Crimson Desert patch notes add difficulty settings, extra storage, and more

In Pearl Abyss' journey to make Crimson Desert the most complete game of all time, the latest patch — the fourth major update since the game's mid-March release date — has fixed, uh, just about everything.

Alright, that may be a slight exaggeration, but the South Korea-based developer is astounding everyone with its post-launch support. Earlier this month, Pearl Abyss promised a slew of new features throughout the year, and the first of those is here already as difficulty settings are now available. These are just your standard easy, normal, and hard options, but the patch notes detail exactly what's different about them, including the fact that on hard mode, certain bosses have "additional combat patterns."

For those of you who have struggled with the game's limited storage in the housing system, there are now additional options:

• The Sturdy Gatherables Chest has 1,000 slots and can be bought from furniture shops.
  • Materials stored in this chest can be used for crafting and refinement even if they're not in your inventory.
• The Kuku Cooler can be obtained through a quest and has 40 slots.
• The Enhanced Kuku Cooler can be crafted and has 330 slots.
  • Both can be used to store food items and ingredients, and can also be used for cooking even if they're not in your inventory.
• The Collectibles Chest can be placed in housing mode and has 1,000 slots.
  • This is used exclusively for quest items and crafting recipes.
• The Wardrobe can be purchased from furniture shops and has 100 slots for different outfits.
  • You can place a maximum of 10 Wardrobes, for a maximum of 1,000 storage slots.

If you're like me, you've spent a significant amount of time in Crimson Desert befriending animals. So it should come as good news that the final, majorly noteworthy addition in this patch comes in the form of being able to get birds as pets. You'll need the Sotdae of Bond item to gain trust with birds, which is obtainable through a quest, and birds can only be befriended by feeding them various types of food. Oh, and there are also five new types of cat pets. Meow.

Check out the full, incredibly lengthy, patch notes below.

Content

• Easy / Normal / Hard difficulty options have been added to Settings > Play. For experienced Greymanes looking for more intense and thrilling combat, Hard difficulty offers a more challenging journey.

  • For those who have enjoyed many boss fights and are looking to challenge them again, the boss rematches feature allowing you to face off against the bosses of your choice will be added soon.
  • Easy
    • Reduced damage taken by the player.
    • Reduced maximum health, aggressiveness, and overall speed of opponents.
    • Extended timing windows for Parry and Dodge.
    • Reduced the frequency of bosses attempting to counterattack or escape when hit.
  • Normal
    • This is the difficulty you have been playing so far.
  • Hard
    • Food item effects won't be applied immediately and will only take effect after the consumption animation is complete.
    • Increased damage taken by the player.
    • Increased maximum health, aggressiveness, and overall speed of opponents.
    • Reduced timing window for Parry and Dodge.
    • Reduced the invincibility duration for Roll.
    • Increased the frequency of bosses attempting to counterattack or escape when hit.
    • Added additional combat patterns for certain bosses.

• Added the Sturdy Gatherables Chest which can be set up with the housing system.

  • The Sturdy Gatherables Chest has 1,000 slots and can be purchased from furniture shops.
  • Materials stored in the Sturdy Gatherables Chest can be used for crafting or refinement even if they are not carried in your inventory.

• Added the Kuku Cooler and Enhanced Kuku Cooler items which can be placed with the housing system.

  • The Kuku Cooler can be obtained through a quest, while the Enhanced Kuku Cooler can be crafted. Both can be used to store food items and ingredients.
    • Kuku Cooler: 40 slots
    • Enhanced Kuku Cooler: 330 slots.
  • Ingredients stored in either cooler can be used for cooking even if they are not carried in your inventory.

• Added the Collectibles Chest which can be placed through housing mode.

  • The Collectibles Chest can be used to store various quest items and crafting recipes.
  • The Collectibles Chest has 1,000 slots and can be obtained through a quest.

• Added an outfit storage feature to the Wardrobe, which can be placed through housing mode.

  • The Wardrobe can be purchased from furniture shops.
  • Each Wardrobe provides 100 storage slots, and the total storage capacity increases based on the number of wardrobes placed.
  • The maximum outfit storage capacity is 1,000 slots.

• Added the Select House option where you can change the layout of your house.

  • Selectable house types unlock based on the Greymane Camp expansion level.
    • Compact House
    • Standard House
    • Spacious House
    • Spacious Pailunese House

• Improved housing mode-related UI and controls.

• Added a function that allows all furniture items placed through the housing mode to be retrieved all at once.

