The party system in Lost Ark is pretty simple, and it's only getting more accessible and easier to understand as more updates for the game come out. That's not to say that there aren't still a few questions left to answer though, particularly when it comes to new players.
How does the party system work exactly, and how are friends supposed to join up for Lost Ark's Abyssal Dungeons or perhaps even the Valtan Raid that was added in May? This guide will explain everything that there is to know about the party system in Lost Ark.
How To Invite to, Join, and Leave a Party in Lost Ark
Joining a Party in Lost Ark is actually painfully simple, but many players don't know the most efficient way to send invites and spend unnecessary time slogging through Lost Ark's multitude of menus. There are a few ways to invite a player to join a party, such as:
- If they're on the same screen: Players can simply hold Ctrl and Right Click on a player of their choice, and a dropdown dialog box should appear that holds a multitude of different features, with "Party Invite" being one of them.
- If they're on the Friends List: For players who already have their friends added to their Friends List, inviting them to a party is even easier. They'll simply need to open up the Friends List (U Key by default), scroll to the player getting invited, and then Right Click on their name. After that, they should once again click on "Party Invite."
- If they're not on the same screen or the Friends List: This last option happens pretty frequently since 99% of Lost Ark's endgame content is faster with a Party, but players don't want to waste time Bifrosting to each other just to invite. Essentially, if a player in Area Chat (or any other chat, for that matter) is the one a player wants to invite, they just need to look for their message in the chat, Right Click it, and the same dropdown box as the other methods should appear.
Leaving a party is just as easy as joining one too. To leave a party in Lost Ark, all a player needs to do is Ctrl + Right Click their own name in the Party Menu on the left side of the screen, and a "Leave Party" option should appear. It's also worth knowing that party leaders can use this same method to kick party members by Ctrl + Right Clicking the name of the person who needs to be kicked.
How Lost Ark's Party System Works
Anyone familiar with MMORPGs or any game of a similar genre will likely instinctively pick up Lost Ark's Party System almost immediately. It works like most other Party Systems in games, with players able to join, leave, and kick members from their party at their discretion. For most standard content, the Party System maxes out at four players, with that number rising to eight for certain content like Abyss Raids. When players join the same party, they can see all the information they'll need to know on the left-hand side of the screen. This includes:
- A health bar for each party member with their name inside which monitors their current health.
- An icon for their specific class.
- A black box over their health bar that states what server they're on (this doesn't pop up if they're on the same server as the player)
- All the buff/debuff icons underneath their health bar that show their class, food, and any other outside source buffing or rebuffing their stats.
- A blacked-out bar will show that the party member is currently in a different channel, and the game shows what Channel they're in directly on top of their HP bar as well.
Again, this might all seem like painfully basic stuff to MMORPG veterans, but knowing what information is available in these visual elements of the party system really matters when combat gets chaotic and players need to gather vital information at a moment's notice.
Lost Ark is available now on PC.