Lost Ark Destroyer Guide: How To Build A Destroyer

Lost Ark Destroyer Guide: How To Build A Destroyer – In this Lost Ark Destroyer Guide, I’m going to show you what it means to play as a Destroyer in terms of how well they perform in combat, the best Skills and Tripods to focus on, and the playstyles available to them. If you’re searching for a Warrior who deals devastating damage with his huge Hammer while serving as a tank for the party, then this Lost Ark Destroyer Guide is for you!

Be sure to check out our other Lost Ark Class Guides including: Shadowhunter, Sorceress, Gunslinger, Paladin, Gunlancer, Deathblade, Wardancer, Scrapper, Berserker, Bard, Deadeye, Striker, Artillerist, Soulfist & Glaivier!

Lost Ark Destroyer Guide: How To Build A Destroyer

Destroyers are one of the Advanced Classes that fall under the Warrior Class. They wield a Gravity Hammer to obliterate their enemies while manipulating the earth for added damage. In terms of difficulty, Destroyers are quite average – on one hand, they’re only required to execute Frontal Attacks, yet on the other, they move slowly compared to the rest of the Classes. Similar to the Berserker, it takes practice to properly maneuver this character.

Excellent Burst and Sustain Damage
Considerable Stagger and Weak Point Damage
Tanky Damage Dealer
Average to Low Mobility
Long Skill Animations

As a Lost Ark Destroyer, you’re able to deal massive amounts of damage in the melee range while gaining tons of advantage because of your multifaceted Specialty. This lets you unleash destruction everywhere you go, leaving behind the remains of those who dare face you. What makes this class shine above the rest of the Warriors is their skills, which allow them to inflict great Stagger and Weak Point Damage. As such, they’re sought after in Guardian Raids.

They also have high survivability due to their Paralysis Immunity Super Armors that lets them continue attacking enemies without getting interrupted. If you’re a beginner and you’ve been wanting to try out the Destroyer, you’ll have to be mindful when it comes to his average to low mobility and long skill animations. Once you learn to master these, you’ll be able to dominate the battlefield.

Destroyer Class Role and Identity

The Lost Ark Destroyer is a Melee DPS Class that deals impeccable burst and sustained damage, much like the Berserker. What makes them a good tank are their abilities to taunt enemies, take a ton of damage, and inflict Defense Reduction Debuffs. Moreover, depending on the skills they equip, they can even boost the Stagger Damage dealt by all of their allies. These make them critical in encounters on top of inflicting heavy damage because of their Hammers. The drawback to playing as a Destroyer, however, is their low mobility, making it a bit of a challenge to traverse from one area to the next. Their skills also have longer animation times so they need to be precise in what to activate next and where to position themselves, especially when they’re facing highly mobile Bosses.

All Advanced Classes in Lost Ark have unique Specialties or Identities that differentiate them from the other classes. These can either unleash more damage or enhance the buffs they grant. For the Lost Ark Destroyer, it’s the Gravity Core and Gravity Meter Identities, which are both filled up when you attack enemies. For Gravity Core, you need to specifically use Concentration Skills until you fill up all 3 orbs. You can then switch to activating one Gravity Release Skill and then repeating the cycle. The technique here is to combine Concentration Skills in order to amplify the damage provided by a Release Skill by +45%. Doing so will also grant a shield.

On the other hand, the Gravity Meter is an extension of the Gravity Core. At max value, you’ll be able to enter Hypergravity, which will give you access to the Vortex Gravity Ability. So every time you bring your Hammer down, you ought to deal massive Stagger Damage while pulling enemies towards you. Both Identities make the Destroyer a highly formidable opponent to go up against as long as you master his positioning and timing perfectly.

Lost Ark Destroyer Best Skills and Tripods

By the time your Lost Ark Destroyer reaches Level 60, you will have unlocked a total of 19 skills comprised of Concentration, Gravity Release, and Awakening Skills. To add to this, you’ve invested several points into Concentration and Release Skills to specialize further by unlocking their respective Tripods. The Tripod System allows players to customize skills in various ways by improving damage or reducing the cooldown of respective abilities. In total, you only need 8 skills for the Destroyer with a select number of tripods. In this section, I’ll cover the essential Concentration and Release Skills and tripods for both playstyles that are worth 288 skill points in total.

Lost Ark Destroyer Concentration Skills and Tripods

Heavy Crush (Skill Lv. 4) – This is a simple yet decent skill to have because it’s straightforward to use and it has a very short cooldown. You’ll only have to position yourself in front of your targets to crush them with your massive Hammer. Doing so will instantly grant you 1 Gravity Core while dealing some Stagger Damage. For Heavy Crush, reaching Skill Lv. 4 with the Quick Hit Tripod is sufficient as this reduces charge uptime.

