Arguably, the landmass of Black Desert on PC has seen way more updates and attention than the oceans have. On Wednesday, October 23rd, that’s about to change with the arrival of the Great Expedition, a large-scale content update to hopes to make seafaring gameplay just as interesting as land-based gameplay.
The first part of this new update is the addition of wind direction and ocean currents, which should make sailing a ship a more skill-based endeavor. These features will make less of an impact while near a shoreline but will become more pronounced as players sail to deeper water. Luckily, new UI elements will be added to help players gauge which direction the winds and currents are flowing to plan their sailing route.
Naturally, there will be some new ships to create with the update. Specifically, the Epheria sailboat and frigate can be upgraded to a new class of ship, and a new Carrack ship will become available. Players can also hire sailors to crew their ships and increase its efficiency but will have to balance the number of sailors a ship can crew with the amount of cargo space a ship can have available.
The Great Expedition will introduce bartering to the game, letting players pick up goods from one location and haul it to another to sell for a tidy sum. Time will be of the essence, however, as the price of bartered goods will change every four hours. Performing this task will net players Sea Coins, which can be used to get unique items.
Finally, it wouldn’t be a seaborne update without some sort of sea monster, so players will want to be careful of Khan. Should they encounter this new beast, coordination and cannon fire will be crucial, as will some level of self-restraint to not make the obvious joke.
The Great Expedition will arrive globally on October 23rd, with more ocean-based updates due in the near future. For now, players can get a briefing about the update from this developer update.