• Improved the Greymane Camp. (To avoid spoilers, changes related to this content are listed in the dropdown menu below.)

  • After moving the camp to Pailune, you will receive the Private Storage item which can be placed through housing mode.
  • Added a well to Howling Hill.

• Improved the observation feature so that Abyss artifacts can be earned when observing a skill that had already been acquired by using Abyss artifacts.

• Improved the following items, which were previously unstackable, to now stack in the inventory:

  • Regular Abyss gears, insects, fish, and animals

• Added birds as pets. You can encounter these new companions throughout Pywel.

  • Added the Sotdae of Bond item which allows you to gain Trust with birds.
  • Place various types of food that birds might like on the Sotdae of Bond to feed them and gain Trust.
  • The Sotdae of Bond can be obtained through a quest.

• Added 5 new types of cat pets.

• Improved the Abyss Heuklang so that it can become your pet.

• Added a function to change the names of horses and pets.

• Fixed an issue where cats could remain on the player's shoulder indefinitely, contrary to the intended design. However, considering that many Greymanes actually liked these cats' behavior, we have added an item that allows cats to stay on the shoulder for a longer period of time.

  • Added an accessory slot for pets, which will allow pets to now take on a wider variety of roles.
    • Sigil of Bonding: Equipping this item on a pet cat ensures it to stay longer on your shoulder.

• [Damiane] Added a new exclusive one-handed weapon, the Sword of Starlight, which can be obtained through a quest.

• [Kliff/Oongka] Added two new one-handed weapons, Tree Branch and Sturdy Tree Branch.

  • These items can be obtained by cutting down trees and bamboo trees.

• Added a new tool, Sturdy Broom.

• [Kliff] Added the new Baltheon armor outfit.

• Changed the name of Rekhia Plate Helm to Baltheon Plate Helm and improved it so that it can be equipped by Kliff.

• Added a secret shop in Pororin where pet equipment can be purchased.

• Added additional outfits to certain shops, including the Back Alley Shop.

• Improved the Kuku Flame-Resistant Armor and the Kuku Ice-Resistant Armor so that they can be dyed.

• Added various ores and wells across Pywel.

• Added new cooking animations each dedicated for vegetables, meat, and fish. (Removed: 2026/04/23)

• Reduced the amount of attack and defense gained from equipment reinforcement with grindstones and anvils.

• Fixed an issue where the cloudcart could not be called.

  • Improved the cloudcart so that it can be used as a permanent mount.
  • Changed the cloudcart crafting mission so that it can only be completed once.

• Improved the prices of goods sold by Greymane NPCs so that they can be bought at a 10% discounted price.

• Added livestock vendors across Pywel.

  • Livestock such as cows, pigs, goats, sheep, ducks, and chickens can be purchased from these NPCs.

• Added 13 new tattoos for characters.

• Added a "Lock" function that prevents selling or discarding of the selected item.

• Improved gathering and mining so that the quantity of items obtained is applied consistently.

• Improved resting in bed so that the player's character gets up immediately afterward.

• Improved NPCs to show a wider variety of reactions to their surroundings.

• As part of ongoing visual improvements, replaced select 2D visual assets to better align with the game's art direction.

• In the Mission Dispatch menu, the "Dispatch" and "Repeat Mission" buttons have been separated, allowing selection between performing a mission once or repeating it. (Added: 2026/04/23)

Controls

• Added a preset feature for both keyboard/mouse and controllers.

  • The original controls are available via the "Classic Preset".
  • More detailed controller customization will be added soon.

• Added a feature where, when the interaction key is pressed, the corresponding action is performed immediately.

  • [Keyboard/Mouse] This feature, located in Settings > Input > Keyboard/Mouse Customization, can be used when the UI interaction section does not overlap with the keys in the Default Input Group. If the keys overlap, that section will be highlighted in yellow.
  • [Controller] This feature can be used through the default settings in Settings > Input > Controller Customization.

• Added the "Evasion Control" and "Switch Roll and Evasion Input" options.

  • This feature allows you to choose between either the original double click/press option or the hold option.
  • Enabling the "Switch Roll and Evasion Input" option switches the controls for Roll and Evasion.

• Improved the controls for aiming

  • Added a function that allows you to turn your lantern on and off while aiming.
  • Improved the controls so that even when a weapon is drawn, pressing aim while there is an interactable target nearby will immediately switch to aim instead of guard.

• Added the "Using Skill: Element" option.

  • Selecting "Quick Slot Option" allows you to use the selected elements assigned for each individual input.

• Changed the controls for Vault.

