Black art? No, but it's somewhat different.
Recent comments by long time n/b domestic Captain's that converted to w/b long haul -
I thought I'd be be bored. I didn't realize you could be that busy. IMO some of that's because it's just new.
What map are we on????
Where'd you find that? (chart/country pages/airport studying)
Have you been able to get him on the radio?
Who do we have to call? When? Where? 5 minutes? Any luck getting him?
Can't believe we spend hours keeping track of 'what's our alternate now and what's the weather'?
Drawing circles and lines on maps? What grade am I in?
If you're doing 'over the top' flying I like to say "every divert field, except for Anchorage, is an airport you really DON'T want to see." Oh, and unlike short haul flying it's going to take 2-3 hrs to get there.
Long haul non-radar, IMO, requires more decison making analysis about flying high and heavy. Is there weather ahead? What will the a/c weigh, and what will the relationship between our cruise level and OPT/MAX be when transiting the area(AF 447 CVR had several comments on this, SOP for long haul crews). It's not like domestic where you can change 20 minutes later, either you get it now or you might be stuck for hours(3 - 5, if not more) at a less than optimum altitude.
It's getting better but there are known areas of poor radio communication coverage. Newbie's can get excited but it usually can be solved with the passage of time, someone on 123.45 ("what freq are you on?") or digging through charts.
You communicate more with other flights for Pireps, what freqs is ATC using, etc, etc on 123.45 (worst case 121.5, hopefully not).
IMO long haul crews tend to work together because it's a 'scratch my back, I'll scratch your back' world when you're non-radar or just a couple of you off by yourselves somewhere.
You have to be a bit gentler with the airplane. They fly slightly different due to the mass. Slightly. You'll notice when you first change but it goes away fairly quickly. Transitioning from 737 to 777 and I wasn't a fan of hand flying the 777(roll, otherwise an awesome a/c) at first. It quickly becomes the 'new normal'. That mass issue also means you have to be fractionally farther ahead of the airplane. An observer won't notice it, until you're slightly late.
Oh, good luck with the sleep cycle. Saw a comment about the AF 447 crew and a SLF asking why the Captain was napping when he'd only been on duty a couple of hours!?!? What the worthless poster doesn't know is that you'll have some terrible sleep cycles. Sometimes you're great, and sometimes it's a drudgery. Double all nighter out of S. America? Second flight most of us get between 0-3 hrs of sleep before the flight. So the Captain was on break around midnight? You do OK on the flight but you pay for it when you get home. Three night sleep cycle? 1-2 on flight, followed by 2-5 hr nap on arrival, followed by 6-9 hrs second night, followed by 0-3 hr nap before flight, followed by 1-2 hrs on third night on flight home.
So it's different. At my company most guys who stick with it love it. Obviously guys who don't care for it switch back to short haul.
Oh, low on experience? You're not going to improve your skillset on long-haul. Do the 'ups and downs',figure out how to be an airline pilot, than transition to long haul where 1-4 landings per month is the norm.