This is an old guide on the early boats in the game. If you are interested in ocean content I would recommend reading my beginner’s sailing guide as it will guide you to a free Bartali Sailboat, sailor slots and a lot of more useful information. Some of this information is outdated, but if you’re only interested in a simple boat for fishing then you might find something useful on this page.
In Black Desert Online a sizable area of the game can only be accessed by using boats as there are many islands and an entire continent across the sea from where you start the game. Owning a boat is not necessary but can be quite handy as you progress through the game.
If your interest lies in fishing and deep-sea scavenging then a good boat is a must. There are two ways to get a boat in Black Desert Online. The easy way is to simply buy a boat license in the marketplace (if one is for sale), which you then need to register at a wharf manager. The other way is to build a boat.
What every boat owner must also know is that boats have a lifetime, meaning that when the lifetime runs out the boat is ruined and cannot be used anymore. This is separate from the boat durability.
How to Build a Boat
First of as this does cause some confusion. Instead of building a boat you create a ship license, which you then register at a wharf to receive your ship as mentioned before.
The very first thing you need is to gain access to a shipyard. You can get a shipyard in any of the coastal towns by spending contribution points. The highest tier which you can upgrade the shipyards too varies from town to town. Velia, Heidel, Tarif, and Calpheon only have tier 1 shipyards. Altinova has tier a 2 shipyard and Epheria has a tier 3 shipyard, capable of creating Epheria sailboat licenses.
When you have found a shipyard, you can access it and see which ship licenses can be produced there, how much material is needed for each license and the time required. You also need a worker to create the ship license, which is usually not a problem as every town allows you to have a single worker without the need of lodgings.
The time listed is the time needed to complete a single material piece. As an example, the Calpheon rowboat needs to complete 65 cycles where each cycle takes 20 minutes for a speed 50 worker. You can, however, use multiple workers to work on a single boat to speed this up.
Your workers can also come from different towns as long as the towns are connected via nodes. The materials you use need to be located in the storage of the town from which the worker originates. So, if for example you are making an Epherian Sailboat in Epheria and want to use a worker from Velia to work on steel ingots, the steel ingots must be located in the Velia storage and not Epheria. If you know little about workers you can read my Black Desert Online workers guide.
When you have access to the correct shipyard tier, at least some of the needed materials in the correct storage and at least a single available worker you can start the production, which is completed when you have added all the needed materials to the ship with your workers. Note that the license goes automatically into your storage at the city were the boat license is made.
Types of Boats in Black Desert Online
There are four different types of boats that you can build on your own, with a few more being only possible for a guild to make. These four are the raft, rowboat, fishing boat and the Epheria Sailboat. You can only produce the raft by using the Shipyard in Velia and there are three varieties or the rowboat, the regular, Calpheon, and Mediah varieties. To be able to build boats you first need to get some experience in gathering and processing.
Rafts
The raft is the simplest of the boats and is quite easy to produce. The material requirements are only 25 logs and three black stone powders. You can buy the required material from the market or you can gather them.
To get the logs you need to chop down trees with an axe. To get the black stone powder you need to mine rocks and get rough stones. You must then get a refinery by expending contribution points and have a worker turn the rough stone into black stone powder were 2 rough stones = 1 black stone powder.
The stats for the raft are: Durability: 40,100. Lifespan: 85,441 and Max Load: 180 LT.
Rowboats
The rowboat is the second ship you can produce in tier 1 shipyards. It requires more materials than the raft but is clearly a better boat. There are three varieties of the rowboat. The regular rowboat, the Calpheon rowboat, and the Mediah rowboat.
The stats for the regular rowboat are: Durability 70.100. Lifespan 235,201 and Weight limit 360 LT.
The stats for the Calpheon rowboat are: Durability 80.100. Lifespan 376,321 and Weight limit 450 LT.
The stats for the Mediah rowboat are: Durability 90.100. Lifespan 376,321 and Weight limit 360 LT
Below you can see the materials required to build each type of boat and the main difference between them.
How to get the required materials:
Scantling is made by processing logs. At lowest skill: 10 logs process into 1 usable scantling.
Plywood is made by processing timber of the required type into planks and then process those planks into plywood.
At lowest skill: 50 timber process into 10 planks which again process into1 plywood
Ingots are made by processing the metal into shards and then process those shards into ingots.
At lowest skill: 50 ore process into 10 metal shards which again process into 1 ingot (Brass = 5 copper + 5 zinc shards)
The sap is bought or gathered directly with a fluid collector.
The black stone powder is made by having a worker turn your rough stones into black stone powder in a refinery or by grinding crystals. You can read more about getting black stone powder here.
The needed timber and ore can be gathered by workers at nodes. The rest must be gathered by yourself or bought from the market.
