Pearl Abyss’ Black Desert Online (BDO) is celebrating the 10th anniversary of the launch of its NA/EU servers. As such, the MMORPG is holding its second “Ball” in the United States: The Heidel Ball.
A fan gathering with around 400 lucky Adventurers, the event was filled with carnival games and a stage where all of the announcements took place.
The Heidel Ball was streamed on Pearl Abyss’s Black Desert Online YouTube account and can be watched here.
New Mount: Ferrica
Ferrica is a new option alongside horses. Reminiscent of a chocobo, the massive bird features joyous music; it flies, it sprints, and it drifts. While the mount is still in active development, there will be all-new animations for the mount and its rider.
There is currently no release window.
BDO’s New Class: Agent
During Heidel Ball, Pearl Abyss offered up a new class for its Adventurers. After nine years of teasing the new class, BDO’s 32nd class is Agent. Named Edward Henry Canary. His story can be traced back to 2017’s quest to acquire Gannicus’s Magic Bullet and the “Magic Bullet of Last Hope” knowledge that came in the Tarif update. These two things were hints that Pearl Abyss developers put in for this new class.
Agent’s backstory is ultimately tied to Deadeye, Olivia Lucy Canary. After a light introduction under the name Eddie in the webcomic released for Deadeye, now players get to know more about him. Separated from his sister after a tragedy, his introduction picks up their story.
A bookworm in childhood, Edward is now a gunslinger. Sharing the same weapon as Deadeye, the revolver, Agent is more focused on the idea of espionage. Where Deadeye is John Wayne, Agent is geared to be more like James Bond, or at least that’s the vibe.
Where Deadeye became an outlaw, Agent went into counterintelligence. Which, of course, sets the stage for his reveal trailer where he fights with Deadeye, orchestrated by none other than Marni.
Having been trained by mad scientist Salvatore Marni, the Marni of Earth. Agent’s character design took this piece of lore to build out his costume, with a focus on the meaning of “Gannicus” in BDO, with direct inspiration being taken from the signature Sorceress robe. The opposite of his sister, Agent’s style is clean-cut and tailored uniforms instead of Deadeye’s outlaw style.
Agent’s weapons are focused around his main revolver, grenades, and hexrounds. But even with his many weapon specialties, Agent isn’t an Ascension path class. Ultimately, Agent was designed with Succession and Awakening Paths in mind. Putting a focus on solving AOE damage and crowd control with a revolver instead of magic.
Agent Combat Mechanics
Agent’s combat style is focused on quick combat that switches from melee to ranged combat. A hybrid character, not focused on firing quickly, but rather delivering a heavy blow with each shot – like anyone who loves the Desert Eagle in an FPS.
Deadeye’s main purpose is to run-n-gun and keep mid-range pressure constantly, using her quick attacks to suppress enemies. That said, Agent’s focus is on strategy and assassination – one hit, one kill, if you can.
- Weapon: Revolver – a low-caliber revolver with explosive rounds that take one small point of damage and expand into an AOE attack.
- Sub-Weapon: Hexround – a partner on the battlefield that provides support in combat. The strength of this secondary weapon is that it allows players to string together skills from both weapons.
- Special Ability: Gannicus’s Hexround, Bulletstorm: A reinterpretation of Deadeye’s skill to connect the two classes.
- Projectile: Grenades
Class Signature Skill:
- Blink: Used to infiltrate, the skill teleports Agent to a targeted location within a set range, with a balancing delay worked into the second immediately after the teleport.
Revolver Signature Skills:
- Run N’ Gun: A skill made to close gaps quickly in order to land two shots
- Mozambique Drill: Stuns enemy movement to allow the player to apply a finisher – two shots to the body and one to the head of an enemy.
- Other Skills: Bullet of Truth, Concealed Weapon, Reaper’s Barrage, Last Words, Suppressive Shot
Hexround Signature Skills:
- Hexround Engage: Setting the Hexround to track and suppress the target enemy.
- Reaper’s Mercy: A final hit to a downed enemy
Grenades skill:
Agent releases on July 29, 2026 in Korea, globally on July 30, 2026, and on consoles on August 6, 2026.
The Future of New Class Design
As noted in the above breakdown of Agent, the new classes will be following two paths that aren’t Ascension. First, Pearl Abyss will launch the Succession Path in the Summer, and then the Awakening Path will arrive next in Winter 2026.
