Belgardin Normal Preparation: A Practical Combat Power and Upgrade Checklist

Korean preparation estimates with Western release context · About these guides

Belgardin, Arbiter of Death launched in Korea on August 5, 2026 and in the West on October 21. This guide adapts the Korean source’s pre-release preparation plan for Normal; its original “lord of frost” epithet was incorrect.

The proposed 4,000 Combat Power target is a community recruitment estimate, not an official entry condition. Real performance also depends on your class, skill gems, Ark Grid, cards, accessories, and ability to execute mechanics.

Understanding the Combat Power Target

The source compared Korean 1740 Serca Nightmare recruitment with the anticipated Belgardin Normal environment. Those observations are historical and do not establish a current North American lobby requirement.

Keep these distinctions in mind:

• 4,000 Combat Power is not an official entry requirement.
• A pre-release recruitment prediction is not a verified live party standard.
• Characters with the same score can perform differently.
• Raid leaders may also look at skill gems, Ark Grid, cards, and accessories.

Vambraces can raise character power after acquisition, but require their own honing budget. Avoid spending everything to reach an arbitrary display score before you obtain them.

Considering Item Level 1755

The source’s equipment example maps all +15 pieces to 1750 and all +16 pieces to 1755. That mapping depends on equipment generation and progression state; verify your actual item levels rather than applying it to every T4 set.

Why Spread Honing Across Equipment?

The source uses 1755 as an optional preparation milestone above Normal’s official 1750 minimum, rather than a mandatory entry level.

• Armor honing can add defensive stats as well as power.
• Spreading upgrades can avoid concentrating the entire budget on one piece.
• Extra item level may help an application, but cannot guarantee a party slot.

Compare this route with other upgrades using your current equipment, usable bound materials, and active honing support.

Before Honing the Weapon Further

Check the exact material shown for your current weapon. The source’s blanket claim that the relevant material is always a Destiny Destruction Stone is too broad: upper-tier honing can require Destiny Crystallized Destruction Stones instead.

A destruction-stone stockpile does not automatically make weapon +17 or higher the best next upgrade. Consider the source’s spending order as an example:

1. Compare a balanced equipment-honing milestone.
2. Check skill gems and Ark Grid.
3. Review accessories and useful Relic engraving progression.
4. Reserve resources for Vambraces.
5. Price additional weapon honing with the remaining budget.

Comparing T4 Accessories

Korean shorthand for high, medium, and low rolls describes effect strengths. Compare the actual effects, your class, and the price instead of counting roll labels alone.

Using Event Accessories You Already Own

An event accessory with two medium rolls and one high roll can be worth using if its effects fit your build. Existing gear avoids an immediate market purchase.

That does not automatically beat an accessory with one useful high roll. The specific effects determine the comparison.

Decoding Accessory Roll Shorthand

A “single high” accessory has one relevant high-tier effect. “Double medium” has two relevant medium effects; “high + low” combines those tiers. These are roll descriptions, not item-quality categories.

Compare these cases:

• Single high: one strong relevant effect at an attractive price.
• Double medium: two useful effects with good combined value.
• High + low: a strong main effect with another useful contribution.
• Two medium + high: check whether all three effects, including secondary weapon-power effects, help your build.

Compare actual gains rather than automatically rejecting a single-high accessory. Recheck event rewards before dismantling or replacing something useful.

Prioritizing Level 8 Skill Gems

T4 damage and cooldown gems serve different functions. The Korean “damage + cooldown” shorthand does not mean that every skill needs both types or the same gem level.

The source proposes Level 8 main-skill gems as a preparation goal. This is a build-budget example, not Belgardin’s official gem requirement.

A Suggested Gem Upgrade Order

Adapt this order to your class’s actual damage distribution and cooldown needs:

1. Damage gems for your most important skills.
2. Cooldown gems that determine the rotation.
3. Damage gems for secondary skills.
4. Other useful cooldown gems.
5. Consider Level 8 or higher for remaining active slots when their value justifies the cost.

Keeping Level 7 gems can be reasonable when another upgrade offers more useful gain per gold. Combat Power alone does not establish which purchase improves your raid performance most.

Karma: Levels Are Not Passive Points

The source’s target is Enlightenment and Leap Karma levels 25–26, not 25–26 Enlightenment points. Karma ranks, Karma levels, and passive-point allocation are different things.

Use eligible Processed Destiny Stones from rewards when they fit your Karma progression. Check their tooltip and applicability rather than confusing them with honing leapstones.

Setting a Karma Budget

Enlightenment and Leap Karma can improve performance in different ways, depending on your build.

