BDO AP Brackets & DP Bonus Guide (Black Desert Online) (2024)

Last updated Aug 20, 2020 at 2:58PM | Published on Jun 16, 2019 | Black Desert Online, | 7

Image Credit: Black Desert Online Screenshot Winners – NA Vangard

View AP & DP Brackets:
Press (I) then hover over (?) next to your AP or DP.

This BDO AP Brackets Guide takes a look at the AP buffs obtained for different levels of AP. DP Brackets are like AP Brackets, but give a Damage Reduction bonus instead. AP and DP bonuses have been part of Black Desert Online for a long time, even before Renown was added and then later removed.

AP Bracket Highlights:

AP brackets are AP ranges that give varying bonus AP. (between 4 and 21 AP more than the previous AP bracket)
AP brackets only take your sheet AP into account
Sheet AP is the AP that is visible below your character gear window.
Sheet AP does not include any hidden AP you have in your armor set as set bonuses, elixirs, food, alchemy stones, magic crystals, and buffs that give you AP or Monster AP.
AP starts scaling greatly at 257-269 sheet AP, then tappers down again
AP and DP have Softcaps and Hardcaps. For details, view our BDO AP Cap guide

AP Brackets Table

BONUS AP

AP Bracket	Extra AP
100 – 139	5
140 – 169	10
170 – 183	15
184 – 208	20
209 – 234	30
235 – 244	40
245 – 248	48
249 – 252	57
253 – 256	69
257 – 260	83
261 – 264	101
265 – 268	122
269 – 272	137
273 – 276	142
277 – 280	148
281 – 284	154
285 – 288	160
289 – 292	167
293 – 296	174
297 – 300	181
301 – 304	188
305 – 308	196
309 – 315	200
316 – 322	203
323 – 329	205
330 – 339	207
340 –	210

DP Brackets Table

BONUS DR

DP Bracket	Extra DR
203 – 210	1%
211 – 217	2%
218 – 225	3%
226 – 232	4%
233 – 240	5%
241 – 247	6%
248 – 255	7%
256 – 262	8%
263 – 270	9%
271 – 277	10%
278 – 285	11%
286 – 292	12%
293 – 300	13%
301 – 307	14%
308 – 314	15%
315 – 321	16%
322 – 328	17%
329 – 334	18%
335 – 340	19%
341 – 346	20%
347 – 352	21%
353 – 358	22%
359 – 364	23%
365 – 370	24%
371 – 376	25%
377 – 382	26%
383 – 388	27%
389 – 394	28%
395 – 400	29%
401 –	30%

265 AP Example (21 AP jump for 122 total bonus AP)

AP Brackets Vary Widely:
You reach your first AP Bracket at 100 AP, when you receive 5 extra AP. The next AP bracket is at 140, when you get another 5 AP. This pattern does not last long. You gain anywhere from 4 to 21 AP by reaching other AP Brackets. The biggest jump is at 265, when you get 21 bonus AP. After 269 AP, you start getting diminishing returns. The next bonus after 269 (273) only gives 5 AP.

Do AP Brackets Really Matter?
21 additional AP can give a huge advantage in PVP. This can make a big difference with classes that typically struggle before reaching their AP brackets. It can help you kill other players even without CC for some classes. (Dark Knight, Berserker)

DP Brackets?
AP Brackets usually get all the attention, but DP Brackets are important as well if and when you do get hit. In our example gear image showing 265 AP, we see they also have 319 DP. That means they would get a Damage Reduction of 16%! This is one PVP opponent, I wouldn’t want to tango with if I were at substantially lower AP and DP Brackets.

AP & DP Brackets Patch Notes

AP & DP Bracket Patch Notes – August 19, 2020

Expanded and increased AP and DP Brackets. View Source patch notes here.

[All Classes]

We’ve carried out improvements in all our classes. It’s a special occasion for us as the update is based on the opinions of adventurers who participated in our focus group testing and we’d like to take this opportunity to express our thanks to them. Many of the ideas were deliberated in-depth and extensively among our staff to ensure that the following changes would contribute to the overall balance of the game.

