Learn everything you need to know about ships in Black Desert Online!
Ships in Black Desert Online allow players to traverse and travel across water bodies like rivers and oceans. You can do such things without needing the NPC ferry when you have a ship. Ships in this game come in different types and tiers, each with specific features like durability and skills.
This guide will show you the different types of ships and what you need to craft and maintain them in Black Desert Online.
Contents
Epheria Frigate Sailboat
Epheria Frigate is one of two available T2 (tier 2) Great Ocean ships. It used to be the best ship available for battle, but since the Great Expedition update, it is now considered lower tier. Having said this, it is still a great achievement to obtain one!
Epheria Frigate is the best T2 ship for battle and sea monster hunting. It has more cannons and greater maneuverability and speed than the other Tier 2 ship, the Epheria Sailboat.
Three materials can be time consuming and often considered a bottleneck (or too expensive to buy vs. gathering yourself). These include Logs, Shining Powder, and Corals. Epheria Frigate is more expensive to build and to buy on the Marketplace.
This ship can be used for Barter and Trade. However, you should remember that it has less Weight Limit and Inventory than Bartali Sailboat, specifically 1,000 less LT and about half less in inventory slots.
How to Craft Epheria Frigate Ships in Black Desert Online:
Crafting at Port Epheria Shipyard
You can craft an Epheria Frigate at the Port Epheria Shipyard. (2nd floor, Epheria 3-5).
What you will need:
Design: Epheria Frigate x25 – This item is only available through quest rewards. There is a daily quest you can get from Philaberto Falasi in Epheria. Valencia also has weekly fishing quests (Professional Fishing or higher required), and the Margoria questline gives x3 Design: Epheria Frigate.
Plated Pine Plywood x1600 – Plated Pine Plywoods require you to first craft Pine Plywood. This is done by chopping Pine Timber x5 to create Pine Planks, then chopping the Pine Planks x5 again to create Pine Plywood. It can also be obtained when chopping Pine Timber if you know Chopping: Beginner.
You will then need coconuts, which can be gathered in Valencia. Use ten coconuts and 1 Pine Plywood to craft a Plated Pine Plywood. You will need Heating: Skilled knowledge to craft them. They are also available from various daily quests in Kamasylvia.
Gathering Logs for Epheria Frigate:
Logs are often considered a bottleneck item. Unless there is a special or similar event, you can expect these to be in low supply/price. The base Log amount required for an Epheria Frigate ship is 18,880.
To gather logs, you need to equip an axe and use it to hit trees. You can also gather Logs with a Hedgehog Pet.
Hedgehog pets are given a chance to obtain an extra gather. Depending on the Tier, it also gives an additional Life Skill EXP of +1-4%.
Hedgehog Gathering Proc Chances:
- T1 and T2 Hedgehog: 30% proc chance
- T3 Hedgehog: 40% proc chance
- T4 Hedgehog: 50% proc chance
Enhanced Flax Fabric x450 – Enhanced Flax Fabric requires you first to craft Flax Fabric. This is done by heating Flax x5 and then grinding Flax Thread x10 (requires Grinding: Beginner). You will also need Shining Powder, which can be created using Alchemy. Use 1 Flax Fabric and 1 Shining Powder to craft an Enhanced Flax Fabric.
You will need Grinding: Skilled knowledge to craft them. This material is also available in the Central Market. They are also available from various daily quests in Kamasylvia.
Standardized Timber Square x1000 – This item can be obtained by processing Usable Scantling x10. If you know Wood Chopping Beginner, it is also obtainable by chopping logs.
Jade Coral Ingot x800 – Jade Coral Ingots require you to craft Melted Titanium Shards first. Heating Titanium Ore x5 does this (requires Heating: Beginner). You will also need Prairie Green Coral, which requires 3 Green Corals and 1 Resplendent Emerald to craft.
Use 5 Melted Titanium Shards and 1 Prairie Green Coral to craft a Jade Coral Ingot. You will need Heating: Skilled knowledge to craft them. They are also available from a daily quest in Kamasylvia and other Kamaslyvia story quests.
Other Epheria Frigate Quests for Materials (Grana Dailies)
The following quests will give you 3 Enhanced Flax Fabric or 3 Pine Coated Plywood. They are Grana dailies, found under your Recurring tab. Look for the section called [Lv. 58] Kamasylvia Contribution 0/26. They are towards the bottom of the list.
- [Repeat] A Tune for Spirit
- [Repeat] Arnatte’s Melody
- Repeat] Carrot Delivery
- [Repeat] Even the Smallest of Life
- [Repeat] Master of Acting
- [Repeat] Meet the Deadline
Once you’ve created the ship, you will have a Ship Registration: Epheria Frigate, and you can register it at a pier just like any other ship.
