Lost Ark Destroyer Guide (Builds, Engravings, and Tips)

Destroyer Class Guide – Lost Ark

The Destroyer is the upcoming new warrior class in Lost Ark. If you enjoy playing warrior classes and love smashing enemies with devastating attacks, then you will enjoy playing the Destroyer.

Destroyers are well known for being able to do a ton of damage, weak point (Destruction) and doing a lot of stagger which is crucial in legion raids. Destroyer has good defense, boss taunt, as well as shields which makes him a greattanky class.

Many of the Destroyer skills have an AOE component and many of them can wipe out hordes in a single cast. Some of the hardest hitting ones are used as primary single target damage skills. Major damage skills have charge times, although you can often spec to remove the charge time for a slightly weaker output.

The Destroyer Purple skills have destruction (weak point) attached to them and are the source of the top tier stagger the class has..

If you are looking for a class that can do lots of damage through huge burst, while being in the front of the boss in the middle of the action, look no further. Destroyer seems easy to play with but in fact it requires a decent amount of practice to master and inflict maximum damage. This is because all of his main damage skills are frontal attacks and charging skills, so it requires correct positioning and timing. If you’re planning on leveling this class, please, read our Destroyer leveling guide.

Comparisons to other classes

Currently there are three other warrior classes, Berserker, Gunlancer and Paladin. The Paladin is a support class that does some damage, while the Berserker is pure damage and Gunlancer is a tank class that does good damage.

Destroyer is most similar to Gunlancer in the fact that it is considered a partial tank class with very good damage output and a taunt.

Compared to the other melee damage classes in the game, you have a lot less mobility but more defense and shields as well as high damage skills. In order to understand how powerful Destroyer in the current meta, we highly encourage you to check out our Lost Ark PvP and PvE classes tier list.

Class Mechanics

Destroyer buildup their gravity gauge by using purple skills when fully charged with gravity cores, Gravity cores are generated by doing damage with their blue skills.

When the gravity gauge is full you can use it to enter the Gravity Mode or (Smashing Mode) which grants the destroyer big shield as well as immunity to CC, while in the Gravity Mode you can’t use skills only auto attacks.

PvE

You will spend most of your time as a Destroyer using blue skills to generate gravity cores and waiting for windows to cast your purple skills, depending on which playstyle and skills you choose.

You will also pay attention to your positioning to set yourself in the front of the boss to inflict maximum damage. Although you will taunt the boss, don’t lose sight of the main reason you are in the group – to do tons of damage!

PvP

In PvP, Destroyer would focus on using blue skills to generate gravity cores and CC his enemies and choose the right time to use the purple skills while the enemy is CCed or on the ground to inflict high damage. And in case of many enemies coming on your way you can use the Z mode which gives a big shield and slows everyone around you. This is a great opportunity for your teammates to cast their skills while the enemy is being slowed.

The bane of any Destroyer is good ranged, keeping a distance from you and casting their skills from afar., especially a well played Sorceress. By using your Z mode wisely and coordinating with your team, you can play in the front lines and continue to be effective with your skills.

Core Abilities

Perfect Swing

Swinging the hammer and doing crazy damage is what being a Destroyer is all about. This is by far your hardest hitting skill and it has a charge time but can be talented to be instant cast with lower damage output. It’s great for single target damage, has high stagger and does weak point damage.

Seismic Hammer

This is an essential skill all Destroyers will use. It’s easy to use and reliable; jumping in the air and landing causing spikes ro rise up from the ground. This skillis fast with no charging time and easy to land on enemies. It’s great for single target or AOE, has high stagger and does weak point damage.

Earth Eater

The Destroyer flips the hammer from front to back, which then hits the ground behind and deals small damage to the enemy. It charges 2 times; the height of the hammer and gradually increases with each charge. This skill does respectable single target damage and can do very high stagger and weak point damage.

Full Swing

After moving the hammer to his back, the Destroyer swings the hammer 360 degrees and turns it with the power of inertia to attack his surroundings and push back the enemies in front of you. It’s good for single target or AOE, has high stagger and does weak point damage.

Endure Pain

This skill is important because it grants the Destroyer immunity to knockback, so it is important to cast it before using your hardest hitting skill (Perfect Swing).This will minimize the chances of the skill being canceled by enemy attacks.

