One of the most interesting aspects of Lost Ark is sailing. Players are able to control and move across the ocean using a variety of ships. Also, gather treasures and explore ghost ships. Let’s take a look at how sailing works in our Lost Ark sailing guide. 

Lost Ark Sailing Guide: Unlocking & Your First Ship

Firstly, sailing is a crucial element of Lost Ark. It’s used to travel across continents and without it, you won’t be able to progress. The best part of it is that it gives the game a very open-world feel. If you have a quest that requires you to go to another continent, you can simply sail the open seas until you get there!

To start sailing, you’ll simply need to follow the main story until you unlock it. Once you finish the Stormcry Grotto dungeon, you’ll quickly get into your first sailing mission. The game will do a good job explaining how it all works once you have access to your ship.

You’ll start off with a galleon, but you’ll be able to easily unlock different types of ships as you progress. 

How Sailing Work in Lost Ark

At face value, sailing seems very simple – you get in your ship and sail around the water. However, there are some mechanics you should be aware of.

First off, each ship has a crew. You can manage your ship at the docks, checking out what your crew members do and switching them in and out. Essentially, all of them have different abilities and perks that make them excel at certain tasks. 

Ships also have health, also known as durability. You’ll need to constantly keep an eye on this and stay on top of repairs. If you reach zero durability with your ship then you will only be able to dock at major docks for repairs. Additionally, it will cost extra to repair your ship when it reaches 0, so make sure to repair early and often.

Keeping all that in mind, the actual sailing is easy. You can just get into your ship, pick the right crew, make sure it’s fixed up and good to go, then explore the open waters.

Upgrading Your Ship

It is possible to upgrade your ship as well, making it faster and better for the problems of the seas. While at a dock, you can select Upgrade on the top right. Doing so will show the materials and the upgrades for doing it.

Upgrading your ship

Auto Sailing | Auto-route

Finally, you can setup your ship to auto-route a path by selecting up to 4 waypoints you create. Alt and Left-Click on your map where there is water and a path will form to that destination. Additionally, this is great for getting around some rough waters or getting to your destination while needing to go AFK!

Auto-Routing

What Can You Do While Sailing

There are many things to do while sailing, making it another exciting feature of the game. Here’s a few:

  • Adventure Islands
  • Ghost Ships
  • Co-op Sailing Events

All of these things appear on the world map, so you simply have to go to an icon on the ocean to explore it. They’re all fairly self-explanatory too!

That’s all for our Lost Ark Sailing guide – best of luck exploring the vast oceans of Arkesia!