Black Desert: How To Get Pearls (2024)

Players who venture into Black Desert Online for the first time will find themselves thrust deep into the conflict between the Kingdom of Valencia and the Republic of Calpheon, with the merchant-focused Mediah being the newest battleground in a bid to control powerful Black Stones in its eponymous black deserts. As players adventure their way across the lands, they may encounter Pearls that give players access to the game’s exclusive shop.

With Pearls being the equivalent of a microtransaction currency in Black Desert Online, players understand just how much of a rare commodity these Pearls become - especially for the endgame. Here's how players can earn Pearls in Black Desert Online, and a few additional tips about their use.

Updated on October 30, 2023, by Rhenn Taguiam: With Black Desert Online’s Spooky Playground in full swing, the acclaimed MMO’s Halloween festivities celebrate the holiday with various thematic spectacles such as cosmetics, mounts, and other rewards. However, players with funds to spare may be interested in how the Spooky Playground may affect their purchase and usage of Pearls for their paid currency activities. In this regard, players may want to learn some of the best uses of their Pearls to maximize their purchases, such as knowing which items to buy first and how to use in-game information to ensure they’re getting their Pearl’s worth for their purchases.

Is This The Same As The Black Pearl?

Similar to other modern MMOs, Black Desert Online gameplay offers a wide range of resources and currencies players could use to spice up their experience. Part of these resources are Pearls and Black Pearls. At its core, Pearls have an icon that shows a pearl that is whiteish in color and serves as a premium currency.

Opposite Pearls are Black Pearls. This is a reward currency that can be acquired through various means, such as unlocking Achievements and doing Quests, acquiring Knowledge and improving Amity, as well as finishing Nodes. Other ways of getting Black Pearls include buying and selling accessories, as well as progressing through the Main Quest regardless of Black Desert Class.

Similar to Pearls, players can use Black Pearls to acquire various items through the Pearl Shop. However, due to how Black Pearls are a more general currency, the item offerings for Black Pearls in the shop are rather tame in comparison to the more grandiose items purchasable via Pearls.

What To Buy With This Premium Currency?

Before players get to check how exactly they can earn Pearls, they need to remember that Pearls are a premium currency. This means they’re used solely in the Pearl Shop, with the menu being divided into various categories across various available items, be it cosmetics or mild enhancements for Black Desert Classes like the Ninja.

On top of buying Pearls itself, players may be able to purchase items under Loyalties, Travel Aid, Apparels, Interior, Mounts, Pets, and even Beauty categories. This makes the Pearl Shop resemble the conventional shop with exclusive currency, with items for purchase focusing more on cosmetics or items that can give players an edge in fiercer combat encounters.

Use Pearls: What To Buy First?

When players acquire Pearls, the Pearl Shop gives them a wide variety of items to purchase. However, while Cosmetics remain one of the best options to purchase in any MMO, players may want to check what other important items they should consider buying as soon as they have a stockpile of Pearls at their disposal. Here’s a quick rundown of items they can get with Pearls:

• Campsite: A summonable Campsite gives players an instant way to store items, repair gear, and access general merchandise. This is perfect for players who want to grind PVE areas without having to go back and forth between locations.
• Cosmetics: One of the best purchases with Pearls is Cosmetics, especially if players are aiming for a particular style that isn’t achievable with the present slate of cosmetics in the game.
• Pets: Aside from being adorable companions, certain Pets do provide bonuses depending on their types. It’s ideal to train multiple pets of the same tier instead of one at a time to maximize bonuses.
• Weight Limit Boosts: Being able to increase the overall load a character can carry will avoid the need to have a horse all the time to carry loot.
• Permanent Horse Calling Horn: Thanks to this item, players no longer need to worry about horse-calling distance when it comes to summoning their mighty steed.
• Value Packs: Limited-time items in Value Packs aren’t immediately worth the Pearls due to their duration-based existence.

Use Pearls: Read The Patch Notes For Offers

Aside from taking note of which items to buy with Pearls, players enjoying Black Desert Online even for the PVP should also capitalize on Patch Notes for advanced information. Some Patches may contain special offers and/or discounts that could place some items on sale, making them cheaper to get with Pearls.