Today’s updates focus on improving each class, especially their performance of certain skills. In order to compensate for the decreasing DP efficiency since the release of Succession, we’ve revised the Damage Reduction Rate effect per DP range. However, the difficulty of some monster zones may drop too sharply due to this so this change may be subject to adjustments. The Extra AP effect per AP range has also been raised slightly to go with the new rise in defense efficiency. Furthermore, the base AP of summoned creatures has been set to 100 since the summoner’s Extra AP did not apply to their damage, making them relatively weaker compared to the summoner as they progress in the game. Lastly, to players who are interested in news regarding Awakening related damages, we plan to closely observe the new increases in defense efficiency and further adjust the Awakening skills’ damage based on the collected data after the update. There are still so many suggestions from the players that we haven’t entirely worked out yet but we plan to present them through the Global Lab as soon as we develop them.

Increased the base AP of summoned objects/creatures (including the ones that appear during skills) up to 100.

Class	Skill/Summons	Before	Now
Sorceress	Blade of Darkness I, Flow: Cry of Darkness*	5	90
	Blade of Darkness II, Flow: Cry of Darkness*	10	95
	Blade of Darkness III, Flow: Cry of Darkness*	15	100
	Black Spirit: Cartian’s Protection	1	100
Berserker	Black Spirit: Flame Buster	1	100
Tamer	Summon Heilang I	15	45
	Summon Heilang II	20	50
	Summon Heilang III	25	55
	Summon Heilang IV	30	60
	Summon Heilang V	35	65
	Summon Heilang VI	40	70
	Summon Heilang VII	45	75
	Summon Heilang VIII	50	80
	Summon Heilang IX	55	85
	Summon Heilang X	60	90
	Summon Heilang XI	65	95
	Prime: Summon Heilang	70	100
Musa	Projection	15	100
Musa	Black Spirit: Projection	1	100
Kunoichi	Delighted Blast	15	100
	Ninjutsu: Sinew Cut	15	100
	Assassin’s Trail	1	100
Witch	Prime: Blizzard: Domain	65	100
	Toxic Flood	15	100
	Gorr	65	100
	Tett	65	100
Wizard	Prime: Blizzard: Domain	65	100
	Lava Field	15	100
	Arne	65	100
	Marg	65	100
Striker	Echo Spirit	35	100
Mystic	Sea Dragon	35	100
Archer	Black Spirit: Radiant Explosion	15	100

*Flow: Cry of Darkness damage depends on the Blade of Darkness skill level learned.

Raised the Damage Reduction per DP range by up to 10%.

Before		Now
DP Range	Damage Reduction Rate	DP Range	Damage Reduction Rate
301–308	14%	301–307	14%
309–315	15%	308–314	15%
316–323	16%	315–321	16%
324–330	17%	322–328	17%
331–338	18%	329–334	18%
339–345	19%	335–340	19%
346–	20%	341–346	20%
		347–352	21%
		353–358	22%
		359–364	23%
		365–370	24%
		371–376	25%
		377–382	26%
		383–388	27%
		389–394	28%
		395–400	29%
		401–	30%

Raised the Extra AP per AP range.

AP Range	Extra AP
309–315	200
316–322	203
323–329	205
330–339	207
340–	210

AP/DP Patch Notes – 27th February 2019

The AP of the basic attacks for the following classes that are considered relatively low have been increased to the following:

Basic AP of Berserker from Lv. 1 to Lv. 60 has increased by +1 on average.
Basic AP of Tamer and Wizard from Lv.1 to Lv.50 has increased as follows:
- Lv.10: +9 on average
- Lv.20: +8 on average
- Lv.30: +6 on average
- Lv.40: +3 o average
- Lv.50: +1 on average
AP and DP for all classes will increase when each class reaches Lv.56 and Lv.60.
- Upon reaching Lv.56: DP +1
- Upon reaching Lv.60: AP +1