Black Desert

Drat said:

What main class are people here playing for grinding?

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Lahn right now, but I'm tagging a 'Zerker after their absolute bullshit buffs. The class was already probably the 4th or 5th best PvE grinder and will likely be neck and neck with Woosa now as #2. It's a no-brainer to have one tagged now, because the class is absolutely faceroll easy to play in Succession.

Lahn has great mobility and she's a rock solid "A" tier class. But she's a LONG ways off from where she was before the succession class reworks in late 2021, when she was arguably the best grinder in the game (definitely top 3). Somehow, Lahn still has the reputation that she's a "top-tier" grinder and she just isn't - that's how powerful "perception" is. Don't get me wrong, she's still a rock solid class - easy to play, decent pack-to-pack movement, flying, solid trash numbers, etc.. But her AoE is pretty "meh" and so many spots nowadays rely heavily on AoE for how well you can grind trash. So, her trash numbers just aren't that great anymore in comparison to the top tier classes.

On top of that, I really fucking hate the most recent buffs to her. Don't get me wrong, they were nice buffs in terms of damage, but I fucking hate that they tied the atk speed buff to Stately Dignity now. It feels so much fucking clunkier to play now to always have to be hitting Q, not to mention it completely obliterates your mana and sucks ass to play around if you don't have the MP infinite pot. It just doesn't flow nearly as well as it did and I'm souring on her more and more.

Drat said:

I am currently doing a Season character and I know I can duplicate that experience onto another char when I get done with it, however how hard is it to change class? I know the Blackstar weapons are very costly so I imagine once you buy/craft a Blackstar weapon to PEN, you are making a commitment to that class being your main. Where is the point of no return short term? I am aware around not using and pearl items that only work on a single character until I am sure.

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There really isn't a "point of no return" in BDO. You can always "tag" another character if you want to play something else and even at the "high-end" of gear, it's only about 5 bil to tag. There's an event going on right now where it's only 1 Marni Fuel to tag a character, which is basically free. Plus, if you enjoyed a class long enough to grind out the hundreds of hours it takes to get a PEN Blackstar, I question why you'd want to reroll anyhow. You should've known long before that.

And they occasionally hand out weapon exchange coupons, which basically let's you completely reroll, since weapons are the only items that don't "transfer" between classes. You can always swap jewelry, armor, etc.

Ugh, yeah, Lahn used to never have mana problems, but with that stupid Q shit I'm constantly running low now.

I've been tempted to roll up a Zerker or Woosa, but I'm just having a hard time with it. I tried Zerker around spring sometime and it just felt clunky to me. On the plus side, if I do, I've already got a bunch of inventory and weight on it. Woosa not so much.

Oh, and I'm about 15% from hitting 63 on my Lahn and don't want to give that up!

Gravel said:

Oh, and I'm about 15% from hitting 63 on my Lahn and don't want to give that up!

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You don't have to. Just tag, my man.

Zerker isn't may favorite either, but he's braindead easy. With the buffs it's a no-brainer just from a money earning potential, especially with the tag event going on. He's definitely easier than Woosa.

I'm probably going to roll a Maegu though when they hand out the season coupons, because I want something with retardo AoE that's easy to play and still a top-tier grinder. Possibly an Awakened Witch instead. Witch has gotten some nice buffs lately.

I am playing a Zerker as my first char. I did a minor amount of research on them and saw that they have top damage and top defense, so i went for it. I am only level 53, but after reading the forums/reddit/youtube it turns out zerkers are really strong (and they keep buffing them?!?). Just wondering what options are if/when the nerf them. I will keep full steam ahead on him for now.

Drat said:

I am playing a Zerker as my first char. I did a minor amount of research on them and saw that they have top damage and top defense, so i went for it. I am only level 53, but after reading the forums/reddit/youtube it turns out zerkers are really strong (and they keep buffing them?!?). Just wondering what options are if/when the nerf them. I will keep full steam ahead on him for now.

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Zerker is literally the only class in the game who has NEVER really had a point of being "bad" or "weak". I think at his absolute worst he has still been solidly "A" tier but has spent about 90% of his existence in S or S+ tier.

Supposedly, a big part of the reason for this is because he's VERY unpopular in Korea, due to the fact that he's considered "ugly" by their standards. Thus, he's very rarely played by them and they consistently buff him/keep him strong to entice people to play him more.

