Jul 22, 2020

Black Desert - CM Servantes

Greetings Adventurers,

This week a new challenge awaits you at Crow's Nest, so get ready to face a new tactic-based PvE content at the Pit of Undying! As you succeed in this new battle arena, you can collect seals that you will be able to exchange for rewards at a later date.

We also have some new events, so don't miss the chance to earn extra rewards with the web event "Trail of Summer" and the Pit of Undying event "Into the Unknown."

That's not all! For you PvP lovers, we are revving up for the Tuvala Invitational tournament. Don't forget to sign-up your team to participate!

You can read more details about our new contents and events below. Enjoy!

Event & System

New Events

Into the Unknown
- Period: July 22 (after maintenance)–August 5 (before maintenance)
- Event 1. A Mysterious Island
  - Visit Rulupee in Velia, who is waiting to give you quests to earn Contribution Points and unlock new adventures.
- Event 2. Pit of the Undying
  - Complete the quests to enter Pit of the Undying to get Seal of the Undying which will be exchangeable at the Crow Shop.
- Click < Here > to learn more about the event in detail.

[Web Event] Trail of Summer
- Period: July 22 (after maintenance)–August 19 (before maintenance)
- Was there ever a story nobody but you believed to be true? An unexpected adventure under the scorching sun and bright summer stars awaits. Solve the mysterious riddles left behind by an unknown man and follow his trail before the leads vanish.
- Click < Here > to discover the trail of summer.
- Click < Here > for event details.

[Promotion] Play for a Free Game Pass
- Period: July 22 (after maintenance)–August 5 (before maintenance)
  Black Desert Online will be available for free for during this 2 week period to anyone who has had their trial period run out or made an account but didn't play the game.
- In addition, for those of you who register during this time, your 7-day trial will become a 14-day trial!
- This is a chance not only to try out the game for longer, but also to get a free game pass by reaching Lv. 50.
- Sign-up now and enjoy plenty of time to live the full Black Desert Online experience!
- Click < Here > for full details on how you can get your free game pass!

[Tournament] Tuvala Invitational
- Sign-up Period: July 27 (12:00 UTC)–August 10 (23:59 UTC)
  - Sign-up link will be available from the main website > Community tab next Monday July 27.
- Season (PVP) Server Team Kills Event: August 3 (00:01 UTC)–August 9 (23:59 UTC).
- Round-robin
  - [EU] August 17 (18:00 CEST / 16:00 UTC)
  - [NA] August 17 (17:00 PDT / 20:00 EDT / Aug. 18 00:00 UTC)
- Knockout
  - [EU] August 22 (16:00 CEST / 14:00 UTC)
  - [NA] August 22 (14:00 PDT / 17:00 EDT / 21:00 UTC)
- Tuvala Invitational: The tournament will consist of 16 teams for each region, EU and NA. Players must use the characters on the Seasonal Server with the gear that they have acquired over the course of their adventure. Each match will be 3v3 and combatants will have a chance to change contestants after each round if they wish to.
- Click < Here > for full tournament details and rules.

Patrigio's Shop Renewal
- Period: July 22 (after maintenance)–July 29 (before maintenance)
- During the event period, <Black Market> Patrigio will present new and changed offers in his secret shop.
- <Black Market> Patrigio can be found in various regions like Velia, Heidel, Calpheon City, Altinova, and Valencia City. Search his name in the Find NPC window by clicking on the magnifying glass icon on the top right corner of your screen.
  - <Black Market> Patrigio will only open up his shop from 10:00 PM–07:00 AM (in-game time).
  - Don't forget, 50 energy will be consumed when you check his list of offers.

Ongoing Events

Season Server Launch Events
- Event 1: Summer Season Playtime Challenge: June 18–July 29 (23:59 UTC)

Ended Events

Black Spirit's Adventure: UPGRADED
Black Stone Drop Rate Boost

Content

Major Update: Crow's Nest

On one pitch-black urban night, a Crow who already had both fortune and fame firmly in his grasps came up with his darkest venture yet.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we proudly present to you: Pit of the Undying.

When we were coming up with this content, many things were going through our minds. Many of you have asked for more suspenseful, tactic-based PvE content. However, we had many stumbling blocks for adding this. This is because many of our classes do not have clearly defined roles, our game is in an action-packed hack and slash playstyle, and this game is an MMORPG with an open world of variables. How could we add this kind of content without going against the direction we have been developing Black Desert Online so far? We also didn't want to distract from the fun of fighting bosses. Pit of the Undying is the result of all these considerations. We expect to add more diverse types of monsters to the pit of the Undying for you to challenge. We hope you enjoy this content and eagerly await your feedback.

Tranan Underfoe, the blacksmith of Velia, has a strange tale for you of an island somewhere in the Great Ocean. Many brave sailors have searched for Crow's Nest, yet returned in failure. That is if they were lucky enough to return at all. Now, you will have a chance to search for this misty island shrouded in mystery. Chase after that tale and you will get to meet the owner and founder of the Crow Merchants Guild, the "First Crow" and gaze upon a display of some of his most valued treasures in the Hall of Heroes. You will also be able to participate in the Pit of the Undying, a battle arena steeped in secrets.
- Crow's Nest does not appear on the World Map, so you cannot use auto-navigation to guide you there.

Added the quest series [The Great Expedition] Crow's Nest. It is available once per family, for a character that is at least Lv. 56.
- You can check out the quest series under the Suggested tab of the Quests window, which will direct you to accept the first quest from the Black Spirit.

Added Crow Merchants Guild members to greet adventurers traveling the Great Ocean in search of Crow's Nest.
Added a new category for Crow's Nest related knowledge to the Knowledge (H) window.
If you do not have the Crow's Invitation, you will not be able to access the Hall of Heroes deep in Crow's Nest and you will not be able to meet the owner of Crow's Nest, the "First Crow." You can get the invitation by completing certain quests.
Opened the Pit of the Undying, the First Crow's secret battle arena.
- The Pit of the Undying is a battle arena created by the First Crow for fighters to face off against his carefully selected Crow's Warriors in seemingly endless rounds of battles for glory.
  - If you die in the Pit of the Undying during the main Crow's Nest quests, do not forfeit the quest but interact with Chorpy if you want a rematch.
- As you succeed in the Pit of the Undying, you can collect Seal of the Undying items and get Undying Crow's Insignia of a higher grade.
- You will get your first Undying Crow's Insignia after completing the quest series [The Great Expedition] Crow's Nest.
- As you get higher grade Undying Crow's Insignia, the more Seal of the Undying items you will get from the Pit of the Undying.
  - Seal of the Undying is the key to the First Crow's exclusive Crow Shop, which is only available at Crow's Nest.
  - This exclusive Crow Shop will be available after a later update.

__________________________________________________________________

To encourage Agris Fever point use at low-level monster zones, we have increased the amount of points in circulation by fivefold (e.g. instead of getting 3,000 points daily, you'll get 15,000).
- Therefore, the amount of Agris Fever points consumed at different monster zones have changed as well.
  - You will need relatively fewer points at low-level monster zones but will need the same relative amount of points as before at other monster zones.
- You can see the Agris Fever points you need for monsters of each Monster Zone in the BDO Wiki entry for Agris Fever < Here >.

Agris Fever now activates after you reach Lv. 56.
- Once you reach Lv. 56, Agris Fever will automatically activate even if you have not completed the adventure log "Book of Margahan." At this point, you will recover 15,000 Agris Fever points a day but you can only hold a maximum of 50,000 points at a time.
- If you have completed "Book of Margahan" you will have the benefit of being able to recover 20,000 points a day and hold a maximum of 100,000 points at a time.

Changed the rewards for completing the adventure log "Book of Margahan" as below.
Saving Skill Preset will now also save cooldown slot and quick slot information.
Reset the number of total likes for all chat groups.
- If you own either a gold, silver, or bronze tier Black Spirit icon you will receive a temporary title for 90 days for your diligent participation.
- "Hall of Adventurers" in the chart below refers to any one of the 19 chat groups with that name.
- Check the full announcement on our official forums < Here >.

*You will get only one gold tier title even if you have a gold tier Black Spirit icon in more than one Hall of Adventurers chat group, since there is only one gold tier title for that category of chat group. Of course, if you have a combination of gold, silver, or bronze tier Black Spirit icons in the Hall of Adventurers chat groups, you will get multiple titles.

Updated during the July 8 maintenance

Added an alert that appears 15 minutes before the Thousand Years War begins and extended the war by 10 minutes.
You can no longer use the Greet function in Papuraora and Crioniak.

Season Servers

Added season character exclusive regional quests to certain monster zones in Valencia, Kamasylvia, and Drieghan. There will be two quests per monster zone.
- These quests will be automatically accepted when you enter the monster zone if you have met the quest acceptance requirements. There will be a tally of the relevant monsters you have defeated on the right side of the screen and once you have defeated enough you will be rewarded with useful items.
- There will be a level requirement based on the difficulty of each monster zone. The reward you will get will also vary depending on the difficulty of the monster zone.
- Changed the name of "Season Challenges" to "Season Pass."
- Fixed the issue where the button for completing the quest "[Enhancement] Even Finer Tuvala Vambrace I" did not appear when interacting with Fughar the Crow Merchants Guild Chief Manager if a TET level Vambrace was equipped or in your inventory.
Game World, NPC & Effects

NPC
- Changed the dialogue with Lisam and Kalix, who sells Old Moon Sky Balloon Boarding Tickets.
Mounts]/h2]
- Fixed the issue where your character name moved down in the screen after mounting an Epheria Cog.
- [Shai] Fixed the issue where donkeys did not stop auto-navigation after being stuck in the same place for a certain amount of time.
Class Changes

Warrior
- Made the transition from awakening to main weapon after using certain awakening skills smoother.
Valkyrie
- Changed Black Spirit: Sanctitas de Enslar's skill demo to more accurately demonstrate the skill.
Witch
- [Succession] Fixed the issue where Black Spirit: Prime: Meteor Shower: Areal did not activate correctly after using Teleport or Magical Evasion.
Wizard
- [Succession] Fixed the issue where Black Spirit: Prime: Meteor Shower: Areal did not activate correctly after using Teleport or Magical Evasion.
Item Changes
- Added text to the descriptions of trade items about where to get them.
- Added explanations about how to use Pearl Shop discount coupons to the item description of coupons that can be used in all Pearl Shop categories, similar to the explanation in the descriptions of other Pearl Shop coupons.
- Added details on what you can get from opening the Succession Classic Box in its item description.
- For details on newly added Pearl Shop Update, please click < Here >!
Monster Changes
- Al Rhundi will start fighting sooner after appearing during the quest [Boss] The Head of the Rebels.
- Changed the AP and max HP of <Violent> Shultz Guard Gladiator monsters to befit the difficulty of the overall Shultz Guard monster zone.
- Fixed the issue where the amount of EXP gained from defeating monsters near Cron Castle was abnormal.
- Cyclops, who needs to be defeated during quests such as "Retrieve the Sealing Stone," will now appear as a boss on the minimap.
- Fixed the issue where damage lagged behind the forward spin attack motions made by the Dark Rift monster Steel Nux.
- Fixed the issue where damage lagged behind certain attack motions made by the Dark Rift monster Ahib Griffon.
- Fixed the issue where the sound effects made by the Dark Rift monster Ruins Guard Tower echoed.
- Fixed the issue where the second and third wave of monsters were summoned to the wrong spot afetr you defeated the first wave of monsters if there was another adventurer in the Kratuga Ancient Ruins but in a different room.
Quests & Knowledge

