▲ LeDuck on the Zephyros Castle Throne as the first Edana

[GM]Maslan

Could you please introduce yourself and the class you play?

Pijii

Hello, my name is Darius and my main class is Succession Nova. I also enjoy playing a few other classes, such as Lahn, Guardian, Valkyrie, Drakania, and, most recently, Scholar.

LeDuck

Hallo, my name is LeDuck, or just Duck. I’m a veteran player from EU who decided to main Shai in the PvP scene in 2021. However, I’m not a big fan of her PvE, so I mostly stick to my Succession Zerker for PvE whenever he’s somewhat viable in a grind spot.

 

▲ Pijii on the Tenebraum Castle Throne as the first Edana

[GM]Maslan

What was your experience challenging the Throne of Edana prior to the release of Tenebraum and Zephyros?

LeDuck

Honestly, I think it was fun for everyone that participated in the FFA (Free For All) fights. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to participate in most of them; I was pretty much always spectating the fights via streams provided by others, and it was pretty thrilling to see who would come out victorious in them each time. I had to fight 2x BO3 fights to defend my throne. One was a really enjoyable fight against a Deadeye; the other was me intentionally dropping the castle in the 3rd week so I could participate in the FFA fight for Zephyros Castle on week 4 with its release. And in the 1st week, we had the LeHide incident. 🙂

(For those who aren’t aware what the LeHide incident is,) it was basically me playing on a pillar and other participants not noticing me during the entire 10-minute duration of the fight, resulting in me winning by HP + gear score just by sitting on top of the pillar. It was a very questionable win and also went a little bit viral in the BDO scene. All I can say is that it wasn’t done with any ill intent, but rather to show how unfair structure placement can be in a limited area, giving certain classes very big advantages while fighting around them. Luckily, PA realized that too, and Orbita Fighting Ground has been fixed 2 or 3 times already, completely removing this structure abuse now.

[GM]Maslan

Could you describe the preparations you made to challenge others? For example, buffs or specific gear/crystals you felt were essential for the battle?

Pijii

It’s a really cool challenge. Finally, the reason we've been spending so much time in the game. 

Full DUO Edania boss armors, full DEC Kharazhad accessories, DEC Sovereign Morning Star, NOV Sting, and DEC Sovereign Quoratum. 

Tent buffs, horse buffs, Blessing of Mystic Beasts - Damage Reduction, plus Armor Draught, Perfume of Khalk, Harmony Draught - Human, Perfume of Envy, Perfume of Tenacity, Perfume of Deep Sea, Perfume of Charm, Miraculous Tteokguk, Miraculous Nourishing Soup, and Iridescent Maehwa Liquor on the hotbar.

For crystals - Glorious Crystal of Gallantry - Olucas x2, Ultimate Combined Magic Crystal - Hoom x4, Red Spirit Crystal x2, Crystal of Frozen Bitterness x2, JIN Glorious Crystal of Honor - Max HP x2, Dark Red Fang Crystal - Armor x2, Haetae's Tear, and Visionary Crystal of Elkarr. Plus 6 HAN Dawn Crystal - All APs.

LeDuck

[GM]Maslan

What was your mindset going into battle?

Pijii

Once I got into battle, I started attacking the people near me. Of course, people hate Nova Succession, so they run away from you. After a few seconds, I saw another Succession Nova there and a Succession Warrior. I was like, “What???”

To be honest, there are only a few Novas and Warriors left, and I think we respect each other a little. In this case, I tried to keep my distance from them and focused fully on going after the Sorceress, Deadeye, and whoever else was there.

It’s still a big risk if you fight a Warrior or a Nova and if you get grabbed or CC’d. Imagine a Deadeye or Sorceress... blasting you for free and you’d probably insta die and be out of the battle.

LeDuck

Oh, I was initially very skeptical about my chances of winning. After all, I couldn’t really compete in the mode with my main PvP class, my Shai. I rather sought guidance from my guildmates who had played Succession Zerker for years already, and used their shared knowledge as well as the knowledge I have from PvE’ing on the class and doing 2 AoS seasons on it to perform as well as possible. I was confident in my preparations, but skeptical about my gameplay.

In my 2nd week, I had to defend the Throne against a Deadeye, and I was very nervous. Despite me getting much more confident with those fights, for some reason I’m still much more nervous during them than I would ever be if nothing was on the line during an open-world fight. It’s something I can’t really control, regardless of my preparations. I’m sure this will only decrease over time as I do more and more of those fights and get used to it.

▲ Pijii, demonstrating Nova skills

[GM]Maslan

What do you think gave you the edge over your opponent?

Pijii

It was me, another Nova, and a Warrior. I started chasing the Nova and completely ignored the Warrior. We traded SA skills back and forth, but neither of us took any big risks. Time ran out, and I won. Maybe because of level, HP, or… I don’t know.

LeDuck

100% my preparations. As I said earlier, I’ve watched plenty of streams, recordings, and VODs of other players participating in those Throne fights. Plenty of them aren’t popping consumables correctly, don’t go in with a proper game plan, or just aren’t familiar with the fighting area at all. I’ve seen people pop Whale Tendons either not at all or very delayed with mouse clicks. I’ve seen people stumble into abysses with one of their class jumps, automatically resulting in them losing because they can’t get back up. I’ve seen so much unfortunate gameplay that I’m pretty confident in saying: it’s definitely not just my gameplay that gives me a lead over others, but mostly the preparations I do before a fight.

[GM]Maslan

How did your friends and the community react to your win?

Pijii

All of my friends and guild were happy for me.

LeDuck

Oh, it was mostly a comedy show, that’s for sure. Winning the 1st week in Orbita because of me sitting on a pillar and my enemies not noticing — pure comedy. Winning the 4th week at Zephyros because my only opponent didn’t show up for the 1v1 FFA fight — comedy.

Despite those wins, I’ve not really shared it much with others. I think most people are happy for me, and so am I. But if I happen to lose the castle ownership in a future week, I won’t be too upset. I’m trying to make the best out of the content and enjoy it. The reward for winning is honestly just a bonus, and losing that bonus won’t matter too much to me.

[GM]Maslan

What are your goals now that you've been crowned Edana?

Pijii

My next goal is to gear up -
’cause I got there by luck, not by gear.

LeDuck

I don’t really have any goals in BDO right now, unless stacking silver for any future content is considered a goal. I play here and there, enjoy my Nodewars and PvP experiences within my PvP guild, grind an Agris hour here and there, do my weekly Edana quests, some fishing or enhancing as well, but besides that I mostly wait for upcoming content to be announced and released.

The Alchemy Stone revamp delay lowered my motivation a lot, since that was content I was really looking forward to. I’m aware that others are far behind and need time to catch up on all these recently expensive released items, but personally I’m not affected by those, so I’m just playing the game in a very relaxed manner right now.