The second annual Black Desert FESTA was held in Korea on December 1st (KST) and Pearl Abyss has introduced the future updates for Black Desert Online including the removal of Renown Score, reworks for Caphras Enhancement and Manos Life Skill gear, revamped early gameplay, the Archer class, new type of Marketplace, new area, new large scale PvP, and a survival game mode.

The Renown Score and the Caphras Enhancement were one of the updates that sparked controversy among the players. The Renown Score was originally designed to motivate the players to progress further and allow them to see their progression clearly. The Renown Score gives AP bonus during the early stage, and reduces damage as you get more Renown Score. However, the Renown Score made the gap between the top players and low-rank players even bigger as the Caphras Enhancement has huge effects on the Renown Score. In order to fix this issue, Pearl Abyss has decided to remove the Renown Score system and all bonus stats from it. There will be reworks for the DP mechanics so the characters do not get one-shot killed, and the Caphras Enhancement system will be revamped with a new Extraction function.

Also, the highly anticipated Archer class will be available in the Global Lab as of today. Pearl Abyss revealed that the Archer will be very different from the other classes. The Archer uses his main weapon (Crossbow) and Awakening weapon (Greatbow) at the same time from level 1. The Archer can deal massive ranged damage with the Greatbow and when he reaches level 56, he can upgrade his awakening skills through the system called Unleash. The pre-registration for the Archer has already begun in the KR server, and the class will go live in all regions on December 12th.

The revamped main story and the new region, which were introduced at the Black Desert Remastered Showcase in August, will be added to the game during the first half of next year. In the revamped main story, the player will start his or her adventure in Western Guard Camp instead of Olvia. The new main story will feature Illezra, the dark sorceress that we are all familiar with, and new stories for Mediah and Valencia. Ordilita, the new area in Kamasylvia, will have new monsters and grind spots, and grinding in the new area will be very hard.

The new Marketplace system will allow free market economy in the game and fix the problems that the current Marketplace has. In the new Marketplace, there are no registration queue and bidding. When the prices of certain items are changing rapidly, the Marketplace will show such items to prevent abuse. Pearl Abyss added that the new Marketplace requires a separate server and it will take more time, and that it will not be added to all countries at once. Also, a smartphone app that allows the users to go through to Marketplace is in development along with the new Marketplace.

A new warfare content after the Node War and Conquest War will be added as well. The Territory War is a war between Valencia and Calpheon. In the world of Black Desert Online, Calpheon has lost in the war against Valencia in the past and the second war can break out in any minute. The Territory War will be a large scale PvP that features the war between Calpheon and Valencia. The guilds that have Tier 3 and 4 Nodes in Calpheon/Valencia will be able to participate in the Territory War, and the winning side will conquer Mediah. The winning guilds will have the territory bonus for Mediah, and will be able to get some portion of Mediah tax. The guilds that have nodes in Mediah will be able to select sides.

A new game mode called the Shadow Arena will be added as well. The Shadow Arena will be a battle royale survival mode where you start out as a little Black Spirit and possess a body to fight as the body. The game continues until one becomes the last survivor among 49 others. The Shadow Arena will be available in the global lab as of today and will be updated in the live server this winter.

Lastly, to celebrate the addition of the Archer, all servers and all countries will receive a 100% exp boost all day. When the Archer is added, you can select a character that will share exp with the Archer. The selected character will receive some portion of the exp that the Archer gains and during the event period, the character will receive 100% of the exp that the Archer gains. You can select any character that is below Level 59 and 99% exp. And just like last year, everyone will receive a free Butler as a gift.