Crimson Desert has yet another update, making more significant improvements to Pearl Abyss’ single-player open world adventure game.
The headline additions with update 1.08.00 (patch notes, courtesy of Steam, are below) are a pond for your camp, a Baby Wyvern as a new pet, and muskets and shotguns for Kliff. But before we get into that, there’s one seemingly innocuous change that I want to zero in on, because it’s going to make my experience playing the game a lot more pleasant.
- Added a function that allows you to silence tied-up outlaws.
This really is a bigger deal than it sounds. If you’ve played Crimson Desert, you’ve probably dabbled in a spot of bounty hunting. You get these wanted posters from towns, then seek out the target. You pounce, literally punching your hapless foe into submission, sling them on the back of your horse (or on your shoulder, if you enjoy long walks), and head back to town to deliver your bounty and cash in.
The problem is, your targets just won’t stop talking while you bring them to town. Really, they just will not shut up. They keep repeating themselves, complaining about how harshly they’ve been treated or how they’ve been framed or some nonsense (one outlaw actually make me feel sorry for them, and I let them go!). During really long journeys back to town for the drop off, their constant waffle can start to get frustrating. I stopped doing bounties mostly because of the yapping. Now you can silence those tied up outlaws, I’m going to start doing bounties again. Now all we need is the same thing for that disgrace of a Greymane, Yann!
Okay, I’m exaggerating a little here — obviously silencing outlaws isn’t the most important change in the update. Kliff getting muskets and shotguns is a real game changer, and adding a slot to equip tools means certain equipment that was previously equipped in the secondary weapon slot can not be equipped in the tool slot, which is really helpful. But still, for me, bounties are back on! And reaction from fans has been positive. “My prayers were answered,” one player said. “There was already a function. It’s called death,” another joked. “Yeah I stopped doing the bounties because of the constant noise! Looking forward to catching up,” added another.
The pace of Crimson Desert updates has been remarkable since launch — something Pearl Abyss has said has contributed to the game’s enormous success. It’s an MMO-style approach to post-launch updated for a single-player action adventure game, and it’s helping keep Crimson Desert interesting for weeks and months on end.
Crimson Desert update 1.08.00 patch notes:
New Additions
- Added a slot to equip tools.
- Certain equipment that was previously equipped in the secondary weapon slot can now be equipped in the tool slot.
- Equippable tools: logging axe, mallet, shovel, broom, scythe, pickaxe, drill/chainsaw, fan
- The tool slot can be found in the quickslot menu, below the secondary weapon slot.
- Quickslots for masks and circlets have been moved to the ‘armor’ tab of the quickslot menu.
- Using “Quick Swap” switches to the equipment in the slot that was previously drawn.
- Added a Pond to “Howling Hill” and “Pailune Camp”.
- Complete the pond construction mission to build it at “Howling Hill” and “Pailune Camp”.
- You can directly release fish from your inventory into the pond, or add them through the pond management mode.
- Having multiple fish of the same species will gradually increase the number of that species, at a rate that varies by species.
- Use “Zoom In/Out” while in pond management mode to observe the registered fish.
- Fish may die if the number of the registered fish exceeds the pond’s capacity.
- However, legendary fish will always remain in the pond regardless of the number of fish or their lifespan, and only one can be registered.
- Legendary fish can no longer be sold, used, or discarded. Additionally, previously sold, used, or discarded legendary fish have been restored to the player’s inventory.
- Added 20 species of small animals and a “Baby Wyvern” that can be registered as pets.
- “Baby Wyverns” will be able to grow and be registered as mounts in a future update, so stay tuned.
- Wild Wyverns can now be temporarily used as mounts after being subdued.
- (Kliff) Kliff can now use muskets and shotguns.
- (Damiane/Oongka) Added a skill equivalent to the “Focused Aerial Roll”.
- Added a function that allows you to silence tied-up outlaws.
- Added blueprints that allow you to craft superior branches using special tree branches and branches at refinement level 10.
Main Improvements
Content
- Added a function to instantly refine equipment using a selected refinement method without having to select materials.
- Added “Mass Craft Paintings” and “Craft Fine Paintings” missions.
- Added timber and stones as rewards to logging and quarry missions.
- Adjusted the size of items inside claw machine capsules so prizes can be viewed more clearly.
- Changed tree branches obtained from logging trees to rough tree branches, which can be used and stacked.
- Improved the “Infinite Arrows” Abyss gear to function for bullets and cannonballs.
