Crimson Desert Releases Yet Another New Update for April 2026

Pearl Abyss has released yet another massive Crimson Desert update for April 2026, adding more new content to the game and bringing it to version 1.03.00. Players now have access to new abilities for all three playable characters in Crimson Desert, as well as even more improvements to the controls and UI.

In the weeks since Crimson Desert‘s successful release, Pearl Abyss has not rested on its laurels. The developer has already released several significant updates to its open-world RPG, which have focused on adding new features and resolving community frustrations with the game. Crimson Desert players have not been shy in sharing their criticisms with the developer, and the studio has acted quickly to ensure that it can fix as many issues that gamers are experiencing as possible.

Crimson Desert Update Adds New Skills For Each Character

The latest Crimson Desert patch notes for version 1.03.00 are now available, and the update has been officially released on all platforms. It adds a new Weapon Display option, as well as an option to change the minimum font size, giving players a little more customization over their experience. There have also been some more improvements to Crimson Desert‘s highly-criticized controls and UI, and players can now teleport while mounted, falling, swimming, or climbing walls.

The headline additions in the new Crimson Desert update are the new skills. All three playable characters in the game have new abilities to use, which should go some way to resolving player complaints with Damiane and Oongka. Kliff has a new skill called Focused Aerial Roll, which can be activated by pressing the dodge input while using Focus during flight. The abilities for Damiane and Oongka are focused on bringing them more in line with Kliff, including giving them access to Axiom Force, Nature’s Snare, and “related abilities.” Many had complained a lot about the pair being unable to use Axiom Force, so this will be a crowd-pleasing change.

Although some initial Crimson Desert reviews were mixed, Pearl Abyss’s post-launch support for the game is paying off. Crimson Desert remains a monster on Steam in terms of player count, defying usual patterns with single-player games, which usually fall off quite rapidly as players complete them. Every day, the game retains a player count in the hundreds of thousands, and there is no doubt that the rate at which the developer continues to fix and add content to Crimson Desert is a factor in this.

Pearl Abyss has yet to confirm whether Crimson Desert will receive any DLC in the future. For now, it seems the studio’s focus is ensuring the base game experience is the best it can be, which is an admirable approach. The game has plenty of engaging content to keep gamers busy for a long while yet, so there certainly won’t be any rush to release an expansion from Pearl Abyss. That said, its massive success and huge following makes any potential DLC in the future a very interesting prospect.

Crimson Desert Update 1.03.00 Patch Notes

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.

• 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.

• 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.
• 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.
• 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
    • Display Ranged Weapons

• 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

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.

Known Issues

Released

March 19, 2026

ESRB

Mature 17+ / Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language

Developer(s)

Pearl Abyss

Publisher(s)

Pearl Abyss