Pearl Abyss is a Korean game development company that was established in 2010. From then on, they began working on the very well received MMORPG Black Desert Online. Launched on PC in December 2014, the game’s popularity has then since paved a way for it to be brought to game consoles and mobile platforms.
Pearl Abyss has only been active in the mobile gaming industry since 2018 and while the first few games they released where not published outside of Korea, the company has managed to amass over 4 million downloads from all of its apps. With Black Desert Mobile being the first of its mobile games to be released worldwide, it’s a huge accomplishment for the game to make it past earning a million downloads from the Google Play Store alone just days after its official launch.
Black Desert Mobile takes you to a fantasy world where mythical black stones have become the land’s source of power yet caused the downfall of previous civilizations. Accompanied by a mysterious black spirit, you journey into Valencia, the Black Desert, to discover the mysteries and secrets that lie within and around it. The journey will be long and full of challenges, riddled with battles nearly every step of the way. There will be treasures to discover and earn on top of the experiences you gain to make you stronger.
The adventure you set on will not be traversed entirely on your own, as you will earn allies and pets to accompany you along the way. It’s not all about fighting and getting stronger in Black Desert Mobile as you own and grow your own camp as well as engage in a variety of like fishing and farming to earn you some of the resources you will need. If you are looking for an MMORPG on mobile with depth and enormous content on top of visually stunning graphics, then rally up your gaming friends and step into the world of Black Desert Mobile.
Black Desert Mobile may seem overwhelming at first glance given the amount of content it has in tandem with the overall quality of its package. For the most part, though, you are guided every step of the way by tutorials as well as instructions that come with every new feature you unlock. Auto pathing and pop up notifications likewise makes the game much simpler, especially for players totally new to mobile MMORPGs. The idea is to take the time to go through each tutorial and never skip any of it. In any case, there are “?” icons at the upper right side of most windows so if you missed some details about how to go about things you can always find information there.
This is a game that is easy to learn and although there is definitely a lot to learn, diving into it taking things one at a time is the way to go. If you found yourself stuck in a particular quest or simply looking for more efficient ways to level up your character and increase your combat power (CP), then check out our Black Desert Mobile beginner’s guide. Our detailed list of Black Desert Mobile tips, cheats and strategies will certainly help you to jumpstart your adventure!
1. Choose A Character Class That Is Right For You
Perhaps one of the biggest questions that confront you before you proceed to dive into the world of Black Desert Mobile relates to which character class to choose. There are five distinct choices in the game and if you have heard of or played the PC and console incarnations of the game, then you would know that more character classes may become available through later updates. Although you can expect the developers to balance each class out as much as possible, some are simply better at certain aspects of the game while others excel in other areas. Suffice to say; your choice should not depend on what anyone thinks is the strongest character but rather, you should choose what you will feel most comfortable playing as considering your personal preferences and play style.
Although there are some customizations available in the game that can alter your character’s overall strength and build, each class is intrinsically designed to specialize in a certain role or be generally okay within various circumstances.
You can create 3 characters per account in Black Desert Mobile but just to help you decide on your first choice, we will be providing brief descriptions of each available class. Take note that while each class has suggestive builds based on their stats and skills, Black Desert Mobile provides for ways to customize each one’s build to some extent leaving you to choose between banking on their strengths or making up for their weaknesses.
For total beginners as well as people who prefer to play it a little safer, the warrior class serves as a good choice. With decent close combat skills as well as above average durability, this class stands as among, if not, the toughest. The warrior class also boasts decent single target and AoE damage skills and while there are hardly any added effects to his skills save for knockbacks and stuns, warriors can pound through hordes of enemies alternating across skills without worrying about mana. If you prefer to be able to venture into the world alone or be the tank in parties, then the warrior class might be the best class for you.
A common favorite for soloists as well is the ranger class. While rangers may not be as simple to play as and strategize with, it offers its own mix of advantages over the warrior class. For starters, rangers can strike enemies from a distance and specialize in it as well. While rangers have exceptional offensive prowess, it is balanced out by their lack of defensive stats. This means that if you choose this class, you will enjoy being able to eliminate mobs of enemies at a faster rate, but risks dying more often as well as it will only take a few hits to zero out your HP. The ranger class is also the fastest class in the game so being mobile and doing hit and runs will work best for you. As far as single target and AoE damage is concerned, the ranger class possesses a healthy mix of both types.
