Lost Ark housing: How to unlock the Island Stronghold
Lost Ark doesn’t have a traditional housing system often found in other MMORGPs. Instead, it has an Island Stronghold, which serves as a customizable home base for all of the characters in your account.
The Island Stronghold is a key feature in Lost Ark, offering players an array of facilities that can aid in Crafting and other quality of life upgrades that will assist in tackling the endgame content. There’s also some customization options available so that you can personalize your Stronghold with furniture and decorative structures.
How do you unlock the Island Stronghold in Lost Ark?
To unlock the Island Stronghold for your characters in Lost Ark you must follow the Main Story quests until you obtain Eadalin’s Gift in North Vern. This happens around level 25 or 26.
Once you complete this quest, you can accept the guide quest (purple), “Secretary Theo’s Invitation” in your Quest Journal. Once you meet with King Syilian in Luterra, you’ll be granted your own Island Stronghold and you’ll learn the Song of Hearth and Home. This is a Teleportation Song that will take you to your Island instantly.Make sure you press F2 and assign it to a hotkey so you can easily access it.
Upon visiting the Stronghold for the first time, you’ll speak with Adeline and she will give you a series of short quests that explain the basic features of your Stronghold.
Stronghold Basics
Your Stronghold has its own level that is increased by researching in the Lab, crafting items, sending ships out on missions and completing weekly Stronghold quests. Performing tasks requires Action Energy which replenishes over time.
The most important part of your Stronghold is the Lab. This is where you can upgrade your Stronghold, unlock crafting recipes and research new items. Researching requires materials (iron ore from mining and timber from logging), Silver and, well, the time it takes to complete.
In addition to the Lab, your Stronghold will eventually contain the Crafting Workshop for Battle Items, food, Stronghold items and more; the Station to send your crew out on missions to acquire resources and XP; the Manor, which provides buffs and bonuses; the Training zone to passively train your alt characters; and Trade Merchants to purchase various goods.