But what exactly is there to do? The short answer is a lot.
Grind to level 63
A year and a half ago, getting to level 62 was a massive undertaking. With the release of the Drieghan came the introduction of the Chenga tome. The tome gives 30% more combat experience for questing. It’s an account item, so it can be gotten only once, (Edit: it turns out you only get one per character. So if for some reason it’s destroyed, players will have to do the quests on another character to get it again. Thank’s Jarette!) It’s such a valuable tool for players eager to reach the max level through quests. On top of that, sidequests in both Valencia and Kamasylvia rewarded level 60 players a whole percentage point toward level 61. Considering how each percentage point can take a few hours, it’s a massive timesaver. About five hours’ worth of questing without the tome was enough to get my level from 60 to 61.
The road to 63 is going to take a lot longer. At level 61, a single percentage can take hours without any buffs, so it can take a few weeks just to get to 62. Past that is an even longer grind. Players who enjoyed the days of a long grind in past MMOs will be right at home, and the grind is long enough for players to really learn how to play their class. Plus, that’s plenty of time to do the other things this game offers. A good place to start is to…
Explore, gain knowledge, and connect nodes
It’s an MMORPG. Of course exploring the world is part of the game! As players meet NPCs and discover new locations, they gain energy points. Get as many of these as possible. Players will use them to gather, do some active fishing, cook, and many other things. These points are account-bound too, so once players get a reasonable amount, they won’t have to do it again with their other characters.
Along with energy are contribution points. Players gain these points from questing mainly, but submitting certain by-products from cooking can also help level them up. There are daily quests players can do to gain them as well. These points are used to buy houses and connect nodes. More on the nodes later, but once again, the more contribution points, the better.
Exploring and gaining knowledge forms the foundation of all the other things players can do in this game, including one of the best ways to make money…
Lifeskilling!
Players who’d rather build their wealth through gathering and crafting can try their hand at doing lifeskills. Pretty much anything that doesn’t involve killing monsters through swords and sorcery fall in this category. There’s a lot to do. There’s bartering, gathering, alchemy, cooking, processing, training, fishing, hunting, trading, literal farming, and sailing. With so much available, leveling up each of them can take a lot of time.
Each lifeskill level has a title and a number. All lifeskills start at beginner 1. After beginner 10, it grows to apprentice 1. After apprentice 10, there’s skilled. Then players grow to professional. Further on, they grow to artisan. The penultimate title is master with 30 lifeskill levels. Finally, there’s guru, with 50 levels total.
It’s going to take a considerable amount of time to max this out, but the payoffs for lifeskilling comes pretty quickly, so it’s a great project to start on. The wealth is well worth the effort too. Of course, what good is wealth when you can’t show it off? So why not…
Build a boat!
The recent release of The Great Expedition added bartering. Players deliver shipments from island to island and are rewarded sea coins for their trouble. They’re traded for ship upgrades and various items that sell well on the marketplace. Of course, you’re going to need a boat. Players can easily get a starter boat from Velia, but the better boats need to be built.
Far to west is the town of Epheria, where players can build the Epheria sailboats and frigates. Building a boat takes a lot of time, resources, and energy. But being able to sail the high seas on a powerful boat makes the trouble worth it. Of course, you won’t be doing it alone. You have to set up a workshop to actually get it built. That’s where you’ll need to…
Start your worker empire!
One of the most rewarding things players can start in BDO is creating their worker empire. Players can hire workers to do a variety of things, from gathering materials, processing raw materials, to building items the worker is one of the best ways to make money without doing anything. Getting this set up takes a lot of time but it’s worth it.
The worker empire is where all those contribution points come in handy. The world map is dotted with nodes. There are different types, the most important ones are the cities of Heidel, Velia, Valencia, Grana, Duvencrune, and Altinova. The other nodes vary from small towns, isolated outposts, or points of interest. Discovering them is the first part, that’s free. Connecting the nodes to the towns cost points though, and nodes further out need to be connected to a prior node in order to connect it to one of the towns. For example, in order to connect to the Northern Heidel quarry, players need to connect the Northern Gaurd camp first, and connect the quarry to the camp. With enough contribution points, players can connect every node to every town.
Once nodes are connected to a main town, players can hire workers in those towns and send them out to collect materials from connected nodes or have them work on a workshop to build stuff, like a boat. Just writing about it sounds like a lengthy venture, and you better believe it! But of all the things I’ve mentioned, this worker empire is one of the best ways to get rich. Have your workers collect the materials, process them, and sell it in the marketplace.
Once again, a BDO player’s main mantra is “it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon.” None of these will happen in a day. Have a plan, take breaks, and most importantly, enjoy the journey. Who knows, maybe around this time next year, you’ll have all this and more!
The Great Valencian Black Desert is a dangerous place, but thankfully there’s always a chance for respite. Join Massively OP’s Carlo Lacsina every other week for just that in Desert Oasis, our Black Desert column! And don’t worry; he promises he won’t PK you. Got questions or comments? Please don’t hesitate to send a message!
