Tired of being juggled while watching your opponents be unfazed by your crowd control? Jumping into Lost Ark’s PVP blind can be quite the overwhelming and frustrating experience. Let’s break down the different types of Crowd Controls and Super Armors in this guide!
Season 1 of Lost Ark’s Competitive Proving Grounds is finally here, and many players will be eager to hop into PVP. Alongside competitive matchmaking, a PVP vendor has been added, allowing players to trade for honing materials, mounts, Combat XP Potions, and more. Lost Ark PVP has a rather high skill floor and ceiling, making it quite overwhelming for newer players to get into. Before attempting to learn the abilities of fifteen subclasses, and with more to come, it is important for players to learn the fundamentals first. For starters, players will need to understand the basics of Crowd Control (CC) and Super Armor (SA). This guide will serve as an introduction for newer players, and a reminder for returning players, on the various types of CCs and SAs.
Crowd Control and Super Armor are incredibly important when it comes to both initiating attacks and protecting yourself. Well-timed combinations of CC can often leave players incapacitated for long durations. Fortunately, protection systems exist in place to prevent players from being CC-chained for too long.
To help visualize, Lost Ark CC and SA can each be divided into three different levels. Starting with the weakest CC level is Paralysis, followed by Push, and finally Debuff/Hard CC. Similarly, Super Armor has Paralysis Immunity, Push Immunity, and Debuff Immunity. There is also Full Immunity that encompasses all three levels of Super Armor, providing immunity to all forms of CC.
Players can look at their Combat Skills and Skill Trees to see what forms of CC and SA are available for each skill. When looking at skill descriptions, make sure to hold down the ALT key in order to see the PVP version. Some skills that have immunities in PVE may not always keep them in PVP.
There are two types of Paralysis in PVP, known as Soft Paralysis and Hard Paralysis. Soft Paralysis is the weakest form of CC, but it is by no means any less deadly. This CC can be applied by the majority of attacks in the game onto targets standing still or in running animation. Soft Paralysis will cause the target to flinch for a brief millisecond, rendering them incapable of performing any action. This, however, will not work on targets in the middle of a skill or basic attack animation.
Hard Paralysis works in the same way except for the fact that it will register even on targets in skill or basic attack animation. Getting hit by a Hard Paralysis mid animation will interrupt the skill and put it on cooldown. Keep in mind, not all skills inflict Paralysis and some only apply it during certain portions of the skill. Unfortunately, this information is not officially listed in the game, so players must learn through experience what skills apply Paralysis.
Some skills and Skill Tree effects provide the Super Armor, Paralysis Immunity, that will protect you from both types of Paralysis. Be careful going after players with Paralysis Immunity up because they can easily turn on you and catch you off-guard. For some Paralysis Immunity skills, a white outline can be seen around the character when it is activated. With that being said, it is not recommended to rely on this visual cue because not all Paralysis Immunity skills will show this white outline.
Scales is one of the protection systems mentioned before, that prevents a player from being paralyzed endlessly. Whenever a player is subject to Paralysis continuously for three seconds, a scale icon will appear above their head. Scales will cause the player to be knocked down onto the ground for a moment before they are able to get up. During the animation for getting up, the player will gain a brief moment of Full Immunity, protecting them from all forms of CC. Players with Full Immunity will gain a yellow outline around their character. Keep in mind, Full Immunity does not initiate at the start of Scales, but only when the animation for getting up begins.
The Push CC consists of Knock Ups, Knock Backs, and Knock Downs, all of which will knock the target onto the ground. Targets on the ground will either need to use Stand Up or wait for their get up animation. These Push skills can be extremely dangerous as they can be used to juggle opponents in the air. While in the air, players will essentially be helpless and unable to perform any action until they hit the ground. Without Stand Up, players will still be vulnerable on the ground until their get up animation can provide Full Immunity.
Stand Up is a skill that players may only use when they are knocked down to the ground by Scales or opponents, allowing them to get up instantly and roll in the direction of their mouse. When used, Stand Up provides a second of Full Immunity, giving grounded players a chance to escape or counterattack. In PVP, Stand Up has a 15 second cooldown compared to 30 seconds in PVE. With the standard 750 stat points allocated to Swiftness, this cooldown can be lowered to roughly 13 seconds. Getting caught without this skill available can be very detrimental, so be careful when you use it!
Just like Paralysis Immunity, some Skills and Skill Tree effects will grant the Super Armor, Push Immunity. Push Immunity will not only protect against all Knock effects, but also both types of Paralysis. This Super Armor will be shown as a yellow outline around the character, much like Full Immunity. There is no visual distinction between the two, but with the limited sources of Full Immunity that we’ll go over later, players should be able to learn to distinguish them.
As previously mentioned, to prevent players from being juggled indefinitely, there are protection systems in place for the Push CC as well. First, if a player has been juggled for more than four seconds, their get up animation will happen faster than normal. Next, a player can only be subject to Push consecutively four times before they gain Full Immunity. Some skills may appear as if they Push multiple times, but they will still only count as one. Finally, if a player takes more than 30 percent of their health during a juggle, they will also gain Full Immunity
The final type of CC is Debuff, also known as Hard CC, and it comes in several different forms. This includes Stun, Freeze, Earthquake, Electrocute, Petrify, and Fear. This is considered the strongest form of CC because it bypasses both Paralysis and Push Immunity skills. Debuffs will incapacitate the target for a few seconds, preventing them from performing any skill during its duration. This applies even to targets that have been knocked onto the ground, which means they cannot use Stand Up. Aside from Freeze and Petrify, targets under Debuff can still be moved around by Push skills.
Outside of Full Immunity, the majority of subclasses will not have access to protection specifically against Debuffs, with the exception of Bards’ Guardian Tune. For the most part, Debuff Immunity will only occur during the protection system in place after a player has already been subject to Hard CC. Once a player has been affected by a Debuff, they will gain a bubble around their character and a blue timer bar above their heads for seven seconds. This will protect the players from any incoming Debuff attack, but they will still be subject to Paralysis and Push skills.
So, what else gives Full Immunity aside from Stand Up and the protection systems in place for Paralysis and Push? For most subclasses, it will generally only be your spacebar dash and your Awakening skill. Gunlancer’s Counter Gunlance is one of the few skills in the game with Full Immunity. Certain subclasses such as Berserkers, Shadowhunters, and Soulfists, have a brief moment of Full Immunity upon activation of their Identity skills. While useful, it is safer to try and dodge the CCs instead of attempting to time the activations for Full Immunity.
Lost Ark PVP can be incredibly fun and frustrating at the same time for newer players. It can take countless matches to fully understand your own subclass as well as fourteen others. Learning the fundamentals of Crowd Control and Super Armor can definitely help with your learning process. By applying the basics, you can be better prepared when facing off against unfamiliar opponents. Good luck and have fun!
