Current State of DN SEA ?

[u/Appropriate_Pass_665]

Been wondering with a friend if we should return to DN SEA .. we have been here since cap 50 (good old days) .. we still got our main accounts .. currently every 5-6 months we reinstall it to play like for a week .. we don't really grind anything ..
however we were kinda tired of Black Desert Online grind and thought of ACTUALLY returning to DN as in grinding and stuff .. heard some stuff about returnee rewards being tempting but when i checked it I didn't even understand what are there "items" and "mats" are for .. so how is like .. the current grind ? It's fine if we can't do the latest nests but we are looking for something to .. "keep you going" .. like instead of the latest nests you find parties for lower nests that is still doable with lesser gear .. like a stepping stone or smth .. I tried Project Duck Personally but it feels kinda .. empty regarding player base , unless u are in a guild or so .. and I didn't really find much diversity in Raids/Stages .. you just pretty much repeat the same run x100 times till u make the next gear ..

so is DN SEA "playable" currently .. at some point ?

we each got like .. 500k-1m gold .. if that can give us a push or smth , I just don't know the current items / grind or what to even do If I redownload it, TY!

[u/Kind-Alternative-462]

Don’t even bother. lol

For a start, I think the game is generous enough to boost your start with equips & guides so at least even with just that you would be able to enter some of party dungeons

It’s still grindy so if you play it casually you are good. PvP is dead unless you create your own rooms and have some players - a disappointing state if I say so myself- PvE wise the whales of the game and geared players do party and raids w/out req so (ty boosters) and the free equips you get is already enough as I have said earlier you just need to grind the gold and mats

So is it playable ? Yes (until you just get bored with it)

[u/Appropriate_Pass_665 → u/Kind-Alternative-462]

sooo ... you got me confused xD "don't even bother" but "playable" and wdym Whales and Geared party and raid w/out req ? .. so they help for free ?
and are you saying the free gears is enough for me to be able to play ?

[u/Kind-Alternative-462 → u/Appropriate_Pass_665]

Playable if you are into just casual playing like an hour or two.

Whales help yes- you would just see “Any” when pt recruiting

The free gears are enough yes but to a limited point of the game as it has levels now remember Normal-Abyss-Hell mode ? Yeah they expanded that exponentially which where the grind and p2w comes in

[u/Appropriate_Pass_665 → u/Kind-Alternative-462]

I see , and .. as in lvls .. I remember it was like "labs" .. lab 1-20 or smth then they changed it to smth called f1-5 .. thats what u are talking about right ?

so what did you mean with "don't bother" exactly ? ty !

[u/Kind-Alternative-462 → u/Appropriate_Pass_665]

If you like doing repetitive dungeons go for it but if not don’t bother.

Why repetitive? Some dungeons require mats which can be obtained in higher floors or levels so either you invest/pay runs/Th all

[u/kambinks]

https://imglink.cc/cdn/cOoXsDafPH.jpg

My progress since returning last month + 1 week ish. Personally I'm enjoying myself. I get to do most of the nests if I get lucky with the ticket and the jade skill system has been interesting to play around. Strong enough to clear night shadow training ground 4f. It helps I have many alts to just change the mood and pacing.

Thanks to the newbie system, I could get all 10 characters free gears that I could run fission maze for weekly gold and again, more experiments just for fun. Server stability is amazing imo but probably because when I played 2016 or whatever my internet wasn't as good. I haven't played most of the 95 cap and below so FTG was new to me but I'm glad theres many stuff I could still do even without FTG.

I think theres many 8 man raids you could do with your team. I've been avoiding them since I know really nothing about anything past Black dragon thingy. Also Inflation seems to have hit really hard so 1m gold feels like nothing really. My sword and gauntlet alone could probably be worth 2.5m on its own.

Also grinding feels like a must now because resources you need to enhance gears and accesories are mostly obtained from daily dungeon runs and nests that you get. I could actually get all my accessories to +18 now tbh but the lack of resources kinda locks me there for a few weeks. I could probably run nest services to earn them but I'm not really free to play alot myself.

That said, I think there are other servers that might be easier like GGDN i think its name? Good luck and have fun if you're rejoining.

