find them after you complete Island Quests and Tower Dungeons, however, these are not repeatable.

However, as you can see, some Engravings, while extremely powerful, come with debuffs that can potentially be fatal if you’re not careful. For that reason, Lost Ark end game beginners shouldn’t chase meta Engravings like Awakening and Cursed Doll at the start. Try to focus on overall buffs with utility bonuses like Awakening, Spirit Absorption, and Super Charge.

Lost Ark is now available on PC via Steam.