Awakening Abilities

Terra Break

Slams the ground in front with a hammer, and gravity energy falls from the sky. The earth cracks and a gravitational field unfolds knocking downAll enemies within the area.Enemies are then quickly launched into the air. Also, 100% of the Gravity Gauge is restored when using the skill.

Big Bang

Gathers the power of gravity and causes a huge explosion, dealing damage to enemies within a 3.2m radius and blowing them away. While gathering the power of gravity, collisions with normal monsters are ignored, all damage received is reduced by 50%, and you are immune to CCn addition, it is possible to move while continuously gathering the force of gravity, and the explosion radius is increased up to 8m and the damage is increased.

Most people use Big Bang exclusively since the damage output of Terra Break is lower and its casting time is higher.

Advanced Class Engravings

Every Lost Ark class has access to engravings that will focus your playstyle in one particular direction. For Destroyer you will choose between Hammer of Rage and Gravity Training. They are two completely different playstyles.

Hammer of Rage

• If you want to have some of the highest burst in the game (BIG NUMBERS!), this is for you. This engraving will increase the damage of your purple skills, by giving you more crit and crit damage depending on how many gravity cores you have at the moment of using the purple skill.
• The downside is that you need to accurately time and position yourself to do maximum damage otherwise you will miss your skills and you will lose most of your damage. Since all of your hardest hitting skills have a charge time and frontal attacks, unless you know the boss’s patterns really well- you will probably miss… a lot!
• For this build, you will need a lot of Crit so you must prioritize crit stat. You will need all the crit that you can get to do more damage with your skills. Swiftness is also good to reduce cooldowns and reduce charge time.
• Optimum ratio is 70% Crit ,30% Swiftness

Gravity Training

• This engraving fills your identity gauge with time and during Z mode increases damage and crit. The goal in this build is to charge your identity gauge fast and use it as soon as it is full
• If you like the Z mode or if you like smashing enemies brutally, this is the build for you.
• Unlike the Hammer of Rage build, you can use purple skills with or without charge depending on your preference.
• Since the goal is to fill the gauge meter faster, You need a lot of specialization to build your meter faster and do more damage with your purple skills. Crit is also good to increase your damage.
• Optimum ratio is 70% Spec ,30% Crit

Builds

Hammer of Rage Build

This build encourages you to take all the hard-hitting long charge time skills like Perfect Swing, Full Swing, and Earth Eater. Your focus is to generate gravity cores and once you have 3 cores use one of your purple skills in a frontal attack.

Here are some of the skill explanations and tripods you will take. Make sure to max your purple skills first which include Perfect Swing, Seismic Hammer, Full Swing and Earth Eater (level 10), and then your blue skills.

• Perfect Swing
  • 1-2-2 (charge) or 1-2-1 (no charge)
  • It is your hardest hitting skill and main part of your big damage rotation
  • Use it after accruing 3 gravity cores
  • Make sure to position yourself in front of boss
    It can be used from the back but will have lower damage than frontal
• Seismic Hammer
  • 1-3-1
  • Part of your big damage rotation
  • Use it after accruing 3 gravity cores
  • Make sure to position yourself in front of the boss
  • It can be used from the back but has lower damage than frontal
• Full Swing
  • 2-3-1 (charge) or 2-3-2 (no charge)
  • Part of your big damage rotation
  • Use it after accruing 3 gravity cores
  • Make sure to position yourself in front of the boss
• Earth Eater
  • 1-1-1
  • Part of your big damage rotation
  • Use it after accruing 3 gravity cores
  • Make sure to position yourself in front of the boss
• Heavy Crush
  • 1-0-0
  • Use it to generate 1 gravity core
• Dreadnought
  • 1-1-2
  • Use it to counter boss and to generate 2 gravity cores
• Jumping Smash
  • 3-3-2
  • Use it to generate 2 gravity cores and to put a debuff on boss that makes them take 12% increased damage from all party members for 14 seconds
• Endure Pain
  • 1-3-1
  • Use it to generate 3 gravity cores and grant immunity for the Destroyer against knockbacks, it can also taunt the boss
• Awakening Ability
  • Big Bang

