Leveling 1 – 61 Guide (Grinding)

Introduction

This guide focuses on leveling via grinding for the most efficient way to level alt characters.

There are multiple ways to level your character and depending on whether this is your first character or not, the path you choose may be different.

New Players

If it is your first character, I highly recommend creating a Season Character and following the main story questline. After you complete the Mediah questline, you should be around level 55 or 56. You will then need to grind to get a few more levels, so you can follow the recommended 56+ leveling spots in this guide.

Follow our Beginner Player Guide for more details about Season Characters and Season Servers.
If it is an alt character, feel free to level in whatever way you want. You don’t have to do the main questline if you don’t want to, but you may miss out on inventory slots.

Veteran Players

If you have completed the main story quests at least once on your main/alt character, you don’t have to do them again and can fast track by grinding instead.
If it is a Season Character, you can take the “Simplified questline” to complete all of the requirements for the season pass, or you can follow the main questline if that’s what you prefer.

If you take the Simplified questline, then you need to level yourself, either by following this guide or asking a friend to power level you.

Leveling EXP Buffs

There are two different types of EXP buffs:

Combat EXP
- This increases your Level EXP gained when killing monsters. It doesn’t affect the EXP you gain from questing.
Skill EXP
- This increases your Skill EXP gained when killing monsters. When your “Skill Level” gets to 100%, you will gain Skill points to allocate to your class skills.

For a full list of Combat and Skill EXP buffs, click here!

Party EXP

Although most spots are designed for solo grinding, there are a few places that support groups of 2, 3, or 5 players, and will drop separate loot for each player. When monsters are killed in a party, the combat EXP from the monster is shared between all party members. However, the EXP you gain isn’t just equally split depending on the number of people in the party. The share is actually higher, to incentivize leveling in a group.

For example:

With 2 people in the party, a monster that gives 100 EXP, would give 60 EXP to party member 1, and 60 EXP to party member 2.
With 3 people in the party, a monster that gives 100 EXP, would give 50 EXP to party member 1, 50 EXP to party member 2, and 50 EXP to party member 3.

There is also no difference in your EXP gain when you have 3 party members, compared to having 5 party members. This makes 3 person grind spots, like Mirumok, a great place to power-level others.

Party Members	Combat EXP per person
1 (solo)	100%
2	60%
3	50%
4	50%
5	50%

AFK Leveling

You can AFK level at the Training Dummies using a Book of Training if you are level 50 or higher.
AFK leveling can boost your Skill and Combat EXP.
The Book of Training costs 1 million silver per hour and the amount of EXP you get is reduced compared to grinding.
You can use EXP buffs to increase the amount of EXP you get when AFK leveling.
For more information check our AFK Leveling guide.

Power leveling

Power leveling is when a high-level player kills monsters while you are in a party and standing nearby. You will get EXP from the monsters killed and can level very quickly. Powerleveling can take as little as 2 hours to get to level 56 if the person helping you has high AP and you use all available EXP buffs.

However, I only recommend power leveling if it is an alt character and NOT your first or main character. This is because power leveling leaves you with very few skill points ( approx 400 – 500) and you will not be able to get all the skills you need to grind on your own. As well, if it is your first character, then it’s recommended to create a season character so that you can get a good start with gear. Season characters require you to do the main story quest, so you will have to do it eventually anyway.

If your friends are willing to help you all the way then you should be fine, but please understand that power leveling to the level you want to be will not stop you from having to grind more for money/skill points.

It’s also important to note that if there is a 10-level difference between the highest level character and the lowest, then all party members will not get loot.

One of the benefits of tagged characters is that any Combat and Skill EXP gained through killing monsters is shared with both characters.

For example, if you grind on Character A, the same amount of EXP will be gained on Character B. You can also level with Character B and gain shared EXP on Character A.

*AFK Leveling via Training Dummies or Combat EXP gained through life skills is not shared.

