Thinking of giving Black Desert Mobile a try? Not sure which class to roll? Check out our all-in-one Black Desert Mobile best class guide for 2020 to get the scoop on each and every class in the game!
It’s no secret that Black Desert Online (BDO) is an incredibly in-depth and complex game. And its mobile counterpart, Black Desert Mobile, isn’t boiled-down by any means either!
The first big mystery to solve for most players getting started with Black Desert Mobile is which class they should roll for their first character.
So to help you pick the best class, and ultimately demystify the game a tad – we’ve decided to put together this all-in-one guide to the best classes in Black Desert Mobile, updated for 2020.
Let’s dive right in!
Black Desert Mobile Best Class Tier List For 2020
Right off the bat, let’s answer the biggest burning question we’ve all got – what’s the best class to play in Black Desert Mobile right now? The simple answer is that it really all depends on your priorities and what you want out of the game.
Below, we’ve categorized our top picks into 4 distinct tiers, with S being the highest tier and C being the lowest. Keep reading to learn about the best classes in-game and gain a better understanding of what the balance looks like in today’s day and age.
S-Tier: Ranger – The Best Overall Class In Black Desert Mobile
First and foremost, how could we possibly write a Black Desert Mobile best class guide and not include the Ranger? To no overstatement, this class basically has everything you could ever want out of a self-sufficient carry.
Insane damage output? Check! AoE and a decent handful of utilities? Check! And she’s even got some self-sustain along with impressive mobility to top things off too.
All in all, if you’re big on being able to do any content in the game smoothly and efficiently – the Ranger is probably the perfect pick for you in both PvP and PvE scenarios.
A-Tier: Valkyrie & Nova – Best Group Play Classes In 2020
The Nova and Valkyrie are some of the most versatile classes in Black Desert Mobile. Both of them can tank, dish out stellar damage, sustain themselves, and keep enemies grounded with their impressive kits.
In terms of PvP – we’d put the Nova in a DPS seat thanks to her debuffs and safe-range damage output. Whereas the Valkyrie’s off-heal and off-tank capabilities land her more in a support role.
On the other hand, with PvE encounters, the Nova is best suited as a tank as having her on your team allows you to bring on more fragile but higher DPS damage dealers since she’s super safe tanking at a distance. As for the Valkyrie, she proudly retains her place as one of the best support roles for PvE.
B-Tier: Witch – Best Guild vs. Guild PvP Class
Do you enjoy Guild wars? If so, the Witch is probably going to become your new favorite class thanks to her amazing AoE damage. In fact, when she has a dedicated group of supports and tanks, she can decimate the battlefield practically on her own.
So how’d she end up all the way down in B-tier then? Well, outside of Guild wars, the Witch is a field farmer at best as she isn’t all that great at PvE or 1 vs. 1 PvP. She needs a lot of healing, and her long cast times leave her open to CC.
C-Tier: Warrior & Hashashin – Best 1 vs. 1 PvP Classes
The only possible reason to play a Warrior in Black Desert Mobile is if you only care about 1 vs. 1 PvP encounters and nothing else. When it comes to single-target damage, the Warrior is an absolute menace. However, outside of that, you’re looking at a very clunky, rough-edged, and frustrating class when it comes to group PvP or PvE encounters.
As for the Hashashin, while he definitely fills some gaps as a stellar damage dealer in PvE scenarios, he lacks the CC-protection he would need to be viable in any sort of group PvP. Though, his dynamic kit is full of debuffs, soft CC, AoE, and linear damage – making him a fantastic pick as a PvE DPS.
What Classes Are Available In Black Desert Mobile?
At the time of writing, there are 12 unique classes in Black Desert Mobile. And with 10 of them having 2 forms, we get a total of 22 different class combinations that you can play out of the gate.
An Overview Of The Available Character Classes In 2020
| Regular Class | Ascension | Awakened Form |
| Ranger | Huntress | Windwalker |
| Valkyrie | Paladin | Lancer |
| Sorceress | Raven | Reaper |
| Dark Knight | Void Knight | Phantasma |
| Witch | Archmage | Invoker |
| Giant | Titan | Destroyer |
| Warrior | Gladiator | Berserker |
| Maehwa | Primrose | Lotus |
| Nova | ||
| Hashashin | ||
| Striker | Grandmaster | |
| Tamer | Lupa | Spiritwalker |
| Musa | Blade Master | Warlord |
The Ranger
The Ranger, as the name might imply, is your stereotypical bow and arrow dominatrix that deals heavy damage from a safe distance, with high mobility to boot.
Why Play A Ranger?
In terms of leveling, the Ranger probably has the most balanced kit in the game at the moment. You’ve got plenty of damage, great mobility, and fantastic sustain – allowing you to tune out and relax while the levels roll by.
This also translates into the Ranger and her ascension/awakening forms being some of the best to farm with into the late-game.
