How does Stronghold Action Energy work in Lost Ark? Answered

After emerging victorious from the battle of Luterra Castle in Lost Ark, Prince Thirain will reward the player with their own personal stronghold. Beyond its use as a moderately-customizable, private domicile, the stronghold — consisting of a small, four-island archipelago — provides players with a handful of additional activities and resources to aid in their progression.

Taking part in almost all of these new activities, from consumable item crafting and passive resource expeditions to stat-boosting feasts and stronghold facility upgrades, will cost the player some amount of Stronghold Action Energy. This energy type, while exclusive to the facilities of the stronghold, is regeneratively finite, meaning that players would benefit from knowing how to use it efficiently, leaving time to regenerate energy in between the gaps in their busy real-world schedules.

Using Stronghold Action Energy: Delegation and diligence

Stronghold Action Energy is consumed every time a task is conducted in the stronghold, be it lab research, workshop crafting, or station expeditions. As this energy type is consumed as soon as each task type is started, players who happen to be running out of energy will be prevented from starting new tasks until they meet a given task’s required action energy.

Related: The best locations to farm upgrade materials in Lost Ark

By default, the player can store a maximum of 15,000 Stronghold Action Energy. This cap can be gradually and incrementally raised through the completion of several lab research tasks.

When a player runs out of action energy, they must passively regenerate lost energy in real-time. Players will regain a minimum of 100 action energy every 15 minutes, whether they are active in-game or not. This means that busy players can start their day by activating a handful of expeditions and research tasks, then leave to spend the day at work or school and come home to a nearly refilled action energy meter.

Should a player desperately need a lot of action energy over a very short period of time, they can choose instead to use consumable stronghold energy tablets to restore energy in short bursts, with the smallest tablet restoring 1,000 action energy with each use. Alternatively, the stronghold lab features multiple research tasks that, on completion, will permanently increase the amount of action energy restored per hour.