Crimson Desert Adds Ships, Diving, and Marriage in New DLC

Two weeks later than originally planned, Charting the Unknown, the first paid expansion for Crimson Desert, is now available on PlayStation 5, XBOX Series X|S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store for $24.99. Pearl Abyss pushed the DLC back from October 15 to October 29 at the end of September, saying it needed more time to polish the content, and the patch went live on schedule at 3:00 PM Pacific (6:00 PM Eastern) yesterday. The Steam version on Mac has the update as well, though the Mac App Store version is still in progress, and both Mac builds require a one-time download of the full game package because of technical changes to the build. It’s the first paid add-on for the game following the free Enhanced update that released in August.

The headline feature is the ocean, which was previously just the edge of the map. A new quest called A Wider World begins after completing Howling Hill in the main story and expanding your Greymane camp past a certain level, and it introduces ships as a new mount type. Ships can be built through a dispatch mission or purchased from fleetmasters around Pywel, customized with parts sold in Demeniss and Delesyia, and used for maritime trading with a new set of trade goods. Once you’re out on the water, a breath gauge lets you dive to the bottom for sunken ruins and underwater treasures, with your diving suit refined to extend how long you can stay down and new equipment that lets the A.T.A.G operate underwater. There are also underwater mounts to subdue or feed until they trust you, several uncharted islands to pioneer through new missions, and treasure maps scattered across the world.

Back on land, the expansion adds a lot of ways to settle down in Pywel. The housing system now has a free construction mode where you lay out your own walls and windows, along with two decoratable castles and 17 residences that can be built through dispatch missions. Liberated strongholds can be rented and run as a restaurant, sawmill, smithy, or tailor’s shop, and those facilities keep operating while you’re away. Camp festivals bring in NPCs you’ve built trust with, some of whom can be hired as Honorary Greymanes and sent on dispatch missions. There’s also a new tier of trust unlocked through the Flirt option, and once it reaches 100, you can propose. After marriage, your spouse travels with you, gives you gifts, lives in the residence you designate, and can be left, though Pearl Abyss says breaking up comes at a cost. Flirting with an NPC as one character also lowers that NPC’s trust with the other two.

For those who finished the story, Kliff, Oongka, and Damiane each get one new individual quest after Journey’s End, and the same milestone unlocks the Garden of Trials near the Axiom Archive Abyss. It’s a 10-group combat challenge where you can bring up to all three characters in whatever order you choose, food can’t be used for recovery, and a defeated character hands the fight to the next in line. Clearing each group permanently enhances one of your existing skills. The update also adds new armor, weapons, Abyss gear, and mount equipment, several new bosses that can be refought with Memory Fragments, a Relic Collector NPC who trades exploration relics for items, and a set of Life skill tools that now work in combat, including a frying pan, ladle, and kitchen knife.

A few of the smaller changes are worth knowing before you jump in. Save files created with the DLC installed can’t be loaded or cross-saved on a version of the game without it. Upscaling and frame generation can now be selected separately, so DLSS upscaling can be paired with FSR frame generation. Barber shops have been added to major cities, insects get their own storage box, wagons can now be equipped with gear, and the spawn rate of Golden Apple Hedgehogs has been reduced. Crimson Desert launched on March 19 and crossed six million copies sold in 83 days.