Empress's Grace Arcanist Gearing Guide for Lost Ark

Empress has several different builds with stat distributions dependent on your budget or what skill setup you end up taking. Arcanist's main stat is Specialization, with secondary stats being either Crit or Swiftness. Her synergy with engravings such as Barricade and Raid Captain stems from her flexibility in skill rune selection and the self-buffs from tripods.

Given Arcanist has Critical Damage buffs already on it's tripods, Lostwind Cliff provides you with well-desired Critical Rate. It's a good option especially for those without Light of Salvation. Arcanist gets a lot of mileage out of Adrenaline already, so with Lostwind Cliff you'll be close to if not already at Crit cap during Return windows. For optimal damage, Light of Salvation is the go-to. If you are a new player or unfortunate enough to not have either of these cardsets, it's recommended to run cards that can help with Arcanist's squishiness. Those being Field Boss II, Forest of Giants's 3-piece effect, We'll Meet Again and Nature's Elementals.

Arcanist doesn't have a wide variety of engravings to choose from. Depending on your build, budget or personal preference you'll have a handful to choose from.

• Grudge is a standard damage engraving. As a DPS you should be using this as an immediate slot-in for your setup.
• Adrenaline is taken for as Arcanist needs the Critical Rate, having such high bonuses to Critical Damage already. It's highly effective and you definitely want to take this at least level 2.
• Cursed Doll can be taken at the expense of lower healing. In a 4x3+2+1 setup, you would want to take this engraving, as there is nothing else remaining. Otherwise, it's player's choice when debating to take this over Hit Master or Barricade. Unlike the former, this engraving does work on Awakening, if that matters to you.
• Barricade requires you to use Protection instead of taking a Wealth. More damage with less Deck Meter gain as a trade-off. Overall this is fairly cheap and only requires acquiring Protections.
• Hit Master can be taken without worry as Arcanist's skills are not positionals. It's recommended over Cursed Doll for the cost and the fact it's unconditional.
• Raid Captain is relevant if you can maintain your Move Speed bonuses through your burst. It's not as easy as it sounds and if you are unable to do so, you miss a large portion of damage. It can work but takes a bit more thought and effort compared to the above options.
• Keen Blunt Weapon can work but has much less efficiency due to Arcanist's high Critical Damage bonuses. Especially with a skill like Serendipity that has insane amounts of Critical Damage already.

For those building a new Arcanist in Legendary gear, you'll want the 2-piece bonus from the Preordained Diligence set from Argos as a base. The extra Critical Rate pairs well with the high innate Critical Damage. You can obtain the 5-piece set for even more Critical Rate, but don't expect to get the bonus Critical Damage that requires another player with the Harsh Oath gearset. You damage spikes once you hit Relic gear. Nightmare Flower is the set to roll with on Arcanist, giving you increased damage and a solution to your mana economy. Once you obtain 4 pieces the new effect, Boundless Mana, provides you with reduced cooldowns, increasing the tempo of the class.

Empress's Grace mains Specialization and can use Crit or Swiftness as it's secondary stat. Generally you distribute 75:25 Specialization & Crit/Swiftness. Crit is the main choice as it is the more desired stat when comparing the two. Swiftness helps with Raid Captain a little and is mainly used when running different skill builds, namely not running the crit reliant Serendipity. All this being said, for the highest damage ceiling overall you'll be taking Specialization & Crit with a 75:25 distribution.

• 1x Spec/Crit Necklace
• 2x Spec Earrings
• 2x Spec Rings
• Spec/Crit Bracelet