Witch & Wizard Reference

By: ​Shiomizu​ ​and ​Az

With help from ​DSdavidDS​ ​from the BDO Ranger Discord

Table of Contents
(Click to Navigate)

Introduction

Am I fit to be a caster?

Witch vs. Wizard

Stats
Offensive Stats
Defensive Stats

Skills
Skill Builds
MP Management
Skill Add-ons
Special Mechanics
Videos

Gear Progression
Crystals
Daggers
Thoughts on Rocaba / Evasion Set

Frequently Asked Questions

Non-Class Specific Help

Failstacking Guide
Enhancing Charts
Grinding Maps
 Introduction

Hello,
I am Shiomizu, a wizard that has rerolled from ranger after quitting for a couple of
months due to burnout. This reference was made for the BDO Witch/Wizard Discord, in order
to compile and organize the information available in regards building and advancing the
Witch/Wizard classes.
There are some basic ideas taken, with permission, from DSdavidDS’s guide, ​Ultimate
Ranger Reference​, while information specifics for Witch/Wizard are compiled from multiple
sites, such as Reddit, and Inven.
This content is specific to witch and wizards, and will hopefully answer a lot of frequently
asked questions.
Due to the nature of the game, certain sections are written with mine and ​Az’​s personal
opinions in mind. These opinions may not be the absolute truth, but we can guarantee them to
be what we and many other top players believe. That being said...

If you have any other questions, comments, complaints or suggestions, we welcome you to
join us on:

BDO Witch/Wizard Discord

 Am I fit to be a caster?
Witch and Wizard are bursty AoE classes. If you’re looking for survivability, we kind of lack that.
In BDO, support type classes aren’t really a thing, though we do have important buffs for group PvP.
Witch and Wizard are strong in group fights, where AoEs do a lot of damage, and super armor protects
us from incoming hits. These Aoes also make Witch and Wiz strong PvE classes.
In a 1v1, we we can excel, but not as easily as other classes. We have high accuracy and
damage on skills, but that is mostly because late game flows basically add double damage to skills.
With the right setup we can be fast, but we aren’t mobile, which makes positioning extra important in
PvP.
The high accuracy and damage on skills allows us more flexibility for other builds compared to
other classes, but we still need AP need to deal damage. Also, Witch and Wiz are only braindead
classes if you’re braindead.

-​Az

I personally feel that Witch and Wizards, from here on known as mages, are low skill floor, yet
high skill ceiling class. They’re ​very​ easy to pick up, and quite simplistic in nature. Big damage in
awakening stance, and big heals in staff stance.
As you get closer to the “endgame”, playing the mages become much more challenging.
Everyone is under the impression that mages are overpowered, and will beeline for you during a group
fight at the first possible moment. 1v1’s are not our strong points, so do expect to lose most 1v1
encounters, unless you’re significantly geared, or are very skilled at the class.
That being said, the mages’ group fighting prowess are second to none. The heals and damage
reduction buffs turn the tides of battle, and our large area spells deal massive damage to the enemies
on the field. Mages are highly sought after in large siege guilds, and small nodewar guilds alike.
In the end, the mages are what you make them. I personally prefer a glass cannon or assassin
playstyle in MMORPG’s, but a support and healer playstyle in MOBA’s and Arcade Shooters. My
current choice, the wizard, has fit both of these roles for me, with my only gripe being the ridiculous
amount of effort I have to put in to be competitive in 1v1 scenarios.
Good luck, have fun, and most importantly, always enchant with backups.

-​Shiomizu
 Witch vs. Wizard
How do I choose?

Witch Wizard

Has a ​block Has a ​grab

Earth and Lightning Elements Fire and Water Elements

Skills are ​ranged Skills are ​mid-ranged / melee

Weak awakened 100% Very strong awakened 100%

Young Old

Better ​DPS sustain Burst damage

Reactive ​class Aggressive ​class

Boobs No boobs

● Picking your gender is a highly intimate and personal decision.

● In the end, it all comes down to which playstyle, elements, and character model you
prefer.
● If you’re looking for the more “OP” of the two, know that both are exceptionally strong,
and that neither have an distinctive advantage over another.
 Stats

Stats in BDO, if you’re new to the game, are different from your traditional MMORPG. Many
stats are hidden, including the damage you deal, and even whether your attacks miss or hits.

Offensive stats

Level Levels in BDO are similar to most MMORPG’s. You get higher level, you get stronger.
However, gear in this game is not bound by level requirements. Instead, a higher leveled player
has a higher chance to land attacks and deal crowd control effects, thus dealing more damage.
Skills also deal a lot more damage as you level, thus making you stronger overall. 58 is about
average for the PvP scene, and 60 is soft cap, which is not uncommon either.