After gaining EXP on one of your tagged characters, you must collect the EXP by logging onto the other character and pressing the “Get EXP” button in the Tag window.

When obtaining accumulated EXP, leveling upis temporarily halted at Lv. 49, 56, and 60.You will need to press the “Get EXP” again to level up with the accumulated EXP to the next threshold.
You will also need to complete the “[To Level 50!] Go Beyond Your Own Limits” quest through the Black Spirit (/) in order to level from Lv. 49 to Lv. 50.

Max Level and EXP required per level

Black Desert does not have a level cap, but the “soft cap” for levels is considered to be 62. Once you have reached level 62, there are very minor buffs for reaching higher levels and it is not essential or required to grind purely for EXP.

After reaching level 61/62, you can focus on grinding for other goals to improve your gear or collect treasure items.

The highest current level reached by a player is level 66.

Level	EXP Required	Level	EXP Required	Level	EXP Required	Level	EXP Required
1- 4	1	20	640.005	36	21.767.828	52	1.245.715.896
5	161	21	857.666	37	25.657.269	53	1.868.573.844
6	472	22	1.133.804	38	30.109.369	54	2.802.860.766
7	1.181	23	1.480.364	39	35.187.443	55	8.408.582.298
8	2.626	24	1.911.035	40	40.960.005	56	21.021.455.745
9	5.319	25	2.441.411	41	47.501.047	57	52.553.639.363
10	10.005	26	3.089.163	42	54.890.322	58	105.107.278.725
11	17.721	27	3.874.210	43	63.213.635	59	210.214.557.450
12	29.865	28	4.818.908	44	72.563.144	60	630.643.672.350
13	48.273	29	5.948.238	45	83.037.661	61	1.261.287.344.700
14	75.300	30	7.290.005	46	94.742.974	62	2.522.574.689.400
15	113.911	31	8.875.042	47	118.571.374	63	5.045.149.378.800
16	167.777	32	10.737.423	48	158.997.683	64	10.090.298.757.600
17	241.381	33	12.914.685	49	207.619.316	65	20.180.597.515.200
18	340.127	34	15.448.049	50	415.238.632	66-100	403,611,950,304,000
19	470.464	35	18.382.661	51	830.477.264

Starting Zone and Tutorial

All new characters must select a starting zone when they create their character. You can choose between Ancient Stone Chamber and Mountain of Eternal Winter.

I would personally recommend choosing the Ancient Stone Chamber for the smoothest leveling experience. You can still complete the Mountain of Eternal Winter questline at a later date on your character.

When you load into the game on a new character, you will also have to complete a short tutorial. This takes approximately 10 minutes and unfortunately, you can only skip it if you have already completed it before on another character.

Recommended Leveling Zones

Levels 1 – 15

Season Characters:

For the early levels, follow the main story quests. When you arrive at Velia town, you will talk to Alustin and will have the option to follow the Main Story, or take the Simplified Questline.

If you are a new player and it is your first character, please level to 56 by selecting the “[Crossroad] Main” option and following the main story quests: Balenos > Serendia > Calpheon > Mediah. You can use our Beginner/Returning Guide for more information about leveling your first character.
Take the Simplified Questline option if this is an alt character and you would like to level via grinding.

Requirements for the Simplified Questline:

Completed the “[Pet] Bareed’s Junaid” quest from Bareed in Mediah
- This pet quest can be found in your Suggested quest tab under “[ADV Support] Pets, Loyal Companions”.

After taking the Simplified questline, go to Fughar to take the next quests up to “[Season] Following in His Footsteps”. Now you can grind to reach higher levels and follow our recommended leveling spots. After reaching certain levels, you can talk to your Black Spirit to obtain all the rewards you would normally get by completing the main story quests.

Kill the monsters outside of Velia to level up to 15.

Levels 15 – 21

Next, we will move to Moretti Plantation just outside of Heidel. You want to kill the monsters here until you are level 21.