Ranger Cons
Unfortunately, as a character class that is highly dependent on kiting – you’ll need to watch out for melee CC (Crowd Control). The basic mobility allows you to dodge big hits easily, but if you get locked down, the Ranger will prove to be all too squishy.
The Valkyrie
This class is BDM’s equivalent to a tried and true paladin. The Valkyrie is a tanky front-line damage dealer that can just as easily switch to be the off-tank while healing herself and her team if need be.
Why Play A Valkyrie?
If you’re big on Player versus Player combat and want to play a tanky class that dishes out tonnes of damage – the Valkyrie is right up there in our Black Desert Mobile best class tier list. In addition to this, she also has great off-heal capabilities and has a very diverse arsenal of CC abilities to help along the way – making her one of the absolute best PvP classes in the game.
Valkyrie Cons
Unfortunately, outside of PvP, the Valkyrie is pretty terrible as a class. She gets outshined by just about anything else in boss fights, and her kit isn’t exactly tailored towards field farming either.
The Sorceress
Tired of spamming Witches? Need something new and refreshing, without sacrificing the insane all-rounder kit and fantastic damage output? Meet the Sorceress, adventurer!
Why Play A Sorceress?
The Sorceress (affectionately known as the Sorc) excels at dealing short bursts of absolutely insane damage. This means she has a high clear-speed for bosses and field farming, with a low APM (actions per minute) – making her the perfect damage dealer, whether solo or in a group.
Sorceress Cons
She is pretty mechanically complex, and with a good portion of her skills being takedowns and bounds, you’ll have to really understand the right flow of skill-combinations in order to really play her at her fullest potential.
The Dark Knight
The DK is one of the most popular damage-dealer classes on the PC equivalent of the game, and that translates incredibly well into Black Desert Mobile. This class uses massive two-handed weaponry in order to dish out devastating strikes while dealing a constant stream of dark magic damage over-top for some absolutely mind-boggling DPS.
Why Play The Dark Knight?
The Dark Knight has nearly unrivaled DPS capabilities, which make her an absolute god-sent when it comes to PvP encounters.
Dark Knight Cons
While the DK deals insane damage, she is a total glass cannon. This means she isn’t the best fit for PvE or PvM, without a dedicated group to keep her out of harm’s way.
The Witch
The female counterpart to the tried and true Wizard, the Witch is Black Desert’s renowned magical powerhouse. Wielding her staff and dagger, she obliterates enemies with stellar AoE and a barrage of mid-range damaging abilities. In addition to this, she has all the utility in the world including a self-heal and teleport to get her out of sticky situations.
Why Play The Witch?
The Witch has some of the best multi-target DPS in the game. And when you consider her utilities, she is the perfect character for field farming and PvE. However, she definitely doesn’t fall behind in PvP either, with her being one of the best DPS picks for Node Wars.
Witch Cons
The Witch isn’t very viable in straight-line PvP or Arena mode. Her casting animation is very pronounced and obvious, making her spells very easy to dodge. This also leaves her very prone to CC such as grabs (though she can’t be stunned or rooted while casting).
The Giant
The giant, as the name would imply, is a huge character class in Black Desert Mobile, in both appearance, and presence. Surprisingly, this is one of the most dynamic, complex, and versatile classes in the game, which makes it one of the toughest to master but most rewarding to play.
Why Play The Giant?
Giants have the perfect trifecta of class-qualities. They boast tons of damage, lots of hard CC, and surprisingly high mobility. This makes them capable of filling nearly every role on the roster, with the exception of being a healer. This makes them great for PvP and team PvE encounters.
Giant Cons
Just as with anything awesome, there’s always a drawback. In the Giant’s case, it’s to do with the fact that he isn’t the most efficient AoE damage dealer. In addition to this, they don’t have any sort of self-sustaining abilities (like a self-heal), so they’re reliant on having a supporting team in both PvP and PvE encounters.
The Warrior
As one of Black Desert’s original classes – the Warrior enjoys a lot of popularity thanks to his refined and polished kit. The male counterpart to the Valkyrie, he sheds some of her supporting capabilities in order to really hone in on the offensive side of the equation.
Why Play A Warrior?
Warriors are some of the best damage dealers in 1 versus 1 scenarios. In addition to this, they offer one of the best blocking abilities in the game (with 360-degree coverage), as well as a grab skill that allows them to absolutely dominate PvP encounters.
Warrior Cons
The Warrior is a little clunky to level, and isn’t exactly the most enjoyable class to play solo as they are very awkward in solo PvP and PvE content, outside of a team-based environment. They also lack mobility, which can take more of the fun out of solo play for most folks.
The Maehwa
As the female counterpart to the Musa, the Maehwa shares her ability tree up until the point of awakening. She offers a dynamic, fast-paced, and fluid playstyle that boasts high burst damage, as well as one-combo-kill potential in both PvP and PvE senarios.
Why Play A Maehwa?
The Maehwa is one of the fastest clearing character classes in low to mid-end PvE due to her amazing damage-dealing kit of abilities.