Quest
- Changed the way the Wounded Delphe Knight follows you during the quest "Operation Breakthrough" to be more natural.
- Added explanatory dialogue from the Black Spirit to the Main Quest widget for the Calpheon main quest "The Ritual."
- The quest "[Horse Emblem] Seal of the Secret Guards" is now one of the Calpheon main quests.
  - Since this quest is only available once per family, once it has been completed it will automatically be skipped.
- Changed the duration of the "Trina's Will" buff, which you get as a quest reward for "Basic Treatment of Prisoners," from 1 hour to 5 minutes.
- Fixed the unnatural camera angle that occurs when interacting with Martha Kiyen of Calpheon Shrine.
- Changed the quest completion NPC for the Calpheon main quest "Trust Nobody" to Likke Behr, who will be at the Hexe Sanctuary.
- Changed level requirement for accepting the quest "[Valencia] In Search of the Eastern Sand Kingdom" to Lv. 56.
- Made monsters unable to interrupt the quest dialogue for "A Wound that Starts to Heal."
- Improved the Calpheon main quests to reward players with a greater amount of HP Potion (Medium).
- Fixed the incorrect conditions for accepting the quests to unlock Shai's talent in the Quest (O) window.
Interface Changes
- Added a button to the lower part of the Inventory window that appears when enhancing an item. This button allows you to unequip your gear immediately without having to exit the Enhancement window.
- Added a line break to the part of the Lakiaro minigame window displaying what stage you are in.
- Fixed the graphical issues with the Black Spirit's Rage and HP gauge bars in the Arena of Arsha.
- Fixed the graphical issues with the Agris Fever icon.
- Fixed the graphical issues with certain backdrops in the Hall of Heroes.
- Fixed the issue where certain structures looked unnatural in the following places.
  - Crescent Mountains
  - Rumbling Land
  - North Kaia Mountain
- Fixed the issue where sometimes the horoscope descriptions would disappear during character customization.
- Fixed the issue where Magic Crystal of Abundance - Armor was listed as an item which drops from Witch's Chapel and Hexe Sanctuary in the Item Drop window.
- Fixed the following windows' design and layout.
  - BDO Wiki
  - Crafting Notes
  - Hotkey Help
  - Guild Rank
  - War Hero Ranking
  - Altar of Blood Ranking
  - Beauty Album
  - Photo Gallery
  - Global Lab (Only available for our NA region)
  - Black Spirit's Adventure
  - License Agreement
- Added an effect in the Equipment window to distinguish gear that have expired and lost their effects.
- Fixed the issue where the notification alerting of missing materials overlapped with certain buttons after trying to safe enhance Naru gear with Cron Stones.
- Fixed the issue where your mouse cursor was invisible when using the Traveler's Map or Archaeologist's Map via a hotkey.
- The types of ship gear and appearance slot icons that appear in the Ship Info window will now depend on the type of ship (big or small) you have.
- Fixed the issue where Quick Slots did not reset properly after loading a Skill Preset to change between Succession and Awakening via the Skill (K) window.
- Fixed the issue where it appeared that changing between Succession and Awakening was not successful if you logged in with another PC after the change.
Resolved Issues
- Fixed the issue where the high and low notes composed for Beginner Flute in the Compose & Play content did not play correctly.
- [Warrior] Fixed graphical glitches with Grotevant Armor and Goyen Helmet that occured around the neck regions in combat stance.
- [Striker] Fixed the issue where the item description of Darkbane Classic Set did not appear correctly.
- [Mystic] Fixed the graphical glitches with white spots appearing on Lupine Outfit after it was dyed.
- [Mystic] Fixed the graphical glitches with the right shoulder that occured when sitting with the Lupine Outfit on.
- Fixed the issue where Pirash didn't want to move from certain areas of Sycraia Underwater Ruins.
- [Female Classes] Fixed the graphical issue that occured when wearing the Coco Hat with a ponytail.
- [Guardian] Fixed the issue where certain skill descriptions said "Required MP" instead of "Required WP."
- Fixed the Guild Auction House window to display the correct maximum number of pages for that window.
- Fixed the issue where you could turn the page of the Guild Auction House window even if the following page was empty.
- Fixed the issue where certain pets' graphical effects weren't displayed in the Pearl Shop (F3).
Known Issues
- We are aware of the issue where the Looking for Adventurers quest description mentions an item (Dim Magical Armor) which you will no longer receive upon completion of the quest.
Reach us on the »forums« to share your feedback, opinions, and suggestions.

Jul 15, 2020

Patch Notes - July 15th 2020

Black Desert - CM Servantes

Greetings Adventurers,

This week you will want to have your weapons honed for battle because a new PvP
"Arsha" season server is being added, and a new PvP effect will be added to the Red Battlefield!

We also have new hairstyles for females classes, and new rewards for certain Serendia and Calpheon main quests.

As usual, you can read the details of these new changes and additions below. Enjoy!

Event & System

Ongoing Events

Black Spirit's Adventure: Upgraded: July 8–July 22 (before maintenance)
Black Stone Drop Rate Boost: July 8–July 22 (before maintenance)
Hot & Cool
- Event 1: Weekend Hot Time in Season and Olvia Servers: July 1–Until further notice

Season Server Launch Events
- Event 1: Summer Season Playtime Challenge: June 18–July 29 (23:59 UTC)

Vell Extra Spawn: July 1–Until further notice
Papu or Otter?

Ended Events

Season Special Attendance Rewards: Available until July 15 (23:59 UTC)
Tapu's Golden Travel
Hot & Cool
- Event 2: Cool Time

Season Server Launch Events
- Event 3: Get Refined Magical Black Stones

Refer-a-Friend Promotion is Back!

Content

Major Update: Serendia and Calpheon Main Quest Reward Revamp, Including New "Naru" Gear

Added new "Naru" gear.
- You can get this new gear instead of certain gear that was given out as rewards for completing main quests in Serendia and Calpheon.
- Naru gear was designed for adventuring in Serendia, Calpheon, and Mediah. As you complete the main quests in these regions, you will be able to get the new Beginner Black Stones needed for enhancing this new gear.
  - You cannot receive Beginner Black Stones in retrospect for main quests already finished.
- Because Naru gear was made for adventurers who are just starting out on their adventures, we have made them easier to enhance, with an even higher chance for success compared to Tuvala gear. You also need less Cron Stones for safe enhancement. In fact, you'll only need 3 for trying to enhance from TET to PEN! Therefore, be sure to give enhancing them a go!
- Season characters can go to Fughar the Crow Merchants Guild Chief Manager after completing the Mediah main quests to trade in your PEN Naru gear for PRI Tuvala gear, which should serve you better as you journey onward to new horizons.
- You can only enhance Naru accessories (i.e. earring, necklace, belt, and ring) to TRI level.

Added PRI "Tuvala" awakening weapons as rewards for completing Awakening/Talent/Ascension quests.
- Canon awakening weapons will still be given out as well, for completing the quests.
  - Season characters cannot equip Canon awakening weapons.
- Although non-season characters cannot open the box containing the PRI Tuvala awakening weapon, they can still sell it to an NPC vendor.

You can now use Heating in the Processing window (L) on certain items to get Beginner Black Stones.

Major Update: 3 New Hairstyles for Female Classes

Added 3 new hairstyles for the female classes.

We hope these new hairstyles and the ones we added last week inspires you to try out new customizations for your characters!

Major Update: New Red Battlefield Effect

Added a blessing of fortitude to help more adventurers enjoy the Red Battlefield.
- Once your HP is less than 50% of your max HP, this new effect will decrease the amount of damage you receive by at least 10%.
- Depending on what percentage of your max HP remains, the effect will increase up to Damage Reduction +50%.
- As your HP recovers, the Damage Reduction effect will adjust accordingly.
- E.g. Your max HP is 5,000 but you have just been hit with an attack that will cost you 3,000 HP. In this case, only up to the damage that will cost you 2,500 HP will be full-force, and the rest of the damage will already be affected by the new Damage Reduction effect.

Changed the Season5 server to a dedicated Arsha server for season characters.
- Similar to the other season servers there will be a Combat and Skill EXP buff. However, there will be an additional Item Drop Rate +50%, like in the regular Arsha server.
- PvP between characters (including forced PvP) will be free from all penalties in this server. However, characters with negative karma will still receive penalties.
- World and field bosses will not appear in this server.

Added the item [Season] Ouk Pill of Rift to the season servers. You can loot this item by defeating monsters in Valencia, Kamasylvia, and Drieghan.
- You can exchange [Season] Ouk Pill of Rift for the following bundles containing Time-filled Black Stone, Tuvala Ore, or Refined Magical Black Stone.
  - Time-filled Black Stone Bundle (contains 30–50 stones)
  - Tuvala Ore Bundle (contains 10–30 ores)
  - Refined Magical Black Stone Bundle (contains 10–30 stones)

Reduced the number of Time-filled Black Stones needed to enhance Tuvala gear (weapons and defense gear) from +15 to PEN.
Changed the level requirement for completing the "Eastern Sands Kingdom Story" quest series from Lv. 55 to Lv. 56.
- Deve's Encyclopedia: Lv. 57
- Savage Rift: Lv. 58
- Rubin's Journal: Lv. 58
- Dorin Morgrim's Secret Journal: Lv. 59
- Pavino Greko's Collection: Lv. 60
- Team Battle: Lv. 60

Added text to the item description of Black Spirit Pass (a season server item) explaining that the pass will be deleted when the current season ends.

Game Worldm NPC & Effects

NPC

Fixed the motion Purajin, Material Vendor of Valencia, makes when he is bumped into to be more natural.

Mounts

Cannon attacks will no longer hit other ships when fighting Vell, the Heart of the Ocean.
The following types of mounts will now stop auto-navigation after being stuck in the same place for a certain amount of time.
- Raft
- Rowboat
- Fishing boat
- Epheria Cog
- Horse, including Dream Horse
- Wagon, including Forest Path Wagon
- Camel
- Donkey
- Miniature elephant
- Guild elephant

Small ships (i.e. rafts, fishing boats, rowboats, Epheria Cog) taken out at the Velia Wharf will now be pointed in a direction easier to sail away from the wharf by default.
Fixed the issue where pressing the Shift key after setting a navigation path would not begin auto-run if you were transformed into an Otter with an "Gallant Conch Blader Transformation Scroll."

Class Changes

Tamer

You can no longer call for your mount while using the skill Evasion.

Musa

Fixed the issue where the landing motion after falling from a certain height was slower compared to that of other classes.

Maehwa

Fixed the issue where the landing motion after falling from a certain height was slower compared to that of other classes.

Guardian

Black Spirit's Rage can now be used for Scalding Thorn, God Incinerator, and Cleansing Flame.
- After your Black Spirit's Rage reaches 10%, 25%, or 50%, each of these skills can be used by pressing the F key, LMB, or RMB.
- Each skill has its own special effect such as adding additional hits or increasing attack range.

Item Changes

Tapu of the Golden Troupe has left items for you to exchange for at Velia, because he felt some adventurers recently had trouble exchanging their Golden Troupe Coins.
- Igor Bartali, Chief of Velia, will now exchange any type of Golden Troupe Coin for certain items.
- Added information about this new exchange NPC to the description of Golden Troupe Coins.

Changed who can deposit and withdraw the following items from their guild's storage.
- Who can deposit the item: Guild Member or up
- Who can withdraw the item: Guild Officer or up
  - [Guild] Steel Candidum Shell
  - [Guild] Amethyst Hekaru Spike
  - [Guild] Black Rust Tongue
  - [Guild] Nineshark's Fin
  - [Guild] Ocean Stalker Whisker
  - [Guild] Goldmont Pirate Golden Goblet

Changed the graphical effect that appears when using Item Collection Increase Scroll items and when purchasing a [Camp] Adventurer's Luck.
Added text to the item description of Black Spirit Pass (a season server item) explaining that the pass will be deleted when the current season ends.
For details on the newly added Pearl Shop Update, please click < Here >!

Monster Changes

Belmorn's black energy grew stronger, corrupting monsters in Balenos, Serendia, and Calpheon and making them more ferocious.
- This effect will only apply to monsters in areas where the Balenos, Serendia, and Calpheon main quests go through, excluding those at Abandoned Monastery (Restricted Territory).

