You're dropped into the world of Black Desert very quickly after a cinematic. After a short introduction to movement, the guide lets you free, and from here you can either do the tutorial, or, like me, run head first up the nearest hill, ready to smash whatever creatures you find, only to be thrown off the side of a rocky plateau as you flee for your life from the level 16 enemies who reside just outside of the tutorial town.
The first rule I found whenever I created a new character was to immediately find target dummies. As odd as this sounds, a few minutes bashing these hunks of wood will push your character up to level 5, and during this time, you can get associated with Black Deserts key combo combat system, with less of your time spent managing macros and hot-bars, and more working on balancing your skills and stamina mid fight, as each attack takes a little bit, and simply smashing down on an enemy endlessly, unless you're kitted for just that, isn't an effective means of combat.
I noticed two major differences while player alone with two different characters, the giant and the ranger. The giant I simply walked into an area, axes in hand, and slashed at everything I could, the character was massively tanky, but it was not as maneuverable as the others, like the archer, who I spent most of my time alternating between attacking and dodging, or using a lunging kick or a heavy arrow to push the enemy back, allowing me more time to attack, or move away. I also found that I was switching in and out of attack mode mid combat more as the ranger, sprinting to a better position, before turning around, and quick attacking as I withdrew the weapon again, rinsing and repeating with more difficult enemies. The ranger itself felt that it was not what a players first choice of character should be, as it was far more suited to team play. (I made the massive mistake of using the ranger as my test character when fighting a boss monster, alone, chugging health potions like some sort of addict.)
One thing that was apparent though, was how fast the character was leveling during PvE, it was very, very slow, and I felt as if quests did almost nothing to speed up the progress, even when the reward was EXP. The game seems to center a lot more on spending time fighting monsters that are further above your level, as even in team fights, it felt as if each player got the same amount of XP they would have gotten if they had killed the creature alone. PvE encourages you to play with a friend or a small group, as dealing damage alone slowly takes more and more time than one would like, whereas a giant and a sorcerer dispatch more foes in the same time for a greater reward than a loner would.
The combat flows very well, I don't feel bored when in an intense fight, so long as I'm actually incorporating more than just a single mouse click over and over to deal damage, and the overworld won't slam enemies all over you while entering their areas, allowing you to consistently fight stronger and stronger creatures as you level up, allowing you to research them (This displays a few facts and their health meter), learn their attack sets, and loot so you can upgrade your gear in town. (Though, I found more often than naught quests gave far more valuable items than available for purchase.) The PvE looks to be a strong aspect of Black Desert Online, and I can't wait to experiment with PvP.
The first rule I found whenever I created a new character was to immediately find target dummies. As odd as this sounds, a few minutes bashing these hunks of wood will push your character up to level 5, and during this time, you can get associated with Black Deserts key combo combat system, with less of your time spent managing macros and hot-bars, and more working on balancing your skills and stamina mid fight, as each attack takes a little bit, and simply smashing down on an enemy endlessly, unless you're kitted for just that, isn't an effective means of combat.
I noticed two major differences while player alone with two different characters, the giant and the ranger. The giant I simply walked into an area, axes in hand, and slashed at everything I could, the character was massively tanky, but it was not as maneuverable as the others, like the archer, who I spent most of my time alternating between attacking and dodging, or using a lunging kick or a heavy arrow to push the enemy back, allowing me more time to attack, or move away. I also found that I was switching in and out of attack mode mid combat more as the ranger, sprinting to a better position, before turning around, and quick attacking as I withdrew the weapon again, rinsing and repeating with more difficult enemies. The ranger itself felt that it was not what a players first choice of character should be, as it was far more suited to team play. (I made the massive mistake of using the ranger as my test character when fighting a boss monster, alone, chugging health potions like some sort of addict.)
One thing that was apparent though, was how fast the character was leveling during PvE, it was very, very slow, and I felt as if quests did almost nothing to speed up the progress, even when the reward was EXP. The game seems to center a lot more on spending time fighting monsters that are further above your level, as even in team fights, it felt as if each player got the same amount of XP they would have gotten if they had killed the creature alone. PvE encourages you to play with a friend or a small group, as dealing damage alone slowly takes more and more time than one would like, whereas a giant and a sorcerer dispatch more foes in the same time for a greater reward than a loner would.
The combat flows very well, I don't feel bored when in an intense fight, so long as I'm actually incorporating more than just a single mouse click over and over to deal damage, and the overworld won't slam enemies all over you while entering their areas, allowing you to consistently fight stronger and stronger creatures as you level up, allowing you to research them (This displays a few facts and their health meter), learn their attack sets, and loot so you can upgrade your gear in town. (Though, I found more often than naught quests gave far more valuable items than available for purchase.) The PvE looks to be a strong aspect of Black Desert Online, and I can't wait to experiment with PvP.
