What class you play in Lost Ark determines what skills and attacks your character has and, thereby, its playstyle.
You choose what class you want to play right when you create your character and then what advanced class you wish to play as the first thing after logging on to your new character for the first time.
Recommended Read: Lost Ark – Beginner’s Guide
There are currently 15 advanced classes for you to choose from, divided into 5 overall classes.
As Lost Ark is a very balanced game, you can do well with any class. We, therefore, recommend that you choose the class that interests you the most.
In this guide, we give you a complete overview of classes, how they work, and all other general things you need to know when choosing a class in Lost Ark.
Table of contents
- How do classes and advanced classes work?
- All classes overview
- What class should you choose?
- What are the best classes to play?
- Can you change your class later?
- Are classes gender-locked?
How do classes and advanced classes work?
In Lost Ark, there are two categorizations of classes – classes, also referred to as overall classes, and advanced classes, also referred to as subclasses.
When you choose what ‘class’ you want to play, you are actually choosing what advanced class you want to play, as those are the ones that dictate what skills and attacks your character has.
If you wish to play as Deathblade, for example, you have to choose the overall class Assassin when creating your character and then choose Deathblade as your advanced class after logging in to your character for the first time.
The first place you appear when logging on to a new character is Trixion, a magical place where you’ll get to test out the different advanced classes within the chosen overall class, and right after, you get to choose what advanced class you want to play.
You can check out the next paragraph in this guide to see what overall class each advanced class in Lost Ark belongs to and thus which you should choose in character creation.
All classes overview
There are currently 15 advanced classes you can play in Lost Ark, divided among 5 overall classes.
Each advanced class has unique skills and playstyle – everything from a gun-wielding powerhouse to a graceful support that uses the power of music.
The 5 overall classes in Lost Ark are as follows:
- Warrior
- Martial Artist
- Gunner
- Mage
- Assassin
The Warrior is a melee fighter with higher defense than the rest of the classes in the game with great damage output or supportive abilities, depending on the advanced class.
The Martial Artist is a melee fighter that fights using knuckles and powerful martial arts techniques. Being a melee class, they have better defenses than other classes, but still less than Warriors.
The Gunner class is a ranged attacker that uses either guns or a bow to dish out powerful attacks from afar. As they are ranged DPS, they don’t have the highest defenses.
The Mage class is a ranged spell-caster class that uses magical abilities to deal massive AoE damage or heal allies while keeping enemies in check, depending on the advanced class.
The Assassin is a melee fighter with high mobility and powerful burst abilities that slice through enemies or summon powerful demonic skills.
While the overall class certainly gives an indication of what the playstyle of a character will be, the advanced class you choose within each overall class is what matters, as they determine your character’s skills and playstyle.
In the following table, you can see every single advanced class and what overall class they belong to in Lost Ark:
| Overall class | Advanced Class | Gender |
|---|---|---|
| Warrior | Berserker | Male |
| Warrior | Gunlancer | Male |
| Warrior | Paladin | Male |
| Mage | Bard | Female |
| Mage | Sorceress | Female |
| Martial Artist | Wardancer | Female |
| Martial Artist | Scrapper | Female |
| Martial Artist | Soulfist | Female |
| Martial Artist | Striker | Male |
| Gunner | Sharpshooter | Male |
| Gunner | Deadeye | Male |
| Gunner | Artillerist | Male |
| Gunner | Gunslinger | Female |
| Assassin | Deathblade | Female |
| Assassin | Shadowhunter | Female |
To pick a specific advanced class, you need to choose the corresponding overall class in character creation.
If an overall class has both a male and a female version, you need to pick the one that corresponds to the gender of the advanced class you wish to play.
For those who are interested in seeing what classes are the most and least played, check out our Lost Ark class popularity guide.
What class should you choose?
Choosing what class to play in any MMORPG is never an easy task, and it isn’t either in Lost Ark.
Luckily, the developers of the game have done an excellent job at balancing all the advanced classes, which means that you can confidently pick any.
If there’s a specific advanced class that interests you just a bit more than the others, we recommend going with that one. You can do well with any advanced class in the game.
For those who are still not sure what to play, these are our recommendations for new players looking for a solid class to play without too much to think about:
- Berserker (Warrior)
- Gunlancer (Warrior)
- Scrapper (Female Martial Artist)
- Sorceress (Mage)
- Sharpshooter (Male Gunner)
- Deathblade (Assassin)
You can learn more in our guide on what class to play in Lost Ark as a new player.
What are the best classes to play?
Because of the great balancing done by the developers, every single advanced class in Lost Ark is more than viable to play.
No matter what class you choose to play, you can do well in the end-game. So, if you like a class more than the others, we recommend going with that one.
For players looking to play the best, there are some classes that do have a slight edge over the overs.
The best classes to play in PvE are:
- Gunlancer
- Sorceress
- Paladin
- Bard
All these classes do exceptionally well in a PvE setting when taking both their damage, utility and defensive capabilities into account.
The best classes to play in PvP are:
- Paladin
- Wardancer
- Deathblade
- Bard
These classes perform extremely well in a PvP setting, as they possess great skill kits, utility, and some CC that’ll help you in the Proving Grounds.
You can see the rankings of all other classes in both PvE and PvP in our Lost Ark class tier list.
Can you change your class later?
No, it is not possible to change the class or the advanced class of your character in Lost Ark after you’ve selected them.
To play another advanced class, you have no other choice than to create a new character.
You can use the class tester in Trixion, the place where you select the advanced class of your character, to test out how each advanced class feels before deciding on one.
Are classes gender-locked?
Yes, classes or advanced classes in Lost Ark are gender-locked, which means that the gender of your character depends on the class you choose.
It is not possible to change the gender of a class.
To play a specific gender, you need to choose an advanced class that corresponds to the gender that you wish to play.
You can see what gender each advanced class in Lost Ark is in the table earlier in this guide.
That’s all you need to know about classes in Lost Ark!
Have any input or suggestions for this guide? Let us know in the comment section below.
