Crimson Desert's Mega-Patch 1.01 Enhances Horseback Riding & Adds New Mounts

Crimson Desert, the highly anticipated solo title from Pearl Abyss, continues to gain significant traction. The game recently surpassed three million copies sold and achieved a new peak in concurrent players this past weekend. User reviews on Steam have now reached 100,000 ratings, cementing its status as 'Very Positive'.

In a rapid succession of updates, the game has received two new patches within the last 24 hours: Patch 1.01 and Hotfix 1.01.01. The larger Patch 1.01, released on Sunday, brought a wealth of quality-of-life improvements, five new mount types, and various bug fixes. Monday's Hotfix 1.01.01 then implemented several minor adjustments, building upon the previous update.

Below is a summary of the extensive changes introduced in Crimson Desert's Patch 1.01 and Hotfix 1.01.01, now available on PC (Steam), Xbox Series, and PS5.

Patch 1.01.00 - Key Highlights and Changes

Content Enhancements

Five new mounts have been added, obtainable and summonable by meeting specific conditions: Frosted White Bear, Silverfang, White Deer, Rocky Tusked Warthog, and Alpine Ibex.
Tamed animals no longer cause alarm in Pywel's settlements, allowing for peaceful movement.
Players who previously captured legendary animals will retroactively receive their corresponding rewards upon logging in.
Chests containing various materials have been distributed across the continent of Pywel.
An 'Refinement Room' has been introduced, enabling equipment refinement up to level 4 without consuming additional materials, obtainable from main and faction quests.
The 'Craft Immediately' function has been added to cooking and crafting menus, streamlining item creation.
A new option allows storing all items in the personal warehouse at once (Keyboard: Shift + Right Click / PS5: □ / Xbox: X).
The personal warehouse location has moved inside the tent from behind Carl, the Greymane Camp NPC.
Spice merchants added to farms in Pywel, with adjusted knowledge quantities.
All shop item knowledge can now be acquired simultaneously with a 3-second acquisition time.
Improved UI displays an interaction button for locked doors, prompting key usage.
Pet behavior improved; pets no longer stray far from the player during combat and can now pick up items during fights.
Drawing water from wells now yields 5 units of water.
Minerals extracted with the mining drill are now obtained instantly.
Firewood from trees cut with Demeniss's chainsaw is now collected automatically.
Materials for the Kuku Observer Kit have been modified.
Abyss components from vanishing blocks can now be stored in Kuku's Iron Pot.
Using the Helm of Knowledge now instantly grants all available on-screen knowledge.
The Pirate King's Hat treasure detection range has been slightly increased.
After maxing inventory (240 slots), additional inventory expansion tools will convert into material chests.
Abyss gameplay experience has been enhanced.
Reduced probability of thieves fleeing after stealing and entering a building.
Photo mode's max capture distance increased, with added field-of-view adjustment and sound effects.
Some 2D art resources updated to align with the game's art direction.
Fixed issues preventing resting/waiting at beds, campfires, etc.
Resolved issues where Damiane or Oongka would become invisible.
Fixed a bug causing bank deposits to disappear upon interest updates.
Improved system for sealed items: if an item allows sealing upon loss, it will be sealed; otherwise, it becomes a lost item.
Warnings for sealing or lost items now display when leaving a sealable item outside, saving, and reloading.
Contribution no longer decreases until an NPC locates a crime.
Certain item functionalities have been modified.

Controls & Combat Improvements

Character and horse movement controls have been refined for more natural feel.
Movement speed now increases simply by holding the sprint button; repeated presses are no longer required to maintain speed.
Speed no longer decreases if the sprint button is not held down (though periodic presses are needed to maintain sprint state).
'Flight' skill improved: stamina consumption reduced, momentary movement stop fixed, and equipped items can now be used while flying.
'Air Stab' skill redesigned for better movement mechanics without breaking game balance; animation improved, consecutive use consumes more stamina, fixed bug preventing activation with non-sword main weapons.
Stamina consumption for 'Aerial Maneuver' and 'Aerial Sweep' reduced.
NPC interaction possibilities expanded for convenience.
Player response to rotation during short-distance movement improved.
[Keyboard/Mouse] Fixed 'Dazzle' and 'Whiplash' skills interrupting when controls were held in specific situations.
[Keyboard/Mouse] Items can now be sold in the shop by double-clicking.
Specific visual effects added for elemental weak points.
Boss and enemy AI adjusted to prevent immediate attacks after player death and respawn.
Fixed 'Plunging Kick' activation mid-air without solid ground.
Targeting guide added for tool-type items.
Weapon sheathing/unsheathing key improved, with guide displayed during combat.
Resolved occasional issue where stun bar instantly reset after defeating a mounted boss.
Small and medium rock crabs now recoil when slapped.
[Keyboard/Mouse] Inventory controls usability improved: selection now by left-click, usage by right-click or double-click.
Stamina consumption for Sprint and Raven Wings reduced.
Fixed abnormally large knockback range of concentrated repulsion.
Rusten the Desert Marauder's wheels can no longer be destroyed from a distance.
Fixed bug preventing rolling/dodging during concentration skills.
[Keyboard/Mouse] Added function to precisely control Axiomatic Force by holding Q or mouse back button while moving the mouse.
Object interaction improved.
An information message now appears if attempting to draw a weapon in an unauthorized location or state.