Fixed the issue where you could not loot world boss Kutum if it ended up stuck in a wall or the floor.
Changed Al Rhundi's death animation during the main quest to be more natural.
Fixed the issue where it was possible to damage Black Mane while it was in the middle of being summoned during a main quest.
Changed the location of the Feather Wolf mobs that were attacking adventurers who were auto-navigating through Caduil Forest Path in Kamasylvia.

Quests & Knowledge

Quest

Added regional quests to the following monster zones: Gahaz Bandits, Crescent Shrine, Cadry Ruins, and Desert Naga Temple.
- These quests will be automatically accepted if you enter the monster zone with a Lv. 56–57 character.
- As a season character, defeating 250 monsters in one of these monster zones will reward you a certain amount of EXP and Time-filled Black Stone x20.
- Non-season characters will only gain EXP from completing these quests.

Having heard of your travels and fame, Sahazad Nesser has announced that he will bestow the blessing of the Royal Nesser Family when you are questing in his kingdom.
- You will now obtain a large amount of Combat EXP from completing "[Lv.55 Valencia] Eastern Sands Kingdom Story" and "[Lv.56 Valencia II] Treasure of Valencia."
- Completing both main and general quests in the region will provide an even faster leveling experience.

By royal decree of the Royal Nesser Family and in response to the increasing number of travelers to Valencia Castle, Yonal's workers have been deployed to aid adventurers in Cokro Chamber beneath the castle.
- Yonal's workers will be holding up torches to light the way to Cokro Chamber.
- You can now enter Cokro Chamber via an alternative cave entrance even when Valencia Castle's gates are closed.
- You can now use auto-navigation within Cokro Chamber, so it will be easier to discover the special artifacts down there.
- Added new quests to help you navigate around the area underneath Valencia Castle. Therefore, certain quest summaries and text have been adjusted in the Quests (O) window.
- To avoid confusion for adventurers who have already completed quests around Cokro Chamber, these new quests will not show up in the Quest (O) window if the Cokro Chamber related quests have already been completed.

Changed the level requirement for the "Eastern Sands Kingdom Story" quest series from Lv. 55 to Lv. 56.
- This is because we recommend players to unlock Awakening, Talent, or Ascension before challenging the daunting desert of the Valencian continent.

Added "[Valencia]" to the quest titles of all Valencia main quests.
Because "magical" armor (e.g. Dim Magical Armor) and Magical Sub-weapon Boxes were removed from main quest rewards, the following quests can no longer be accepted from Becker or Bacho Ladericcio.
- [Repeat] Bacho Ladericcio's Magical Armor
  - You can still obtain Roaring Magical Armor by completing the Mediah main quest "[Boss] Illezra's Servant."
- [Repeat] Becker and the Magical Sub-weapon

Changed the quest "Magical Sub-weapon Exchange I" to only appear if you have a Dim Magical Sub-weapon in your possession and removed its prerequisite quest "Cleansing the Lava Cave."
Changed the quest "Magic Armor Exchange I" to only appear if you have a Dim Magical Armor in your possession.
Added a 3-minute Footsteps of Wind buff to the quest "The Story of the Hero Borne Upon the Winds" to aid travel from Keplan to Calpheon City.
Increased the Combat EXP reward of the following Calpheon main quests.
- [Boss] Witch-Hunting
- The Ritual

Changed the quest "A Dragon Born from the Stream" to be completed in Calpheon Market instead of Port Epheria.
Added the following items as quest rewards for "Seal of the Secret Guards."
- Shabby Leather Saddle x1
- High-Quality Carrot x10

The navigation for the quest "Blooming Death" will now lead you to the entrance of Khuruto Cave.
The Stonetail Horse Ranch equestrian federation has raised a gravestone to honor the memory of Vera Arey, an Old Moon Grand Prix champion who passed away at a young age.
- Added the quest "[Repeat] Remembering the Grand Prix Champion" which can be accepted from Gula.
- Added the knowledge "Spring Breeze of the Plains," under the Mediah Adventure Journal I category.

Added Polished Gemstone Bundle to the quest reward for "The Groundwork for Friendship."
Added text to the quest summary for "A Clever Method" explaining if you lose the Polished Gemstone Bundle, you can talk to Dora Fonti to receive another.
Changed the quest summary and dialogue for "[Blackstar Armor] Specter's Energy."
Changed the quest summary for "[Daily] Young Shepherd."
Changed the objectives of the following quests.
- Those That Incite Fury
- Problem at Border Farm

Renamed the quest "[Co-op] Exposing the Serendia Shrine Gang" to "[Daily] Cleaning Up Serendia Shrine."

Knowledge

Fixed the explanation on how to gain knowledge of Queekity Thumpity Moon Village and Berdao.

Interface Changes

Increased the width of the Black Spirit Pass UI.
Changed the Black Spirit Pass UI to open each time your season character completes a season challenge.
Fixed the text alignment and font of the Skill Cooldown Slot window.
Improved the Skill Cooldown Slot window to auto-refresh after changing a setting.
Fixed the issue where other classes' effects appeared in the Skill Demo window.
Fixed the issue where skills with long names or descriptions overlapping in the Skill (K) window.
Fixed the issue where the lock icon appeared when selecting a skill whose lower level counterpart was locked.
Fixed the issue where command keys sometimes did not work after talking with NPCs with the Skill Demo screen of the Skill (K) window on.
Fixed the issue where certain skill add-ons appeared as learnable on the Skill (K) window when they shouldn't have been.
Fixed the awkward alignment of lengthy skill names in the Skill (K) window.
Fixed the issue where the sound effects of summoned creatures wouldn't play in the Skill (K) window.
Fixed the issue where the item description that appears after clicking a linked item in chat wouldn't automatically close after opening the Skill (K) window.
Added tooltips for the Black Spirit Pass and Black Spirit's Safe icons that appear in the Inventory (I) window of season characters.
Fixed the location of the stamp that appears after completing a season challenge.
The tooltip for the Season Challenges icon will now include information about the rewards you can get.
Fixed the issue where a notification about Caphras Enhancement popped up after successfully enhancing an accessory to PEN (V).
Removed some unnecessary information from the tooltips of pet skills in the Pet List window.
Fixed the issue where the Quest window you can access after summoning the Black Spirit sometimes appeared in an awkward location after selecting the Main, Suggestions, or Recurring tabs then pressing the Quest button below.
Changed the Black Spirit icon on the lower right corner of the screen to appear highlighted right after ending a conversation with the Black Spirit.
Added an extra confirmation window to appear upon clicking the Exit Game button from the game start menu.
Fixed the issue where the information about a horse's skill on the Horse Market window of the World Map remained on the screen even after pressing ESC to close the Horse Market window.
Fixed the issue where you could not scroll through the Challenge (Y) tab when your mouse was over the explanatory text part of the UI.
You can now double-click to choose between crossroad quests.
Changed the hotkey B to be used for both the Mail and the Black Spirit's Safe windows. Go to the Settings window to reset this hotkey to your desire.
Changed the warning notification that appears when enhancing gear to PRI (I) or higher to only appear when your enhancement chance is 30% or lower and failstack is +0.
Fixed the issue where the guild house bid list displayed the incorrect number of bids after you opened the My Bid List, when least 4 guild houses were on auction.
Changed certain chat group descriptions to appear as text bubbles.

Resolved Issues

Changed how certain products on the Pearl Shop are tagged.
Fixed the issue where an error message appeared when you first logged into the server with a trial character, which led to you being unable to automatically collect attendance rewards with a non-trial character.
Fixed the issue where you couldn't catch Scorpion Fish at Olvia Sea or Epheria Sea.
Fixed the issue where certain graphical effects sometimes flickered.
Fixed the graphical issue with the branches of trees at Rhua Tree Stub.
Fixed the issue where it was possible to walk through certain tree roots in Southern Kamasylvia.
Fixed the issue where the emergency ration supply amount would appear irregular after using the Emergency Supply function on a boat with gear that increases max ration stats.

Updated 16/07

Fixed the issue where the Central Market window did not display your sales log correctly after selling an item.

Known Issues

We are aware of the issue where the high and low notes composed for Beginner Flute in the Compose & Play content do not play correctly.

Reach us on the »forums« to share your feedback, opinions, and suggestions.

Jul 8, 2020

Patch Notes - July 8 2020

Black Desert - CM Servantes

Greetings Adventurers,

Have you ever heard about the Rich Merchant's Ring? Rumor says this treasure can help you alleviate some taxes from the Central Market, however not many adventurers have discovered how to acquire this special item. This week, a new way to obtain this treasured item has surfaced. You can start your hunt for this legendary item, but you will need to be patient before all the missing pieces can be put together!

Also, we are really excited to bring you this quality of life update: Skill window revamp! From now on you will be able to see the different assets of skills more clearly and change from Awakening to Succession or the other way around in one simple click, if you have already completed the relevant quests!

In addition, we bring you a new adventure log, this time from Pavino Greko! This adventure log consists of books recommended for adventurers by Pavino Greko, the (in)famous novelist/storage keeper of Epheria.

Oh, and that is not everything! With today's update you will also be able to choose new hairstyles for some male classes!

What are you waiting for? This amazing update is waiting to be read about! We hope you enjoy the new contents and update. See you at the next patch!

Event & System

Black Spirit's Adventure: Upgraded
- Period: July 8 (after maintenance)–July 22 (before maintenance)
- Roll up to 5 times a day and enjoy upgraded rewards including Caphras Stones, [Event] Shakatu's Shiny Box (Combat), [Event] Shakatu's Shiny Box (Life), and Mass of Pure Magic given in specific nodes.
- Click < Here > to learn more about the event in detail.

Black Stone Drop Rate Boost
- Period: July 8 (after maintenance)–July 22 (before maintenance)
- During the event period, enjoy the increased drop rate of Black Stone (Weapon) and Black Stone (Armor) all over the world of Black Desert Online.
- The drop rate boosts will run 24/7 during the entire event period.
- This boost event will apply to all servers including Olvia, Arsha, and Season servers.

Ongoing Events

Tapu's Golden Travel: July 1–July 15 (before maintenance)
Hot & Cool
- Event 1: Weekend Hot Time in Season and Olvia Servers: July 1–Until further notice
- Event 2: Cool Time: July 2–July 15 (before maintenance)

Season Special Attendance Rewards: June 25–July 15 (23:59 UTC)
Season Server Launch Events
- Event 1: Summer Season Playtime Challenge: June 18–July 29 (23:59 UTC)
- Event 3: Get Refined Magical Black Stones: June 18–July 15 (before maintenance)

Refer-a-Friend Promotion is Back!: June 17–July 15 (before maintenance)
Vell Extra Spawn: July 1–Until further notice

Ended Events

Papu or Otter?
Papua Crinea Launch Events

Reward Distribution

[SNS Event] Caption This!
- Congratulations to all winners and thank you to all participants! Winner's announced <Here>. Please find your rewards via in-game mailbox (B) after maintenance today.

Content

Major Update: 3 New Hairstyles for Male Classes

Added 3 new hairstyles for the male classes.

Major Update: Revamped Rich Merchant's Ring

The Rich Merchant's Ring is notoriously difficult, some say impossible, to obtain. Therefore, we have decided to add a new way to obtain this item. In addition, we also revamped the ring's effect. The new Market Silver Collection +5% effect is unique to the Rich Merchant's Ring and the new temporary item, Old Moon Trade Pass. We created the Old Moon Trade Pass, which will allow you to have a taste of the Rich Merchant's Ring's effect for one use, to motivate those of you seeking the Rich Merchant's Ring.

Although you can still attempt the old method of obtaining the ring, you might want to try your luck with the new method we are sharing with you below for obtaining the pieces of the Rich Merchant's Ring. You may not be able to get it all at first, but don't despair! We hope that eventually, the Rich Merchant's Ring will join the ranks of must-have treasures like the Archaeologist's Map or Lafi Bedmountain's Upgraded Compass.