This outline for BDO’s new classes means that there will be only one new class each year, with the Succession Path spec releasing in the Summer, and then the Awakening Path spec will follow in the Winter of the same year.
While this does mean that classes will slow down, the goal of the 12-year-old MMORPG (10 years in NA/EU) is to focus more on refining class balance instead of adding new classes. Which, at this point, with 32 classes, seems like the right call.
Instant Character Swap Update
Now, other characters in your BDO family will appear in the world, allowing players to instantaneously switch between characters ahead of boss battles. This new update to BDO allows players to swap to their alt characters without having to deal with long loading screens, allowing Adventurers to switch nearly effortlessly when needed.
Additionally, players will also be able to switch to their alt characters from the character selection menu and do so without the loading screen. This helps players manage multiple classes across their game time.
Pearl Abyss also explained that the cutscene is designed to be skippable once the loading has completed. To further ease players’ experience, loading times have also been adjusted.
Family Dispatch
While being able to swap characters quickly is already a healthy practice for an MMO trying to keep players engaged with material, Pearl Abyss also announced that BDO will feature a Family Dispatch Function.
One of the core distinguishing elements of BDO is its focus on Family play. However, there hasn’t really been any in-game continuity between the larger Family in-game and material tasks that allow them to be integrated into explicit gameplay.
This new feature will allow players to dispatch their family members (alt characters) to perform tasks for you. While Pearl Abyss noted that there will be new tasks for players to dispatch family to, it will currently feature Gathering, Processing, and Fishing.
An important note for Family Dispatch is that the material gain from the tasks won’t be 1:1 compared to when players perform the action themselves. However, it will still allow players to make passive income. Dispatch slots are unlocked after certain requirements are met, and players will be able to expand that as the new system grows.
The Family Dispatch system is still in active development; however, Pearl Abyss has set a release window for November 2026.
New Story: Edania Part II
Presented by Head Designer Jesse Joo, who also introduced BDO’s latest class, the new story elements pick up with Edania Part II. In this new part of the BDO story, players will enter inner Edania and complete the story.
In the presentation, it was clear that clashing with gods is the focus of this new story, and Part II will push players to confront the end of a destiny that began in 2014 with the game’s initial launch in Korea.
The new story will also introduce five new domains (and bosses), a new dedicated monster zone, new combat mechanics, three dyes, new accessories, and new in-game Godslayer Armor crafted with Embers of Ynix. This final element can be completed by clearing the bosses in the finale to Edania.
Additionally, the Throne of Edana update will move from having no gear restrictions to requiring a DP-focused increase, which requires Dawn Crystal-All AP, so that it can enter.
New Domain: Agris’s Domain, Aphrodon
Centered around a large golden tree surrounded by the remnants of a past wealth, Aphrodon will feature a new boss, named Agris. Designer Joo explained that players will likely know Agris from “Agris’s Altar” or “Agris Fever.” While she used to bless humanity, now she has to be defeated.
Picture below: the boss wields a giant scythe and burning embers for players to survive and conquer.
New Domain: Markthanan’s Domain, Hermesia
Markthanan was first introduced in Everfrost; players haven’t faced this character in his complete form. Now, players will.
A much darker setting than Aphrodon, Markthanan’s domain is designed to be covered in Black crystals. Markthanan is a Black Dragon who has ruled over the dragons of Drieghan. In this domain, players will see dragons in the sky.
New Domain: Elion’s Domain, Magaia
Built on the Prophesied Land, Elion’s Domain is a grand temple, fit for the gods. The most orderly Domain coming in the new update, the temple’s entire focus is to show faith in Elion, as a golden tree sits in a pool of water beneath the temple.
The temple honors one of the most frequently mentioned gods in BDO’s lore, having appeared in the Valkyries, Seraph, and Enslar tales. The most beautifully designed boss that is coming on the way, the crying angel, is presented as a sacred figure for humanity’s prayers – but also for vengeance.
New Domain: Aal’s Domain, Aresion
Aresion is the ruins of a giant training ground, covered in lava. It attracts those who seek power. A god of War, Aal demands strength more than anything else that we’ve seen in the game.
Aal wields giant dual glaives, adding to his ferocity and focus to overwhelm players.
