Black Desert Online has undergone a lot of game-changing updates in the past 4 weeks. Defense effects (Super Armor and Forward Guard) for many pre-awakening and awakening skills have been adjusted, the CC mechanics have changed, and the Stamina consumption mechanics have changed as well. Players are still trying to adapt to the new changes.

A lot of debate has been going on regarding these changes. The Warrior now lacks Super Armor and Warrior mains cannot play as they used to play anymore. The Valkyrie and the Ranger now consume massive amounts of Stamina and the gameplay is not as smooth as it used to be.

All players generally agree that they are dealing much less damage compared to before. The exact reason behind this is still unknown, but the majority of players are guessing that it is harder now to knock down monsters due to the CC mechanic changes so the additional damage from Down Attack has decreased. Also, some players are saying that there are much less Smash attacks now.

More on BDO: Lahn Pre-Awakening Skill Basics, Build, and Add-ons at a glance

[Warrior]

▶ What could possibly be worse for Warriors now? Super Armor was everything that he had, and now it’s gone. I feel like the Warrior is only half as viable as before.

▶ I thought the Warrior was designed to have a lot of Super Armor in the first place. But now it’s all gone.

▶ The Warrior is much harder to play now. His primary DPS skills have long cooldowns (8 to 10 seconds) and he does not have any good skills to use in between.

▶ The Super Armor nerf is huge, but other classes got it too. The Warrior still has a few good approaching skills so it’s not a total disaster.

▶ If PA is going to take away Super Armor from him, then Slashing the Dead should have full Super Armor for the whole animation and some other skills should get Super Armor. It’s like the Warrior is only half awakened…

▶ You have to get Seismic Strike for Rabam, not Frenzied Spear. Seismic Strike has Super Armor.

▶ “Resource consumption of Head Chase has changed to Stamina.” This doesn’t feel like a big change to me. The Super Armor nerf was too big…

▶ The changes with Head Chase are not a game changer. The Warrior still has other mobility skills.

▶ Why isn’t the Down Smash in Ground Smash working? 8 out of 10 attacks don’t have Down Smash.

▶ The chance of Smash attacks has decreased for all classes. The extent might be different for each class.

[Ranger]

▶ I don’t worry about the Absolute: Will of the Wind nerf. It’s the nerfs on other skills that I really worry about. Wind Step now consumes Stamina, Call from Sky used to be a good survivability skill but not anymore, and Blasting Gust and Extreme: Charging Wind don’t have defense abilities anymore.

▶ The Ranger already consumes too much Stamina. If Wind Step consumes extra Stamina, the Ranger won’t be able to survive.

▶ Since Evasive Shot consumes more Stamina, a lot of times I run out of Stamina while grinding.

▶ Will of the Wind now deals only half the damage it used to.

▶ This new Stamina consumption mechanic is a huge problem. I can’t grind in pre-awakening stance in Manshaum even with 247 AP. Rangers used to be able to kill summoned monsters with Blasting Gust and Charging Wind but they can’t do that anymore. If PA does not do something about it, I won’t be playing the Ranger anymore.

▶ As a Ranger main, I agree that the Ranger was really good in PvE so I would accept it if there were a few nerfs. But this is just too much.

▶ I have 232 main AP, and the amount of trash loot I get in Hystria is now reduced to half. The Ranger cannot use a long combo anymore due to the increased Stamina consumption, so I have to use other skills too. Definitely weaker, but not unplayable in my opinion.

[Sorceress]

▶ Why nerf Darkness Released? I used this skill for Stamina management…

▶ The Sorceress is now repeating the same skills over and over since other skills are not viable anymore. The fun is gone.

▶ Nothing to do when the skills are on cooldown, and can’t recover Stamina. The gameplay became so slow and repetitive.

▶ If they added Stamina consumption to Nightmare and Storming Crow, then Nightmare should at least get Super Armor.

▶ You can’t recover Stamina while in Nightmare stance. I really hate this.

[Berserker]

▶ Some good skills lost defenses while Giant Leap, which I don’t even use, kept Super Armor and Invincibility.

▶ PvE is okay since I’m already used to grinding without any defenses. But PvP is way harder now.

▶ I tried fighting against a Kuno and a Sorc in the free arena. It’s really hard to win against a class that can easily attack me from the back.

▶ Too bad the movement distance for Shake Off was unintentional. PA fixed it so quickly and I miss it already.

▶ It was actually funny that the Berserker was even faster than the Musa. Obviously it was an unintended change.

▶ The distance had to be readjusted. There was too much lag and the unpredictable movement made the gameplay even harder.

▶ If the original distance for Shake Off was 1, the current distance is like 1.1.

