In BDO, gem polisher is used to make tier-three gemstones, such as moonlight opal and blood ruby. To make gem polisher from the ground up requires both alchemy, where you need an alchemy skill level of apprentice 1, and processing.
The recipe for gem polisher is:
- 1 Pure Powder Reagent
- 2 Trace of Origin
- 4 Processed Coal
- 6 Purified Water
The fastest way to get these materials is usually just from the central market place. However, some of these materials may be sold out or even far too expensive. I have prepared this explanation on how to get these materials for those cases.
How to Get Purified Water
I have a detailed explanation of how to make purified water, but I will address the main points here.
To make purified water you need to filter bottled river water through processing. To get river water you first need to buy bottles from a material vendor (show as a scythe symbol on the map). For each bottle of water you want, you need to buy one empty bottle from the vendor.
Once you have your bottles you need to find a fresh water source, such as a river, fountain or a pond. Step into the water, right-click the bottle in your inventory and you start collecting water. Note that gathering water costs energy just like any other gathering action.
To auto-repeat the gathering action you can check the small box that appears next to the gathering bar that says “Repeat Drawing Water”. This will ensure that you gather water until either you stop it manually, you run out of bottles or your character runs out of energy.
Once you have enough water you need to process it (press L) by filtering the water. For each bottle of water you filter, you should get on average 2.5 purified water at processing skill level artisan 1.
How to Get Pure Powder Reagent
Like the gem polisher, pure powder reagent requires alchemy to make. The recipe for pure powder reagent is the following:
- Purified Water
- Sugar
- Silver Azalea
- Wild Grass / Weeds
How to get purified water is explained above and sugar is bought from a tavern vendor. That leaves Silver Azalea and wild grass or weeds.
Silver Azalea
The best way to get insane amounts of Silver Azalea is to have a worker gather them from some of the Silver Azalea nodes scattered around the lands of Black Desert Online. I personally use the one at Lynch Farm Ruins since it’s just right next to Heidel and you should have the excavation node there worked anyway. At the moment I am writing this I have over 30.000 Silver Azalea in Heidel storage from just a couple of months of gathering with a worker.
Wild Grass and Weed
Getting wild grass is a bother but gathering weeds is easy. You simply need to run around the map, gathering from every plant node you find. For each gathering action, you should get about 1 to 5 weeds and some herbs depending on your gathering level.
Making Pure Powder Reagent.
Once you have gathered the required materials you need to blend them together using an alchemy tool. If you have never done any alchemy you should first read my alchemy guide but to put it briefly you will need to get a house, get an alchemy tool, place it in the house, press R next to it, place the correct amount of materials in the tool (just the materials for a single batch) and then start the process. Once done you will get anywhere from 1 to 4 pure powder reagents from each batch with an average of 2.5 each batch once your alchemy skill reaches artisan level 1.
How to Get Trace of Origin
There are a few ways to get Trace of Origin, but they are all time consuming and frustrating. Because of this, it will almost certainly be the bottleneck material when it comes to mass production of gem polishers.
The first way to get Trace of Origin is simply to have your workers gather them from the following nodes:
- Glish Ruins (near Glish)
- Fountain of Origin (near Duvencrune)
This is a slow process, but ultimately it is done while you can be occupied with other activities so it’s worth it if you are grinding for Trace of Origin.
Secondly, you can get 1-2 Trace of Origin by heating the following weapons:
- Black Warrior Horn Bow
- White Horn Bow
- White Warrior Horn Bow
- Krea Horn Bow
- Rosar Horn Bow
The problem here is that it is a somewhat slow method and can be costly depending on the market value of the weapons. But if you really need Trace of Origin and there is none on the market then this is a viable method to use.
The third way to get Trace of Origin is from the rewards for the following daily quests:
- [Alchemy] Bionier’s Jewels
- [Alchemy] Chiara’s Hide Treatment
- [Alchemy] Wocester, Enhancing Plywood
- [Alchemy] Curtis’ Metal Solvent
The fourth way to get some Traces of Origin is from Lakario sacks, which you get from Lakiaro gathering using a Manos Hoe. Note that you only get trace items from the higher tiered Lakiaro roots you are able to dig up.
Finally, Trace of Origin is dropped by monsters around Star’s End and Ronaros Forest. I have not tried this out and cannot say how fast this would work, then again, Star’s End is endgame content and Ronaros Forest is pretty though too, so this way is perhaps not for everyone to do.
How to Get Processed Coal
To get processed coal you need to, well, process coal. You can get coal by from mining Andesite, Bloodstone and Sandstone rocks with a pickaxe. You can also have workers gather coal in the following nodes:
- Glutoni Cave
- Keplan Quarry
- Omar Lava Cave
Once you have a decent amount of coal you need to process it (press L) by heating your coal. At processing skill level artisan 1 you should get on average 2.5 processed coal for every 5 coal you process.
Making Gem Polisher
Again, once you have gathered the required materials you need to blend them together using an alchemy tool. If you have never done any alchemy you should first read my alchemy guide but as mentioned before you will need to get a house, get an alchemy tool, place it in your house, press R next to it, place the correct amount of materials in the tool (just the materials for a single batch) and then start the process.
Once done you will get either 1 or 2 gem polishers from each batch with an average of 1.5 each batch once your alchemy skill reaches artisan level 1. You will, of course, get the extra materials as is usual for alchemy, but you also get Shinning Powder, which is a valuable ingredient used in several alchemical concoctions.
So, that’s about all there is to crafting gem polishers in Black Desert Online. Now if you liked this guide then be sure to share it with your friends and allies and feel free to check out my other Black Desert Online guides.