PvP players rejoice, we’ve got winter events out the whazoo and a new way to kill your buddies. Here’s the Black Desert Online update for December 6.

Black Desert Online (BDO) December 6 Update: Full Patch Notes Listed

If you ever wanted to kill a stranger, then BDO has you. In its continuing bid to improve the quality and diversity of PvP, we’ve got an entirely new anonymous server that will allow you to kill anyone you come across. Plus, quite a few adjustments to classes and the nitty-gritty on the winter events that will be hitting the game. So, let’s dive right in.

Arsha: Anonymous

We’ve added the new Arsha: Anonymous server. On this server, all adventurers will be displayed as Hardened Adventurers, as all other personal info will be hidden away and only revealed between party members, encouraging an atmosphere solely focused on freely engaging other adventurers in combat. There’s no need to activate Forced PvP mode here, and even guild members won’t be able to discern fellow guildie from foe. All other adventurers on this server are free game. This is an Arsha server with a new set of rules. On Arsha: Anonymous, you will be free from the constraints of worrying about your opponent’s name, which guild they hail from, or if you’ve remembered to activate Forced PvP this time. We anticipate in seeing how this server will grow as a zone where only pure PvP goes. The pre-existing Arsha server and its rules will remain untouched. Do note, however, that there may be changes depending on how the server plays out.

Afuaru’s been busy hoarding loot!

The Plump Gizzard Shad has arrived!

Wintertime Warmth Challenge!

Who left this box behind…!?

Class Changes

We’ve spent a long time adjusting the damage of various Sorceress skills beyond Violation to enhance her PvE efficiency. Despite initial PvE improvements with the Skill Add-on system revamp, the Awakening Sorceress remains less efficient than expected, especially considering the difficulty of her Awakening form, which should offer equivalent rewards. In today’s update, we’re increasing Violation’s damage. However, to promote the use of other skills, its damage during cooldown remains unchanged. In addition, the Awakening Sorceress previously couldn’t sustain combos using only Awakening skills in PvE, even if she was actively using Cartian’s Nightmare. The limited PvE skill options, due to PvP-focused skills like Nightmare and Flow: Requiem, also posed a challenge. To address this, we have improved the possible combos and damage of Flow: Vile Plan so that it can be used between skills, which we hope will reduce her reliance on main weapon or enhanced (Rabam) skills in PvE.

For Succession Musa, today’s update removed attacks 1 and 2 for Prime: Gale, which had been rather inconvenient to use, and now only attack 3 will be performed. The Succession Musa primarily utilizes combos with Prime: Gale and Prime: Blooming. However, in this update, we’ve tweaked the cooldowns so the Prime: Rising Storm – Succession: Rising Storm: Blaze combo can be used more frequently.

Main & Succession

The Succession Striker, while lacking Critical Hit Rate buffs from skills like Prime: Crimson Fang, Prime: Somersault, Prime: Roaring Tiger, and Prime: Rage Hammer, could still deal high damage under the Critical Hit Rate buff from Bloody Fang. However, when initiating a combo, the Striker’s priority lies in obtaining the Attack Speed buff from Crouching Wolf immediately upon collecting 3 Martial Spirits. Thus, quite often you’d have to wait after you’d achieved the buff first by using your major skills before attempting to gain the Bloody Fang’s Critical Hit Rate buff with 3 Martial Spirits. Therefore, now when you consume 3 Martial Spirits and perform Flow: Prey Hunt, you will gain the Bloody Fang’s Critical Hit Rate buff, thereby increasing the means of acquiring this important buff at the combo’s start. Also, the Succession Striker had a narrower attack area compared to Awakening, but the damage didn’t match this limitation. Therefore, we plan to increase his PvE damage to better align with his attack area constraints.

For the Succession Hashashin, using large-animation skills to gain effects like DP Decrease and AP Increase was burdensome. To ease this, we’ve shifted the DP Decrease effect from Prime: Dune Slash to Prime: Purge, and moved the All AP Increase effect from Haladie Throw and Aal’s Command to Prime: Dune Slash, simplifying the setup process. We also reduced the cooldown of Prime: Ridge Reaver for smoother combos with Prime: Purge and Prime: Dune Slash. The cooldown of Beckoned Blade has been aligned with Prime: Descent of the Apostle, enhancing cyclone summons and damage output. Lastly, we’ve adjusted Prime: Quicksand’s PvE damage to support continuous combos and consistent damage.

We’ve adjusted the duration of the Critical Hit Damage Increase effect from Maegu’s Awakening passive, Twirling Crane, for easier maintenance. Additionally, we’ve fine-tuned the PvE damage of certain skills that were underperforming. Given that Maegu’s Awakening skills lack Increased Accuracy and Decreased Evasion effects and have low skill Accuracy rates, we’ve added an Evasion Reduction effect to Foxflare Cleave. This change is intended to compensate for the insufficient Accuracy.