[Tamer]

▶ Legendary Beast Dance does not have Super Armor anymore, there is no point in using it now. Also, Garuda is even more useless now.

▶ I have no other choice but to use Jolt Wave and Bolt Wave more, even though the skills don’t have Down Attack and my Kzarka is not fully enhanced yet.

▶ I tried the combo that I used to use after the patch. Before the patch I had some Stamina left for extra movement after the combo. But now I don’t have any extra Stamina left so I have to roll to dodge.

▶ I miss the Invincibility in Cloud Stomping (changed to Super Armor). In my opinion the Tamer won’t be unplayable because other classes lost defense abilities as well.

▶ I think PA fixed the grab bug.

▶ If I press Shift + A/D when Leaves Dropping and Flow: Gust are on cooldown or if I press Shift + A/D while airborne after Cloud Stomping, I keep on using Evasion. I’m pretty sure this is a bug so let’s report this.

▶ I’m grinding in Aakman, and I’m definitely getting less trash loot.

[Musa and Maehwa]

▶ The Musa is in better state now because other classes’ Stamina mechanics were nerfed. I hope PA doesn’t nerf Musa too.

▶ Chase was everything that the Musa/Maehwa had. If Chase is nerfed then they have nothing left.

▶ It’s more like other classes are down to the Musa’s level.

▶ If you clear mobs too fast, then you don’t have enough Stamina to move to the next spot.

▶ The most important thing is to recover Stamina as fast as you can using pre-awakening guards and switch guards, and to know when Counter Assassination is on cooldown. Also, do not use awakening block too many times because you won’t have enough Stamina left for Counter Assassination.

▶ Down Smash almost never works. Even if you have high GS, you can’t deal massive damage on a knocked down enemy anymore.

▶ If the opponent does not have high Float Resistance then I can at least try. But I can’t do anything against an opponent that has high Resistance. I think PA tried to make PvP more dynamic by removing continuous Super Armor, but now people are going for Resistance so they are not inflicted by CC and counter attack. The problem is never solved.

[Valkyrie]

▶ Zero Stamina left after a few mobility skills. What am I supposed to do? Walk?

▶ I have 1980 Stamina and it only takes three Promptness to use all my Stamina.

▶ RIP Valkyrie. I only play PvE and I have no expectations left. I quit.

▶ I have some Stamina left after Death Line Chase, but don’t have any Stamina left after Promptness. I can’t use Promptness to cancel skills now.

▶ If they nerfed Promptness, they should at least reduce the animation delays. I used Promptness to cancel all the animation delays but since Promptness will use up all my Stamina, I can’t maintain the combo.

▶ New PvP pattern: you move around, run out of Stamina, and walk. Grinding is impossible. You can’t chase anyone.

▶ I’m not sure how I should deal with being grabbed anymore.

▶ PvE is especially harder in Sherekhan’s Grave (grind spot in Drieghan where monsters inflict different CC). Even if you group the monsters together before killing them, you can’t kill them because they will inflict CC on you. Also, you won’t have enough Stamina to move around using mobility skills. You just have to use plain run.

▶ The Valkyrie does not have Super Armor skills to counter attack enemies anymore. Shield Chase-Death Line Chase-Promptness used to be a good survivability combo but is not available anymore. The Valkyrie cannot engage quickly, cannot escape, and cannot move. Valkyries shouldn’t be at Garmoth raid because they can’t escape. (Garmoth has a large AoE skill.)

[Witch and Wizard]

▶ I’ve been grinding in Sherekhan’s Grave for two days now. Awakening skills are not dealing enough damage.

▶ I have to use one or two more skills to kill monsters in Hystria. This is weird.

▶ Undocumented changes again? It seems like the patch notes don’t talk about any PvE nerfs.

▶ So it’s not just me. I went to Aakman and it’s taking me way too long to clear.

▶ Maybe the CC mechanic changes (only the first hit can inflict CC) apply in PvE as well? I can’t deal Down Attack damage.

▶ The CC changes could be the reason. I’m getting less trash loot in Hystria after the patch.

▶ I’ve heard that there is an Accuracy bug in NA. I have 6 more AP now but I’m dealing less damage. This doesn’t make any sense.

[Kunoichi]

▶ Stamina management is crucial in PvP now. Ghost Step consumes 200 Stamina now.

▶ The Kunoichi cannot move here and there like she used to. She needs some time to recover Stamina, which puts her in a dangerous situation.

▶ Hystria used to be my main grind spot. I tried to grind using the same combo and I don’t have enough Stamina.

▶ Lock Halo to save some Stamina while grinding.

