Black Desert

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Flight

Molten Core Raider
1,230
288
I'd recommend against trying this game out unless you have loads of self control. Otherwise you will spend $700 trying to roll enhanced pets that loot mobs for you at a decent enough rate, then moving on to a different game a week or two later.
 

wilkxus

<Bronze Donator>
519
210
I'd recommend against trying this game out unless you have loads of self control. Otherwise you will spend $700 trying to roll enhanced pets that loot mobs for you at a decent enough rate, then moving on to a different game a week or two later.
Sheesh, that bad huh? I would be curious to see how much North American/Euro players actually spent (anonymously) on the game beyond the cheap box price. Are retention & satisfaction rates good after a year?

Anyone see numbers kicking around? Or perhaps f2p/p2win monetization stats or studies?
 

Malinatar

Lord Nagafen Raider
629
237
I'd recommend against trying this game out unless you have loads of self control. Otherwise you will spend $700 trying to roll enhanced pets that loot mobs for you at a decent enough rate, then moving on to a different game a week or two later.

LOL. I think including the box price I think I spent $80. I totally hear you on those fucking pets, and that's how they get you (but make sure to have at least 3, the QoL is worth it). So I got into a grind group at Manes for the first time last night, it was pretty stupid. Run in a big loop as fast as you can while watching shit melt. This is where you will feel the pain of not having great pets to pick stuff up fast enough for you.
 

Brikker

Trump's Staff
6,296
4,833
So where does each class fall in terms of PVE strength (don't care for PVP)? Pure grinding, solo of real tough mobs, etc.

Watching a youtube of all the Awakenings and it's making me want to play...
 

Malinatar

Lord Nagafen Raider
629
237
So where does each class fall in terms of PVE strength (don't care for PVP)? Pure grinding, solo of real tough mobs, etc.

Watching a youtube of all the Awakenings and it's making me want to play...

This also made me re-up. For PVE, they are all pretty viable (I'd say Wiz is slightly better for pure grinding with the AoEs) Just play what you think looks to be the most badass/fun (Zerk and Wiz for me). A very scientific approach, I know.
 

Brikker

Trump's Staff
6,296
4,833
Well Wiz is my highest at 53 so that's probably a good start then. Do you get Awakening weaps via a Black Spirit quest when you hit 56?

Liked the look of Valkyrie and the lance/shield thing; how is she before and with her Awakening?

I watched that "Why I'm playing in 2017" video and it sounded like you are actually benefited for having alts now?
 

Valderen

Space Pirate
<Bronze Donator>
4,546
2,772
My highest is a 55 Tamer, I like her a lot, fun gameplay. I'm not sure how she compares to other classes at this level for farming PVE but it feels ok to me.

While I love most of the game, I hate the item enhancement system with the Black Stones. So much so, that I am vastly under geared right now...with like 200 stones for my weapon and 200 for my armor. I really need to enhance stuff a bit. :)

I want to wait until I am 56 and get my awakening before I spend the stones on my weapon though. Or maybe just sell them all and buy an awakening once I am done with the quest, a yellow tri celestial bo staff sells for about 290M. I am still using a green +12 shortsword right now.
 

Daidraco

Avatar of War Slayer
10,055
10,382
The only question I have right now, did they change how loot is awarded during bosses? Is it still the highest dps classes getting loot over and over and over?
 

Malinatar

Lord Nagafen Raider
629
237
Well Wiz is my highest at 53 so that's probably a good start then. Do you get Awakening weaps via a Black Spirit quest when you hit 56?

Liked the look of Valkyrie and the lance/shield thing; how is she before and with her Awakening?

I watched that "Why I'm playing in 2017" video and it sounded like you are actually benefited for having alts now?

Re: Awakening weapons - yeah. No idea on Valkyrie, never played one. Regarding the alts all of the reasons in the videos are good, but now as a very casual player the main reason I have them is to mail stuff to them to sell shit on the Marketplace and to make beer for my workers occasionally. There might be more hardcore players on the forums who might have a different take.
 

Malinatar

Lord Nagafen Raider
629
237
My highest is a 55 Tamer, I like her a lot, fun gameplay. I'm not sure how she compares to other classes at this level for farming PVE but it feels ok to me.