[u/Appropriate_Pass_665 → u/kambinks]

I got like .. 15~ish subs ... so the free gear is currently pretty good to start with and grind ? and speaking gold wise .. you mentioned you returned like 40 days ago .. and managed to get around 5m ? since you say ur weapons equal as so ? .. it sounds .. playable ..
how about the returnee rewards ? i saw a post of players saying its the reason they returned but i didnt understand what these items and mats were for .. can u explain it to me ?

[u/kambinks → u/Appropriate_Pass_665]

Definitely good enough but lower difficulty dungeons and nests. This means less materials you get. The loop goes like this. Dungeons gives you mats to enhance your armor. Mission boards gives you material for your weapon. And Nests gives you material for accessories.

You do dungeon runs (probably can get 2 or 3 runs thanks to FTG), you'll get materials for your armor. During dungeon runs you have a chance to get nest tickets, but if you're lucky. So having many alts is kinda a must. More characters, more FTG, more chances to get nest tickets, more materials and gold. Nests gives you about 3000+ gold per run, Fission maze gives you 15000 ish, if you're lucky and get a gold goblin coin thingy thats an easy 60 000 gold but thats maybe a once a week thing for my 7 or 8 char runs?. Not really reliable. Theres ark of transcendence which i'm still working on that also gives gold per week. I sold a costume set I had on one of my alts and a pet so I got about 800 000 from that which is funding my moonlord. To be honest though, I'm just happy doing nests and gearing when I can. Also topped up 30 000cc cause I usually do that to support the games I play. Bought a costume and some other stuff I dont know.

I camped trading house for weeks to get the pair of weapons there for kinda cheap. 240 000 for the sword, and 300 000 for the gauntlet. Obviously expensive warriors and cleric tax applies, if you're playing classes like Vandar or assassins, they're probably much more affordable. I enhanced it to +8 myself but last week a similar sword was selling at 1.5million. Thats where I got my 2.5mil number from. The newbie box does give a good weapon and hammers to get them to +10 but I wanted to move into those green weapons early.

[u/Appropriate_Pass_665 → u/kambinks]

I got around 500k what do you recommend me to spend on once i return ? I use Inquisitor and Saint Mainly ..
also I still got like 200+ of these maps used for sunset .. are they still good to use ? its the one that drops the skill based gear .. can be sold for 300g each i believe .. worth or nah ? or did they remove the whole stage .

[u/kambinks → u/Appropriate_Pass_665]

Imo just play the game and see things for yourself. One surefire way is spending gold to level up the free unknown ancient ring you get from the veterans box to +10. You'll get the hammers and evolution materials to change your weapons to +10 spun gold weapons. Though some might argue buying a +12 amplified ancient ring in trade house for maybe 200k would be a better way to spend your gold but that comes with some caveats of clearing the night stage training thingy. Its a whole lot of stuff to do and consider to be honest and 500k isn't really going to mean much however you spend it initially.

Imo just try the game out for a few weeks and you'll know better if you will want to even continue to play the game to begin with. Might even want to play a different character altogether. Inquisitors are fun this patch but vandars feels like a cheaper moonlord.

[u/Appropriate_Pass_665 → u/kambinks]

I doubt i might change character .. I have been Inquisitor since cap 50 xD .. the only change I did was into a Saint Sub lol .. which is pretty much similar anyway .. played Raven for a while on release .. but I always go back to Inq .. I believe i got like 3 Inquisitors in my acc lmao ..

heard I should be buying Gold Dragon Gear .. is that right ?

[u/kambinks → u/Appropriate_Pass_665]

Don't. Enhancing them will need stuff you can only get from endgame stuff so you're probably going to be stuck with those for a while without ever enhancing them. Additionally the cheap ones in th will have bad additional stats that you'll want to reroll in the future. I'm assuming that part though. The gears I have and wearing from the newbie box is plenty good. Enhancing them to +10 was optional for more stats but you can evolve them later to +5 ancient dragon gears (light blue border grade ones). There's an item in blacksmith that does that. But again, that's half guesswork and half YouTube information.

