The latest Crimson Desert update lets you mount iguanas, mountain goats, tigers, lions and other fantastic beasts

Forget horses, the latest Crimson Desert update lets you mount and ride a variety of special and unusual beasties. You can now hop on the backs of mountain goats (one my personal all-time favourite animals), wolves, bears, boars, tigers, lions, raptors, camels, kuku birds and iguanas, which in Crimson Desert are enormous so don’t worry, you won’t squash them.

Crimson Desert’s special mounts arrive as part of patch 1.06, which is currently rolling out across all platforms; it’s already available on PC and Mac on Steam, and PlayStation, but is currently making its way to the Epic Games Store on PC, Xbox, and the Mac App Store, according to the Crimson Desert website.

The creatures mentioned above become special mounts in Crimson Desert after you gain their trust, which usually involves a mix of feeding them, subduing them if they’re ferocious, and in some cases adhering to certain species’ varying taming quirks. Once tamed you can buy saddles for them at saddleries in various cities, and you can have one mount and special mount assigned and active in your mount quickslot at one time.

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But that’s not all as far as animals are concerned! You can also now have your pet dog attack your enemies by equipping a new Sigil of Valor.

Also noteworthy in the new patch a new extraction feature that lets you recover materials used when refining equipment, a new unarmed combat skill-tree for Oongka that you’ll find under “Fists” in the menu (Damiane will get something similar in the next update), and sheathes for swords, because you can’t just walk around with sharp edges exposed – it’s a health and safety nightmare.

One more thing: there’s a new Night Tone Mode graphical option to soften and darken the game’s colours, while slightly brightening shaded areas, to ease strain on your eyes when playing in darker surroundings.

The full patch list is below and you can find a list of known Crimson Desert issues, in case you’re wondering about them, on the game’s website.

Crimson Desert, a Korean-made fantasy open-world action adventure, was released in mid-March and, despite some middling reviews – we found it a bit derivative and charmless in our Crimson Desert review – has met with considerable sales success, passing 5m copies sold as of the latest count a few weeks ago. It’s been such a notable success in South Korea that the President there has praised Crimson Desert as a “turning point” for the Korean games industry.

Crimson Desert has also received considerable post-game support, smoothing its many jutting edges as well as adding a significant amount of new features. Most recently, Crimson Desert’s endgame combat was overhauled. It’s certainly been a notable new arrival of 2026, and should this level of post-game support continue, it might end the year as one of the strongest games released.