AP AP is your main offensive stat. The more AP you have, the more damage you deal. It is
advisable to get as much AP as possible to allow faster farming, and to deal more damage to
players

Accuracy Most of your skills will be multi-hit, meaning the damage is split up between multiple strikes of
the same attack. Since each hit has a chance to miss, not having enough accuracy will
severely dampen your effective damage. Generally, having a Bheg’s Gloves, Kzarka Staff, and
a TRI: Red Coral Earring, will be enough to land an adequate amount of hits.

MP MP is used to cast skills. Not having enough MP means not being able to cast skills. Generally,
using the right rotation of skills is enough keep our MP up. However, Magical Shield will
consume your mana to reduce taken damage. Keep a couple of MP Potions in case things get
hairy.

Stamina Used to perform actions such as jumping or sprinting. Also used to evade (Shift + Direction).
You will generally have enough stamina gained from regular play.

Casting Speed Allows faster casting of skills. A total of 5 levels of casting speed is available. Further casting
speed can be obtained via buffs. 5 Casting Speed is recommended at all combat times.
Percent casting speeds (buffs, Mind Training) will stack on top of integer numbers (+1,+2,etc)

Critical Hit Allows for you attacks to deal critical damage. 5 Critical Hit Rate levels are recommended for
Rate combat times. However, prioritize Casting Speed over Critical Hit Rate.

Attack Speed Not used for Witches and Wizards​. Note: No single class will use both Attack Speed and
Casting Speed.
 Defensive stats

HP Improves survivability. The witch and wizard is naturally “squishy”, so ample HP is

recommended for PvP, and endgame PvE play.

DP A combination of damage reduction (DR) and evasion. Some accessories prioritize DR,
while others prioritize evasion. Armors are a mix of both, with Boss Gear having
generally more evasion. A breakdown of each gear’s DR and Evasion value can be
found ​here​.
○ Damage Reduction​ - Damage reduced from attacks that land. Note that
although damage from the attacks are reduced, crowd control effects still
affect the character.
○ Evasion ​- Higher evasion means less hits landing. That means less
crowd control effects, and less total damage that actually hits your
character. Muskan’s Boots, along with Rosar/Krea/Parrying Dagger
provide an hefty amount of evasion. Evasion is a favored counter to “AP
Builds” where a player prioritizes high AP without adequate accuracy.

CC Crystals will be your main source of crowd control resistance. Manos gem accessories
Resistance are also via, however inefficient.

Movement Stat that allows faster movement in general. Recommend to get this as high as possible
Speed for faster grinding and movement on battlefields.
 Skills
Pre-awakening skill basics: ​(​Translated from Inven​)
Applicable to pre-level 56 players for leveling purposes. Tells you what skills do and
specifics about them.
Witch and Wizard have shared skills until awakening.
Guide on Awakening Skills basics:​ ( ​Witch​ / ​Wizard​ )
Decent read-up on skill basics.Tells you what skills do and specifics about them.
Translated from Inven, so the skill names differ.

Skill Builds
These are general barebones skill builds. It doesn’t change if you’re a boss alt, or PvE, the skills will
remain the same.​You get free skill resets before 56, and one more right after awakening.​The tree
might vary for you, depending on how many skill points you have, but these are basically the minimum
you should have at these levels.

Witch Wizard
Level 50 Level 50

Level 56 Level 56

Level 58 Level 58

Level 60 Level 60

Pre-Awakening:
● Mostly level dps skills like lightning, and get big skills like Blizzard and Meteor if possible
● You want to hit 56 for awakening ASAP
Awakening:
● You will get a skill reset upon awakening.
● Prioritize awakening skills
● Pre-awakening skills to keep: Protected Area, Speed Spell, Mana Shield, Teleport+Ult Teleport,
both heals, Spellbound Heart, Skilled Hunter, Infinite Mastery
● As you move into later levels, you gain more skill points that you can put back into
pre-awakening skills such as:

Mind Training (percent CS stacks on +integer) Meteor (useful for group fights)

Freeze (good for small scale PvP) Blizzard (useful for group fights)

Frigid Fog (good for small scale PvP) Lightning (situational)

 Summoned Pets
Overall, our pets do little damage but a little damage can add up. They each have a long and
telegraphed cc skill that you can use with right click if the pet summon skill is off cooldown. Pets cannot
die, and can be switched with F. They can be de-summoned by putting the skill on hotbar and using it
from there when you get annoyed from them following you all the time.

