Just getting started in Pearl Abyss’ popular MMO, Black Desert Online? Then you’ll no doubt be working on learning the game and progressing your character. This can be an absolute grind and it definitely takes some serious effort to get to level 50 as quickly as possible.
Black Desert Leveling Guide
BDO is a bit unique when it comes to its progression system. While there is a soft level cap set at 50, there’s no “max rank” per se. Players can actually achieve very, very high levels beyond 50. To start with, though, you’ll definitely want to aim to hit 50 as fast as you can.
To get through all of the ranks in as little time as possible you’ll definitely want to stick to a specific plan. Yes, just playing through the game aimlessly will get you there at some point, but if you’re looking to blast your way to the top you need a solid plan.
Levels 1-10
As with any MMO, these are the easiest levels to get past. Each one requires very little experience. Take your time to complete each of the tutorial quests and kill all enemies that are presented to you during these missions. This alone should be enough to get your character up to about level 5.
After that you’ll need to track down and farm a bunch of smaller enemies. The quests at this point will lead you to some grass beetles which are fine, but you’ll level up quicker if you go explore the world a bit and find some bees to challenge as well.
If you feel confident with your ability with your character it’s also wise to hunt down some imps. These guys are a bit tougher, but with a little patience you should be able to kill them off without much hassle.
Need help learning more about your class? Be sure to read our Black Desert Online classes guide to figure out what your character is best suited for.
Keep progressing through the quests and killing all enemies that cross your path in these early stages of the game. This will be more than enough to help you hit level 10.
Levels 10 and Beyond
This is honestly going to be a rinse & repeat style here. For every 10 levels you should be going on to more challenging quests, completing them, and staying in the area to farm the mobs that are at your level or just a bit higher over and over again.
Quests give you a good amount of XP, but just doing those won’t get you where you need to be. After you’ve completed quests in each zone, seek out the enemies around the area (werewolves, imps, whatever else is around) and strike them down again and again to earn quick experience.
The respawn rates on mobs are a good bit lower than they were when the game first launched (they respawned almost instantly before), but if you run around the map a bit you’ll find some good spots and a decent route to follow to rack up serious XP quickly.
Learn how to get to level 50 insanely fast, max out your crafting skills, create powerful builds with any class, and much more by grabbing this in-depth BDO guide.
Below we’ve listed the areas you should be focusing on for each level bracket.
Levels 11-20: Hidel Quarry (quests and imps), Morettie Plantation (quests and scarecrows), Castle Ruins (quests and Al Rhundi Bandits)
Levels 21-30: Glish Swamp (farm frogans), Bloody Monastery (farm cultists), Orc Camp & Southern Neutral Zone (farm red orcs)
Levels 31-40: Birhagi Den (farm bandits), Delphe Knights Castle mountainside (farm harpies), Abandoned Land (quests and harpies)
Levels 41-50: West Keplan (farm Chimeras), Lake Kaia (farm catfish)
Don’t know where these places are? No worries! There’s a site that provides a detailed, interactive map that shows you exactly where everything is within Black Desert. Using this map in conjunction with our suggestions above will help you skyrocket your way to level 50.
Again, this is, as far as we know, the FASTEST way to level up in BDO right now. It’s a very simple Black Desert leveling guide, but that’s because this game is very, very grindy. You’ll definitely want to do your best to hit the soft cap of level 50 fast, though, especially if you want to participate in PvP.
Success in PvP depends a lot on your actual gear. In order to get great gear that will help you improve your PvP play you’re going to need to be a higher level. Use the guide provided above to hit the cap super fast and then the real fun begins – playing through the actual game and fine tuning your build!
Blast your way past every noob and get to OP god-status by picking up a copy of this Black Desert guide – it covers everything from super fast leveling to advanced PvP tactics, ridiculously strong builds, and beyond.