Drat said:

I am playing a Zerker as my first char. I did a minor amount of research on them and saw that they have top damage and top defense, so i went for it. I am only level 53, but after reading the forums/reddit/youtube it turns out zerkers are really strong (and they keep buffing them?!?). Just wondering what options are if/when the nerf them. I will keep full steam ahead on him for now.

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Whatever the latest class is will be OP for months, other than that it's FOTM. Pretty typical mmo stuff.

I don't worry about it too much. Play a sorc main, it's not top tier, was a bit of a pain to get the hang of, and I'm not a great player by any measure. But I always go back to it, I just enjoy the playstyle. Think I have 14 toons now, most of them level 60 or better. Enjoyed most of them in their day.

Grim1 said:

But I always go back to it, I just enjoy the playstyle.

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This is really the most important aspect of BDO. You're going to be playing these characters, grinding in circles for HOURS. You better love the gameplay or you won't last long. It's faaaar more important to play something that just "feels" good to you rather than whatever the FOTM is.

For me, Lahn was very much a gameplay style I enjoyed despite her not being a "top tier" grinder anymore. Problem is, the recent changes really brought her to a point where I just don't enjoy her as much. I knew it right away, but I wanted to give the changes a few weeks to really make sure I wasn't just resisting "change". Now that I've had time to let it cook, I really just don't enjoy her like I did. Don't get me wrong, she still feels "good" but a lot of the reason for that is just because she's "comfortable" after hundreds of hours. If I'm being honest, I REALLY hate the awkwardness of her changes. So, I'm searching for something else I mesh with better.

Lahn just flows really well. I think that's why I didn't like Zerker. It felt like I was mashing buttons to get around, but Lahn feels so smooth. I don't care as much about the flying now that I've had a pegasus for a few months.

I might try tagging Woosa. Maybe grind some MP pots at some point.

I'm a few days away from my first TET Disto, so maybe once that's done.

I've played a bunch of different "mains" over the years, Ranger, Wizard, Warrior and then a Hashashin. This season I rolled up a Berserker and it's now my "main". I tagged a Woosa to level it up and I don't really like it. I think that's because I have no clue how to play it and just keep using zerker combos on her.

Get ready for more shitty boring story, in LOML. Problem with it is all the unskippable cut scenes. At least with Winter campaign, you could skip it all, had the sprint buff almost entire time and can finish that whole thing in 1.5 to 2 hours.

I did LOML for the crystal slots and some extra storage. The only thing I can go there now for is boss rush once a week. That's all there is for LOML, the story and boss rush. Oh and I guess the excavation nodes.

I've still only ever done the first Atoraxxion. It was so frustrating that I never did the other two.

And yeah, LOTML is such a letdown. If not for the (terrible) chance at crystals and Debo earrings, I wouldn't even bother. The boss rush rewards are such shit and I find the fights incredibly bad.

Not sure what changed, or if I'm just getting significantly more efficient at it, but I was just slightly overclearing at Orcs today (Marni, so no options to add to it). It's one of those things that's kind of nice because it means I'm getting better, but it's kind of shit because it also means I'm missing out on farm. Barely.

That said, I finally got enough for a TET Vaha to replace that damn Tuvala Earring. Bumped me up to 292 AP. So now I'm on the big DP grind; need to finish up my reform 4 Bheg's (going to be like 9b, plus caphras after), and then finishing up my helmet which is at C7, before upgrading both to Slumbering.

Also been doing a little bit of Naga's for a change to try and grind out my cups. Shit is going to take forever.

Gravel said:

Also been doing a little bit of Naga's for a change to try and grind out my cups. Shit is going to take forever.

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Ugh, Nagas on a Lahn? Her AoEs aren't big enough for that. Definitely go with Bloody Monestary. Pop 3+ bells when you have weapon and Bloody is pretty great. Or even Biraghi. I've always thought Biraghi was really underrated as a cookies spot. It's actually one of the best EXP spots in the game too. Top 5 still, I think? it just isn't the greatest silver/hour.