Ranged Pet
This is Tett (Witch) or Arne (Wizard). Tett is the lightning dude and Arne is the water girl. I find
that the ranged pets are better for PvE, since they won’t get in the way and the ranged attack
can reach farther, allowing the pet to finish off the last few mobs you might have missed.

Melee Pet
This is Gorr (Witch) or Marg (Wizard). Gorr is the rock golem and Marg is the fire
golem/demon/thing. The melee pets will stay closer to you and have to close in on enemies to
attack. They are useful in that they can block incoming hits since they sometimes will draw
auto targeting skills towards them. They can also block other players’ vision in the same way.
They are not as useful in PvE since they have to go up to the mobs, but are nice in PvP for the
body block.

MP Management
This isn’t ranger, how do we have MP management problems?

The debate about MP management revolves around 3MP sources:

Sphera Training, Mana Drain, and Spellbound Heart

Sphera Training - This involves leveling up Sphera Training to be effective. You end up
spamming A+D and left click to get MP back. It’s fast, but you will be interrupting your combat
flow (not skill flows) and it doesn’t do much damage.

Mana Drain - This can be down with or without maxing Mana Drain. The upside is it’s kind of
fast and you get all your MP back. The downside is this skill does almost no damage, you’re
stationary for the duration, and you swap back to staff mode, which will majorly interrupt your
combat flow.

Spellbound Heart - This is my favorite option. It’s an orb that follows you around and gives you
MP back while giving you 10% movement speed. You might not get completely full, but you
also get MP back from awakening skills. The hazard is in 1v1s, where you have to be careful
because you might completely run out.

Skill Add-Ons

Witch​:
Az ​suggests (General):
20 PvE​ on applicable awakening skills. - ​This is the only PvE one, otherwise add-ons are general
Skill add-ons lack in variety, so it’s generally recommended to just pick
Damage add on for frequently used skills.
Az​’s Add-On’s:

Hoy’s Add-On’s (PvP):

Stolen from Hoy, pre-awakened skills only:
PvP Damage + 5 & +15 DP on Freeze
PvP Damage + 5 & -4% movement speed on Meteor
3% accuracy and 20 MP recovery per hit on residual lightning
Or
5% accuracy and +15 dp on Earthquake
Wizard​:
Hiro’s suggestions (PvP):

Blackburn’s Suggestions (Hybrid):

Taken from Blackburn’s Skill Add-on video ( y​ outube​ )
Staff:
Fireball Explosion
​All defense +15 for 10 sec. for self. + 15% chance of Down Smash for target
​Multiple Magic Arrows
​PvP Attack +5 for 5 sec. for self. + Instantly recover 3 MP per hit.
​Residual Lightning
​All Movement Speed +4% for 10 sec. for self. + Instantly Recover 20 MP per hit.
​Awakened:
Aqua Jail Explosion
​Attack against monsters +20 for 8 sec. for self.
Inflicts 42 Bleeding Damage per 3 sec. for target.
​Cataclysm
​All Defense +10 for 10 sec. for self. + All Evasion +5% for 10 sec. for self.
​Hellfire
​All Critical Hit Rate +10% for 9 sec. for self.
Inflicts 40 Poison Damage per 3 sec. for target.
 Special Mechanics

Witch:
● Holding Tab + Shift + W while in Awakening Stance will allow witch to enter Sonic mode,
and run at top speeds.
● Using Toxic Field (E awakening) will draw mobs towards it. This includes tamer pets and
witch/wizard summons.
● Queuing teleport ( pressing Shift + Spacebar ), and then immediately facing another
direction than the one faced when the buttons are pressed, will project a “fake” teleport
animation towards the initial direction, while actually teleporting towards the second one.
Very useful in tricking enemy players.

Wizard:
● Spamming C (weapon swapping) will continuously give the wizard frontal block, leaving
very small windows where they are not protected. ​ Nerfed :c
● Using Lava Field (E awakening) will draw mobs towards it. This includes tamer pets and
witch/wizard summons.
● Queuing teleport ( pressing Shift + Spacebar ), and then immediately facing another
direction than the one faced when the buttons are pressed, will project a “fake” teleport
animation towards the initial direction, while actually teleporting towards the second one.
Very useful in tricking enemy players.
 Videos
(Work in progress)

Hiro’s Wizard 1v1 Video ​(​youtube​)

● Nice montage video on Wizard’s 1v1 potential.
● It’s beneficial to note how Hiro chains his freeze to extend knock downs to keep
the opponent on lockdown.