Related: Black Desert Mobile Class Guide: An In-Depth Look at Each Available Class in the Game
Similar to the ranger class, the witch class also excels in dealing massive damage, whether it is towards a single target or a group of enemies. Like the ranger class as well, though, witches have low defense attributes and can have difficulty fighting in close range. While superior as far as damage-dealing is concerned, witches also require more mana management to use efficiently. With a good mix of spells that vary in proficiency and added effects, this class is typically more complex to use and master than most classes.
If you prefer having a more damage-dealing type of melee fighter, the giant class just might be what is right for you. Exclusively having close range attacks can be a weakness on its own against ranged enemies. The giant, however, has high damage skills that comes with its own negative status-inflicting impact that adds to its value. While the giant class may not sport defensive attributes as high as warriors and valkyries, the mana regeneration buff aids in ensuring that he can dish out more special skills than either of them.
Last but not the least is the valkyrie class, which closely resembles the warrior in terms of overall build. As there are currently no healer or any full support class in Black Desert Mobile, the Valkyrie class should be your top pick if you want to provide some support to the whole party. Valkyries have a balanced build as far as offensive strength and defense attributes are concerned and also dish out decent damage in the battlefield. The valkyrie class’ heal, which automatically activates when HP is lower that 75%, is one of her most unique skill that also recovers HP for the entire party.
Take note that future updates to the game may still some upgrades as well as some adjustments to each class. In any case, having a basic idea of what each one can do and the role each class can play in a party should help you decide on which one to choose for starters.
2. Prioritize Completing The Quests
Like any RPG that comes with its own story, Black Desert Mobile immerses you into its own lore through the quests you are presented with as you play the game. These quests can easily be seen on the right side of your screen, and tapping on each one will enable your character to automatically proceed to where you need to be to initiate and accomplish the quest.
In addition to progressing the game’s story, accomplishing quests earns you a good deal of experience points to level up and raise your hero’s CP as well as reward you with various gears and resources to further enhance your hero. The most basic resources as well as some items that may be challenging to secure anywhere else will be provided for you through some of these quests. Some of the game’s added features and game modes become unlocked as well following completion of certain quests.
Quests that necessitate engaging in combat will normally display CP suggestions although you can still push through with them just the same. For the most part, if the disparity between suggested CP and your current CP is substantial, then you may want to check in on other activities available for you or proceed with enhancements and upgrades that you may have missed. For minimal disparity between the CP values, feel free to jump into the mission.
Related: Black Desert Mobile Farming Guide: Tips, Cheats & Strategies to Get More Silver and EXP
Some missions, particularly ones with boss fights disables auto pathing and auto battle. In such cases, make sure to make full use of the dodge button most especially if it is a difficult battle. Bosses typically come with warning signs indicated by red marks on an area where their attack will hit. Focus on it and time your dodges to avoid taking in damage.
3. Upgrade Your Equipment And Skills As Soon As You Can
No MMORPG is complete without the usual plethora of enhancement and upgrade options available to strengthen, and to some extent, customize your characters build. While traditional RPGs of the past may add a bit of challenge as far as deciding between to upgrade or not is concerned, Black Desert Mobile makes it simple enough to make it absolutely viable for you to proceed with enhancements as soon as they become available.
The most basic features that contribute to increasing your CP lie with your character’s skills and gears. As far as gears are concerned, obtaining a new piece of equipment gives you an option to equip it immediately even while in battle or travelling across the map. Whenever a piece of equipment with better stats is acquired, you will see a notification pop up at the center of the screen enabling you to switch to the better gear without interrupting your current activity. Each piece of gear can be enhanced using black stones, which are basically classified between ones for weapons and another for armor.
To proceed to the gear enhancement window, simply tap on the menu icon at the upper right side of your screen and choose the Black Spirit icon. From there, tap on the enhancement icon at the upper right side of the window. Each enhancement level will show you a success rate per black stone used, depending on the quality or rarity of the black stone as well. Expectedly, more black stones will be needed as success rate drops when enhancement level increases. You can always opt to proceed with the enhancement even if the success rate is not at a hundred percent. Keep in mind though that it will be all up to your luck and RNG.
