This is a guide meant for beginner Adventurers who have just begun their journey in Black Desert's world.
It is important to check your class skills and the game's basic information before you start your adventure.
 
Take a look at the varied know-how prepared here for a safe and comfortable adventure.
Blind adventure without preparation is fun, but it will be more interesting if you know the basics.

You can find information about your character and its family in the character profile, the window called My Information. Please press the "P" key to access it. You can check your current character's personal statistics, like its health, karma, or skill points, as well as both its detailed combat and life skill figures.

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▲ You can check out all this data in the My Information (hotkey: P) window.

An important facet of Black Desert's skills is that most of them are based on key commands input rather than using quick slots.
 
When you put your mouse cursor above each skill on the skill window, the command to carry them out appears on the displayed tooltip. They are displayed in the following format. Examples: [SHIFT + LMB], [LMB + RMB].
 
For your adventures, it is good to start practicing using the key commands, even if they initially feel complicated. You can get used to it soon enough, and it will greatly improve the flow of combat.

◈ How to chat?

You can change the chat type by activating the chat window with the "Enter" key.

• General Chat: Alt+1
• Server Chat: Alt+2
• Whisper: Alt+3
• Party Chat: Alt+4
• Guild Chat: Alt+5
• World Chat: Alt+6
• Group Chat: Alt+7
• Roleplay Chat: Alt+8
• Arsha Chat: Alt+9
 
General Chat is only delivered to the other Adventurers around you.
Server Chat messages are sent to all Adventurers in the same server group (Balenos 1-3).
But if you use the server chat, it consumes 1 energy per message sent.
It is useful when you have a quick question, or when you hang out with friends.
 
When you whisper, you must enter the target character's or family's name in the rightmost column of the chat window.
 
You can use the party chat only during when you are in a party, and you need to be in a guild to use the guild chat.
World Chat messages are sent to all Adventurers who are in Black Desert's world, and are only available if you have purchased an item for it with loyalties at the Pearl Shop.
The battlefield group chat is only for Adventurers involved in a battlefield, such as the Red Battlefield.

➤ Please check the [Chat Window] page for more details regarding this feature.

◈ I only want to see the chats I want

Most of the chat windows are active at first. Therefore, it may be somewhat dizzying from a beginner's point of view. It is possible to set them according to your preferred style through the chat window settings.
If you press the Ctrl key and hover your cursor over the chat window, you will see a gear icon near the chat window. You can customize the chat window by pressing this button. In the View Chat section, you can select the type of chat that you want to see by checking or unchecking each one, and you can change their color as well.
To add a chat window, use the + icon on the right side of the gear. Added chat windows are available in UI edit mode (Esc → Edit UI).

◈ I want to set the game screen as I want

Black Desert's interface can be edited via the Edit UI feature.

You can enter the interface edit mode from the main menu (hotkey: Esc).

➤ You can read more about editing the game's UI in the [Interface] page.

◈ Quests

Quests received through the Black Spirit or NPCs are displayed on the tracker on the right of the screen.
It is possible to display only the desired quests through the quest settings window, and it is also possible to arrange them by preference of type and location.
 
The important thing for you now is to know you can choose the type of quest via the settings window and the main Quest window. Do you want to only see combat quests, or perhaps fishing quests? It can be set up there.

While for new Adventurers it is recommended to only check combat quests as to not be overwhelmed by the many NPC requests available, if at any point you become stuck unable to continue a questline, make sure to toggle on all the types of quests.

◈ There are too many quests. Do I have to do all of them?

Quests provide the most helpful insight regarding what is happening around the world of Black Desert, and many serve as an introduction or tutorial to help you experience various features for the first time and get you acquainted with them.
 
First of all, quests from the Black Spirit are mainly related to combat, the main quest, and its rewards. So until you reach Lv. 50, it is good to go through its quests one by one.
 
They will reward you with useful equipment and materials such as the precious black stone.
Furthermore, quests help your game experience through the rewards they offer, such as Contribution experience, skill points, consumables, and more that are considered essential for one's time inside the game.

That being said, you are not forced to proceed with most quests, and not doing quests won't affect your enjoyment of the different types of content offered by the game.

However, please do note that certain features can only be unlocked, and important items received, by completing the quests related to them. These, in turn, might require to have progressed via the game's main quest with at least one character.

➤ You can read more about how quests operate in the [Quest] page.

◈ Automatically move to your destination!

It is easy to use the navigation function when conducting quests.
Either hover your cursor over the quest tracker, right-click the quest's title, or left-click the red button to activate navigation to the destination. After this, press the "T" key to start moving your character automatically. This feature is called auto-sprint.
 