Deadulas’s RBF Video ​(​youtube​)

● Wizard PvP stuff

Blackburn’s Wizard Skill Rotation Guide ​( ​youtube​ )

● 42 minute video on how to to be a wizard.

Witch Awakening Skill Explanation and Tips ​( ​youtube​ ​)

● Video format that explains witch’s skills
 Gear Progression
Witch and Wizard weapons are: ​Staff​, ​Aad Sphera​ (Witch) / ​Godr Sphera​ (Wizard), ​Dagger

Gear
Az’s​ 0-200 AP Gearing Guide Infographic:​ (​Found on /r/BlackDesertOnline​)
Easy to read and digest.
Shows differences between steps in gearing.
The AP Offhand mentioned in this general guide will be ​steel dagger​.
This is the ​best progression guide​ to use. It shows you step by step what to upgrade.
Use it and find where you are to find what to do next.

Silver_Wrath’s Gear Guide: ​(​Found on /r/BlackDesertOnline​)

A more comprehensive guide on the current “meta” gears, and how to get them.
Good rundown on the pro’s and con’s of different armor pieces.

Az’s​ Budget Never Boss Gear Setup:

For those who like to make excuses for being too poor and never wanted to progress:
Link

Crystals
Crystal Priorities:
1: 5 cast speed
2: 5 crit
3: free up 2x weapon gems
4: free up 2x helmet gems

You should use cheaper crystals early on to save money.

When you progress enough in gear, you can start using food/costumes to make up for some
stats to use other crystals.
Example: Kzarka + Boss gear
● Serendia + Mediah Meals when you have 4/4 crit and cast to get 5/5.
● Mediah Meal + Crit Costume when you have 4/4 to get to 5/5.
 As you move towards the right, you gain more freedom to switch up crystals. You don’t have to
use the exact same ones, and some are more free than others like the first cell’s ​2x MCI -
Power​ can be anything you want really. The legend for some abbreviations is under the chart.

Beginner 2 Advanced 2 slot Liverto + Kzarka + Green Kzarka + Full Boss

slot Green Green Armor + 2 slot Green Armor Armor*
Armor + 2 slot Green Weapon
green weapon

Weapon 2x MCI - Power 2x AMC - Addis 2x BMC - 2x BMC - 2x BMC - Precision*

Crystals Precision* Precision* ----------------------
---------------------- -------------------- 2x RBF - Power
2x AMC - Power 2x AMC - Power

Helmet 2x​ ​MCI - Memory 2x Kydcit’s - Adventure 2x​ ​MCI - Memory MCI - Memory 2x AMC - Agility
Crystals (event item) --------------------
----------------------------- AMC - Agility
2x MCI - Experience

Armor 2x MCI - Evasion 2x MCI - Evasion 2x MCI - Evasion 2x MCI - Evasion 2x MCI - Evasion
Crystals --------------------- ----------------------------- ---------------------- -------------------- ----------------------
2x AMC - 2x AMC - Cobelinus 2x AMC - 2x AMC - 2x BMC - Cobelinus
Cobelinus Cobelinus Cobelinus

Gloves 2x MCI Valor MCI - Valor MCI - Valor 2x MCI - Valor 2x BMC Valor
Crystals AMC - Viper MCI - Precision

Boots 2x MCI Swiftness 2x MCI Swiftness 2x MCI Swiftness 2x MCI Swiftness 2x MCI Swiftness
Crystals -------------------- --------------------
2x RBF - 2x RBF - Adamantine
Adamantine --------------------
-------------------- Or combination
Or combination

Dagger Awakened Black 2x Awakened Black Spirit 2x Awakened 2x Awakened 2x Awakened Black
(some Spirit ----------------------- Black Spirit Black Spirit Spirit
daggers ----------------------- 2x MCI Crit ----------------------- ----------------------- -----------------------
have 1 slot,
MCI Crit 2x MCI Crit 2x MCI Crit 2x MCI Crit
so you can’t
use 2x)

Food Mediah Meal: +1 Casting Mediah Meal: +1 Serendia Meal: +1 Serendia Meal: +1 Crit
(makes up Speed Casting Speed Crit Mediah Meal: +1
for missing Casting Speed
stat)

Blue - (MCI) Magic Crystal of Infinity

Orange - (AMC) Ancient Magic Crystal, (RBF) Red BattleField Crystal
Yellow - (AMC) Ancient Magic Crystal of Enchantment, (BMC) Black Magic Crystal
--------- Option separator
* ​- BMC - Precision is the +2 Accuracy, +10% Ignore All Resistance version of the gem.
 Daggers

Dagger Stats at TRI and Notes

ULT (if applicable)

Steel 34 AP, +1 SP ATK Best starting, after high AP the ​1 SP attack​ may end up
1Slot adding more damage than extra AP from Nouver. This is
the main leveling dagger for when you just start.