Enhancement levels can be transferred from one piece of gear to another. However, the same can only be applied to items with a +4 enhancement level and below. This option can also be seen within the Black Spirit window. Given these conditions, you may want to spread out enhancements across your gears and keep enhancements down to +4 unless you have plenty of extra black stones to spare.
Relative to this, the black spirit menu is where you can also level up your mysterious dark companion. You can have your black spirit absorb condensed dark energy as well as disposable or unneeded gears for it to earn experience points and level up. Each new level comes with a small, but nonetheless needed, CP boost and reaching certain levels unlock additional buffs.
You can also take on additional quests via the black spirit quests feature that can be found just underneath the black spirit. These quests are typically easy to accomplish and up to 3 quests can be taken on and accomplished per day. Take note, though, that you can only take on quests one at a time.
You might think that each class can only have 4 skills based on the skill buttons available at the lower right side of the screen but as you progress further in the game and reach new levels, you will have more than enough to fill in all 8 quick skill slots. You can switch between each set of skills while in battle by swiping right on the attack button.
To upgrade your hero’s skills, simply tap on the “sword and axe” icon at the top right side of the screen. From there, you can easily see skills that can be enhanced as indicated by the “!” on their icon. Do not worry about prioritizing one skill over another in terms of the resource requirements for enhancement. Each skill you have requires a specific skill book to upgrade so if you have enough silver, then feel free to max each available enhancement out.
After reaching certain levels, active skills will unlock inscribes that can further boost the effect or impact of a specific skill. These inscribes will be a key to customizing your hero’s build further so be sure to read through what each available option has to offer. In any case, you can always switch between inscribes once you unlock them.
4. Visit And Tend To Your Camp Frequently
Your personal camp, which you will unlock early on, hosts a wide variety of in-game features that can keep you occupied outside of accomplishing missions. As much as we would like to give you a more detailed information on how to manage your camp in this guide, we may post a separate guide to discuss it in detail later on. For now, we will simply provide you with an overview of what to expect from it.
Your camp is basically your safe house where you can stash some gears you do not want to dispose of, craft black stones, manage horses, and also serves as your gateway to partaking in boss rush and expeditions. Various structures can be built within your camp and it can be expanded as well provided that you meet conditions relative to game progression and have enough of the needed resources to do so. For the most part, the materials needed in building and upgrading structures in your camp can be easily obtained through logging, mining, or similar activities in the world map.
As each activity within your camp requires the use of workers to initiate, one of the first things to do is to hire some from the pub. By default, you can keep as many as 5 workers so depending on your needs, be sure to hire enough. Workers vary in skill sets as well as behavior so take time to look into each one and communicate, gift, and discipline them as necessary.
One of the most important structures in your camp is the refinery. This can be a constant source of black stones that you will always need for your gears. You need to gather rough boulders to initiate crafting black stones so be sure to mine for it when you can afford to do so.
The Rush Board and Expedition stands as other game modes within Black Desert Mobile that you can partake in following that you meet certain conditions. Once you have defeated a boss in the main story, you can battle them again for extra rewards in the rush board. You will need stamps that can be exchanged for passes needed for each attempt. As you defeat a difficulty level, a higher one becomes available offering better rewards. The expedition gateway, on the other hand, requires you to meet the minimum CP requirement for you to be able to create a session or join one. In any case, these extra game modes you should partake in especially when you find yourself stuck in a particular quest.
5. Accomplish Tasks For Extra Rewards
While every bit of activity you engage in as you venture into the world of Black Desert Mobile offers instant rewards, more can still be obtained through daily tasks and achievements that you accomplish. For the most part, simply doing the regular activities you cycle through potentially accomplishes some of the objectives in this feature. Just the same, checking the list of objectives out regularly will help guide you towards some activities you may have forgotten about, but otherwise easily accomplishable.
To view the lists, tap on the menu button at the upper right corner of the screen and choose “Tasks”. The objectives or goals set here are divided between daily tasks and achievements. Daily tasks refresh daily and offer extra rewards based on how many feats you have completed. Achievements, in contrast, offer one-time rewards for milestones you reach based on various progression levels you have made throughout the game.
