Lost Ark’s New Director and Reset Debate: What to Check in Progression Transfers

This article covers the Korean service and announcements; times are KST (UTC+9) unless stated otherwise. Will Lost Ark be reset again? The revealed direction of reorganization is closer to opening up new farming by transferring the accumulated progression to another system, rather than resetting all existing character progressions. However, just because the honing stage remains, it does not mean that future costs will remain the same. The most important aspect of this change is how much the existing progression is recognized and what new burden is placed on top of it

With the announcement on October 29, 2026, the major direction of the director replacement and winter progression reorganization was revealed. There are welcome changes, such as the integration of roster-wide gems and card collections, but there are also areas that require specific standards, such as transferring bracelets and accessories. If you are thinking about returning or wondering if you can spend gold on gear right now, you need to look at ‘what I have and how it continues’ rather than the fact that it will change.

The new director’s challenge: predictable operation

Director Jeon Jae-hak stepped down from his position as director starting from the 8th anniversary of service, and Director Lee Byeong-tak decided to take over as the third director. Director Jeon Jae-hak is not leaving the development organization, but is planning to take charge of practical work such as raid development. Director Lee Byeong-tak explained that they have been preparing the winter update and the progression and farming direction for Part 2 since the summer.

The background to this replacement is not only the failure to control the difficulty of Extreme Raid, but also problems with communication and trust due to repeated mistakes. So, it is too early to judge that the game has improved solely due to changes in people. What is important is not what name the next update comes under, but how well users can anticipate and prepare for future changes.

progression The policy of explaining in advance the operation period, goals, and direction of mitigation of the system is worth noting in that regard. In RPGs, yesterday's top-tier gear cannot be top-tier forever. Still, you need to be able to know whether it is a gear you intend to use for a long time or an intermediate gear to move on to the next level in order to make a satisfactory choice. To restore trust, these explanations must be consistently followed in actual operations rather than good rewards just once.

Reset versus progression transfer

The word reset brings together different concerns. Losing a character's abilities, losing gear's trade value, or having a goal to progress through again are not the same thing. Even if you preserve some combat performance, when a new cap is opened, your previous best build may no longer be the best, and the perceived value of the asset may change as trading methods change.

The announced progression transfer is in the direction of reflecting the existing progression level as the stage or material of the new system. Therefore, it is difficult to conclude that ‘everything starts from scratch’. On the other hand, the interpretation that ‘all current values ​​are guaranteed’ is also advanced. This is because profit and loss can be judged only by looking at specific conversion standards and the new progression structure.

The big flow can be divided like this. The contents below are the announcement directions for the winter reorganization, and the detailed figures and conditions of application include items requiring follow-up guidance.

Here, it is better not to immediately accept the expression ‘Part 2’ as an official confirmation of season 4. It explains the new section of the story and the reorganization of the progression structure, but does not replace the season name or the rules for handling all items.

What moving honing to slots really means

The plan is to change the honing currently applied to the gear to be applied to the gear slot, and move the existing honing step to the slot step. We explained how to preserve the damage performance provided by honing as much as possible, but especially to keep the 23rd to 25th levels the same as before. The item level will be separated from honing and transferred to a new gear system, and new gear appropriate for the item level you have will be provided.

For example, if you have gear at honing level 25, for the purpose of presentation, the progression corresponding to honing continues at slot level 25. However, this does not mean that there will be no need to collect new gear or progress in the future. The key is to separate the part that contains the performance of existing honing and the progression path of gear to be farmed in the future.

This structure has advantages depending on the design. This reduces the burden of complicating the processing of existing reinforcements every time you change gear, and allows you to more clearly demonstrate the goals of honing and gear collection. However, if the burden on both slots and gear increases, the actual progression cost can become heavy even if the screen is simplified. This is why we believe that the total cost and time required to reach the same content are more important than the number of systems

There was an explanation that the honing stage will not be expanded immediately in winter, but the specific cost and method of farming new gear have not all been disclosed. It should be read separately between maintaining the existing honing upper limit and not having a new progression burden.

Roster-wide gems could broaden class choice

We plan to set 11 gems per roster and use them in each character's skill window. The idea is to receive the damage increase effect if placed in a damage increase position, and to receive the corresponding effect if placed in a cooldown decrease position. Here, it is easy to understand that the roster is a group of characters managed together.

What is noteworthy is that it not only reduces the inconvenience of moving and inserting gems. If it becomes advantageous to choose to raise multiple of the same class due to the cost of gems, when choosing a new character, gem recyclability becomes more important than preference. If different classes can share gems, it can be a little easier to start training just because ‘this job looks fun’.

Of course, the experience will be different between someone who focuses on raising only one character and someone who has multiple characters with separate gems. The latter is important in how to use the remaining gems after roster consolidation. The development team also took this into consideration and said that they are preparing to expand the upper level of gems, and that the maximum level is being internally adjusted.