Dreadnaught (Skill Lv. 7) – This is the standard Counter Skill, which lets the Lost Ark Destroyer hit the target twice from the ground and upon jumping. Dreadnaught is a versatile ability due to the Weak Point and Stagger Damage inflicted. Since you only need to reach Skill Lv. 7, the best tripods to take are Armor Destruction to briefly lower the enemy’s defenses and Toughened Body to reduce the damage you take. On hit, Dreadnaught grants 2 Gravity Cores.

Jumping Smash (Skill Lv. 7) – This is an excellent gap closer thanks to the Superior Change Tripod. Jumping Smash also allows you to control your character’s direction by pointing the cursor to where the Hammer should hit. Additionally, you’ll want to get Armor Destruction to inflict the Defense Reduction Debuff on your target. What you can do is to start with Jumping Smash, followed by Heavy Crush to accumulate 3 Gravity Cores at the start of the encounter. As a result, you’ll be able to immediately deal massive damage with any of your Release Skills.

Endure Pain (Skill Lv. 10) – One of the most essential skills to obtain for the Lost Ark Destroyer upon hitting Level 50 is Endure Pain as it grants him Push Immunity as well as a significant reduction in damage for a few seconds. Since this also grants 3 Gravity Cores on hit, he’ll be able to make use of any of the available Release Skills whether it’s to deal great Stagger Damage or to inflict massive burst damage. Moreover, Endure Pain will help him tank effectively in part due to the Taunt Tripod. The other upgrades to take are Wide Hit to enhance AoE radius and Hidden Pain to further reduce incoming damage by about -90%, which is massive.

Lost Ark Destroyer Alternative Concentration Skills and Tripods

Regardless of the Class Engraving you choose for the Lost Ark Destroyer, it’s good to consider the following alternatives for certain Concentration Skills depending on how you want to play your character. Does having another Counter Ability sound more suitable for you? Or how about granting a damage buff for the entire party to effectively stagger enemies? I’ll answer all of these and more.

Power Strike (Skill Lv. 7) – This is a faster Counter Skill than Dreadnaught due to the Agile Movement Tripod, which grants an Attack Speed boost. Remember that for Power Strike, reaching Skill Lv. 7 is sufficient, meaning, you’ll only need another upgrade, specifically, Armor Destruction to lower the target’s defenses. Equipping Power Strike will result in removing Jumping Smash for the reason of having 2 Counter Abilities at your disposal. This is especially useful if Dreadnaught is on cooldown. Since you’ll no longer have a gap closer, you may wish to try the new combination out once you’re more adept at piloting the Destroyer. Power Strike provides 2 Gravity Cores on hit.

Running Crash (Skill Lv. 7) – Another option to close the gap but this makes the Lost Ark Destroyer tough to control. What happens is he’ll be surging forward and during that time, you wouldn’t be able to change his direction. However, the advantage of taking Running Crash over Jumping Smash is the Target Focus Tripod because it boosts you and your allies’ Stagger Damage by +20%. Alternatively, you can replace Dreadnaught for this skill if you’re participating in activities like Chaos Dungeons, which don’t require the use of Counterattacks. The other tripod you’d want to select is Toughened Body to mitigate the damage you receive. Running Crash provides 2 Gravity Cores.

Power Shoulder (Skill Lv. 7) – This is the last gap closer thanks to the Objective Complete Tripod. You can equip Power Shoulder instead of Dreadnaught if you don’t need to do any Counters nor inflict Weak Point Damage. Now compared to Running Crash, this skill provides a bit more flexibility in terms of control. On its second combo, you’re allowed to move your cursor to change your direction. Similar to Running Crash, you should choose the Toughened Body Tripod to receive much less damage. Power Shoulder grants 2 Gravity Cores.

Lost Ark Destroyer Gravity Release Skills and Tripods

For all Gravity Release Skills, the goal is to level them up to Skill Lv. 10 because they’ll be your main source of Stagger and Weak Point Damage together with burst damage.

Earth Eater (Skill Lv. 10) – This is one of the best Release Skills available to the Lost Ark Destroyer because of its massive Stagger and Weak Point Damage. The best tripods to take for Earth Eater are Enhanced Strike, Tenacity, and Earthen Rage. This combination significantly amplifies the Hammer and the ability’s damage, and grants you Push Immunity. However, if you’re just starting out, you can temporarily replace Earthen Rage with Rock Storm since the latter provides mobility and control. This is similar to the Berserker’s Whirlwind Skill where you spin around in circles to attack multiple enemies for a while. On the other hand, if you wish to practice the Destroyer’s positioning capabilities, you can switch the Earth Eater Skill for one more gap closer in addition to Jumping Smash.