Some of the objectives set here upgrade to higher tiers following the accomplishment of the previous goal. Be sure to try and complete each item under the daily tasks as the silver, black stones, and black pearls you can earn from here as rewards will always be needed.
6. Push To Accomplish Login And Event Rewards
Relative to the above source of extra in-game items and materials, Black Desert Mobile is extra generous in providing even more rewards for you based on how much time and dedication you spend on the game. There are login reward requirements that can be effortlessly achieved simply by being online. Be sure to click on the timer icon at the upper left side of the screen to check and claim your rewards based on your time online.
Take note that the rewards get better once your black spirit companion reaches a high enough level. Likewise, you can also spend some time grinding with auto mode on to complete the 240-minute maximum time needed to earn the top rewards.
There are various time-limited events as well that are available in Black Desert Mobile. You can view these events via the gift box icon just below the login rewards icon and world boss icon at the upper left side of the screen. Be sure to check on each tab, especially the Grand Launch Fiesta as it offers the best rewards you can get for meeting objectives that are generally in line with the daily tasks and achievements you should be aiming to accomplish. Likewise, take note of the remaining days for each particular event as you may want to squeeze in a little more effort on some days for the most important rewards.
Related: Black Desert Mobile Node Manager Guide: Everything You Need to Know About the Node Manager
7. Join A Guild As Soon As You Can
Guilds, Factions, Alliances, or similar player groupings have long been an integral part of any MMORPG, even in games where team work and massive PvE and PvP content are available. While there are still much too be discovered as far as guild systems are concerned in Black Desert Mobile, being a part of a guild, especially active ones, are a must for players who wish to make progress and grow stronger as fast as they can.
One of the most important features to partake in within guilds is the guild quest. After a day following your acceptance into a guild, you can pick from among a list of available quests that can earn quest points, guild funds, and experience for the guild. You can accomplish up to 3 quests per day and if you love your guild and want to make it stronger for everyone, then taking on 3 quests should be a standard daily objective for you.
Quests points earned by each member can be exchanged for summoning stones that the guild leader can use to pen a guild rush event. Each guild member can participate in defeating a summoned boss via the guild rush for great rewards. Guild funds earned can be used to purchase guild skills that boost stats of each guild member.
On top of it all, fellow guild members can be a great source of in-game friends and if you do not have friends in real life who play Black Desert Mobile you should aim to obtain some in the game as having a consistent party to go on quests with will dramatically make life easier for you.
8. Always Check Notifications For Guidance
It can be an understatement to say that Black Desert Mobile has a plethora of in-game activities and features for you to revel in to the point that you will likely miss out on some activities especially when you have just started playing the game. As it may take a while before you develop your personal routine cycling through each of the many activities the game has to offer, a great way to keep in touch with some that may be more important than others is through the notifications.
While the notifications, indicated by the bell icon at the upper right side of the screen, may always have an indicator to inform you of what you may have forgotten about, be sure to check on it frequently and proceed to handle the activities enumerated within it. Be sure to click on the notification settings button as well to customize the type of activities you would want to be reminded of.
9. Check Your Inventory For Consumable Rewards
While some rewards you obtain through completing quests and accomplishing tasks can be immediately used for enhancements and upgrades, some rewards come in the form of chests that contain the actual items. Pre-registration gifts, milestone rewards, and other special treasures you earn fall within the consumable tab of your inventory. There are no notification of sorts to inform you of these items so the only way to discover if you have any is to manually visit your inventory through the bag icon at the top right side of your screen. For each type of chest you can possibly earn, it is better to open them sooner than later unless you do not have enough space.
That pretty much covers all the basic stuff you need to know about Black Desert Mobile. Given the depth of the game and the sheer size of its content, we will definitely be taking on some of its more complex aspects in future strategy guides. For now, we hope that the simple tips and strategies we shared with you in our beginner’s guide can help you progress through the game much faster.
There are hardly any limitations as to how much time you can spend on playing the game and grinding. You may encounter a lot of players who are on auto mode in certain areas to earn even bits of experience points just to help them level up their heroes faster. If you are up to it, feel free to do so while on AFK.
Just be sure that you have more than enough potions to last for when you are ready to actively play the game again or at least be among mobs of monsters that can hardly deal any real damage to you. If you have discovered relevant tips or tricks in addition to what we have already shared, feel free to let us know in the comments!