- Cats can now be taken in even when carried.
- Improved chairs placed during house decoration so that characters can sit on them more naturally.
- (Keyboard/Mouse) Hovering the mouse over different options at the Barber now allows you to preview each style.
- Re-Blockade will now happen at bandit camps and ruins.
- Improved the puzzle experience at the “Disconnected Truth” Abyss.
- Griddle-cooked and pan-fried dishes have been seperated into fish, meat, and vegetable variants.
- Improved fish traps so that fish can now be caught with them.
- Improved the quality of certain outfits.
- As part of ongoing improvements, certain 2D visual assets have been replaced to better align with the game’s art direction.
- (Kliff) Improved the appearance of certain helms.
- Improved the silhouette of the Belkandor Plate Armor so it appears more natural with various cloaks.
Controls
- (Keyboard/Mouse) Added a keyboard shortcut (P) that opens and closes the photo mode menu.
- (Keyboard/Mouse) Improved the input system so that all inputs can have a secondary key assigned to them.
- Improved shortcut customization so that shortcuts for Inventory, Map, Skills, Journal, Photo Mode, and Menu can be freely assigned.
- Improved photo mode so that the Invert Camera X-axis and Y-axis options from Settings are also applied.
- Improved camera movement when aiming while riding Blackstar.
- Changed the “pet” interaction with pets so that it is only available when aiming at them.
- Improved the “pet” interaction with pets and horses so that it is canceled when using an evasion skill.
- Improved “Blinding Flash” so that it can be used while riding Blackstar.
- Improved the camera so that it faces forward after loading screens that appear when escaping from the Abyss, resting, or assembling.
- Improved Blackstar’s controls and camera perspective.
Combat / Action
- (Damiane) Improved the additional strike effects of two-handed cannons.
- (Damiane) Improved chain attacks following an unarmed “Dodge”.
UI
- Improved the map to allow separate markers to be placed depending on the current location.
- Markers placed on land will only appear on land.
- Markers placed in the Abyss will only appear in the Abyss.
- Added a tracking marker for the map that appears on the minimap at all times.
- Added a function to filter by weapon in Skills > Search.
- Improved the UI so that completed knowledge entries and quests can be viewed more easily.
- Improved the inventory so that items that cannot be sold are more clearly indicated when sorting by price.
- (Keyboard/Mouse) Improved the inventory so that items can be examined and discarded by right-clicking them.
Graphics & Settings
- (PC) Added Raytraced Sun/Moon Light Shadows in Settings > Graphics. (Edited: 2026/05/22)
- Partially improved GPU load in high-resolution environments that exceed 4K resolution.
- Improved object placement so that placement indicators now appear when placing objects on water surfaces.
- Fixed an issue where the FPS value did not display correctly when NVIDIA DLSS Frame Generation or Intel XeSS Frame Generation was activated.
- Fixed an issue where distant vegetation would occasionally flicker.
- Fixed an issue where the lighting would appear smudged when the lighting quality was set to medium or lower, or when raytracing was turned off.
- Fixed the flickering issue that happened on displaced surface boundary.
- Fixed an issue where iridescent fog would appear on the ground in certain situations.
- Fixed the smearing issue that occurred around glass materials.
- (Mac) Metal4 is now active by default in devices with macOS version 26.5 or higher.
- (Intel) Fixed an issue where the screen would not display correctly when “Intel XeSS 3.0” or “Intel XeSS Frame Generation” is enabled on Intel Arc A-series products.
Localization
- Fixed various localization errors and improved localization quality across all languages.
Others
- Fixed an issue where the game or rematches would load abnormally slowly when playing as Oongka or Damiane in certain situations.
- Fixed an issue where wagons could not be switched at the wagonmaster.
- Fixed an issue where the actual recovery effects of certain food items differed from their descriptions.
- Fixed an issue where mercury did not crystallize when using Turning Slash imbued with the ice element.
- Fixed an issue where doors would not open after resetting certain missions, preventing progression.
- Fixed an issue where objects would not react to the lantern when it was shone at certain angles.
- The name of “One-Eyed Jackals” has been changed to “Lonely Jackals”.
- Fixed an issue where the effect of Blackstar’s Breath would linger on the ground for an extended period.
- Fixed an issue where the last livestock could not be sold to the Rancher.
- Fixed an issue where comrades would not follow the character when boarding a wagon.
- Fixed an issue where special mounts could be sold.
- Fixed an issue where knowledge entries for items could still be acquired from certain shops even after leaving the shop.