New Additions
New Special Mounts
Certain animals can now be registered as special mounts after gaining their trust.
Available for: Bears, Boars, Wolves, Deer, Mountain Goats, Kuku Birds, Iguanas, Raptors, Camels, Lions, and Tigers
Ferocious animals can be tamed by subduing and feeding them, while certain species require unique methods to tame.
Feeding untamable animals will not affect their trust level.
You can feed your mount while riding it by selecting a food item from your inventory and choosing “Feed”.
Added a new tab for special mounts to the inventory UI.
Fixed the mount quickslot so that only 1 mount and 1 special mount can be assigned.
Saddles no longer appear as part of special mounts’ default appearance and can now be equipped.
Mount equipment can be equipped in the Special Mounts tab.
Saddles for special mounts can be purchased at saddleries in various cities.
Hernand Saddlery – Saddles for Wolves and Bears
Equinsher Saddlery – Saddles for Deer and Wolves
Calphade Saddlery – Saddles for Bears and Kuku Birds
Demeniss Saddlery – Saddles for Kuku Birds and Deer
Pailune Saddlery – Saddles for Bears and Ibexes
Delesyia Saddlery – Saddles for Warthogs
Tommaso Saddlery – Saddles for Iguanas
Varnia Saddlery – Saddles for Camels
Added an “Extraction” feature that allows you to recover materials used to refine equipment.
Materials used to refine equipment can partially be recovered.
This feature can be used by interacting with smithies in various regions.
Extraction can be performed for a single refinement level or all the way back to the base refinement level, which is the equipment’s refinement level when it was first acquired.
Extracting equipment only affects its refinement level and does not destroy the item.
Extraction Target: Equipment with a base refinement level of 4 that has been further refined to refinement level 10.
Extraction Result: Extracting it back to refinement level 4 will recover the materials used to refine it up to level 10 and return the equipment’s refinement level to 4.
The quantity of recovered items will vary depending on their type.
Special materials such as Artifacts and Aeserion’s scale are recovered at 100% of the amount used.
Common materials such as iron ore, copper ore, and bloodstones are recovered at approximately 70% of the amount used.
Added new unarmed combat skills for Oongka
Select “Fists” from the skill menu to see the new skills.
Unarmed skills for Damiane will be added in the next update.
Added sheaths for swords.
Added a Display Sheath option that lets you choose whether your character’s sheath is shown.
Added the item “Sigil of Valor”. When equipped, pet dogs will attack enemies.
This item can be purchased from the Secret Shop NPC in Pororin.
Added a claw machine at the Laughing Marionette.
Obtainable Items: 12 types of lighting items, 1 type of chair, 1 type of special headgear, Abyss Artifacts, and Abyss Gears.
Major Improvements
Content
Improved certain equipment, such as Visiones, so that they can now be enhanced, and sockets for equipping Abyss Gear have been added.
The number of sockets matches the default number of sockets for that equipment type.
However, some equipment and Kuku equipment have fewer sockets than other equipment of the same type.
Adjusted the elemental resistances of certain cloaks to better match their characteristics.
Fixed an issue where certain comrade missions did not restart automatically.
Fixed an issue where pets could not be summoned in certain situations.
Fixed an issue where “Sweet Taste of Bounties” could not be completed when progressed in a certain order.
Fixed an issue where Sotdae of Bond would disappear from the Recoverable Items. Additionally, Sotdae of Bond has been reissued.
Fixed an issue where the Iron Eagle could not be tamed if it was not tamed on the first attempt.
Added the “Clean All,” “Butcher All,” and “Obtain All Seeds” functions to the inventory.
Fixed an issue where horse tack could not be dyed in certain situations.
Added new ways to obtain previously unobtainable knowledge for certain factions.
Changed refinement using identical equipment so that it is only available up to the level immediately before an Abyss Artifact is required.
Improved certain items so that they can now be stacked.
Affected items: Furniture and Ornaments
Combat / Action
Improved the default stance and movement animations when fighting unarmed.
Changed “Blinding Flash” so that it can now be used even without a weapon equipped.
Added additional effects when firing two-handed cannons.
Adjusted the base attack power of two-handed cannons.
Improved chain attacks that follow the unarmed combat skill “Roundhouse Kick”.
Improved targeting when aiming ranged weapons at small animals.
Fixed an issue where certain bosses would take excessive damage when struck with heavy objects.
Fixed an issue where arrows could not be fired after loading the game, even when they were in the inventory.
Controls
Improved convenience of object placement on bookshelves during house decoration.
Added an animation that plays when you fail to turn a large valve all the way.
Improved climbing over windows so that it can now be done from either side while hanging on a wall.
Improved camera angle so that, after following an NPC for a certain period of time, it automatically adjusts to align with the player’s direction of movement.
UI
Fixed an issue where certain input prompts were not displayed depending on the input method.
Improved the Character Customization and Dye menus to display the amount of currency you are carrying.
Added a search function to the Skills menu that allows you to search for specific skills.
Improved fishing so that the relevant guide is also displayed while waiting.
Improved the UI of research institutes to make it more intuitive.
Fixed an issue where the UI would freeze in certain situations when changing customized presets for keyboard and mouse controls.
Graphics & Settings
Added Night Tone Mode option.
When enabled, overall colors become softer, and darker, shaded areas appear slightly brighter.
When disabled, overall colors become sharper, and darker, shaded areas appear slightly darker.
[Mac] Improved HDR support detection for each display so that HDR can be enabled on supported external monitors and will not be enabled on unsupported monitors.
[Mac] Fixed an issue where GPU crashes could occasionally occur during gameplay.
Fixed a rendering issue that occurred at 5120 x 2160 resolution.
Fixed an issue where colors would appear inverted when using Photo Mode in certain situations.
Fixed an issue where enabling HDR would disable Direct-to-Play, and improved HDR quality.
Fixed an issue where the Adaptive Triggers option in Settings > Input was not being applied correctly.
