In this Soulfist Leveling Guide we cover everything you need to know on your journey to level 50 in Lost Ark. We’ll teach you what you should focus on, the skills you should make priority, and which skills to level to as you continue on.
Soulfist Class Overview
The Soulfist in Lost Ark is a Martial Artist type class that wields a magical floating amulet called a Focus. The Soulfist is a Hybrid DPS, that means they attack from both Ranged and Melee distances. Instead of Mana they use a special Energy resource called Ki. Their musical instrument is an Lute.
The Identity Gauge of the Soulfist is the Hype Meter. Unlike other classes, the Hype Meter is starts at full capacity and is usable at any time to enter the 3 stages of their Identity Skill: Hype Mode. Activation of Hype Mode restores KI Energy, reduces skill cooldowns, Increases Attack Speed, and Increases Damage. Once Hype Mode ends, there is a cooldown period. Refer to this chart for all the information regarding Hype Mode:
Hype Level | Ki Energy Restored | Cooldown Recovery | Attack Speed | Damage Increase | Duration | Fatigue Period |
1 | 51 | 5% | 5% | 10% | 90 seconds | 15 seconds |
2 | 81 | 10% | 10% | 25% | 40 seconds | 25 seconds |
3 | 180 | 25% | 15% | 60% | 20 seconds | 50 seconds |
There are two distinct playstyles that players can choose from through the use of the Soulfist’s Class Engravings:
- Energy Overflow – The Fatigue Period from using all Ki energy no longer exists. Damage increased if below 30% Ki energy. Hype Mode no longer restores any Ki energy.
- Robust Spirit – Only enters Hype Mode Level 3. Improved Ki energy recovery; Damage increased.
In end game content, the Robust Spirit Engraving is the most popular due to the very satisfying burst damage of the Awakening Skill: World Decimation. This is the hardest hitting skill in the game and will out DPS any other skills you cast as a Soulfist. However, if you miss the boss with this nuke ability, your DPS will be very, insultingly low. The Energy Overflow has a quicker playstyle but with more consistent sustained damage but less overall damage; they also use the Annihilating Ray Awakening Skill.
Role of a Soulfist
Soulfists are a pure DPS class in Lost Ark. In PvE, they provide the highest burst damage with the World Decimation Awakening skill. They are fairly easy to play, however as mentioned earlier damage is heavily reliant on hitting the awakening skill. In PvP, they are going to be provide a lot of damage and can support the team from the backlines. They also have great movement and have many ways to keep the enemy away from them. However, they do have a lack some super armor.
Strengths
- Highest Burst Damage in the game
- High Mobility
- Provides Attack Power Party Buffs
Weaknesses
- Lower Sustained Damage
- Low health and defense
- Damage will be low if Awakening skill misses.
Soulfist Leveling Guide
We recommend that you try out all the skills and play whatever is the most fun for you. However, if you just want to speed up the process (maybe that’s the most fun for you) or you’re tying to power through levelling an alt, follow this level by level breakdown of what skills to use and level up and which tripods to activate.
You can swap between saved skill tree slots whenever for free (even in combat as long as no skills are on cooldown). It’s recommended to use both your skillbook slots, choose abilities based on this: one for AoE (packs of normal enemies) and one for Single Target (Boss/Elites).
In general, it is better to have a few skills at level 10 than to have 8 skills all levelled equally. That is because the 3rd tier of Tripods typically make the skill perform much differently and more powerfully than at lower levels. Also keep in mind you’re levelling experience will be much faster with movement skills and tripods to make your character move further and faster.
Skill Priority and Progression
Flash Step is the only real Movement Skill available, you should add skill points to make it lvl 10 upon reaching level 20.
Following that, everything else is simply damaging skills, which is up to you as to which one you choose to put points into. The priority becomes focusing on AoE combinations such as Magnetic Palm > Deadly Finger > Heavenly Squash. Once reaching Level 32 you unlock Crippling Barrier which is a good AoE ability you can add at the beginning of you combo.
Here is the progression of which skills you’ll use and replace on your skill bar as you unlock better abilities. Feel free to add points into these or other skills in between key levels where you’ll want to max out certain abilities. Use this as a guideline for your levelling experience:
- Lvl 12 – Lightning Palm
- Lvl 14 – Heavenly Squash
- Lvl 16 – Flash Step replaces Venomous Fist
- Lvl 20 – Tempest Blast replaces Pulverizing Palm
- Lvl 28 – Force Orb replaces Bolting Crash
- Lvl 32 – Crippling Barrier replaces Energy Bullet
- Lvl 36 – Merciless Pummel replaces Lightning Palm
For Bosses, in your second skill book you can choose Tripods that improve damage to single targets and “push-immune” foes; such as Weak Point Detection.
Below is an example Skill Progression Chart, and their Tripods, you can use to Level your Soulfist.
Level | Icon | Skill Name | Skill Level | Tripod 1 | Tripod 2 | Tripod 3 |
11 | Deadly Finger | 4 | Swift Fingers | |||
12 | Magnetic Palm | 4 | Sturdy Armor | |||
13 | Heavenly Squash | 4 | Hard Hitter | |||
14 | Energy Bullet | 4 | Ranged Hit | |||
15 | Lightning Palm | 4 | Prepared Attacker | |||
16 | Flash Step | 7 *(remove points from Lightning Palm, Energy Bullet, Heavenly Squash) | Excellent Mobility | Victory Shout | ||
20 | Flash Step | 10* (remove all other pointsl) | Excellent Mobility | Victory Shout | Tireless | |
21 | Magnetic Palm | 4 | Sturdy Armor | |||
22 | Deadly Finger | 4 | Swift Fingers | |||
Heavenly Squash | 4 | Hard Hitter | ||||
23 | Tempest Blast | 4 | Song of Time | |||
26 | Deadly Finger | 7 | Swift Fingers | Defenseless Target | ||
28 | Force Orb | 4 | Quick Preparation | |||
29 | Force Orb | 7 | Quick Preparation | Powerful Wave | ||
32 | Crippling Barrier | 10* (Lvl 4 in each: Magnetic Palm, Deadly Finger, Heavenly Squash and Force Orb) | Quick Preparation | Hard Hitter | Keen Judgement | |
33 | Tempest Blast | 4 | Song of Time | |||
36 | Deadly Finger | 7 | Swift Fingers | Defenseless Target | ||
Merciless Pummel | 4 | Wide Strike | ||||
39 | Heavenly Squash | 7 | Hard Hitter | Harsh Training | ||
41 | Force Orb | 7 | Quick Preparation | Powerful Wave | ||
43 | Tempest Blast | 7 | Song of Time | Harsh Training | ||
45 | Merciless Pummel | 7 | Wide Strike | Clear Hit | ||
48 | Heavenly Squash | 10 | Hard Hitter | Harsh Training | Enormous Palm |
Gear While Leveling
Just equip the highest Item Lv. item you find. Focus on Swiftness for increased movement speed, reduced casting time, and faster skill cooldowns. Secondly, your next best stat is Specialization.
Next Steps
Now that you’ve made it through this sub-guide, make sure you are ready for the End-Game once you hit level 50. Check out our End Game Soulfist Guide.
Also note that these sub-guides are also part of our full-scope Soulfist Class Guide which will encompass all of these sub guides.
As always, you can also use our Guide Directory article to see all of our Lost Ark Guides in a nice, detailed, organized fashion: