Quick Links
Progressing through Lost Ark's endgame is no easy task. A plethora of activities and progression systems can confuse newcomers and downright frustrate veterans. Fortunately, one of the most reliable sources of jewelry and upgrade materials is Guardian Raids, one of Lost Ark's staple endgame activities.
If you like Monster Hunter or any boss-hunting game modes in MMOs, Guardian Raids are for you. You and up to three other players will hunt down a deadly boss for rewards. They're varied, rewarding, and fairly quick to complete if you have a good team. Let's dive into what Guardian Raids work, how to unlock them, and some of the rewards you can expect to earn.
What's A Guardian Raid?
| Guardian Raid Overview | |
|---|---|
| Tiers | 1-3 |
| Players | 1-4 |
| Daily Cap | 2 runs per character |
| Catch-Up Mechanic | Raids grant double loot for each day you miss. Caps out at 5 runs. |
A Guardian Raid is an endgame activity where up to four players work together to take down a Guardian boss. Players have 20 minutes to find and kill the Guardian, and each Guardian boss comes with unique mechanics. This is one of Lost Ark's daily endgame activities, much in the same vein as Chaos Dungeons.
Unlike Chaos Dungeons, this activity highly encourages players to find a team. Clearing a Guardian Raid solo is not recommended. Build some flares from your Stronghold, bring your best gear, and prepare to hunt a giant monster.
How To Unlock Guardian Raids
Guardian Raids are unlocked upon reaching level 50 and completing the "Guardian Raid Qualification Certificate" guide quest. You can find the quest in North Vern. If it's not available to you, be sure you've finished the Chaos Dungeon guide quest. To queue for a Guardian Raid, head to the minimap icon that looks like a red banner in any major city.
If you can't open the Guardian Raid menu while on the quest to hunt a Guardian, open your journal and browse to the guide section. You should see the "Guardian Raid Qualification Certificate" quest. Accept that quest to speak to an NPC who will unlock the Guardian Raid UI. If that doesn't work, abandon and reacquire the quest. Alternatively, use the LFG button under your minimap to look for a Guardian Raid group.
Starting out, you'll only be able to clear the first raid level of Guardians. To unlock additional raid levels, you'll need to complete all subsequent Guardian Raids. For example, to unlock raid level two, you'll need to complete all four Guardian Raids at raid level one. Tiers are broken down as follows:
| Raid Tier | Gear Tier | Item Level |
|---|---|---|
| Tier 1 | T1 | 320-420 |
| Tier 2 | T1 | 460-580 |
| Tier 3 | T2 | 802-920 |
| Tier 4 | T2 | 960-1,080 |
| Tier 5 | T3 | 1,302-1,385 |
Hunting A Guardian
Hunts will vary depending on the Guardian you're facing, but most hunts consist of finding the boss and defeating the boss. Before you begin, you'll be given the option to harvest the boss' soul or not. Doing so will give you much more loot, but you can only do this twice per day (ignoring the catch-up mechanic). In-game, your first task is to find the boss. Finding the boss is significantly easier if you bring flares, a battle item that will reveal the location of the boss on your map for a short time. You can craft them at your stronghold.
As for defeating the boss, your group will need to coordinate to counter the Guardian's mechanics and beat the boss. The first tier of Guardians is fairly simple, utilizing high-damage attacks and very simple mechanics to ease you into the game type. Further tiers involve buff and debuff management, one-shot mechanics, and more. Be sure that your team is prepared before diving into the later tiers of Guardian Raids. Once the boss is slain, you'll be able to harvest its soul to claim your loot.
Daily Limits And Catch-Up Mechanic
Guardian Raids allow you to harvest a Guardian's soul upon completing, granting you a shower of loot. You can only harvest a Guardian's soul twice per day per character. Similar to Chaos Dungeons, it's possible to farm Guardian Raids more than twice per day, but your subsequent clears won't give as much loot unit the weekly reset.
For each Guardian Soul you don't harvest in a given day, you'll be given a +10 rest bonus. At 20 rest bonus, your next Guardian Soul extraction will grant twice as much loot. You can only have 100 rest bonus on your account at any given moment. Bear in mind that this catch-up mechanic only works for your two daily clears, so a rest bonus of 100 will take more than two days to cash out.
Guardian Raid Rewards
Successful completion of a Guardian Raid will give your character valuable upgrade materials, jewelry with randomly-rolled Engravings, and a chance of obtaining some other goodies. Guardian Raids are a great source of jewelry for most players, and they can even drop ability stones you can facet for additional Engraving progress. Some Guardian Raids also drop Runes, powerful buffs to your core skills. General rewards are broken down below:
| Raid Tier | Rewards |
|---|---|
| Tier 1 | (All T1) Jewelry, Stone Fragments, Ability Stones, Class Engraving Books (Uncommon and Rare), Galewind Rune (Uncommon) |
| Tier 2 | (All T1) Jewelry, Stone Fragments, Ability Stones, Class Engraving Books (Uncommon and Rare), Galewind Rune (Rare) |
| Tier 3 | (All T2) Jewelry, Stones, Ability Stones, Class Engraving Books (Rare and Epic), Galewind Rune (Rare) |
| Tier 4 | (All T2) Jewelry, Stones, Ability Stones, Class Engraving Books (Rare and Epic), Galewind Rune (Epic) |
| Tier 5 | (All T3) Jewelry, Stones, Ability Stones, Class Engraving Books (Epic and Legendary), Galewind Rune (Epic) |
Upgrade materials for each Guardian Raid Tier (stones and leapstones) match that tier's respective item level band. For example, T1 and T2 Raid Tiers have Stone Fragments and Harmony Leapstones as upgrade material rewards.