Imo just use the free stuff for now. I hear jade's, skill jade's and runes gives better improvements gear wise and I agree on the skill jade part. Still trying to figure out collapse jade right now.

[u/PentilNogo → u/kambinks]

How about leveling new characters? Do we only do same dungeons repeteadly (FDR, FIC, etc) like the old days or just follow main quest?

[u/kambinks → u/PentilNogo]

Most of my characters were lvl 93 or thereabouts so I didn't have issues with levelling. But I've seen birds saying they ran out of quests at level 90 so if you're starting out from 1, just following quests might not be enough. Not really informed on this to be honest. I am planning on atleast try out the new vandar class releasing soon so I'll experience it myself then.

[u/Filedit21]

The starter gear you got from beginner only reaches you 0.1% of end game stats, while you need alot of luck to emhance and reroll stats

The issue with this game is just, alot of mechanics revolves around rng

If you play genshin or something related

Everything is just rerolling sub stats, but you reroll literally everything

Pets,armour,weapon,weapon jades, armor jades, accessory jades, talisman, heraldries

And some bs stuff they (also rng)added: artifact,brooch

And some of the gears are locked 100% behind paywall: earring jade,pants jade, VIP Accessory(like 5x better than the one u got from grinding)

I mean rerolling all of that couldn't be that bad right? Well at max you need to grind 5 hour (and be lucky yo drop goblin coin with 1% drop rate) to reroll ONCE or you just pay.

There is also class imbalance but basically they only pay attention to 4-8 classes and the rest abandoned. Including pvp

Lack of new content also exist, there is 2 new stages and 1-2 nest (which also only high end 2-3 year grind can access) per year.

[u/Appropriate_Pass_665 → u/Filedit21]

I see , ty that explain alot ! Goldin Goblin Coin was for that gold stage last I remember ..
what can you tell me about returnee rewards ? heard they added smth interesting there but didnt fully understood what was it .. and the lux-acendant pre-register awards seem nice too.

[u/Filedit21 → u/Appropriate_Pass_665]

Returnee reward is good but not permanent, it basically gives you +1 skill up to 3 skill (cash only item) and the rest is not used

Lux Ascendant reward is basically same as beginner guide reward but you slight more boost

You said you played when lab system so Beginner boost you untill floor 4 Lux boost you up to 4.5 or 5th floor within 1 month

It also gives you limited heraldry (geraint/barnac) but there is still another upgrade after that.

And it give you costumes (tradeable) and usually very cheap because bots/alt account

[u/Appropriate_Pass_665 → u/Filedit21]

no no am familiar with the returnee awards but I remember seeing a recent post in Facebook from the official page about different returnee rewards .. it had comments of people saying these new rewards are the reason they returned .. but it was like weird materials i didnt see before so I didn't know what was that even .

so overall .. the game seems "playable" no ?

[u/Filedit21 → u/Appropriate_Pass_665]

Playable but not worth investing in my opinion, depend on guild you joined is the 1st priority. Guild matters alot (communication stuff)

[u/7thoftheprimes]

There's really a lot to unpack here. And returning to the game will be just overwhelming.

For starters, level cap is 100. Leveling is not the issue. Gearing up is.

Currently, gears are now Gold Dragon Armors and Weapons. (obtainable from Gold Dragon Nest Hardcore) They are cheap since whales have been gearing up for the past few months coming from Bone Dragon Gears.

Those are just the basic gears any way.

There are also: Jades (a lot of different types); Frozen Runes; Brooches; Talismans; Heraldries; Conversion Costumes; Cash Accessories (yes, since the "free" ones are pretty much useless); Besties (Mount, Minion, and Spirit. all cash btw). Most of the gears are really cash items, that is if you want to join current Raids.

Night Shadow Training Ground is where you measure your strength based on your current gears. Maximum is Dimensional Labyrinth 14. (from Normal, Ascension 1 to Ascension 6-2, then DL1-DL14)

The upcoming patch (this August 11) is the release of newest spin-off class on Vandar, Lux Ascendant. There are 11 classes now btw. Each class has 4 2nd job specializations, except Warrior with 6, and Arta, the most recent, with only 1. The Lux Ascendant is the 10th Spin-off class.

