The Hillside Manor strongbox is one of Crimson Desert’s trickier cylinder tumbler puzzles, but with the exact dial sequence below, you can crack it cleanly on your first attempt.
The Hillside Manor strongbox puzzle sits inside one of Hernand’s most closely guarded buildings, and the tumbler mechanic it uses trips up a lot of players who try to eyeball the alignment rather than follow a precise sequence. Getting inside the manor without alerting guards, positioning each cylinder correctly, and then escaping clean are all steps that need to come together. This guide covers all of it.
Hillside Manor Strongbox Puzzle Overview
| Detail | Info |
| Location | Hillside Manor, southeast of Hernand Castle |
| Strongbox Floor | Second floor, southeastern room |
| Puzzle Type | Cylinder tumbler lock (five rotating dials) |
| Reward | Saint’s Necklace |
| Stats | +5 Defense, Vitality trait |
| Mask Required | Yes, to steal the contents |
| Key Required | No |
What You Need Before You Start
You do not need a key to enter Hillside Manor, which makes this one of the more accessible strongboxes in Hernand. However you do need a Mask equipped before you can steal the contents after solving the puzzle.
You can pick up a Mask from the Back Alley Shop in Hernand for a small number of bronze coins, or loot one from defeated bandits in the surrounding area. The Back Alley Shop is the fastest option if you do not already have one in your inventory.
Where to Find Hillside Manor
Hillside Manor sits directly southeast of Hernand Castle, just above the Church of Hernand. It is a large building with closely guarded main entrances at ground level. Attempting to walk through the front door will immediately draw guard attention, so the window entry method below is the correct approach.
How to Enter Hillside Manor
Getting inside without triggering the guards is straightforward once you know where to climb:
- Approach the section of the exterior wall that juts out from the main building, on the left-hand side of the front door
- Begin climbing the wall upward. Guards do not react to wall climbing, so you can do this freely during the day
- Make your way toward the right-hand window on the upper floor, closest to where the top walls meet
- Once you reach the window, hang on the ledge and wait for the open window prompt to appear, then interact with it to slip inside
- Alternatively, you can enter from the back of the building through a window above the rear door for an even safer approach if you want to avoid any risk entirely
Once inside, the strongbox sits along the wall furthest from the door in the southeastern room on the second floor.
How the Cylinder Tumbler Puzzle Works
The Hillside Manor strongbox uses a five-cylinder tumbler lock. Each cylinder sits on a rotating board and needs to reach a specific height. The goal is to position every cylinder so that the black dividing line between the silver and gold halves of each tumbler aligns precisely with the top of the wooden panel.
Each cylinder starts at a raised position and you lower it by interacting with it. The number of times you lower each one determines whether it reaches the correct alignment. Work through the cylinders from left to right and count each interaction carefully, as losing count mid-sequence is the most common reason the puzzle fails to unlock.
Hillside Manor Strongbox Puzzle Solution
Lower each cylinder the following number of times, working from left to right:
| Cylinder | Times to Lower |
| 1st (leftmost) | 2 times |
| 2nd | 2 times |
| 3rd (middle) | 3 times |
| 4th | 4 times |
| 5th (rightmost) | 5 times |
Once all five cylinders sit at their correct heights, press the right-hand button to test the alignment and trigger the unlock. The wooden panel below the cylinders will swivel open, giving you access to the strongbox contents.
If the Solution Is Not Working
If the puzzle does not unlock after following the sequence above, check the following:
- Look closely at each cylinder and confirm the black line sits just above the wooden panel, not level with it or below it. Even a single cylinder being slightly off will prevent the button from working
- If you interacted with any of the cylinders before following this guide, the starting positions may be off. Raise all five cylinders back to their topmost position to fully reset, then follow the sequence from the beginning
- Lower the dials slowly and count each interaction individually. Rushing through the sequence is the most frequent cause of misalignment
Collecting Your Reward and Escaping Clean
Once the strongbox opens, make sure your Mask is equipped before stealing the contents. Inside, you will find the Saint’s Necklace, which provides a +5 Defense boost and comes with a Vitality trait.
To use the Vitality ability, hold your healing item key (D-Pad Right on controller, or F3 on keyboard by default), select the slot at the three o’clock position, scroll to the Saint’s Necklace, and activate it with B on keyboard or L2 and R2 together on controller. When fully charged, the necklace replenishes your stamina bar in one use, however the cooldown is very long so it works best as a clutch recovery tool rather than something you spam.
After stealing, a theft bar appears at the top right of your screen. You must stay inside the building until this bar fully depletes before leaving. Exiting early triggers a wanted status and brings guards to your location. Since the room containing the strongbox has no NPCs in it, waiting inside is safe and stress-free.
Is the Saint’s Necklace Worth Keeping?
The Saint’s Necklace is genuinely useful in the early game and the decision between keeping or selling it comes down to your current build and resource situation:
- Keep it if you are struggling with enemy damage, as the +5 Defense and one-shot stamina recovery give you meaningful survivability
- Sell it if you are short on coin for early gear upgrades and have other ways to manage stamina
All Hernand Strongbox Rewards at a Glance
| Strongbox Location | Puzzle Type | Reward |
| Hillside Manor | Cylinder tumbler lock | Saint’s Necklace |
| Northern Bluemont Manor | Rotating owl panel sequence | Oath of Darkness Earring |
| Southern Bluemont Manor | Cylinder tumbler lock | Finely Crafted Gold Necklace |
| Lioncrest Manor | Rotating picture grid | Engraved Gold Earring |
| Hernand Castle | Musical key sequence | Lavish Meal Recipe |
The Engraved Gold Earring from Lioncrest Manor and the Oath of Darkness Earring from Northern Bluemont Manor are both refineable for passive bonuses, making them slightly higher priority than the Saint’s Necklace for long-term progression. However the Saint’s Necklace stamina ability makes it stand out as a situational tool that earns its place in any early build.
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