Pearl Abyss just dropped one of the biggest patches Crimson Desert has seen since launch, and it touches almost every part of the game. From difficulty options to new pets, revamped storage, and reworked boss combat, Version 1.04.00 is the kind of update that makes you want to log straight back in.
Platform Availability for Patch 1.04.00
The patch is now live across most platforms. However, Steam (Mac) and the Mac App Store versions are still in progress and will receive the update at a later time.
| Platform | Status |
| Steam (PC) | Available now |
| PlayStation | Available now |
| Xbox | Available now |
| Epic Games Store | Available now |
| Steam (Mac) | In progress, available later |
| Mac App Store | In progress, available later |
Difficulty Settings Are Finally Here
The most requested feature since launch has arrived. Crimson Desert Version 1.04.00 adds Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulty options, accessible through Settings > Play. Importantly, difficulty can be changed at any time, making it a very player-friendly addition that suits both newcomers and veterans equally.
Easy reduces damage taken by the player, lowers enemy health, aggressiveness, and speed, extends the timing windows for Parry and Dodge, and reduces how often bosses attempt to counterattack or escape when hit.
Normal is the same difficulty players have been experiencing so far.
Hard is built for experienced Greymanes who want a serious challenge. On Hard, food item effects do not apply immediately and only take effect once the consumption animation finishes. Damage taken increases, enemies become faster and more aggressive with higher health, Parry and Dodge windows shrink, Roll invincibility duration shortens, bosses counterattack and attempt to escape more frequently when hit, and certain bosses gain additional combat patterns entirely.
Pearl Abyss has also confirmed that a boss rematch feature is coming in a future patch, allowing players to replay specific boss fights at will. This feature is not included in Version 1.04.00 but is confirmed as planned.
New Storage Items for Your House
Version 1.04.00 adds a significant housing storage overhaul. Several new containers are now available, and importantly, many of them let you craft and cook directly from stored materials without needing to carry them in your inventory.
| Storage Item | Slots | How to Get |
| Sturdy Gatherables Chest | 1,000 | Purchase from furniture shops |
| Kuku Cooler | 40 | Obtained through a quest |
| Enhanced Kuku Cooler | 330 | Craftable |
| Collectibles Chest | 1,000 | Obtained through a quest |
| Wardrobe (per unit) | 100 slots per unit, up to 1,000 total | Purchase from furniture shops |
Materials stored in the Sturdy Gatherables Chest can be used for crafting or refinement directly, even without carrying them in your inventory. The same applies to ingredients stored in either the Kuku Cooler or Enhanced Kuku Cooler, which can be used for cooking in place. The Collectibles Chest stores quest items and crafting recipes.
The Wardrobe stacks with additional units placed in your home, up to a maximum outfit storage of 1,000 slots total. Pearl Abyss also added a Select House option that lets you change your house layout. The available types, which include Compact, Standard, Spacious, and Spacious Pailunese, unlock based on your Greymane Camp expansion level. A function that retrieves all placed furniture at once has also been added to make managing your setup much easier.
New Pets: Birds, Cats, and More
Version 1.04.00 adds birds as tameable pets. You can encounter them throughout Pywel, and building Trust with them works through the new Sotdae of Bond item. To gain Trust, you place food that birds like on the Sotdae of Bond and wait for them to feed. The Sotdae of Bond itself is obtained through a quest.
Five new types of cat pets have also been added alongside the existing roster, and the Abyss Heuklang can now become your pet as well. All pets now have an accessory slot, which opens up wider roles for them as companions. You can now rename your horses and pets, and the new Sigil of Bonding accessory for cat pets lets them stay on your shoulder for a longer period. A secret pet equipment shop has also been added in Pororin.
New Weapons, Skills, and Armor
This patch adds new character-specific weapons, skills, and armor across all three playable characters.
Damiane receives an exclusive new one-handed weapon called the Sword of Starlight, obtainable through a quest. Damiane and Oongka both gain the new Ambush skill and a skill that functions identically to Kliff’s Focused Force Palm. Damiane’s Quick Reload skill can now also be acquired using Abyss Artifacts in addition to skill observation.
Kliff and Oongka gain two new one-handed weapons, the Tree Branch and Sturdy Tree Branch, obtainable by cutting down trees and bamboo trees. Kliff also gains the new Baltheon armor outfit. The Rekhia Plate Helm has been renamed the Baltheon Plate Helm and can now be equipped by Kliff. Additionally, Kliff gains the Weapon Throw skill, usable while dual wielding with the same controls as Shield Bash. Weapons thrown this way can be retrieved by pressing the same controls again or by walking up to them.
A new Sturdy Broom tool has been added and is available to all players.
Combat and Boss Changes
The combat system received meaningful adjustments in this patch, with boss fights specifically getting a substantial rework.
