Predator Slayer Guide for Lost Ark

Strengths

• Consistent DPS, unga bunga playstyle
• Cheaper to build as a Swiftness class
• Has high Crit Rate for increased dopamine levels

Weaknesses

• Suffers from extended downtime
• Relies on Back Attacks to do considerable damage
• Doesn't feel quite as good in the early game

Slayer has a very interesting Chaos Dungeon build, in the sense that it is only one button. Guillotine having Transformed Strike gives cooldown reduction upon kill & has increased damage on lower rank enemies. Given Chaos Dungeon can also reduces your cooldowns further, you essentially only spam this and your Awakening to clear rooms with ease!

Predator is a consistent Entropy DPS, focused on maintaining Burst Mode for as long as possible and building Fatigue stacks. The higher the amount of stacks, the shorter Exhaustion's duration is. With the buffs that Burst Mode gives us to Attack / Move Speed, MP regeneration & Critical Damage / Rate; Predator has a spammy, Swiftness-based playstyle with emphasis on uptime and Back Attacking.

Overall, Predator is an incredibly strong build that isn't very complex. Though, in practice you'll run into some of the challenges that the class has in real scenarios. Because of how the gameplay loop requires landing skills rather than just skill usages, downtime can lead to undesired periods within Exhaustion. Examples of moments where this can/will happen Vykas's typing test, Kakul's mayhem pattern or Brelshaza's meteor mechanics that require holding DPS. Even in juiced parties where mechanics are frequently pushed or skipped, there's risk of not being able to attack the boss while in Burst Mode. Mana consumption is pretty brutal on Predator, even with some mana tripods equipped. While leveling, you'll especially feel the struggles here without having a support. At endgame level, you'll still want to want a support, mana tripods & mana food items to really have a more comfortable time playing the class.

As a baseline you'll follow these priorities when DPSing:

• Brutal Impact, Volcanic Eruption & Guillotine are your three highest DPS skills, prioritize these in Burst Mode.
• Upkeep your Synergy with Wild Stomp. It also serves as a Counter, but there is also Punishing Draw for an alternative Counter.
• Certain skills help proc meter gain in Burst Mode, namely Wild Rush & Wild Stomp having Burning Rage / Earth Impact.
• There's no strict rotation and your skills will line up decently provided you have same if not similar level cooldown gems equipped. Spam things on cooldown as they come up!

For those that may be building a new Slayer and might be in Legendary gear or have the class as an alt character, you'll have less Swiftness and likely no Entropy set which is where a lot of our Critical Rate & Damage stems from. Still, while following the above priorities, you'll be able to deal decent damage but won't experience the same levels of fluidity that comes with higher stats and better gear.