Korean developer and publisher Pearl Abyss hosted its annual Heidel Ball in the medieval French castle town that inspired the Heidel region in its MMORPG Black Desert Online. It featured a number of content announcements, a global community meetup, and more.
The 12th-century Chateau de Beynac (Ridley Scott: The Last Duel) served as a picturesque backdrop for a day-long event where Executive Producer Jaehee Kim and his team livestreamed a comprehensive overview of this year’s summer and fall content.
As part of the numerous reveals, Pearl Abyss announced the new male class Dosa as well as important details about the new bosses, racial stories, geography and upgrade systems for the popular Land of Morning Light: Seoul expansion.
The development team has introduced a new hardcore server for competitive players and reworked a fan-favorite storyline for the Saga of Jordine, a key character arc in Black Desert’s main storyline.
The team showed the first images of the native PlayStation 5 version of Black Desert Console that is currently in progress. Then there was a look into the future of the flourishing MMORPG: The first details of the snowy expansion Mountain of Dawn were revealed.
Upon completion, the hellish Land of Demons will also be opened, a massive, defiant fortress full of battles against various monsters and bosses.
You can watch the entire Heidel Ball 2024 livestream here:
Finally, the team revealed the concept of the next chapter of Black Desert, a new prequel expansion set thousands of years before the current storyline era.
The event provided new, fascinating details about the Land of Morning Light: Seoul expansion, especially the further development of the fabulous story of LOTML Part 1.
In collaboration with South Korea’s Cultural Heritage Agency, Pearl Abyss set its new story in the sprawling Hwanghae Province and recreated the famous Gyeongbokgung Royal Palace, which still stands today.
Using drones, LIDAR, and other methods, the development team scanned key landmarks and incorporated them into the game to create real-world detail, accuracy, and immersion. In it, players will experience eight new stories based on Korean folk tales, more than 6,000 lines of fully voiced dialogue, and more than 40 cutscenes.
The revamped Dark Shrine now allows for a five-player cooperative playstyle to battle all eight fearsome bosses (plus two new, unannounced extras).
These boss battles introduce a wealth of new, challenging mechanics, including health restoration, resurrection changes, and guild member rewards and ranking systems.
Once players have completed their narrative journey in Land of Morning Light: Seoul, they can explore the vividly recreated Gyeongbok Palace, the massive, multi-part capital of ancient Seoul.
There they can delve into the new Palace Management system, a new life skill that allows players to manage various production resources and nodes similar to a resource management simulator.
This new system offers players the opportunity to process and complete trade items, deliver finished products to merchants, and keep an eye on the changing production material nodes to have a pleasant and profitable side income.
One of the most important new items introduced in Land of Morninglight: Seoul is the Arbiter Primal Class Weapon.
Its design was inspired by the Dark Bonghwang (a Korean mythological beast similar to what we know as the Phoenix), a boss in the new expansion. Once the new expansion is released (August 7 in Korea, in the fall in North America and Europe), the Primal Class Weapon will be the highest-ranking weapon in the game.
The Arbiter can be crafted with the PEN (V) Blackstar weapon combined with Primal Fire or another PEN (V) Blackstar weapon, or with a Caphras Level 20 boss weapon and the Gem of Dusk.
With the addition of the original class weapons, all adventurers will be able to obtain a PEN (V) Black Star weapon. Details will be announced on the official website on Wednesday, June 26th.
The Land of Morning Light: Seoul Preview:
The new sword-wielding, pipe-smoking male class Dosa was introduced in an action-packed video trailer.
The trailer showed off Dosa’s giant sword, the Hwando, and the many uses of his long pipe, Gombangdae. With his pipe, the Dosa can create smoke to deceive his enemies while also summoning ghostly fighting figures to overpower them.
The Dosa will be playable in Black Desert Online starting Wednesday, July 3rd.
The Sin Trailer:
The trailer of the saga of Jordine:
Introduction of hardcore PvP servers
PvP veterans can prepare for a new challenge with the introduction of the exclusive Hardcore servers. These new, seasonally based, highly competitive servers are always on and characters must start at level 60 with predefined gear.
Unlike normal servers, when characters die, they are sent to a holding cell where they must either wait to escape or fight other inmates in 1v1 battles to return to the world.
The goal of the Hardcore server is to survive and die as little as possible in order to rank up and receive exclusive rewards such as special titles. This mode is designed for those who want to focus solely on gameplay without worrying about equipment.
Guild changes
One of the big upcoming updates is an overhaul of the guild system. This update will give adventurers the ability to define their guild’s identity, goals, and playstyle. A highlight of this new system is the ability for guilds to earn fame through PvP and PvE content and receive epic rewards like a rideable dragon.
Redesigned Saga by Jordine
The character Jordine, a character who appears in the main story of Black Desert played a major role, is the focus of a major overhaul. Many of the current main stories in the Saga of Jordine will be remastered with full voice acting, more exciting cutscenes and gameplay. The Saga of Jordine will be released in all regions on Wednesday, June 26th and on consoles on Wednesday, July 10th.
Native PlayStation 5 build
Pearl Abyss has released a short trailer for the first time comparing current PlayStation 4 footage to PlayStation 5 footage, and there’s a huge contrast in the work-in-progress PS5 build.
The new native build showcases exquisite new details, improved volumetric lighting, shorter loading times, and faster frame rates. Pearl Abyss plans to submit the build to Sony for certification for the first time in December.
Exciting rewards
To celebrate the 10th anniversary of Black Desert and to celebrate the successful Heidel Ball this year, Pearl Abyss has prepared a wealth of special login rewards. Rewards include two Js Hammer of Loyalty, Choose your 10 Years Outfit Box, Advice of Valks (+150), Mythical Censer and many more.