I'm still on my quest to find a new "main". 'Zerker is alright but it definitely doesn't gel with me. I'm still abusing how busted it is as an "easy" grinder, but I just can't stand how aesthetically unappealing it is. It's no wonder the Koreans hate it. On top of that, I'm not a huge fan of how it plays outside of its zoom zoom movement.

I tagged my Awakened Musa and messed with it for a few hours. I thought I'd initially enjoy that it "freeforms" combos(doesn't really have an "infinite" combo because of how his cooldowns work) but after giving it multiple hours, I just can't stand staring at cooldowns. I did way too much of that in games like WoW to want to go back to it. I feel like I'm playing the UI more than the game.

Ended up dropping 10k loyalties on another char slot and I think I'm going to try out Awakened Witch early, rather than wait around for the season coupon. Plus, I'm not sure if the tagging event will still be around then and I'd rather do that while it's basically free. If I hate her, I plan to use the coupon on a Maegu most likely. Failing that, I'll probably just stick to Lahn until whatever the new class is that comes out this Winter.

Pyros said:

Cleared the black shrine stuff, did 1-5 for the book rewards, nice rewards plus the 1ap/dp from doing the quest and the 2 crystal slots so obviously very worth it in terms of rewards but yeah fucking dumb. Also for black shrine apparently if you play a popular class you never can make the rankings? I was checking the rankings, on Maegu you need to clear in like 1min to make it into top 20, same for classes like Zerk, but for shit like Tamer or Corsair you can get top 10 by clearing in under 10mins lol. I'll probably need to do these on some other classes to get better rewards.

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The leaderboards have essentially 0 effect on RNG, it's basically just an e-peen flex.

That said, I would try to at least knock out Difficulty 6s each week, because that gets you into the bracket where your weekly bundles "can" contain up to a DUO: Deborekah Earring. Obviously the RNG is abysmal, but technically it's still a chance, whereas 1-5 you can't get up to DUO.

Also, Black Shrine is HIGHLY dependent on your class. The reason those leaderboards are so filled has less to do with class popularity(although it is still a factor, sure)and everything to do with them being good at the bosses. Some classes have absolute dogshit kits for the bosses, whereas others it's like doing them on EZ mode. Just like so many other things in BDO, people literally have alts just for Black Shrine. Typically, if you have a low-stamina spammable i-frame and/or really good movement, you'll be able to do fine. If you don't, I hope you enjoy difficulty 1-5.

Just hit level 57, at level 56 I did the Zerk awaking/succ quests. I wasn't ready for the succession boss, but it was nice to die for once.

Based on the tool-tip it looks like the awaking weapon is additive to my main weapon? It went from things taking a bit more time to kill at level 54/55 to one shoting again.

Gear wise I have everything at Tuvala PRI. I managed to get my main main weapon to PEN without knowing what I was doing, the 4-5% for it to PEN worked.

I have some major storage issues, my inv is full, by newbie inventory is full, getting to 60 for the magnus quest will help me for more access to remote storage, at least that is how understand it.

So here is my current short list of todos:
At level 58, do the fail stack saving quest thing, and then use that to work on getting Tuvala gear to PEN.
At level 60 do Magnus quest
At level 60 do the family storage quest
Keep working on the main quest line

See anything wildly wrong here?

edit:
I keep getting some armor/weapons (non Tuvala), it seems like most of this is legacy stuff and tuvala is just better?

Drat said:

Keep working on the main quest line

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You can pretty much stop once you get through the Mediah part and once you do, you never need to do it again on future characters. The Valencia, Kamasylvia, Dreighan, etc. "MSQ" lines aren't really necessary. They just give you some minor accessories and a boost to getting a rebellious crystal but I'd honestly save your time and just buy one later on. The one exception is Mountain of Eternal Winter. The final accessory Bronte's Bolt earring is actually pretty decent for "new" players. It's technically 1 less AP than Tuvala, but a lot more accuracy. It's definitely still optional, but it can be useful.

Also, start working on your Jetina quests to build up the burning starlight powder or whatever it's called. You'll need it later.

Drat said:

I keep getting some armor/weapons (non Tuvala), it seems like most of this is legacy stuff and tuvala is just better?

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Are you talking about the green weapon boxes?

I am talking about when I got the awakened weapon it was Tuvala already and they also gave me a blue Canon Iron Buster at the same time. I have some other misc blue gear too that is all worse than tuvala.