- Bosses are no longer immune to player attacks while performing their powerful attacks, removing one of the most complained-about mechanics from launch.
- The frequency at which bosses counterattack or attempt to escape while being hit consecutively has been adjusted.
- Certain boss attack patterns have been changed.
- Damage taken from elemental status ailments has been increased.
- Damage from hitting enemies with pillars or trees has been slightly reduced.
- Follow-up attacks now connect more quickly even when the initial attack is blocked.
- Force Palm Pulse can now be charged up to 3 stages, with damage increasing progressively at each stage.
- Blinding Flash can now be used in areas where weapons cannot normally be drawn, and it activates toward the target currently being faced during combat.
- Attack chaining after using Dodge during unarmed combat has been improved.
- Spears and longswords now flow more naturally during attack sequences.
Oongka receives several specific fixes: horizontal movement during Vertical Flight now works correctly, the blaster can be fired during Flight, and Scatter Shot can no longer be used without bullets during Back Hang.
Controls and Input Improvements
A significant quality of life addition in this patch is the new preset system for both keyboard and mouse and controller setups. The original controls remain available as the Classic Preset, and more detailed controller customisation is confirmed to be coming in a future update.
Additional control changes include the new Evasion Control option and a Switch Roll and Evasion Input toggle, letting you choose between the original double click or press input and a hold option. You can now turn your lantern on and off while aiming, and pressing aim near an interactable target while a weapon is drawn will now switch directly to aim mode instead of going to guard first.
On keyboard and mouse, the Dismount and Drop and Cancel keys have been combined, the Escape key under status effects now matches the Evade key, and customisable key bindings have been expanded. On controller, the map can now be opened by holding the DualSense touchpad or the Xbox View button.
Inventory and UI Improvements
The inventory has been upgraded with category tabs. The five categories are All, Documents, Equipment, Food, Materials, and Others. Sort settings for each category save individually and remain active after restarting the game. Grouped icons now display a representative image for the group, and this feature can be toggled in Settings > Play.
A Lock function prevents accidental selling or discarding of selected items. The map now has a Filters and Search function, displays icons for obtained Memory Fragments, lets players customise the shape and colour of map markers, shows shop stock status for shops at maximum trust, and displays well icons and compass directions on the minimap. Shops now also show how many of a given item you currently own, and the buy menu displays conditions required to unlock locked items.
Graphics and Accessibility Updates
Distant object and texture rendering quality has improved across all graphics settings, with higher settings delivering more detailed visuals at range. Hair lighting in shaded areas, character visual quality at long distances, and errors related to displacement mapping have all been improved.
Three new accessibility options have been added to Settings > Accessibility: Colorblind Mode, Chromatic Aberration, and Photosensitive Mode. A Max font size option has also been added for subtitles.
PC players benefit from improved AMD FSR Ray Regeneration quality and improved Intel XeSS 3.0 upscaling and Frame Generation. Mac players receive reduced stuttering during gameplay, a new MetalFX Denoising Upscaler option available from macOS Tahoe, and improved HDR quality alongside several display and resolution fixes.
Other Notable Changes
- Tumbleweeds have been added to desert regions.
- Greymane NPC goods can now be purchased at a 10 percent discount.
- Livestock vendors selling cows, pigs, goats, sheep, ducks, and chickens have been added across Pywel.
- 13 new tattoos for characters have been added.
- The Cloudcart has been fixed so it can be called again and now functions as a permanent mount. Its crafting mission can only be completed once.
- Various ores and wells have been added across Pywel.
- The Kuku Flame-Resistant Armor and Kuku Ice-Resistant Armor can now be dyed.
- Regular Abyss gears, insects, fish, and animals are now stackable in the inventory.
- Resting in bed now causes your character to get up immediately afterward.
- NPCs now show a wider variety of reactions to their surroundings.
Key Things to Know
- Patch 1.04.00 is live now on PS5, Xbox, Steam (PC), and Epic Games Store. The Mac versions are still being updated and will follow at a later time.
- The PC patch is approximately 37GB in size.
- Easy, Normal, and Hard difficulty settings are now available in Settings > Play and can be changed at any time.
- Boss invincibility during powerful attacks has been removed entirely.
- New storage items including the Sturdy Gatherables Chest, Kuku Cooler, and Collectibles Chest let you craft and cook directly from stored materials.
- Birds are now tameable as pets using the Sotdae of Bond item, five new cat types have been added, and all pets now have an accessory slot.
- New weapons and skills have been added for Damiane, Kliff, and Oongka.
- Control presets for keyboard and mouse and controller are now live, with more customisation options confirmed for a future update.
- A boss rematch feature is confirmed but will arrive in a future patch, not this one.
Leave a Reply