  • Vault can now only be used by pressing Jump while performing a different attack.

• Changed all interactions so that they are executed continuously while the button is held down.

• [Keyboard/Mouse & Controller] "Dismount/Drop" and "Cancel" keys/buttons have been combined.

• [Keyboard/Mouse] Expanded the range of customizable key bindings.

• [Keyboard/Mouse] Changed the Escape key used while under status effects to match the Evade key.

• [Controller] Improved the map so that it can be opened by holding the DualSense touch pad or the Xbox controller's View button.

Combat/Action

• Adjusted the overall balance of bosses.

  • Changed bosses so that they are no longer immune to player attacks while performing powerful attacks.
  • Adjusted the frequency at which bosses counterattack or escape while being hit consecutively.
  • Adjusted the attack pattern of certain bosses.

• Increased damage taken from elemental status ailments.

• Slightly reduced the damage dealt when hitting enemies with pillars or trees.

• Added new charging stages for Force Palm Pulse.

  • The skill can be charged up to 3 stages, with damage increasing progressively.

• Improved the overall speed of "Examine" when examining items.

• Improved the speed of pushing or rotating objects during puzzles.

• Improved follow-up attacks so they connect more quickly even when the initial attack is blocked.

• Changed Blinding Flash so that it can also be used in areas where weapons cannot be drawn.

• Changed Blinding Flash so that it is used toward the target currently being faced during combat.

• Improved attack chaining after using Dodge during unarmed combat.

• [Kliff] Added the skill Weapon Throw, usable while dual wielding.

  • This ability can be used with the same controls as Shield Bash.
  • Weapons can be retrieved by pressing the same controls or by approaching it.

• [Kliff] Improved the attack speed of Force Palm.

• [Kliff] Fixed an issue where the parry action after guarding would not trigger when a non-sword weapon was equipped as the primary weapon.

• [Kliff] Fixed an issue where Charge could not be used with certain weapons.

• [Kliff] Improved Force Current so that Kliff no longer falls from ledges when using it.

• [Damiane/Oongka] Added the skill Ambush.

• [Damiane/Oongka] Added a skill that has the same effect as Kliff's Focused Force Palm.

• [Oongka] Fixed an issue where Oongka could not move horizontally during Vertical Flight.

• [Oongka] Improved Oongka's blaster so that it can be fired during Flight.

• [Oongka] Fixed an issue where Scatter Shot could be used even without bullets during Back Hang.

• Improved "Examine" so that it can be used in your inventory while mounted on a horse.

• Improved the brightness and detection range of the Miner's Lantern Hat so that it can more easily identify gatherable ores.

  • It can now identify stone as well.

• Changed the healing effects displayed on targets affected by Healing Force Palm.

• Fixed an issue where the "Lift" interaction became unavailable when a restrained target fell into water.

• Fixed an issue where stamina would recover when repeatedly drawing and stowing weapons while moving.

• Fixed an issue where sprinting, swimming, and some other actions could not be performed while riding the Marni's Mechahorse.

• Fixed an issue where the character would get stuck in certain situations while operating mechanical devices.

• Improved spears and longswords so that their attacks flow more naturally during combat.

• [Damiane] Improved Quick Reload so that, in addition to being acquirable by skill observation, the skill can also be acquired with Abyss Artifacts. (Added: 2026/04/23)

UI Fixes & Improvements

• Improved the inventory so that items can be viewed through category tabs.

  • There are 5 categories: All, Documents, Equipment, Food, Materials, and Others.
  • The Sort settings for each inventory category are saved and will remain in effect even after restarting the game.
  • The same category tabs will also be added to the private storage in the near future.

• Improved the inventory UI so that grouped icons will show an icon with a representative image of that group.

  • The feature may be turned on or off in Settings > Play > Show Group Icon in Inventory.

• Separated the input options for "Ungroup" and "Ungroup All Items".

• Added "Filters/Search" function to the map.

• Improved the map and minimap so that icons are displayed for obtained Memory Fragments.

  • After Memory Fragments are obtained, lanterns will no longer display a detection signal.

• Added a feature that allows players to choose the shape and color of map markers.

• Improved the map to display the stock status of shop items for shops with whom maximum trust has been reached.

• Improved the map and minimap to display well icons.

• Improved the minimap to display north, south, east, west.

• [Kliff/Damiane/Oongka] Adjusted the layout of the Skills menu.

• Improved the Faction Quests and Challenges UI to show the number of quests and challenges available.

• Improved the Journal so that reward item information can be viewed.

• Added a UI display to shops that show how many of an item the player owns.