The Rich Merchant's Ring will have an effect that increases market silver collection (tax reduction) instead of increasing marketplace bidding chance.
- Using the ring will apply the effect permanently onto your Family. You can check the applied effect in the Central Market window.
- The Rich Merchant's Ring won't disappear after use.

Sightings of the Rich Merchant's Ring Pieces have been reported all over the continent. One adventurer has compiled all of those reports into the following clues.
- The Fourth Piece will be available with the O'dyllita update.

To motivate adventurers seeking the Rich Merchant's Ring, market directors from all over the continent have joined with the Old Moon Guild to create the Old Moon Trade Pass.
- Bring a Shimmering Piece of the Old Moon to Chloe, the resident prankster of the Old Moon Guild, who will exchange it for the Old Moon Trade Pass.
- You can obtain Shimmering Piece of the Old Moon through various means.
- The Old Moon Trade Pass shares the same effect with the Rich Merchant's Ring, but its effect will only last one use.
- Using the Old Moon Trade Pass will consume it, and you can confirm its effects on the Central Market window. Its effect will be applied when selling an item.
  - The Old Moon Trade Pass effect can be applied to one item, including cases when the same item is sold in a stack.
  - The effect will be applied even if you use the Partial Collect function.
  - Withdrawing listed items will negate the effect and it will be gone.

Added an icon on the lower left-hand side of the Central Market window to appear when the Rich Merchant's Ring is in effect.

Major Update: Revamped Skill (K) Window

We've revamped the skill window with a new UI. We combined each skill's levels together to present each class' skills in a more intuitive structure, and added the Skill Preset function you can use to save skill configurations before making any changes. Skill Presets even saves Skill Add-On settings, and completing Succession and Awakening quests will award one preset slot each, while completing Talent and Ascension quests will award two preset slots each. This means there is a maximum of two preset slots available per class.

This new skill window is quite a big change from the previous version, and we fear you might find it awkward. Please share your feedback with us, so we can find ways to make any improvements, if needed.

You can view skill demos whenever you wish in the new skill window. Select the skill on the right, which will display the skill demo on the left along with detailed skill descriptions. You can also always hover your mouse over the skill icon to read the text bubble with the skill description.
Succession and Awakening skills can be accessed from the top right of the skill window once your character has completed their Succession or Awakening quests.
You can toggle displaying skill demos with the button on the bottom of the skill window.
Main Weapon skills have been divided into Main Skills, Secondary Skills, and Passive Skills.
- Click each tab to see the skills in each category.

Skills are also divided into Main Weapon, Awakening Weapon, and Skill Enhancement categories.
Press LMB on a specific skill icon to learn the skill.
Hold Shift + LMB on a skill icon to learn the maximum level of that skill available to you.
Characters below Lv. 56 can freely reset all the skills learned to free up their skill points.
- Press RMB on a skill icon to reset each individual skill.
- Hold Shift + RMB on a skill icon to reset the skill to its lowest level.

Use the Toggle Black Spirit's Rage function to toggle Black Spirit's Rage skills.
Use Skill Cooldown Slot function to set how your skills' cooldowns will be displayed.
Added the Skill Preset function.
- Skill Preset saves all currently learned skills and Skill Add-ons so you can restore them later.
  - There is a maximum of two preset slots available per class.
- You can save Skill Preset anytime, but to load Skill Preset you will either need a Secret Book of Old Moon and be in a Safe Zone, or go find a skill instructor.
  - Using a Secret Book of Old Moon to load previously saved Skill Presets will lock you to a 1 hour cooldown, while talking to a skill instructor only has a 10 minute cooldown.
  - When loading a Skill Preset, your character will act out a special motion.
  - You can reset your skills without a Secret Book of Old Moon or Armstrong's Skill Guide item by clicking on a notification about skill reset if it pops up while you are saving or loading Skill Presets.
    - You cannot use the Skill Preset function if you do not reset your skills, so make sure to reset your skills by clicking on the notification.

Added the item Skill Preset Coupon.
- Two coupons are available per class.
  - You can obtain one Skill Preset Coupon when you complete a series of Awakening or Succession quests.
  - You will get two Skill Preset Coupons when you complete a series of Talent or Ascension quests.
  - Characters that have already completed their respective Awakening, Succession, Talent, or Ascension quests series can talk to the Black Spirit to obtain the coupons via the [Skill Preset Coupon] Using a Variety of Skills quests.

Major Update: New Adventure Log

Added the new adventure log "Pavino Greko's Collection."
- This adventure log consists of books recommended for adventurers by Pavino Greko, the (in)famous novelist/storage keeper of Epheria. It is unique compared to existing adventure logs because each volume has a different theme.
- To start this new adventure log, first use a character that is at least Lv. 56, accept the quest "Adventure Log: Reading Season" from the Black Spirit. Then accept the quests "Adventure Log: Pyresh's Formula" and "Adventure Log: Seeking Darkness" from Pavino Greko of Port Epheria and donate a certain amount of Gold Bars to him.

You can now change the Black Spirit's appearance.
- Adventurers who at least Lv. 56 and have completed the Valencia main quest "Edana's Descendant" can summon the Black Spirit and change its look.
- You can obtain a variety of different appearances for the Black Spirit from completing main quests and adventure logs.
- You need to resummon the Black Spirit after selecting and applying a new appearance for the change to occur.

Fixed the issue where debuffs sometimes were not applying to enemies after being hit with a debuff-inducing skill.
Fixed the issue where enemies sometimes did not display debuff effects in their movements after being hit with a debuff-inducing skill.
Fixed the issue where enemies under debuff effects appeared in irregular locations.

System

Fixed the issue where there was static in the first moments of speaking on the Voice Chat

Class Changes

Warrior

Increased Black Spirit: Absolute: Ground Smash's PvP damage by approximately 68%.
Changed the skill description of Black Spirit: Absolute: Ground Smash relating to the skill's damage and number of hits as follows.
- However, the total amount of damage applied in PvE remains the same as before.

Reduced Black Spirit: Prime: Ground Smash's PvP damage by approximately 17%.

Ranger

Increased Black Spirit: Prime: Descending Current I–III's PvP damage by approximately 32%.
Fixed the issue where Absolute: Charging Wind's PvE only knockdown effect was applied in PvP after charging the skill 4–5 times.

Berserker

Increased Black Spirit: Absolute: Fearsome Tyrant's PvP damage by approximately 35%.
Reduced the following skills' PvP damage by approximately 34%.
- Black Spirit: Raging Thunder I–VI
- Black Spirit: Absolute: Raging Thunder

Reduced Black Spirit: Prime: Raging Thunder I–III's PvP damage by approximately 13%.

Tamer

Reduced Black Spirit: Allround Spinner I–IV's PvP damage by approximately 21%.

Valkyrie

Reduced Black Spirit: Prime: Judgment of Light I–III's PvP damage by approximately 11%.
Increased Black Spirit: Prime: Shining Dash's PvP damage by approximately 42%.
Fixed the issue where Black Spirit: Prime: Judgment of Light I–II's damage was equal to that of Black Spirit: Prime: Judgment of Light III.

Witch

Improved Prime: Aqua Jail Explosion's graphical effects.
Reduced the following skills' PvP damage by approximately 32%.
- Black Spirit: Meteor Shower I–III
- Black Spirit: Absolute: Meteor Shower

Increased Black Spirit: Prime: Lightning I–III's PvP damage by approximately 26%.
Increased Black Spirit: Prime: Meteor Shower: Areal's PvP damage by approximately 36%.

Wizard

Improved Prime: Aqua Jail Explosion's graphical effects.
Reduced the following skills' PvP damage by approximately 32%.
- Black Spirit: Meteor Shower I–III
- Black Spirit: Absolute: Meteor Shower

Increased Black Spirit: Prime: Lightning I–III's PvP damage by approximately 26%.
Increased Black Spirit: Prime: Meteor Shower: Areal's PvP damage by approximately 36%.

Musa

Increased Black Spirit: Absolute: Rising Storm's PvP damage by approximately 40%.

Maehwa

Increased Black Spirit: Absolute: Red Moon's PvP damage by approximately 39%.
Increased Black Spirit: Prime: Red Moon I–III's 1, 3, and last hit PvP damage by approximately 31%.

Ninja

Improved Prime: Red Rain's graphical effects.

Kunoichi

Increased Black Spirit: Absolute: Shadow Clone's PvP damage by approximately 43%.

Striker

Increased Black Spirit: Absolute: Rage Hammer's PvE and PvP damage by approximately 42%.

Mystic

Increased Black Spirit: Prime: Roaring Tiger's PvP damage by approximately 35%.

Guardian

Reduced Black Spirit: Prime: Black Blood Circle I–IV's PvP damage by approximately 21%.

Item Changes

For details on newly added Pearl Shop Update, please click < Here >!

Monster Changes

Reduced green grade Shai main and sub-weapons drop rates by 50% and increased Dragon Scale Fossil drop rates by 25% for certain monsters at Tshira Ruins, Blood Wolf Settlement, and Sherekhan Necropolis.

Quests & Knowledge

Quest

Added the following Season Server exclusive quests.
- Of the 8 weekly quests that have been added, you can pick and choose 1 to complete each week.
- You can find these quests in both the New Quest Recurring tabs of the Quests (O) window, under "[Season] Stronger Tuvala Gear."

Added the quest "[Special III] Confronting Ancient Puturum (1/W)."
- Accept the quest from the Black Spirit after completing part one of the Valencia main quests and gaining the knowledge "Reanimated Ancient Puturum."
- The quest can be completed simply by talking to the Black Spirit, and you will get Ancient Puturum Summon Scroll x1 as the reward.
- Added the knowledge Reanimated Ancient Puturum to the quest reward of [Special III] Divine Power (1/W). Once you have the knowledge, you can no longer accept [Special III] Divine Power (1/W), but can accept [Special III] Confronting Ancient Puturum (1/W) instead.

Changed one of the objectives of the quest "Frenzy-infested Jail" as follows.
- Before
  - Take down Sordid Deportee x100
- Now
  - Take down Sordid Deportee x20

Changed the following fishing quests.

Knowledge

You can now talk to Freharau at Port Epheria after completing the Calpheon main quest "Looking for Adventurers" to get the knowledge "Monarch of Darkness, Belmorn."

Interface Changes

Moved the "All" button to the bottom of the Mail (B) window.
Fixed the issue where the number of items in stock at a Trade Manager's did not immediately update after putting them in the cart to purchase.
Added commas as digit group separators for the market price of trade items in the Quotation Board window.
Changed the design of the durability gauge of Blood Relics.
Moved the name of Blood Relics to the bottom of their circular gauges.
Added icons representing the different ways to increase enhancement chance to the Enhancement window.
The following will no longer appear at the top of the Challenge (Y) tab.
- [Combat Reward] Faster and Stronger I–VI

Changed the color of the explanatory text at the bottom of the Skill Cooldown Slot window to brown.
Changed the icon for Enhancement Chance in the Basic tab of the My Information window to that of a Black Stone.
Changed the text that appears when you try to register a mount without naming it first.
Changed the text of the button that appears when using the Realization of Energy function via Alchemist Alustin to specify which Energy Potion will be created.
Added a banner to the Inventory (I) window of season characters that leads to Black Spirit's Safe.
Changed mentions of "Summer Season" to just "Season" in-game.
Made separate buttons for assigning or removing a suboperator for the Arena of Arsha.
Added a banner to the Equipment window of season characters that leads to Black Spirit Pass.
Fixed the issue where certain effects appeared unnatural in the Skill (K) window.

