Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness – Ultimate Beginner’s Guide: Tips and Tricks
The isometric CRPG genre doesn’t get as many entries per year as the FPS or Action RPG genres do, but whenever a new CRPG does release, it’s almost always an instant classic. Games like Baldur’s Gate, Divinity: Original Sin, Disco Elysium, and Pillars of Eternity are all CRPG classics, but they are also cornerstones of video games in general.
All of these games build an interesting world with fully fleshed-out characters, and unleash you to make decisions that shape that world and alter the story itself. Another game has been added to the ranks of the genre: Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness.
Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness was released on March 17th, 2022. Since it is still so new, players are still uncovering its many secrets and mechanics. If you’re looking to dip into Black Geyser, or even CRPGs for the very first time, this Beginner’s Guide should be quite helpful.
The Greed System
One of the most interesting mechanics of Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness is its Greed System. As you progress through the game, the decisions you make and how you choose to interact with NPCs will affect the Greed meter.
Acting out of selfishness and only completing a job for monetary gain will make the Greed meter tick up, while showing compassion and doing things out of the kindness of your heart will combat that Greed. The world’s overall level of greed will affect the story and change how NPCs interact with you as you and your team gain more renown.
There’s no right or wrong way to approach this, as you’re free to role-play the game however you like, just like any CRPG. Being greedy is easy, and might result in you having more money to spend, but being kind may result in its own rewards.
Don’t Forget To Rest
If you’ve never played a CRPG or any kind of Dungeons’ N Dragons game, you might be unfamiliar with the rest mechanic they all share. As in those games, Black Geyser requires that you take time to rest occasionally. Resting will heal you a little bit, refill your spell slots, and any special abilities you may have. The games are about role-playing, and there aren’t any adventurers who can explore for months on end without rest.
You’re able to rest anywhere, but I recommend that you do so at an inn. Choosing to rest outside, even in a village setting, will open your party up to an attack or theft of essential items. In addition to safety, resting at an inn will boost the amount of health you recover.
Be Careful With Hostility
Like most CRPGs, Black Geyser doesn’t prevent you from attacking anything. You’re able to kill just about anything, including NPCs and non-hostile animals. If you’re role-playing a vicious serial killer, then you can murder everything. But, know that all of your actions have consequences.
Committing violence within a city will get you in trouble with the law, and even if you manage to handle that, they will watch you warily every time you revisit the area. The people of the city will also be afraid of you and less willing to help you. If you kill an NPC who had a questline, you’ll never see it.
Quick, Easy Money
Early in the game, you may be looking to make some money so you can purchase supplies and weapons. The most obvious way to do this is to do quests and sidequests, but I have a much faster method.
When you first get to the capital, visit the blacksmith. You’re going to want to purchase a lantern and a cauldron from him. You’re going to use these items to craft potions. You’ll use the lantern as a heat source, so dry out ingredients and the cauldron to brew. You can find recipes for crafting throughout the world, but you can also dump stuff into the cauldron and see what comes out.
Once you have a steady supply of ingredients, you can start to sell potions to different vendors as you travel. Outside of the initial investment for the lantern and cauldron, there’s basically no cost associated as you’ll find the ingredients for your potions in the environment.
Conclusion
I hope you’ve found this guide to be helpful and that it will help you get into Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness or even CRPGs in general. There is a ton to explore and an awesome story to unfold, so gather up your party and head out!
