Lost ark sorceress ignition vs reflux

Reflux is going to out perform igniter until t3.

The progression for sorc is essentially instant cast reflux to casting reflux to igniter.

Igniter is heavily reliant on gear to do the big meta dps everyone talks about. You need enough spec and cd gems to cycle arcane torrent. Crit is a big thing for igniter or its dps is very very inconsistent because its a crit damage based burst build. I wouldnt use igniter unless you had igniter 3, all-out attack 3 and precision dagger 3 with all spec jewelry. At that point igniter is going to out perform reflux.

Reflux basically requires no gear. Put on crit/swiftness favouring crit when you can. Go for reflux 3 then precision dagger 3 for instant caste or all-out attack 3 for casting reflux. Ideally having both is nice for casting reflux, for instant cast id go for hit master over all-out attack.

You can always try out each spec in trix and see for yourself which youd prefer.

Introduction

The Sorceress is one of the two starting mage classes available in Lost Ark. She specializes in dealing high ranged magic damage primarily in fire, lightning, and ice elements. At level 50 she has access to the Reflux engraving, which disables her Arcane Rupture and Magic Amplification skills to increase her overall damage and decrease her cooldowns.

Unlike the Igniter raiding build, Reflux builds are designed around dealing consistent damage with little downtime and without relying on her identity gauge. She has considerably higher mobility compared to Igniter because she's free to use her identity gauge on her Blink without losing damage.

What makes the Reflux Sorceress easy to play is the lack of timing required to deal damage. While Igniter Sorceress must align their burst intervals carefully, Reflux Sorceress has the pleasure of casting skills whenever she pleases. There are two ways to play Reflux Sorceress. There’s a build which uses weaker skills on a lower cooldown to pump out more consistent damage, and one which uses a skillset similar to Igniter except it prioritizes critical damage tripods over identity-related ones.

• Crit
• Swiftness
• Casting Build

Reflux Sorceress gameplay doesn’t change significantly over time, with the only main difference being her cooldowns decrease as you improve your gear. Her damage does not peak nearly as high as the Igniter Sorceress, but she instead excels at comfort and consistency over burst.

Check out the Guardian Raids and Abyssal Dungeons guides for an introduction to their content.

This build guide assumes you have a Character at Level 50 before transitioning to it. Check out the Sorceress Leveling and 1-50 Leveling guides to reach Level 50.

High Mobility ✔
No Positionals ✔
Ranged Counter ✔
High Uptime On Damage ✔

❌ Squishy
❌ Lack of Burst
❌ Lack of Mitigation
❌ Low Push Immunity

Raid Skill Build

• Blaze is your main skill used to apply synergy.
• Frost's Call deals good damage with high range. It also takes Enlightenment tripod to help you gain identity faster for using Blink more frequently.
• Squall is your main Counter skill. It has start up animations so don't cast it too late when countering. Ice Shower is an okay replacement if you don't want to be knocked down.
• Seraphic Hail is a mid-close range damaging skill.
• Punishing Strike is your big damaging skill.
• Esoteric Reaction is a high damage skill with good range.
• Rime Arrow is another great damaging skill that is easy to use. When casting this skill, you can use your Phase Leap to cancel the post cast animation. Can also be used in the same way with your casting-reflux skills.
• Reverse Gravity is another close range skill that does good damage. It's one of your most powerful skills if the boss does not leave the area.
• Once you gain access to the Nightmare Flower set bonus at 4-pieces or higher, you can also use Elegian's Touch or Squall to help maintain the Endless Mana state of the set effect.

• Crit/Swiftness
• Casting

Crit Build Variants

• Final Strike can be used if you are not running Keen Blunt Weapon.
• Doomsday can be replaced with Explosion.
• Inferno or Lightning Vortex can be a replacement for Frost's Call.

• Crit 1
• Crit 2

Swiftness Build Variants

• Doomsday can be replaced with Explosion.
• Inferno or Lightning Vortex can be a replacement for Frost's Call.