Resolved Issues

[Dark Knight] Fixed the graphical issue with the ornamental knot disappearing when using the skill Shadow Strike or Wrath of Vedir.
Fixed the issue where certain Grándiha and Papua Crinea daily quests did not appear as available.
Made the icons for the multiple-choice buttons that appear during the quest "The One Whose Voice Once Filled Grándiha" consistent.
Fixed the awkward camera angle that occurred when talking to the villa guard at Kunid's Villa.
Fixed the issue where the quest Hunt and Cook did not direct you to a good location for completing its objective.
Fixed the issue where certain structures looked unnatural in the following places.
- Caduil Forest Path
- Kunid's Shelter
- Rhua Tree Stub

Fixed the issue where stopping your fishing boat caused the camera to shake and for the boat to stop unnaturally.
Fixed the issue where it was sometimes impossible to connect to the server with a trial character.
Fixed the issue where the color palette for hair and eye color in the Beauty window appeared white in a 32-bit setting.
[Valkyrie] Fixed the description of Black Spirit: Prime: Judgment of Light I–III to display the correct amount of hits.
Fixed the graphical issues with the following apparel.
- [Guardian] Marine Romance

Reach us on the »forums« to share your feedback, opinions, and suggestions.

Jul 2, 2020

Heidel Ball: AT Home - Global Q&A [PART 4]

Black Desert - Vinyl Mix

Part 1 of the Q&A <HERE>

Part 2 of the Q&A <HERE>

Part 3 of the Q&A <HERE>

Q. Thank you for creating such a fun game! What I want to ask most about in Black Desert is PK. Not long ago, I was in the middle of a quest when I was suddnely interrupted by being PK’d. This is the biggest reason why I can’t recommend Black Desert to my friends. It’s a very unpleasant experience, because it’s a one-sided act of bullying/harassment. Can you at least change the normal field to be like mobile where you can only fight in PK mode? I don’t want to be on edge and wondering when I’ll be attacked. I just want to peacefully enjoy the beautiful scenery, background music, and wonderful stories! I believe Black Desert would become an MMO that’s worth more of my time and money than now.

A. Black Desert has fundamentally large penalties for PK, because we judged PK as a system where Adventurers could chase out other Adventurers. We don’t expect to change this direction much in the future (there are also Adventurers who want more PK, so we’ve released content with reduced PK penalties such as the Desert areas and Arsha server). Also, Black Desert has several ways to avoid PK, so we won’t be creating a separate PK mode.
On the other hand, we want to take the approach of showing you how to avoid PK instead when you experience unwanted PK. You can move servers, get guild protection, access private mode, or go to other similar hunting grounds to avoid PK in Black Desert, but it seems these ways might be unknown to newer Adventurers. We will make improvements to help Adventurers understand these ways better in this approach.

Q. Is there any hidden content in Black Desert that still remains undiscovered? For example, a hunting ground not on the map, a monster that appears at random locations for a short time that drops an artifact-like powerful weapon/armor, or something like that! If such things exist, I think even novice Adventurers will try for them to catch up to stronger Adventurers with better gear. Plus, it makes players dream for adventure!

A. When we developed Valencia, we created Aakman Temple and Hystria Ruins (which have no entrance, but a portal you need to discover instead) to give you that kind of feeling/experience. But since Black Desert is an MMORPG, it’s difficult to ignore the fact it’ll be repeated content instead of a one-time thing, and as a result, it is designed in a form that is available to everyone. Realistically, while it is very difficult to keep it hidden, we will consider expanding content in a similar manner to Aakman Temple and Hystria Ruins as you suggested. As for artifacts, this is something we are currently developing. While its direction is different from what you suggested, it’ll be something you can look forward to in the terms of the thirst and challenge for adventure.
Also, there exist some fun elements that are still hidden. For instance, the Rich Merchant's Ring still hasn't been obtained by any Adventure because the method to obtain it is difficult and remains unclear. There are also content regarding hints for monster drops through NPC lines or hidden caves, and some unique things like a buff from playing instruments that don’t impact the main gameplay, but many Adventurers haven’t discovered them yet. While we won’t set them at too high of a value, we’ll continue to create little by little these kinds of fun and hidden elements to add to the feeling of adventure and discovery.

Q. When will the door in the Ancient Stone Chamber guarded by Edana's descendant reopen? I’m really curious!

We’re also looking forward to the day the door reopens. We will update you when the time comes.

Q. Currently, there are several minigames for Life Skills such as Fishing and Lakiaro. Do you have any plans to make more?

A. Yes, we do plan on increasing the number of minigames, so please be patient a little longer. It might be a separate content expansion like Lakario or it could be for the purpose of increasing the quality-of-life in a Life Skill.

Q. While I’m always having fun playing, I want to know if there’s any progress on the “chariot” or “oil excavation in the desert” (guild content?) which was previously planned for development.

A. When Chariots were in the developmental stage, they were moving cannon platforms, but were too powerful balance-wise and would reduce the fun of Conquest War, so we ended up canceling their update. Currently, we have Ogre and Troll for each respective role instead of the chariot. As for the oil drilling content we announced at the opening of Valencia, it’s currently undergoing overhaul. At that time we couldn’t quite get the fun elements right and ensure it wouldn’t be exploitable, but we’re once again discussing it now to get it right and hope to deliver good results. The timing of this update will be around the same time as that of the Valencia story revamp.

Q. Characters currently don’t learn new skills after level 61. Are you at all considering having higher levels let us learn more powerful skills or make characters more powerful?

A. While this is similar to a previous answer, we didn’t put any big rewards after level 60 or make leveling a way to get stronger, because we wanted to reduce the pressure of having to level up. Even though expanding ways for your character to get stronger beyond just gear is our intended direction for development (one of these is Igor Bartali’s Adventure Log), we are not considering making your character suddenly more powerful based on level. Of course, this is something we can expand upon little by little with other content as time passes by, but for now, we will maintain the current state.

Q. Death is an important factor for changing a player’s playstyle or being a learnable moment. Also, it shouldn’t cause you to lose EXP or Crystals that you worked hard to get. But it’s not like this in Black Desert right now. For example, a player who dies can just resurrect 5 seconds later at a nearby node that is 5 meters away and or be “Karma Bombed” with the current system. Please take a look at the following possible solutions.
1) Make resurrection for the 1st time be 10 seconds and add more time for every death after the 1st death.
2) Reduce equipment durability by 20% for each death.
3) Make it no longer possible to resurrect at a nearby node and only allow resurrection at a nearby town (without consuming Elion’s Tear).

A. Rather than making immediate changes for the death penalties you’ve mentioned, we believe we could apply these penalties to the new regions or regions/content with clear concepts. Suddenly changing death penalties in PvP will make some Adventurers unhappy, especially since they’ve been in Black Desert for a long time. However, applying these penalties to content or regions with a clear concept could create new thrilling or fun elements.

Q. How about adding a Mentor-Mentee system? For example, after getting into a mentor-mentee relationship, you can complete mentor-mentee quests for rewards (silver, caphras, etc.) within a set period of time. In my opinion, this could create a new trend in Black Desert.

A. A mentor system is something we’ve internally discussed for several years and it even reached the development stage, but we couldn’t quite find a solution for rewards possibly being exploitable, so the system ended up being discarded. While it isn’t quite a Mentor-Mentee system, we currently run a Supporters program where many Adventurers (a big thanks to all of you) are acting as mentors. We will think of other ways beyond this to help new Adventurers learn and adjust to the game.

Q. Similar to character tagging, how about making it possible to tag another player’s character? Something like granting additional buffs while defeating monsters or gathering while tagged, or granting passives or skills when certain classes are in a party together (depending on the combination of classes tagged). Class combinations could really help diversify gameplay. Also, how about making it possible for party members to have their AP/DP set as the party average? This could really help new players learn the game faster and understand the AP/DP numbers better, and give new players a chance to play with friends in a party at mid-tier hunting grounds.

A. This is something we have to be really careful about answering as it is different from our direction for game development. Adding skills or buffs for certain class combinations could result in pressure to use them if they become a necessity or make them useless if their effects are insufficient. While we understand the importance of having many options, we believe it’s more important to reduce stress/fatigue from this kind of option. In a similar vein, it’s why most of the content (including hunting grounds) are designed for solo play rather than party play. We will look into using your feedback in specific content or within a limited-range. For now, we want to focus on making each class fun to play rather than connecting classes/characters.
As for setting your AP/DP to the average AP/DP of the party, this also doesn’t match our direction for game development. Black Desert is an MMORPG that we hope rewards you for your efforts. Instead, we are currently designing a form of cooperative play for stronger Adventurers to help not-so-strong Adventurers (as a brief example, one Adventurer has to keep moving and interact with objects, while another defeats monsters).

Q. In boss battles, instead of just surrounding the boss and hitting it, it’d be more fun if you could defeat the boss using tactical and objective-based attacks such as breaking shields, destroying totems, cutting tails, etc., which is similar to how you defeat Garmoth now. The new Dark Rift Helms boss is quite fun too.

A. We’ve continuously received similar suggestions from several Adventurers. We try not to over-design bosses unless we have a specific concept in mind, since they are usually something you challenge as a group. However, you might want to know that we are currently preparing the “Pit of the Undying,” which is in the concept of a PvE arena and emphasizes the importance of tactics/objectives over gear. We want to continue to add tactical/objective-based elements in this manner, so we hope you’ll look forward to them.

Q. In a similar concept to Igor Bartali’s Adventure Log, could you add a book/log that you complete/clear with guild members for permanent buffs? These books could have party/platoon requirements and gear score (AP+DP) requirements at higher tiers, thus creating extra guild PvP and PvE events catering to all levels. The participating guild parties and platoons could be rewarded with extra buffs for completing these guild missions.

A. An Adventure Log with guild members or party members isn’t something that we’ve thought about before. Since it has the advantage of being content that you only do once, it should be possible for us to prepare something that you enjoy with others as a major goal-orientated type of content. We’ll take your suggestion as a basis and try to develop it more. Thank you.

Q. Are there any plans to add minigames like the ones in the Kratuga Ancient Ruins or Abandoned Monastery to other hunting grounds? I feel like minigames make hunting grounds more engaging and fun.

A. We are going to continue to add these kinds of bonus/extra elements to hunting grounds However, we won’t be just shoehorning them in, but making sure they fit in naturally.

Q. I’m someone who doesn’t do any PvP, etc., but plays Black Desert because I enjoy Life Skill content. However, I feel like there isn’t an “end game” content for Adventurers who have maximized their Life Skills. Adventurers who play PvE/PvP can enjoy the search for “Treasure Items” or battle in Node War, but Life Skill Adventurers don’t have much else to do. Thus, I’d like to ask if there are any plans to add “end game” content for Life Skills?

A. We don’t really consider “end game” content for anything, and this isn’t something that is limited to certain content, but is the same across all content. In regards to Life Skill content, we will continue to expand on a variety of factors to make it more in-depth, so you can have more to delve into. While we’ve announced this before, we will start off by focusing on the Old Moon Grand Prix and make our way to Trading afterwards.

As for “treasure items,” these are also something that are already a part of Life Skills. There’s a strange fish that can only be caught by a character that is at least Guru Fishing, which is in fact an incredible item that can summon Vell, but unfortunately, no one has been successful in catching it yet. Likewise for Alchemy, characters that are at least Guru Alchemy can synthesize a summoning scroll for Kzarka, the Lord of Corruption. We’ll either give a little bit of hints or prepare other ways for these two items to get more attention.

Jul 2, 2020

Heidel Ball: AT Home - Global Q&A [PART 3]

Black Desert - Vinyl Mix

Part 1 of the Q&A <HERE>

Part 2 of the Q&A <HERE>

Q. Before I ask my questions, I’d like to first explain why I have them. Due to the nature of the MMORPG genre, I believe the barrier of entry is something that is always on the mind of both the developers and players. I understand it’s not easy to preserve the value of the effort players put into growing a character, and at the same time, being able to offer a chance to new players to catch up. Black Desert previously implemented limits to AP/DP for Tier 1 Nodes to try to revitalize Node War, but I feel there are still a lot of problems. If you look at the guilds that are winning in Node War, you’ll mostly see a couple of guilds just holding a majority of the Nodes. While these guilds have invested time and effort into winning Nodes, over the course of time they’ve started to monopolize them and have just become a hurdle for guilds first starting out in Node War. So, here are my questions.

