It's been a while since I last wrote about Black Desert Online, and it's been even longer since I reviewed it in 2016. I have played it since then, but something always gets in the way, such as eating, sleeping, and bathing. However, I recently attended Heidel Ball 2024 as a guest of Pearl Abyss in Beynac-et-Cazenac, the inspiration of Heidel itself, and learned about what's coming. They're not slowing down.
With good reason, when you look at the facts. Way back in 2020, the announcement of Crimson Desert saw a 400% increase in share price. One could argue causation vs correlation, but investors haven't been as bullish since then. However, with the proposed release of Crimson Desert next year, a recent uptick in revenue for Black Desert Online, and the hopes that these will work together to drive renewed interest, you can understand why they're pushing hard.
The entire Heidel Ball stream can be viewed below, but I'll summarize it for those who want the high notes. Let's start with the technical first.
A PlayStation 5 Version of Black Desert Online is Coming
Let's not beat around the bush about Black Desert Online's inability to take advantage of the PS5 fully. Following the Calpheon Ball last winter, a version coming wasn't a secret, but Pearl Abyss revealed some more concrete information.
No concrete date has been given as to its launch, but what was said is that it will feature improved graphics, ranging from enhanced effects and textures to an increased draw distance, a better frame rate, improved loading times, and more. There will be a test before the end of this year.
Hardcore Servers - for the PVP Lovers
One would honestly think PVP should appeal to me. I like skill-based games, and I hate all of you humans. Every single one of you. Especially you. Still, I'm not a fan of player-vs-player combat, not in an MMORPG anyway. I'm very much a play-a-story and explore-a-world, in my own way and pace, kind of guy. Some arsehole chasing me across a field before catching me and then shoving their dagger up my sphincter does not a good experience make.
I'm saying this partly because Black Desert Online brings something genuinely interesting with Hardcore Servers. Please make no mistake: these are for those who want a PVP experience. Starting on the hardcore server, you'll be given a level 60 character with equipment starting at 230ap and 260dp, which can be enhanced. PVP is always on. You can't chat, you can't form parties, and when you die, you're sent to jail.
You get out of jail by gaining rest points or by fighting others in jail. I'm essentially looking at the jail as a mini-version of The Hunger Games, in a larger version of The Hunger Games, all done in the style of Black Desert Online. May the odds ever be in your favor.
Of course, the PS5 version and Hardcore server are more than just technical, which brings us to the bulk of updates.
Introducing the Dosa - the 28th Class
Twenty-eight classes. That isn't a small number; many MMOs never have such a wide range. Part of this is the enormous amount of balancing any new class requires. Wielding a sword and a pipe, the Dosa is arguably one of the most ostentatious of the game's characters, which is saying something.
Playing Black Desert Online as the Dosa will have you attacking enemies with a flurry of slashes from your Hwando sword. So far, so simple. Only here, you have a pipe. The Gombangdae (Asian) smoking pipe here is unique, allowing you to summon spectral allies and other abilities from its smoke. From Archers and Spearmen, which will attack your enemies, to what appears like AoE abilities to negatively affect those around you.
If there's anything to say, it looks impressive from the trailer. The Dosa's story links closely to the upcoming expansion, which I'll cover shortly. Long story short, he comes from a noble family accused of treason, though he managed to escape. From stealing food on the streets, he encountered the master of the "Sangdo School" and became her disciple. All of this takes place in the location of the main update.
Black Desert Online: Land of the Morning Light - Seoul
Pearl Abyss is fond of recreating locations, as they have created Heidel out of Beynac-et-Cazenac. For the next update, they're going to Seoul. Having worked with the South Korean Cultural Heritage Administration, they have recreated Gyeongbokgung Palace using drones, LIDAR, and other sources.
Following the previous expansion, Land of the Morning Light, based on South Korea, it made sense that Black Desert Online would take you to the capital. Of course, it's Pearl Abyss' version of the capital, featuring eight new bosses as part of the eight Korean tales it will tell us. With new five-player bosses and benefits to guilds, the team hopes the new content will help bring guilds closer together.
New primordial-grade Sovereign weapons will be introduced to reward your progress in Seoul. These will have their enhancement levels, later enhancements giving visual effects and being customizable, with up to five different effects to make that weapon your own. You will require at least one PEN Blackstar Weapon to gain your Sovereign weapon.
Rounding out this is Palace Management. Once you've completed the story, you can utilize a management system the developers say is not too dissimilar to a simulation game. Naturally, that piques my interest. With the Palace Management mode, you can utilize several production nodes that can increase in level. These work into a system that allows automated processing and trade, eventually leaving you only needing to sell the finished goods. It may not be a get-rich-quick scheme, but Pearl Abyss says it will offer a valuable income stream.
Black Desert Online: Chapter 2 - Into the Past
Probably the biggest news will be what's coming later. Ten years in, Black Desert Online is now at the end of its first chapter, so Pearl Abyss has started dropping some information on Chapter 2.
The first things to come will be a trip to Everfrost and then to the Demon Land. Following on from the Mountain of Eternal Winter expansion and quest line, you'll venture to the Everfrost mountains and find a massive dungeon with one hundred floors to fight through, each with increasing difficulty. Pearl Abyss promises that this, in particular, will promise a lot for those interested in the lore.
Then there is the Demon Land, which we have been told is designed to be one huge fortress. This will mark the end of Chapter One, and it's said that it will push you and your characters to the limit. Following this trip to the Demon Land will bring Black Desert Online's biggest update as it moves to Chapter Two. It's a trip into the past.
With the same world, but different, you will take a trip thousands of years into the past. What is desert now used to be lush. The world you know is different, and part of this exploration into the past will be to see where the Black Spirit originated from, and you may even get to change the future. Little more has been revealed regarding Chapter Two, but for those interested in the world and lore, it's likely an exciting trip.