Epheria Frigate Ship Equipment
All equipment can be enhanced using Black Stone (Armor) to enhance to +5, then Concentrated Magical Black Stone (Armor) to enhance up to +10. If the enhancement fails from +5 and up, the level will decrease by 1.
List of equipment you can buy from Dock Managers:
- Epheria Frigate: White Horn Prow – The White Horn Prow will give your ship DP +10, Speed +1% and can be enhanced for an increase of DP +1, Speed +0.5% each time.
- Epheria Frigate: Red Breeze Sail – The Red Breeze Sail will give your ship Max Power +1000, Turn +1%, and can be enhanced for an increase of Max Power +200, Turn +0.2% each time.
- Epheria Frigate: Lillia Cannon – The Lillia Cannon will give your ship AP +10, HP +1000 and can be enhanced for an increase of AP +1, HP +500 each time.
- Epheria Frigate: Light Plating – The Light Plating will give your ship DP +10, Weight Limit +100 LT, and can be enhanced for an increase of DP +1, Weight Limit +10 LT each time.
General Mechanics For Black Desert Online Ships
Shipyard Contribution Cost
- 5 prerequisite buildings (9 CP)
- 1 Shipyard building: Port Epheria 3-5 2F (3 CP)
- Worker Lodgings (1+ CP)
- 1 Lodging: Port Epheria 3-3 2F (1 CP)
You will need to free up at least 13 Contribution Points. (Or more depending on the cost of lodging for workers.)
Read: A Quick Guide to All Classes in Black Desert Online
You can assign multiple workers to build your Epheria Ship. More workers mean faster build time. Epheria Frigate License shows a Workload of 1,050, slightly lower than the Epheria Sailboat.
Workers can come from any town if the nodes are connected to Port Epheria. Also, note that nearby Calpheon City has cheap lodging, often just 1 to 2 CP per worker.
Ship UI (User Interface)
All T1 or higher ships have a new UI when you board them. There are a few key changes that are important to note.
Currents and Wind
Firstly, ocean currents and wind have been added to the ship sailing mechanics of the game. These affect your ship’s speed, as seen on your new UI.
The numbers shown are the current strength of the wind/current, and the arrows around the border display the direction.
Ideally, you want both arrows at the bottom to get the ship’s maximum speed. Going against the wind/current will cause you to go very slowly and may even make your boat go back if they are too strong.
Currents do not change and depend completely on your position in the sea. There are also no currents near the land.
However, the wind can change at any time and become stronger the further out you are at sea. The wind icon will change color depending on its strength.
Ship Rations and Emergency Rations
Also, the “power” stat has been changed to ship rations on all boats and will run out quicker. Rations are consumed when the boat moves and will drain quickly when you use your ship skills or island interactions.
When you run out of ship rations, your boat will move much slower and may not even move if you are against the wind/current. You can also not use ship skills if you run out of rations.
You must go to a wharf manager to restore your ship rations and refuel the ship. You can also get your ship crew to gather supplies from islands for the chance to restore a small amount of your ship rations.
It is also important to note that you can now not restore rations on T2 and T3 using the Breezy Crystal (the item will still be consumed).
If you cannot restore the ship rations, you can use Emergency Rations. This is done using consumable foods. The higher the food grade, the more rations it will give your ship. While on your ship, press P to open the Ship info window and click the + (plus) symbol next to rations. You can select food and your desired quantity (like feeding workers).
Cannons
A player can no longer mount cannons on T2 or T3 ships. Your ship will automatically store certain cannonballs when you refuel them at a wharf manager (300 for Epheria Caravel, 600 for Epheria Galleass).
This means you do not need to buy cannonballs for your T2 or T3 ships, but if you run out of cannonballs, you will need to return to the wharf manager to restock.
The cannons are now controlled using LMB and RMB. LMB will fire all the cannons on the left side of your ship, and RMB will fire all the cannons on your right side.
So, if your ship has four cannons on each side, you will fire all four cannons on that side and use four cannon balls.
The cooldown for your cannons is shared, so you cannot fire both sides simultaneously. However, a new ship skill will give you a separate cooldown for each side.
Another important thing to note is that T2 and T3 cannons will not be as effective against vell. Using your T1 ship (Epheria Sailboat/Frigate) will be better against vell.
Gear and Inventory Management
Finally, Equipment and your ship inventory can no longer be used when you are out in the ocean. This means you will not be able to store items directly in your ship inventory anymore, and you must instead go to a wharf manager to deposit/withdraw items or ship gear from your boat.
However, you can now move items directly from your town storage into your ship (if you are a wharf manager in a town). In addition, if your ship is destroyed, all cargo on the ship will be destroyed.
That’s it for this guide; I hope this guide helps new players with BDO’s Ocean content especially. Good luck on your journey as a Sailor in BDO!!
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