- Fixed an issue where the knowledge for “Crescent Lake” could not be obtained.
- Fixed an issue where certain animals appeared abnormally.
- Fixed an issue where Meerkats appeared abnormally.
- (Damiane/Oongka) Fixed an issue where Damiane and Oongka could not mount the same type of horse as Kliff.
- (Damiane) Fixed an issue where the sheathed position of certain rapiers appeared unnatural.
- (Damiane) Fixed an issue where completion requirements for the “Shield of Unchanging Will VI” challenge did not account for Damiane’s shield charge.
- Fixed an issue where acquiring certain items were considered as crimes in certain situations.
- Fixed an issue where the lantern would remain stuck to the player’s hand when using Blinding Flash while unarmed.
- Fixed an issue where the “Bow Aimed at Fate II” challenge could not be completed when using replenishing arrows.
- Fixed an issue where the claw of the claw machine moved unstably in certain situations.
- Fixed an issue where the player could not interact with a Platypus.
- Fixed an issue where the transporter at the Aeronautical Research Base would not function.
- Fixed an issue where duringthe “Moving Rocks” quest, the player was guided to an incorrect location.
- Fixed an issue where certain NPCs would respawn on dead mounts.
- Fixed an issue where items at the furniture shop were displayed facing backward.
- Fixed an issue where the item refresh period shown in the Royal Trading Guide differed from the actual time period.
- (Damiane) Fixed an issue where using “Piercing Light” with a greatsword equipped would cause the camera perspective to move in an unintended direction.
- (Damiane) Fixed an issue where “Aerial Grapple” would not execute properly in certain situations.
- (Damiane/Oongka) Fixed an issue where loading the game after selecting an element would reset the selected element.
- Fixed an issue where the player could not aim at enemies after shining the lantern or using Axiom Force while clinging to a wall.
- Fixed an issue where certain movements would repeat abnormally when holding the sprint input with a bow drawn in certain situations.
- Fixed an issue where “Roundhouse Kick: Proficiency” could not be executed consecutively when unarmed.
- Fixed an issue where, if the player died outside the combat area during a boss fight and revived using a Palmar Pill or Refined Palmar Pill, the player character could not be controlled in certain situations.
- Fixed an issue where wearing certain helmets would interrupt the casting animation for “Elemental Force Palm”.
- Improved pets so that they remain summoned after completing certain quests, including boss fights.
- Fixed an issue where proper effects were not being applied to the “Charge” skill when equipped with a one-handed sword.
- Fixed an issue where using the “Quick Swap” skill with a two-handed sword with no spirit left would consume stamina instead.
- (Keyboard/Mouse) Fixed an issue where “Stab” did not smoothly chain into “Restrain”.
- Fixed an issue where input guides on the bottom right corner of the screen would appear as keyboard/mouse inputs when using a controller.
- (Damiane/Oongka) Fixed an issue where the “Mark Target” input guide would not appear while using “Focused Evasive Shot”.
- Fixed an issue where comparison tooltips would not apepar at saddleries.
- Fixed an issue where certain missions could not be examined in the notifications UI.
- Fixed an issue where, after examining a mission in the notifications UI, that mission would not be selected.
- Fixed an issue where “Release” was activated even for mounts that could not be released.
- Fixed an issue where the inputs appearing on the claw machine guide differed from the actual inputs.
- Fixed an issue where certain items such as “Horse Tonic” and “Horse Stimulant” would not appear in the Provisions – Elixir list.
- Fixed an issue where furniture icon would not display for certain furniture.
- Fixed an issue where the UI would freeze when customizing the presets for keyboard/mouse in certain situations.
- Increased the trust gained by feeding mercury to the Iron Eagle from 5 to 15.
- Improved the description of the Abyss gear “Energy Drain.”
- Increased the number of items sold at the Contribution Shop. Additionally, they will now be restocked daily.
- Improved the shop system so that supply contracts are restocked.
- Fixed an issue where four crafting manuals did not appear in the shop.
- Fixed an issue where unpackaged trade goods could be sold at the Rancher’s Shop.
- Fixed an issue where the fusion recipes for Abyss gears “Shatter”, “Rend”, and “Shred” were displayed in the wrong place.
- Fixed the incorrect quest item name for the quest “A Wife’s Show of Heart”.
- Fixed an issue where the fan appeared unnatural when throwing it.
- Fixed an issue where physical collision was excessive when tossing a shield.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
