If you’ve just hit level 50 and wrapped up all your tier 1 content in Lost Ark, you’re probably staring at your gear score wondering what comes next, and how to get tier 2 set lost ark pieces to push past the 802 gear score wall. I remember fumbling through random dungeons for three days straight when I first hit this stage, wasting bound leapstones on gear that was useless a week later, so I put this guide together to help you avoid those same mistakes. We’ll cover everything from unlock prerequisites to the fastest farm routes, plus easy tricks to optimize your set for your specific class and playstyle.
Prerequisites You Need to Meet Before You Can Get Tier 2 Set in Lost Ark
You can’t jump straight into tier 2 content as soon as you hit level 50, no matter how much you want to skip the early endgame grind. First, you need to hit gear score 600 minimum to even access tier 2 content zones and pick up tier 2 quest rewards. If you’re sitting at 580 or 590, run a few extra tier 1 chaos dungeons to get the last few upgrade materials you need, it’ll save you a lot of frustration later.
You also have to complete the final tier 1 world quest line in North Vern, which unlocks the sailing routes to Rohendel, the main tier 2 continent. Don’t skip any of the North Vern quest steps, or you’ll get locked out of the Rohendel travel quest even if you meet the gear score requirement. Finally, make sure you have at least 50 bound harmony leapstones saved up, you’ll need them to upgrade your first few tier 2 pieces right away to get into higher level content faster. I skipped this step my first run, and had to go back to tier 1 content for two days to farm more leapstones, which was a total waste of time.
The Fastest Farm Routes for Tier 2 Set Pieces
Not all tier 2 content gives equal set drops, so you can save dozens of hours by focusing on the highest-value activities first. Ignore random side quests and low-tier guardian raids at first, and stick to this priority list to get your full set as fast as possible:
- Rohendel Main Quest Line: Completing all world quests in Rohendel will give you a full set of rare tier 2 gear as quest rewards, enough to push you to 802 gear score in just a few hours of play. This is the best starting point for new tier 2 players, no extra grinding required.
- Tier 2 Chaos Dungeons (ilvl 600-802): Once you hit 600, run these daily for extra set pieces, upgrade materials, and rare engraving books. You get two daily runs with double rewards, so don’t waste your entry on lower tier content once you unlock these.
- Abyss Dungeons (Rohendel Tier 2): These 8-player raids drop epic tier 2 set pieces that have way better stats than rare quest gear, plus set bonuses that boost your class-specific skills by up to 20%. Run these once per week per character to get the best possible tier 2 set pieces.
- Guardian Raids (Tier 2 Level 1-4): These daily raids give you the upgrade materials you need to level up your tier 2 set pieces, plus occasional rare set drops. Prioritize running the highest level guardian you can qualify for to get the most valuable materials per run.
If you’re playing a support class like Bard or Paladin, you can skip grinding chaos dungeons for set pieces entirely if you join Abyss Dungeon groups early, since most groups are happy to bring a well-played support even if their gear score is a little below the recommended threshold. But if you’re a DPS class, you’ll want to run your daily chaos dungeons first to boost your gear score enough to get accepted into Abyss groups without getting kicked.
How to Upgrade Your Tier 2 Set for Maximum Effect
Getting the set pieces is only half the battle, you need to upgrade them properly to hit the 1100 gear score threshold for tier 3 content. First, prioritize upgrading your weapon first, since it gives the biggest stat boost per upgrade, and makes all your content runs faster. I used to upgrade my armor first when I started playing, and I noticed my clear time for chaos dungeons was almost 30% slower than players who focused on their weapon first.
Don’t waste your rare upgrade materials on low-level rare tier 2 gear, wait until you get your epic Abyss Dungeon set pieces before you invest in upgrades past +10. Rare gear can only be upgraded to +15, but epic gear can go up to +20, and you can transfer upgrades from rare to epic gear for a small silver fee, so you don’t lose your investment. Also, make sure you apply the right engravings to your set pieces to match your build. For example, if you’re playing a Berserker, you’ll want to prioritize engraving pieces that boost your Mayhem engraving, while a Sharpshooter will want pieces that boost their Death Strike engraving. Don’t just apply random engravings to fill slots, you’ll end up wasting gold on engravings you can’t use later.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Farming Tier 2 Sets
A lot of players make avoidable mistakes when they first enter tier 2 content that add days or even weeks to their grind. The first mistake is wasting unbound upgrade materials on alt characters before you get your main character’s tier 2 set fully upgraded. Unbound materials are worth a lot of gold on the auction house, or you can use them to skip grind on your main, so don’t give them away to alts until your main is ready for tier 3.
Another mistake is buying random tier 2 set pieces from the auction house for inflated prices. Most tier 2 set pieces drop easily from Abyss Dungeons, so you don’t need to spend thousands of gold on a piece you can get for free in a single raid run, unless you’re missing one last piece to complete your set bonus and you’ve had bad drop luck for weeks. Third mistake is ignoring set bonuses for raw stat numbers. A full epic tier 2 set with a 20% skill damage bonus will always outperform a mix of rare and epic pieces with slightly higher individual stats, even if the gear score is the same. I learned this the hard way when I swapped out two set pieces for higher stat rare pieces, and my damage output dropped by almost 15% in Abyss raids.
Once you know exactly what content to prioritize and what mistakes to skip, figuring out how to get tier 2 set in Lost Ark doesn’t have to be a weeks-long grind. You can get a full rare set in one day of playing Rohendel’s main quest, and a full epic set in under two weeks if you run your weekly Abyss Dungeons and daily content consistently. Don’t rush through the process, take the time to upgrade your pieces properly, and you’ll be ready to jump into tier 3 content before you know it. If you have extra time, you can even farm extra tier 2 set pieces to use for your alt characters, cutting down their progression time significantly.