Even if players aren’t interested in the items mentioned in the Patch Notes, they can use this information to anticipate movements in the general market to identify items that may be affected by the presence of these deals. Knowing these in advance could transform an ordinary Pearl consumer into a potential businessman in the BDO market scene.

Use Pearls: Secure The Best Purchases On Patch Day

Building on reading about Patch Notes, players should head onto the Marketplace as soon as the game hits Patch Day. This usually refers to the very first day a patch is implemented. Heading to the market this early gives Black Desert Online players a head start on their purchases, allowing them to score their must-haves before other players get them.

Should players have items they want to sell, going to the Marketplace to sell them for a mark-up should attract higher-paying customers on Patch Day. That way, players have room to slowly adjust their prices as days go by, instead of settling for a lower price after the market has adjusted when only entering their item for sale a few days later.

Use Pearls: Take Note Of Holiday Offers

Aside from taking a constant look at Patch Notes for good deals on Pearl items, players enjoying the Black Desert Online experience should also consider looking into Holiday Offers. Like other MMOs, Black Desert Online celebrates various holidays with special in-game events, some of them offering similar storylines with exclusive items.

Checking both the Patch Notes and Announcements coinciding with these events can lead players to potential Holiday Offers they can only purchase with Pearls. This way, players may not only get certain items for much cheaper, but the game may pave the way for exclusive Holiday Items to be purchased via Pearls as well.

Get Pearls: Pearl Shop

The first and major way players can purchase Pearls is through the Pearl Shop. Since many of the items in the Pearl Shop are purchasable via Pearls, the only way to acquire the currency from here is to purchase Acoins, which is another premium currency that players can use to acquire Pearls in the game. This is quite similar to other in-game currencies, although some are tied to more specific tasks such as Black Desert PVP. The exchange rate of Acoins to Pearls is 1:1, but Acoins cost differently when bought in real life. Here’s the current exchange rate of Acoins to USD, which players can purchase through the Purchase Acoin section of the Black Desert Online site:

• 20000 Acoin: USD 200
• 15000 Acoin: USD 150
• 10000 Acoin: USD 100
• 6000 Acoin: USD 60
• 4000 Acoin: USD 40
• 3000 Acoin: USD 30
• 2000 Acoin: USD 20
• 1000 Acoin: USD 10

Get Pearls: Console Stores

Another way players can purchase Pearls is through the in-console stores, depending on what platforms gamers are using. This is similar to purchasing Pearls from the Pearl Shop, only this time from the platform’s store instead of the in-game store. Usual rates of Pearls in the Xbox, PlayStation, and other console stores include the following:

• 10000 Pearls (+1500): USD 99.99
• 6000 Pearls (+600): USD 59.99
• 4000 Pearls (+360): USD 39.99
• 3000 Pearls (+200): USD 29.99
• 2000 Pearls (+40): USD 19.99
• 1000 Pearls: USD 9.99

Get Pearls: Central Market

As with other MMOs, the gameplay of Black Desert Online offers players the opportunity to use a Central Market as a form of an in-game marketplace or auction house. Players can put up items they’ve acquired through Black Desert PVE for sale, which includes Pearl Shop Items.

While Pearls themselves aren’t a part of the Central Market’s offerings, items purchasable from the Pearl Shop might be put up for sale in exchange of various resources such as Silver. Given the nature of these items as premium, however, players who want to try acquiring them from the Central Market should expect to pay a lot more than expected. This is currently the “best” way to earn Pearls outside the cash shop, and even then this seems unconventional since players who do this will skip the Pearl acquisition process and head straight to purchasing their desired Pearl Shop time right away.

Are There Scams?

There are currently no other ways of acquiring Pearls in Black Desert Online gameplay except to purchase them through one’s console marketplace or in the MMO’s in-game store. Players need to take note that Pearls aren’t tradeable as well, meaning others who offer to provide Pearls for free via trading are likely engaging in a scam.

This also means players should avoid other players who offer to purchase Pearls on their behalf. Likewise, those who offer to take a player’s real-life money in order to put Pearls inside their account are likely scammers, and players are advised to make direct dealings with stores themselves.

Black Desert Online

MMORPG

Platform(s)

PC , Xbox One , PS4 , iOS , Android

Released

March 3, 2016

Developer(s)

Pearl Abyss

Publisher(s)

Pearl Abyss