Black Desert Online is a sandbox multiplayer game that can eat away any player's time without even realizing it happened. Getting a fine horse can last hours, as the players get sucked into different quests and tasks on the way. Most of the game consists of wandering around the map, exploring new terrains, towns, and cities. It can be overwhelming at first, but it's not at all confusing or hard to master.
One question a lot of people ask is: what are nodes and why do players need them? Nodes are essentially locations on the map where players can invest points and establish trade routes so that workers can gather resources. These nodes will not show up until the area has been fully explored, and they're most effective when linked together, and to a nearby city. Bigger towns and cities are nodes by default, but the smaller ones require manual investment.
10 Types Of Nodes
Nodes can either be location nodes or resource nodes. Location nodes can be city, town, village, gateway, trading post, connection, or danger nodes. While resource nodes are farms, forests, mines, or investment nodes.
Players can connect location nodes via contribution points, making them mostly routes to use later. Resource nodes are places to send workers for gathering anything for players. Location and resource nodes don't work alone, as gathering resources isn't useful if workers don't have a route to use, and routes are useless if they aren't productively used for anything. Another thing to look out for is that different types of research nodes are linked to different types of location nodes. So for example, the forest node belongs to trading posts, connection nodes, and danger nodes. Getting to know the system can take a while, but once a player gets a hang of it, it's not hard to organize and manage a perfect route.
9 When Should You Start Thinking About Nodes?
Another thing players are not sure about is when to bother with investing in nodes. A lot of them start investing too early, when in fact the first place to really get involved in them is when players reach the first city (Velia). When arriving, the first thing to check is how many points the character has to invest. Players can invest and withdraw these contribution points freely.
The first node location in Velia is the Bartali Farm. This farm has access to potatoes as resources, so after investing, workers can start gathering potatoes immediately. This is no accident by the game, as potatoes can be used to make cheap beer, and beer is used to keep workers' stamina up (ironically).
8 Setting Up
When clicking on a node, that map will show the specific area that it belongs to. On the top, left corner players will see the 'Node Management' section. There they can see how many points they need to invest. Using the escape button will return to the map, and using the right mouse button, players can again click on the node. This will show players the location of that node's manager.
After arriving at the node manager, using the R button will interact with it. Here, players can invest in the node. After successfully investing in the node, players can manage the routes and more. Uninvesting can be done at any time and doesn't cost anything. For investing, players have to go to the node manager, but breaking the investment can be done anywhere by interacting with the node on the map.
7 Leveling Up
Players can also level up a node to the maximum of level 10. This increases the amount and value of the drops brought here, so it's definitely worth doing from time to time. To level up, players need to invest energy.
After a few level-ups in town and city nodes, players will see that more quests show up and merchant prices get lower. But players need to invest a little more energy to see this effect.
6 Connecting Nodes To Create Routes
The number one use of nodes is their connection as routes. Nodes are absolutely useless alone and need to be connected to at least one other node, or better yet, a city.
Players usually start off next to a city and grow from there, either connecting straight to the city first or investing in more nodes to create routes and reach more resources. If players want to interact with a node manager that isn't invested in yet, the game will automatically show the closes node to connect with.
5 Benefits That Nodes Provide
After creating a web of nodes and successfully connecting them to a city, players can enjoy the benefits of workers gathering resources from all of these locations. Players can also buy products from any node and sell them to a connected one. If someone does this, it's important to note that the further a node is, the better the profit will be when selling.
Also, for the best strategy, players should always check the market price of any bought item and see where it's most profitable to get the most out of it.
4 Hiring Workers
Clicking on the worker button will show players where the nearest Worker Supervisor can be found. Contracting a worker costs 5 energy, and the game will give random workers. Most of the time these people are basic characters, but sometimes the game will randomly choose a rarer, more gifted worker.
Players will need 1 lodging to hire workers. These can be found in every city. If a player is not satisfied with a worker, they can choose another for 5 energy. First-time purchase of any worker will cost a few silvers, so players should make sure that there's enough silver in their inventory to start purchasing. Moreover, if a player is unsatisfied and wants to choose a different worker, that will cost silver as well, so don't be hasty when deciding.
3 How Many Workers?
Players usually have 50 to 100 workers at a time in well-developed networks. This should be enough for a sizable profit per day. Starting out, players should aim in between 10 and 30 workers and expand from there.
Players will notice that some workers will be productive, while others are less profitable. These can be let go as time goes by, but everyone has a few workers that don't gather as much. The average for this is about 1-2%, so players don't have to worry. If from 50 workers 10 or more don't do anything, it's time to recalculate the strategy.
2 Starting The Job
Players can put their employees to work at the node manager next to the desired node. Clicking on the mode manager will let players select a resource to gather, and then they can invest some contribution points in the chosen resource.
So both the obtaining of the node and the choosing of the resources need some points, and these two have to be done at the node manager. After choosing the right resource, players can click on Start Work and workers will do just that. All gathered resources will be left in the storage. Players should be strategic with choosing the best worker for each different resource to get the best results.
1 Maintaining Workers
Workers have their own stamina that needs some attention. Using the pickaxe icon, players can check each worker individually. The yellow stamina bar shows the amount of work the worker can do before they stop entirely.
Their stamina can be refilled by giving them food or drink. The cheapest and easiest solution is beer. This is the easiest to make and will be enough for them. Because the number one ingredient for beer is potatoes, the smartest decision would be gathering as much of those as possible by the first and maybe even second nodes.