Mission Updates

Smoothed the abrupt transition to the liberation animation when liberating a settlement.
Fixed prologue bug preventing 'A New Journey' mission progression if Sebastian was attacked with a thrown object.
Chapter 2 issue resolved where delivery objective sometimes disappeared during 'A Missing Companion'.
Chapter 3 bug fixed: totem destruction sometimes not registered during 'Dance with the Devil'. Missing help messages added for mission progression.

Interface (UI/UX) Corrections & Improvements

Mini-map now has a function to set North (N) at the top.
Skill menu now displays stat improvement information for the next level of each skill.
Icons added to the mini-map to indicate key and anvil locations.
Notification menu enhanced to show challenge and quest status (accepted, completed, updated), rewards, and time, with max saved notifications increased to 2000.
Journal now has an icon to indicate new quests.
When a settlement liberation bar is displayed, settlement facilities now appear on the mini-map.
General notification functions on the main screen optimized for display time and disappearance.
Cooking and crafting menus now group identical recipes (satisfying, generous, or abundant) for better visibility.
Duo guide improved to display the shortcut for checking your hand during the game.
Blinding flash effect removed from loading screen after death and retrying.
Knowledge menu interface redesigned for clearer display of main and sub-categories.
Updated guide images for DualSense L3/R3 and Xbox LS/RS buttons.
'Use All' option now applies by default when using bag-type items in inventory.
Text color in description interface modified for improved readability.

Graphics & Settings

Improved rendering stability and quality in low-resolution environments or with upscaling enabled.
Enhanced rendering of transparent materials (hair, fur, clothes) when FSR-RR or DLSS-RR is active.
[PlayStation 5] 'Lock Resolution to 4K' option added for a sharper experience. This option forces a 4K signal output for clearer images, applying FSR upscaling in Performance mode on base PS5 models. It is enabled by default but can be disabled to adjust display to monitor's max resolution.
Fixed a bug causing increased visual noise on screen after prolonged gaming sessions.
When DLSS-RR is enabled, displacement mapping now applies correctly. DLSS-RR preset changed from D to E, improving overall quality and resolving frozen texture animations (e.g., waterfall).

Performance, Stability & Gameplay

Reduced loading times when traveling in the Abyss Nexus and waiting time during resurrection after death.
Overall performance and stability optimized on PC, Mac, and consoles, with several unexpected crashes corrected.
Fixed FPS drops occurring during Crow summoner combat.

Localization & Other

Fixed a bug where quest objective UI displayed item descriptions instead of quest details.
Corrected several localization errors and improved quality across all available languages.
New sounds added for certain animals eating meat.
Various minor bug fixes for tool interaction, Abyss portal, cattle herding, crime accusations, Wind Veil ability, housing mode, character immersion, energy drain equipment, Star-Helm, glide stutter, quick slot equipment exchange, bow aiming, Swift Slash knockback, UI overlaps, and crime detection.

Hotfix 1.01.01 - Specific Corrections

Fixed a bug where the 'Use' button for the 5 new mount amulets appeared active for Damiane and Oongka.
Corrected an issue where the Dark Star did not disappear after dying and remained hovering.
Resolved the problem preventing ATAG destruction when its health reached 0.
Fixed an issue where, in some situations, the refinement item selection interface appeared disabled.
Corrected an issue where, during quests involving following an NPC on horseback, holding the follow button resulted in unnatural horse movement.
Fixed an issue where the Sprint skill could not be used while riding the Frosted White Bear.
Resolved an issue where, when inspecting an item after equipping the Star-Helm, controls became unresponsive.
Fixed an issue where equipment could not be refined with Damiane and Oongka.