Pearl Abyss has released patch 1.03.00 in Crimson Desert, introducing another major update that addresses many of the game’s biggest concerns. The update is, once again, made with the community in mind, building on feedback received since the enormous, open-world title was released last month.
This update makes the game faster by allowing for better skipping through conversations, tweaks the Greymane camp to make it more useful, and permits fast traveling while moving, amongst other things.
Everything Important About Crimson Desert Patch 1.03.00
Crimson Desert continues to impress gamers worldwide, and the sales keep rolling in for Pearl Abyss. The game proved to be a rampant success at release, and the team has since injected multiple updates into the platform to address the biggest issues that players have with the title.
The latest patch, dubbed 1.03.00, introduces quality of life improvements across a wide variety of areas.
For instance, the Greymane camp, particularly the variant in Pailune, has been improved to make it more user-friendly and useful. That concept has rolled into Damiane and Oongka, two of the game’s playable characters, giving them more abilities and actions to bring them up to Kliff’s level, making them more useful in the game’s open world.
Abyss puzzles have been amended to make them a little more convenient, making it more obvious what needs to be done to solve the challenges. Talking of the Abyss, fast travel has also been overhauled, and you can now zip across the map even when mounted, falling, swimming, or climbing.
Pearl Abyss has also updated the game’s speed mechanics, making it so that dialogue scenes without letterboxes can be fast-forwarded, and players can better control how fast scenes are skipped with a new menu option.
Here’s the full spread of changes coming in the 1.03.00 patch for Crimson Desert:
Quick Select
Content
- Improved the usability of the Greymane camp.
- (To avoid spoilers, changes related to this content are listed in the dropdown menu below.)
- Improved the accessibility of key NPCs in Pailune camp.
- Expanded the farm and ranch areas in Pailune camp.
- Improved overall convenience of Pailune camp.
- (To avoid spoilers, changes related to this content are listed in the dropdown menu below.)
- Fixed issues that occurred when completing certain requests while being in the ‘wanted’ status.
- (To avoid spoilers, fixes related to this content are listed in the dropdown menu below.)
- Fixed the following issues that could occur when Pailune was liberated while in a wanted state in Chapter 7.
- Fixed an issue where the bounty was displayed as 0.
- Fixed an issue where certain comrade dispatches were unavailable.
- Fixed an issue where bank investment funds were not updated.
- (To avoid spoilers, fixes related to this content are listed in the dropdown menu below.)
- Improved standard dialogue scenes without letterboxing so that fast-forwarding is now available.
- Added a Fast Forward Speed option under Other > Language & Gameplay, allowing players to adjust fast-forward speed.
- Improved Abyss Nexuses so that they are easier to discover.
- Improved convenience for certain Abyss puzzles.
- Improved clarity so that it is easier to recognize when certain gimmicks are available to be attached by using ‘Force Palm’.
- Improved lanterns and ‘Blinding Flash’ so that they provide more hints.
- Improved the entrance path to the Spire of Soaring.
- Improved terrain in certain Abyss locations.
- Changed bank functionality while being in the ‘wanted’ status so that bank services remain available, but depositing gold bars and updating investment funds are no longer possible.
- Fixed an issue where requests could not be completed at a certain step when destroying the totems after completing Chapter 9, ‘Sanctum of Mortification’.
- Fixed an issue where certain requests could not be completed if related quest items were obtained before the request was activated.
- Fixed an issue where Gunter (Equipment vendor), Harry (Blacksmith), Bronton (Stablekeep), and Lola (Seamstress) in Pailune would be replaced by different NPCs after a certain quest.
- Added 3 new base music tracks across the continent of Pywel during combat (The Crimson Desert and certain other regions excluded) during [Patch 1.01.00].
- Added 1 new loading screen music track.
Controls & Combat
- Improved teleportation via the Abyss Nexus so that it can now be used while mounted, falling, swimming, or climbing walls.
- Improved the lock-on mechanism during boss battles.
- Improved the hard lock-on against bosses so that it is maintained from further distances.
- Changed the lock-on mechanism so that it no longer applies to certain larger bosses.
- Added the new ability, ‘Focused Aerial Roll’ for Kliff.
- Prerequisite abilities: ‘Focus Lv. 3’, ‘Flight Lv. 2’, and ‘Aerial Roll’.
- The skill can be activated by using ‘Focus’ during flight and then pressing the dodge key.
- Improved Damiane and Oongka so that they have more abilities useful for open-world gameplay.
