Crimson Desert players who have reached the later stages of the game are getting frustrated over the limited amount of time they’re allotted for flying around on the back of a dragon. There are plenty of means for getting around Crimson Desert‘s massive world, and while dragon flight is arguably the most exciting, it’s also very limited without the right gear and know-how.
After some early post-launch stumbles regarding graphical issues and control schemes, Crimson Desert has become one of the hottest action-adventure titles of 2026 so far. Crimson Desert‘s Steam peak player counts have reached above 276,000, and even as the game approaches the one-month mark from launch, it’s still pulling in concurrent player counts in excess of 141,000, which is an uncommon feat for a single-player title.
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Crimson Desert sold millions fast, but its real story is how quick fixes changed everything before early criticism had time to stick.
Crimson Desert Players Want Pearl Abyss to Axe the Dragon Timer
But one persistent set of complaints that is still common among late-game players is tied to the timers associated with Crimson Desert‘s dragon companion, Blackstar. Players are able to mount up on Blackstar to soar above the game’s broad landscapes and can even make use of its breath weapon in a number of ways to unleash fiery aerial devastation. However, many people have been sounding off on Reddit about only being able to ride Blackstar for 15 minutes at a time, after which they need to wait another 50 minutes before taking flight again.
While there is a wide variety of mounts in Crimson Desert, Blackstar is particularly special, as players won’t be able to access dragon flight until midway through the 11th of the game’s 12 chapters. Even for players who avoid excessive exploration and stick to the main story quests, that point can easily take 50 hours or more to reach. Given that there’s usually little left of the map to explore after having made it that far, some players are feeling unfulfilled with the short bursts of time in which they’re allowed to call on their dragon.
Fortunately, as some of these disgruntled players have pointed out, there is a way to eliminate the dragon cooldown timer altogether. Narima’s Horn is a craftable item in Crimson Desert that resets the 50-minute timer, letting players call on Blackstar immediately after using it. However, it’s also a consumable item, and players have pointed out that acquiring it can feel like a slog, as the Timeworn Ruins Excavation mission that unlocks it requires 72 hours of in-game time and close to 100,000 units of various resources. As Reddit user Dylangillian put it, “It’s not fun to have to gather resources to then remove the cooldown. It is just gatekeeping the fun with a tedious task.”
Drag weapons to fill the grid
Drag weapons to fill the grid
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While many want the timer removed entirely, others can acknowledge that there is some merit in not giving players unlimited access to the raw power of a dragon, and they’re hopeful at the prospect of Pearl Abyss meeting them halfway. This could be carried out in a few different ways, but one idea that seems to be more popular would be to allow players to fly around on Blackstar as much as they want, but to keep the timer on specifically for the purpose of using the dragon’s combat capabilities. Proponents of this idea say it would help keep the difficulty from becoming unbalanced in the players’ favor, while some opponents argue that by the time access to a dragon becomes available, Crimson Desert protagonist Kliff is already overpowered in his own right.
- Released
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March 19, 2026
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ / Blood, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Strong Language
- Developer(s)
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Pearl Abyss
- Publisher(s)
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Pearl Abyss
