stargrace

Let’s Go Sailing

stargrace December 28, 2021 0Comment

It was time. I bought myself a boat from the central market, and I wanted to teach myself how to barter. From the start, it’s pretty simple. Under the life tab of the UI you have a barter screen. On it you’ll see different objects listed, starting with one that comes from on land. It’s usually node obtained or harvested or something like that. I think my first one was some red stones. You take a number of those red stones (or 6x the amount listed, as you can typically complete 6 of those particular trades) and look to see who is accepting them. Then you sail out there and they give you another item in return for your trade. You take that item, look at the list again, and sail to the next location. In BDO there are 5 trades, and then you can either sell the final item for silver or you can exchange it for crow coins.

Coins can be spent on various things and you get the picture of how this works. After 21 trades I’m still at beginner 2 bartering, which is pretty low. I did a bunch of sailing quests and I’m at skilled four for that, at least. There are dailies (also known by players as sailies) to do that will help you get that sailing experience, and you earn some for riding around where the map doesn’t work.

I have a lot of work ahead of me. I dedicated storage space to a few islands so I can drop off excess barter items (you are limited by the weight your boat can carry, so you may not be able to perform every transaction that you have access to) and I unlocked a lot of trade nodes at least. It is one of my least favourite life skills so far, but it might get better in time, I’m not sure.

As always, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Winter Season has Started!

stargrace December 27, 2021 0Comment

I wasn’t sure what I wanted to make this season. Originally I went with a ranger, wanting to try out a ranged class. Playing the class didn’t feel fluid and I only got to around level 23 before deleting and deciding on a Dark Knight, instead. This lady swings a 2h sword like she’s been doing it since birth, and I feel very fluid (much like the lahn, another class I really love to play) and is a more defensive play style instead of evasion where I need to run around dodging. Right now she’s level 50, progressing through the story and enchanting armour just like seasons gone by. It turns out that I never completed the season on my first (older) account, even though I’ve participated in TWO seasons now. Third time is the charm, right? I hope to complete everything this round and still have time to get it done on my second (newer) account as well.

The plan is to let each account lapse for 30 days before returning so that I can continue to play on the Olvia servers and avoid PvP. It may seem a bit strange to spread myself between two completely different accounts, but it’s working out well for me so far, and I just focus on that one account for the month without really missing the one I’m not playing. The game has so much to do that there hasn’t been a lot of overlap for me, and I’m enjoying not having to worry about people taking down my ships/characters when I randomly AFK.

I’m hoping this gives me the confidence I need to get into bartering and sailing. Two skills I have very little experience in.

As always, we’ll see how it goes. Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Weather Systems

stargrace December 26, 2021 0Comment

One of the (many) things I love about Black Desert Online, is their dynamic weather systems. It’s winter right now, and the rain that used to show up on maps has given way to snow. The towns are not always covered in snow, just like they were not always covered in rain – but when a system passes through, the towns are absolutely beautiful. I wish more games had this sort of dynamic weather in place.