- Added ‘Axiom Force’, ‘Nature’s Snare’ and related abilities for Damiane and Oongka.
- Improved Damiane’s ‘Shield Toss’ and Oongka’s ‘Scatter Shot’ ability so that they have the same effect as Kliff’s ‘Force Palm’.
- Changed the control inputs for Damiane’s ‘Skystep’ and Oongka’s ‘Vertical Flight’ ability.
- Improved an issue where follow-up attack combos would continue too slowly if the player’s attack was blocked.
- Fixed an issue where the character would occasionally move at an abnormally fast speed during certain ability chained combos.
- Fixed an issue where the ‘Blinding Flash’ ability would not remain active while moving on a mount.
- Fixed an issue where the scythe could not be drawn in safe zones.
- Improved interactions with devices such as walls, buttons, and cranks so that a dedicated animation now plays when they can no longer be pushed.
- [Keyboard/Mouse] Improved the controls for ‘Axiom Force’.
- [Controller] Fixed an issue where ‘Nature’s Snare’ ability would activate during ‘Focus’ by tilting the right stick in one direction.
UI Fixes & Improvements
- Changed the color of faction quest icons.
- Improved the list of Memory Fragments of the Visione so that it only shows the list of currently obtained Fragments.
- Added a function that processes all items at once when grouping or ungrouping items in the bag.
- Improved the UI so that item details can now be viewed in the storage section as well.
- Improved the comrade list UI so that a check icon is now displayed on the selected comrade.
- Fixed an issue where the Attack and Critical Rate of certain equipment, such as necklaces and cloaks, were displayed as doubled when viewing character stat details from the inventory or Quick Slots.
- Improved the world map and minimap so that icons for treasure chests already obtained are now displayed differently.
- Improved the world map so that visited and unvisited caves are now displayed with different icons.
- Improved the world map so that restored and unrestored Abyss locations are now displayed with different icons.
- Fixed an issue where markers set on the world map would not be retained upon the first reconnection.
Graphics & Settings
- [PC] Added support for Intel Arc GPUs. Compatibility and performance across various Intel GPUs will continue to be improved over time.
- [PC] Added the ‘Intel XeSS 3.0’ option under Settings > Video > Upscale Mode.
- [PC] Added the ‘Intel XeSS Frame Generation’ option under Settings > Video.
- On Intel Arc A-series GPUs, the screen may not display properly when using ‘Intel XeSS 3.0’ or ‘Intel XeSS Frame Generation’.
- [PC] Added the ‘AMD Radeon™ Anti-Lag 2’ option under Settings > Video.
- [PC] Added the ‘Displacement Scale’ option under Settings > Graphics.
- [PC] Added the ‘Detail Decorative Mesh’ option under Settings > Graphics.
- [PC] Fixed noise that occurred in screen distortion effects when using DLSS-RR.
- [PlayStation 5 Base / Xbox Series X] Added the ‘Enhanced Raytracing’ option under Settings > Video.
- [PlayStation 5 Pro] Added the ‘PSSR Sharpness’ option under Settings > Video.
- [All Platforms] Improved lighting quality in indoor environments.
- [All Platforms] Improved water surface reflections.
- [All Platforms] Fixed an issue where rain appeared excessively bright from certain angles.
- Added the ‘Weapon Display’ option under Others > Language & Gameplay.
- Display Melee Weapons
- All
- Selected Only
- Display Ranged Weapons
- Always
- Only When Used
- Added the ‘Minimum Font Size’ option under Others > Accessibility.
- This option will take effect after restarting the game.
- Added the ‘Fast Forward Speed’ option under Others > Language & Gameplay.
- Fast Forward speed can be set up to 4x.
- Added the following options under Others > Accessibility.
- Camera Visual Range
- Camera Vertical Offset
- Camera Horizontal Offset
- Camera Auto-follow
- Camera Lookahead
- Display Melee Weapons
Performance, Stability, Gameplay
- Fixed several stability, performance optimization, and crash issues across PC, console, and Mac.
Localization
- Fixed various localization errors and improved localization quality (game advice, etc.) across all languages.
Others
- Fixed an issue where the game would crash when using the Helm of Knowledge as Damiane or Oongka.
- Fixed an issue where corn had no maximum purchase limit at certain vendors.
- Fixed various other in-game issues.
What are you most excited to see in this Crimson Desert patch? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out Pete Hines revealing why he left Bethesda Game Studios
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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