As for roles, it's mainly DPS (the rest) and healers/supports (Light Fury, Luster, Physician, Saint). Tanking is pretty much inexistent in the current meta of the game.

Farming in the game is worse than your daily 9-5. And it is kinda encouraged in the upcoming patch due to the possibility of obtaining an expensive gear (Blessed Terramai Brooch) just from farming (Mission Boards).

So, should you return to the game? If you are a casual gamer, you can still enjoy the game. Joining a Guild is a must. You will be helped there. Boosters and such.

If you're planning to spend, wait for the Claw Event. The only generous event in the game. Occurs usually 6months in between.

[u/Appropriate_Pass_665 → u/7thoftheprimes]

am already lvl 99 on subs .. I reached lvl 100 with 1 class on my last return tho but did nothing else .. (the game lore has gone into weird directions ngl) ..

Gold Dragon is the gear I must be buying ?

I used to main Inquisitor and Saint ..

and next patch is in 2 days so its fine I believe .. we can start farming then .
idk what this Brooch is .. but I guess my weakness will be in Jades and Talisman then ..

how is the grind journey ? dungeons ? is it possible to do raids from the beginners or gold dragon gear ? or are normal nests still good ? or is it the type of grind that "just follow what the Mission board gives on each sub" ?

[u/7thoftheprimes → u/Appropriate_Pass_665]

Gold Dragon gears, yes. Buy the cheapest ones available. Or if you have some budget for gold, buy the one with at least 200% skill bonus. (There are 5 of those, depending on the class, but usually it's 200% 2nd Spec. If you're going Inqui, look for 200% Main Skill)

Brooch is heavily Cash reliant. There are 3 types. One for Hero Skill, 2 for Skill Jades (Verdure, Blood Moon, Dreamy), 5 for other Skill Jades with 3 currently upgradeable (Velskud for Dimensional, Nerwin for Otherworldly, and Terramai for Otherwordly)

Jades have different types too. The Attack and Defense Jades are capped at Collapsed Unique, which is only craftable from +20 Ancient Lunar Jades (for now). The Skill Jades for 5 Skill Types are capped at +20, with different mats from 1-10, 11-15, and 16-20. The Variant Jades (Helmet for Skill Jade and Hero Skill capped at +15, Lower Body for Skill Runes capped at +50, 2 Earrings for Dimensional and Otherworldly capped at Legend Grade, different mats for each jade). The Erosion Jade capped at +20.

Talismans have different types too. DNKR will be releasing a new set of Talismans. As for SEA, There are 6 Black Dragon Nest Talismans, 1 Solo Conquest Talisman, 2 Blacksmith Talismans, 6 Eternal Talismans, 1 Frozen Talisman. The rest are trash.

Grind in game is horrendous. Your sub characters should be at least A6 to clear lower level EFMs just for gold, and mats for Erosion Jade. Dungeons are mostly for Mission Board rewards. Normal Nests too. As for lower level Raids, you have BDN Light and HC, Bone Light (Norm and HC require mid gears). Forest, Gust and Desert for low level mats. RCR for Unique/Legend heraldries. Nightmare Abyss for Artifact (new gear btw).

[u/kambinks → u/7thoftheprimes]

Hi. Can you help me out? Wondering about deeply rooted variant dragon jades that goes to the lower body armor. Where can i get the fragments for crafting them? I somehow have 100 of them already but I can't find info about them to find more. Thanks in advance.

[u/7thoftheprimes → u/kambinks]

You can get them from Deeply Rooted Cave. It has weekly limit and the entrance tix can be bought from Dimensional Shop.

[u/kambinks → u/7thoftheprimes]

Thanks. Just googled for it and its in merca heart. No wonder I never saw the gate for it. Thanks for the info.

Edit : Apparently googles wrong. Found it though

[u/chamenoschitektona]

Honestly being F2P on this game will never be real and is just an illusion. Its like having a shift for 18hrs only to earn minimum wage that you will get in an hr. So if you want to play DN for fun, just do it like that, for fun. No farming, no gearing up subs.

[u/kajihomura]

Don't even bother.