New Domain: Hadum’s Domain, Voidekaia
Hadum’s Domain will serve as the final adventure in the Edania Part II Story. Much like the goddess in the game that serves as this Domain’s boss, Hadum, at the center of Voidekaia is a black hole that devours everything.
Made to feel like the end of the world, Hadum offers a duality to BDO, as she is the Goddess of despair and birth. She was designed to show that destruction and beginning are intertwined.
Hadum will bring Edania Part II to a close and will represent a closing of that story. As such, we didn’t see an update about her mechanics.
New Boss Mechanics in Edania Part II
When a boss uses a specific pattern, players will need to counter it with the Black Spirit’s Rage skill in order to break their stance. Think of it as a skill that works as a parry of sorts.
Black Spirit’s Rage has existed in BDO already, but it was mainly used to increase the damage output of your character in battle. That said, the skill will now become a strategic resource based on timing. This introduces a new element to combat while also rewarding players who can lock in on the boss’s telegraphs in these new domains, bolstering strategy.
Joo also shared that each of the monster zones will have corresponding combat elements that reflect the domain’s traits. With the examples explained below:
- Hemesia: Built on labor, focused on harvesting the Black Crystals; that resource is key to combat in the domain.
- Magaia: A domain is divided into solo zones (where Elion’s followers gather around a brazier) and party monster zones (work with party members to balance a giant scale during combat)
New Monster Zone: Sulfur Golem
The new monster zone, Sulfur Golem, is right above Calphras, the final zone of Edania Part I, and similar in difficulty to Agris of Part II. The zone itself is located in the upper area of the Valencia Roud Sulfur Mine. Here, players will be able to obtain the Rich Merchant’s Ring Piece like in Olun’s Valley.
Sulfur Golem has also been designed to be a solo monster zone.
Recommended AP/DP for New Monster Zones
- Sulfur Golum: 400/470
- Agris: 400/470
- Markthana: 405/485
- Elion: 410/490
- Aal: 415/495
- Elion (Party): 415/500
- Hadum: 420/510
New Accessories: Ekleta
Ekleta is a signature new accessory that players will find in Edania Part II. To obtain the new accessories in Edania Part II, players will need to use the NOV (IX) Kharazad Accessory to obtain the Ekleta Accessory. Then players will need to convert the DEC (X) Kharazad Accessory into the TET (IV) Ekleta Accessory.
When it comes to the Specs for the Ekleta accessories, players should know that they are the same as the Kharazad Accessories. They cannot be listed on the Central Market. They also cannot be destroyed or downgraded when a Cron Stone enhancement fails.
To enhance the Elekta Accessory, players will need to use the Causality Shardstones for the respective accessories (necklace, earring, ring, belt) and can be crafted with materials found in the Edania Part II Monster Zones.
Edania Part II release date
Edania Part 2 is currently set to roll out in three phases begining in late July:
- July 29th: Sulfur Golem Monster Zone
- August 12th: All regions and items in Edania Part 2 except Hadum
- September 19th: Hadum Boss and Main Quest
Great Ocean Content Update
New ship equipment for Falasi/Cheongun will be added, with Panokseon: Cheongun’s Enhanced Sail, Panokseon: Cheongun’s Enhanced Figurehead, Panokseon: Cheongun’s Enhanced Plating, Panokseon: Cheongun’s Enhanced Cannon.
But the sea monster addition and Cheongsa Island in the Morning Ligh are where the excitement really is.
New Sea monster: Lyngbakr
Resembling a narwhal, the Lyngbakr features a long horn, but the real kicker for this addition is that it does not travel alone. Instead, it travels with a swarm of creatures called Lyngburk who defend their nesting grounds.
Because of the introduction of moving in a pack, the Lyngbakr are shifting the way that combat in the Great Ocean has taken place up until now. Previously focused on defeating one great sea monster at a time, this will add a new challenge. Once you’ve defeated the sea monster swarm, you will need to destroy the source of their power, and why they’re so territorial in the first place-a similar mechanic, Joo says, to Star’s Edge.
Defeating them will also give players blue-grade items, including blue whale oil, coral crystal, and margoria crystals. But the Lyngbakr also gives players bones, scales, and fluid that all hold a magic power.
Release Schedule:
- August 26th: Cheongsa Island, New Great Ocean Monster Zone, Yellow Grade Ship Equipment
- September 23rd: Barter while on board, Improved Sea Auto-navigation
Black Desert Online is available to play now on PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.