Lost Ark: How to Farm Pirate Coins

Lost Ark features an almost overwhelming amount of mechanics and available activities, but regardless of where the MMOARPG takes you, you’re probably going to have to learn how to earn as many Pirate Coins as possible as quickly as possible at some point.

In fact, it seems like a lot of Lost Ark players end up getting caught off-guard by how important Pirate Coins become towards the end of the main game and into the endgame. While all of Lost Ark‘s currencies are valuable in some way (clearly), Pirate Coins end up being sneakily valuable in ways that aren’t always obvious. They’re also somewhat difficult to earn if you’re not actively going out of your way to look for them.

That being the case, here’s a brief look at what Pirate Coins are used for in Lost Ark and how to acquire them as quickly as possible.

Lost Ark: What Are Pirate Coins?

Pirate Coins are one of several forms of currency available in Lost Ark. Like most of the game’s other specialized forms of currency, you’re going to need quite a few Pirate Coins to complete certain transactions for unique items.

Pirate Coins are primarily used to purchase items related to upgrading your ship and are often spent at the various traveling merchant ships you’ll encounter on the open seas. While some merchants that only accept Pirate Coins (or also accept them) also offer items you can buy elsewhere with gold and silver, smart players will learn to ignore all other temptations and only spend their hard-earned Pirate Coins on ship upgrades and other valuable naval resources.

Lost Ark: Where Do You Find Pirate Coins?

There are a few ways to earn Pirate Coins throughout your Lost Ark adventure, but you’ll probably end up earning most of them through the game’s Island Quests system.

As the name suggests, Island Quests are special quests that you’ll complete on the various islands you can visit. Each island in the game has a “cap” that basically determines how many Pirate Coins you can earn on them by completing certain quests (although there are some exceptions to that rule that we’ll talk about in a bit). Here’s a breakdown of how many Pirate Coins you can earn on each island via quests:

Giant Mushroom Island – 2000 Pirate Coins
Peyto and Glacier Isle – 5000 Pirate Coins
Runaways Island – 5000 Pirate Coins
Sublime Island – 6000 Pirate Coins
Golden Wave Island – 7000 Pirate Coins
Kalthertz – 8600 Pirate Coins
Cradle of the Sea Fermata – 9000 Pirate Coins
Atropos – 10,000 Pirate Coins
Blackfang’s Den – 10,000 Pirate Coins
Freedom Isle – 15,000 Pirate Coins
Lullaby Island – 16,500 Pirate Coins

While there are obviously some islands in the game that are more lucrative than others, the nature of the game’s progression system means that you’ll probably end up hitting some of the “lesser” islands first before working your way up to the bigger ones. In any case, it’s certainly worth it to hit every island at some point in the game if you’re looking to maximize your Pirate Coin earning potential.

Those quests are certainly the best way to earn Pirate Coins, but once you’ve completed all of them (which should take you quite a while), you’re probably going to need to rely on Marine events for your Pirate Coin needs.

Marine events are regularly scheduled in-game events that require you to complete various tasks (the most lucrative of which involve Ghost Ships). Completing them (and other activities found throughout the game) will sometimes reward you with special Voyage Coins that can be traded for Pirate Coins at the following exchange rates:

Guiena’s Coin = 10 Pirate Coins
Krater’s Coin = 12 Pirate Coins
Coin of Arcturth = 15 Pirate Coins
Ancient Coins = 17 Pirate Coins
Solar Coin = 20 Pirate Coins

In short, you can often expect to earn a few extra Pirate Coins by completing certain nautical activities. However, if you’re interested in earning as many coins as possible as quickly as possible, you’ll need to learn to maximize your time.

Lost Ark: Pirate Coin Farming Spots and Tips

While it doesn’t really count as “farming” in the traditional MMO sense of the word, you really should try to complete as many Island Quests as possible in order to maximize your Pirate Coin earning potential. Nothing compares to Island Quests in terms of the fastest and easiest ways to earn as many Pirate Coins as possible.

On that topic, you will want to keep an eye open for the start of the Procyon’s Compass event, which rewards you with bonus Pirate Coins for completing special assignments related to Field Bosses, Ghost Ships, Chaos Gate activities, and Island Quests. It’s very much worth going out of your way to participate in this event whenever it is available to you.

Beyond that, your best bet for earning Pirate Coins is to complete Marine Events whenever they appear and as quickly as possible. They’re your most consistent source for Pirate Coins once the Islands Quest well has run dry. The same goes for Una’s Tasks: daily and weekly events that often reward you with quite a few precious Pirate Coins. Much like Procyon’s Compass, taking advantage of these opportunities means scheduling your time in a way that allows you to pretty much jump on them as soon as possible. It’s not the end of the world if you miss one here and there, but it might be a good idea to devote certain Lost Ark sessions to acquiring as many Pirate Coins as possible so that you don’t have to worry about earning smaller quantities of them here and there through the normal course of play.

You can also find Pirate Coins while fishing, but the rewards from that activity are random and there doesn’t seem to be a great way to game the RNG system. As such, I wouldn’t recommend prioritizing that activity over any other unless you just happen to want to focus on fishing for whatever reason.

Lost Ark: The Song of Resonance and The Best Things to Buy With Pirate Coins

It’s ultimately up to you to decide what you really want to spend your hard-earned Pirate Coins on, but there is at least one Pirate Coin-specific item that most players will want to acquire at some point: the Song of Resonance.

That very special song will set you back 16,500 Pirate Coins, which probably sounds like a lot (that’s because it is a lot) but is more than worth it considering that this song unlocks important special locations and objectives. You can buy the Song of Resonance from Treasure Hunter Igran in Peyto: a ship located in the waters west of Anikka, south of Pleccia, and east of Vern. You should try to get this at some point during Lost Ark‘s endgame.

Beyond that special item, the vast majority of your Pirate Coins are going to go towards ship and crew upgrades. A surprising amount of Lost Ark‘s endgame activity is tied to sailing around the game’s world, so you’re going to want to upgrade your ship as often as possible and as quickly as possible in order to maximize your chances to survive the dangers of the high seas. Any incremental upgrades you can acquire as you go tend to be worth it as they’ll often allow you to earn more Pirate Coins in the long run.