1. Thoughts on a specific guild holding multiple Nodes (Question regarding the possibility of 1 guild, 1 node)
2. Additional limitations besides AP and DP for closing the gap (limits on HP, resistance, etc.)
3. How to prevent guilds that sit on a Tier 1 Node for a long time and enter Node War (Possibly introduce Guild Fame that increases when a guild wins in Node War or gains several Nodes, and use this Guild Fame number to adjust profits from lower tier Nodes or just make participating in lower tier Node Wars not possible)

I hope to hear your responses regarding these 3, thank you.

Q. There are currently not enough guilds in Node/Conquest War. While I do believe that the introduction of the War Hero and Guild Alliance system brought a breath of fresh air to the somewhat stagnant Node/Conquest War, these systems also had several negative side effects once they became a fixture. First off, since War Heroes can participate in Node/Conquest War even if their guild isn’t, some players just participate in Siege War as War Heroes without a guild, and there are even mercenary-focused guilds for players who just participate as War Heroes. As a result, not only is the number of guild members who participate in Siege War decreasing, but the number of guilds that participate are decreasing as well. So every week, guilds that diligently participate in Node War only encounter the same guilds over and over again or stick guilds, which causes a cycle of declining interest. Not that long ago, the number of Nodes that Node War occurred in every day was reduced, but that seemed to only be a partial fix and there currently isn’t a lot of guilds properly participating in Node War. All these problems about Node War are getting worse and worse as time goes on.

The same is true for Conquest War. Since the attacking side can accept the maximum number of War Heroes, while the defending side can’t accept War Heroes, this makes the attacking side way too advantageous. Furthermore, guilds that usually have a small number of guild members can still accept a lot of mercenaries to fill their ranks. The problem is that guilds which accept the most powerful mercenaries are the ones that are most dominant in the Siege War. All this leads into incentivizing low guild membership and accepting as many mercenaries as possible, so the end result is a declining sense of accomplishment for winning Siege War as it becomes more about the strength of your mercenaries instead. Naturally this makes the number of guilds participating in Conquest War to decrease. So, I’d like to hear the developers’ thoughts on these problems regarding Node/Conquest War, and if possible, your plans on solving these problems.

A. Node/Conquest War is one of Black Desert’s characteristic content many guilds, big or small, take part in. With so many guilds taking interest and enjoying it, we’ve received and compiled a variety of feedback which we used to make our changes so far. While we will continue to make changes in this manner, let us speak about this topic a bit more today.
One of the biggest current issues of Node War is relatively powerful guilds joining Tier 1 Nodes and making it harder for “novice guilds” to participate in and have fun. (We tried to solve this problem by introducing limits on AP/DP and War Heroes, and while at first it was better, over time stronger guilds once again took over Tier 1 Nodes.) To solve this problem, we believe our first priority is to find a fundamental solution, so that stronger guilds will challenge higher-tier Nodes instead of Tier 1 Nodes. While we do have many ideas, we are examining ways to bring new change to Node War in the near future, including making the rewards better.

As for guilds that are having trouble in the beginning stages, we are considering making lower tiers that are PvE based. This will be akin to an introduction-based Node, and we plan to set it up as a fun goal for guilds that are starting out. But since this is an introduction-based node for a novice guild, guilds won’t be able to keep at it for a long time as it is just meant to encourage them to participate in the original Tier 1 Node Wars.

Of course, we also plan on changing the way you’ll take Nodes. Right now (if Conquest War isn’t the goal), a single guild can take a Node and comfortably try to take another Node over the course of the week. This is where we want to make some changes. We described it as a “hopscotch” or “capture-the-zone” at the Heidel Ball, where if Guild A takes Node B, then afterwards, Guild A can try to take Node C that is connected to B, but we plan to make it difficult or impossible to take the remaining unconnected nodes D and E. Guilds will be able to expand in this way and grow their influence, but it’ll also be more damaging if they lose control of a connecting Node. Additionally, this format will make it harder to defend 2 or 3 Nodes while attacking, so we are considering improving the already developed Alliance system to encourage cooperation when needed. These node connections will also be set up differently for each territory. (The changes are still under development and are subject to change.)

War Heroes, which many players call “mercenaries”, was first introduced as one of the ways you could participate in Node/Conquest War if you were a member of another guild or weren’t a member of a guild. We intentionally didn’t set a limit on more Adventurers participating, so that even weaker guilds could challenge Conquest War, but there have been cases where the strength of the War Heroes has gone beyond that of the guild itself, so as a result, we want to limit that. While we could just limit the number of War Heroes that could participate in Conquest War, we are also considering limiting the participation costs to enable more tactical management. We want to set maximum limits for participation costs according to guild or territory, and the total combat rating calculated for each War Hero’s level, gear, etc. would not be able to go over the maximum. Therefore, guilds that need a War Hero will need to weigh the cost of choosing a select number of the best Adventurers or just a bigger number of average Adventurers depending on the situation. Once we’ve tested and deliberated over this a bit more, we will make an announcement through the Black Desert Global Labs after we’ve finalized our direction. Also, we plan to allow the defending side to have War Heroes as well.

Lastly, adjustments to certain siege weapons. Siege weapons currently each have their own roles and are organized into a kind of rock-paper-scissors set up, but monster weapons, Troll and Ogre, are relatively too effective. Thus, we’re considering keeping their current direction, but adding limitations or changing their roles altogether, so that they can be utilized in other ways.

We understand we cannot 100% satisfy all the guilds and Adventurers who participate in Node/Conquest War. Nevertheless, even though we’ve continued to make improvements to problems to prevent them from becoming fixtures, we apologize for the state of the wars to have remained in its current state as long as it did. We will not be stopping our constant attempts at changes and our final goal is to make Node/Conquest War into something you can challenge and enjoy like a sport. What we mentioned today is only a part of the overall picture, and we will continue to take your feedback and make announcements as soon as our development is finished.

Q. Can you let us lower Guild Incentives to tier 0 for certain guild members?
Q. The Guild Incentive system is way too inconvenient to use. It’s a tiring process every time I give my guild members incentives.
Q. Could you make it possible to let us set allowances for mercenaries in batches or collectively? For instance, the guild master has to give out allowances after defeating Khan, but it requires them to click everyone one-by-one to send it out, which takes way too much time. Please fix this.

A. Regarding this UI quality-of-life change, we will work on this immediately once we’ve set a schedule, and we will do our best to update this as quickly as possible. Additionally, we are not considering a tier 0 for guild incentives yet. We know some guild members might not be able to play or have the best behavior, but they are still your guild members who share your guild mark. (We believe that adding a tier 0 payment will cause more attempts at exploitation)

Q. Are there plans for enhancements levels higher than PEN (V)?

A. We currently don’t have any plans to add higher enhancement levels than PEN (V).

Q. Are you going to expand upon content that uses musical instruments?

A. For Shai, we plan to improve upon her Talent and add more system features like musical/performance techniques & sound modulation effects. Once we’ve added this, you’ll be able to play the same instrument with a different kind of feel, and you’ll be able to tune your sound with audio effects. Beyond this we don’t have any other definite expansion plans yet, but we’ll let you know once we’ve finalized our development direction.

Q. Please let other classes use the Compose/Play system.

A. Since this is content created exclusively for Shai, we expect to keep it exclusive for Shai for now. Once we expand the musical instrumental content in the future and if Shai can treat her musical composition/performance more professionally, we will consider allowing other classes to be able to use it on a limited-basis.

Q. At the Heidel Ball: AT HOME, Adventurers worldwide were able to meet online without space constraints. Going a step further, I hope to see Pearl Abyss’ direct service bring Adventurers from all around the world in one server, so I’m wondering if this is a possible update if the technology is developed in the future.

A. This is a very difficult task, but it’s not a challenge we will not shy away from. Rather than try to accomplish this in one go, we will be trying our first attempts with Thailand and Southeast Asia, and go on from there using the experience we gain.

Q. I hope you’ll look into optimizing the game and servers a little more closely. There’s hunting grounds (e.g. Sycraia) where I get 30 FPS even with a i9 9900k and RTX 2080TI.

A. We plan to update certain areas of Sycraia where frame drop issues occur. If you experience frame drops in other areas, please let us know and we will carefully go over them again.

Q. Are there any plans to lower the Silver you can earn from Ocean Bartering and add more exchange amounts for Crow Coins? Currently, there aren't a lot of Manos accessories, so it’s difficult to get a supply in the Central Market and you can’t buy enhancement materials due to the large volume of Silver.

A. Recently, we’ve made an update to replace the Silver made from Bartering with Crow Coins by making it possible to exchange Level 4 Trade Goods for Crow Coins and introducing “Gold Items” to Material Bartering. We believe the main enhancement materials, including Manos, should be obtained through the original method, so we plan to keep Bartering as a supporting role.

Q. Are there any plans to add a larger variety of Carrack equipment similar to Ebenruth's Nol? For example, an equipment that lets you fire from the front of a ship! Instead of adding more mounts/ships, how about updating things like this?

A. We’re open to the possibility of adding more Carrack equipment, but we haven’t had any specific discussions yet on what kind of equipment we’d add (and what effects they’d have). We agree that there should be more ways to attack and we will keep this in mind when developing the next Treasure Item. However, considering the historical precedent, we would also like to say that placing a cannon at the prow of a ship might not be right for a Carrack.

Q. Will there be an outfit that allows Ninja to equip 6 great swords?

A. We feel that 6 great swords would be too out of character for Ninja, so we’ll do our best to create amazing outfits that really highlight Ninja’s theme instead of giving him 6 great swords.

Q. I’m someone who loves PvP. Will there be any new major content updates from a PvP perspective? Such as Territory War, more interesting Conquest and Node War System, which encourage more team play and objective-based playstyles, or different RBF game modes?
Q. Just like with Bartering, Gathering, and Defeating Monsters, PvP content also needs to be updated. (Letting Adventurers earn silver from PvP, etc.) The reward you get from Red Battlefield is basically just “Fame”. There are zero rewards for open world PvP, so it’s turning into content that feels like a waste of time, since defeated Adventurers can just come back right away. Please give us more reasons to participate in PvP content.

A. In regards to PvP content, we’ve added and improved Team Battle, Final Battle, and Arena of Arsha after the introduction of the Red Battlefield. As for Red Battlefield, we’ve added rewards, including Combat EXP, so you can still somewhat grow your character and farm while doing it. At the early stages of Black Desert, there were 1:1 and 3:3 matches akin to ranking matches, but they weren’t enjoyed by many Adventurers, so we ended up completely removing them. Recently though, more and more Adventurers have requested for the past ranking matches. We are currently developing Thornwood Battlefield, but afterwards, we will look into our Adventurers’ feedback, and promise to continue to gradually expand on more action-packed and thrilling content for PvP-loving Adventurers.

Q. Are there any plans for a PvP mode where players are equipped with the same level of gear?

A. We currently don’t have any plans for such a PvP mode yet. We want to focus on PvP content that rewards the effort Adventurers put into growing their characters. Black Desert is an MMORPG, which means it is a game where Adventurers strive to become stronger through their hard-work and efforts. We plan to continue to stay loyal to this basic philosophy. Of course, we will continue to implement a variety of features such as Olvia servers, Season servers, Tuvala gear, etc. to help new Adventurers starting out to get stronger faster, and if they put in a certain level of effort, be able to be on a similar playing field with existing Adventurers.

Q. The current skill system for classes seems too simple and mediocre. How about making the skill mechanisms a little more complex by introducing more unique skills to each class?

