There’s nothing quite like traipsing about the high fantasy worlds of World of Warcraft’s Azeroth or Guild Wars’ Tyria. Both of these titles have been hallmarks of the MMO genre.
However, they’ve been around long enough that many players have explored every corner of their maps. Despite plenty of expansions, the feeling of striding through Tyria and Azeroth just isn’t what it used to be.
There are many other great high fantasy-themed MMOs to fill that void and recapture those feelings of wonder and excitement. We’re going to be exploring one of these claimants to the MMORPG crown - Black Desert.
What in Balthazar’s Name Is Black Desert?
The exhilarating freedom of an open-world, the awesome action of a shooter, the number-crunching complexities of a table-top game.
All of this is featured in Black Desert, the flagship title for the fledgling, Korean-based company, Pearl Abyss. Everything you need from an MMO (and a whole lot more) is on display here.
You can expect a lot of familiar mechanics when you jump head-first into the world of Black Desert, as well as plenty of other features that are unique to this title.
As is tradition in MMORPGs, you’ll get the chance to create your own, customizable character, assemble their gear, and venture forth on a perilous quest of adventure and action.
Black Desert may be the best and most unique MMO since Guild Wars 2. It is more than worth your money and, most importantly, your time.
Prepare for Adventure and Glory
Black Desert is full of things to do, enemies to obliterate, rival guilds to combat, and quests to undertake.
Before you get into this mammoth MMO, you should first be aware of all the activities to partake in within this vast and majestic high fantasy world.
Exploration
Like any good fantasy setting, there’s an abundance of sights and sounds to experience, as well as significant rewards for the weary adventurer who explores every nook and cranny of this vast world.
While embarking upon an archaeological excavation of an expansive environment may not be everyone’s cup of tea, we guarantee you that you’ll be pleasantly surprised at the amount of detail etched into the world’s foundations.
Quests
Unlike other MMOs, quests in Black Desert do not yield experience points, which are required for leveling up your character. What’s the benefit, then?
Quests do provide you with contribution points, which you’ll need to purchase special equipment.
Additionally, some quests may also reward you with a unique weapon or piece of armor.
They also provide you with different insights into the world in which your character inhabits. Quests are essential to the experience, so get out there and get them done.
Tips to Aid You on Your Adventure
Now that you’ve picked up your own copy of Black Desert - good choice, by the way - it’s time to get set up.
That means going through some general gameplay tips to get you settled in this new and exciting high fantasy world.
Prioritize
As we’ve already said, quests in Black Desert do not yield experience points, so before you gobble up every mission that gets offered to you, there are some that you should prioritize over others.
Focus on quests given to you by the Black Spirit, as well as those you may come across within the town of Velia. These quests will do a good job of explaining certain gameplay mechanics.
After that, be sure to complete quests marked by an exclamation point, as these are essential to the story. Overall, quests help you learn key mechanics that are important to understand when you're just starting out.
Explore
While the temptation of a good grind can be hard to resist, we recommend taking your time with Black Desert.
Not only is the world incredibly dense and atmospheric, but soaking it all in - or at least, as much as you can - is an incredibly worthwhile experience.
This is because every monster you fight and every merchant you speak to provides you with energy points, which are essential to perform certain actions within the game. Take in the sights, enjoy the view - it's worth it.
Join a Guild
This last tip should be obvious to regular MMO players, but for those just starting out, joining a guild in Black Desert can be immensely profitable and fun.
Along with new activities and mission types to engage in, you will also receive a daily salary from the guild's coffers and be able to reap the rewards of being associated with specific guilds.
Get connected, get paid - it's as easy as that.
Don’t Want to Buy New Gear? Upgrade It
Even in a fictional video game world like Black Desert, money is precious, and you don’t want to have to spend it unnecessarily.
A great way to waste your money would be to purchase new armor every time you level up and have access to more powerful equipment.
