Black Desert Online has a Hunting Season in full swing, With Kakao Games and Pearl Abyss pushing out a ton of new in-game events and content for their flagship MMO, there’s already plenty to do. But with the launch of another new batch of content, called The Great Expedition, the developers are looking to massively expand the scope of one particular area of the game. The big part of this expansion content, aside from the monthly and weekly events, is a brand new oceanic expansion. The aim of this new content is to completely overhaul the existing sailing system with a ton of new content and to make it much more fun to engage with.
Another big part of this push is the inclusion of yet another world boss. This boss, called Khan, is another new addition to the MMO in the same vein as the great beast Vell, and he’s quite the challenge. Being contained within a new high-level seafaring zone, even getting to Khan will be tough. Luckily players get a 50% loot drop bonus in this zone for a limited time to encourage making the trek. This joins the huge number of zones already added to the game, giving BDO players a ton of stuff to do.
To make the journey a bit easier though, Pearl Abyss and Kakao will include some new high-level ships, like the Carrack, that can stand up to the rigours of ocean life. The new Great Expedition content will also reward players with special ship upgrades that make their craft even more potent in battle. But new ships isn’t the only thing on the horizon, as the devs are also working on a new crew system for sailing. To crew their ships, a new sailor system is available for players that will allow them to hire sailors with various skills to increase the efficiency of their ships. Balancing the number of sailors with the amount of available cargo space will be a new challenge for players. This mimics the hireling system seen throughout the in-game economy, so it’s nice to finally see a form of it for sailing.
And speaking of economics, The Great Expedition will also introduce a new tier of economic gameplay called the bartering system. This new dynamic trading system will allow players to ferry goods across the game world for a premium price, but speed and careful planning are paramount, as the prices of goods change rapidly. After all, you don’t want to be the seafaring trader stuck with a cargohold full of worthless goods, so be careful out there.
Black Desert Online is out now for PC and Xbox One. The incredibly beautiful and ever-expanding MMO has exploded in popularity since its launch in Korea, and now it has become a global force in the genre, at least in part due to emergent gameplay, engaging combat and stunning visuals.
For more insight into the development of the Great Expedition, read the recently released Developer Note from Pearl Abyss.
