30.08.2023
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How to choose a class in Black Desert Online?
Choosing a class in a new RPG game is never simple. There's a type of players who prefers to stick to one thing: say, a person can be a mage fan and whenever they see a mage / wizard / sorcerer / etc. class in a new game they want to try, they go for it without a second thought. Others, however, have a hard time picking the class to play regardless of how many games they've tried before. Players are different, that's natural, and if you belong to the latter category you shouldn't be embarrassed.
Black Desert Online makes the choice so much more difficult than most other games. Not only does the game has as many as 26 classes (as of August 2023), but also some of those class names give you little idea of what to expect from them. Say, what the hell is Musa or Shai? If you're just about to take your first steps in BDO, you might be perplexed and there's nothing wrong with that. With this blog post we want to start a brief but useful series of articles about classes in Black Desert Online to make the game a bit more accessible to everyone and to help newcomers make the right pick of a character to play. Let's go!
What classes are there?
First of all, here's a brief video introduction to BDO classes by BlueSquardon. It should give you the idea of what classes are in general:
As we've already mentioned, there are as many as 26 classes in the game, each of which has 2 specializations. Here's a handy table:
| Class name | PvP roles | Brief description |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Archer | DPS (ranged) | A bow-wielder who's also blessed with supernatural abilities. |
| 2. Berserker | Tank, Assassin (mid-range) | A ruthless fighter who can both destroy enemies and protect allies. |
| 3. Corsair | Front-liner, DPS (mid-range) | A pirate lady who's good with sables, pistols, and smoke. |
| 4. Dark Knight | Assassin (mid-range, melee) | A stunning champion of the dark magic who knows no mercy to her enemies. |
| 5. Drakania | Front-line, Assassin (melee) | An ancient lady-warrior who has established a strong bond with dragon spirits. |
| 6. Guardian | Tank, Bruiser | A tough lady from the Northern lands who masterfully wields both an axe and a shield. |
| 7. Hashashin | Assassin (melee) | Lurk in the shadows, attack your target with one precise hit, and blend back in with the surroundings. |
| 8. Kunoichi | Assassin (melee) | A lady assassin, ruthless and determined yet soft and tender. |
| 9. Lahn | Assassin (melee) | She makes fighting look like dancing. And she's as spectacular as she's deadly. |
| 10. Maehwa | Assassin (melee) | A lady swordmaster who's mastered both the art of slicing foes into pieces and the art of femininity. |
| 11. Maegu | Assassin (mid-range, melee) | This lady fighter sticks to her Do sword as well as fire spells and the fox spirit's teaching. |
| 12. Musa | Assassin (melee) | A martial arts master whose power is enhanced by his sword. |
| 13. Mystic | Tank, Bruiser, Assassin (melee) | Another martial arts master who has the full control of balance and can both be deadly to foes and protective to allies. |
| 14. Ninja | Assassin (melee) | A master of shadows. Unleash your powerful arsenal upon your enemies after approaching them unnoticed. |
| 15. Nova | Tank, Assassin (melee) | A heavily armed lady warrior who's capable of both guarding her allies from evil and brining misery upon her foes. |
| 16. Ranger | DPS (ranged), Assassin (mid-range) | A charming but deadly child of the forest who's mastered bow-shooting. |
| 17. Sage | Assassin (melee) | An ancient being holding vast secret knowledge of the world and the eternity. |
| 18. Shai | Support, Tank | A musician possessing incredible power. |
| 19. Sorceress | Assassin (melee) | A dark magic wielder who's not your ordinary stock sorceress from any other RPG. |
| 20. Striker | Bruiser, Duelist (melee) | A fighter relying mainly on his bare fists and the limitless power within. |
| 21. Tamer | Assassin (melee) | A mysterious fighter with the royal background and ability to control beasts. |
| 22. Valkyre | Support (melee), Front-line | A chosen warrior protected by Gods and with a massive shield and thick armor. |
| 23. Warrior | Front-line | A noble weapon-master loyal to its kingdom. |
| 24. Witch | DPS (ranged), Support (mid-range, ranged), Battlemage | A lovely witch who's capable of way more than her light-minded opponents would imagine. |
| 25. Wizard | DPS (ranged), Support (melee, ranged), Battlemage | A textbook magician. You can have it with a bear or without! |
| 26. Woosa | Assassin (melee), Caster DPS (ranged) | Another martial arts master, this time a lady, who loves exotic fans. |
That's a lot of classes! Feeling overwhelmed? Don't worry, we'll take them one by one in the upcoming articles. For now just bear in mind that these classes exist. You'll get back to this table later – and not once – to better understand which classes do what.
Already picked a class?
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How are they all different?
Obviously, you can't have 26 classes that all do something very similar. At least several of them have to have particular differences among themselves. There are 2 main points to consider in this regard:
- role in the game
- aesthetics
Roles are pretty numerous too. Some classes are better at protecting others (tanks), some are supposed to deal lots of damage (DPS, assassins), and some help other players by restoring their health or improving their stats (supports). Dealing damage can also be done in multiple ways: you can do lots of damage over a long period of time (DPS, bruisers), or you can rely on short but annihilating damage bursts (assassins). And that's not the end of it either: some damage dealers should position close to enemies (melee) while others should keep their distance (mid-range, ranged).
Aesthetics matter a lot too. You shouldn't play a class that is aesthetically unattractive to you. It'll make your experience with the game less enjoyable, for sure, so don't disregard this aspect too. Remember, the game is about having fun not just about choosing an effective character to play.
Here's a good video by Anders to get acquainted with all the classes:
Which of them is right for me?
There's no wrong answer to this question. Every class has something for you to enjoy – but of course, you can't try them all out at once. You shouldn't be afraid to try though. It's a great idea to start with someone who just attracts you visually – whether it's the presentation or the aesthetics, think of just having fun with this character, learning the world of the game. During your first adventure – it doesn't have to be long, you're not obliged to go all the way to 60 lvl with it – you'll have a better idea what the gameplay is and what you like about it. That will help you select your second class which will be a more educated choice.
However, if you think that you want to learn more about all the classes first or if you already have some knowledge of the game, consider checking out both our table above and our follow-up BDO-classes articles. You'll likely find exactly what you need there!
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And if you've already started your journey, you might consider getting some help from our professional players. Whether you need to level up faster or get more silver right away, or complete particular quests – we can help you with it all. Check out or BDO boosts catalog or get in touch with us to learn more!
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