You’ll be spending tons and tons of currency and eventually will have none left to spare. That’s probably not a situation you want to find yourself in very often.
If you’re trying to boost your stats via your gear, and don’t want to waste all of your money purchasing an entirely new set, then you should get your hands on a few Black Stones from the Black Spirit.
These unique items will allow you to enhance and upgrade your current equipment without the need to purchase a new set, saving you both time and money in the long run.
Take Advantage of the Daily Grinding Hour Bonus
Black Desert allows you to reap a powerful reward every day that you log in, to keep you motivated to play, and also to give you a little boost each day.
Every 24 hours, you can head over to your Reward Tab to activate the Daily Grinding Hour Bonus.
This bonus gives you the option between a 200% boost in combat experience for 30 minutes or a 100% boost in combat experience for one full hour.
As you may have already guessed, this reward will boost your experience significantly depending on the bonus that you choose.
This can be a great way to level up quicker, which gives you access to more loot and rewards and allows you to progress further in the game at a faster pace than if you didn’t claim the bonus at all.
We highly recommend trying to claim your Daily Grinding Hour bonus every day.
Speak to NPCs to Boost Your Energy
If you’ve played Black Desert for any amount of time at all, then you’ll probably know that energy is a very important resource, as it is required to perform dozens of tasks within the game.
There’s probably nothing more frustrating in the game than trying to do a certain task, only to find out that you don’t have enough energy to do so and need to wait to recharge.
Well, lucky for you, there’s a solution to this dilemma.
One way that you can quickly earn yourself some extra energy is to speak to each and every NPC that is highlighted with a golden mark or symbol.
These NPCs will reward you with energy for speaking with them - energy that can then be used to perform various other tasks within the game.
You are also able to score some extra energy by gaining insight into various aspects of Black Desert’s in-game universe.
Fishing Is a Great Way to Earn Money Early On
Earning cash in the early game can be a bit of a struggle, as there are not many ways to do so until you progress a little further into the game.
However, there’s one task that you can do, right off the bat, to make yourself some additional money in the early game, and that task is fishing.
It’s a relatively easy thing to do once you get the hang of it, and it can be pretty lucrative if you manage to catch some good fish.
To get fishing, you will need to head over to a place called Velia to purchase a fishing rod from Crio, an NPC.
Then, you should head over to the sea, or the nearest body of water to you, and activate the auto-fishing function, which, as you may have guessed, will make your character fish automatically.
This method will also let you collect Ancient Relic Crystal Shards, which can earn you some big bucks.
Beginners Should Consider the Wizard Class
At the time that this article was written, there are 18 classes in Black Desert to choose from. Each has its own unique abilities, traits, skills, and Awakening, and they are all extremely complex and multi-faceted.
Beginners are not going to be able to do well with many of these classes right out of the gate because many of them feature complex mechanics and are governed by even more complicated rules.
For this reason, we recommend that new players pick the Wizard class to start with. This class offers a powerful spell called Magic Lighthouse, which can be useful during the early game.
In addition to that, the class is often praised by experienced players by being quite straightforward and effective, both in PvE and PvP environments for new players.
Of course, starting with the Wizard is not mandatory, and you can pick whatever class you want - we just think that the Wizard is the most beginner-friendly of the classes.
Invest in a Horse
In most other MMOs, you’ll find that horses are just a quick way for players to traverse the world without having to use a fast-travel system.
That’s the only purpose that they serve, and they aren’t really useful for anything else. However, that’s not the case with Black Desert Online.
In Black Desert Online, horses can learn skills, fight with you in battle, can be bred with other horses, or can even be sold for impressive sums of money.
There’s really no downside to owning a horse, and they offer you a lot of benefits other than just helping you get around quicker.
Summary
Those were our best tips for new players to Black Desert. This high fantasy game is incredibly fun and interesting to play.
We hope you enjoy this exciting new MMO as much as we have. Happy gaming!
