Hello all Steemians! I haven't seen a lot of content about the MMORPG titan that is Black Desert Online so thought I would jot down my thoughts on the game and a general overview of it to let you know if it may be the game for you. I will be making lots of post on BDO so if you like this or want to know more remember to upvote and drop a follow to get more BDO goodness! This is my first ever review and doing something like this so hope it comes across ok, now lets jump in to trying to explain this :D
BDO is the most visually Stunning game I have stumbled upon in the MMORPG world. Its combat system is very impactful . The flows to and from skills are effortless then once you hit awakened mode at level 56 after doing a short quest it takes a leap up in further visual effects, a change of combat style and makes the class feel brand new and refreshed.
Business model type
The game runs on the business model of buy to play which is available either through steam or the BDO website, both player bases are on the same servers playing together its just if you have one you cant log in through the other just in case you needed that nugget of info (I'm on the steam version). Please read all of this and look around for more info to make sure you are ready to invest into this game because I would say it is more of a hardcore game that casuals can get involved in, to have a mess around and can still enjoy it but if you want high level pvp which this game mainly revolves around, you need to put the time in so just a warning before hand. This game also has a value pack (subscription) method if you want but it's not that much needed as it only offers 10% more xp and access to lots of dyes so you can make your character look as dashing or fabulous as you want. There is also a cash shop which sells all manner of costumes, pets, items etc which I'll dive into at a later point or on another post but in short this game is not pay to win.
Game content
BDO has a huge open world which has no loading screens so you can go from one end of world to the other without hitting a loading page. The only time there is an exception to this rule is when you go to the instanced worlds like the Red Battlefield which is where two teams verse each other in a deathmatch type game mode and the team with the highest score wins after 20 minutes. or when you go to the Savage Rift which is another area where you go to verse hordes of enemies to possibly get boss loot but mainly earn silver at the lower levels until you have gear so you can kill the harder monsters and bosses out in the open world!
Yes I did mention bosses, these can come in all shapes and sizes but the ones everyone wants to join in on are the world bosses. Bosses appear randomly once or twice a day but some bosses, like Offin or Vell, appear weekly. These bosses are huge world bosses that need a server of people to help kill them! There are lots of discord channels the community have made with boss timers, boss callouts, hunting groups etc so have a look around and join a group or find a guild in game that love PvE or hunting and enjoy the mayhem! Just a side note because of the sheer health and size of the weekly bosses they do have a scheduled time which can be found by a quick Google but they are recommended for better geared characters so just beware especially for offin and you need a good ship for vell!
Classes
| Aggresive, sword and shield playstyle | Great sword, Aggresive playstyle | ||
| Defensive, sword and shield playstyle | Shield and lance, Defensive playstyle | ||
| Bow and arrow, ranged combat | Dual daggers, aggresive and fast close combat | ||
| Amulet and Talisman , magical close range combat | scythe and magic, aggresive, close | ||
| dual axe's with ornamental knot | Iron buster (cannon) close and longe range combat | ||
| shortsword and trinket | Bo staff and can summon a wolf-like pet | ||
| Gauntlet and vambrace, aggresive combat | Gardbrace, some abilities spawn "clones" | ||
| Gauntlet and vambrace, lots of crowd control | Cestus, can summon water dragon | ||
| Blade and horn bow | Crescent blade, extremely fast combat with lots of area effect damage | ||
| Blade and horn bow | Kerispear, fast combat, more direct damage compare to musa | ||
| Shortsword and shuriken | Katana, short range combat, fast assassin type class | ||
| Shortsword and kunai | Chakram, short range more AoE's compared to ninja | ||
| Kreigmesser and ornamental knot | Vediant, short to medium range sword and magic combat | ||
| Staff and dagger | Godr sphera (magic orbs) can summon different elementals, ranged magic combat, aggresive combat | ||
| Staff and dagger | Aad sphera similar to wizard but rather than fire and water has earth and lightning elementals and is defensive combat |
As you can see there is a multitude of classes on this game, if you have any question about them I will answer all comments to the best of my know how :) So as of posting this you have all the above as well as the soon to be released Lahn class. All new classes and areas brought into the game have been free thus far as well so another positive to get involved on an ever growing game! Just to note aswell each class is gender locked for example warrior and valkyrie can be considered the male and female for the same type of defensive class but in awakened mode warrior uses a large great sword (aggresive playstyle)and valkyrie uses a shield and lance (defensive playstyle) with very different skills and feel. Keep this in mind when choosing your class! As always research is key to finding the right class and playstyle for you.
PvP & Node Wars
With BDO, PVP is at the heart of the game. Every level and piece of gear you get or enhance helps you hit the harder mobs and continually better yourself to defend your PvE spot. You're grinding to make silver or get loot to ultimately join a guild and get involved in node wars. NW are what most people aim to do because it is a unique aspect of this MMORPG where you and other guilds fight for control of a node from the actual in game map. You build towers anywhere within the node then protect it with seige items like barricades, flame towers, hawachas and occasionally war elephants. Then if you are strong enough you can go for the higher tier node, which can be the capitals which earn the residing guild a lot of silver. You also earn a reputation as a serious guild and your guild emblem will show throughout the city and on the territory. As mentioned earlier there is open world PvP which cannot be turned off or avoided except when in a safe zone which is within most towns or citys.
In Summary
So this general information gives you an insight into BDO without overloading you because I could talk about this game all day :D On the BDO site there is always a 7 day free trial so you can try before you buy. On steam you can purchase the game and usually for cheaper, especially during a steam sale. If you have any questions fire them away in the comments and I'll catch you again in the next post Steemians!