So it is difficult to say that gem prices will necessarily rise or fall. The power of reducing overlapping demand for each character through sharing and the power of requiring gems for higher level progressions can act simultaneously. Judgment to sell everything or buy in advance based on only one direction without knowing the final stage and efficiency has weak basis. It is correct to view the convenience of gem sharing itself and the market price after reorganization as separate issues.

Transfer rules matter beyond perfect bracelets and stones

Ability Stone evaluates the existing progression level and moves it to a new progression system. We plan to remove karma and quality, and provide new progression materials based on the level achieved. It is meaningful in that it has the potential to reduce the burden of returning players having to learn and complete old progression elements one by one.

However, just explaining that a complicated system is being eliminated is not enough for existing users. Because we need to know how much the effort put in in reaching the same goal is connected to the progression that will be recognized in the future. In particular, the evaluation of bracelet·accessories can vary depending on the combination of options, making it difficult to explain with a simple average value.

The top bracelet was instructed to maintain the highest level in its progression area even after transfer. However, realistically, it is necessary to separately check to what extent bracelets that are close to the final level will be accepted and how to handle cases where there are multiple pieces of gear for different builds. It is difficult to write specific rules such as ‘9/7 Ability Stones is the level of the new system’ or ‘only one out of several is recognized’ as confirmed.

What is needed in the follow-up explanation is not one representative, high-end example, but an example of multiple sections of transfer. You must be able to compare intermediate builds, near-best-in-slot builds, and even gear for different purposes to be able to make your own choices. Additional guidance explaining the new progression system and how it reflects existing gear has been announced for November 20th.

Can companions bridge solo and group play?

The companion system is a way to recruit NPCs from Arkesia and form a party together to enjoy battle content. Rather than obtaining it through a lottery, we are securing it through content, and we are preparing a flow to build reputation by completing adventurer requests and recruiting and progressing companions. The ability for companions to perform counters and stagger, and to use Awakening Skills manually or automatically, was also introduced.

It can be especially meaningful to supports. If you change your build to focus on attack in order to progress through the content alone, it will be far from the experience of learning the support role you will play in the party. If you can fight while supporting your damage dealer companions, you have room to practice buffs, protection, and combat flow on your own. This change is something to look forward to because it provides an environment to learn the role rather than simply making it easier to clear.

The companion roster would let players assign companions to activities that progress automatically and return rewards. Guardian Frontier is also being prepared, allowing players to challenge Guardians alongside companions. Companion automation and helping players learn group roles do not automatically serve the same purpose, however. The implementation needs to show what players must judge and practice themselves, and how they are encouraged to move into actual group content.

More content should not mean more daily chores

Daily content is being integrated into adventurer requests. It was explained that this can be done up to 5 times per character, but once you complete 5 times in the roster, you will be provided with a means to quickly complete future quests. If you accept this as ‘the entire roster of homework will be completed 5 times a day’, there may be differences from the actual plan.

The plan is to supply a total of four raids per year, two regular raids in summer and winter, and two middle raids in between. Also, on November 18, they announced balance adjustments including synergy and support operation convenience, and said they would focus on improving existing classes instead of adding new classes next summer.

The increase in content itself is welcome, but if you have to do it all because you don't want to miss out on rewards, it's not an option, but more work. This is why we need to look at the quick completion of adventurer quests, the repetitive burden of training companions, and progression rewards outside of raids. Even if rewards are scattered in many places, it is helpful to be able to choose the desired activity and progress, but if you have to go through all of them in the end, the improvement in fatigue may be limited.

Spend now or wait? Start with your next goal

It is necessary to distinguish between progression to secure entry conditions or clearing stability for the raid you want to enjoy right away, and consumption to meet the highest build in advance because you may need it someday. The former is linked to content you will actually enjoy, but the latter is greatly affected by transfer efficiency and new progression caps that have not yet been revealed. The more expensive additional options you aim for for the gear to be transferred, the more reason you have to check detailed standards.

If you are a returner, it would be good to start by sharing whether what you are currently lacking is gear, understanding of complex systems, or the burden of party participation. Each area has different areas where progression transfer, system simplification, and companion content can be helpful. Sharing gems does not eliminate all characters' progression costs, or simply introducing companions does not solve the problem of entering all party content.

The clearest standard for evaluating this reorganization is what is required after removing the familiar progression elements. There is a reason to change if the process of reaching a new goal becomes more understandable and enjoyable while acknowledging existing efforts to a satisfactory degree. When you check the new farming structure with the conversion tables, you should be able to decide, rather than just thinking, ‘I need to grow it again,’ and thinking, ‘This is worth doing the way I want.’ Even changing the director will lead to real change.