The Fishing Boat
If your main interest is to get a boat for fishing, then the fishing boat is your best choice. To be able to build a fishing boat you need access to tier 2 shipyards, which are available at Epheria and Altinova. The fishing boat has more inventory slots than the rowboats and can hold more weight while being a little bit slower. Below you can see the materials needed and the basic stats of the fishing boat. The time for each cycle is the same as for a rowboat.
The stats for the fishing boat are Durability: 130,100. Lifespan: 174,721 and Max Load: 540 LT.
The Epheria Sailboat
The Epheria sailboat can only be constructed at a tier 3 shipyard. The Epheria sailboat is the second largest sailboat that you can get without belonging to a guild and gathering together all the materials is a daunting task. The time needed to produce one is also immense. Below you can see the materials needed for the Epheria sailboat and the time for each cycle.
How to get the required materials:
To get the Design: Epheria Sailboat you need to complete a daily quest at Epheria which is given by Philaberto. He is located in front of the keep were the Epheria Port node manager is. The quest requires you to deliver two crates to Sebastian which is located at the harbor. This quest takes a few minutes to complete and rewards with a single design.
The standardized timber square is made by processing usable scantling which is made by processing logs.
At lowest skill: 100 logs process into 10 usable scantlings which process into 1 standardized timber square
The steel is made by processing iron ore into iron shards and then process the shards together with coal to make steel ingots.
At lowest skill: 50 ore process into 10 shards, were 5 shards and 5 coal process into 1 steel ingot.
The other materials are made as mentioned before. Here is also a more detailed guide on making an Epheria Sailboat.
Where to register a boat
When you have gotten yourself a ship license you need to find a wharf manager or ferry crossing keeper to register your boat. Now be careful where you register the boat as you cannot move it from that wharf unless you sail it to a different one.
The best place to register a boat is near the location where you intend to use it. Remember that boats have a limited lifespan so spending time for unnecessary sailing is ill-advised unless you are just cruising for fun.
When you have decided on a wharf you need to talk to the wharf manager or ferry crossing keeper there, click the “Register ship” button at the bottom of the screen, click your license and register. You can now take your ship out and go for a spin.
Boat Accessories
There are boat accessories that you can add to your boats to increase speed, cargo capacity and DP. They can be produced in a ship part workshop which can be found in any town that has a shipyard. Each accessory is designed for a specific boat type. For example, you cannot use a Calpheon rowboat prow on a Mediah rowboat or a fishing boat decoration on a rowboat.
Every ship part can be enhanced with black stones (Armor) to increase the bonuses from them even further. The maximum enhancing level is +10 for ship parts, were you always risk failure each attempt.
The fishing boat has also special “abundance” accessories. These accessories cannot be produced but are given as rewards for golden seals, which are earned by completing various tasks.
500 Shiny Golden Seal – [Work Supervisor] = Fishing Boat Decoration of Abundance.
6 Shiny Golden Seal – [Imperial Training] = Fishing Boat Prow of Abundance
220 Shiny Golden Seal – [Calpheon Trade] = Fishing Boat Cargo Container of Abundance
If you have on your boat the cargo container, prow and decoration your boat gets an extra set bonus to speed and DP. Please note that if you are using an “abundance” accessory then you need all three to be of the “abundance” type to get the bonus.
Old Totem of the Sea
The Old Totem of the Sea is a special boat accessory you can add to a boat instead of the prow. Initially, the bonuses are smaller than those given by the prow but enhanced it eventually gives better bonuses. To the old totem of the sea, you need to have it gain experience by catching the correct fish while being in the boat with the totem.
For each fish you catch, you get a small increase in the totems experience. When it reaches 80% experience you can attempt to enhance it with black stones. If it fails the totem loses a bit of its experience.
You can get the Old Totem of the Sea from any ferry crossing keeper for 800.000 silver. Note that you need to have a fishing level of professional 1 before you can start gaining experience for the totem.
Boat Speed Tests
The speed of each boat is based on the 100% base level. The speeds were all tested by sailing in a straight line for 1000 m by pressing the W button.
Raft – 2.8 m/s
Rowboat – 1000 m in 241 seconds / 1.05 – 3.95 m/s at 100%
Calpheon Rowboat – 1000 m in 241 seconds/ 1.05 – 3.95 m/s at 100%
Mediah Rowboat – Probably same as other rowboats – will be tested soon
Fishing Boat – 1000 m in 210 seconds- 4.76 m/s.
Epheria Sailboat – reports say 7.14 m/s or 150% of the fishing boat.
That’s it. So, if you liked this Black Desert Online boat guide then be sure to share it with your friends and allies and feel free to check out my other Black Desert Online guides.
you can process black stone powder from grinding those upgrade stone thingies. y’know. augment stones that you put in slots
Grat guid thank you .