Bronze 17 AP, 3 DP, ?Acc, Not very useful, since ​Witch/Wiz has high accuracy
+1 SP ATK, 1Slot modifiers​.

Parrying 14 AP, 28 DP, + 1 The DP here is based mostly on ​evasion​, making it very
SP ATK, 1Slot tanky. It has very little difference in offense/defense
compared to Rosar. Used for evasion builds.

Rosar 15 AP, 30 DP, +1 The DP here has less evasion than parrying, but more ​DR​.
SP ATK, 2Slot Usually used to get the 2 gem slots in evasion builds.

Nouver 40 AP, 10% cc Highest AP offhand, and the 2 slots are very useful.
resist, 2Slot Debatable use in endgame gear.

Kutum 26 AP, 20 DP, 10% Hybrid offhand, with most of the DP coming from DR. It
ignore cc, 2Slot provides some tankiness without losing much AP. The main
use for it is the ​very high hidden PvE damage​, causing it
to outperform all other daggers in PvE.
 Thoughts on Rocaba Replacement / Evasion Set

One of the noticeable oddities in this picture is the usage of Rocaba Helmet and Rocaba
Gloves instead of the Giath’s Helmet and Bheg’s Gloves, despite being end-game geared.

Pros Cons

+4 evasion over boss gear Lost Boss gear +1 cast speed bonus

+ DR over boss gear Lost accuracy from Bheg’s

Cheaper 100 hp less from lost Giath’s

Some people think Rocaba is tankier, but it is questionable if 4 evasion and DR is tankier than
100 hp from Giath’s. You also lose offensive power from having to redo gems without boss
gear’s set bonus, and lose accuracy from Bheg’s. You’d be better off running evasion
accessories only.
 Rocaba Replacement Continued
Although this set-up is appealing to many witch and wizard players, due to fact that you
no longer need to purchase and enchant Bheg’s Gloves and Giath’s Helmet, it is my personal
belief that this set-up is not suitable for much of North America’s population
This set-up, which I will call the “Rocaba Replacement” from here on out, depends on a
major point to succeed.

● The player must have enough accuracy to land crucial crowd control effects, and to
effectively deal enough damage.
○ One thing to note is that levels do give players accuracy advantage over others.
Many players in Korea, where the Rocaba Replacement set originated from, are
level 60 or above. This allows them to forgo the Bheg’s Gloves and use Rocaba
Gloves instead, as high levels equates to more damage from skill modifiers, thus
compensating the lack of accuracy.

I strongly discourage using the Rocaba Replacement if you are under level 60 in North
America. Furthermore, I suggest having ample amounts of AP ​and ​Accuracy (2x Red Coral
Earrings) to balance out the damage output drop from the lack of Bheg’s Gloves.

To sum it up, the Rocaba set is ​not good​. If you’ve got questions about it, then it’s ​not for
you​. If you heard about this set from someone else, ​disregard them​ and continue with your
boss gear.

-​Shiomizu
 Frequently Asked Questions
1. What skill add-ons should I get?
a. Go ​here​.
2. Do I need Red Coral Earrings?
a. 1x TRI: Red Coral Earring, along with Bheg’s Gloves, and Kzarka Staff is
generally recommended to reach an optimal level of accuracy for PvP.
b. A rough order of earrings are:
DUO Witch’s Earrings < TRI: Red Coral Earrings
TRI: Red Coral Earrings = TRI: Witch’s Earrings
TRI: Witch’s Earring < TRI: Tungrad Earrings
TRI: Tungrad Earrings < TET: Red Coral Earrings
c. About 50% of people go 2x AP earrings, and the other 50% go 1 RCE + 1 AP
earring. A few do 2x RCE.

Non-Class Help

Failstacking Guide
How to failstack​: ​Morrolan TV

Enhancing Charts
Az​’s general fail stacks based on nothing but picking random points that may or may not be efficient:

Enhancing to... FS for Green/Blue FS for Boss

10 10 10

11 11 12

12 12 14

13 13 16

14 14 18

15 15 20

PRI 15-20 15-20

DUO 20-25 25-35

 TRI 30-40 30-50

TET 35+ 45+

Chinese Probability Chart:

Another Probability Chart:

Grinding Maps:
Pre-Valencia
Valencia