Tier 4 in Lost Ark is not a single place; it is a stack of item-level gates spread across North Kurzan and the Kazeros War Map. Each major activity unlocks at a specific item level, and the daily and weekly loops change as you move from 1600 to 1660 and beyond. If you know where each activity lives and what it rewards, you can plan your Aura of Resonance and weekly entries without wasting a gate.
What changed
The Arkesia Ignited update in October 2024 introduced Tier 4 as Lost Ark’s next endgame evolution. The entry point is the new continent North Kurzan, which requires item level 1600, completion of the South Kurzan world quest, the Kazeros Raid Overture prologue quest, and the Epic Raid Behemoth prologue quest. Once the North Kurzan main story is finished, players gain access to the Kazeros War Map, a new content UI that replaces the old Tier 3 content guide for high-level characters.
Tier 4 also introduced several new systems that run alongside the activities. Ark Passive moves gear-set effects and class engravings into a skill-tree-style interface split into Evolution, Enlightenment, and Leap tabs, and reworks the combat engraving and ability-stone systems rather than deleting them. Tier 4 accessories no longer provide engraving nodes and instead grant stats and Ark Passive Enlightenment points, with a new refining system that uses Luminous Gem Shards. Tier 4 gems, called Doomfire Gems and Blazing Gems, only equip at item level 1640 and above. Hyper Awakenings add a separate gauge and new class skills, unlocking at 1640. All of these systems are earned or upgraded through the same Tier 4 content, so location and item level are tightly linked.
The content UI itself changes at Tier 4. Players who meet the requirements can swap the quick content guide between the Tier 3 main content, the Tier 3 content guide, and the Tier 4 Kazeros War Map. This matters because the daily Aura of Resonance activity switches from Chaos Dungeons to Kurzan Front once you are high enough, and the weekly raid list shifts to Kazeros and Epic Raids. Knowing which UI mode you are in prevents accidentally queueing for the wrong content band.
How it works
North Kurzan itself is a standard continent with story quests, field bosses, wandering merchants, and collectibles. The real endgame activities unlock after the main quest line. Kenuart Fortress opens at item level 1620 and is a repeatable dungeon, solo or in a party, that drops Tier 4 Relic gear selection chests on the first daily boss kill. Kurzan Front, the Tier 4 equivalent of Chaos Dungeons, opens at 1640 with the Abidos 1 Operation, and the Abidos 2 Operation opens at 1660. It consumes 100 Aura of Resonance per entry and provides Tier 4 honing materials, silver, and shards.
Guardian Raids split into Purification Level 2 at Tier 4. Argeos unlocks at item level 1640 and drops Tier 4 honing materials as well as the Vision rune. Skolakia unlocks at 1680. Abyssal Dungeons remain weekly group content with a four-player party, item-level restrictions, and high-value refinement rewards; the Ivory Tower of Chaos Abyssal Dungeon had its rewards converted to Tier 4 materials as part of the update. Ebony Cube, the combined Boss Rush and Dimension Cube activity, also has a Tier 4 first unlock at 1640.
Raids follow the Kazeros storyline. Echidna, the Overture act of the Kazeros raid, is the prerequisite for Advanced Honing. Kazeros Raid Act 1, featuring Aegir, opened at 1660 for Normal difficulty in October 2024. Kazeros Raid Act 2 (Brelshaza), Act 3 (Mordum), and Act 4 followed at higher item levels in later updates. Behemoth, the Storm Commander, is the Tier 4 Epic Raid and sits near the same progression band, offering an alternative weekly source of Tier 4 materials and gold. The contribution system applies to Kurzan Front, Tier 4 Guardian Raids, and Kazeros/Epic Raids, granting contribution XP that awards medals and small combat buffs such as damage increases and extra HP.
Each activity type fills a different reward niche. Kurzan Front is the daily source of stones, shards, and silver. Argeos and Skolakia are daily or semi-daily Guardian Raids that also drop accessories, ability stones, gems, and Luminous Gem Shards. Abyssal Dungeons are weekly four-player gates that provide high-value honing materials and accessories. Raids are weekly, multi-gate encounters that provide the bulk of gold, leapstones, and crafting tokens. Field Bosses and Chaos Gates round out the week with extra gold, card packs, and materials.
Build path
The climb through Tier 4 follows a clear staircase. Start North Kurzan at 1600 and finish the main story. At 1620, begin running Kenuart Fortress daily for Tier 4 Relic gear chests and transfer your Tier 3 gear over. This is also the point where Advanced Honing 1-20 becomes available, provided you have cleared Echidna Gate 1. Spend the next stretch honing the new Relic pieces and filling out Ark Passive nodes from gear, accessories, and combat levels.
At 1640 the world opens up. You can now enter Kurzan Front, Argeos Guardian Raid, Tier 4 Ebony Cube, and start the Hyper Awakening quest after completing the North Kurzan main quest and the original Awakening quest. You can also equip Tier 4 gems, though your existing Tier 3 gems still function. The priority at this level is to turn on Ark Passive, finish Hyper Awakening, and establish a daily routine of Kurzan Front plus Guardian Raid, with weekly Abyssal Dungeons and Echidna/Behemoth clears.
At 1660 the Abidos 2 Operation and Aegir Act 1 become available. This is where the weekly schedule gets heavier, because you are now running higher Guardian Raids, higher Kurzan Front, Abyssal Dungeons, Echidna, Behemoth, and Aegir across a limited number of gold-earning character slots. The next band, 1680, unlocks Skolakia and Advanced Honing 21-40 after Mordum Gate 1, pushing players into the second half of Advanced Honing and the later Kazeros acts.
Hyper Awakening is a milestone within this path. The quest begins from the “Mysterious light” NPC in a major city after you reach item level 1640, combat level 60, finish the North Kurzan quest “The Path to Take,” and complete the original Awakening quest. It is a roster quest, so alternate characters get a shortened version once one character finishes it. Hyper Awakening adds a gauge around your normal Awakening skill and a new skill slot bound to “T” by default. The gauge fills in combat and can be activated with Alt+V, consuming one Awakening use. It does not work in every mode, including PvP and general zones, so it is purely a PvE endgame tool.
What it means
Tier 4 is designed as a gated ladder, not a sandbox. You cannot skip straight to Aegir from 1620; each gate requires both item level and, in most cases, a clear of the previous raid tier. This means your weekly time is best spent on the highest item-level activities you can enter, because rewards scale with the content level. Running two Abidos 2 Operations is better than running two Abidos 1 Operations once you meet the threshold, and clearing Aegir beats farming Echidna for raw material income.
The daily loop is simple but strict. You get 100 Aura of Resonance per character per day, shared between Chaos Dungeons and Kurzan Front. You get one Guardian’s Will collection per day. Weekly entries are limited for Abyssal Dungeons and raids. Because the contribution system rewards you for doing the right content, and because Ark Passive points come from gear, accessories, and combat levels, the most efficient play is to push one character to each new gate as soon as possible, then let alts catch up through events, Powerpasses, and the Silver Honing system.
A practical weekly schedule for a 1660 character looks like this: one Kurzan Front run per day for stones and silver; one Guardian Raid collection per day, choosing Argeos or Skolakia depending on item level; Abyssal Dungeons once per week; Echidna, Behemoth, and Aegir clears once per week; Chaos Gates and Field Bosses when they appear. Reserve Una’s Tokens and event currencies for honing books, card XP, or Pheons, depending on which bottleneck is slowing your build. The key is to avoid running lower-tier content once you have passed its reward threshold, because Aura and weekly entries are finite.