While I love most of the game, I hate the item enhancement system with the Black Stones. So much so, that I am vastly under geared right now...with like 200 stones for my weapon and 200 for my armor. I really need to enhance stuff a bit. :)

I want to wait until I am 56 and get my awakening before I spend the stones on my weapon though. Or maybe just sell them all and buy an awakening once I am done with the quest, a yellow tri celestial bo staff sells for about 290M. I am still using a green +12 shortsword right now.

Yeah bro, just buy the shit. I gave up on the bullshit enhancing game and the enjoyment of this game exponentially went up. As you probably know, 290M you can make in a couple/few of weeks by just playing the game at 55. You will also probably be ahead in silver with the durability repair costs alone getting to TRI.
 
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Sabbat

Trakanon Raider
1,931
812
So where does each class fall in terms of PVE strength (don't care for PVP)? Pure grinding, solo of real tough mobs, etc. Watching a youtube of all the Awakenings and it's making me want to play...
Ninjas would be the worst to grind, pre and post Awakening, everything else is good, with Witch/Wizard being the top. Check Awakening videos for stuff that appeals to you.

Do you get Awakening weaps via a Black Spirit quest when you hit 56?
Yes

Liked the look of Valkyrie and the lance/shield thing; how is she before and with her Awakening?
Not as good as Warrior post Awakening (better than Warrior pre-Awakening), but still very good.

I watched that "Why I'm playing in 2017" video and it sounded like you are actually benefited for having alts now?
Alts are REQUIRED for failstacking to enchant your armour/weapons/accessories.

I want to wait until I am 56 and get my awakening before I spend the stones on my weapon though. Or maybe just sell them all and buy an awakening once I am done with the quest, a yellow tri celestial bo staff sells for about 290M. I am still using a green +12 shortsword right now.
Enjoyment of the game is pretty much tied to how well you smash shit in combat, the higher your digits, the better combat is going to feel. This link is a decent guide to enchanting - Alexmac's Enchanting Guide.

The only question I have right now, did they change how loot is awarded during bosses? Is it still the highest dps classes getting loot over and over and over?
Loot has always been random as fuck, 6 months ago, I saw an alt with ZERO gear minus a weapon and 87 AP get Liverto's from bosses. I got a Nouver box last night and I'm undergeared compared to most of the people on the channel I was on, so there's no way I was top damage.
 
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zombiewizardhawk

Potato del Grande
9,880
12,814
Sheesh, that bad huh? I would be curious to see how much North American/Euro players actually spent (anonymously) on the game beyond the cheap box price. Are retention & satisfaction rates good after a year?

No, pets are NOT that bad. I spent I think $70 to get three t3 pets which looted fast enough to keep up. I guess if you were some min-max ocd freak who had to have t4s then yeah it could cost you 500-1000. I think I spent about 500 on the cash shop in the 6 months I played the game (350ish on my sorc, then 150 on my ranger when they fucking ruined sorcs). I played my ranger for about a month after they ruined sorcs and then said fuck it. Was extremely salty about it for a long time because I loved my sorc and had some of the most fun i've had in an mmo (or any game) since I was a noob in EQ and WoW or playing UO.

I'm still not sure if they fucked sorcs just because of all the casual noobs who thought they should compete with sorcs who no-lifed it or if it was legitimately just a by-product of the way they did the patching/etc. to play catch-up with korea.
 

Sylas

<Gold Donor>
3,673
4,198
You can fish or life skill or grind silver to make money, and just buy your gear from marketplace. i'll 3rd (4th?) the "fuck the enchant system, you'll enjoy the game much more just buying shit." Because all silver earned is a little progress bar that's not RNG based that is constantly increasing towards your next upgrade. This will serve you well until your only upgrades are rare drops which aren't common on the marketplace, and even then, with enough coin you will eventually luck out by putting up bigly pre-orders.

Boss loot is awarded randomly to at most 40 players. It has always been RNG. If there are less than 40 players on the bosses aggro table (ie have damaged the boss) then you will get loot, even if you hit the boss 1 time. It's random what you get. It's always been this way. Loot is tiered, you can get boss armor/weapon, liverto, awakening box, or high value gems as "good loot" or just a few gold bars/blackstones/aura's/shit gems as "bad loot." How much damage you do may or may not influence what loot you get, but it does not determine it completely.

