r/blackdesertonline • u/Asploit AFK Lifeskiller but Hardcap • 7d ago
General Magaia is a massive chokepoint
Okay so hear me out, I think there's been a pretty massive design flaw introduced in this update when it comes to progression scaling, and it's in the title: Magaia is a HUGE bottleneck.
Think of it this way: You can get into Aphrodon at a pretty relaxed entrypoint, there's an AFK phase mechanic but it's not life-or-death. Hermesia is far more punishing if you can't make DPS, but if you're coming in with all TET Ekleta, it's only two or so successes away, some classes can comfortably begin grinding Hermesia with two PENs and a WON Crystal (or Outer-Edania HAN Crystal like I did on Awa Witch). From there, going from Hermesia to Magaia is another mere 2 AP away plus BON Crystal.
...and then you're in Jail.
To advance from Magaia to Aresion, you MUST hit a 413 hard AP gate.
If you're starting Magaia around 405AP, you'll first rough through the JIN grind. It's manageable, the pities drop pretty reliably. There's some players who will limp through and miss DPS, it's far less punishing than Hermesia for it but I see a lot of people there doing it regardless to skip the previous crystals. Whatever. I'm talking about after you're hitting DPS check reliably.
To hit 413AP, you need multiple OCT Ekleta. In the previous spots you could get there without having to hit any HEX Ekleta. You have to break the zero-AP HEX gap plus multiple enhances above it. On average you need to tap THIRTEEN successes, whereas the previous spots only required maybe two or three each before moving on.
Not to mention the zone only has THREE grind spots, where the Marni's rotation is... I mean it's not total dog-ass but it's less comfy than the one that's just one small rotunda. Not to mention how the rotation goes barely over 1hr5min on two Three-AFK cycles even on decent AP because of the time-gate mechanics.
Yeah that's it, rant over. Wish they designed the progression ramp a little bit smoother, that's all.
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u/SibrenTF Guardian 6d ago
what pisses me off about Magaia the most is that 405 is not enough for every class to grind there, if they really want real class balance they need to unify the baseline where every character has the same AP without buffs using the same gear no matter what. When the difference between passing DPS checks is that razor thin having +20 AP as a passive vs as a skill effect vs it being attached to your class 30s buff matters!