Let's get this interview started! Please give us a brief introduction about yourself and a bit about your journey within Black Desert. 

My name is Swpz (I think people have made 30+ variations of that name now) and I have been playing BDO since 2018. I mained awakening Maewha when I first started and took a long break around the time Hystria/Aakman were the best money spots in the game and softcap was full TET boss gear. I came back to the game with my friend group during class reboots and tried Maehwa again but she felt pretty bad so I rolled my gear over to awakening Nova (a lot of people said they felt similar and she did) and tried her originally for PvE but ended up PvPing on her a lot due to the constant duel for spots (even guildies asked and fought for grind spots lol) and I eventually took her to GvG's and node wars and pretty much became known as the hardstyle Nova that goes in and gets big kill feeds or instantly dies. I stream Awakening Nova content occasionally when I can on twitch.tv/Swpz.

It's very nice to meet you! When you saw the first announcement related to Voltarion, did it ever cross your mind that you could be one of the first players to obtain the new horse?

It didn't really cross my mind after the announcement. I just thought hey that horse looks cool and I want it. Once I found out the only way to obtain traces was through C10 boss clears, node war/siege participation, and War of the Roses, I thought maybe it could be possible. 

Ooh, node war! For our readers at home - each victory awards 2 Trace of Thunderbolts, versus a loss in which you only receive 1. With that knowledge, what was the most challenging part of obtaining Voltarion, Swpz?

The most challenging part of obtaining Voltarion was the node war sign up bot. It was sometimes harder to get a spot on the bot than the actual node war fight itself due to how many members tried signing up. 

▲It was right in front of me just a moment ago...!

(Actually, I wanted to show you how fast Voltarion is, but
it was so fast the camera couldn't keep up;;)

So fast! Future F1 champion on the horizon. Do you usually like collecting dream horses or did something about Voltarion call to you?

Having each dream horse feels nice. Voltarion definitely feels like a 2025 horse and it is very fun to use after you learn all the skills. It would be nice to give everybody a trial version of the horse to motivate even more people to chase after it.

▲ A quick smile for the camera. In the morning, there might be waffles.

What was your reaction when you realized you were the first to create a Voltarion in NA?

I live streamed the turn in for my friends. We were all screaming in voice chat. My neighbors may or may not have also been aware of me obtaining the horse.

Now that you have Voltarion, how do you plan to use Voltarion in Black Desert?

I'm currently using it for fast travel on land and on decent terrain for node wars. The horse outclasses T10 doom horse by 100000000% in land movement. I tried it out at War of the Roses and node war a couple of times and lets just say using Thunderfall (the aerial slam that knocksdown and dismounts players) into groups of 20+ players is probablyyyy not the best idea.

New node war strats unlocked 😂 

▲ Going, going, gone!

This incredible feat has been accomplished. What's next on your bucket list?

I plan on going for a second Voltarion in preparation for the T10 version if they ever decide to release that!