Table of Contents
Basic Info
Pets are Black Deserts way of “auto looting” enabling you to grind without having to manually pick up while they are out. Each Pet loots the items from one corpse, then goes into cooldown (pickup speed, see below).
Besides picking up items, each pet will have a special ability (some can be toggled, others are always active) and a passive bonus. They’ll also gain a random passive bonus at level 10. Higher tier pets may gain multiple bonuses at level 10. These abilities and boons only work while the pet is out and not while checked in. While the pet is out it will slowly get hungry (speed differs depending on the pet command set). Pets gain experience when fed till they reach a maximum level of 10. As their abilities scale with their level, it is recommended to level them up as fast as possible.
You can have up to 5 pets out at the same time (newer regions may have lower limits).
Some exceptions apply, like only 1 Kuku can be out at a time.
Pet pickup speed
Values for lvl 10 pet, lower levels are slower.
| Tier 1 | 4.0 |
| Tier 2 | 4.0 |
| Tier 3 | 3.0 |
| Tier 4 | 2.5 |
Pet Commands
Average, the default setting.
Cautious decreases the speed at which your pet gets hungry but slows down pickup speed by 10%
Agile increases the speed at which your pet gets hungry but increases pickup speed by 10%.
Other pet abilities are unaffected by cautious/agile setting.
Pet Tiers
All pets will start at tier 1 unless stated otherwise when buying (usually only rng loot boxes will give t2-4 pets). 2-5 lower tier pets can be exchanged in the pet interface for 1 new higher tier pet. The new pet will inherit the xp from the first registered pet for the exchange.
You can exchange pets of different species. However, exchanges can be limited based on the Type of the pet. For example, though a dog can be exchanged with a cat, Premium pets such as a Choppy cannot be exchanged with a cat.
| Types | Description | Pet List |
| Classic | Pets that are sold regularly | Striped Cat, Orange Brindle Cat, Black Mask Cat, White/Black Valencian Cat, Grey Moon Cat, Tabby Cat, Gray/Black Thin Cat, Junaid Cat, Calpheon Chubby Dog, Brown Fighting Dog, Snow Wolfdog, Naughty Dog, Mediah Guard Dog, Brown Cream Puppy, Kaia Jackal, Kaia Racing Dog, Baian Dog, Shaggy Dog, Curly Dog, Shepherd, Fluffy Puppy |
| Limited | Pets that are only sold for limited periods of time. | Ribbon Cat, Winter Rosefinch Set, Lost Penguin, Snowkid, Hedgehog, Polar Bear, Neurotic Cabby, Witch Hat Charlotte, Cushy Mallowmerz, Helter-Skelter Ceros, Cursed Looney, Drifty Ghosphy |
| Premium | Pets that cost 1100 Pearls | Brown Guide Hawk, Sky Hawk, Long-Tailed Rosefinch, Scarlet Macaw, Desert Fox, Red Panda, Stoneback Crab, Cardadun Owl, Panda, Choppy, Young Griffon, Pila Fe Naughty Dog, Karlstein Cat, Turtle, Little Lamp, Crow |
| Event | Pets that are obtained from Events | [Event] Kuku |
| Special | Pets that are obtained from a Boss | Young Crimson Dragon |
| Wizard Gopshy can be exchanged with all pet types, except special.Pets can only be exchanged with the same type |
Since you lose pets for the exchange it is usually recommended to only try for a higher tier if you have more pets than you can take out at once.
Exchanging only 2 pets:
| Tier | Result | Chance |
| 1 + 1 | Tier 2 | 45 % |
| Tier 3 | 55 % | |
| 1 + 2 | Tier 2 | 35 % |
| Tier 3 | 65 % | |
| 2 + 2 | Tier 2 | 20 % |
| Tier 3 | 80 % | |
| 1 + 3 | Tier 3 | 85 % |
| Tier 4 | 15 % | |
| 2 + 3 | Tier 3 | 75 % |
| Tier 4 | 25 % | |
| 3 + 3 | Tier 3 | 65 % |
| Tier 4 | 35 % | |
| 3 + 4, 4 + 4 | Tier 4 | 100% |
※ Wizard Gosphy can only be tier 1. However, it will increase the chances of getting a higher tier pet more than another tier 1 pet.
Exchanging more than 2 pets will increase the chance for higher tier, up to 100%.
The chances for the upgrade are added for each extra pet, based on the tier.
