Greetings, Adventurer, could you please introduce yourself and describe your adventure so far in the world of Black Desert since it began?

Hello! My name is Elias, but most people probably know me by my in-game aliases, Avi or Aviel. I am the most recent EU Best-in-Guild winner and the current #1 Arena of Solare Deadeye in the EU, as well as the current #1 Arena of Solare Deadeye/Maegu in NA. I have been playing BDO periodically since late 2017. My most-played character by far is Succession Lahn; I played her from her release in 2018 until 2024, when she was unfortunately replaced by Awakening Maegu (buff Succ Lahn). In the past, my favorite activities were duels, guild wars, and open-world fights. These days I mainly do Guild League and Arena of Solare. Personally, I have never been much of a node war or siege player, and I only attended my very first ones after the monster AP buff was introduced to the game. 

Why Deadeye? What drew you to the class and how do you feel about her despite all of the class balance changes going on? 

I was pretty excited about the class design coming to BDO.  

When playing Guild League, the class is still very enjoyable to play. The recently added ability to cancel improved her kiting a lot. 
 

In Arena of Solare, the changes to her CC skills have made combos feel less fluid than they were before. Most of her CCs now mainly function as responses to grabs or unprotected block jumps. She remains a strong follow-up class with massive damage, but is more vulnerable to “incompatible” drafts, as she lacks the ability to lock down opponents on her own. I think it will be difficult to reach the very top with her in the upcoming season, especially since many classes that were already strong against her have received buffs alongside her nerfs. 

You were #1 in NA and EU in Solare last season. What made you decide to swap to the other region despite potential ping differences? 

Had to humble those NA fools, egos were getting too inflated. I figured the best way to do that was to bring a cowboy class to a cowboy region... Jokes aside, I genuinely enjoy playing with people in NA, and the meta differs from that in EU, which makes it refreshing to switch things up rather than repeatedly facing the same opponents in my own region (escaping Succ Zerks). Playing with high ping can lead to some frustrating interactions, but I still have fun… most of the time. 

I am a brand new Tuvala Timmy who wants their own statue in BA one day. For you personally, where did you start practicing PvP and what felt like it helped you get the hang of things? 

I spent what felt like half a lifetime dueling in the Battle Arena, as well as dueling for grinding spots and queuing for the Red Battlefield. Most classes today have a relatively low mechanical skill ceiling, which you will likely reach quickly. What will set you apart from others is your class knowledge; understanding which damage trades you win or lose, what to avoid, and which skills you can punish, rather than just rotating through protections until you successfully land a CC, or get CC'd yourself. Practicing plenty of duels and playing Solare, along with trying out various classes—even those you may not currently be interested in—are, in my opinion, the most effective ways to improve at the game. 

Is the equalized gear in Arena of Solare a positive or negative for you? 

I appreciate that players can progress their accounts through equalized content that does not require gear, buffs, or consumables before entering the queue. I believe it is important to make sure that this type of content remains rewarding to encourage more players to do PvP within the game. Back in the day, getting into PvP, or returning after a break often required several months of grinding in order to be viable, which often felt discouraging even before it began. Therefore, having access to on-demand PvP with equalized gear is a huge positive for me. 

What are your thoughts on the changes for this season of Arena of Solare? 

It is a good idea to reduce the increased rating gains from win streaks. Last season, the inflated ratings diminished the value of every rank. Hopefully, this change restores a sense of achievement for reaching higher ranks. Trying to keep matches closer in terms of MMR and preventing class stacking are both positives in my opinion.  

 
I am not a big fan of evasion getting buffed, as I believe it primarily benefits a few classes (Hashashin, Mystic, Striker) that already perform above average with damage reduction gear. This change is likely to make these classes nearly immune to trade damage, and may even allow them to survive on the ground while still dealing enough damage to easily combo squishier classes. The buff to Secrua’s Flaming Crystal also seems questionable to me. I think last season struck a decent balance between not being immortal and not falling over to a single skill. It is difficult for me to say whether these changes will have any meaningful impact. However, I think that it might lead to a season where squishy damage reduction classes delete each other in two skills, while evasion classes become unnecessarily tanky.