The new Lost Ark update cuts honing costs in half

pcgamesn.com:

The latest Lost Ark update, Spells in Spades, did more than just add the Arcanist class and some fun summer activities to the MMO game. It made a significant change to how much gear honing costs, one the development team glossed over in the official patch notes. Reddit user omark96 compiled a set of images showing exactly how much you can expect to spend – or save, depending on how you look at it – with the new update’s cuts, including discounts depending on your Stronghold research, and it’s good news if you have alts and no Powerpass.

Normally, you can expect to spend 2 million silver and at least 3,000 gold to reach item level 1340 and a further 12,000 gold to reach 1370, which is what most of the endgame raids and activities require. That’s not even getting into the five-figure Leapstone requirements, Guardian Crystals, and more – hence why some players resort to creating gold bots.

Stronghold discounts were almost essential if you didn’t want to spend all your time grinding and could knock down the gold requirement by at least 3,000.

The Spells in Spades update boosts success chances and drops gold costs by 30%, among other percentage reductions. The numbers are fine, but seeing the actual end result is something else entirely.

Now, full Stronghold research reduces the gold cost of reaching item level 1340 to just 900, while your crystal requirements are cut by more than half, though you still need roughly 20,000 leapstones.

Grinding is comparatively easier now than it was at launch thanks to the broader range of raids and challenges available, but that doesn’t make it enjoyable. This new reduction will, hopefully, help make the endgame feel better balanced while we wait for further updates.

Speaking of new updates,