Before you begin, you need to know that Black Desert Online isn’t just your average MMORPG by any means. The game is mechanically one of the largest and most difficult games to learn for those whom aren’t accustomed to tutorials. If you’re just getting started, the game is one that has a lot of great ideas, many of them are right under the games hood, which makes some of its core systems rather enjoyable. While it’s one of the best out there, there’s no doubt that the learning curve is steep, and one that will send players reeling when they begin to learn crafting, trading, and the base bit of adventuring.

Just like all MMO’s, you already know that your character class is one you’ll select at the very beginning. Unlike most MMO’s, however, Black Desert Online approaches the game a bit differently than others. While we certainly could talk about character creation and classes all day long, it’s something the game will explain to you quite well, and in-depth when doing so. With that noted, we will be taking a look at something a bit more serious, a few things that you need to know when first getting started in the overly complex, but rather enjoyable title.

You Don’t Need Every Quest to Start

If you’ve played an MMO, there’s no doubt that you, like myself, are one for grabbing quests. You are used to gobbling them up like a hungry, hungry hippo. Unlike other MMO’s, Black Desert Online isn’t one that wants you do to that immediately. It’s a game that is truly massive. Just the sheer volume of quests can actually lead to a feeling of incomplete happiness due to the sheer volume of them within the games beginning zones.

Instead, just focus on the ones that the Black Spirit gives you for now. Remember, it’s there to help you, and like games such as Guild Wars 2, he or she’s going to push you forward so that you can make way through the games base campaign. The Black Spirit won’t cut any corners with getting you started. It’ll begin by having you learn the games core mechanics. These include walking, running, auto-traveling, and even how to level up. When the spirit doesn’t have quests for you to do? Feel free to grab a few that have an exclamation mark. These quests are integral pieces of your adventure and will help you work on moving forward with it.

If you do decide to grab a few side quests, remember, they won’t increase your level, but they do come with something called “contribution experience”. These quests can give you thinks such as special items, inventory space, or even teach you something new. More importantly, these points are good because they make work of hired NPC’s within the game. They make these guys do all the heavy lifting for you, and trust me, you will want that in the long run.

Unlike experience, CP is completely refundable as a currency. They can be used to invest in trade routes, production chains, and overall help you accumulate some money earning. These points, as stated, are gained by completing side quests. If you want experience? You’ll want to just go beat on some creatures and learn your characters ability combo’s.

If you do want to make use of your CP or CE (C. Experience), you’ll want to unlock nodes, these nodes can be unlocked through the use of CP and will make use of the nodes so that your routes can expand. Just keep note that each city will have a work supervisor where you can purchase workers from. You’ll want to make the most of your CP in order to sure you are getting the proper resources and the most out of your workers. The same goes for if you are purchasing property, building workshops, or hiring more workers to craft and refine your resources.

Just note, this is truly a complex piece of the game, and it’s one that is an outstanding way to make some passive income when you are out questing. Just remember, you can also use those points to purchase housing and storage space in order to make more room in the city’s bank space for you to use. Just remember to be choosey about what you do or don’t do.

Explore. Explore. Explore. There’s a lot to see.

One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made, which lead to a restart, and deleting my old character, was treating this game like I did Final Fantasy XIV and World of Warcraft. Take your time to explore. This game isn’t like your average MMO. While lv. 50 is easy to rush to, take your time to talk with NPC’s, explore the elegantly crafted zones, and REALLY try and get a chance to enjoy the surroundings. This game has a LOT that begs you to go learn and see. You’ll want to go by slowly, if you don’t, you’ll find yourself overwhelmed, and again, starting over.

This MMO is one that encourages a very simple statement. Knowledge is power. If you have an understanding of this games world and your character does? You’ll find yourself gaining knowledge cor your character, which does a lot more than just giving you tidbits of lore about them or the world around you. This opens up the chance for you to talk and work with merchants within the games world. It’ll allow you to gain more energy points from them and it will even allow you to craft or gather more items throughout your adventure.

If you take your time to go through each of the games zones, comb through it with a fine-toothed comb, you’ll find yourself being armed to the teeth with a ton of energy, lore, and story behind the game. This also gives you something to do while your character is auto-navigating to your next adventure. Trust me, it helped me, and it can surely help you.

Don’t be afraid to AFK. Those travel times. They suck at times.

If you think you’ll be just running around, smashing a few faces in, and taking names. You’re going to be sorely mistaken. Black Desert Online is a game that asks a lot more of you than that. If you’ve been farming goods, fishing, or even maxed out your luggage space on your donkey? Yes, literally, your donkey. Don’t be scared to set your character on auto-run and have them take off towards a carefully planned route so you won’t be attacked by bandits.

Don’t be scared to step away for a few minutes to make a sandwich, stretch your legs, back and arms. The game has a lot of down time once you get into your later game. Enjoy the scenes as your character takes off to far off cities just to make some money. Don’t forget, that your workers will only work if you are online. Being afk and enjoying a family meal or watching a movie? May not be a bad idea if you decide that you want to have your little minions running about earning some money for you. It’s not a shoddy idea at all.

Closing Thoughts

While you certainly can do the stated above, remember that Black Desert Online has a lot going on. If you are stuck? Check the Reddit pages or even the forums. There’s a LOT of guides to help get you started. So it may be worthwhile checking into everything. I certainly have been in my early hours of the game and still do with roughly 15 hours under my belt.

What’s some tips and tricks you have? Let your fellow gamer’s know in the comments below.

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About the Writer:

Dustin is our native console gamer, PlayStation and Nintendo reviewer who has an appetite for anything that crosses the boarders from across the big pond. His interest in JRPG’s, Anime, Handheld Gaming, and Pizza is insatiable. His elitist attitude gives him direction, want, and a need for the hardest difficulties in games, which is fun to watch, and hilarity at its finest. You can find him over on Twitter, Google+, and or you can find him on PSN with RaivynLyken.