It’s been a while since I’ve let myself experience an MMORPG since Final Fantasy XIV. Enter Pearl Abyss, who was kind enough to let us take a look at Black Desert‘s latest expansion just as it was about to launch to the public. Coming in as a newbie, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, so this was a surprise.

Black Desert New Starting Point – Mountain of Eternal Winter

Aptly named Mountain of Eternal Winter, this new Black Desert expansion adds a brand-new starting zone for the game which allows adventurers to start off in treacherous snow-capped mountains that lay host to new monster zones, questlines, winter-themed activities, and a challenging boss. 

Coming in with a new character, you’re given a choice on whether to start with the default Ancient Stone Chamber questline or the new Mountain of Eternal Winter Questline. Despite being classified as a starting point for Veteran adventurers, newbies are very much welcome here and progression won’t be that much different whichever option you choose.

That said, this Black Desert alternate starting point for beginners is a great touch that provides players the freedom of choice on how to go about building a new character. You’re treated to a few fully-voiced cutscenes, pretty competent performances if I may say so, and you’re off to your standard MMO-fare quests.

As someone who is new to Black Desert and to the content, I’ll admit that a lot of the questlines and concepts flew above my head but Pearl Abyss has made strides to make this new starting area as friendly as possible, giving players access to everything they need to build up their character from scratch.

The surrounding area is huge but thankfully, you’ll meet Lando, a furry fellow that’s there to help you on your journey, providing quests and rewards along the way. Immediately, you’ll notice that Lando is fantastic company, and shows how much the developers really made this new area a place where veterans and newcomers can enjoy fresh new content.

Destruction, Drakania Style

Leveling up a new character is pretty fast thanks to the numerous quests you can get, but apart from the new area, one of the more exciting additions to the expansion is the new character class for Black Desert – The Drakania.

As someone who almost exclusively uses female avatars for reasons I won’t care to expound on, the Drakania class is a beautifully designed offensive character class that is described as “The Destroyer of the Ynix.”

Armed with her two-handed greatsword, Slayer, and her sub-weapon, Shard, the Drakania’s attacks are a flurry of fire and lightning that can take down mobs of enemies with ease. Using a leveled-up character provided by Pearl Abyss, we got a quick taste of what it was like to control this new class, and needless to say, it was something else.

Despite wielding hefty weapons, the Drakania has pretty decent mobility and an agile skill set that employs dash and jump attacks to weave in and out of combat. You can chase down enemies and lure mobs for good aoe damage that has pretty surprising range, allowing for easy farming in Black Desert.

Of course, since it would be unfair to judge actual battle prowess because of the leveled-up nature of the character I got to control, at least from what I’ve seen, the Drakania is a fun class to play if you’re looking to tear up the battlefield with visually impressive attacks that can deal a lot of damage. As with any new class, it may take some time before the community picks up the best use of the Drakania, but it’s not hard to imagine the class being a staple where damage is needed.

If you’re a newbie (like me), the latest Black Desert expansion seems to be a good point to start getting into the game if you’ve been wanting to do so. Despite the amount of content that’s already there, the new starting area is beginner-friendly enough and provides an alternate entry point for players looking for new content.