Fixed an issue where the game would close when changing the HDR or Frame Generation option while playing the game with external overlay programs.
Fixed an issue where waterfalls would appear unnatural at certain distances.
Fixed an issue where the Headgear On/Off option was not displayed when selecting the Body Tattoo option at the Barber.
Localization
Fixed various localization errors and improved localization quality across all languages.
Others
Fixed an issue where Contribution equipment would disappear from Recoverable Items.
Fixed an issue where the collar area of the Elegant Carmine Leather Armor could not be dyed.
[Damiane/Oongka] Fixed an issue where face and body tattoos were not applied after applying them and reloading the game.
[Damiane/Oongka] Fixed an issue where the equipped horse tack would appear in Kliff’s horse tack slot.
[Damiane] Fixed an issue where Damiane was unable to equip a scythe.
Fixed an issue where fish would not bite when the hook was cast into certain areas.
Increased the selling prices of fish.
Increased chances of obtaining Abyss Gear Blueprints at certain strongholds.
Fixed an issue where books could not be examined while on horseback.
Fixed an issue where “Elemental Meteor Kick” would not execute properly.
Fixed an issue where Oongka’s “Explosive Leap” would be canceled before landing.
Fixed an issue where Oongka would stop flying when a ranged attack was quickly canceled while airborne.
Fixed an issue where Damiane could not use “Counter” when equipped with a greatsword.
Fixed an issue where “Focused Charged Shot” could not be used while airborne.
Improved “Focused Evasive Shot” so that the reload animation no longer plays if the shot is not fired.
Fixed an issue where “Repel” could be used with a spear even if it had not been acquired.
Fixed an issue where Spirit was not consumed when using certain grappling skills.
Fixed an issue where “Lightning Surge” would not be maintained depending on the selected “Evasion Control” option.
Fixed an issue where relevant effects would trigger in certain situations even when the “Electro-Mecha Longsword” was not drawn.
Fixed an issue where the speed of the monster in combat would decrease significantly.
Fixed an issue where certain bosses’ attacks would be interrupted when they were attacked from far away by the player.
Fixed an issue where the Giant Green Iguana could not be struck.
Fixed an issue where “Counter Stance” would get canceled even when there was enough spirit remaining.
Fixed boss’s stun gauge to slowly recover when the player leaves the combat area.
Fixed boss behavior so that bosses now quickly return to the combat area after leaving it.
Fixed an issue where the warning message for leaving the combat area would be displayed incorrectly during rematches against certain bosses.
Fixed an issue where the character would become invisible during rematches against certain bosses.
Fixed an issue where the boss combat area indicator would occasionally remain on the minimap and the map when loading a save during a rematch.
Applied bug fixes and improvements regarding specific bosses. (To prevent spoilers, details are listed in the dropdown menu below.)
Fixed an issue where lock-on was unavailable for acid spiders that spawned during the Queen Spider battle.
Fixed an issue where a rematch with Titan would begin with the player being struck by Titan.
Fixed an issue where Titan would stop moving if the player moved too far away from the combat area.
Fixed an issue where the player would occasionally be unable to attack Dreadnought from behind.
Fixed an issue where explosives placed by Storm Crusher and Thunder Crusher would not deal damage to the player.
Fixed an issue where the Abyss Gate would not disappear upon entering the chamber of Awakened Caliburn.
Fixed an issue where an unintended combat pattern would trigger for “Myurdin, the Avatar of Umbra”
Fixed issues related to certain quests. (To prevent spoilers, details are listed in the dropdown menu below.)
Fixed an issue where, if “Face the Inner Self” from Chapter 9 and Damiane’s quest to obtain “Sword of Starlight” were active at the same time, the character switch message would repeatedly appear when attempting to enter Jijeong Temple as Kliff or Damiane.
Fixed an issue where missions would be canceled after saving and loading the game following dispatch to certain strongholds.
Additionally, any Contribution Points spent on the canceled missions have been restored.
Fixed an issue where, while viewing a stronghold in detail, the current stronghold mission UI would be displayed incorrectly when a mission at another stronghold was completed.
Fixed an issue where fishing shop would buy items from the player at higher prices.
Fixed an issue where the player could cling to a friendly NPC while airborne.
Fixed an issue where certain items such as the Kuku Gardening Pack could not be used.
Fixed an issue where certain sanctums could be cleansed without using Fusion Reactor Cores.
Fixed an issue where the player would respawn at unnatural locations.
Fixed an issue where, if the wagon the player was driving collided with an NPC, a passenger on the wagon would attack that NPC.
Fixed an issue where NPCs would sit on the same chair as the player.
Improved the quest log to be immediately updated after rescuing bound Pailune refugees.
Fixed an issue where Greymane NPCs would say hostile lines to the player.
Adjusted the positioning of weapons worn at the waist to appear more natural.
Fixed an issue where the aiming animation would occasionally repeat abnormally when aiming a bow at a jail.
Fixed an issue where same types of animals would be displayed with different prices.
Fixed an issue where the passengers of the Ironcrawler were placed in an unnatural way.
Fixed an issue where certain plants could be obtained endlessly when using the Kuku Gardening Pack.
Improved the quality of certain outfits.
Fixed an issue where the game window could be moved or resized with mouse input while playing in fullscreen mode.
Fixed an issue where rain could be seen indoors while using Photo Mode in certain situations.
Fixed an issue where water from certain waterfalls would splash in unnatural directions.
Fixed an issue where certain objects appeared unnatural.
Fixed rendering issues in certain situations.
Fixed an issue where using Blackstar’s Breath would occasionally cause frame drops.
Fixed an issue where the camera would shake when locking on to a target while riding a mount.
Fixed an issue where audio would continue to play after a cutscene has ended when fast-forwarding.
Fixed an issue where guards could not be attacked with a combat mount while in a wanted state.
Fixed an issue where the game would load indefinitely in certain save files.