Stat Priority

• Prioritize Crit and make Swiftness your secondary stat.
• Optimum ratio is 70% Crit ,30% Swiftness

Runes

• Galewind runes on all your charging skills
• Rage or bleed on Heavy Crush and Dreadnought because of their low CD
• Overwhelm rune on earth eater to achieve high stagger
• Everything else is preference

Engraving

• Hammer of Rage lvl 3 – must have for the build
• Supercharge lvl 3 is a must in this build since most of the main damage skills have charging time
• Grudge, Barricade, Cursed Doll lvl 3 can be great engravings once you are an advanced player and can slot them in
• Master Brawler lvl 3 is also a good engraving once you mastered correct positioning
• Priority order Hammer of Rage, Supercharge, Barricade, Grudge, (Cursed Doll or Master Barwell) based on your personal preference
• Keen Sharp blunt is not recommended because you don’t crit all the time and the downside of it can affect your dps since most of your skills are single hit.

Gems

• Prioritize Damage and Cooldown on all the purple skills- Perfect Swing, Full Swing, Seismic Hammer, and Earth eater
• Endure Pain and Jumping Smash should have a Cooldown gem
• Last slot can be Cooldown gem on either Dreadnought or heavy crush

Gravity Training Build

This build is about filling your z mode meter gauge fast and using Z mode to inflect high damage in addition to using purple skills.

You can use the purple skills (perfect swing and full swing) on either without charge as a beginner or you can use purple skills with charge once you mastered correct positioning and timing

Here are some of the skill explanations and tripods you will take. Make sure to max your purple skills first which include Perfect Swing, Seismic Hammer, Full Swing and Earth Eater (level 10), and then your blue skills.

• Perfect Swing
  • 1-2-2 (charge) or 1-2-1 (no charge)
  • It is your hardest hitting skill and main part of your big damage rotation
  • Use it after accruing 3 gravity cores
  • Make sure to position yourself in front of boss
  • It can be used from the back but will have lower damage than frontal
• Seismic Hammer
  • 1-3-1
  • Part of your big damage rotation
  • Use it after accruing 3 gravity cores
  • Make sure to position yourself in front of the boss
  • It can be used from the back but has lower damage than frontal
• Full Swing
  • 2-3-1 (charge) or 2-3-2 (no charge)
  • Part of your big damage rotation
  • Use it after accruing 3 gravity cores
  • Make sure to position yourself in front of the boss
• Earth Eater
  • 1-1-1
  • Part of your big damage rotation
  • Use it after accruing 3 gravity cores
  • Make sure to position yourself in front of the boss
• Heavy Crush
  • 1-0-0
  • Use it to generate 1 gravity core
• Dreadnought
  • 1-1-2
  • Use it to counter boss and to generate 2 gravity cores
• Jumping Smash
  • 3-3-2
  • Use it to generate 2 gravity cores and to put debuff on boss that make boss takes 12% increased damage from all party members for 14 seconds
• Endure Pain
  • 1-3-1
  • Use it to generate 3 gravity cores and grants immunity for destroyer against knockbacks, it can also taunt the boss
• Awakening Ability
  • Terra break to charge the Z Gauge meter

Stat Priority

• Prioritize Specialization and make Crit your secondary stat.
• Optimum ratio is 70% Spec ,30% Crit

Runes

• Galewind runes on purple skills
• Rage or bleed on Heavy Crush and Dreadnought because of their low CD
• Overwhelm rune on earth eater to achieve high stagger
• Everything else is preference

Engraving

• Gravity Training lvl 3 – must have for the build
• Barricade lvl 3 and Grudge lvl 3 are the best engravings for this build
  Cursed Doll lvl 3 is a great 4th engraving
• Spirit Absorption or Master Brawler lvl 3 can make great engravings once you are an advanced player and can slot either one of them in (depend on preference)
• Priority order Gravity Training, Barricade, Grudge, Cursed Doll, (Spirit absorption or Master Barwell) based on your personal preference

Gems

• Prioritize Damage gem on Z mode
• Prioritize Damage and Cooldown on all the purple skills- Perfect Swing, Full Swing, Seismic Hammer, and Earth eater
• Endure Pain and Jumping Smash should have a Cooldown gem

Thanks for reading! For more articles and guides, check out the rest of our Lost Ark blog.