Crafting in Black Desert Online can be an intimidating and complicated affair. In most recent MMORPGs players collect 100 of x and 100 of y then go AFK while they combine materials and come back an hour later at the new crafting cap. This does not hold true for BDO. In BDO crafting is separated into collecting, processing, and finally crafting. A slightly more complicated affair than what some are used to. To help everyone out with the impending release of head start here is a short guide to help you get familiar with most of the items that are involved in the crafting process.
Collecting
Initially everyone can gather low level resources. If you see a bush you can walk into and harvest it. Chances are you’ll get weeds but you’ll earn experience toward your gathering skill. As your gathering skill increases you’ll be able to gather faster and with an increased chance of collecting rare items. The gathering skill is universal. As you skin animals, butcher meat, chop down trees, pick herbs, or mine rocks you will make use of the gathering skill. So the more weeds you pick early on the better you will be at skinning animals later. While you can pick bushes immediately you are required to purchase tools for the other forms of gathering. Axes to chop trees, resin spout to tap trees, skinning knife for skinning, butchers knife for butchering, etc. You can buy all of these tools at merchants in the starting area.
Processing
Processing is converting raw materials into materials that are usable for crafting. There is shaking, grinding, wood chopping, drying, thinning, and heating. These do not require tools. In the processing menu you will also see alchemy and cooking. These do require tools. In order to cook and make potions you will need access to a house and install cooking or alchemical tools. These also have their own unique skill different from processing, but you find them in the same menu.
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Crafting
Once you have processed the materials that you need to craft an item you will need to gain access to a house. You can rent houses with your contribution points. You will also need to rent a worker. This worker will be the one to actually perform the crafting for you. After you have gathered all the materials you need you will have to store them in a warehouse. This warehouse must be the same city where your house and worker are located. Your worker will then craft the item in an amount of time that is specific to the item. You can see your worker on the world map walk from the house to the warehouse to pick up your supplies and go back again. This is the same process to craft everything from gathering tools to armor.
Workers
In addition to crafting workers can also collect for you. Workers come in three different races. Goblins which are faster but have less endurance and cannot work as long. Human which can work longer than Goblins and have more luck while crafting thereby having an increased chance of creating a high quality item. Then there are giants which have lower luck and slower speed but can work for a very long time. You can send a giant out to gather for up to 30 hours real time and they will return with 100s of potatoes, for example. Workers also gain level and increase in quality as they are used.
Tool
Tools can be purchased in every major town. However, tools have durability and break. The best tools can be crafted but they will still break over time. Good tools reduce the time it takes to gather or craft and increase the chances of you receiving a high quality result.
Fishing
Fishing is a trade skill similar to gathering. You can start fishing by purchasing a fishing pole at a merchant in the starting city and equipping it. You will then be able to cast into bodies of water. If you get a bite you will get a mini game to land your fish. Fish can be cooked as food, sold for money, or converted into trade packs.
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Contribution and Energy
Contribution is used to rent. You earn contribution by completing quests. Energy is also a resource that is expended during the crafting process. You gain energy by gaining knowledge. You can increase your knowledge by meeting new NPCs, exploring new areas, and learning about the different monsters.
Players are able to start crafting as soon as they complete the tutorial in BDO. Once that black spirit asks you to walk this way you can run right out and start picking daisies followed by processing them into other materials. However, if you are hesitant to do so once you reach Heidel you will receive a quest that explains gathering and it will start you on your way to crafting. There are also quests that focus specifically on crafting to help act as a guide as well as daily crafting quests in the game.