• Swift 1
• Swift 2
• Swift 3

Note that more variations are possible, which purely depend on your preferences, otherwise stick to the base build.

Gameplay & Skill Rotation

• Always try to maintain your synergy buff on the boss with Blaze whenever it’s available. The lingering burn on the ground allows the debuff to last 10-11 seconds before it needs to be reapplied.
• Instant-cast Reflux Sorceress is a constant damage based build, and so you can just keep pumping out your attacks as they are available.
• On the other hand, casting Reflux Sorceress is a semi-burst class. You don’t have to wait for your identity gauge, but ideally, you’re patient for openings and your support’s synergy before you cast your major skills in that variant.

• Instant-Cast Rotation
• Casting Rotation

Instant-Cast Rotation

1. Debuff with Blaze first.
2. Use everything else when it comes off cooldown.
3. Try to prioritize high cooldown skills like Punishing Strike if you have a choice in skill usage.

Casting Rotation

1. Blaze
2. Explosion
3. Doomsday
4. Punishing Strike
5. Rime Arrow
6. Esoteric Reaction
7. Frost's Call

Stats Priority

Reflux Sorceress stat priorities are Critical and Swiftness. Because this build uses a lot of critical damage tripods, it’s very important to be as consistent with critical hits as possible. Lower Swiftness can easily be made up for by having your identity Blink on-hand for emergency situations. Swiftness stacking can also work if you choose to proceed with the alternative build.

Engravings

Class Engravings provide powerful benefits that can significantly change playstyle. Battle Engravings are generally used to increase damage. Below are the recommended Engravings for this build.
Check out the Engraving Guide for more details.

Starter Engravings

The following Engravings have the highest priority for this class. Try to get these Engravings to Level 3 as soon as possible.

• Precise Dagger passively increases your critical hit chance. Reflux relies heavily on critical hits in order to do its maximum damage due to critical damage tripods found on a lot of the selected skills. The penalty on the engraving is -12% critical damage, but this is mitigated by the high amounts found on tripods. If you are not using the Final Strike tripods on your skills, then Precision Dagger is not used at all.
• Reflux is the main class engraving. It has no downsides, increases damage output while reducing cooldowns. It locks out Arcane Rupture and Magic Amplification, but those identity skills are not very useful without Specialization anyways. It's possible to play this build without the Reflux engraving, you'll just be missing out on some cooldown reduction.

Add-On Endgame Engravings

• Hit Master is a great engraving that boosts your overall damage. It has the same benefits as Cursed Doll with no drawbacks.
• Adrenaline is a good all purpose engraving. Increases your damage and crit chance with no drawbacks. It’s more efficient for damage than Precise Dagger in this build, but is harder to maintain and much more punishing if you’re unable to sustain it.
• All-Out Attack is a necessary engraving if you intend to play the casting variant of this build. As that version of the build has three long casting skills in it, it’s very important to reduce their channel time so that they don’t miss.

Advanced Engravings

Note: The Advanced Engravings are the Best in Slot setup for Tier 3 content. The penalties attached to these can be hard to overcome for new players. Only use the following engravings if you are experienced with the boss fights!

• Grudge* is the highest efficiency damage engraving vs. bosses. If you’re uncomfortable with the 20% increased damage penalty it carries, switch it with one of the additional choices below. Avoid using this at level 1; it's usable starting from level 2.
• Cursed Doll* is often the last choice engraving. It increases your damage, but reduces the amount of healing you receive.

(*)These Engravings should only be used at Engraving Level 3.

Optimal Setups

Engravings are listed in order of priority from left to right.

Instant-Cast Build (No Final Strike)

Raid Captain can also be used over Cursed Doll.
Keen Blunt Weapon can also be used over Cursed Doll.

Instant-Cast Build (Final Strike)

Raid Captain can also be used over Cursed Doll.

Casting Build (No Final Strike)

Casting Build (Final Strike)

Cursed Doll can be used over Precise Dagger depending on your Crit. Both work.