Example 1: Tier 1 + Tier 1 (55% of getting Tier 3) + Tier 1 (55% of getting Tier 3) = 110% (effectively, 100%) chance of getting Tier 3
Example 2: Tier 3 + Tier 3 (35% chance of getting Tier 4) + Tier 3 (35% chance of getting Tier 4) + Tier 1 (15% chance of getting Tier 4) + Tier 1 (15% chance of getting Tier 4) = 100% Chance of getting Tier 4
Pets which have a tier difference of 2 tiers or more can be exchanged. (However, the main pet you register first must be the highest tier.)
When you exchange the main pet with another pet, then the main pet’s EXP will be kept. The level may drop due to higher Tier pets requiring more Xp to level.
| Main Pet (Example) | Result | |
| Level | Level 10 | Inherits XP from main pet (Tier 3 lvl10 or Tier 4 level 7-8) |
| Tier | Tier 3 | Inherits from main pet (at least Tier3) |
| Appearance | Choose, or get a random one from pet exchange Pool | |
| Special Skill | Resource Detection | Depends on the appearance of the pet. |
| Talent | Choose from pet exchange pool, or get a random talent. |
Pet Abilities
(% values may differ for some regions, values for lvl 10 pets. Lower lvl may differ)
| Pet | Special Ability | Passive, per tier |
| Hedgehog | Chance to get double ressource from gathering (30/30/40/50%) | 1/2/3/4% Lifeskill xp |
| Polar Bear | Auto-fishing time reduced (20/20/25/30%) | Weight Limit +20/30/40/50 |
| Penguin | Auto-fishing time reduced (20/20/25/30%) | 1/2/3/4% Lifeskill xp |
| Cats / Choppy | Finds resources (toggle) | 1/2/3/4% Lifeskill xp |
| Dogs | Hostility detection (toggle) | 1/2/3/4% Skill xp |
| Birds | Finds rare monsters (toggle) | 5/10/15/20% Knowledge gain chance, 1/2/3/4% Higher grade knowledge chance. |
| Desert Fox | Resistance to desert diseases | 1/2/3/4% Durability reduction resistance |
| Kuku [Event] | Finds resources (toggle) or Hostility detection (toggle) | 5/10/15/20% Knowledge gain chance, 1/2/3/4% Higher grade knowledge chance. |
| Red Panda / Panda | Taunt Monsters (toggle) | 1/2/3/4% Skill xp |
| Stoneback Crab | Finds resources (toggle) | 1/2/3/4% Durability reduction resistance |
| Turtle / Griffon | Hostility detection (toggle) | 1/2/3/4% Durability reduction resistance |
| Little Lamb | Hostility detection (toggle) | 1/2/3/4% Lifeskill xp |
| Wizard Gosphy | Taunt Monsters (toggle) | 5% Knowledge gain chance, 1% Higher grade knowledge chance. (can only be Tier 1) |
| Young Crimson Dragon | Randomly one of: desert resistance, taunt monsters, find resources, hostility detection, auto-fishing time reduction. | Increases max HP by 25/50/75/100. |
Note: Not pets may always be available or only in special packages or as attendance rewards only. Which pets are available from the pearl shop may also differ depending on region.
Toggleable abilities will usually work individually while abilities that are always on will generally not stack, like the hedgehog or the polar bear/penguins abilities.
Recommended Pets
Generally the only pets that are recommended to get with priority are Hedgehog (just one is enough since the special ability doesn’t stack, highest tier counts) and polar bear (special ability doesn’t stack either, but the passive is worth having multiple times) and to a lesser extent the penguin (special ability doesn’t stack with polar bear).
Other pets don’t have notable abilities to consider, making it more of personal preference choice which ones to get.
Polar bear/Hedgehog have limited availability, especially for steam users (website users may get them from gifting package). Penguin is generally attendance only (some regions may have it in pearl shop).
Pet Food
- Organic Feed – restores 140 hunger. Most efficient silver/hunger when buying. When cooking can be bottlenecked by milk.
- Good Feed – restores 80 hunger. Decent silver/hunger, but even if below max marketprice its worse than organic. Easier to spam when cooking.
- Cheap Feed – restores 12 hunger. sold by NPCs so easily available for everyone, but terrible silver/hunger. Should be avoided whenever possible.
- Balanced Feed – restores 80 hunger and gives additional pet XP. Made from Silk Honey Grass Supplement and Good Feed via simple cooking.
- Brady’s Nutritious Feed – restores 140 hunger and gives additional pet XP. Made from Brady’s Supplement Powder and Organic Feed via simple cooking.