In the Korean fantasy MMORPG Black Desert, a new class has now gone live. Surprise: This time with both genders.
In Korea, they usually go for a gender lock: A warrior is a warrior, a female variant would then be its own class with its own skills and design ideas. In Black Desert, for example, there is the Warrior as a tank, but a female counterpart is not the Warrior Woman, but the Valkyrie with a stronger support focus.
This gender lock is not well received in the West, where players are used to turning a Warrior into a Warrior Woman with a click of the mouse: The abilities of the classes then remain the same.
In Black Desert, this gender lock seems to be crumbling. Out of nowhere, the “Blader” recently received a female counterpart, the Female Blader. A few days ago, there was now a new class. And the long-planned “Wizard” also appeared as “Witch.”
However, this does not mean that the gender lock is really gone. The information situation here is unclear. Although the Wizard and Witch currently have the same abilities, this could still change, as the Asia specialist Steparu reports. But a trend seems to be recognizable: The Female Blader is heavily based on the “male” Blader, but there were still some differences.
The Wizard is intended as a ranged AoE class, focusing primarily on damage spellcasters. One may be curious to see how this will affect performance and enjoyment of the others, especially in the battles for the fortresses. He can also teleport and use a mana shield. Initial reports also speak of strong abilities in combat from horseback. It seems that Black Desert has been heavily inspired by Gandalf as portrayed in the “Lord of the Rings” films.
