If you’ve spent hours grinding Lost Ark’s tier 1 content, you’ve probably hit that frustrating wall where your item level stalls, and every new dungeon feels like it’s hitting way too hard. Figuring out how to get to tier 2 gear in Lost Ark doesn’t have to be a confusing, week-long grind if you know exactly which activities to prioritize and which shortcuts actually work. I’ve gone through this process on three separate alts over the last year, and I’ve cut the total time to hit tier 2 from 10 days down to 3, just by cutting out unnecessary tasks that don’t move the needle for your item level. This guide breaks down every step you need, no fluff, no paid shortcut nonsense, just what actually works for free-to-play and paying players alike.
How to Get to Tier 2 Gear in Lost Ark: First, Hit the Tier 1 Item Level Cap
Before you can access any tier 2 content or gear, you first need to hit the tier 1 item level threshold of 600. A lot of new players overcomplicate this step by wasting resources on non-essential upgrades, but it’s far simpler than you think. You only need to hit item level 600 to access tier 2 content, you don’t need to max out every single tier 1 accessory or engraving first. Any time you spend grinding for perfect tier 1 engravings or stats is time wasted, since those pieces will be obsolete the second you swap to tier 2 gear.
Your only goal during this phase is to collect enough tier 1 upgrade materials to push all your core gear pieces (weapon, helm, chest, gloves, pants, shoulders) to +15, which will get you exactly to 600 item level. The fastest way to hit 600 is to prioritize upgrade materials over everything else during your daily and weekly runs. Don’t get distracted by side quests, rapport grinds, or collectible hunts unless they offer a one-time reward of a large stack of upgrade materials. Those activities are fun to do later, but they won’t help you hit tier 2 any faster.
If you’re a free-to-play player, you might hit a small bottleneck with harmony leapstones, which are rarer than regular upgrade stones. That’s normal, and there are specific activities you can target to get more of these without spending real money, which we’ll cover in the next section.
Prioritize These High-Reward Activities for Tier 1 Upgrade Materials
Once you know you don’t need to waste time on low-value tier 1 content, you can focus exclusively on activities that drop the harmony shards, harmony leapstones, and destruction/protection stones you need to upgrade your gear to 600. I’ve tested every possible activity combination for gearing alts, and these are the only ones worth spending your time on:
- Daily Chaos Dungeon runs (2 per day per character): These drop the highest volume of harmony shards and base upgrade stones, plus you can sell extra gear for silver to cover upgrade costs. Run the highest item level chaos dungeon you have access to, even if you can’t clear it 100% fast, the material drop rate is far higher than lower tiers.
- Weekly Unas Tasks that reward harmony leapstones: Skip any Unas Tasks that give silver or rapport rewards, pick the 3 weekly tasks that give the most leapstones first, as these are the biggest bottleneck for most free-to-play players.
- Abyssal Dungeon weekly clears: Tier 1 Abyssal Dungeons give enough leapstones and shards to cover 2-3 full gear upgrades per run, and they only take 10-15 minutes each if you join a matchmaking group.
- Event shop exchanges: Always check the current in-game event shop first for free upgrade materials, most events give out thousands of harmony shards and dozens of leapstones for very minimal effort, like logging in daily or doing a few easy quests.
Don’t fall into the trap of grinding island quests for hours unless you’re specifically chasing a one-time material reward. Most island quests give very little upgrade material per hour spent, unless the island is part of a limited-time event. If you’re really stuck on leapstones, you can also buy a small amount from the in-game market with gold, but only do that if you have extra gold left over after buying engravings or other necessities. It’s never worth spending real money on tier 1 materials, since you’ll outgrow them in a matter of days.
What to Do Immediately After Hitting Item Level 600
You just hit 600 item level, so you’re almost there, right? A lot of players make the mistake of jumping straight into tier 2 chaos dungeons at this point, but that’s a waste of time. Your first stop after hitting 600 should be the Yorn continent main story quest line. The Yorn quests unlock automatically once you hit 600, and they give you a full set of 600 item level tier 2 gear for free, no grinding required, by the time you finish the final quest in the line.
This free set is more than enough to get you started with tier 2 content, and you don’t need to farm for better gear right away. You don’t need to upgrade your old tier 1 gear any further once you get your free tier 2 set, you can dismantle all your old tier 1 gear for extra silver and materials to use on tier 2 upgrades. I made this mistake on my first character, I spent 2 days upgrading my tier 1 gear to 620 before I realized the Yorn quest line gives me a full 600 set that I can upgrade way faster, so don’t waste your resources like I did.
Once you have your full tier 2 set, you’re officially done with the process of how to get to tier 2 gear in Lost Ark, and you can start focusing on pushing to higher item levels for tier 3 content. You’ll now have access to tier 2 chaos dungeons, guardian raids, and abyssal dungeons, which drop the honor shards and honor leapstones you need to upgrade your new tier 2 gear. If you want to speed up this process, you can follow the same priority list you used for tier 1 materials, just swap out the tier 1 activities for their tier 2 equivalents.
Common Mistakes That Slow Down Your Tier 2 Gearing Progress
Even if you follow all the steps above, there are a few common mistakes that can add days or even weeks to your gearing time, so it’s good to avoid them from the start. First, don’t waste your honor shards (the tier 2 upgrade material) on low-level tier 2 accessories. Accessories have very little impact on your item level compared to your armor and weapon, so always upgrade your armor and weapon first before touching accessories. You can pick up cheap, decent accessories from the market for a few hundred gold if you need a small stat boost, but don’t waste upgrade materials on them.
Second, don’t skip your weekly abyssal dungeon runs for tier 2, they give you a chance to get legendary tier 2 gear that has way higher upgrade potential than rare gear, and they also drop a lot of honor leapstones that are hard to get elsewhere. Matchmaking for these runs is usually fast, and most groups are forgiving of new players as long as you say you’re new before the run starts.
Third, don’t hoard your upgrade materials waiting for a “perfect” gear drop. You can transfer 100% of your upgrade progress to a new piece of gear of the same tier, so it’s always safe to upgrade your current gear even if you think you might get a better piece later. Transferring upgrades only costs a small amount of silver, so you never lose progress when you swap to a better gear piece. I’ve seen players sit on hundreds of dollars worth of upgrade materials for weeks waiting for a perfect legendary drop, and they end up falling way behind their friends who just upgrade their gear as they go.
At the end of the day, figuring out how to get to tier 2 gear in Lost Ark is way simpler than most guides make it out to be. You don’t need to spend 8 hours a day grinding, you just need to prioritize the right activities, skip low-value tasks that don’t give you upgrade materials, and avoid the common mistakes that waste your hard-earned resources. I’ve helped dozens of friends in my guild get to tier 2 in less than a week of casual play, so these steps work for every type of player, whether you play 1 hour a day or 5. Once you get to tier 2, you’ll unlock a ton of fun new content, including new raids, islands, and story quests that make all the grind worth it.