A. We don’t have any plans to make major changes to the skill system for all the classes. Black Desert at its core specializes in fast combat with a lot of room for freedom of choice. At first all skills had cooldowns, but this felt too limiting, so we made a number of skills be usable even during cooldown. We believe adaptation and assessment during this process are a part of the “Combat Method”. That’s why we won't implement skills that are more complex than what we have now.
Black Desert is meant to be a place where you can have fun with many other Adventurers. Instead of more complex systems, we will continue to look into and examine skills that are more intuitive or have new forms, functions, and abilities. Additionally, we will consider things to make certain classes feel a bit more demanding control-wise by clearly bringing out the concept of the class.

Q. Can you share your thoughts on changing up the current meta of PvP in Black Desert? Because I think that there should be a diverse choice on the stats that you put in on your character, unlike now where evasion is a step above. I think creating a diverse set of choices can make Adventurers choose their weapons, armors, and accessories more differently.
Q. The current meta is for evasion gear, which is stronger than damage reduction gear, so I want to ask your thoughts about the gap between evasion and damage reduction gear.

A. To be frank, this is what we debate about the most internally. Black Desert’s evasion system at its core will ignore an opponent’s attack all together, which makes accuracy incredibly important from the opponent’s perspective. However, while accuracy can be gained from gear, there also exists a discrepancy depending on the skill effects of each class. What we’re considering is giving all classes more basic accuracy, along with changing the accuracy number for skill effects, so there isn’t that much of a gap between skills, and changing evasion from avoiding all damage to some damage (e.g. evading takes only 1/10 of damage instead). As for damage reduction, we are discussing various possibilities, including supplementing defensive skills with additional effects like with accuracy or even a formula of maximizing damage reduction effects through add-ons.
However, we haven’t been able to easily come to a decision due to how much of an impact they have to the game. Even though we haven’t decided upon what exact method we’ll take, we won’t give up, and we’ll continue holding discussions until we come to an answer. If you have any good suggestions like these questions, please feel free to submit a ticket to our Support, and we’ll read them all closely.

Q. There are many theories and assumptions about RNG. Some Adventurers even think that certain accounts are “chosen” (horoscope, character creation date, enhancement date/time, etc.) So, is there anything that actually affects RNG? Or is RNG really just pure luck?

A. There are no “chosen” accounts. Everyone's the same and this will remain the same in the future. As the person writing this answer though… I always talk to Crio before enhancing. It makes me feel happier when I see his face, even though the end results are the same… Queek...

Jul 1, 2020

Patch Notes - July 1st 2020

Black Desert - CM Servantes

Greetings Adventurers,

In this week's update we bring you the long awaited class balance that was previously announced during the Heidel Ball: AT HOME. We hope you like these changes and as usual we will keep an eye on your feedback to achieve a more equal balance in line with our goals to provide you with the best possible PvE/PvP experience.

We also hope you are enjoying the Seasonal Servers and the wonders of the new Tuvala gear! Starting today you will be able to rent a special type gear from the King of Valencia. This is the perfect alternative to gear your character if you haven't been lucky with your recent enhancements.

Lastly, we have several new events starting this week. You can acquire Tapu's Golden Coins and exchange them for big rewards, enjoy the Hot Time boosts in Season and Olvia servers, and get the chance to collect loyal attendance rewards again!

Do you want to know the details of these new events and additions? Go on and keep reading!

Event & System

New Events

Tapu's Golden Travel
- Period: July 1 (after maintenance)–July 15 (before maintenance)
- Collect [Event] Golden Troupe Coins by completing quests offered by NPC Tapu or via playtime challenges and exchange them for big rewards.
- Click < Here > to find out more about this golden opportunity.

Hot & Cool
- Event 1: Weekend Hot Time in Season and Olvia Servers
  - Period: July 1 (after maintenance)–Until further notice
  - Weekend Hot Time boosts have arrived at Season and Olvia Servers. Until further notice, weekend EXP boosts of Combat EXP +200%, Skill EXP +30% and Item drop rate boosts will apply to Season and Olvia Servers.
- Event 2: Cool Time
  - Period: July 2 (00:00UTC)–July 15 (before maintenance)
  - Stack up on your boost items through playtime challenges and use them at your convenience.

Loyal Attendance Rewards Refreshed
- Period: July 2 (00:00 UTC)–August 5 (23:59 UTC)
- Check attendance daily and stack up on rewards including [Event] Shining Shakatu's Seals, Fine Accessory Box II, and so much more!
- Click < Here > to find out more about the cool buffs and loyal attendance rewards.

Vell Extra Spawn
- Period: July 1–Until further notice
- Starting today, enjoy an extra chance to challenge Vell every Wednesday!
- Click < Here > for details on the additional Vell spawn schedule.

Ongoing Events

Papua Crinea Launch Events
- Event 1. Let's Play Hide-and-seek: June 24–July 8 (before maintenance)
- Event 2. Pa! Stab! Pu! Retrieve!: June 24–July 8 (before maintenance)

Season Special Attendance Rewards: June 25 (00:00 UTC)–July 15 (23:59 UTC)
Papu or Otter?: June 24–July 6 (23:59 UTC)
Fughar's Black Pearl (available in Season Servers only): June 24–July 8 (before maintenance)
Season Server Launch Events
- Event 1: Summer Season Playtime Challenge: June 18–July 29 (23:59 UTC)
- Event 3: Get Refined Magical Black Stones: June 18–July 15 (before maintenance)

Refer-a-Friend Promotion is Back!: June 17–July 15 (before maintenance)

Ended Events

[SNS Event] Caption This!
- Submission Date (Post on your SNS!): June 17 (after maintenance)–June 30 (23:59 UTC)
  Winner's Announcement: July 3
- Reward Distribution: July 10 (during maintenance)

Season Server Launch Events
- Event 2: Leveling Aid Challenge: June 18–July 1 (before maintenance)
- Event 4: Hot Summer Time: June 17–July 1 (before maintenance)
- Event 5: Time-filled Mysterious Knight: June 17–July 1 (before maintenance)

Reward Distribution

Arsha Leaderboard Returns: The Grand Rewards have been sent via your in-game mailbox (B). Thank you for participating and your patience.

Content

The effects of [Event] Simple Cron Meal and [Oasis] Simple Cron Meal were also changed to include that of Energizing Cron Meal.

For our past update on September 4, 2019, we combined the Savory Cron Meal with the Seafood Cron Meal for the sake of adventurers who enjoy our Life Skills content. For those adventurers who enjoy defeating monsters, we felt that combining the effects of Energizing Cron Meal with Simple Cron Meal would make this the ultimate meal, hence we added all the effects of the Energizing Cron Meal into the Simple Cron Meal.

The Energizing Cron Meal item was changed into the Simple Cron Meal.
- Any Energizing Cron Meal in your possession or in the Central Market will be dealt with as follows.
  - If it is inside your Inventory, Storage, Warehouse, or Mailbox, it will be changed to Simple Cron Meal.
  - If it was sold on the Central Market, yet you haven't collected the money, the Silver for selling the item will be sent via in-game mail.
    - For this instance, all adventurers will receive the "+30% Marketplace Sales upon Silver Collection" for the transaction and also receive any additional Silver collection benefits provided by Family Fame. This is regardless of whether or not you had a Value Pack in effect.
- If it is waiting to be sold on the Central Market, the exact amount of meals as you listed on the Central Market will be mailed as Simple Cron Meals.
- If your pre-order was completed on the Central Market, yet you haven't collected the item, the exact number of completed orders will be mailed as Simple Cron Meals.
- If you have any pending pre-order at the Central Market, the pre-order will be canceled, and you will be mailed the Silver equivalent to the amount you used for the pre-order.

[/list]

The items contained inside the Cron Meal Box and [Event] High-Quality Food Box, which used to contain the Energizing Cron Meal, were changed.
You can now make the Simple Cron Meal using the ingredients previously used for the Energizing Cron Meal.
The item description for the Ancient Cron Spice was changed due to the changed ingredients for making the Simple Cron Meal.
Knowledge entry for the Energizing Cron Meal was removed.
The Energizing Cron Meal will no longer be displayed in the Crafting Notes (F2).
Ellie the Oasis Vendor will no longer sell the [Oasis] Energizing Cron Meal.

System

Fixed the issue where some web based windows in the game were not working as intended.

Game World, NPC & Effects

Game World

Improved the navigation in the region near Waragon Nest.

NPC

Changed the text of the button that appears when using the Realization of Energy function via Alchemist Alustin.
Fixed the issue where you were sometimes guided to Ellie the Oasis Vendor when trying to navigate to a general goods vendor via the Find NPC function.

Class Changes

Warrior

Increased the Warrior's damage ratio by an average of approximately 3.1% and increased Awakening PvP damage.
Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 10%.

Ranger

Increased the Ranger's damage ratio by an average of approximately 8.6% and increased Awakening PvP damage.
Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 5%.
Reduced Prime: Tearing Arrow I–IV' PvP damage amount when used while mounted by approximately 25%.

Sorceress

Reduced the Sorceress' damage ratio by an average of approximately 11.3%.

This may seem like quite a big reduction, yet this was to balance the gap between Awakening and Succession skills. While the Sorceress' damage ratio did overall decline, her Succession and Awakening skills' damage amount were comparatively greatly increased.

Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 5%.
Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 16%.
Increased Dead Hunt I–IV's PvP damage by approximately 25%.
Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 26%.
- Cartian's Nightmare I–IV
- Flow: Cry of Darkness I–III
- Violation I–III

Improved Night Crow to activate Black Wave more naturally when inputting S+RMB, then S+RMB+LMB, after using the skill.
- When maintaining S+RMB+LMB after Night Crow, Dark Flame will be activated first.

Berserker

Reduced the Berserker's damage ratio by an average of approximately 14.6%.

The Berserker saw a large gap between Succession and Awakening, and its PvP damage ratio was greatly reduced compared to other classes.

Thus, we greatly increased the skill damage amount of both Succession and Awakening.
In addition, while the Berserker may be a class that boasts the greatest number of grappling skills, we felt there was a bit of a gap regarding how useful such skills were in light of comboing into other skills.
Hence, we chose to improve Rock Smash to combo more smoothly in order to highlight the Berserker's unique trait.

Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 15%.
Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 25%.
Increased the PvP damage of Titan Blow I–IV by approximately 15%.
Increased the PvP damage of Flame Buster I–III by approximately 36%.
Increased the PvP damage of Devastation I–IV by approximately 37%.
Improved the Rock Smash to combo more smoothly into other skills.

Tamer

Reduced the Tamer's damage ratio by an average of approximately 12.5%.

Like Sorceress and Berserker, the Tamer also saw quite the PvP damage ratio decrease, hence we greatly increased specific skills' damage amount in PvP, especially her Awakening skill damage.

Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 15%.
Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 30%.
Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 12%.

Valkyrie

Increased the Valkyrie's damage ratio by an average of approximately 1.9% and increased the PvP damage of most of her skills.
Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 7%.
Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 7%.
Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 5%.

Witch

For Witch and Wizard, although we have changed the PvP damage ratio, the actual damage per skill has remained mainly untouched. Therefore, these two classes have maintained similar power levels compared to other classes who had their damage ratios improved.

We also expect the improved version of Magical Evasion updated this week will bring about small changes to the battlefield.

Improved the effects of the following skills.
Fixed the issue where movement would be interrupted when using Magical Evasion depending on the surface level at which it was used.
Increased the Witch's damage ratio by an average of approximately 8.6%
- Witch's PvP damage remains unchanged.

Fixed the issue of Skill Add-On not activating on certain Thunder Storm skill hits.

