Black Desert Online
Developer: Pearl Abyss | Platform: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S | Release Date: March 3, 2016 | Model: Buy2Play | Combat System: Action Combat
What kind of game is this? In Black Desert you are dealing with a sandbox MMORPG that offers you many freedoms. In return, quests and story play a secondary role.
Most of the time in the game, you spend killing enemies. But that’s exactly what is really fun here, especially due to the action-packed combats and the sometimes impressive animations of the abilities. You swiftly chop through the enemies and grind experience points or new equipment. You now have so many different classes to choose from.
The eleven life skills in the game allow you to fish, gather, and cook, but they become really exciting with the help of NPC workers. You can hire them for your field to harvest or to chop trees. To motivate the workers, you can use beer that you can create as a cook. This way, you can create entire production chains.
If you are looking for tasks besides the combats and life skills, you can have fun in PvP arenas or in large guild battles over fortresses, buy and furnish your own house, or embark on adventures on the sea with your own ship.
Since 2020, there are also the season servers, which are particularly suitable for beginners or leveling new classes. They also come with a quest calendar that provides some guidance – a significant improvement from the past.
A highlight of Black Desert is the character editor, which is extremely detailed and offers you thousands of options to create your own avatar.
If you also want to face long-term challenges, you can continue to level up your character endlessly. After level 63, it only brings a few bonuses, but it is definitely a challenge. Because the first European player needed 837 days to level up from 66 to 67.
Who is this interesting for? If you enjoy great graphics, like to build a life in a fantasy world, and love sandboxes, you should definitely get Black Desert Online. There’s something to discover at every corner of the world, and if you love diving into an open world, you can immerse yourself in the game world for a long time.
However, you have to deal with grinding. Whether it’s levels, equipment, or the complex economic system, you need to invest time in everything to really make progress.
Is there a catch? Some players have issues with the freedom in the game. They miss the concrete tasks and goals, which is why they cannot progress and leave the game. Additionally, classic dungeons and raids are almost completely absent, which is a must for many theme park players.
From a certain level, there is also open PvP in the game world. Ganks are not the norm, but they do happen from time to time. Sometimes, players will also secure a spot at a farm location through PvP.
There is also significant criticism of the equipment system, which relies heavily on randomness and luck. You can even experience downgrades or loss of equipment. If you get frustrated by this, you should rather stay away from BDO.
Last but not least, the shop is also under criticism. While the developers do not sell direct advantages in the form of stats, there are advantage packages with additional storage spaces, increased weight capacity, and extra income when selling goods on the marketplace.
Is it still worth starting in 2026? Black Desert offers you incredible freedoms, which is why starting years after release is no problem at all. You can dive into adventures, farm equipment, level up lifeskills, and even settle into your own house early on.
Only in PvP, and thus in the battles for posts and territories, you as a beginner will have a hard time. But a good guild will catch you again. Thanks to the new season servers, which open regularly, beginners have an easy entry since open PvP is disabled here, and everyone starts at zero and also receives useful rewards during the leveling phase.
The latest expansion of Black Desert was released on September 12, 2024, for PC, building on the incredibly successful addon Land of the Morning Light from last year and takes you to the second half of the Asian-inspired continent.
Regular content updates deliver new content, balancing adjustments, and bug fixes. The latest addition, for example, is the Seraphia class, which goes into battle wielding a giant sword. We will keep you up to date on upcoming new features on our Black Desert overview page.