Gear Sets

These are the specific gear sets for each tier.
Check out the Gear Set Guide for more details.

"Play at your own pace" Route

Choose your gearscore tier

• Tier 1
• Tier 2
• Tier 3
• Argos

Tier 1

340 Gearscore

460 Gearscore

Tier 2

840 Gearscore

960 Gearscore

Tier 3

1302 - 1370 Gearscore

Argos

1370 - 1415 Gearscore

Speedrun or Alts Route

Tier 1 until Early Tier 3

340 - 1370 gearscore
Chaos Dungeon Sets

Tier 3 Argos Set

1370 - 1415 gearscore
Preordained Diligence Set

Tier 3 Valtan Mixed Sets

Started at 1415 - 1430 gearscore
Hold onto Preordained Diligence Set

Started at 1445+ gearscore
Follow the planner above

Runes

Runes enhance Skills with extra bonuses. All Rune drops are account bound and have limited availability, so placement of Runes on the correct Skills is important. Below are the recommended pairings.
Check the Rune Guide for more details.

• Rage is best used with Squall so it can increase the speed of our Skill Rotation. Particularly following a Counter which normally has a smaller damage window.
• Galewind is ideal for speeding up your best damage dealing skills.
• Quick Recharge is used for skills closer to the end of your rotation for highest effectiveness.
• Overwhelm is used to further improve the Stagger. If you don’t have all recommended runes, this rune is good to toss onto Punishing Strike.
• Focus reduces mana cost of skills. If you don’t have all recommended runes, this rune is good to toss onto your skills. This is especially the case with this build, where some players may be struggling with Mana upkeep.
• Bleed works best on Blaze due to low cooldowns.
• Wealth is used to help regain identity meter so you can Blink more frequently.

Gear Skill Tree and Tripods

While Gems add benefits to skills, you can also increase the effects of tripods themselves. Tripod levels go up to 5 and each level can increase the damage, cooldown reduction or buff that they provide.

For more information on how to add equipment tripods and how to get them, please visit our Skill Tree System Guide.

Gems

Gems grant bonus damage and cooldown reduction to specific skills. You can only equip 11 of these Gems at a time so it is recommended that you prioritize the Gems for your most important skills.

Please visit our Gem System Guide for more information like how to create higher tier Gems.

• Attack Gems
• Cooldown Gems

Attack Gems

Reverse Gravity
Seraphic Hail
Punishing Strike
Frost's Call
Esoteric Reaction
Rime Arrow

Cooldown Gems

Punishing Strike
Frost's Call
Esoteric Reaction
Reverse Gravity
Seraphic Hail

Card Sets

Cards are an endgame system for maximizing your character. Below are the recommend sets for this class.
Check out the Card Guide for more details on how to obtain them.

Budget Card Set

Optimal Damage Card Set

Video Guide

Summary

• Reflux has two builds or play styles to choose from. Instant-cast and casting. Casting does more damage while instant-cast is more fluid and fast paced.
• Generally Reflux Sorceress don't have any timings involved. You can cast skills as they come up. Just make sure to align your big skills with the buff from Bards and Paladins though.
• Blink is good mobility from your identity. Use it to reposition or dodge enemy telegraphs. Since this build has no Specialization, the rate in which you build your identity gauge is notably slower, so you should still be mindful of preserving at least one teleport in case of emergencies.
• This build is very mana hungry. If you’re struggling with upkeeping mana, supports provide mana regeneration, there is mana regeneration food, the Focus rune can mitigate some mana costs, and the Conviction rune combination can also be effective. After you've obtained the Nightmare Flower set in T3, there should no longer be mana issues.

Credits

Written by Saintone
Incorporated by Starlast
Reviewed by Raxxanterax

Changelog

May 18th 2022

Updated Gear Set section to include Valtan sets

Mar 11th 2022

Updated Gear Set section to include Argos sets and added "Optimal Setups" in Engraving section.

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