Hi everyone I'm a Ranger playing since launch from NZ. 

The following is a guide I wrote when BDO servers was still in US west coast. They are now in US central Chicago Illinois (or so I’m told). The same fundamental concepts still apply and I’ve posted in the guides section as a way for people to understand latency to game servers and how one may try and check latency or improve it. Ive recently posted a guide on Desync in BDO and this supplements that guide somewhat. I’ve corrected the details in the text since the old guide: 

I've been doing some research on connection between Aus/NZ to US West coast where BDO servers are located and thought I would share this to improve the latency for us Aus/NZ players: 

1. The most direct way Aus/NZ connect to the US west coast is via the Southern Cross undersea cable. The website for the cable is here and it lists the whole circuit as well as the latencies between the segments: 

- https://www.southerncrosscables.com. (home page) 

- https://www.southerncrosscables.com/home/network/overviewandmap (circuit map) 

- https://www.southerncrosscables.com/home/network/latency (latency between the "stops" of the circuit) 

The cable’s latency per kilometer is 0.005ms/km. ie it takes 0.005ms for every km travelled by the data  

2. As you can see the most direct connection to US west from NZ is via Auckland --> hawaii --> US west (segment C + D). From Australia is via sydney --> NZ north island west coast --> auckland --> Hawaii --> us west coast (segment A + B + C +D) 

3. For me (from NZ) the best possible ping I should be able to get therefore is 

-Segment C + Segment D 

=> 40ms + 20ms = 60ms one way x2 = 120ms there and back ping. 

-The actual servers are near San Jose From what I heard so we have to add segments E + E1 

adding another 8+2 = 10 x2 = 20ms to the total ping 

Giving a best possible practical ping of 140ms 

If we draw a straight line from auckland to San jose the distance is approx 10,501km according to google. And with 0.005ms per km, if i built my own straight cable to san jose, i should get a latency of 52ms each way or a ping of about 104ms – this is the physical limit. 

4. And I did achieve this 140ms ping with Orcon ISP in NZ without any VPN, meaning Orcon was routing me directly. However, for a period in 2019 something changed with Orcon and I had 260ms Ping. Doing a Trace route from Command prompt I saw that I was routed to Sydney, then to places like Hong Kong before going to the US west. So the connection is being shafted the other way around. 

I can definitely feel the difference between 260ms + connection to a 140ms connection in my game play. 140ms is perfectly playable from my POV and I can duel and US west coast people fine (although a higher skill and experience requirement is needed) including my friend who recently moved from NZ to US west coast. 

5. To check your real time latency/ping to BDO: 

open task manager --> performance--> resource monitor (bottom left tab) --> click open: TCP connections bar. 

You should be able to see BDO as listed there. port 8889 is t emain game port. Follow the line to the right to "Remote address" for the ip (note BDO has separate servers for its central market and other things so u may have multiple BDO connections running open). You can also see the real time latency you are getting at the far right under latency section. 

6. New servers in Chicago: Black desert informed us that from US west coast to central servers, the “average” ping should be 44 ms.  https://www.naeu.playblackdesert.com/en-US/News/Detail?groupContentNo=6926&countryType=en-US. “average” is a strange and ambiguous term (it is probably the measured latency you get from East and West coast). But how much more latency should a californian/San Jose person expect with eth new server locations? If we use 0.005ms/km like the southern cross cable and a distance between san jose-chicago of 2956km, it should be an additional latency of at least14.78ms one way from san jose to chicago.  

TL;DR the server change to chicago adds at minimum 14.78x2= 29.56ms to ping for aus/nz ppl and califonia people. This gives a realistic ping from nz of about 170ms. And from california of about 30ms at least.  

6. What to do if my ping is absurd and I'm being routed to hong kong as well? 

- One way is to change ISPs but you need to find out which ISPs route you most directly. Back in 2019 I had gathered information from people in Hamilton and Auckland using Vodafone and 2 Degrees that they get Pings of 140 ms and 150 ms Respectively using those ISPs. MyRepublic didnt route directly back then, they went through sydney after emailing them. Orcon gives me 140ms now off vpn in 2021. Things may have changed so just try different ISPs. 

- Another way is to use a VPN to establish a more direct connection. I have been using Mudfish VPN and can confirm that they route me back through the most direct way bringing my ping from 260ms+ to 140ms again. Both in Resource monitor and on Trace route. Running tracert in cmd shows i am no longer going through Hong Kong. Note you cannot trace route to BDO ip anymore. Also Note Mudfish currently doesnt work well after serveer change. I’ve heard exit lag give ping numbers that seem impossible low but players do feel a difference. These VPNs only improve your latency IF your connection is going through long unnecesary loops. If your ping to BDO is only 30ms from say, california then you’re most likely already connecting as straight as possible to the Chicago servers. If a VPN tells you your ping is say, 5ms from california it is most likely a lie because well, at least one big undersea cable can only carry data as fast as 0.005ms per km.  

Keep in mind that if you live in Tasmania or stewart Island etc it will take some more latency as the connection has to travel up NZ to get to Auckland or up to Sydney. 

Desync/skills going off cd and not working/protections or ccs bot working etc get alot of complaints but unless every player lives in the same distance from the server, these issues created by different latencies are unavoidable in a fast paced action pvp game because some people like me live further away from the server. The game is absolutely playable despite this and this is because the skill ceiling is quite high and drowns out/can overcome these issues. If you are experienced enough you will know how to modify plays and still beat people even with pings of 180ish based on personal experience. A small proportion of players are very good at the pvp and matches where you admit to high ping being the only limiting factor to getting an even outcome are exceedingly rare. Skill difference is usually also/more of the contributor.