Black Desert Online's Desert Will Finally Be In-Game On June 1st

When I first began playing Black Desert Online, one of the first things I did was open the map and check where the desert was. Much to my dismay, it wasn't in-game yet. But it finally will be on June 1st when the Valencia Part One update goes live.

Valencia Part One trails behind Mediah Part Two by only a month, bringing the eponymous desert into the game once and for the all. All told, the update will increase the size of the world by 30%, adding "hundreds of new quests" in the process. Some even add to the game's main storyline.

The update is described as follows.

With Valencia Part One, players will be able to journey to an expansive desert region where exploration will take a completely different turn. Extreme heat during daytime requires proper hydration, and intense cold at night requires players to stay warm. Additionally, a new weather effect, sandstorm, inflicts damage unless players set up a tent to protect themselves. The minimap will be unavailable, but getting lost is not all bad―who knows what treasure your shovel may strike?

Regular horses and wagons are not ideal to traverse the desert and will see their speed lowered. Thankfully, players will be able to purchase Camels from NPCs, which fare much better in these harsh conditions. Another new mount, the Guild-owned Elephant, serves as a powerful war mount in sieges.

Valencia Part One also adds new weapons, armor, and accessories, such as the Rocaba Armor that grants an evasion bonus, or the Rosar weapons that ignore resistances. Additionally, improvements to the enhancement system will allow players to upgrade their weapons and armor up to +20. The less battle-oriented will be pleased to know that new crafting recipes and crops will also make an appearance.

Details of the climb to +20 on weapons and armor have yet to be revealed. It is unknown if that tier of enchants will remain identical to the Korean release or if it will be toned down. In the Korean release, when upgrading beyond +15, there is a chance for the gear to downgrade, sometimes multiple levels at once.

Additionally, on June 15th, Castle and Node Siege testing will begin. It will be available for two weeks, allowing players to get used to the systems, before the results are wiped. The two weeks of testing will also be used to "to test the reworked server arrangement."