Crimson Desert update 1.04 is finally here and hardcore fans will love it

Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss has released a massive new update on PS5, Xbox Series X|S and PC. Announced earlier this week, the major update introduces new difficulty settings, as well as a selection of storage chests and new house layouts. As confirmed by Pearl Abyss, the new update is a little bigger than usual, mainly due to the improvements to distant scenery. Pearl Abyss explains more: "Improved the rendering quality of distant objects and textures. The higher the graphics settings, the more enhanced the details and visual clarity will be." Distant characters will also be clearer and easier to see following the new update.

However, it's the difficulty settings that are likely to excite most players, especially if you've been finding the main game too easy or too hard.

The easy mode reduces damage taken by players, all the while reducing enemy health, parry timings and boss counters.

The hard mode, on the other hand, increases enemy damage and health. It also reduces the invincibility duration for Roll, and doesn't apply health buffs until eating animations are complete.

Interestingly, the update also makes improvements to the controls, which is most welcome.

This includes improvements to aiming, including a function that allows you to turn your lantern on and off while aiming.

Crimson Desert update 1.04 patch notes...

Content

• Easy / Normal / Hard difficulty options have been added to Settings

- 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.

Content

• 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.)

• 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.

• 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.