• Check usable reward Processed Destiny Stones first.
• Treat levels 25–26 as the source’s example goal, rather than a universal optimum.
• After reward materials, compare the cost of further ordinary attempts.
• Choose between Enlightenment and Leap based on your class’s actual gains.

Karma supports six ranks and 30 levels under the system described. Later progression can be costly; price the next benefit rather than assuming the maximum is immediately necessary.

Ark Grid Priorities

Ark Grid is the core-and-Astrogem system, distinct from Ark Passive.

Its activated core effects can change your main skills and rotation, so unlocking the correct effect matters more than simply adding display power.

17 Points Versus 18–20 Points

Some builds gain a defining effect at 17 Core Points. Others have different priorities. Read the actual core and grade before choosing a target.

For a preparation checklist, consider:

• First: unlock the effects your build needs to function.
• Next: compare the incremental gains from 18–20 Core Points.
• Later: consider an Ancient core or a stronger compatible gem combination.
• Choose damage or support gem effects for your actual role.

Choosing Astrogem Types

The source highlights Order: Solidity and Chaos: Distortion, using the subtype labels listed in the official Western Ark Grid overview.

Their role-specific effect pools include:

• Attack power.
• Boss damage.
• Ally damage enhancement.
• Ally attack enhancement.

DPS builds compare their own attack and boss-damage gains. Supports compare effects that improve party buffs. A DPS-oriented boss-damage recommendation should not be copied unchanged onto a support.

What “60 Relic Books” Means

Learned Relic engraving progression is a long-term roster investment. Completing one applicable engraving’s Relic book track takes 20 books.

The source’s 60-book example means three useful engravings completed with 20 books each, rather than 60 books for one engraving.

Choosing Which Books to Buy

A cheaper book may raise the display score, but only buy it if its learned effect contributes to your selected build.

Depending on the class, compare engravings such as:

• Grudge
• Raid Captain
• Mass Increase
• Keen Blunt Weapon
• Cursed Doll
• Hit Master
• Adrenaline

Raid Captain and Mass Increase do not fit every build equally. Confirm your movement speed, attack-speed tradeoff, selected engravings, and current effect conditions before purchasing.

The source’s examples of approximately 90 or 130 Combat Power are character-specific estimates, not fixed book values. Use a calculator compatible with current rules and inspect the actual build change.

Bracelets and Ability Stones

These can improve a nearly finished setup, but chasing a score through repeated random rolls can become expensive.

Interpreting a “12% Bracelet”

A 12% bracelet rating is an external calculator estimate, not an official stat or entry threshold. Its meaning depends on the tool’s assumptions and your build.

• If your existing bracelet performs well in the relevant calculation, compare other upgrades first.
• Check useful main stats and Crit, Specialization, or Swiftness.
• Include relevant weapon-power effects.
• Compare estimated damage or buff gains with the display-score gain.
• Use support-specific evaluation for ally-enhancement effects.

A reward bracelet with weapon power may help the score, but do not choose a much weaker practical option solely for the higher displayed number.

Is a 9/7 Stone Necessary?

A 9/7 stone has nine successful nodes on one useful engraving and seven on another. Which engraving receives which count can matter.

It can improve a compatible build, but faceting is random. Repeatedly chasing 9/7 just to reach 4,000 Combat Power can consume more gold than other upgrades.

Use a suitable stone you already own. Before chasing another, compare gems, Karma, and useful book milestones; 9/7 is not a Belgardin entry requirement.

Checking Your Paradise Orb

Paradise Orbs are special equipment with effects that can apply outside Paradise. Their strength follows the applicable season’s recorded Paradise Power and the orb’s own rules.

Supports can benefit too; the system is not exclusively a way for DPS characters to increase power.

• Choose a damage-focused orb for an appropriate DPS setup.
• Consider a healing-focused orb for an appropriate support setup.
• Damage and healing orbs contribute differently to displayed power and practical utility.
• Equal Paradise Power does not make every orb’s displayed contribution identical.
• An older eligible orb may remain useful if it outperforms the available replacement; check current seasonal restrictions and its actual equipped effect.

Both DPS and supports should compare their available orbs by effect, eligibility, and displayed stats.

Belgardin Normal Preparation Checklist

Set a Build Goal, Not Just a Score Goal

The source’s 4,000 and 4,100–4,300 figures are Korean community preparation estimates from around release. They are not official requirements or verified current North American lobby standards. Meet the actual 1750 entry requirement, build functional effects, and spend where your character gains the most useful performance.

Sources

• Original Korean article
• Amazon Games: Arbiter of Death, Western release and Vambraces rules
• Amazon Games: Day of Prophecy, Ark Grid systems
• Amazon Games: Frosty Fate, Karma progression
• Amazon Games: The Twilight Isle, Horizon Cathedral