BDO: Life Skills

[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

Since I skipped almost all the non-combat quests to do the main story line, I find myself back at Velia to learn more about these "life" (crafting) skills which is both super involved and very boring... especially fishing. God I hate fishing. Luckily the beginner fish quests can be cleared by fish stolen from fishing nets already lying around.

 

Doesn't matter what game it is: I always hate fishing.

I am also introduced to the beginner worker management and trade route marketing which involves hiring workers, getting them lodging, buying space for whatever factory you want (farm, smithy, etc), feeding your workers, making sure you have the "starting materials" in your storage and on and on it goes. It is SUPER technical and I don't really get my head around it, nor do I want to as it isn't my jam. I do earn a donkey, a small cart and a mini elephant from it though - and ride it back East, to train against Desert Nagas and Desert Fogans.

At Valencia, I finish upgrading my secondary weapon (which I could have done anywhere) but more importantly I rent a crescent blade (spear thing) from King Nesser which is stronger than the one I have. I also find Ellie's event food is more awesome than I initially thought (+AP which I need in the harder zones) so I buy a whole bunch of that too. With this new gear I am feeling pretty hopeful as I make my way back to face the aliens at Star's End.

Insight: I goofed up by ditching my weak Canon Awakening weapon which I would have been able to trade into Narchillan gear. Nesser's rented weapon is an easy next best option as it doesn't degrade and only eats up contribution points which I don't use for anything anyway since I'm not in the crafting game.

BDO: Robber Team

[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

A small group from the excavation team are unhappy that the King won't be paying their full fee due to the locked door remaining so (thanks to my lie), and so recruit me for a money making enterprise (I'll call us the robber team) which involves stealing from city folk, visiting ALL the pilgrimage sites in the desert while digging random sand dunes for treasure, and learning how to read texts of the ancient.

To break up the monotony I also chase down a criminal hiding with Gahaz's bandits (who turns out to be dead, but Gahaz the psycho only tells me this after I kill a hundred more of his gang), kill a lot more nagas at their temple and also an army's worth of their sworn enemies the Egyptian desert fogans, scout a dried up river which is now a monster nesting ground, do some swimming/diving jobs for Shakatu and Princess Saya (rafts are slow, fish suits are awesome), and encounter a few of the Aakman desert wanderers who are doing a poor job of protecting the ancient weapons (golems) of the desert as some are very much active, and hostile.

AOE attacks are great.

Since the robber team eventually tries to rob from me too, I rob them in return - taking the huge stash of ancient royal relics that I've been digging up for them back into my possession and handing it over to King Sahazad Nesser explaining that I had infiltrated the group to gather evidence of their crimes. As the King is super gullible he praises my actions and sends out Katar soldiers to arrest the rest of the robber team.

With this task complete I can finally get out of this god damn desert... because screw finding Illezra. That quest line was painful.

Insight: The Valencia II quest line sucks balls, mainly because of the heavy energy use. Energy regains 1 point every 3 minutes log in or 3 hours logged out. It takes 12 energy to attempt to steal and you'll be doing this a lot as there are multiple items that might require multiple attempts. Thieving past 10PM in game time seems to net more favorable results.

BDO: Secret Army

[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

The first thing I do once I reach the city is something I should have done a long time ago: upgrade my gear! Thanks to the Crow merchant guild I now am rocking some Narchillan equipment with items bought from Oasis Vendor Ellie's shop to supplement giving a significant boost to AP and DP (attack/defense power). Nice!

While doing so I learn there is an excavation taking place underneath Valencia Castle, and that King Sahazad Nesser seeks the key to unlocking a particular chamber in there. The black spirit hints that it can help, and after finding some docile golems in the desert works out that it is the very key the King is looking for.

These things are massive.

I opt to drop in on the excavation myself first, and of course it the same dig team from the very beginning again so they let me in and I quietly open the locked portal alone. Inside is a very active and talkative construct who reveals the entire Black Desert is actually the result of a meteor impact, and the black spirits and black stones within are all of alien origin. It then asks for commands as it and the army of still dormant ancient weapons (golems) like it, are ready to be unleashed on the planet.

Such power can't fall into the hands of crazy humans so I tell them to go back to sleep, reseal the chamber then lie to the excavation team and King Nesser that there is no way to open it. Surely that will solve this problem for good right?

Insight: The gear upgrade sequence in BDO goes from 1-15 then PRI, DUO, TRI, TET, and PEN. I was a bit confused at the letters until I finally did it myself.

BDO: Dragon Bandits

[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

With my previous success Prince Barhan sends me North around the desert to Shakatu's Territory. The wealthy goblin who rules that region is already a fan of mine, having witnessed my arena battle at Altinova and now wants my help to impress his esteemed visitor, Princess Saya Nesser who was after black dragon essence from the captive dragons at the nearby Gahaz bandit canyon.

There are A LOT of bandits and outside the rare female bandit who clearly uses black dragon juice with her kung fu, the short riflemen are the most dangerous. After killing a thousand of them I finally meet the bandit leader, Gahaz Tuval, who despite being a psychopath manages to convince me not to continue on my mission as his bandits didn't actually "capture" the dragons - the dragons came to them and asked for protection while hibernating.

Hmm, these dragons sleep like whales.

Also, he questions why the Nesser royals would be after such a thing in the first place as it would only be used for destruction, which is the same reason why he got the basilisk men to intercept the delivery of an ancient artifact to Prince Barhan at the Sand Grain Market. It's almost like the entire family is up to no good. I decide to investigate for myself by heading back to Valencia.

Insight: On the way to Shakatu there's a place called Cadry that was super dangerous for me not only because of the pretty tough soldiers and wizards everywhere but because my graphics card kept blacking out while fighting in there. Fortunately it can be completely avoided.

BDO: Desert Tourist

[Part of my Adventures in Black Desert Online]

For a big "empty" desert, the Black Desert actually has a lot of stuff in it. Tiny ruins with pilgrims (NPCs playing ATITD no doubt!), little oasis camps and of course the massive city of Valencia which is easily spotted from very far away.

In the tale of "Curiosity killed the Cat", don't be the cat.

I spend a few days there, lending a low-key helping hand for their eternal balloon festivals and carting various things around (like poop. I literally carted camel poop to the herbalist), but find no trace of Illezra so I continue East to the opposite end of the desert and find the small tropical beach town of Arehaza which is another cute retirement spot.

Clearly having hit a dead end in my search, I opt to retrace my steps and while doing so, rescue a merchant whose caravan was raided by basilisk men. Since the goods were meant for the Valencian Royal family I get to meet Prince Barhan Nesser, who is stationed at the Sand Grain Bazaar to report the theft. The Prince is thankful and subsequently requests my aid in getting his Katar soldiers to withdraw from the centauran conflict.

To do this I am sent as an envoy to the Bashim clan to get them to attack the centaurans instead. These satyrs are very violent, and after killing a small army of them just to talk to their chief, I am tasked with killing that number again to prove my strength before they finally agree to commit troops to the centauran war front... because killing people is the best way to make friends.
 
Insight: Each of your mounts can carry stuff too! Might be an idea to store carrots on horses and acacia leaves on camels as those are the "stam refill" items for those mounts.