Wizard

Improved the effects of the following skills.
Fixed the issue where movement would be interrupted when using Magical Evasion depending on the surface level at which it was used.
Increased the Wizard's damage ratio by an average of approximately 8.6%.
- Wizard's PvP damage remains unchanged.
Musa
- Reduced the Musa's damage ratio by an average of approximately 1% and increased Awakening and Succession PvP damage.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 2%.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 8%.
Maehwa
- Increased the Maehwa's damage ratio by an average of approximately 2.3% and increased Awakening and Succession PvP damage.
- Added a super armor effect and removed the knockdown effect for Petal Bloom.
  - Added a knockdown effect to Flow: Moonlight Dash to compensate for removing knockdown from Petal Bloom. Since Flow: Moonlight Dash can also be used through Quick Slots and not just through Petal Bloom combos, we hope to see its usage increase in battle.
- Increased the skill's PvP damage of Flow: Cloud Stab by approximately 5%.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 2%.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 8%.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 10%.
- Added the knockdown effect to Flow: Moonlight Dash.
- Changed to combo faster into Flow: Moonlight Dash when used after Petal Bloom's charged hit.
Ninja
- Increased the Ninja's damage ratio by an average of approximately 4.7% and increased Awakening and Succession PvP damage.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 5%.
- Improved the skill effects Prime: Red Rain.
- Fixed the issue of the Shuriken Throw activating first when comboing into Prime: Red Rain right after Ghost Step or Shadow Slash.
- Fixed the issue of Prime: Fox Claw's floating effect not occurring when used after certain skills.
- Changed Prime: Dark Frenzy to be usable regardless of remaining Stamina.
- (Prime: Dark Frenzy, Prime: Beheading the Dead, Succession: Crescent Slash) Fixed the forward guard effect that occurs when moving backwards during certain parts of the animation after using the skills' extra hit, so that the effect will only occur when equipped with the kunai sub-weapon.
- Changed the Awakening: Narusawa's Sura Katana skill's forward guard effect when standing in place to only occur when equipped with the kunai sub-weapon.
- Fixed the issue of Ghost Greeting activating first when comboing into Shadow Slash after certain skills.
- Changed Ghost Greeting skill's description text to accurately describe how it works.
Kunoichi
- Increased the Kunoichi's damage ratio by an average of approximately 6.9% and increased AwakeningPvP damage.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 5%.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 7%.
- Improved Ninja Evasion to activate more easily when used in Awakening.
- Fixed the issue of Ghost Greeting activating first when comboing into Shadow Slash after certain skills.
- Changed Ghost Greeting skill's description text to accurately describe how it works.
Dark Knight
- Increased the Dark Knight's damage ratio by an average of approximately 11%.
  - Dark Knight's PvP damage remains unchanged.
Striker
- Reduced Striker's damage ratio on average by approximately 1.7%. Most of Striker's PvP damage was increased accordingly.
We had adjusted the cooldowns differently for Skull Crusher and its combo skill Flow: Skull Hammer to allow adventurers to deal a massive amount of damage instantly according to the situation. However, many Striker adventurers felt the cooldown for Flow: Skull Hammer was too long, which we came to agree with and thus adjusted the cooldowns for both Skull Crusher and Flow: Skull Hammer accordingly.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 10%.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 8%.
- Fixed the issue of Martial Spirit Shards not being consumed when comboing into Absolute: Taeback Kick after the Fist Fury skill's 4th hit.
- Improved Flash Step to combo more smoothly into Spiral Cannon, Ferocious Assault.
- Improved Flow: Bite Off to combo more quickly into other skills.
- Changed the cooldowns for Skull Crusher II, III, and IV to 9, 8 and 7 seconds, respectively.
- Changed the Flow: Skull Hammer cooldown to 11 seconds.
Mystic
- Increased Mystic's damage ratio by an average of approximately 2.9% and increased a majority of Mystic's skills' PvP damage.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 15%.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 8%.
- Fixed the issue of Prime: Tornado Kick's down/air smash effect not activating when comboed after certain skills.
- Fixed the issue of Sea Burial I–III or Prime: Sea Burial not comboing smoothly into other skills when returning to neutral position.
Lahn
- Reduced Lahn's damage ratio on average by approximately 5% and increased Awakening and Succession PvP damage.
For Lahn Awakening, her skills' attack speed was fast, yet her weakness lay in how slowly her combos connected. Through today's update, we improved the combo speed for certain skills.

Also, we improved Lahn Awakening's skills that have her signature ability to grab enemies from afar by increasing those skills' activation speed, as we sought to further highlight her strongpoints in very specific situations.
- Increased PvP damage of Absolute: Salp'uri Purge by approximately 5.4%.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 3%.
- Increased the PvP damage of the following skills by approximately 8%.
- Increased Soul Raid's activation speed to be faster than before.
- Changed Deadly Dance to combo more smoothly into Tailspin or Furor.
- Changed Tailspin to combo faster into Flow: Vice.
Archer
- Increased Archer's damage ratio by an average of approximately 1.2%.
  - Archer's PvP damage remains unchanged.
Shai
Due to the Shai class being focused on Life content, damage was unchanged.

Guardian
- Reduced the Guardian's damage ratio on average by approximately 1.3%. Also adjusted the Guardian's Main Weapon skills since the damage they inflicted at 100% Black Spirit Rage was comparatively higher than that of other classes.
- Fixed the issue of Claw Reveal displaying slow movement when comboed into after certain skills.
- Reduced Black Spirit: Claw Reveal I–II and Black Spirit: Absolute: Claw Reveal's PvP damage by 30%.
- Reduced Black Spirit: Prime: Claw Reveal's PvP damage by 40%.
Item Changes
- Sahazad Nesser, the King of Valencia, made an announcement that those who have contributed to strengthen Valencia will be able to rent the Royal Nesser Family's gear.
  - There are 7 types of them (Main/Sub/Awakening weapons, Gloves, Helmet, Shoes, and Armor), each of which requires 50 Contribution Points.
    Season Characters can equip the Royal Nesser Family's gear too.
- You can rent Nesser gear by using 50 Contribution Points per item.
  - You can rent Nesser gear from Sahazad Nesser, <King of Valencia>, with characters who have completed the main quest "Edana's Descendant" from "[Lv.55 Valencia] Eastern Sands Kingdom Story."
  - Nesser gear's stat will not be applied if a character with negative karma equips the gear.
We are always trying to figure out ways to lessen the burdens of enhancement for our players. On the other hand, enhancing gear is one of the more important aspects of enjoyment in the game, so between the aforementioned concerns, we've always struggled to find the right balance. Just as we recently showcased in the Season content, Tuvala gear was one of the fruits of our long deliberations. We designed Tuvala gear to help prepare new adventurers, who will eventually graduate from Season Servers, with a slightly less difficult version of enhancement yet still founded in the fundamental principles existing in its iteration on the live servers. Yet there were adventurers who expressed their sorrows for not being able to challenge new regions due to gear that slightly wasn't up-to-par. So we decided to prepare some rental equipment that was much stronger than the existing ones.

Once you've completed the Valencia Main Quest and appeared to have fulfilled the royal family's wishes, you can rent the royal family's gear for 50 Contribution Points each. We hope to see all adventurers armed with even sharper weapons and sturdier armor so their amazing adventures will continue to unfold uninterrupted.
- Added the following Simple Alchemy processing recipes.
  - Usable Hide x1 → Damaged Hide x2
  - Supreme Hide x1 → Usable Hide x2
- You can use the Black Stone Powder to Mass Process.
  - Usable Hide x10 + Black Stone Powder x1 → Damaged Hide x20
  - Supreme Hide x10 + Black Stone Powder x1 → Usable Hide x20
  - You can still obtain low quality hides by making an exchange with Chuck Laurie the Hunter of Balenos or Roussea, the hunter in Narcion.
- You can now recover the following items by using the trash icon on the bottom right of the Inventory when you have discarded them.
  - Ornette's Spirit Essence
  - Odore's Spirit Essence
  - Lafi Bedmountain's Upgraded Compass
  - Archaeologist's Map
  - Vell's Heart
  - Memory Fragment
  - Cron Stone
  - Ebenruth's Nol
  - Trainer's Flute (Permanent)
  - Rich Merchant's Ring
- Added "How to obtain" text to the Courser Training material's item description, related to the new Imperial Seals.
- Changed the "Usage" and "How to obtain" texts from the Black Essence and Red Essence's item description.
- Added text to the description of Leanar's Celestial Map items explaining that you should use the Find NPC function for this item at Oquilla's Eye.
- For details on newly added Pearl Shop Update, please click < Here >!
Monster Changes
- Fixed the issue where hits were sometimes not applied to Llama, the hunting monster.
Quests & Knowledge

Quest
- Added Extra Quests you can randomly accept in monster zones.
  - These quests will be automatically accepted when you obtain Dark Energy items from these areas.
  - Cannot accept more Extra Quests if you already have the maximum amount of quests.
  - You can complete the quest via the Black Spirit and will be rewarded with Combat and Skill EXP increase buffs.
- You can start another Extra Quest as soon as you complete one.
- Daphne DelLucci of DelLucci Farm requires Hunter's Seals to protect her farm.
  - Added text to the Hunter's Seal item description saying to take the seal to Daphne DelLucci for quests to get Sharp Black Crystal Shard or Hard Black Crystal Shard.
- All Awakening, Succession, Talent, and Ascension quests are now categorized as Main quests.
  - These quests will be available from the Black Spirit as main quests after reaching level 56.
- Added a conversation option to obtain knowledge of the following NPCs if you failed to do so on your first encounter with them.
  - Elinke Visamin
  - Ramlo
  - Lebyos
  - Marsella
  - Atui Balacs
  - Merrel
  - Arteedman
- Fixed the quest summary of the quest [Repeat] Even the Smallest of Life.
- Added extra precautionary text to the Miniature Elephant related quest you receive from Villa Butler Serazad.
Interface Changes
- Changed the design and location of the Black Spirit's Rage lock toggle, Cooldown timer window, and other UI elements.
- Fixed the issue where having 4 auctions in progress showed the next page in the Guild Auction House window.
- The scroll button of the Challenge (Y) was enlarged for ease of use.
- Fixed the position of the list to not reset when changing the order of characters in the Character Select screen.
- Warrior will now be in the first slot in Character Creation.
- Fixed the issue where a guild master who had the operation rights in the Arena of Arsha could not enter the arena via the reservation window.
- (German Only) Fixed the text on the banner that appears on the left side of the Black Desert Summer Season window.
- Fixed the date text in the Black Spirit Pass window.
Resolved Issues
- Fixed the issue where the head poked out of helmets in the Dye (J) menu.
- Fixed the issue where weapons were sometimes not shown in the Dye (J) menu.
- Fixed the issue where hair number 1 for Maehwa and Ranger caused the face to have a strange color.
- Fixed graphical issues for the following apparel.
  - [Ranger] Epheria Marine Set
  - [Guardian] Ynixtra Clothes
  - [Lahn] Jade Papilia Helmet
- Fixed the issue where the description of Black Essence materials had the previous Imperial Seals listed.
- Fixed the issue where the description of horse delivery had the previous Imperial Seals listed.
- Fixed typos for the following.
  - Description for the High-Quality Noble Wagon Part Set
  - Description for the Golden Seal - [Imperial Training]
  - NPC dialogue when exchanging Golden Seals.
- Fixed the issue where the Take a Screenshot function in the Beauty (F4) menu sometimes did not work.
- Item search in the market is not case sensitive anymore.
- Fixed the issue where the player could not be hit in certain parts of Garmoth's lair.
- Fixed the issue where the image of the Black Spirit would randomly appear during combat.
- Fixed the issue where the background color of the Character Select window would be inverted in certain situations.
- Changed the font of web browsers that open up from within Black Desert such as BDO Wiki, Redeem Code, etc.
- Fixed the unnatural movements made when auto-navigating while transformed into a Papu or Otter via transformation scrolls acquired from Papua Crinea.
- Fixed the issue where running left or right was impossible when transformed into an Immortal Persimmon Knight.
- Fixed the graphical glitch with the Desert Fox's legs in the Pearl Shop (F3).
Known Issues
- We are aware of the issue where [Striker] Blazing Inferno Premium Set appears under the Apparel > Outfit > Dark Knight category of the Pearl Shop. We apologize for the inconvenience.
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