Black Desert has gone through a renaissance of sorts. Seasons are constantly being played and often filled. New and returning players are plentiful, and Orcs are still ridiculously crowded. For new players, however, things can be extremely overwhelming, and it can be very difficult to figure out what matters, what doesn’t, what you should and shouldn’t be doing, and how you should be doing it.
This list is an attempt to poke a little bit at the more nuanced items, while also giving light to resources out there to help you along your way. This is not a guide of sorts, nor is it a set-in-stone law you should follow. This is based on my experience, and mine alone, and is merely knowledge that is being passed on to a newer player that may be looking for it!
NEVER sell Caphras Stones
Caphras Stones are the end all, be all. You will always need them. You will likely buy them, and every single one you get will help you so much in the long run.
You just don’t know it yet.
These stones are so crucial to the development of your character, that you’ll often end up unable to do some higher-end grind spots because you don’t have enough. They are the gateway to BiS gear, which allows you to withstand hits in places like Gyfin Underground and Hexe Sanctuary. They are in extreme demand and have no signs of slowing down. You don’t have to go out of your way to farm them when starting out, but the ones you do get, you should put aside and forget they exist until you need them. You’ll thank me, and yourself, much later.
Work on your infinite potion(s) early-ish
This is something I wish I did when I (re)started my journey. It’s not that waiting until later is necessarily bad to do; after all, the infinite potion will always be there. However, as your gear improves, and as you become more proficient and acquainted with Black Desert, the rate at which you’ll make silver will steadily increase. At a certain point, you’ll end up asking yourself if the time it takes to grind for the infinite potion is worth the silver you’ll lose. Ultimately it’s not a big deal, but if you want to avoid that conundrum in the first place, then it’s best to, at the very least, to the weekly quest for them and slowly chip away at it.
Don’t worry too much about meta or tiers
I know, this is very cliche, but let’s be real: If you don’t even know what you’re going to wind up playing, or even worse, wind up doing, why does it matter what class is the “best”? Black Desert has a bit of a tendency to release new classes in a very strong state, fully capitalizing off of the “flavor of the month” wave that comes with almost every season. You neither have the time nor the resources, to really worry about that.
Figure out two to four classes that you think you’d enjoy, join those class discords, ask questions, and quickly leave once you got your answers to use that information to make informed decisions. If you’re just going to play a meta-class because it’s meta, then you become vulnerable to not only balance patches swinging things against you, but also not playing something you can truly see yourself enjoying long term.
Remember, this game is a very long marathon, and trying to sprint your way to the finish line with whatever the top tier is at the time will not only burn you out when you aren’t fully understanding Black Desert but will have a real effect on your silver efficiency too. I would rather make 5-10% less silver per hour grinding on a class that makes me feel like I can play it way longer.
Buy a Tent. That’s it
I’m not going to beat around the bush and act like BDO doesn’t have a horrible history of P2W, but nowadays, especially since the change from Kakao to Pearl Abyss, the tune has changed to an extreme degree. The only thing I think you would need from the Pearl Shop is a tent, and that’s only if you plan on making grinding your main source of income, and only if you’re going to do it often. The amount of login rewards, new player goodies, and sheer the volume of items from the Pearl Shop they give away for free, makes the tent the only true necessity for grinders in my opinion. Outfits, maids/butlers, extra loot scrolls, heck, even fairy orbs, all are given out fairly often. Pets are all over the place, and there are multiple quests to get quite a few for free.
With the way a lot of mid to late-game grind spots are set up, you aren’t going to lose out on much at all with even mostly Tier 3 pets, and even if you are, again, they give out so many, so often, combined with being able to order some (especially when a sellable one is given away), and you’ll have your pets up there in no time. My only caveat to this is to only buy the tent when you know you see yourself playing for a long time, as it is definitely a long-term item that will only get better the more you utilize it.
Garmoth.com is everything
This site is pretty much the end all, be all of everything you need to know as a grinder and life skiller. Want to know what that failstack will give you on a TET attempt? There’s an enhancing simulator. Want to know when Vell spawns? There’s a timer on the top. Lightstone sets, Crystal setups, gear and class templates and creators, Beauty albums, Solid guides on common to obscure quests, and permanent AP/DP upgrades. Grind spots with user-submitted data as well as a whole tracker to keep track of how much silver you make an hour. AP/DP brackets. You name it, it probably has it, and if it doesn’t, it’ll likely have it very soon.
A game as huge as Black Desert would be rough to traverse without the help of others, and resources to guide you. These tips are just scratching the surface of the number of ways to make your journey as smooth as possible. I’m sure other veteran players will be able to chime in with their own little tidbits and tips that may not be listed here.
May your taps be successful, and your DFS’s be few.