Maehwa Cons
They chug potions like water in high-end PvE spots and will require you to have a high weight limit in order to farm efficiently. Due to her relatively imbalanced kit, she isn’t a good fit for large-scale PvP scenarios, though she can fill for alternative roles like flank and flex in some encounters.
The Nova
As the last heir of Calpheon’s royal bloodline – the new Nova class isn’t any short of impressive power. Wielding a Morning star in her main hand, and Quoratum as the alt weapon, she is one of the best tanks to have graced the game. But despite being a full-fledged tank, she’s still just as capable in DPS and solo-play scenarios.
Why Play A Nova?
She is one of the best tanks in the game thanks to the fact that she can also summon spirits in order to tank – throwing more bodies at enemy lines. However, she does this from a totally safe distance, while dishing out some very good damage with her enchanted ice and morningstar. Her attacks apply a whole bunch of debuffs and player status conditions – which also makes her an absolute nightmare in both straight-line and group PvP.
Nova Cons
Much like the Warrior, the Nova can feel a little clunky to play at earlier stages of the game. However, if you can tough it out – you’ll be met with an incredibly rewarding and dynamic playstyle towards the endgame.
The Hashashin
As one of BDM’s pre-ascended classes, the Hashashin offers a very interesting playstyle, wielding sandstorms alongside a razor-sharp shamshir in order to decimate enemy ranks and escape unscathed in true desert assassin fashion.
Why Play A Hashashin?
If you’re someone that enjoys a fluid, dynamic, fast-paced, and precise playstyle – the Hashashin might just be the character for you. This class also offers lots of debuff skills, which help amplify his damage output, as well as that of his teammates. In addition to this, you get to enjoy great mobility, with amazing evasion buffs and both Q and S blocks making him great at 1v1 PvP. The Hashashin also offers some very strong AoE damage output, which combined with his abundance of down attacks, makes him great for PvE DPS roles.
Hashashin Cons
The awakened mode actually offers significantly less CC-protection than other classes, and with no grab ability of any sort – the Hashashin struggles immensely in large-scale PvP encounters.
The Striker
In Black Desert Mobile, the Striker fills the role of the good old monk that you’d expect with most eastern RPGs. Relying on his gauntlets, he uses martial arts to deal bursts of damage while also being an impressive tank at the same time.
Why Play A Striker?
The Striker is a very self-reliant class, so you won’t need much support while running the generic breadth of content. They also have a very high skill-ceiling that can easily turn them from a decent tank to an outstanding damage dealer.
Striker Cons
His skill combos are very mechanically complex, and getting everything right is a steep ask for most players playing BDM. In addition to this, the Striker’s clear speed isn’t the best, making him pretty passable when it comes to field farming or solo PvE.
The Tamer
Together with her mystical summoned pet, the Tamer presents a very interesting take on an up-close-and-personal playstyle in BDM. While she may seem squishy at first glance, this melee damage dealer can dish out some of the highest DPS in the game, while being mobile enough to wisp away in the nick of time, before she takes any hits.
Why Play A Tamer?
If you’re willing to be mediocre when it comes to PvE in favor of absolutely dominating 1 vs. 1 player encounters – the Tamer offers the absolute best ability kit in the game thanks to her myriad of engages and dynamic damage output.
Tamer Cons
The Tamer is one of the hardest classes to play to it’s fullest potential due to the mechanical complexity of her skill combos. And while she is relatively tanky when played right – one mechanical mistake can quickly turn her into a squishy glass cannon. However, thanks to BDM’s autoplay feature – the Tamer can quickly scale to be an insane character for laid-back farming and general grinding.
The Musa
As the Maehwa’s male counterpart – the Musa shares many of the base pre-Awakening skills with her. This class offers a dynamic and fast-paced burst damage playstyle (as well as a one-shot combo) that is super viable in both PvP and PvE encounters.
Why Play A Musa?
The Musa offers very fast-paced combat with high mobility and huge AoE bursts of damage. In addition to this, they’re absolutely great for small-scale PvP and filler-roles in Guild vs. Guild engagements.
Musa Cons
The biggest drawback to the Musa is the fact that resource management with this class is an absolute nightmare. In addition to this, the Musa is also super reliant on gear score and having the right CP in order to overcome enemies. And overtop of this – you’ll need to watch out for CC due to the fact that the Musa has low base defense along with no grab ability, setting him back in that department.
Closing Thoughts
And there you have it! If you’ve stuck it out this far into the article – you’ve now got all the information you’ll need in order to pick out the best class for yourself. We’ve covered the available character classes, gone over what each of them stands to offer, and finally – we’ve presented you with our in-house Black Desert Mobile best class tier-list.
With that said, we wish you some speedy leveling and fruitful farming ahead!
P.S. If we missed anything, or if any information is outdated – please let us know in the comments below.
Update Log:
01/26/2021 – made a few small tweaks, the information in the guide still holds the same for the start of 2021.