• Improved shops' buy menu to display the conditions required for purchasing deactivated items.

Graphics & Settings

• Improved the rendering quality of distant objects and textures. The higher the graphics settings, the more enhanced the details and visual clarity will be.
  • Fixed an additional issue where background objects that should only appear under certain conditions were always visible from a distance.
• Improved the visual quality of characters at long distances.
• Improved hair lighting in shaded areas.
• Improved errors and flickering related to displacement mapping.
• Added a "Max" size for the subtitle font size setting.
• Improved to maintain the camera's distance to the character when adjusting the visual range.
• Added a "Colorblind Mode" option in Settings > Accessibility.
• Added a "Chromatic Aberration" option in Settings > Accessibility.
• Added a "Photosensitive Mode" option in Settings > Accessibility.
• [PC] Improved the quality of "AMD FSR Ray Regeneration".
• [PC] Improved the quality of "Intel XeSS 3.0" upscaling and "Intel XeSS Frame Generation".
• [Steam] Fixed an issue where actions requiring rotation of the right stick, such as Nature's Snare and reeling in a fishing rod, did not function properly with an Xbox controller when the "Enable Steam Input" was enabled.
• [Mac] Reduced stuttering during gameplay.
• [Mac] Added a "MetalFX Denoising Upscaler" option in Settings > Video. This option is available starting from macOS Tahoe.
• [Mac] Fixed an issue where switching between multiple displays under Settings > Video did not work smoothly.
• [Mac] Fixed an issue where the game would launch at an unintended resolution when using certain displays.
• [Mac] Improved HDR quality and allowed HDR to be enabled by default "For This Mac" preset when using an HDR-compatible display.
• [Mac] Fixed an issue where the screen appeared excessively dark when disabling HDR after it had been enabled.

Stability, Gameplay

• Changed the Load menu to display a notice in a slot if the save data is corrupted or invalid.
• Fixed an issue that caused the game to crash if HDR was enabled on a monitor that does not support HDR.
• Fixed several stability and crash issues across PC, console, and Mac.

Localization

• Fixed various localization errors and improved localization quality across all languages.

Others

• Tumbleweeds have been added to desert regions.
• Fixed an issue where the "Display Weapons" setting was not applied properly in certain cutscenes and gameplay situations.
• Fixed an issue where the target location would display incorrectly when a bounty target quest failed.
• Fixed the bounty system so that if the player's bounty is too high to turn in a bounty target, bringing the target to the Constabulary will trigger an arrest state instead of the handover cutscene.
• Improved comrades' behavior so they do not attack bounty targets.
• Fixed an issue where, after completing certain quests, tracking of the subsequent quest did not trigger properly.
• Improved the Journal to indicate whether a quest target has been dispatched on a mission.
• Improved the progress display for cumulative quests such as "To the Rescue".
• Fixed an issue where the game would occasionally close when retrying bosses as Damiane or Oongka.
• Fixed an issue where the character switch menu became available after completing a stage that automatically switched the player character.
• Fixed an issue where teleporting via the map while mounted on Blackstar caused Blackstar to become invincible or unable to move.
• Fixed an issue where Blackstar would not move when summoned from a distance.
• Fixed an issue where an item was displayed incorrectly when reading a Memory Fragment with the lantern.
• Fixed an issue in the Prologue where enemies would not recognize the player after the player rested in a bed.
• Fixed an issue that caused an inifite loading screen to appear if the player was caught cheating at Duo as Oongka.
• Fixed an issue where NPCs were unable pick up items they had dropped after colliding with the player.
• Fixed an issue where some outfits looked unnatural depending on the player's movements.
• Improved the display of the horse cargo so it no longer overlaps with shields.
• Fixed an issue where audio did not play properly in certain situations.
• Fixed an issue where a certain Pailune merchant NPC would not appear in some save files.
• Fixed an issue where the mission would fail if a bounty target was killed after being captured.
• Fixed an issue where Trust would not increase after giving a gift to the boss of the Beggars' Alliance.
• Fixed an issue where the effects of the items Golden Beer and Sage's Eye did not apply properly.
• Fixed an issue where relevant Knowledge was not acquired after interacting with the Pailune Militiamen.
• Fixed an issue where the knowledge for Tristan, the Flame Knight, Marni's Machina Knight, and Dreadnought could not be acquired.
• Fixed an issue where Greater Abyss Gear could not be sold.
• Fixed enhancement materials, crafting materials, and reinforcement levels that had been set differently from the equipment material type.
• Fixed various other in-game issues.

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