[Ninja]

▶ When you try to kill a player who has high Resistance, you will be counter attacked by his CC and get killed. Even if the opponent does not have high Resistance, Down Smash will most likely not work.

▶ If you use Shadow Slash and Ghost Greeting a lot, you will experience some Stamina shortage.

▶ No more dynamic gameplay for the Ninja.

▶ The Ghost Step nerfs are huge. Stamina runs out too fast.

▶ The enemy goes Immune too many times in PvP. I get counter attacked too easily.

[Dark Knight]

▶ Seed of Catastrophe, which used to be the DK’s only Float skill, cannot inflict Float anymore. What’s the point of keeping Air Attack for Twilight Dash? What are we supposed to do? Wait for others to Float monsters and then use Twilight Dash?

▶ If you are too close to the enemies, you will lose because you don’t have Super Armor. Seed of Catastrophe cannot knock down enemies, and the Stiffness duration is too short.

▶ Obsidian Ashes can only inflict Bound on monsters. How am I supposed to play PvP now?

▶ I’m getting lower numbers of trash loot in Hystria. The pre-awakening + awakening combo that I use used to be able to kill monsters completely. Now I need an extra combo to kill the same monsters.

▶ PvE is harder because Seed of Catastrophe now inflicts Stiffness so the Down Attack effect doesn’t work. You will have to use other skills to knock down the monsters first.

▶ Four pre-awakening skills have grab/float/knock back, and the only skill you can use as an approaching skill among them is Air Strike. But as you may know, Air Strike is not a particularly good approaching skill. Well, I guess we only have one choice.

[Striker]

▶ The Super Armor in Skull Crusher was useless anyway, and now Flow: Skull Crusher doesn’t have Super Armor. So I guess the skills are dead now.

▶ No more Super Armor for Double Flash. How am I supposed to kill ranged classes now?

▶ I can’t approach Rangers and Dark Knights that are kiting. Spiral Cannon, Ferocious Assault, and Double Flash are not helping me at all…

▶ PvE is okay, if you are not grinding in high level grind spots like Hystria. PvE is especially worse in the areas where monsters are not grouped together.

▶ Down Smash chance for Roaring Tiger was reduced greatly after the last patch.

[Mystic]

▶ The 5 second cooldown for Crouching Wolf feels like forever.

▶ Tidal Burst and Rapid Stream are trash. You get interrupted a lot during the animation.

▶ All of her primary DPS skills have long animation/hit multiple times. How can I possibly grind?

▶ How do I kill the monsters that are inflicted by CC effects? I can never grind in Hystria or Sherekhan.

▶ The removal of defense effects was a bigger nerf in PvE than in PvP.

▶ In my opinion the Mystic is going to have a different gameplay style now. The Super Armor skills she has now are Rising Dragon, Dragonize, and Dragon’s Pit, and none of these skills give mobility to her.

▶ The Mystic does not have any poking skills, does not have any good escape skills, and has to hit multiple times instead of using powerful single attacks. Also, it’s harder to collect Martial Spirit Shards now. Mystic is a dead class now.

▶ Grab-Perfect Blow-Thunder Pound-Roaring Tiger-Wave Orb used to be my usual combo, and this combo is not showing me any Down Smash.

▶ If one skill has both CC and Down Smash, only one of the effects will be applied. Roaring Tiger does not have any CC effects and the only effect that it has (Down Smash) is not working. It almost seems like there is a bug.

▶ Unbridled Wrath and Nature’s Wrath don’t have Super Armor anymore. We still have Rage Hammer so let’s not abandon all hope…

[Lahn]

▶ Defense taken away from Dance of Death… well I guess I shouldn’t complain because other classes lost defense effects too…

▶ Dance of Death, Scream of Confinement , and Demise (awakening skills) will put the Lahn in a dangerous situation because they lack defenses. Chasing Blade (pre-awakening skill) might be useful.

▶ Kaleidoscope still has Super Armor… For what? Does anyone actually use this skill?

▶ The other classes lost many Forward Guard skills, but the Lahn literally has no Forward Guard skills left.

▶ Is her awakening grab bugged? She can’t grab anyone.

▶ Blooming Earthen Flower (pre-awakening skill) is her core DPS skill and they take away Forward Guard from it?

▶ I found an undocumented nerf. It doesn’t say in the patch notes that one of her Level 56 Rabam skills will not inflict Bound anymore, but the sentence has been removed from the in-game skill tooltip.

▶ Phantom Dance (awakening invincibility skill) is my last hope.

▲ Dance of Death (Awakening skill) 

▲ Phantom Dance (Awakening mobility skill that has i-frame)

More on BDO: Lahn Pre-Awakening Skill Combo Tips