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Black Desert Reveals New Updates At 2025 Heidel Ball

The 2025 Heidel Ball took place this year in South Korea, as the Pearl Abyss team revealed more of what's coming to Black Desert



Article Summary

  • Black Desert unveils Wukong class, Edania continent, and major PvP reworks at 2025 Heidel Ball
  • New player onboarding boosted with 10 billion silver, Olvia School, and hands-on beginner zones
  • Quality of life updates include advanced UI, build presets, improved inventory, and event tracking
  • Sovereign sub-weapon, mythical horse, Master Class PvP tournament, and epic in-game rewards revealed

Pearl Abyss held the 2025 Heidel Ball for a private audience in South Korea this weekend, showing off more of what's coming for Black Desert over the next calendar year. Among the new additions to the game are the new Wukong Class, a new area to explore in Edania, a new Sovereign sub-weapon, a ton of quality-of-life improvements, an overhaul of the PvP system, a new Tournament this Fall, and so much more. We have more details from the developers below, as you can watch the nearly three-hour livestream here.

Black Desert Reveals New Updates At 2025 Heidel Ball
Credit: Pearl Abyss

Black Desert – 2025 Heidel Ball

"Start of the Journey" – A New Era for New Adventurers

In an effort to ease onboarding, new Adventurers will now receive a 10 billion silver allowance spread out across progression quests. Additionally, the Olvia Town area is being completely revamped into Olvia School, a beginner-friendly area designed for hands-on training and peer interaction with a "semester" experience. New players can practice combat, cooking, and alchemy with designated tools and bond with peers in alumni hangouts.

Massive UI and Quality of Life Enhancements

Pearl Abyss introduced several key improvements to the game interface:

  • Buff Status Overview: Players can now view all 33 buff types and their specific effects from the in-game profile.
  • Enhancement Inventory: Stores all enhancement-related materials like Cron Stones, Valks' Advice, and Fairy's Blessings, freeing up valuable Pearl inventory space.
  • Enhancement UI Improvement: The "Use Cron Stone" option now clearly reads "Protect Enhancement Level" for direct material selection and intuition.
  • All-in-One Preset: Automatically switch builds for different content like PvE and Arena of Solare.
  • World Map and Event Page Updates: Set to roll out through July and August, making navigation and event tracking seamless.
  • Adventure Log and PvE Reworks: Completing Igor Bartali's Adventure Log now consolidates all stat bonuses (AP, DP, stamina, etc.) once spread across multiple logs. Other logs will now offer cosmetic rewards such as rare colored titles.

Wukong Arrives – A New Class Enters the Battlefield

Inspired by Journey to the West, the new class Wukong is a fast-paced melee combatant who wields the Power Pole and an awakening weapon, Jade Pillar. Wukong's "Fighting Buddha" state summons clones and extends his pole for devastating AoE combos. He rides the Flying Nimbus, showcasing dynamic mobility and flair. Early access begins June 28 on the Global Lab.

A New Continent Emerges: Edania

The long-rumored continent of Edania—north of Valencia—is finally revealed. Split into two parts, Part 1 launches with five major castles, each with its own lore and difficulty. Monsters in this region form a new "Edania" species, and new artifacts, crystals, and alchemy recipes will empower players in both PvE and PvP. The new monster type, Edania, introduces the "Extra Damage to Edanian Monsters" stat and new crystals.

New Sovereign Sub-Weapon & Mythical Horse Concept

A new Sovereign-grade sub-weapon is on the horizon, combining the powers of boss Kutum and Nouver into a single item. Like existing Sovereign gear, it can be enhanced to DEC (X) and will offer three options for crafting. Pearl Abyss also unveiled a new tentatively named mythical dream horse that merges the abilities of three mythical dream horses—Doom, Arduanatt, and Diné. This versatile mount can sprint on land like Doom, glide through the skies like Arduanatt, and run across water like Diné—its final name will be selected based on community input.

Overhaul of PvP Systems and Balance

Pearl Abyss is committed to making PvP more intuitive and skill-based:

  • Accuracy, Evasion, and Damage Formulas are standardized across classes.
  • Super Armor Damage Reduction is now additive, aligning with other mechanics.
  • Extra Damage to certain species has been redefined to separate PvE and PvP effects.
  • Summon Mechanics will now use the same damage calculation formula as your main character.
  • Resistance Removal in PvP: All resistances, including grapple resistance, will be removed in PvP settings. Items with these stats will be converted to silver.
  • Mouse Movement will be disabled to reduce desync and improve combat stability.
  • Grouping Class Damage Modifiers: Class damage modifiers are now categorized as Guard, Charge, or Assault types with adjusted modifiers to balance inter-class performance.

These updates will begin rolling out gradually for testing in the Global Lab.

PvP Tournament: Master Class – Coming This Fall

Pearl Abyss announced the first-ever Master Class Tournament, a global 1v1 event to crown the strongest player of each class. With 30 classes—including Wukong—participants will compete in standardized gear to determine the strongest of each class. Winners receive exclusive griffon mounts, titles, and a chance to be honored at the next live event.

New Outfits & Heidel Ball Rewards

Two new seasonal outfits, Summer Getaway and Ocean Spray, are coming soon. Attendees of the Ball and players will receive generous in-game rewards, including 20,000 Cron Stones, seven J's Hammers of Loyalty, Rare Hammer Selection Box, Advice of Valks (+300), Weapon Exchange Coupons, Inverted Garmoth's Heart and more.


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Gavin SheehanAbout Gavin Sheehan

Gavin is the current Games Editor for Bleeding Cool. He has been a lifelong geek who can chat with you about comics, television, video games, and even pro wrestling. Follow @TheGavinSheehan on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Bluesky, Threads, and Hive, for random pictures and musings.
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