While Lost Ark might not be a looter in the same sense as games like Diablo, there are still plenty of equipment upgrades to be had. With new gear rolling out and the option to dismantle, many Lost Ark players are wondering if it's best to sell their gear or dismantle it after acquiring a new piece.
Unfortunately, it's not clear early on if it's better to sell or dismantle gear. Until players complete the main story, there isn't much of a need for either the currency provided from selling or the materials from dismantling. So, let's take a break from Mokoko Seed hunting and look at loot.
Selling Old Gear
Selling gear acquired from random mobs, dungeons, or other PvE sources is fairly self-explanatory. Players can find the nearest merchant and dump all unwanted loot on them for some cold hard cash. However, this means keeping enough room in their inventory to store all the extra gear until they head back to the nearest town to sell.
Dismantling Old Gear
In general, it is recommended to dismantle old or unneeded gear for several reasons. The first is to save on the limited inventory space allotted to players. Holding on to gear for the purpose of selling it, especially when running dungeons, will keep players low on space. Dismantling breaks the gear into stackable components and can be done anywhere. In addition, some broken-down components may be more valuable than the gear itself. That also means that no matter what, players can sell gear, no matter what state it is in.
As one can see, players are ultimately doing the same thing with either choice, but dismantling adds another step that both saves space and rewards more money. It's an unusual way of handling things, to be sure, but it's how Smilegate decided to do it.
It's clear that there is a grinding element to Lost Ark, but some of it feels like bloat and unnecessary steps. This is just one facet of that. It could be that this is part of adapting to a game that has been out for four years in other regions, and more content was naturally added, thus making it feel overwhelming when released in whole as it was for the Americas and Europe.
There is a wealth of content to be had in Lost Ark. Part of navigating that is getting used to its unique flavor of systems.
Lost Ark is available now on PC.