Full Swing (Skill Lv. 10) – Another great source of Stagger Damage where you similarly spin out of control to deal huge damage with your Hammer. What’s amazing with Full Swing is you’ll still be able to go towards your intended direction via the cursor. The best tripods to choose are Agile Movement, Scary Hammer, and Beast’s Eye. This combination boosts Attack Speed, enhances the damage of your Hammer after every swing, and improves your overall spin damage.

Perfect Swing (Skill Lv. 10) – Unlike the first two Release Skills, Perfect Swing and Seismic Hammer specializes in dealing burst and Weak Point Damage at the front or back of the targets. Let’s first talk about Perfect Swing. This skill lets you perform a single excellent swing to inflict great damage. To make it more effective against bosses, it’s best to select Weak Point Detection. Next, you ought to choose Unnecessary Time as this reduces charge time while boosting your Attack Speed. The final tripod you should consider is Hour of Slaughter because it alters Perfect Swing’s mode from Charge to Normal for immediate execution on top of improving its damage.

Seismic Hammer (Skill Lv. 10) – Last but not least is Seismic Hammer, which is an amazing skill that lets you conjure walls around the target to deal massive damage due to Starving Strength. The other tripods to select are Quick Prep and Absolute Strength. Quick Prep lowers Seismic Hammer’s cooldown while Absolute Strength amplifies the damage dealt against powerful enemies.

Lost Ark Destroyer Engravings and Stats

In Lost Ark, every Advanced Class unlocks Engravings that allow you to further specialize in your chosen class as these grant special effects, which you can activate by reading Recipe Books and equipping Accessories and Ability Stones. You’re able to obtain them as random rewards by completing endgame activities such as Chaos and Abyss Dungeons, and Guardian Raids.

In this section, I’m going to talk about the Lost Ark Destroyer Engravings, which determine the playstyle you wish to adopt for your character and are class-specific abilities and traits. You gain access to this when you reach higher levels. The 2 Class Engravings available to the Destroyer are Gravity Training and Rage Hammer. Let’s first discuss the Gravity Training Class Engraving or playstyle together with the Stats that go with it.

Destroyer Gravity Training Playstyle

Gravity Training allows the Lost Ark Destroyer to quickly accumulate Gravity Meter Energy. Upon entering Hypergravity, the Attack Damage and Crit Rate of all skills including the Vortex Gravity Ability are significantly amplified, especially at Level 3, making you a beast in encounters.

In terms of Gravity Training’s Combat Stats, you’ll want to prioritize Specialization followed by Crit when gearing up. This setup not only enhances the efficiency at which you fill up your Gravity Meter, but it also boosts the damage of Release Skills thanks to the Gravity Core buffs. Additionally, your Crit Rate is improved.

Destroyer Rage Hammer Playstyle

Comparatively, Rage Hammer further increases the Crit Rate and Crit Damage of Release Skills depending on the Gravity Cores consumed. The more cores, the better.

In terms of Rage Hammer’s Combat Stats, you should focus on Crit to enhance your Crit Chances and then Swiftness for better Attack Speed and Movement Speed. The latter should also reduce the cooldown rate of your skills. If you can obtain more suitable gear, you ought to consider adding in Specialization to further boost your Release Skills’ damage.

Final Thoughts

As a Lost Ark Destroyer, you’ll experience an adjustment period, especially if you’re used to playing swift and agile classes like the Deathblade and Scrapper. Getting used to the tells of your enemies and determining the optimal timing for the execution of your skills are crucial to surviving and winning in combat. In PvP, Destroyers still rely on these things in addition to proper positioning since they’ll be going up against mobile players. However, they’re difficult to put down due to their Super Armors, Counterattacks, and Stagger Damage.

The Destroyer’s skill rotation is pretty straightforward in theory but quite complicated to execute due to the long animations. As such, remember that you can freely use your Spacebar at any point to cancel said animation altogether. Going back to the rotation, you’ll often start with a gap closer like Jumping Smash, Running Crash, or Power Shoulder. This will then be followed by Heavy Crush. At which point, you’ll have 3 Gravity Cores to maximize the damage output of any of your Release Skills. After activating one of them, use Concentration Skills once more until you acquire 3 more cores. Rinse and repeat.

Lastly, remember to trigger Hypergravity only when you’re certain that your target will remain in place for several seconds, that is, they won’t be jumping around or charging after other players. What you want is to ensure that all of your attacks will hit them to deal the most amount of damage possible.

Stay tuned for more Lost Ark Class Guides and be sure to check out our Lost Ark Wiki or drop by our Twitch Channel if you have questions about the game. What did you think of this Lost Ark Destroyer Class Guide? What Advanced Class are you enjoying the most? Let us know in the comments below!