Additionally, the path to a destination may be activated automatically by the system without you needing to set it or press anything. In this case, like previously, pressing "T" will allow you to start moving toward it.

◈ Where is the NPC? 

There are a huge number of NPCs in the world of Black Desert.
Therefore, it may be difficult for beginners to find a desired NPC immediately.
In this case, use the Find NPCs function.

At the top right of the screen, there is a minimap with a magnifying glass icon to the left. Clicking this will open the Find NPCs function window.
Just click on the NPC type you want here and the auto-pathing route will be activated to the nearest NPC of that type.
You can also search for a specific NPC by entering its name into the search bar.

Press the T key as you have learned, and you will automatically run to the corresponding NPC.

◈ Combat and non-combat stance

You can switch between the combat and non-combat stances by pressing the "Tab" key.
 
• Non-combat stance
- Fast movement speed and low stamina consumption.
- Cannot use combat skills.
 
• Combat stance
- Slow moving speed and high stamina consumption
- A state in which acquired combat skills can be used.

◈ Can I use skill points on any skill that I want?

Of course! Feel free to put your skills points on any skill that you want. Combat skills can be reset any time if you are under level 56. Just try out any skill, and then you can reset them by right-clicking on them. To save on time, you can also reset all of them by pressing the "Reset All" button.

We recommend not using skill points to increase your weight limit until you have unlocked all the skills for your desired fighting style (Awakening or Succession), as the weight limit ones take a considerable amount of skill points to invest into.

◈ The screen is too shaky when I am in combat

Black Desert is an action-emphasized game.
The camera effects are also a part of creating a dynamic scene.
However, there are some people who feel dizzy until they get used to it. In this case, you can adjust it in the game's settings.
Esc > Settings > Display Settings > Camera Graphics.

➤ You can read more about the different available settings in the [Game Settings] page.

◈ How can I buy items?

In Black Desert, obtainable items include various kinds of equipment, consumables, and materials.
You probably have a lot of questions about equipment when you start playing a game.
The most basic things are usually available from NPC vendors. For better equipment, it is better to buy items through the Central Market.
However, we recommend new players playing through a season to abstain from doing either of this, as the equipment given to them via the main quests and season content has its own easier to complete progression that involves spending no silver, the game world's currency. Additionally, during season, your season character will not be able to equip non-season equipment.
 
To use the Central Market, you need to meet an NPC that has the title of "Central Market Director".
This NPC is generally only available in the capital towns of every territory, such as Velia, Heidel, and Calpheon City.

It is easier to find them if you use the Find NPCs function.
If you go to the NPC, you will be able to use the Central Market.
There, you can buy almost everything available in the world of Black Desert, registered for sale by other Adventurers.

◈ Fishing and gathering

If you are an Adventurer who focuses on accumulating different experiences rather than focusing just on combat, you may find it fun to go fishing.
You may also enjoy finding all the gatherable materials throughout the world.

If you want to learn this life skill content in a tutorial form (via quests), call the Black Spirit and press the Guide button in its interface.
As you advance through the levels of the different life skills, the Black Spirit will offer you a variety of leap quests.

▲ You can easily learn about the different life skills if you follow the guide.

◈ My character's speed has slowed down

If you move to a location other than the paved road, you can have restrictions on movement speed depending on the state of the road, which is displayed at the top of the minimap.
Also, if your character exceeds its own weight limit, its movement speed will be decreased as well.

◈ What should I do when I die? How can I resurrect?

If you are dead in Black Desert, you can resurrect from the nearest safe zone, such as the nearest town, or from the nearest node to your location.

The important thing to remember is that the resurrection in a town or node is only applied to places you have already visited. Therefore, be careful not to die in places where  your surroundings are immersed in the fog of war in the World Map screen, as you may resurrect far away.
 
Additionally, if you die at Lv. 20 or lower, you can always use the Instant Resurrect option in the starting areas of the game.
When you reach Lv. 21 or higher, you will need Elion's Tear to use this function.

◈ The character is not moving

When a character is trapped somewhere in the world, you can escape to a nearby area by pressing the Esc key and using the "Escape" function from the main menu. However, once you use it, you will not be able to use it again until 30 minutes have passed.

◈ I want to take screenshots more clearly

If you press the Ctrl + U keys together, you can take screenshots without the game UI thanks to the game's Photo Mode.
 
➤ You can read more about it in detail in the [Observe Mode & Photo Mode] page.

* The content of the game guide may differ from the actual game content, depending on the update and content changes.