I have a handful of low level alts parked at boss spawn locations, my preference is low level sorcs though since their base attacks have really high innate accuracy. I've gotten plenty of boss drops from 1 hit on level 20 sorcs, for example. i'm of the belief that it's totally RNG
 

Valderen

Space Pirate
<Bronze Donator>
4,546
2,772
I'm pretty sure I'll just buy stuff from now on, as I said I have about 200+ Black Stones for both Armor and Weapons. I've been holding back on enhancing for a week or two to make up my mind about whether I should commit to buying gear, or enhance my gear myself.

I'm still 55, just 10% in right now haven't had time to grind much in recent days, I really want to get 56, and buy the awakening yellow tri weapon which would double the AP of what my current weapon is. And possibly open up a few more option to play in.

Right now, I am grinding in Mediah, Helm, Manes and Bandits...but a few are grey now, and all green. Sausans(sp?) is too busy, I tried Elrics but got killed by players both times I went there. I tried Valencia, but fuck that at my level, or gear level...fights take forever and it's simply not worth it at all. I am hoping that getting a yellow tri weapon will allow me to go there.

I'm still amazed by the world in this game, simply no MMO, or maybe even solo games has created a world that feels so alive. There's so many NPC going about their business, and not just in towns, but all over the world. NPC travelling on the roads, farming, guards patrolling etc. And there is a sense of cohesiveness to the whole thing...like it's not random, but it make sense in the world. It's internally consistent. It still cracks me up when I run into my workers either on the road travelling or working at their gathering spot. What a bunch of drunkards. :)
 

Malinatar

Lord Nagafen Raider
629
237
So really have been grinding my Awoken Berserker lately...so insanely fun. This is one of the rare times I feel the promo video DOESN'T do it justice.

 

Brikker

Trump's Staff
6,296
4,833
is Zerk shitty to level pre-56 now with the removal of the HP leech on the Spin to win move?

ps. what is the go-to site (if any) for builds?
 

Flobee

Vyemm Raider
2,674
3,072
Zerker awakening seems so over the top, it looks great. Keep meaning to come back to this and put some more time in but haven't taken the plunge. Had warrior + Valk 50+ iirc. Seem to recall grinding on my warrior being super rhythmic and overall enjoyable. I guess they are even better now with awakening?

Too many games grabbing my attention right now
 
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Malinatar

Lord Nagafen Raider
629
237
is Zerk shitty to level pre-56 now with the removal of the HP leech on the Spin to win move?

ps. what is the go-to site (if any) for builds?

It's honestly was not noticeable to me, especially with the rework of the skill awakenings which is 1000% better than the RNG bullshit system before. Berserker I feel are in a very good place now pre-awakening. Post awakening, holy shit it is night and day.

How to win:

* Charge up and blast your hand cannon at a group of mobs
* If mobs are still alive fly at them leaving a trail of fire and stomping on their heads with an explosion
* If mobs happen to be still alive, grab a chunk of earth underneath and send them flying.

The multipliers on skills that leverage Awoken weapon are just insane, so with even a +7, you will be doing more damage than a TRI axe using pre-awoken skills. The best part other than just the satisfying gameplay are all the new AoEs which were sorely lacking.

Make sure to play on the Oliva servers as they have a permanent +100% combat xp modifier. You stack that with your daily XP boosts, you will be 56 before you know it.

I've used the following link as a general guideline:

[GUIDE] Berserker Road to 60 [Update 29. July] Including Google Doc
 
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Brikker

Trump's Staff
6,296
4,833
Hopped on today for first time since June. Holy shit 7 pages of mail with attachments! Also had 90 mil silver from this Fame thing waiting. All skill points look like they were reset? Kinda lost on my 53 wiz so I think I'm gonna twink up a Zerker and learn fresh on that. Gotta figure out how to twink again...

Are these Value packs (subscriptions basically?) worth it? Looks like 10% exp gain, 16 inven/bank slots, 100 weight and some other shit. That is account wide I assume?