Levels 21 – 25

For levels 21 to 25, kill the monsters at Glish Swamp.

Levels 25 – 30

Next, move over to Bloody Monastery, located south of Glish, for level 25 to 30.

Levels 30 – 35

Move to Red Orc Camp (west of Heidel/Glish) for level 30 to 35.

Levels 35 – 40

You can kill monsters at Keplan Mine (north of Keplan) for level 35 – 40.

Levels 40 – 45

Next, move to Saunils Camp (southwest of Keplan) for levels 40 to 45.

Levels 45 – 48

For levels 45 to 48, kill the monsters in Mansha Forest (west of Calpheon)

Levels 48 – 52

For levels 48 to 52, you can kill the Catfishmen at Lake Kaia.

When you reach level 49, a popup will appear at the top of your screen saying “To complete the [To Level 50!] Go Beyond Your Own Limits quest and level up, you must summon the Black Spirit (,).”

Summon your Black Spirit and take the quest “[To Level 50! Go Beyond Your Own Limits“
Then use the Chat option at your Black Spirit to complete the quest
You cannot level past 49 if you don’t complete this quest.

Levels 52 – 56

For levels 52 to 56 you have a few options to grind at, the location depends on your current gear.

Easier Spots:

Helms Post

Recommended AP: 80
Recommended DP: 120

Manes Hideout

Recommended AP: 80
Recommended DP: 120

Harder Spots:

Polly Forest

Recommended AP: 160
Recommended DP: 200

Levels 56 – 58

For level 56 – 58 you also have a few options for where to grind.

At level 56, you also want to go and complete your class Succession and Awakening quests to fully unlock your skill tree. These quests are obtainable from your Black Spirit, and can be found in your quest log (O) under Suggestions.

Polly Forest

Recommended AP: 160
Recommended DP: 200

Desert Naga Temple

Recommended AP: 100
Recommended DP: 200

Titium Valley (Desert Fogans)

Recommended AP: 100
Recommended DP: 200

Gahaz Bandits

Recommended AP: 140
Recommended DP: 230

Shultz Guard (Party spot for 3 members)

Recommended AP: 240
Recommended DP: 270

Level 58 – 61 (Questing)

Between levels 58 to 61, you have the option to grind via questing if you would like to. You can still grind monsters if that is what you prefer, but questing can be quicker and does not require monster killing, so you don’t need gear to get a high level. Leveling via questing is also the fastest way to reach 60 – 61, taking approximately 1 hour.

In order to level via questing, you will need to complete a long questline to obtain the “Chenga Tome“. This item can be equipped on any of your characters (including Season Characters) and gives increased EXP from quests – making it vital if you would like to level via questing.

Use the following guides if you would like to level via questing:

Chenga Tome Questline
Level 58 – 59 Questing Guide
Level 59 – 60 Questing Guide
Level 60 – 61 Questing Guide

Level 58 or higher (Grinding)

These are the recommended spots after you have reached level 58 or higher.

There are also various other grinding locations in the game and all have different requirements, silver per hour, item drops, etc. At this point, you want to basically grind where is best for you and what you are looking to achieve. For example, you may want to start grinding for the Infinite Potions if you are a new player.

If you are a Season character, I would recommend grinding various places for the Regional Season Quests

Taphtar Plain (Centaurs) – High silver grind spot with low gear requirements

Recommended AP: 175
Recommended DP: 220

Roud Sulfur Mine – Drops Archaeologists Map Piece

Recommended AP: 200
Recommended DP: 250

Blood Wolf Settlement –Drops Infinite HP Potion Piece

Recommended AP: 190
Recommended DP: 210

Best End-game Spot for EXP

The best grind spot for EXP at end-game if you would like to push for high levels is Gyfin Rhasia Temple (Underground).

This grind spot has a recommended AP of 300, and recommended DP of 380.

Gyfin Rhasia Temple (Underground) Guide

Leveling 1 – 61 Guide (Grinding) - BDFoundry (2024)