Black Desert Online

Developer: Pearl Abyss
Platform: Windows

SYNOPSIS

Black Desert Online is an upcoming action MMORPG with several sandbox elements which has just begun its first closed beta testing in Korea and is supposed to afterwards enter the western market as well. It features an in-depth assets management through the world map as well as a complex network of relationships between characters and NPCs.

Players will be able to roam the medieval open world, go hunting deer, do farming, craft different types of items and sell their goods at the market place. They may also join guilds, participate in PvP or enter instanced and open-world dungeons.

STORY BACKGROUND

In the beginning, there were four countries, Kalpeon, Serendia, Valenos and Media, that were trading with Valencia. Unfortunately, merchants from Valencia carried along a mysterious disease known as Black Death causing royal families, nobles and low class people in each country to die off.

Valencia was targeted as an enemy and Elion priests instigated people by saying that the disease was caused by alchemists who forged stones out of black stone. The four countries forged an alliance and declared war against Valencia. The battle lasted for 30 years and neither one nor the other faction was able to stand out victorious.

However, the one who benefited the most was Media as they realised the value of black stone, amplifying their wealth by trading the valuable resource between Valencia and the alliance. When Kalpeon, Serendia and Valenos also realised the opportunies Black Stone offered, a race to get hold of it began. While Serendia, Valenos and Media possessed natural deposits, Kalpeon didn’t have any on their territory, therefore trying to take it by force from the others. Another war broke out…

MAIN FEATURES

- 3 races and 8 confirmed character classes to choose from

- Minimal character limitations due to its sandbox style

- In-depth assets management

- Complex crafting and trading systems

- Intricate housing system

- Variety of instanced & open-world dungeons

- Large-scale castle sieges & open-world PvP

- Highly-detailed graphics

FACTIONS

Black Desert Online will feature two factions that are in an endless war with each other: The Republic of Calpheon and the Kingdom of Valencia. They both differ in climate, environment and culture, having confronted each other for many decades to obtain the rights to “Black Stone”. However since BlackDesert is not an RvR game, players won’t have to choose a side to join.

RACES

Three races have been confirmed for BlackDesert as of right now: Elves, Humans and Giants. It’s likely that they will be joined by Dwarves and Hobbits that are designed to fit into the game’s medieval European aesthetic.

CLASSES

There are eight playable classes confirmed so far that players will be able to choose from: Fighter (Warrior), Predator, Blader, Tamer, Sorcerer, Wizard, Valkyre and Ranger. Each one will have a specific role to fulfil within a party. A healing class is missing though.

While some classes may be gender-locked, others will be open to be played by both male and female characters. The decision whether certain classes will be restricted to any of the available races is still pending.

COMBAT

Black Desert Online will feature an action combat system where players will use the usual combination of WASD keys and mouse to control their characters. They will also have multiple skills on their number keys to their disposal. However, the developers aim at a greater variety in action combat sequences that goes beyond simply pressing number keys.

The timing of pressing a certain key and performing a mouse click will play an essential role within the game’s combat and so will do a monster’s reaction against the player’s attack. Players are required to purposefully control their character as objects or monsters react in a more complex manner.

CRAFTING

Crafting will be an essential part of the game which incorporates a typical MMO crafting system. Players will have to craft most of the items they need in housing, castles, sieges and PvP on their own. They will be able to choose from five different professions to specialise their crafting either in the production of weapons, armour or other items such as decorations for houses and castles. This not only provides them with useful things but also opens up huge opportunities to customise the appearance of their equipment and houses.

Crafting naturally involves collecting raw materials which can be found throughout the world. Some areas will grant specific resources that can’t be found in others, which will encourage players to trade raw materials as well as processed products.

GUILDS

The game will allow players to join guilds, which enables them to capture and defend one or several castles that are scattered throughout the game world. Owning a castle provides the advantage of being able to collect taxes from people living in the guild’s territory. Strong guilds may even try to conquer the whole world which will be extremely difficult since all the available castles have to be captured and defended for that purpose.

PVP

At the moment, main PvP elements of Black Desert Online seem to be large-scale guild castle sieges and open-world PvP. Mounted combat will also be available.

Siege warfare may see up to 400 vs. 400 players involved and will require tactics and strategy to successfully defend or capture a castle. During castles sieges, players will attack another guild’s castle by bombarding the gates or just use ladders to scale the castle wall. The defending guild will have to destroy the enemy artillery as fast as possible to avoid critical damage on their castle.

The fact that the game world is an open and seamless one will allow players to freely roam and hunt others. There’s nothing known yet about possible penalties for PKing though. However, there’s a chance that players will drop some items upon death but character-bound items such as weapons and amour won’t be included.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

unspecified