Black Shrine

Arena of Solare

Arena of Solare Practice Match

Arena of Solare Custom Match

  • Arena selection and spectator features in the Arena of Solare Custom Match will be supported in the future.

Green Artisan (Green Thumb) Gathering Mini-game

Great Ocean

Many captains are completing daily quests in Oquilla’s Eye to obtain materials for building their very own carrack, but they were slightly difficult for new and upcoming captains to manage on their own. So we’ve added the Young Sea Monster Habitat and decreased the HP of sea monsters to help rookie captains complete related quests even when doing them alone. And of course there are veteran captains helping others to do these daily quests. To ensure you feel more rewarded in doing so, we’ve changed the rewards for defeating large sea monsters from carrack materials to those more useful and added weekly quests on top of the daily quests so that you can obtain more rewards on a weekly basis. We’ve also added titles for defeating sea monsters, which could serve as an extra goal for sailing out to the great ocean. We’ve issued a new Oquilla Coin with fewer coins required to exchange with various items. This should shorten the period required to gather materials. Also, you can exchange the coins for items such as Luminous Cobalt Ingot, Great Ocean Dark Iron, and Cox Pirates’ Artifact (Parley Beginner) which you cannot obtain from daily quests. The number of exchanges required to unlock Brilliant Rock Salt Ingot and Brilliant Pearl Shard have also been greatly reduced, allowing for a much more pleasant process of gathering materials for a carrack. Beginner captains also needed Sea Monster’s Ooze to build Epheria Caravel/Galleass from Sailboat/Frigate, but it was difficult for them to catch up to fast moving sea monsters. To mitigate this, we’ve added Diseased Hekaru, which does not move about as much. We hope this helps you to better gather Sea Monster Ooze’s and fulfill your dreams of sailing the great ocean.

Great Ocean Monsters and Sailing Quests

  • These are weekly quests and can be accepted again every Thursday at midnight.

  • Weekly and Daily Old Moon Hunter quests can be done at the same time.

Oquilla Coin

  • With the existing *Oquilla Coin, you can only proceed with the [Daily] Small Repayment from the Old Moon Guild I, II quest as before, and you cannot exchange for items with Herrad Romsen.

  • The existing Oquilla Coin that is not used now can be sold for 1 Crow Coin per piece.

Sailor EXP

  • If more than 11 sailors are on board, the obtained EXP will be multiplied by 400% and then distributed equally among all the sailors.

For example, if there are 30 boarded sailors, the obtained EXP x 400% is equally distributed to the 30 sailors, each receiving approximately 13.3%.

Old Moon Grand Prix Matchmaking

  • You cannot use the Quick Hotkey while matchmaking for the Old Moon Grand Prix is in progress.

Old Moon Grand Prix Improvements

Old Moon Grand Prix Weekly Quests

  • Weekly quests reset every Thursday at midnight and they do not count towards the completion of Rulupee’s Travels.

  • The above quests, which allow you to obtain the Mythical Feather, have been added to the Quests (O) – Recurring – [Life] Steps to Mythical.

* The following two quests are now unavailable:

– Miles the Stable Keeper at the Old Moon Grand Prix Racetrack: [Daily] Grand Prix, Become the Best

– Gula at Stonetail Horse Ranch: [Repeat] Remembering the Grand Prix Champion

  • If you have already accepted the above quests, they have been forfeited during the maintenance.

Shell Belle (Wipeout)

Crypt of Resting Thoughts

Previously, the Crypt of Resting Thoughts, unlike other Monster Zones in Black Desert, required high Accuracy, compelling Adventurers to either choose characters with high Accuracy or make additional preparations. With the latest update, we’ve made it more accessible for PvE, even for those with lower Accuracy, by leveraging Skill Add-ons and Crystals that increase Accuracy. In doing so, we’ve reduced the monsters’ Evasion and appropriately increased their HP, enabling various classes to participate in PvE. Beyond just balancing, we’ve also added more monsters to improve the chances of acquiring loot.

When flying with a Mythical Arduanatt, particularly in highland areas like Mountain Sheep Summit or on a path from Serendia to Velia in Balenos, Adventurers encountered an issue where wings would intermittently disappear, causing unexpected falls. This problem was due to the topography verification for each location and it has been consistently reported over time. We apologize for the delay in resolving this issue, but are pleased to announce that it has been fixed in the latest update.

Quest and Knowledge

NPC, Background, Sound

Modified or Changed

Daphne Fama

A Staff Writer at Prima Games since 2022, Daphne Fama spends an inordinate amount playing games of all stripes but has a soft spot for horror, FPS, and RPGs. When she’s not gaming, she’s an author and member of the Horror Writers Association with a debut novel coming out in 2025. In a previous life, she was an attorney but found she preferred fiction to contracts and forms