As with any other Sandbox MMORPG, the amount of Silver your character has will greatly determine how comfortable your life in the game will be. Be it for hiring workers, investing into gear upgrades, or simply buying items from other players in the marketplace, you will always find yourself needing more and more Silver coins. This guide will this introduce you to the different ways to earn money in Black Desert Online.
Killing Mobs
While killing monsters over the map has been gradually losing its importance in recent MMORPGs, that won't be the case in Black Desert, where spending hour after hour hunting different mobs remain rather profitable. Killing goblins, for example, allow players to obtain various loot like Silver coins, equipment that can be sold, but also Goblin Token, items that can be traded to a specific NPC for a good amount of Silver coins. 10 Goblin Tokens can be traded for 1,000 Silver coins, while 40 of the same tokens can be traded for 5,000, an amount that is far from negligible when you are just starting the game and need to buy yourself a decent mount. Finding out where to trade the items is just as simple, as right clicking the item will give players the option of showing the path to the NPC, or auto-running to the location. Eventually, you will be able to earn millions a day through this method.
Trade Runs
Once you've gained enough experience doing it, Trade Runs may just end up being the best way to earn money in Black Desert. As one of the fundamental concepts in Black Desert Online, Trade Runs will allow you to earn money by buying goods from NPCs, and selling them to others.
Fundamentally, the process is quite similar to real life trades. Each town possesses its markets with whom you can enter into a sort of trade partnerships. Simply put, they will offer you to buy certain local products at the current market value, which varies according to the demand and supply, and it will be up to you, the player, to decide which one will end up being the most profitable for you.
The market value of a product will generally vary between 70% to 130% of its initial value. This means that when purchasing local products from a trader, the lower its current market value is, the higher your potential profit will be when selling it. While generally a market value of around 80% is the most recommended, you can go up to 90% and still turn into a decent profit assuming you sell it to the right town. Because, as you've probably guessed, the items you will be selling will also be dependent on its market value in other towns. In this case, however, the higher the value of the items, the more profit you will make when selling it. Which is why you will need to consult the market value of the products you've purchased before deciding on where you will travel to sell it (greater distances generally mean greater profits).
Another thing to consider is that you may not be able to purchase the most valuable items, and those that are the most profitable, until your trade level goes up. Basically, that means that in the beginning you will need to satisfy yourself with small profits (a few hundreds of Silver coins per trade run), before really starting to make good money.
But before even doing all that, you will need to create trade routes. Indeed, before you start trading, you must "connect" two places. The first from which you buy your goods, and the second where you sell them. To obtain new trade routes, you will need to contact specific Node Management NPCs (easily visible from the map), and connect the different nodes between the town in exchange for Contribution Points. One thing that may be confusing, however, is the fact that the towns themselves do not possess nodes per se. Instead, you will need to buy a house in each of the two towns, essentially creating connection points to the nodes between them. If in the beginning you may be picky regarding which node to unlock, you will eventually need to create the maximum of trade routes and, consequently, open yourself to new business opportunities.
Moreover, while it is not exactly essential, I would recommend trying to acquire at least a donkey before starting trade runs as the roads can seem quite long when traveling on foot with a trade pack. Eventually, you will even be able to go on trade runs with your own horse-pulled cart, allowing you to carry more items at a time, and maximizing your profits.
And finally, keep in mind that trade runs are not exactly risk-free. Even on the "seemingly" safe trade routes, you can be attacked by NPC bandits that will show you no mercy. This will be even worse on the more dangerous routes where you could potentially be ambushed by other players.
Crafting
And of course, Black Desert wouldn't be much of a Sandbox MMORPG if specializing in crafting wasn't profitable. This one is rather self-explanatory. By assigning your workers to different workshops, you can order them to create items from the materials you give them, items that can later on be sold to other players on the Marketplace.
Other Sources Of Money
Killing Mobs
While killing monsters over the map has been gradually losing its importance in recent MMORPGs, that won't be the case in Black Desert, where spending hour after hour hunting different mobs remain rather profitable. Killing goblins, for example, allow players to obtain various loot like Silver coins, equipment that can be sold, but also Goblin Token, items that can be traded to a specific NPC for a good amount of Silver coins. 10 Goblin Tokens can be traded for 1,000 Silver coins, while 40 of the same tokens can be traded for 5,000, an amount that is far from negligible when you are just starting the game and need to buy yourself a decent mount. Finding out where to trade the items is just as simple, as right clicking the item will give players the option of showing the path to the NPC, or auto-running to the location. Eventually, you will be able to earn millions a day through this method.
Trade Runs
Once you've gained enough experience doing it, Trade Runs may just end up being the best way to earn money in Black Desert. As one of the fundamental concepts in Black Desert Online, Trade Runs will allow you to earn money by buying goods from NPCs, and selling them to others.
Fundamentally, the process is quite similar to real life trades. Each town possesses its markets with whom you can enter into a sort of trade partnerships. Simply put, they will offer you to buy certain local products at the current market value, which varies according to the demand and supply, and it will be up to you, the player, to decide which one will end up being the most profitable for you.
The market value of a product will generally vary between 70% to 130% of its initial value. This means that when purchasing local products from a trader, the lower its current market value is, the higher your potential profit will be when selling it. While generally a market value of around 80% is the most recommended, you can go up to 90% and still turn into a decent profit assuming you sell it to the right town. Because, as you've probably guessed, the items you will be selling will also be dependent on its market value in other towns. In this case, however, the higher the value of the items, the more profit you will make when selling it. Which is why you will need to consult the market value of the products you've purchased before deciding on where you will travel to sell it (greater distances generally mean greater profits).
Another thing to consider is that you may not be able to purchase the most valuable items, and those that are the most profitable, until your trade level goes up. Basically, that means that in the beginning you will need to satisfy yourself with small profits (a few hundreds of Silver coins per trade run), before really starting to make good money.
But before even doing all that, you will need to create trade routes. Indeed, before you start trading, you must "connect" two places. The first from which you buy your goods, and the second where you sell them. To obtain new trade routes, you will need to contact specific Node Management NPCs (easily visible from the map), and connect the different nodes between the town in exchange for Contribution Points. One thing that may be confusing, however, is the fact that the towns themselves do not possess nodes per se. Instead, you will need to buy a house in each of the two towns, essentially creating connection points to the nodes between them. If in the beginning you may be picky regarding which node to unlock, you will eventually need to create the maximum of trade routes and, consequently, open yourself to new business opportunities.
Moreover, while it is not exactly essential, I would recommend trying to acquire at least a donkey before starting trade runs as the roads can seem quite long when traveling on foot with a trade pack. Eventually, you will even be able to go on trade runs with your own horse-pulled cart, allowing you to carry more items at a time, and maximizing your profits.
And finally, keep in mind that trade runs are not exactly risk-free. Even on the "seemingly" safe trade routes, you can be attacked by NPC bandits that will show you no mercy. This will be even worse on the more dangerous routes where you could potentially be ambushed by other players.
Crafting
And of course, Black Desert wouldn't be much of a Sandbox MMORPG if specializing in crafting wasn't profitable. This one is rather self-explanatory. By assigning your workers to different workshops, you can order them to create items from the materials you give them, items that can later on be sold to other players on the Marketplace.
Other Sources Of Money
- Fishing
- Horse Taming/Breeding
- Foraging
- Cooking
